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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/699-0.txt b/699-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d51babc --- /dev/null +++ b/699-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15242 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Child’s History of England, by Charles Dickens + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: A Child’s History of England + +Author: Charles Dickens + +Release Date: October, 1996 [eBook #699] +[Most recently updated: January 30, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: David Price + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + + + + +A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +By CHARLES DICKENS + +With Illustrations by F. H. Townsend and others + +LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, ld. +NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS +1905 + + +Contents + + CHAPTER I ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + CHAPTER II ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + CHAPTER III ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + CHAPTER IV ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + CHAPTER V ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + CHAPTER VI ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR + CHAPTER VII ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE NORMANS + CHAPTER VIII ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR + CHAPTER IX ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS + CHAPTER X ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR + CHAPTER XI ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN + CHAPTER XII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND + CHAPTER XIII ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART + CHAPTER XIV ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND + CHAPTER XV ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER + CHAPTER XVI ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS + CHAPTER XVII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND + CHAPTER XVIII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD + CHAPTER XIX ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND + CHAPTER XX ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE + CHAPTER XXI ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH + CHAPTER XXII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH + CHAPTER XXIII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH + CHAPTER XXIV ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH + CHAPTER XXV ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD + CHAPTER XXVI ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH + CHAPTER XXVII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY KING HARRY + CHAPTER XXVIII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH + CHAPTER XXIX ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH + CHAPTER XXX ENGLAND UNDER MARY + CHAPTER XXXI ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH + CHAPTER XXXII ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST + CHAPTER XXXIII ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST + CHAPTER XXXIV ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL + CHAPTER XXXV ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH + CHAPTER XXXVI ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND + CHAPTER XXXVII + + + + +CHAPTER I +ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + + +If you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper +corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the sea. They +are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and Scotland form the +greater part of these Islands. Ireland is the next in size. The little +neighbouring islands, which are so small upon the Map as to be mere +dots, are chiefly little bits of Scotland,—broken off, I dare say, in +the course of a great length of time, by the power of the restless +water. + +In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was born on +earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the same place, +and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars now. But the sea +was not alive, then, with great ships and brave sailors, sailing to and +from all parts of the world. It was very lonely. The Islands lay +solitary, in the great expanse of water. The foaming waves dashed +against their cliffs, and the bleak winds blew over their forests; but +the winds and waves brought no adventurers to land upon the Islands, +and the savage Islanders knew nothing of the rest of the world, and the +rest of the world knew nothing of them. + +It is supposed that the PhÅ“nicians, who were an ancient people, famous +for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and found that +they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as you know, and +both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast. The most celebrated +tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the sea. One of them, which +I have seen, is so close to it that it is hollowed out underneath the +ocean; and the miners say, that in stormy weather, when they are at +work down in that deep place, they can hear the noise of the waves +thundering above their heads. So, the PhÅ“nicians, coasting about the +Islands, would come, without much difficulty, to where the tin and lead +were. + +The PhÅ“nicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and gave the +Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The Islanders were, at +first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only dressed in the rough +skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as other savages do, with +coloured earths and the juices of plants. But the PhÅ“nicians, sailing +over to the opposite coasts of France and Belgium, and saying to the +people there, ‘We have been to those white cliffs across the water, +which you can see in fine weather, and from that country, which is +called Britain, we bring this tin and lead,’ tempted some of the French +and Belgians to come over also. These people settled themselves on the +south coast of England, which is now called Kent; and, although they +were a rough people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful +arts, and improved that part of the Islands. It is probable that other +people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there. + +Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the Islanders, +and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; almost savage, +still, especially in the interior of the country away from the sea +where the foreign settlers seldom went; but hardy, brave, and strong. + +The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The greater +part of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads, no bridges, no +streets, no houses that you would think deserving of the name. A town +was nothing but a collection of straw-covered huts, hidden in a thick +wood, with a ditch all round, and a low wall, made of mud, or the +trunks of trees placed one upon another. The people planted little or +no corn, but lived upon the flesh of their flocks and cattle. They made +no coins, but used metal rings for money. They were clever in +basket-work, as savage people often are; and they could make a coarse +kind of cloth, and some very bad earthenware. But in building +fortresses they were much more clever. + +They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, but +seldom, if ever, ventured far from the shore. They made swords, of +copper mixed with tin; but, these swords were of an awkward shape, and +so soft that a heavy blow would bend one. They made light shields, +short pointed daggers, and spears—which they jerked back after they had +thrown them at an enemy, by a long strip of leather fastened to the +stem. The butt-end was a rattle, to frighten an enemy’s horse. The +ancient Britons, being divided into as many as thirty or forty tribes, +each commanded by its own little king, were constantly fighting with +one another, as savage people usually do; and they always fought with +these weapons. + +They were very fond of horses. The standard of Kent was the picture of +a white horse. They could break them in and manage them wonderfully +well. Indeed, the horses (of which they had an abundance, though they +were rather small) were so well taught in those days, that they can +scarcely be said to have improved since; though the men are so much +wiser. They understood, and obeyed, every word of command; and would +stand still by themselves, in all the din and noise of battle, while +their masters went to fight on foot. The Britons could not have +succeeded in their most remarkable art, without the aid of these +sensible and trusty animals. The art I mean, is the construction and +management of war-chariots or cars, for which they have ever been +celebrated in history. Each of the best sort of these chariots, not +quite breast high in front, and open at the back, contained one man to +drive, and two or three others to fight—all standing up. The horses who +drew them were so well trained, that they would tear, at full gallop, +over the most stony ways, and even through the woods; dashing down +their masters’ enemies beneath their hoofs, and cutting them to pieces +with the blades of swords, or scythes, which were fastened to the +wheels, and stretched out beyond the car on each side, for that cruel +purpose. In a moment, while at full speed, the horses would stop, at +the driver’s command. The men within would leap out, deal blows about +them with their swords like hail, leap on the horses, on the pole, +spring back into the chariots anyhow; and, as soon as they were safe, +the horses tore away again. + +The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the Religion of +the Druids. It seems to have been brought over, in very early times +indeed, from the opposite country of France, anciently called Gaul, and +to have mixed up the worship of the Serpent, and of the Sun and Moon, +with the worship of some of the Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Most of its +ceremonies were kept secret by the priests, the Druids, who pretended +to be enchanters, and who carried magicians’ wands, and wore, each of +them, about his neck, what he told the ignorant people was a Serpent’s +egg in a golden case. But it is certain that the Druidical ceremonies +included the sacrifice of human victims, the torture of some suspected +criminals, and, on particular occasions, even the burning alive, in +immense wicker cages, of a number of men and animals together. The +Druid Priests had some kind of veneration for the Oak, and for the +mistletoe—the same plant that we hang up in houses at Christmas Time +now—when its white berries grew upon the Oak. They met together in dark +woods, which they called Sacred Groves; and there they instructed, in +their mysterious arts, young men who came to them as pupils, and who +sometimes stayed with them as long as twenty years. + +These Druids built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, fragments +of some of which are yet remaining. Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, in +Wiltshire, is the most extraordinary of these. Three curious stones, +called Kits Coty House, on Bluebell Hill, near Maidstone, in Kent, form +another. We know, from examination of the great blocks of which such +buildings are made, that they could not have been raised without the +aid of some ingenious machines, which are common now, but which the +ancient Britons certainly did not use in making their own uncomfortable +houses. I should not wonder if the Druids, and their pupils who stayed +with them twenty years, knowing more than the rest of the Britons, kept +the people out of sight while they made these buildings, and then +pretended that they built them by magic. Perhaps they had a hand in the +fortresses too; at all events, as they were very powerful, and very +much believed in, and as they made and executed the laws, and paid no +taxes, I don’t wonder that they liked their trade. And, as they +persuaded the people the more Druids there were, the better off the +people would be, I don’t wonder that there were a good many of them. +But it is pleasant to think that there are no Druids, _now_, who go on +in that way, and pretend to carry Enchanters’ Wands and Serpents’ +Eggs—and of course there is nothing of the kind, anywhere. + +Such was the improved condition of the ancient Britons, fifty-five +years before the birth of Our Saviour, when the Romans, under their +great General, Julius Cæsar, were masters of all the rest of the known +world. Julius Cæsar had then just conquered Gaul; and hearing, in Gaul, +a good deal about the opposite Island with the white cliffs, and about +the bravery of the Britons who inhabited it—some of whom had been +fetched over to help the Gauls in the war against him—he resolved, as +he was so near, to come and conquer Britain next. + +So, Julius Cæsar came sailing over to this Island of ours, with eighty +vessels and twelve thousand men. And he came from the French coast +between Calais and Boulogne, ‘because thence was the shortest passage +into Britain;’ just for the same reason as our steam-boats now take the +same track, every day. He expected to conquer Britain easily: but it +was not such easy work as he supposed—for the bold Britons fought most +bravely; and, what with not having his horse-soldiers with him (for +they had been driven back by a storm), and what with having some of his +vessels dashed to pieces by a high tide after they were drawn ashore, +he ran great risk of being totally defeated. However, for once that the +bold Britons beat him, he beat them twice; though not so soundly but +that he was very glad to accept their proposals of peace, and go away. + +But, in the spring of the next year, he came back; this time, with +eight hundred vessels and thirty thousand men. The British tribes +chose, as their general-in-chief, a Briton, whom the Romans in their +Latin language called Cassivellaunus, but whose British name is +supposed to have been Caswallon. A brave general he was, and well he +and his soldiers fought the Roman army! So well, that whenever in that +war the Roman soldiers saw a great cloud of dust, and heard the rattle +of the rapid British chariots, they trembled in their hearts. Besides a +number of smaller battles, there was a battle fought near Canterbury, +in Kent; there was a battle fought near Chertsey, in Surrey; there was +a battle fought near a marshy little town in a wood, the capital of +that part of Britain which belonged to Cassivellaunus, and which was +probably near what is now Saint Albans, in Hertfordshire. However, +brave Cassivellaunus had the worst of it, on the whole; though he and +his men always fought like lions. As the other British chiefs were +jealous of him, and were always quarrelling with him, and with one +another, he gave up, and proposed peace. Julius Cæsar was very glad to +grant peace easily, and to go away again with all his remaining ships +and men. He had expected to find pearls in Britain, and he may have +found a few for anything I know; but, at all events, he found delicious +oysters, and I am sure he found tough Britons—of whom, I dare say, he +made the same complaint as Napoleon Bonaparte the great French General +did, eighteen hundred years afterwards, when he said they were such +unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they were beaten. They +never _did_ know, I believe, and never will. + +Nearly a hundred years passed on, and all that time, there was peace in +Britain. The Britons improved their towns and mode of life: became more +civilised, travelled, and learnt a great deal from the Gauls and +Romans. At last, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, sent Aulus Plautius, a +skilful general, with a mighty force, to subdue the Island, and shortly +afterwards arrived himself. They did little; and Ostorius Scapula, +another general, came. Some of the British Chiefs of Tribes submitted. +Others resolved to fight to the death. Of these brave men, the bravest +was Caractacus, or Caradoc, who gave battle to the Romans, with his +army, among the mountains of North Wales. ‘This day,’ said he to his +soldiers, ‘decides the fate of Britain! Your liberty, or your eternal +slavery, dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who drove +the great Cæsar himself across the sea!’ On hearing these words, his +men, with a great shout, rushed upon the Romans. But the strong Roman +swords and armour were too much for the weaker British weapons in close +conflict. The Britons lost the day. The wife and daughter of the brave +Caractacus were taken prisoners; his brothers delivered themselves up; +he himself was betrayed into the hands of the Romans by his false and +base stepmother: and they carried him, and all his family, in triumph +to Rome. + +But a great man will be great in misfortune, great in prison, great in +chains. His noble air, and dignified endurance of distress, so touched +the Roman people who thronged the streets to see him, that he and his +family were restored to freedom. No one knows whether his great heart +broke, and he died in Rome, or whether he ever returned to his own dear +country. English oaks have grown up from acorns, and withered away, +when they were hundreds of years old—and other oaks have sprung up in +their places, and died too, very aged—since the rest of the history of +the brave Caractacus was forgotten. + +Still, the Britons _would not_ yield. They rose again and again, and +died by thousands, sword in hand. They rose, on every possible +occasion. Suetonius, another Roman general, came, and stormed the +Island of Anglesey (then called Mona), which was supposed to be sacred, +and he burnt the Druids in their own wicker cages, by their own fires. +But, even while he was in Britain, with his victorious troops, the +Britons rose. Because Boadicea, a British queen, the widow of the King +of the Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted the plundering of her +property by the Romans who were settled in England, she was scourged, +by order of Catus a Roman officer; and her two daughters were +shamefully insulted in her presence, and her husband’s relations were +made slaves. To avenge this injury, the Britons rose, with all their +might and rage. They drove Catus into Gaul; they laid the Roman +possessions waste; they forced the Romans out of London, then a poor +little town, but a trading place; they hanged, burnt, crucified, and +slew by the sword, seventy thousand Romans in a few days. Suetonius +strengthened his army, and advanced to give them battle. They +strengthened their army, and desperately attacked his, on the field +where it was strongly posted. Before the first charge of the Britons +was made, Boadicea, in a war-chariot, with her fair hair streaming in +the wind, and her injured daughters lying at her feet, drove among the +troops, and cried to them for vengeance on their oppressors, the +licentious Romans. The Britons fought to the last; but they were +vanquished with great slaughter, and the unhappy queen took poison. + +Still, the spirit of the Britons was not broken. When Suetonius left +the country, they fell upon his troops, and retook the Island of +Anglesey. Agricola came, fifteen or twenty years afterwards, and retook +it once more, and devoted seven years to subduing the country, +especially that part of it which is now called Scotland; but, its +people, the Caledonians, resisted him at every inch of ground. They +fought the bloodiest battles with him; they killed their very wives and +children, to prevent his making prisoners of them; they fell, fighting, +in such great numbers that certain hills in Scotland are yet supposed +to be vast heaps of stones piled up above their graves. Hadrian came, +thirty years afterwards, and still they resisted him. Severus came, +nearly a hundred years afterwards, and they worried his great army like +dogs, and rejoiced to see them die, by thousands, in the bogs and +swamps. Caracalla, the son and successor of Severus, did the most to +conquer them, for a time; but not by force of arms. He knew how little +that would do. He yielded up a quantity of land to the Caledonians, and +gave the Britons the same privileges as the Romans possessed. There was +peace, after this, for seventy years. + +Then new enemies arose. They were the Saxons, a fierce, sea-faring +people from the countries to the North of the Rhine, the great river of +Germany on the banks of which the best grapes grow to make the German +wine. They began to come, in pirate ships, to the sea-coast of Gaul and +Britain, and to plunder them. They were repulsed by Carausius, a native +either of Belgium or of Britain, who was appointed by the Romans to the +command, and under whom the Britons first began to fight upon the sea. +But, after this time, they renewed their ravages. A few years more, and +the Scots (which was then the name for the people of Ireland), and the +Picts, a northern people, began to make frequent plundering incursions +into the South of Britain. All these attacks were repeated, at +intervals, during two hundred years, and through a long succession of +Roman Emperors and chiefs; during all which length of time, the Britons +rose against the Romans, over and over again. At last, in the days of +the Roman Honorius, when the Roman power all over the world was fast +declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at home, the Romans +abandoned all hope of conquering Britain, and went away. And still, at +last, as at first, the Britons rose against them, in their old brave +manner; for, a very little while before, they had turned away the Roman +magistrates, and declared themselves an independent people. + +Five hundred years had passed, since Julius Cæsar’s first invasion of +the Island, when the Romans departed from it for ever. In the course of +that time, although they had been the cause of terrible fighting and +bloodshed, they had done much to improve the condition of the Britons. +They had made great military roads; they had built forts; they had +taught them how to dress, and arm themselves, much better than they had +ever known how to do before; they had refined the whole British way of +living. Agricola had built a great wall of earth, more than seventy +miles long, extending from Newcastle to beyond Carlisle, for the +purpose of keeping out the Picts and Scots; Hadrian had strengthened +it; Severus, finding it much in want of repair, had built it afresh of +stone. + +Above all, it was in the Roman time, and by means of Roman ships, that +the Christian Religion was first brought into Britain, and its people +first taught the great lesson that, to be good in the sight of God, +they must love their neighbours as themselves, and do unto others as +they would be done by. The Druids declared that it was very wicked to +believe in any such thing, and cursed all the people who did believe +it, very heartily. But, when the people found that they were none the +better for the blessings of the Druids, and none the worse for the +curses of the Druids, but, that the sun shone and the rain fell without +consulting the Druids at all, they just began to think that the Druids +were mere men, and that it signified very little whether they cursed or +blessed. After which, the pupils of the Druids fell off greatly in +numbers, and the Druids took to other trades. + +Thus I have come to the end of the Roman time in England. It is but +little that is known of those five hundred years; but some remains of +them are still found. Often, when labourers are digging up the ground, +to make foundations for houses or churches, they light on rusty money +that once belonged to the Romans. Fragments of plates from which they +ate, of goblets from which they drank, and of pavement on which they +trod, are discovered among the earth that is broken by the plough, or +the dust that is crumbled by the gardener’s spade. Wells that the +Romans sunk, still yield water; roads that the Romans made, form part +of our highways. In some old battle-fields, British spear-heads and +Roman armour have been found, mingled together in decay, as they fell +in the thick pressure of the fight. Traces of Roman camps overgrown +with grass, and of mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of +Britons, are to be seen in almost all parts of the country. Across the +bleak moors of Northumberland, the wall of Severus, overrun with moss +and weeds, still stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their +dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain, +Stonehenge yet stands: a monument of the earlier time when the Roman +name was unknown in Britain, and when the Druids, with their best magic +wands, could not have written it in the sands of the wild sea-shore. + + + + +CHAPTER II +ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + + +The Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons began +to wish they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone, and the +Britons being much reduced in numbers by their long wars, the Picts and +Scots came pouring in, over the broken and unguarded wall of Severus, +in swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and killed the people; and +came back so often for more booty and more slaughter, that the +unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. As if the Picts and Scots +were not bad enough on land, the Saxons attacked the islanders by sea; +and, as if something more were still wanting to make them miserable, +they quarrelled bitterly among themselves as to what prayers they ought +to say, and how they ought to say them. The priests, being very angry +with one another on these questions, cursed one another in the +heartiest manner; and (uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the +people whom they could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were +very badly off, you may believe. + +They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to Rome +entreating help—which they called the Groans of the Britons; and in +which they said, ‘The barbarians chase us into the sea, the sea throws +us back upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard choice left us +of perishing by the sword, or perishing by the waves.’ But, the Romans +could not help them, even if they were so inclined; for they had enough +to do to defend themselves against their own enemies, who were then +very fierce and strong. At last, the Britons, unable to bear their hard +condition any longer, resolved to make peace with the Saxons, and to +invite the Saxons to come into their country, and help them to keep out +the Picts and Scots. + +It was a British Prince named Vortigern who took this resolution, and +who made a treaty of friendship with Hengist and Horsa, two Saxon +chiefs. Both of these names, in the old Saxon language, signify Horse; +for the Saxons, like many other nations in a rough state, were fond of +giving men the names of animals, as Horse, Wolf, Bear, Hound. The +Indians of North America,—a very inferior people to the Saxons, +though—do the same to this day. + +Hengist and Horsa drove out the Picts and Scots; and Vortigern, being +grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to their settling +themselves in that part of England which is called the Isle of Thanet, +or to their inviting over more of their countrymen to join them. But +Hengist had a beautiful daughter named Rowena; and when, at a feast, +she filled a golden goblet to the brim with wine, and gave it to +Vortigern, saying in a sweet voice, ‘Dear King, thy health!’ the King +fell in love with her. My opinion is, that the cunning Hengist meant +him to do so, in order that the Saxons might have greater influence +with him; and that the fair Rowena came to that feast, golden goblet +and all, on purpose. + +At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the King +was angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments, Rowena +would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and softly say, ‘Dear +King, they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you loved that +Saxon girl who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the feast!’ And, +really, I don’t see how the King could help himself. + +Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, Vortigern died—he was +dethroned, and put in prison, first, I am afraid; and Rowena died; and +generations of Saxons and Britons died; and events that happened during +a long, long time, would have been quite forgotten but for the tales +and songs of the old Bards, who used to go about from feast to feast, +with their white beards, recounting the deeds of their forefathers. +Among the histories of which they sang and talked, there was a famous +one, concerning the bravery and virtues of King Arthur, supposed to +have been a British Prince in those old times. But, whether such a +person really lived, or whether there were several persons whose +histories came to be confused together under that one name, or whether +all about him was invention, no one knows. + +I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early Saxon +times, as they are described in these songs and stories of the Bards. + +In, and long after, the days of Vortigern, fresh bodies of Saxons, +under various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body, conquering +the Britons in the East, and settling there, called their kingdom +Essex; another body settled in the West, and called their kingdom +Wessex; the Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established themselves in one +place; the Southfolk, or Suffolk people, established themselves in +another; and gradually seven kingdoms or states arose in England, which +were called the Saxon Heptarchy. The poor Britons, falling back before +these crowds of fighting men whom they had innocently invited over as +friends, retired into Wales and the adjacent country; into Devonshire, +and into Cornwall. Those parts of England long remained unconquered. +And in Cornwall now—where the sea-coast is very gloomy, steep, and +rugged—where, in the dark winter-time, ships have often been wrecked +close to the land, and every soul on board has perished—where the winds +and waves howl drearily and split the solid rocks into arches and +caverns—there are very ancient ruins, which the people call the ruins +of King Arthur’s Castle. + +Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the +Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered +over the Britons too much, to care for what _they_ said about their +religion, or anything else) by Augustine, a monk from Rome. King +Ethelbert, of Kent, was soon converted; and the moment he said he was a +Christian, his courtiers all said _they_ were Christians; after which, +ten thousand of his subjects said they were Christians too. Augustine +built a little church, close to this King’s palace, on the ground now +occupied by the beautiful cathedral of Canterbury. Sebert, the King’s +nephew, built on a muddy marshy place near London, where there had been +a temple to Apollo, a church dedicated to Saint Peter, which is now +Westminster Abbey. And, in London itself, on the foundation of a temple +to Diana, he built another little church which has risen up, since that +old time, to be Saint Paul’s. + +After the death of Ethelbert, Edwin, King of Northumbria, who was such +a good king that it was said a woman or child might openly carry a +purse of gold, in his reign, without fear, allowed his child to be +baptised, and held a great council to consider whether he and his +people should all be Christians or not. It was decided that they should +be. Coifi, the chief priest of the old religion, made a great speech on +the occasion. In this discourse, he told the people that he had found +out the old gods to be impostors. ‘I am quite satisfied of it,’ he +said. ‘Look at me! I have been serving them all my life, and they have +done nothing for me; whereas, if they had been really powerful, they +could not have decently done less, in return for all I have done for +them, than make my fortune. As they have never made my fortune, I am +quite convinced they are impostors!’ When this singular priest had +finished speaking, he hastily armed himself with sword and lance, +mounted a war-horse, rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the +people to the temple, and flung his lance against it as an insult. From +that time, the Christian religion spread itself among the Saxons, and +became their faith. + +The next very famous prince was Egbert. He lived about a hundred and +fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right to the +throne of Wessex than Beortric, another Saxon prince who was at the +head of that kingdom, and who married Edburga, the daughter of Offa, +king of another of the seven kingdoms. This Queen Edburga was a +handsome murderess, who poisoned people when they offended her. One +day, she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble belonging to the +court; but her husband drank of it too, by mistake, and died. Upon +this, the people revolted, in great crowds; and running to the palace, +and thundering at the gates, cried, ‘Down with the wicked queen, who +poisons men!’ They drove her out of the country, and abolished the +title she had disgraced. When years had passed away, some travellers +came home from Italy, and said that in the town of Pavia they had seen +a ragged beggar-woman, who had once been handsome, but was then +shrivelled, bent, and yellow, wandering about the streets, crying for +bread; and that this beggar-woman was the poisoning English queen. It +was, indeed, Edburga; and so she died, without a shelter for her +wretched head. + +Egbert, not considering himself safe in England, in consequence of his +having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival might take +him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the court of +Charlemagne, King of France. On the death of Beortric, so unhappily +poisoned by mistake, Egbert came back to Britain; succeeded to the +throne of Wessex; conquered some of the other monarchs of the seven +kingdoms; added their territories to his own; and, for the first time, +called the country over which he ruled, England. + +And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England +sorely. These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway, whom +the English called the Danes. They were a warlike people, quite at home +upon the sea; not Christians; very daring and cruel. They came over in +ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they landed. Once, they +beat Egbert in battle. Once, Egbert beat them. But, they cared no more +for being beaten than the English themselves. In the four following +short reigns, of Ethelwulf, and his sons, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and +Ethelred, they came back, over and over again, burning and plundering, +and laying England waste. In the last-mentioned reign, they seized +Edmund, King of East England, and bound him to a tree. Then, they +proposed to him that he should change his religion; but he, being a +good Christian, steadily refused. Upon that, they beat him, made +cowardly jests upon him, all defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, +and, finally, struck off his head. It is impossible to say whose head +they might have struck off next, but for the death of King Ethelred +from a wound he had received in fighting against them, and the +succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever lived in +England. + + + + +CHAPTER III +ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + + +Alfred the Great was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age, when +he became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to Rome, +where the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeys which +they supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed for some time +in Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for, then, that at +twelve years old he had not been taught to read; although, of the sons +of King Ethelwulf, he, the youngest, was the favourite. But he had—as +most men who grow up to be great and good are generally found to have +had—an excellent mother; and, one day, this lady, whose name was +Osburga, happened, as she was sitting among her sons, to read a book of +Saxon poetry. The art of printing was not known until long and long +after that period, and the book, which was written, was what is called +‘illuminated,’ with beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The +brothers admiring it very much, their mother said, ‘I will give it to +that one of you four princes who first learns to read.’ Alfred sought +out a tutor that very day, applied himself to learn with great +diligence, and soon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life. + +This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine battles +with the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by which the false +Danes swore they would quit the country. They pretended to consider +that they had taken a very solemn oath, in swearing this upon the holy +bracelets that they wore, and which were always buried with them when +they died; but they cared little for it, for they thought nothing of +breaking oaths and treaties too, as soon as it suited their purpose, +and coming back again to fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal +winter, in the fourth year of King Alfred’s reign, they spread +themselves in great numbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed +and routed the King’s soldiers that the King was left alone, and was +obliged to disguise himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in +the cottage of one of his cowherds who did not know his face. + +Here, King Alfred, while the Danes sought him far and near, was left +alone one day, by the cowherd’s wife, to watch some cakes which she put +to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his bow and arrows, +with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when a brighter time +should come, and thinking deeply of his poor unhappy subjects whom the +Danes chased through the land, his noble mind forgot the cakes, and +they were burnt. ‘What!’ said the cowherd’s wife, who scolded him well +when she came back, and little thought she was scolding the King, ‘you +will be ready enough to eat them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch +them, idle dog?’ + +At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes who +landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their flag; on +which was represented the likeness of a Raven—a very fit bird for a +thievish army like that, I think. The loss of their standard troubled +the Danes greatly, for they believed it to be enchanted—woven by the +three daughters of one father in a single afternoon—and they had a +story among themselves that when they were victorious in battle, the +Raven stretched his wings and seemed to fly; and that when they were +defeated, he would droop. He had good reason to droop, now, if he could +have done anything half so sensible; for, King Alfred joined the +Devonshire men; made a camp with them on a piece of firm ground in the +midst of a bog in Somersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for +vengeance on the Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people. + +But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those pestilent +Danes were, and how they were fortified, King Alfred, being a good +musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, and went, with +his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in the very tent of +Guthrum the Danish leader, and entertained the Danes as they caroused. +While he seemed to think of nothing but his music, he was watchful of +their tents, their arms, their discipline, everything that he desired +to know. And right soon did this great king entertain them to a +different tune; for, summoning all his true followers to meet him at an +appointed place, where they received him with joyful shouts and tears, +as the monarch whom many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put +himself at their head, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes +with great slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent +their escape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then, +instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that they should +altogether depart from that Western part of England, and settle in the +East; and that Guthrum should become a Christian, in remembrance of the +Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, the noble Alfred, to +forgive the enemy who had so often injured him. This, Guthrum did. At +his baptism, King Alfred was his godfather. And Guthrum was an +honourable chief who well deserved that clemency; for, ever afterwards +he was loyal and faithful to the king. The Danes under him were +faithful too. They plundered and burned no more, but worked like honest +men. They ploughed, and sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English +lives. And I hope the children of those Danes played, many a time, with +Saxon children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in +love with Saxon girls, and married them; and that English travellers, +benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often went in for shelter +until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by the red fire, friends, +talking of King Alfred the Great. + +All the Danes were not like these under Guthrum; for, after some years, +more of them came over, in the old plundering and burning way—among +them a fierce pirate of the name of Hastings, who had the boldness to +sail up the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships. For three years, +there was a war with these Danes; and there was a famine in the +country, too, and a plague, both upon human creatures and beasts. But +King Alfred, whose mighty heart never failed him, built large ships +nevertheless, with which to pursue the pirates on the sea; and he +encouraged his soldiers, by his brave example, to fight valiantly +against them on the shore. At last, he drove them all away; and then +there was repose in England. + +As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, King +Alfred never rested from his labours to improve his people. He loved to +talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreign countries, and +to write down what they told him, for his people to read. He had +studied Latin after learning to read English, and now another of his +labours was, to translate Latin books into the English-Saxon tongue, +that his people might be interested, and improved by their contents. He +made just laws, that they might live more happily and freely; he turned +away all partial judges, that no wrong might be done them; he was so +careful of their property, and punished robbers so severely, that it +was a common thing to say that under the great King Alfred, garlands of +golden chains and jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man +would have touched one. He founded schools; he patiently heard causes +himself in his Court of Justice; the great desires of his heart were, +to do right to all his subjects, and to leave England better, wiser, +happier in all ways, than he found it. His industry in these efforts +was quite astonishing. Every day he divided into certain portions, and +in each portion devoted himself to a certain pursuit. That he might +divide his time exactly, he had wax torches or candles made, which were +all of the same size, were notched across at regular distances, and +were always kept burning. Thus, as the candles burnt down, he divided +the day into notches, almost as accurately as we now divide it into +hours upon the clock. But when the candles were first invented, it was +found that the wind and draughts of air, blowing into the palace +through the doors and windows, and through the chinks in the walls, +caused them to gutter and burn unequally. To prevent this, the King had +them put into cases formed of wood and white horn. And these were the +first lanthorns ever made in England. + +All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, which +caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could relieve. He +bore it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life, like a brave +good man, until he was fifty-three years old; and then, having reigned +thirty years, he died. He died in the year nine hundred and one; but, +long ago as that is, his fame, and the love and gratitude with which +his subjects regarded him, are freshly remembered to the present hour. + +In the next reign, which was the reign of Edward, surnamed The Elder, +who was chosen in council to succeed, a nephew of King Alfred troubled +the country by trying to obtain the throne. The Danes in the East of +England took part with this usurper (perhaps because they had honoured +his uncle so much, and honoured him for his uncle’s sake), and there +was hard fighting; but, the King, with the assistance of his sister, +gained the day, and reigned in peace for four and twenty years. He +gradually extended his power over the whole of England, and so the +Seven Kingdoms were united into one. + +When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king, the +Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred and fifty +years. Great changes had taken place in its customs during that time. +The Saxons were still greedy eaters and great drinkers, and their +feasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind; but many new comforts +and even elegances had become known, and were fast increasing. Hangings +for the walls of rooms, where, in these modern days, we paste up paper, +are known to have been sometimes made of silk, ornamented with birds +and flowers in needlework. Tables and chairs were curiously carved in +different woods; were sometimes decorated with gold or silver; +sometimes even made of those precious metals. Knives and spoons were +used at table; golden ornaments were worn—with silk and cloth, and +golden tissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, +brass and bone. There were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads, +musical instruments. A harp was passed round, at a feast, like the +drinking-bowl, from guest to guest; and each one usually sang or played +when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutly made, and +among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly blows, and was +long remembered. The Saxons themselves were a handsome people. The men +were proud of their long fair hair, parted on the forehead; their ample +beards, their fresh complexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the +Saxon women filled all England with a new delight and grace. + +I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now, +because under the Great Alfred, all the best points of the +English-Saxon character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. +It has been the greatest character among the nations of the earth. +Wherever the descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, or +otherwise made their way, even to the remotest regions of the world, +they have been patient, persevering, never to be broken in spirit, +never to be turned aside from enterprises on which they have resolved. +In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the whole world over; in the desert, +in the forest, on the sea; scorched by a burning sun, or frozen by ice +that never melts; the Saxon blood remains unchanged. Wheresoever that +race goes, there, law, and industry, and safety for life and property, +and all the great results of steady perseverance, are certain to arise. + +I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in his single +person, possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortune could not +subdue, whom prosperity could not spoil, whose perseverance nothing +could shake. Who was hopeful in defeat, and generous in success. Who +loved justice, freedom, truth, and knowledge. Who, in his care to +instruct his people, probably did more to preserve the beautiful old +Saxon language, than I can imagine. Without whom, the English tongue in +which I tell this story might have wanted half its meaning. As it is +said that his spirit still inspires some of our best English laws, so, +let you and I pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least to +this—to resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in +ignorance, that we will do our best, while life is in us, to have them +taught; and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to teach them, and +who neglect their duty, that they have profited very little by all the +years that have rolled away since the year nine hundred and one, and +that they are far behind the bright example of King Alfred the Great. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + + +Athelstan, the son of Edward the Elder, succeeded that king. He reigned +only fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his grandfather, the +great Alfred, and governed England well. He reduced the turbulent +people of Wales, and obliged them to pay him a tribute in money, and in +cattle, and to send him their best hawks and hounds. He was victorious +over the Cornish men, who were not yet quite under the Saxon +government. He restored such of the old laws as were good, and had +fallen into disuse; made some wise new laws, and took care of the poor +and weak. A strong alliance, made against him by Anlaf a Danish prince, +Constantine King of the Scots, and the people of North Wales, he broke +and defeated in one great battle, long famous for the vast numbers +slain in it. After that, he had a quiet reign; the lords and ladies +about him had leisure to become polite and agreeable; and foreign +princes were glad (as they have sometimes been since) to come to +England on visits to the English court. + +When Athelstan died, at forty-seven years old, his brother Edmund, who +was only eighteen, became king. He was the first of six boy-kings, as +you will presently know. + +They called him the Magnificent, because he showed a taste for +improvement and refinement. But he was beset by the Danes, and had a +short and troubled reign, which came to a troubled end. One night, when +he was feasting in his hall, and had eaten much and drunk deep, he saw, +among the company, a noted robber named Leof, who had been banished +from England. Made very angry by the boldness of this man, the King +turned to his cup-bearer, and said, ‘There is a robber sitting at the +table yonder, who, for his crimes, is an outlaw in the land—a hunted +wolf, whose life any man may take, at any time. Command that robber to +depart!’ ‘I will not depart!’ said Leof. ‘No?’ cried the King. ‘No, by +the Lord!’ said Leof. Upon that the King rose from his seat, and, +making passionately at the robber, and seizing him by his long hair, +tried to throw him down. But the robber had a dagger underneath his +cloak, and, in the scuffle, stabbed the King to death. That done, he +set his back against the wall, and fought so desperately, that although +he was soon cut to pieces by the King’s armed men, and the wall and +pavement were splashed with his blood, yet it was not before he had +killed and wounded many of them. You may imagine what rough lives the +kings of those times led, when one of them could struggle, half drunk, +with a public robber in his own dining-hall, and be stabbed in presence +of the company who ate and drank with him. + +Then succeeded the boy-king Edred, who was weak and sickly in body, but +of a strong mind. And his armies fought the Northmen, the Danes, and +Norwegians, or the Sea-Kings, as they were called, and beat them for +the time. And, in nine years, Edred died, and passed away. + +Then came the boy-king Edwy, fifteen years of age; but the real king, +who had the real power, was a monk named Dunstan—a clever priest, a +little mad, and not a little proud and cruel. + +Dunstan was then Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, whither the body of King +Edmund the Magnificent was carried, to be buried. While yet a boy, he +had got out of his bed one night (being then in a fever), and walked +about Glastonbury Church when it was under repair; and, because he did +not tumble off some scaffolds that were there, and break his neck, it +was reported that he had been shown over the building by an angel. He +had also made a harp that was said to play of itself—which it very +likely did, as Æolian Harps, which are played by the wind, and are +understood now, always do. For these wonders he had been once denounced +by his enemies, who were jealous of his favour with the late King +Athelstan, as a magician; and he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, +and thrown into a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a +great deal of trouble yet. + +The priests of those days were, generally, the only scholars. They were +learned in many things. Having to make their own convents and +monasteries on uncultivated grounds that were granted to them by the +Crown, it was necessary that they should be good farmers and good +gardeners, or their lands would have been too poor to support them. For +the decoration of the chapels where they prayed, and for the comfort of +the refectories where they ate and drank, it was necessary that there +should be good carpenters, good smiths, good painters, among them. For +their greater safety in sickness and accident, living alone by +themselves in solitary places, it was necessary that they should study +the virtues of plants and herbs, and should know how to dress cuts, +burns, scalds, and bruises, and how to set broken limbs. Accordingly, +they taught themselves, and one another, a great variety of useful +arts; and became skilful in agriculture, medicine, surgery, and +handicraft. And when they wanted the aid of any little piece of +machinery, which would be simple enough now, but was marvellous then, +to impose a trick upon the poor peasants, they knew very well how to +make it; and _did_ make it many a time and often, I have no doubt. + +Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was one of the most sagacious of +these monks. He was an ingenious smith, and worked at a forge in a +little cell. This cell was made too short to admit of his lying at full +length when he went to sleep—as if _that_ did any good to anybody!—and +he used to tell the most extraordinary lies about demons and spirits, +who, he said, came there to persecute him. For instance, he related +that one day when he was at work, the devil looked in at the little +window, and tried to tempt him to lead a life of idle pleasure; +whereupon, having his pincers in the fire, red hot, he seized the devil +by the nose, and put him to such pain, that his bellowings were heard +for miles and miles. Some people are inclined to think this nonsense a +part of Dunstan’s madness (for his head never quite recovered the +fever), but I think not. I observe that it induced the ignorant people +to consider him a holy man, and that it made him very powerful. Which +was exactly what he always wanted. + +On the day of the coronation of the handsome boy-king Edwy, it was +remarked by Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was a Dane by birth), +that the King quietly left the coronation feast, while all the company +were there. Odo, much displeased, sent his friend Dunstan to seek him. +Dunstan finding him in the company of his beautiful young wife Elgiva, +and her mother Ethelgiva, a good and virtuous lady, not only grossly +abused them, but dragged the young King back into the feasting-hall by +force. Some, again, think Dunstan did this because the young King’s +fair wife was his own cousin, and the monks objected to people marrying +their own cousins; but I believe he did it, because he was an +imperious, audacious, ill-conditioned priest, who, having loved a young +lady himself before he became a sour monk, hated all love now, and +everything belonging to it. + +The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. Dunstan had +been Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan with +having taken some of the last king’s money. The Glastonbury Abbot fled +to Belgium (very narrowly escaping some pursuers who were sent to put +out his eyes, as you will wish they had, when you read what follows), +and his abbey was given to priests who were married; whom he always, +both before and afterwards, opposed. But he quickly conspired with his +friend, Odo the Dane, to set up the King’s young brother, Edgar, as his +rival for the throne; and, not content with this revenge, he caused the +beautiful queen Elgiva, though a lovely girl of only seventeen or +eighteen, to be stolen from one of the Royal Palaces, branded in the +cheek with a red-hot iron, and sold into slavery in Ireland. But the +Irish people pitied and befriended her; and they said, ‘Let us restore +the girl-queen to the boy-king, and make the young lovers happy!’ and +they cured her of her cruel wound, and sent her home as beautiful as +before. But the villain Dunstan, and that other villain, Odo, caused +her to be waylaid at Gloucester as she was joyfully hurrying to join +her husband, and to be hacked and hewn with swords, and to be +barbarously maimed and lamed, and left to die. When Edwy the Fair (his +people called him so, because he was so young and handsome) heard of +her dreadful fate, he died of a broken heart; and so the pitiful story +of the poor young wife and husband ends! Ah! Better to be two cottagers +in these better times, than king and queen of England in those bad +days, though never so fair! + +Then came the boy-king, Edgar, called the Peaceful, fifteen years old. +Dunstan, being still the real king, drove all married priests out of +the monasteries and abbeys, and replaced them by solitary monks like +himself, of the rigid order called the Benedictines. He made himself +Archbishop of Canterbury, for his greater glory; and exercised such +power over the neighbouring British princes, and so collected them +about the King, that once, when the King held his court at Chester, and +went on the river Dee to visit the monastery of St. John, the eight +oars of his boat were pulled (as the people used to delight in relating +in stories and songs) by eight crowned kings, and steered by the King +of England. As Edgar was very obedient to Dunstan and the monks, they +took great pains to represent him as the best of kings. But he was +really profligate, debauched, and vicious. He once forcibly carried off +a young lady from the convent at Wilton; and Dunstan, pretending to be +very much shocked, condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head +for seven years—no great punishment, I dare say, as it can hardly have +been a more comfortable ornament to wear, than a stewpan without a +handle. His marriage with his second wife, Elfrida, is one of the worst +events of his reign. Hearing of the beauty of this lady, he despatched +his favourite courtier, Athelwold, to her father’s castle in +Devonshire, to see if she were really as charming as fame reported. +Now, she was so exceedingly beautiful that Athelwold fell in love with +her himself, and married her; but he told the King that she was only +rich—not handsome. The King, suspecting the truth when they came home, +resolved to pay the newly-married couple a visit; and, suddenly, told +Athelwold to prepare for his immediate coming. Athelwold, terrified, +confessed to his young wife what he had said and done, and implored her +to disguise her beauty by some ugly dress or silly manner, that he +might be safe from the King’s anger. She promised that she would; but +she was a proud woman, who would far rather have been a queen than the +wife of a courtier. She dressed herself in her best dress, and adorned +herself with her richest jewels; and when the King came, presently, he +discovered the cheat. So, he caused his false friend, Athelwold, to be +murdered in a wood, and married his widow, this bad Elfrida. Six or +seven years afterwards, he died; and was buried, as if he had been all +that the monks said he was, in the abbey of Glastonbury, which he—or +Dunstan for him—had much enriched. + +England, in one part of this reign, was so troubled by wolves, which, +driven out of the open country, hid themselves in the mountains of +Wales when they were not attacking travellers and animals, that the +tribute payable by the Welsh people was forgiven them, on condition of +their producing, every year, three hundred wolves’ heads. And the +Welshmen were so sharp upon the wolves, to save their money, that in +four years there was not a wolf left. + +Then came the boy-king, Edward, called the Martyr, from the manner of +his death. Elfrida had a son, named Ethelred, for whom she claimed the +throne; but Dunstan did not choose to favour him, and he made Edward +king. The boy was hunting, one day, down in Dorsetshire, when he rode +near to Corfe Castle, where Elfrida and Ethelred lived. Wishing to see +them kindly, he rode away from his attendants and galloped to the +castle gate, where he arrived at twilight, and blew his hunting-horn. +‘You are welcome, dear King,’ said Elfrida, coming out, with her +brightest smiles. ‘Pray you dismount and enter.’ ‘Not so, dear madam,’ +said the King. ‘My company will miss me, and fear that I have met with +some harm. Please you to give me a cup of wine, that I may drink here, +in the saddle, to you and to my little brother, and so ride away with +the good speed I have made in riding here.’ Elfrida, going in to bring +the wine, whispered to an armed servant, one of her attendants, who +stole out of the darkening gateway, and crept round behind the King’s +horse. As the King raised the cup to his lips, saying, ‘Health!’ to the +wicked woman who was smiling on him, and to his innocent brother whose +hand she held in hers, and who was only ten years old, this armed man +made a spring and stabbed him in the back. He dropped the cup and +spurred his horse away; but, soon fainting with loss of blood, dropped +from the saddle, and, in his fall, entangled one of his feet in the +stirrup. The frightened horse dashed on; trailing his rider’s curls +upon the ground; dragging his smooth young face through ruts, and +stones, and briers, and fallen leaves, and mud; until the hunters, +tracking the animal’s course by the King’s blood, caught his bridle, +and released the disfigured body. + +Then came the sixth and last of the boy-kings, Ethelred, whom Elfrida, +when he cried out at the sight of his murdered brother riding away from +the castle gate, unmercifully beat with a torch which she snatched from +one of the attendants. The people so disliked this boy, on account of +his cruel mother and the murder she had done to promote him, that +Dunstan would not have had him for king, but would have made Edgitha, +the daughter of the dead King Edgar, and of the lady whom he stole out +of the convent at Wilton, Queen of England, if she would have +consented. But she knew the stories of the youthful kings too well, and +would not be persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so, +Dunstan put Ethelred on the throne, having no one else to put there, +and gave him the nickname of The Unready—knowing that he wanted +resolution and firmness. + +At first, Elfrida possessed great influence over the young King, but, +as he grew older and came of age, her influence declined. The infamous +woman, not having it in her power to do any more evil, then retired +from court, and, according, to the fashion of the time, built churches +and monasteries, to expiate her guilt. As if a church, with a steeple +reaching to the very stars, would have been any sign of true repentance +for the blood of the poor boy, whose murdered form was trailed at his +horse’s heels! As if she could have buried her wickedness beneath the +senseless stones of the whole world, piled up one upon another, for the +monks to live in! + +About the ninth or tenth year of this reign, Dunstan died. He was +growing old then, but was as stern and artful as ever. Two +circumstances that happened in connexion with him, in this reign of +Ethelred, made a great noise. Once, he was present at a meeting of the +Church, when the question was discussed whether priests should have +permission to marry; and, as he sat with his head hung down, apparently +thinking about it, a voice seemed to come out of a crucifix in the +room, and warn the meeting to be of his opinion. This was some juggling +of Dunstan’s, and was probably his own voice disguised. But he played +off a worse juggle than that, soon afterwards; for, another meeting +being held on the same subject, and he and his supporters being seated +on one side of a great room, and their opponents on the other, he rose +and said, ‘To Christ himself, as judge, do I commit this cause!’ +Immediately on these words being spoken, the floor where the opposite +party sat gave way, and some were killed and many wounded. You may be +pretty sure that it had been weakened under Dunstan’s direction, and +that it fell at Dunstan’s signal. _His_ part of the floor did not go +down. No, no. He was too good a workman for that. + +When he died, the monks settled that he was a Saint, and called him +Saint Dunstan ever afterwards. They might just as well have settled +that he was a coach-horse, and could just as easily have called him +one. + +Ethelred the Unready was glad enough, I dare say, to be rid of this +holy saint; but, left to himself, he was a poor weak king, and his +reign was a reign of defeat and shame. The restless Danes, led by +Sweyn, a son of the King of Denmark who had quarrelled with his father +and had been banished from home, again came into England, and, year +after year, attacked and despoiled large towns. To coax these sea-kings +away, the weak Ethelred paid them money; but, the more money he paid, +the more money the Danes wanted. At first, he gave them ten thousand +pounds; on their next invasion, sixteen thousand pounds; on their next +invasion, four and twenty thousand pounds: to pay which large sums, the +unfortunate English people were heavily taxed. But, as the Danes still +came back and wanted more, he thought it would be a good plan to marry +into some powerful foreign family that would help him with soldiers. +So, in the year one thousand and two, he courted and married Emma, the +sister of Richard Duke of Normandy; a lady who was called the Flower of +Normandy. + +And now, a terrible deed was done in England, the like of which was +never done on English ground before or since. On the thirteenth of +November, in pursuance of secret instructions sent by the King over the +whole country, the inhabitants of every town and city armed, and +murdered all the Danes who were their neighbours. + +Young and old, babies and soldiers, men and women, every Dane was +killed. No doubt there were among them many ferocious men who had done +the English great wrong, and whose pride and insolence, in swaggering +in the houses of the English and insulting their wives and daughters, +had become unbearable; but no doubt there were also among them many +peaceful Christian Danes who had married English women and become like +English men. They were all slain, even to Gunhilda, the sister of the +King of Denmark, married to an English lord; who was first obliged to +see the murder of her husband and her child, and then was killed +herself. + +When the King of the sea-kings heard of this deed of blood, he swore +that he would have a great revenge. He raised an army, and a mightier +fleet of ships than ever yet had sailed to England; and in all his army +there was not a slave or an old man, but every soldier was a free man, +and the son of a free man, and in the prime of life, and sworn to be +revenged upon the English nation, for the massacre of that dread +thirteenth of November, when his countrymen and countrywomen, and the +little children whom they loved, were killed with fire and sword. And +so, the sea-kings came to England in many great ships, each bearing the +flag of its own commander. Golden eagles, ravens, dragons, dolphins, +beasts of prey, threatened England from the prows of those ships, as +they came onward through the water; and were reflected in the shining +shields that hung upon their sides. The ship that bore the standard of +the King of the sea-kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent; +and the King in his anger prayed that the Gods in whom he trusted might +all desert him, if his serpent did not strike its fangs into England’s +heart. + +And indeed it did. For, the great army landing from the great fleet, +near Exeter, went forward, laying England waste, and striking their +lances in the earth as they advanced, or throwing them into rivers, in +token of their making all the island theirs. In remembrance of the +black November night when the Danes were murdered, wheresoever the +invaders came, they made the Saxons prepare and spread for them great +feasts; and when they had eaten those feasts, and had drunk a curse to +England with wild rejoicings, they drew their swords, and killed their +Saxon entertainers, and marched on. For six long years they carried on +this war: burning the crops, farmhouses, barns, mills, granaries; +killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being +sown in the ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only heaps +of ruin and smoking ashes, where they had found rich towns. To crown +this misery, English officers and men deserted, and even the favourites +of Ethelred the Unready, becoming traitors, seized many of the English +ships, turned pirates against their own country, and aided by a storm +occasioned the loss of nearly the whole English navy. + +There was but one man of note, at this miserable pass, who was true to +his country and the feeble King. He was a priest, and a brave one. For +twenty days, the Archbishop of Canterbury defended that city against +its Danish besiegers; and when a traitor in the town threw the gates +open and admitted them, he said, in chains, ‘I will not buy my life +with money that must be extorted from the suffering people. Do with me +what you please!’ Again and again, he steadily refused to purchase his +release with gold wrung from the poor. + +At last, the Danes being tired of this, and being assembled at a +drunken merry-making, had him brought into the feasting-hall. + +‘Now, bishop,’ they said, ‘we want gold!’ + +He looked round on the crowd of angry faces; from the shaggy beards +close to him, to the shaggy beards against the walls, where men were +mounted on tables and forms to see him over the heads of others: and he +knew that his time was come. + +‘I have no gold,’ he said. + +‘Get it, bishop!’ they all thundered. + +‘That, I have often told you I will not,’ said he. + +They gathered closer round him, threatening, but he stood unmoved. +Then, one man struck him; then, another; then a cursing soldier picked +up from a heap in a corner of the hall, where fragments had been rudely +thrown at dinner, a great ox-bone, and cast it at his face, from which +the blood came spurting forth; then, others ran to the same heap, and +knocked him down with other bones, and bruised and battered him; until +one soldier whom he had baptised (willing, as I hope for the sake of +that soldier’s soul, to shorten the sufferings of the good man) struck +him dead with his battle-axe. + +If Ethelred had had the heart to emulate the courage of this noble +archbishop, he might have done something yet. But he paid the Danes +forty-eight thousand pounds, instead, and gained so little by the +cowardly act, that Sweyn soon afterwards came over to subdue all +England. So broken was the attachment of the English people, by this +time, to their incapable King and their forlorn country which could not +protect them, that they welcomed Sweyn on all sides, as a deliverer. +London faithfully stood out, as long as the King was within its walls; +but, when he sneaked away, it also welcomed the Dane. Then, all was +over; and the King took refuge abroad with the Duke of Normandy, who +had already given shelter to the King’s wife, once the Flower of that +country, and to her children. + +Still, the English people, in spite of their sad sufferings, could not +quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. When Sweyn died +suddenly, in little more than a month after he had been proclaimed King +of England, they generously sent to Ethelred, to say that they would +have him for their King again, ‘if he would only govern them better +than he had governed them before.’ The Unready, instead of coming +himself, sent Edward, one of his sons, to make promises for him. At +last, he followed, and the English declared him King. The Danes +declared Canute, the son of Sweyn, King. Thus, direful war began again, +and lasted for three years, when the Unready died. And I know of +nothing better that he did, in all his reign of eight and thirty years. + +Was Canute to be King now? Not over the Saxons, they said; they must +have Edmund, one of the sons of the Unready, who was surnamed Ironside, +because of his strength and stature. Edmund and Canute thereupon fell +to, and fought five battles—O unhappy England, what a fighting-ground +it was!—and then Ironside, who was a big man, proposed to Canute, who +was a little man, that they two should fight it out in single combat. +If Canute had been the big man, he would probably have said yes, but, +being the little man, he decidedly said no. However, he declared that +he was willing to divide the kingdom—to take all that lay north of +Watling Street, as the old Roman military road from Dover to Chester +was called, and to give Ironside all that lay south of it. Most men +being weary of so much bloodshed, this was done. But Canute soon became +sole King of England; for Ironside died suddenly within two months. +Some think that he was killed, and killed by Canute’s orders. No one +knows. + + + + +CHAPTER V +ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + + +Canute reigned eighteen years. He was a merciless King at first. After +he had clasped the hands of the Saxon chiefs, in token of the sincerity +with which he swore to be just and good to them in return for their +acknowledging him, he denounced and slew many of them, as well as many +relations of the late King. ‘He who brings me the head of one of my +enemies,’ he used to say, ‘shall be dearer to me than a brother.’ And +he was so severe in hunting down his enemies, that he must have got +together a pretty large family of these dear brothers. He was strongly +inclined to kill Edmund and Edward, two children, sons of poor +Ironside; but, being afraid to do so in England, he sent them over to +the King of Sweden, with a request that the King would be so good as +‘dispose of them.’ If the King of Sweden had been like many, many other +men of that day, he would have had their innocent throats cut; but he +was a kind man, and brought them up tenderly. + +Normandy ran much in Canute’s mind. In Normandy were the two children +of the late king—Edward and Alfred by name; and their uncle the Duke +might one day claim the crown for them. But the Duke showed so little +inclination to do so now, that he proposed to Canute to marry his +sister, the widow of The Unready; who, being but a showy flower, and +caring for nothing so much as becoming a queen again, left her children +and was wedded to him. + +Successful and triumphant, assisted by the valour of the English in his +foreign wars, and with little strife to trouble him at home, Canute had +a prosperous reign, and made many improvements. He was a poet and a +musician. He grew sorry, as he grew older, for the blood he had shed at +first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim’s dress, by way of washing it out. +He gave a great deal of money to foreigners on his journey; but he took +it from the English before he started. On the whole, however, he +certainly became a far better man when he had no opposition to contend +with, and was as great a King as England had known for some time. + +The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day disgusted +with his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused his chair to +be set on the sea-shore, and feigned to command the tide as it came up +not to wet the edge of his robe, for the land was his; how the tide +came up, of course, without regarding him; and how he then turned to +his flatterers, and rebuked them, saying, what was the might of any +earthly king, to the might of the Creator, who could say unto the sea, +‘Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther!’ We may learn from this, I +think, that a little sense will go a long way in a king; and that +courtiers are not easily cured of flattery, nor kings of a liking for +it. If the courtiers of Canute had not known, long before, that the +King was fond of flattery, they would have known better than to offer +it in such large doses. And if they had not known that he was vain of +this speech (anything but a wonderful speech it seems to me, if a good +child had made it), they would not have been at such great pains to +repeat it. I fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the King’s +chair sinking in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour with his +own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending to be quite stunned by it! + +It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go ‘thus far, and no +farther.’ The great command goes forth to all the kings upon the earth, +and went to Canute in the year one thousand and thirty-five, and +stretched him dead upon his bed. Beside it, stood his Norman wife. +Perhaps, as the King looked his last upon her, he, who had so often +thought distrustfully of Normandy, long ago, thought once more of the +two exiled Princes in their uncle’s court, and of the little favour +they could feel for either Danes or Saxons, and of a rising cloud in +Normandy that slowly moved towards England. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR + + +Canute left three sons, by name Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute; but his +Queen, Emma, once the Flower of Normandy, was the mother of only +Hardicanute. Canute had wished his dominions to be divided between the +three, and had wished Harold to have England; but the Saxon people in +the South of England, headed by a nobleman with great possessions, +called the powerful Earl Godwin (who is said to have been originally a +poor cow-boy), opposed this, and desired to have, instead, either +Hardicanute, or one of the two exiled Princes who were over in +Normandy. It seemed so certain that there would be more bloodshed to +settle this dispute, that many people left their homes, and took refuge +in the woods and swamps. Happily, however, it was agreed to refer the +whole question to a great meeting at Oxford, which decided that Harold +should have all the country north of the Thames, with London for his +capital city, and that Hardicanute should have all the south. The +quarrel was so arranged; and, as Hardicanute was in Denmark troubling +himself very little about anything but eating and getting drunk, his +mother and Earl Godwin governed the south for him. + +They had hardly begun to do so, and the trembling people who had hidden +themselves were scarcely at home again, when Edward, the elder of the +two exiled Princes, came over from Normandy with a few followers, to +claim the English Crown. His mother Emma, however, who only cared for +her last son Hardicanute, instead of assisting him, as he expected, +opposed him so strongly with all her influence that he was very soon +glad to get safely back. His brother Alfred was not so fortunate. +Believing in an affectionate letter, written some time afterwards to +him and his brother, in his mother’s name (but whether really with or +without his mother’s knowledge is now uncertain), he allowed himself to +be tempted over to England, with a good force of soldiers, and landing +on the Kentish coast, and being met and welcomed by Earl Godwin, +proceeded into Surrey, as far as the town of Guildford. Here, he and +his men halted in the evening to rest, having still the Earl in their +company; who had ordered lodgings and good cheer for them. But, in the +dead of the night, when they were off their guard, being divided into +small parties sleeping soundly after a long march and a plentiful +supper in different houses, they were set upon by the King’s troops, +and taken prisoners. Next morning they were drawn out in a line, to the +number of six hundred men, and were barbarously tortured and killed; +with the exception of every tenth man, who was sold into slavery. As to +the wretched Prince Alfred, he was stripped naked, tied to a horse and +sent away into the Isle of Ely, where his eyes were torn out of his +head, and where in a few days he miserably died. I am not sure that the +Earl had wilfully entrapped him, but I suspect it strongly. + +Harold was now King all over England, though it is doubtful whether the +Archbishop of Canterbury (the greater part of the priests were Saxons, +and not friendly to the Danes) ever consented to crown him. Crowned or +uncrowned, with the Archbishop’s leave or without it, he was King for +four years: after which short reign he died, and was buried; having +never done much in life but go a hunting. He was such a fast runner at +this, his favourite sport, that the people called him Harold Harefoot. + +Hardicanute was then at Bruges, in Flanders, plotting, with his mother +(who had gone over there after the cruel murder of Prince Alfred), for +the invasion of England. The Danes and Saxons, finding themselves +without a King, and dreading new disputes, made common cause, and +joined in inviting him to occupy the Throne. He consented, and soon +troubled them enough; for he brought over numbers of Danes, and taxed +the people so insupportably to enrich those greedy favourites that +there were many insurrections, especially one at Worcester, where the +citizens rose and killed his tax-collectors; in revenge for which he +burned their city. He was a brutal King, whose first public act was to +order the dead body of poor Harold Harefoot to be dug up, beheaded, and +thrown into the river. His end was worthy of such a beginning. He fell +down drunk, with a goblet of wine in his hand, at a wedding-feast at +Lambeth, given in honour of the marriage of his standard-bearer, a Dane +named Towed the Proud. And he never spoke again. + +Edward, afterwards called by the monks The Confessor, succeeded; and +his first act was to oblige his mother Emma, who had favoured him so +little, to retire into the country; where she died some ten years +afterwards. He was the exiled prince whose brother Alfred had been so +foully killed. He had been invited over from Normandy by Hardicanute, +in the course of his short reign of two years, and had been handsomely +treated at court. His cause was now favoured by the powerful Earl +Godwin, and he was soon made King. This Earl had been suspected by the +people, ever since Prince Alfred’s cruel death; he had even been tried +in the last reign for the Prince’s murder, but had been pronounced not +guilty; chiefly, as it was supposed, because of a present he had made +to the swinish King, of a gilded ship with a figure-head of solid gold, +and a crew of eighty splendidly armed men. It was his interest to help +the new King with his power, if the new King would help him against the +popular distrust and hatred. So they made a bargain. Edward the +Confessor got the Throne. The Earl got more power and more land, and +his daughter Editha was made queen; for it was a part of their compact +that the King should take her for his wife. + +But, although she was a gentle lady, in all things worthy to be +beloved—good, beautiful, sensible, and kind—the King from the first +neglected her. Her father and her six proud brothers, resenting this +cold treatment, harassed the King greatly by exerting all their power +to make him unpopular. Having lived so long in Normandy, he preferred +the Normans to the English. He made a Norman Archbishop, and Norman +Bishops; his great officers and favourites were all Normans; he +introduced the Norman fashions and the Norman language; in imitation of +the state custom of Normandy, he attached a great seal to his state +documents, instead of merely marking them, as the Saxon Kings had done, +with the sign of the cross—just as poor people who have never been +taught to write, now make the same mark for their names. All this, the +powerful Earl Godwin and his six proud sons represented to the people +as disfavour shown towards the English; and thus they daily increased +their own power, and daily diminished the power of the King. + +They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned +eight years. Eustace, Earl of Bologne, who had married the King’s +sister, came to England on a visit. After staying at the court some +time, he set forth, with his numerous train of attendants, to return +home. They were to embark at Dover. Entering that peaceful town in +armour, they took possession of the best houses, and noisily demanded +to be lodged and entertained without payment. One of the bold men of +Dover, who would not endure to have these domineering strangers +jingling their heavy swords and iron corselets up and down his house, +eating his meat and drinking his strong liquor, stood in his doorway +and refused admission to the first armed man who came there. The armed +man drew, and wounded him. The man of Dover struck the armed man dead. +Intelligence of what he had done, spreading through the streets to +where the Count Eustace and his men were standing by their horses, +bridle in hand, they passionately mounted, galloped to the house, +surrounded it, forced their way in (the doors and windows being closed +when they came up), and killed the man of Dover at his own fireside. +They then clattered through the streets, cutting down and riding over +men, women, and children. This did not last long, you may believe. The +men of Dover set upon them with great fury, killed nineteen of the +foreigners, wounded many more, and, blockading the road to the port so +that they should not embark, beat them out of the town by the way they +had come. Hereupon, Count Eustace rides as hard as man can ride to +Gloucester, where Edward is, surrounded by Norman monks and Norman +lords. ‘Justice!’ cries the Count, ‘upon the men of Dover, who have set +upon and slain my people!’ The King sends immediately for the powerful +Earl Godwin, who happens to be near; reminds him that Dover is under +his government; and orders him to repair to Dover and do military +execution on the inhabitants. ‘It does not become you,’ says the proud +Earl in reply, ‘to condemn without a hearing those whom you have sworn +to protect. I will not do it.’ + +The King, therefore, summoned the Earl, on pain of banishment and loss +of his titles and property, to appear before the court to answer this +disobedience. The Earl refused to appear. He, his eldest son Harold, +and his second son Sweyn, hastily raised as many fighting men as their +utmost power could collect, and demanded to have Count Eustace and his +followers surrendered to the justice of the country. The King, in his +turn, refused to give them up, and raised a strong force. After some +treaty and delay, the troops of the great Earl and his sons began to +fall off. The Earl, with a part of his family and abundance of +treasure, sailed to Flanders; Harold escaped to Ireland; and the power +of the great family was for that time gone in England. But, the people +did not forget them. + +Then, Edward the Confessor, with the true meanness of a mean spirit, +visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons upon the +helpless daughter and sister, his unoffending wife, whom all who saw +her (her husband and his monks excepted) loved. He seized rapaciously +upon her fortune and her jewels, and allowing her only one attendant, +confined her in a gloomy convent, of which a sister of his—no doubt an +unpleasant lady after his own heart—was abbess or jailer. + +Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way, the King +favoured the Normans more than ever. He invited over William, Duke Of +Normandy, the son of that Duke who had received him and his murdered +brother long ago, and of a peasant girl, a tanner’s daughter, with whom +that Duke had fallen in love for her beauty as he saw her washing +clothes in a brook. William, who was a great warrior, with a passion +for fine horses, dogs, and arms, accepted the invitation; and the +Normans in England, finding themselves more numerous than ever when he +arrived with his retinue, and held in still greater honour at court +than before, became more and more haughty towards the people, and were +more and more disliked by them. + +The old Earl Godwin, though he was abroad, knew well how the people +felt; for, with part of the treasure he had carried away with him, he +kept spies and agents in his pay all over England. + +Accordingly, he thought the time was come for fitting out a great +expedition against the Norman-loving King. With it, he sailed to the +Isle of Wight, where he was joined by his son Harold, the most gallant +and brave of all his family. And so the father and son came sailing up +the Thames to Southwark; great numbers of the people declaring for +them, and shouting for the English Earl and the English Harold, against +the Norman favourites! + +The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have been +whensoever they have been in the hands of monks. But the people rallied +so thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the old Earl was so +steady in demanding without bloodshed the restoration of himself and +his family to their rights, that at last the court took the alarm. The +Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Norman Bishop of London, +surrounded by their retainers, fought their way out of London, and +escaped from Essex to France in a fishing-boat. The other Norman +favourites dispersed in all directions. The old Earl and his sons +(except Sweyn, who had committed crimes against the law) were restored +to their possessions and dignities. Editha, the virtuous and lovely +Queen of the insensible King, was triumphantly released from her +prison, the convent, and once more sat in her chair of state, arrayed +in the jewels of which, when she had no champion to support her rights, +her cold-blooded husband had deprived her. + +The old Earl Godwin did not long enjoy his restored fortune. He fell +down in a fit at the King’s table, and died upon the third day +afterwards. Harold succeeded to his power, and to a far higher place in +the attachment of the people than his father had ever held. By his +valour he subdued the King’s enemies in many bloody fights. He was +vigorous against rebels in Scotland—this was the time when Macbeth slew +Duncan, upon which event our English Shakespeare, hundreds of years +afterwards, wrote his great tragedy; and he killed the restless Welsh +King Griffith, and brought his head to England. + +What Harold was doing at sea, when he was driven on the French coast by +a tempest, is not at all certain; nor does it at all matter. That his +ship was forced by a storm on that shore, and that he was taken +prisoner, there is no doubt. In those barbarous days, all shipwrecked +strangers were taken prisoners, and obliged to pay ransom. So, a +certain Count Guy, who was the Lord of Ponthieu where Harold’s disaster +happened, seized him, instead of relieving him like a hospitable and +Christian lord as he ought to have done, and expected to make a very +good thing of it. + +But Harold sent off immediately to Duke William of Normandy, +complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than +he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen, where he +then was, and where he received him as an honoured guest. Now, some +writers tell us that Edward the Confessor, who was by this time old and +had no children, had made a will, appointing Duke William of Normandy +his successor, and had informed the Duke of his having done so. There +is no doubt that he was anxious about his successor; because he had +even invited over, from abroad, Edward the Outlaw, a son of Ironside, +who had come to England with his wife and three children, but whom the +King had strangely refused to see when he did come, and who had died in +London suddenly (princes were terribly liable to sudden death in those +days), and had been buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The King might +possibly have made such a will; or, having always been fond of the +Normans, he might have encouraged Norman William to aspire to the +English crown, by something that he said to him when he was staying at +the English court. But, certainly William did now aspire to it; and +knowing that Harold would be a powerful rival, he called together a +great assembly of his nobles, offered Harold his daughter Adele in +marriage, informed him that he meant on King Edward’s death to claim +the English crown as his own inheritance, and required Harold then and +there to swear to aid him. Harold, being in the Duke’s power, took this +oath upon the Missal, or Prayer-book. It is a good example of the +superstitions of the monks, that this Missal, instead of being placed +upon a table, was placed upon a tub; which, when Harold had sworn, was +uncovered, and shown to be full of dead men’s bones—bones, as the monks +pretended, of saints. This was supposed to make Harold’s oath a great +deal more impressive and binding. As if the great name of the Creator +of Heaven and earth could be made more solemn by a knuckle-bone, or a +double-tooth, or a finger-nail, of Dunstan! + +Within a week or two after Harold’s return to England, the dreary old +Confessor was found to be dying. After wandering in his mind like a +very weak old man, he died. As he had put himself entirely in the hands +of the monks when he was alive, they praised him lustily when he was +dead. They had gone so far, already, as to persuade him that he could +work miracles; and had brought people afflicted with a bad disorder of +the skin, to him, to be touched and cured. This was called ‘touching +for the King’s Evil,’ which afterwards became a royal custom. You know, +however, Who really touched the sick, and healed them; and you know His +sacred name is not among the dusty line of human kings. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE NORMANS + + +Harold was crowned King of England on the very day of the maudlin +Confessor’s funeral. He had good need to be quick about it. When the +news reached Norman William, hunting in his park at Rouen, he dropped +his bow, returned to his palace, called his nobles to council, and +presently sent ambassadors to Harold, calling on him to keep his oath +and resign the Crown. Harold would do no such thing. The barons of +France leagued together round Duke William for the invasion of England. +Duke William promised freely to distribute English wealth and English +lands among them. The Pope sent to Normandy a consecrated banner, and a +ring containing a hair which he warranted to have grown on the head of +Saint Peter. He blessed the enterprise; and cursed Harold; and +requested that the Normans would pay ‘Peter’s Pence’—or a tax to +himself of a penny a year on every house—a little more regularly in +future, if they could make it convenient. + +King Harold had a rebel brother in Flanders, who was a vassal of Harold +Hardrada, King of Norway. This brother, and this Norwegian King, +joining their forces against England, with Duke William’s help, won a +fight in which the English were commanded by two nobles; and then +besieged York. Harold, who was waiting for the Normans on the coast at +Hastings, with his army, marched to Stamford Bridge upon the river +Derwent to give them instant battle. + +He found them drawn up in a hollow circle, marked out by their shining +spears. Riding round this circle at a distance, to survey it, he saw a +brave figure on horseback, in a blue mantle and a bright helmet, whose +horse suddenly stumbled and threw him. + +‘Who is that man who has fallen?’ Harold asked of one of his captains. + +‘The King of Norway,’ he replied. + +‘He is a tall and stately king,’ said Harold, ‘but his end is near.’ + +He added, in a little while, ‘Go yonder to my brother, and tell him, if +he withdraw his troops, he shall be Earl of Northumberland, and rich +and powerful in England.’ + +The captain rode away and gave the message. + +‘What will he give to my friend the King of Norway?’ asked the brother. + +‘Seven feet of earth for a grave,’ replied the captain. + +‘No more?’ returned the brother, with a smile. + +‘The King of Norway being a tall man, perhaps a little more,’ replied +the captain. + +‘Ride back!’ said the brother, ‘and tell King Harold to make ready for +the fight!’ + +He did so, very soon. And such a fight King Harold led against that +force, that his brother, and the Norwegian King, and every chief of +note in all their host, except the Norwegian King’s son, Olave, to whom +he gave honourable dismissal, were left dead upon the field. The +victorious army marched to York. As King Harold sat there at the feast, +in the midst of all his company, a stir was heard at the doors; and +messengers all covered with mire from riding far and fast through +broken ground came hurrying in, to report that the Normans had landed +in England. + +The intelligence was true. They had been tossed about by contrary +winds, and some of their ships had been wrecked. A part of their own +shore, to which they had been driven back, was strewn with Norman +bodies. But they had once more made sail, led by the Duke’s own galley, +a present from his wife, upon the prow whereof the figure of a golden +boy stood pointing towards England. By day, the banner of the three +Lions of Normandy, the diverse coloured sails, the gilded vanes, the +many decorations of this gorgeous ship, had glittered in the sun and +sunny water; by night, a light had sparkled like a star at her +mast-head. And now, encamped near Hastings, with their leader lying in +the old Roman castle of Pevensey, the English retiring in all +directions, the land for miles around scorched and smoking, fired and +pillaged, was the whole Norman power, hopeful and strong on English +ground. + +Harold broke up the feast and hurried to London. Within a week, his +army was ready. He sent out spies to ascertain the Norman strength. +William took them, caused them to be led through his whole camp, and +then dismissed. ‘The Normans,’ said these spies to Harold, ‘are not +bearded on the upper lip as we English are, but are shorn. They are +priests.’ ‘My men,’ replied Harold, with a laugh, ‘will find those +priests good soldiers!’ + +‘The Saxons,’ reported Duke William’s outposts of Norman soldiers, who +were instructed to retire as King Harold’s army advanced, ‘rush on us +through their pillaged country with the fury of madmen.’ + +‘Let them come, and come soon!’ said Duke William. + +Some proposals for a reconciliation were made, but were soon abandoned. +In the middle of the month of October, in the year one thousand and +sixty-six, the Normans and the English came front to front. All night +the armies lay encamped before each other, in a part of the country +then called Senlac, now called (in remembrance of them) Battle. With +the first dawn of day, they arose. There, in the faint light, were the +English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their midst, the Royal +banner, representing a fighting warrior, woven in gold thread, adorned +with precious stones; beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, +stood King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his +side; around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole +English army—every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his +hand his dreaded English battle-axe. + +On an opposite hill, in three lines, archers, foot-soldiers, horsemen, +was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle-cry, ‘God help us!’ +burst from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own +battle-cry, ‘God’s Rood! Holy Rood!’ The Normans then came sweeping +down the hill to attack the English. + +There was one tall Norman Knight who rode before the Norman army on a +prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and +singing of the bravery of his countrymen. An English Knight, who rode +out from the English force to meet him, fell by this Knight’s hand. +Another English Knight rode out, and he fell too. But then a third rode +out, and killed the Norman. This was in the first beginning of the +fight. It soon raged everywhere. + +The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for +the showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman +rain. When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with their +battle-axes they cut men and horses down. The Normans gave way. The +English pressed forward. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that +Duke William was killed. Duke William took off his helmet, in order +that his face might be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before +his men. This gave them courage. As they turned again to face the +English, some of their Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the +English from the rest, and thus all that foremost portion of the +English army fell, fighting bravely. The main body still remaining +firm, heedless of the Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting +down the crowds of horsemen when they rode up, like forests of young +trees,—Duke William pretended to retreat. The eager English followed. +The Norman army closed again, and fell upon them with great slaughter. + +‘Still,’ said Duke William, ‘there are thousands of the English, firm +as rocks around their King. Shoot upward, Norman archers, that your +arrows may fall down upon their faces!’ + +The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through all +the wild October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. In the +red sunset, and in the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men +lay strewn, a dreadful spectacle, all over the ground. + +King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His +brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman Knights, whose battered +armour had flashed fiery and golden in the sunshine all day long, and +now looked silvery in the moonlight, dashed forward to seize the Royal +banner from the English Knights and soldiers, still faithfully +collected round their blinded King. The King received a mortal wound, +and dropped. The English broke and fled. The Normans rallied, and the +day was lost. + +O what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining in +the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the +spot where Harold fell—and he and his knights were carousing, +within—and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro, without, +sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead—and the Warrior, +worked in golden thread and precious stones, lay low, all torn and +soiled with blood—and the three Norman Lions kept watch over the field! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR + + +Upon the ground where the brave Harold fell, William the Norman +afterwards founded an abbey, which, under the name of Battle Abbey, was +a rich and splendid place through many a troubled year, though now it +is a grey ruin overgrown with ivy. But the first work he had to do, was +to conquer the English thoroughly; and that, as you know by this time, +was hard work for any man. + +He ravaged several counties; he burned and plundered many towns; he +laid waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country; he +destroyed innumerable lives. At length Stigand, Archbishop of +Canterbury, with other representatives of the clergy and the people, +went to his camp, and submitted to him. Edgar, the insignificant son of +Edmund Ironside, was proclaimed King by others, but nothing came of it. +He fled to Scotland afterwards, where his sister, who was young and +beautiful, married the Scottish King. Edgar himself was not important +enough for anybody to care much about him. + +On Christmas Day, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, under the +title of William the First; but he is best known as William the +Conqueror. It was a strange coronation. One of the bishops who +performed the ceremony asked the Normans, in French, if they would have +Duke William for their king? They answered Yes. Another of the bishops +put the same question to the Saxons, in English. They too answered Yes, +with a loud shout. The noise being heard by a guard of Norman +horse-soldiers outside, was mistaken for resistance on the part of the +English. The guard instantly set fire to the neighbouring houses, and a +tumult ensued; in the midst of which the King, being left alone in the +Abbey, with a few priests (and they all being in a terrible fright +together), was hurriedly crowned. When the crown was placed upon his +head, he swore to govern the English as well as the best of their own +monarchs. I dare say you think, as I do, that if we except the Great +Alfred, he might pretty easily have done that. + +Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last disastrous +battle. Their estates, and the estates of all the nobles who had fought +against him there, King William seized upon, and gave to his own Norman +knights and nobles. Many great English families of the present time +acquired their English lands in this way, and are very proud of it. + +But what is got by force must be maintained by force. These nobles were +obliged to build castles all over England, to defend their new +property; and, do what he would, the King could neither soothe nor +quell the nation as he wished. He gradually introduced the Norman +language and the Norman customs; yet, for a long time the great body of +the English remained sullen and revengeful. On his going over to +Normandy, to visit his subjects there, the oppressions of his +half-brother Odo, whom he left in charge of his English kingdom, drove +the people mad. The men of Kent even invited over, to take possession +of Dover, their old enemy Count Eustace of Boulogne, who had led the +fray when the Dover man was slain at his own fireside. The men of +Hereford, aided by the Welsh, and commanded by a chief named Edric the +Wild, drove the Normans out of their country. Some of those who had +been dispossessed of their lands, banded together in the North of +England; some, in Scotland; some, in the thick woods and marshes; and +whensoever they could fall upon the Normans, or upon the English who +had submitted to the Normans, they fought, despoiled, and murdered, +like the desperate outlaws that they were. Conspiracies were set on +foot for a general massacre of the Normans, like the old massacre of +the Danes. In short, the English were in a murderous mood all through +the kingdom. + +King William, fearing he might lose his conquest, came back, and tried +to pacify the London people by soft words. He then set forth to repress +the country people by stern deeds. Among the towns which he besieged, +and where he killed and maimed the inhabitants without any distinction, +sparing none, young or old, armed or unarmed, were Oxford, Warwick, +Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, York. In all these places, and +in many others, fire and sword worked their utmost horrors, and made +the land dreadful to behold. The streams and rivers were discoloured +with blood; the sky was blackened with smoke; the fields were wastes of +ashes; the waysides were heaped up with dead. Such are the fatal +results of conquest and ambition! Although William was a harsh and +angry man, I do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this +shocking ruin, when he invaded England. But what he had got by the +strong hand, he could only keep by the strong hand, and in so doing he +made England a great grave. + +Two sons of Harold, by name Edmund and Godwin, came over from Ireland, +with some ships, against the Normans, but were defeated. This was +scarcely done, when the outlaws in the woods so harassed York, that the +Governor sent to the King for help. The King despatched a general and a +large force to occupy the town of Durham. The Bishop of that place met +the general outside the town, and warned him not to enter, as he would +be in danger there. The general cared nothing for the warning, and went +in with all his men. That night, on every hill within sight of Durham, +signal fires were seen to blaze. When the morning dawned, the English, +who had assembled in great strength, forced the gates, rushed into the +town, and slew the Normans every one. The English afterwards besought +the Danes to come and help them. The Danes came, with two hundred and +forty ships. The outlawed nobles joined them; they captured York, and +drove the Normans out of that city. Then, William bribed the Danes to +go away; and took such vengeance on the English, that all the former +fire and sword, smoke and ashes, death and ruin, were nothing compared +with it. In melancholy songs, and doleful stories, it was still sung +and told by cottage fires on winter evenings, a hundred years +afterwards, how, in those dreadful days of the Normans, there was not, +from the River Humber to the River Tyne, one inhabited village left, +nor one cultivated field—how there was nothing but a dismal ruin, where +the human creatures and the beasts lay dead together. + +The outlaws had, at this time, what they called a Camp of Refuge, in +the midst of the fens of Cambridgeshire. Protected by those marshy +grounds which were difficult of approach, they lay among the reeds and +rushes, and were hidden by the mists that rose up from the watery +earth. Now, there also was, at that time, over the sea in Flanders, an +Englishman named Hereward, whose father had died in his absence, and +whose property had been given to a Norman. When he heard of this wrong +that had been done him (from such of the exiled English as chanced to +wander into that country), he longed for revenge; and joining the +outlaws in their camp of refuge, became their commander. He was so good +a soldier, that the Normans supposed him to be aided by enchantment. +William, even after he had made a road three miles in length across the +Cambridgeshire marshes, on purpose to attack this supposed enchanter, +thought it necessary to engage an old lady, who pretended to be a +sorceress, to come and do a little enchantment in the royal cause. For +this purpose she was pushed on before the troops in a wooden tower; but +Hereward very soon disposed of this unfortunate sorceress, by burning +her, tower and all. The monks of the convent of Ely near at hand, +however, who were fond of good living, and who found it very +uncomfortable to have the country blockaded and their supplies of meat +and drink cut off, showed the King a secret way of surprising the camp. +So Hereward was soon defeated. Whether he afterwards died quietly, or +whether he was killed after killing sixteen of the men who attacked him +(as some old rhymes relate that he did), I cannot say. His defeat put +an end to the Camp of Refuge; and, very soon afterwards, the King, +victorious both in Scotland and in England, quelled the last rebellious +English noble. He then surrounded himself with Norman lords, enriched +by the property of English nobles; had a great survey made of all the +land in England, which was entered as the property of its new owners, +on a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to put out their +fires and candles at a certain hour every night, on the ringing of a +bell which was called The Curfew; introduced the Norman dresses and +manners; made the Normans masters everywhere, and the English, +servants; turned out the English bishops, and put Normans in their +places; and showed himself to be the Conqueror indeed. + +But, even with his own Normans, he had a restless life. They were +always hungering and thirsting for the riches of the English; and the +more he gave, the more they wanted. His priests were as greedy as his +soldiers. We know of only one Norman who plainly told his master, the +King, that he had come with him to England to do his duty as a faithful +servant, and that property taken by force from other men had no charms +for him. His name was Guilbert. We should not forget his name, for it +is good to remember and to honour honest men. + +Besides all these troubles, William the Conqueror was troubled by +quarrels among his sons. He had three living. Robert, called Curthose, +because of his short legs; William, called Rufus or the Red, from the +colour of his hair; and Henry, fond of learning, and called, in the +Norman language, Beauclerc, or Fine-Scholar. When Robert grew up, he +asked of his father the government of Normandy, which he had nominally +possessed, as a child, under his mother, Matilda. The King refusing to +grant it, Robert became jealous and discontented; and happening one +day, while in this temper, to be ridiculed by his brothers, who threw +water on him from a balcony as he was walking before the door, he drew +his sword, rushed up-stairs, and was only prevented by the King himself +from putting them to death. That same night, he hotly departed with +some followers from his father’s court, and endeavoured to take the +Castle of Rouen by surprise. Failing in this, he shut himself up in +another Castle in Normandy, which the King besieged, and where Robert +one day unhorsed and nearly killed him without knowing who he was. His +submission when he discovered his father, and the intercession of the +queen and others, reconciled them; but not soundly; for Robert soon +strayed abroad, and went from court to court with his complaints. He +was a gay, careless, thoughtless fellow, spending all he got on +musicians and dancers; but his mother loved him, and often, against the +King’s command, supplied him with money through a messenger named +Samson. At length the incensed King swore he would tear out Samson’s +eyes; and Samson, thinking that his only hope of safety was in becoming +a monk, became one, went on such errands no more, and kept his eyes in +his head. + +All this time, from the turbulent day of his strange coronation, the +Conqueror had been struggling, you see, at any cost of cruelty and +bloodshed, to maintain what he had seized. All his reign, he struggled +still, with the same object ever before him. He was a stern, bold man, +and he succeeded in it. + +He loved money, and was particular in his eating, but he had only +leisure to indulge one other passion, and that was his love of hunting. +He carried it to such a height that he ordered whole villages and towns +to be swept away to make forests for the deer. Not satisfied with +sixty-eight Royal Forests, he laid waste an immense district, to form +another in Hampshire, called the New Forest. The many thousands of +miserable peasants who saw their little houses pulled down, and +themselves and children turned into the open country without a shelter, +detested him for his merciless addition to their many sufferings; and +when, in the twenty-first year of his reign (which proved to be the +last), he went over to Rouen, England was as full of hatred against +him, as if every leaf on every tree in all his Royal Forests had been a +curse upon his head. In the New Forest, his son Richard (for he had +four sons) had been gored to death by a Stag; and the people said that +this so cruelly-made Forest would yet be fatal to others of the +Conqueror’s race. + +He was engaged in a dispute with the King of France about some +territory. While he stayed at Rouen, negotiating with that King, he +kept his bed and took medicines: being advised by his physicians to do +so, on account of having grown to an unwieldy size. Word being brought +to him that the King of France made light of this, and joked about it, +he swore in a great rage that he should rue his jests. He assembled his +army, marched into the disputed territory, burnt—his old way!—the +vines, the crops, and fruit, and set the town of Mantes on fire. But, +in an evil hour; for, as he rode over the hot ruins, his horse, setting +his hoofs upon some burning embers, started, threw him forward against +the pommel of the saddle, and gave him a mortal hurt. For six weeks he +lay dying in a monastery near Rouen, and then made his will, giving +England to William, Normandy to Robert, and five thousand pounds to +Henry. And now, his violent deeds lay heavy on his mind. He ordered +money to be given to many English churches and monasteries, and—which +was much better repentance—released his prisoners of state, some of +whom had been confined in his dungeons twenty years. + +It was a September morning, and the sun was rising, when the King was +awakened from slumber by the sound of a church bell. ‘What bell is +that?’ he faintly asked. They told him it was the bell of the chapel of +Saint Mary. ‘I commend my soul,’ said he, ‘to Mary!’ and died. + +Think of his name, The Conqueror, and then consider how he lay in +death! The moment he was dead, his physicians, priests, and nobles, not +knowing what contest for the throne might now take place, or what might +happen in it, hastened away, each man for himself and his own property; +the mercenary servants of the court began to rob and plunder; the body +of the King, in the indecent strife, was rolled from the bed, and lay +alone, for hours, upon the ground. O Conqueror, of whom so many great +names are proud now, of whom so many great names thought nothing then, +it were better to have conquered one true heart, than England! + +By-and-by, the priests came creeping in with prayers and candles; and a +good knight, named Herluin, undertook (which no one else would do) to +convey the body to Caen, in Normandy, in order that it might be buried +in St. Stephen’s church there, which the Conqueror had founded. But +fire, of which he had made such bad use in his life, seemed to follow +him of itself in death. A great conflagration broke out in the town +when the body was placed in the church; and those present running out +to extinguish the flames, it was once again left alone. + +It was not even buried in peace. It was about to be let down, in its +Royal robes, into a tomb near the high altar, in presence of a great +concourse of people, when a loud voice in the crowd cried out, ‘This +ground is mine! Upon it, stood my father’s house. This King despoiled +me of both ground and house to build this church. In the great name of +God, I here forbid his body to be covered with the earth that is my +right!’ The priests and bishops present, knowing the speaker’s right, +and knowing that the King had often denied him justice, paid him down +sixty shillings for the grave. Even then, the corpse was not at rest. +The tomb was too small, and they tried to force it in. It broke, a +dreadful smell arose, the people hurried out into the air, and, for the +third time, it was left alone. + +Where were the Conqueror’s three sons, that they were not at their +father’s burial? Robert was lounging among minstrels, dancers, and +gamesters, in France or Germany. Henry was carrying his five thousand +pounds safely away in a convenient chest he had got made. William the +Red was hurrying to England, to lay hands upon the Royal treasure and +the crown. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS + + +William the Red, in breathless haste, secured the three great forts of +Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, and made with hot speed for Winchester, +where the Royal treasure was kept. The treasurer delivering him the +keys, he found that it amounted to sixty thousand pounds in silver, +besides gold and jewels. Possessed of this wealth, he soon persuaded +the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown him, and became William the +Second, King of England. + +Rufus was no sooner on the throne, than he ordered into prison again +the unhappy state captives whom his father had set free, and directed a +goldsmith to ornament his father’s tomb profusely with gold and silver. +It would have been more dutiful in him to have attended the sick +Conqueror when he was dying; but England itself, like this Red King, +who once governed it, has sometimes made expensive tombs for dead men +whom it treated shabbily when they were alive. + +The King’s brother, Robert of Normandy, seeming quite content to be +only Duke of that country; and the King’s other brother, Fine-Scholar, +being quiet enough with his five thousand pounds in a chest; the King +flattered himself, we may suppose, with the hope of an easy reign. But +easy reigns were difficult to have in those days. The turbulent Bishop +Odo (who had blessed the Norman army at the Battle of Hastings, and +who, I dare say, took all the credit of the victory to himself) soon +began, in concert with some powerful Norman nobles, to trouble the Red +King. + +The truth seems to be that this bishop and his friends, who had lands +in England and lands in Normandy, wished to hold both under one +Sovereign; and greatly preferred a thoughtless good-natured person, +such as Robert was, to Rufus; who, though far from being an amiable man +in any respect, was keen, and not to be imposed upon. They declared in +Robert’s favour, and retired to their castles (those castles were very +troublesome to kings) in a sullen humour. The Red King, seeing the +Normans thus falling from him, revenged himself upon them by appealing +to the English; to whom he made a variety of promises, which he never +meant to perform—in particular, promises to soften the cruelty of the +Forest Laws; and who, in return, so aided him with their valour, that +Odo was besieged in the Castle of Rochester, and forced to abandon it, +and to depart from England for ever: whereupon the other rebellious +Norman nobles were soon reduced and scattered. + +Then, the Red King went over to Normandy, where the people suffered +greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The King’s object was to +seize upon the Duke’s dominions. This, the Duke, of course, prepared to +resist; and miserable war between the two brothers seemed inevitable, +when the powerful nobles on both sides, who had seen so much of war, +interfered to prevent it. A treaty was made. Each of the two brothers +agreed to give up something of his claims, and that the longer-liver of +the two should inherit all the dominions of the other. When they had +come to this loving understanding, they embraced and joined their +forces against Fine-Scholar; who had bought some territory of Robert +with a part of his five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous +individual in consequence. + +St. Michael’s Mount, in Normandy (there is another St. Michael’s Mount, +in Cornwall, wonderfully like it), was then, as it is now, a strong +place perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide +is in, the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland. In this place, +Fine-Scholar shut himself up with his soldiers, and here he was closely +besieged by his two brothers. At one time, when he was reduced to great +distress for want of water, the generous Robert not only permitted his +men to get water, but sent Fine-Scholar wine from his own table; and, +on being remonstrated with by the Red King, said ‘What! shall we let +our own brother die of thirst? Where shall we get another, when he is +gone?’ At another time, the Red King riding alone on the shore of the +bay, looking up at the Castle, was taken by two of Fine-Scholar’s men, +one of whom was about to kill him, when he cried out, ‘Hold, knave! I +am the King of England!’ The story says that the soldier raised him +from the ground respectfully and humbly, and that the King took him +into his service. The story may or may not be true; but at any rate it +is true that Fine-Scholar could not hold out against his united +brothers, and that he abandoned Mount St. Michael, and wandered +about—as poor and forlorn as other scholars have been sometimes known +to be. + +The Scotch became unquiet in the Red King’s time, and were twice +defeated—the second time, with the loss of their King, Malcolm, and his +son. The Welsh became unquiet too. Against them, Rufus was less +successful; for they fought among their native mountains, and did great +execution on the King’s troops. Robert of Normandy became unquiet too; +and, complaining that his brother the King did not faithfully perform +his part of their agreement, took up arms, and obtained assistance from +the King of France, whom Rufus, in the end, bought off with vast sums +of money. England became unquiet too. Lord Mowbray, the powerful Earl +of Northumberland, headed a great conspiracy to depose the King, and to +place upon the throne, Stephen, the Conqueror’s near relative. The plot +was discovered; all the chief conspirators were seized; some were +fined, some were put in prison, some were put to death. The Earl of +Northumberland himself was shut up in a dungeon beneath Windsor Castle, +where he died, an old man, thirty long years afterwards. The Priests in +England were more unquiet than any other class or power; for the Red +King treated them with such small ceremony that he refused to appoint +new bishops or archbishops when the old ones died, but kept all the +wealth belonging to those offices in his own hands. In return for this, +the Priests wrote his life when he was dead, and abused him well. I am +inclined to think, myself, that there was little to choose between the +Priests and the Red King; that both sides were greedy and designing; +and that they were fairly matched. + +The Red King was false of heart, selfish, covetous, and mean. He had a +worthy minister in his favourite, Ralph, nicknamed—for almost every +famous person had a nickname in those rough days—Flambard, or the +Firebrand. Once, the King being ill, became penitent, and made Anselm, +a foreign priest and a good man, Archbishop of Canterbury. But he no +sooner got well again than he repented of his repentance, and persisted +in wrongfully keeping to himself some of the wealth belonging to the +archbishopric. This led to violent disputes, which were aggravated by +there being in Rome at that time two rival Popes; each of whom declared +he was the only real original infallible Pope, who couldn’t make a +mistake. At last, Anselm, knowing the Red King’s character, and not +feeling himself safe in England, asked leave to return abroad. The Red +King gladly gave it; for he knew that as soon as Anselm was gone, he +could begin to store up all the Canterbury money again, for his own +use. + +By such means, and by taxing and oppressing the English people in every +possible way, the Red King became very rich. When he wanted money for +any purpose, he raised it by some means or other, and cared nothing for +the injustice he did, or the misery he caused. Having the opportunity +of buying from Robert the whole duchy of Normandy for five years, he +taxed the English people more than ever, and made the very convents +sell their plate and valuables to supply him with the means to make the +purchase. But he was as quick and eager in putting down revolt as he +was in raising money; for, a part of the Norman people objecting—very +naturally, I think—to being sold in this way, he headed an army against +them with all the speed and energy of his father. He was so impatient, +that he embarked for Normandy in a great gale of wind. And when the +sailors told him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry weather, +he replied, ‘Hoist sail and away! Did you ever hear of a king who was +drowned?’ + +You will wonder how it was that even the careless Robert came to sell +his dominions. It happened thus. It had long been the custom for many +English people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were called +pilgrimages, in order that they might pray beside the tomb of Our +Saviour there. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks, and the Turks hating +Christianity, these Christian travellers were often insulted and ill +used. The Pilgrims bore it patiently for some time, but at length a +remarkable man, of great earnestness and eloquence, called Peter the +Hermit, began to preach in various places against the Turks, and to +declare that it was the duty of good Christians to drive away those +unbelievers from the tomb of Our Saviour, and to take possession of it, +and protect it. An excitement such as the world had never known before +was created. Thousands and thousands of men of all ranks and conditions +departed for Jerusalem to make war against the Turks. The war is called +in history the first Crusade, and every Crusader wore a cross marked on +his right shoulder. + +All the Crusaders were not zealous Christians. Among them were vast +numbers of the restless, idle, profligate, and adventurous spirit of +the time. Some became Crusaders for the love of change; some, in the +hope of plunder; some, because they had nothing to do at home; some, +because they did what the priests told them; some, because they liked +to see foreign countries; some, because they were fond of knocking men +about, and would as soon knock a Turk about as a Christian. Robert of +Normandy may have been influenced by all these motives; and by a kind +desire, besides, to save the Christian Pilgrims from bad treatment in +future. He wanted to raise a number of armed men, and to go to the +Crusade. He could not do so without money. He had no money; and he sold +his dominions to his brother, the Red King, for five years. With the +large sum he thus obtained, he fitted out his Crusaders gallantly, and +went away to Jerusalem in martial state. The Red King, who made money +out of everything, stayed at home, busily squeezing more money out of +Normans and English. + +After three years of great hardship and suffering—from shipwreck at +sea; from travel in strange lands; from hunger, thirst, and fever, upon +the burning sands of the desert; and from the fury of the Turks—the +valiant Crusaders got possession of Our Saviour’s tomb. The Turks were +still resisting and fighting bravely, but this success increased the +general desire in Europe to join the Crusade. Another great French Duke +was proposing to sell his dominions for a term to the rich Red King, +when the Red King’s reign came to a sudden and violent end. + +You have not forgotten the New Forest which the Conqueror made, and +which the miserable people whose homes he had laid waste, so hated. The +cruelty of the Forest Laws, and the torture and death they brought upon +the peasantry, increased this hatred. The poor persecuted country +people believed that the New Forest was enchanted. They said that in +thunder-storms, and on dark nights, demons appeared, moving beneath the +branches of the gloomy trees. They said that a terrible spectre had +foretold to Norman hunters that the Red King should be punished there. +And now, in the pleasant season of May, when the Red King had reigned +almost thirteen years; and a second Prince of the Conqueror’s +blood—another Richard, the son of Duke Robert—was killed by an arrow in +this dreaded Forest; the people said that the second time was not the +last, and that there was another death to come. + +It was a lonely forest, accursed in the people’s hearts for the wicked +deeds that had been done to make it; and no man save the King and his +Courtiers and Huntsmen, liked to stray there. But, in reality, it was +like any other forest. In the spring, the green leaves broke out of the +buds; in the summer, flourished heartily, and made deep shades; in the +winter, shrivelled and blew down, and lay in brown heaps on the moss. +Some trees were stately, and grew high and strong; some had fallen of +themselves; some were felled by the forester’s axe; some were hollow, +and the rabbits burrowed at their roots; some few were struck by +lightning, and stood white and bare. There were hill-sides covered with +rich fern, on which the morning dew so beautifully sparkled; there were +brooks, where the deer went down to drink, or over which the whole herd +bounded, flying from the arrows of the huntsmen; there were sunny +glades, and solemn places where but little light came through the +rustling leaves. The songs of the birds in the New Forest were +pleasanter to hear than the shouts of fighting men outside; and even +when the Red King and his Court came hunting through its solitudes, +cursing loud and riding hard, with a jingling of stirrups and bridles +and knives and daggers, they did much less harm there than among the +English or Normans, and the stags died (as they lived) far easier than +the people. + +Upon a day in August, the Red King, now reconciled to his brother, +Fine-Scholar, came with a great train to hunt in the New Forest. +Fine-Scholar was of the party. They were a merry party, and had lain +all night at Malwood-Keep, a hunting-lodge in the forest, where they +had made good cheer, both at supper and breakfast, and had drunk a deal +of wine. The party dispersed in various directions, as the custom of +hunters then was. The King took with him only Sir Walter Tyrrel, who +was a famous sportsman, and to whom he had given, before they mounted +horse that morning, two fine arrows. + +The last time the King was ever seen alive, he was riding with Sir +Walter Tyrrel, and their dogs were hunting together. + +It was almost night, when a poor charcoal-burner, passing through the +forest with his cart, came upon the solitary body of a dead man, shot +with an arrow in the breast, and still bleeding. He got it into his +cart. It was the body of the King. Shaken and tumbled, with its red +beard all whitened with lime and clotted with blood, it was driven in +the cart by the charcoal-burner next day to Winchester Cathedral, where +it was received and buried. + +Sir Walter Tyrrel, who escaped to Normandy, and claimed the protection +of the King of France, swore in France that the Red King was suddenly +shot dead by an arrow from an unseen hand, while they were hunting +together; that he was fearful of being suspected as the King’s +murderer; and that he instantly set spurs to his horse, and fled to the +sea-shore. Others declared that the King and Sir Walter Tyrrel were +hunting in company, a little before sunset, standing in bushes opposite +one another, when a stag came between them. That the King drew his bow +and took aim, but the string broke. That the King then cried, ‘Shoot, +Walter, in the Devil’s name!’ That Sir Walter shot. That the arrow +glanced against a tree, was turned aside from the stag, and struck the +King from his horse, dead. + +By whose hand the Red King really fell, and whether that hand +despatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design, is only +known to God. Some think his brother may have caused him to be killed; +but the Red King had made so many enemies, both among priests and +people, that suspicion may reasonably rest upon a less unnatural +murderer. Men know no more than that he was found dead in the New +Forest, which the suffering people had regarded as a doomed ground for +his race. + + + + +CHAPTER X +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR + + +Fine-scholar, on hearing of the Red King’s death, hurried to Winchester +with as much speed as Rufus himself had made, to seize the Royal +treasure. But the keeper of the treasure who had been one of the +hunting-party in the Forest, made haste to Winchester too, and, +arriving there at about the same time, refused to yield it up. Upon +this, Fine-Scholar drew his sword, and threatened to kill the +treasurer; who might have paid for his fidelity with his life, but that +he knew longer resistance to be useless when he found the Prince +supported by a company of powerful barons, who declared they were +determined to make him King. The treasurer, therefore, gave up the +money and jewels of the Crown: and on the third day after the death of +the Red King, being a Sunday, Fine-Scholar stood before the high altar +in Westminster Abbey, and made a solemn declaration that he would +resign the Church property which his brother had seized; that he would +do no wrong to the nobles; and that he would restore to the people the +laws of Edward the Confessor, with all the improvements of William the +Conqueror. So began the reign of King Henry the First. + +The people were attached to their new King, both because he had known +distresses, and because he was an Englishman by birth and not a Norman. +To strengthen this last hold upon them, the King wished to marry an +English lady; and could think of no other wife than Maud the Good, the +daughter of the King of Scotland. Although this good Princess did not +love the King, she was so affected by the representations the nobles +made to her of the great charity it would be in her to unite the Norman +and Saxon races, and prevent hatred and bloodshed between them for the +future, that she consented to become his wife. After some disputing +among the priests, who said that as she had been in a convent in her +youth, and had worn the veil of a nun, she could not lawfully be +married—against which the Princess stated that her aunt, with whom she +had lived in her youth, had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black +stuff over her, but for no other reason than because the nun’s veil was +the only dress the conquering Normans respected in girl or woman, and +not because she had taken the vows of a nun, which she never had—she +was declared free to marry, and was made King Henry’s Queen. A good +Queen she was; beautiful, kind-hearted, and worthy of a better husband +than the King. + +For he was a cunning and unscrupulous man, though firm and clever. He +cared very little for his word, and took any means to gain his ends. +All this is shown in his treatment of his brother Robert—Robert, who +had suffered him to be refreshed with water, and who had sent him the +wine from his own table, when he was shut up, with the crows flying +below him, parched with thirst, in the castle on the top of St. +Michael’s Mount, where his Red brother would have let him die. + +Before the King began to deal with Robert, he removed and disgraced all +the favourites of the late King; who were for the most part base +characters, much detested by the people. Flambard, or Firebrand, whom +the late King had made Bishop of Durham, of all things in the world, +Henry imprisoned in the Tower; but Firebrand was a great joker and a +jolly companion, and made himself so popular with his guards that they +pretended to know nothing about a long rope that was sent into his +prison at the bottom of a deep flagon of wine. The guards took the +wine, and Firebrand took the rope; with which, when they were fast +asleep, he let himself down from a window in the night, and so got +cleverly aboard ship and away to Normandy. + +Now Robert, when his brother Fine-Scholar came to the throne, was still +absent in the Holy Land. Henry pretended that Robert had been made +Sovereign of that country; and he had been away so long, that the +ignorant people believed it. But, behold, when Henry had been some time +King of England, Robert came home to Normandy; having leisurely +returned from Jerusalem through Italy, in which beautiful country he +had enjoyed himself very much, and had married a lady as beautiful as +itself! In Normandy, he found Firebrand waiting to urge him to assert +his claim to the English crown, and declare war against King Henry. +This, after great loss of time in feasting and dancing with his +beautiful Italian wife among his Norman friends, he at last did. + +The English in general were on King Henry’s side, though many of the +Normans were on Robert’s. But the English sailors deserted the King, +and took a great part of the English fleet over to Normandy; so that +Robert came to invade this country in no foreign vessels, but in +English ships. The virtuous Anselm, however, whom Henry had invited +back from abroad, and made Archbishop of Canterbury, was steadfast in +the King’s cause; and it was so well supported that the two armies, +instead of fighting, made a peace. Poor Robert, who trusted anybody and +everybody, readily trusted his brother, the King; and agreed to go home +and receive a pension from England, on condition that all his followers +were fully pardoned. This the King very faithfully promised, but Robert +was no sooner gone than he began to punish them. + +Among them was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, on being summoned by the +King to answer to five-and-forty accusations, rode away to one of his +strong castles, shut himself up therein, called around him his tenants +and vassals, and fought for his liberty, but was defeated and banished. +Robert, with all his faults, was so true to his word, that when he +first heard of this nobleman having risen against his brother, he laid +waste the Earl of Shrewsbury’s estates in Normandy, to show the King +that he would favour no breach of their treaty. Finding, on better +information, afterwards, that the Earl’s only crime was having been his +friend, he came over to England, in his old thoughtless, warm-hearted +way, to intercede with the King, and remind him of the solemn promise +to pardon all his followers. + +This confidence might have put the false King to the blush, but it did +not. Pretending to be very friendly, he so surrounded his brother with +spies and traps, that Robert, who was quite in his power, had nothing +for it but to renounce his pension and escape while he could. Getting +home to Normandy, and understanding the King better now, he naturally +allied himself with his old friend the Earl of Shrewsbury, who had +still thirty castles in that country. This was exactly what Henry +wanted. He immediately declared that Robert had broken the treaty, and +next year invaded Normandy. + +He pretended that he came to deliver the Normans, at their own request, +from his brother’s misrule. There is reason to fear that his misrule +was bad enough; for his beautiful wife had died, leaving him with an +infant son, and his court was again so careless, dissipated, and +ill-regulated, that it was said he sometimes lay in bed of a day for +want of clothes to put on—his attendants having stolen all his dresses. +But he headed his army like a brave prince and a gallant soldier, +though he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by King Henry, with +four hundred of his Knights. Among them was poor harmless Edgar +Atheling, who loved Robert well. Edgar was not important enough to be +severe with. The King afterwards gave him a small pension, which he +lived upon and died upon, in peace, among the quiet woods and fields of +England. + +And Robert—poor, kind, generous, wasteful, heedless Robert, with so +many faults, and yet with virtues that might have made a better and a +happier man—what was the end of him? If the King had had the +magnanimity to say with a kind air, ‘Brother, tell me, before these +noblemen, that from this time you will be my faithful follower and +friend, and never raise your hand against me or my forces more!’ he +might have trusted Robert to the death. But the King was not a +magnanimous man. He sentenced his brother to be confined for life in +one of the Royal Castles. In the beginning of his imprisonment, he was +allowed to ride out, guarded; but he one day broke away from his guard +and galloped off. He had the evil fortune to ride into a swamp, where +his horse stuck fast and he was taken. When the King heard of it he +ordered him to be blinded, which was done by putting a red-hot metal +basin on his eyes. + +And so, in darkness and in prison, many years, he thought of all his +past life, of the time he had wasted, of the treasure he had +squandered, of the opportunities he had lost, of the youth he had +thrown away, of the talents he had neglected. Sometimes, on fine autumn +mornings, he would sit and think of the old hunting parties in the free +Forest, where he had been the foremost and the gayest. Sometimes, in +the still nights, he would wake, and mourn for the many nights that had +stolen past him at the gaming-table; sometimes, would seem to hear, +upon the melancholy wind, the old songs of the minstrels; sometimes, +would dream, in his blindness, of the light and glitter of the Norman +Court. Many and many a time, he groped back, in his fancy, to +Jerusalem, where he had fought so well; or, at the head of his brave +companions, bowed his feathered helmet to the shouts of welcome +greeting him in Italy, and seemed again to walk among the sunny +vineyards, or on the shore of the blue sea, with his lovely wife. And +then, thinking of her grave, and of his fatherless boy, he would +stretch out his solitary arms and weep. + +At length, one day, there lay in prison, dead, with cruel and +disfiguring scars upon his eyelids, bandaged from his jailer’s sight, +but on which the eternal Heavens looked down, a worn old man of eighty. +He had once been Robert of Normandy. Pity him! + +[Illustration: Duke Robert of Normandy] + +At the time when Robert of Normandy was taken prisoner by his brother, +Robert’s little son was only five years old. This child was taken, too, +and carried before the King, sobbing and crying; for, young as he was, +he knew he had good reason to be afraid of his Royal uncle. The King +was not much accustomed to pity those who were in his power, but his +cold heart seemed for the moment to soften towards the boy. He was +observed to make a great effort, as if to prevent himself from being +cruel, and ordered the child to be taken away; whereupon a certain +Baron, who had married a daughter of Duke Robert’s (by name, Helie of +Saint Saen), took charge of him, tenderly. The King’s gentleness did +not last long. Before two years were over, he sent messengers to this +lord’s Castle to seize the child and bring him away. The Baron was not +there at the time, but his servants were faithful, and carried the boy +off in his sleep and hid him. When the Baron came home, and was told +what the King had done, he took the child abroad, and, leading him by +the hand, went from King to King and from Court to Court, relating how +the child had a claim to the throne of England, and how his uncle the +King, knowing that he had that claim, would have murdered him, perhaps, +but for his escape. + +The youth and innocence of the pretty little William Fitz-Robert (for +that was his name) made him many friends at that time. When he became a +young man, the King of France, uniting with the French Counts of Anjou +and Flanders, supported his cause against the King of England, and took +many of the King’s towns and castles in Normandy. But, King Henry, +artful and cunning always, bribed some of William’s friends with money, +some with promises, some with power. He bought off the Count of Anjou, +by promising to marry his eldest son, also named William, to the +Count’s daughter; and indeed the whole trust of this King’s life was in +such bargains, and he believed (as many another King has done since, +and as one King did in France a very little time ago) that every man’s +truth and honour can be bought at some price. For all this, he was so +afraid of William Fitz-Robert and his friends, that, for a long time, +he believed his life to be in danger; and never lay down to sleep, even +in his palace surrounded by his guards, without having a sword and +buckler at his bedside. + +To strengthen his power, the King with great ceremony betrothed his +eldest daughter Matilda, then a child only eight years old, to be the +wife of Henry the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany. To raise her +marriage-portion, he taxed the English people in a most oppressive +manner; then treated them to a great procession, to restore their good +humour; and sent Matilda away, in fine state, with the German +ambassadors, to be educated in the country of her future husband. + +And now his Queen, Maud the Good, unhappily died. It was a sad thought +for that gentle lady, that the only hope with which she had married a +man whom she had never loved—the hope of reconciling the Norman and +English races—had failed. At the very time of her death, Normandy and +all France was in arms against England; for, so soon as his last danger +was over, King Henry had been false to all the French powers he had +promised, bribed, and bought, and they had naturally united against +him. After some fighting, however, in which few suffered but the +unhappy common people (who always suffered, whatsoever was the matter), +he began to promise, bribe, and buy again; and by those means, and by +the help of the Pope, who exerted himself to save more bloodshed, and +by solemnly declaring, over and over again, that he really was in +earnest this time, and would keep his word, the King made peace. + +One of the first consequences of this peace was, that the King went +over to Normandy with his son Prince William and a great retinue, to +have the Prince acknowledged as his successor by the Norman Nobles, and +to contract the promised marriage (this was one of the many promises +the King had broken) between him and the daughter of the Count of +Anjou. Both these things were triumphantly done, with great show and +rejoicing; and on the twenty-fifth of November, in the year one +thousand one hundred and twenty, the whole retinue prepared to embark +at the Port of Barfleur, for the voyage home. + +On that day, and at that place, there came to the King, Fitz-Stephen, a +sea-captain, and said: + +‘My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. He +steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which your +father sailed to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me the same +office. I have a fair vessel in the harbour here, called The White +Ship, manned by fifty sailors of renown. I pray you, Sire, to let your +servant have the honour of steering you in The White Ship to England!’ + +‘I am sorry, friend,’ replied the King, ‘that my vessel is already +chosen, and that I cannot (therefore) sail with the son of the man who +served my father. But the Prince and all his company shall go along +with you, in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors of +renown.’ + +An hour or two afterwards, the King set sail in the vessel he had +chosen, accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a +fair and gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. +While it was yet night, the people in some of those ships heard a faint +wild cry come over the sea, and wondered what it was. + +Now, the Prince was a dissolute, debauched young man of eighteen, who +bore no love to the English, and had declared that when he came to the +throne he would yoke them to the plough like oxen. He went aboard The +White Ship, with one hundred and forty youthful Nobles like himself, +among whom were eighteen noble ladies of the highest rank. All this gay +company, with their servants and the fifty sailors, made three hundred +souls aboard the fair White Ship. + +‘Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen,’ said the Prince, ‘to the +fifty sailors of renown! My father the King has sailed out of the +harbour. What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach England +with the rest?’ + +‘Prince!’ said Fitz-Stephen, ‘before morning, my fifty and The White +Ship shall overtake the swiftest vessel in attendance on your father +the King, if we sail at midnight!’ + +Then the Prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out the +three casks of wine; and the Prince and all the noble company danced in +the moonlight on the deck of The White Ship. + +When, at last, she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur, there was not a +sober seaman on board. But the sails were all set, and the oars all +going merrily. Fitz-Stephen had the helm. The gay young nobles and the +beautiful ladies, wrapped in mantles of various bright colours to +protect them from the cold, talked, laughed, and sang. The Prince +encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet, for the honour of The +White Ship. + +Crash! A terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the cry +the people in the distant vessels of the King heard faintly on the +water. The White Ship had struck upon a rock—was filling—going down! + +Fitz-Stephen hurried the Prince into a boat, with some few Nobles. +‘Push off,’ he whispered; ‘and row to land. It is not far, and the sea +is smooth. The rest of us must die.’ + +But, as they rowed away, fast, from the sinking ship, the Prince heard +the voice of his sister Marie, the Countess of Perche, calling for +help. He never in his life had been so good as he was then. He cried in +an agony, ‘Row back at any risk! I cannot bear to leave her!’ + +They rowed back. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his sister, +such numbers leaped in, that the boat was overset. And in the same +instant The White Ship went down. + +Only two men floated. They both clung to the main yard of the ship, +which had broken from the mast, and now supported them. One asked the +other who he was? He said, ‘I am a nobleman, Godfrey by name, the son +of Gilbert de l’Aigle. And you?’ said he. ‘I am Berold, a poor butcher +of Rouen,’ was the answer. Then, they said together, ‘Lord be merciful +to us both!’ and tried to encourage one another, as they drifted in the +cold benumbing sea on that unfortunate November night. + +By-and-by, another man came swimming towards them, whom they knew, when +he pushed aside his long wet hair, to be Fitz-Stephen. ‘Where is the +Prince?’ said he. ‘Gone! Gone!’ the two cried together. ‘Neither he, +nor his brother, nor his sister, nor the King’s niece, nor her brother, +nor any one of all the brave three hundred, noble or commoner, except +we three, has risen above the water!’ Fitz-Stephen, with a ghastly +face, cried, ‘Woe! woe, to me!’ and sunk to the bottom. + +The other two clung to the yard for some hours. At length the young +noble said faintly, ‘I am exhausted, and chilled with the cold, and can +hold no longer. Farewell, good friend! God preserve you!’ So, he +dropped and sunk; and of all the brilliant crowd, the poor Butcher of +Rouen alone was saved. In the morning, some fishermen saw him floating +in his sheep-skin coat, and got him into their boat—the sole relater of +the dismal tale. + +For three days, no one dared to carry the intelligence to the King. At +length, they sent into his presence a little boy, who, weeping +bitterly, and kneeling at his feet, told him that The White Ship was +lost with all on board. The King fell to the ground like a dead man, +and never, never afterwards, was seen to smile. + +But he plotted again, and promised again, and bribed and bought again, +in his old deceitful way. Having no son to succeed him, after all his +pains (‘The Prince will never yoke us to the plough, now!’ said the +English people), he took a second wife—Adelais or Alice, a duke’s +daughter, and the Pope’s niece. Having no more children, however, he +proposed to the Barons to swear that they would recognise as his +successor, his daughter Matilda, whom, as she was now a widow, he +married to the eldest son of the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey, surnamed +Plantagenet, from a custom he had of wearing a sprig of flowering broom +(called Genêt in French) in his cap for a feather. As one false man +usually makes many, and as a false King, in particular, is pretty +certain to make a false Court, the Barons took the oath about the +succession of Matilda (and her children after her), twice over, without +in the least intending to keep it. The King was now relieved from any +remaining fears of William Fitz-Robert, by his death in the Monastery +of St. Omer, in France, at twenty-six years old, of a pike-wound in the +hand. And as Matilda gave birth to three sons, he thought the +succession to the throne secure. + +He spent most of the latter part of his life, which was troubled by +family quarrels, in Normandy, to be near Matilda. When he had reigned +upward of thirty-five years, and was sixty-seven years old, he died of +an indigestion and fever, brought on by eating, when he was far from +well, of a fish called Lamprey, against which he had often been +cautioned by his physicians. His remains were brought over to Reading +Abbey to be buried. + +You may perhaps hear the cunning and promise-breaking of King Henry the +First, called ‘policy’ by some people, and ‘diplomacy’ by others. +Neither of these fine words will in the least mean that it was true; +and nothing that is not true can possibly be good. + +His greatest merit, that I know of, was his love of learning—I should +have given him greater credit even for that, if it had been strong +enough to induce him to spare the eyes of a certain poet he once took +prisoner, who was a knight besides. But he ordered the poet’s eyes to +be torn from his head, because he had laughed at him in his verses; and +the poet, in the pain of that torture, dashed out his own brains +against his prison wall. King Henry the First was avaricious, +revengeful, and so false, that I suppose a man never lived whose word +was less to be relied upon. + + + + +CHAPTER XI +ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN + + +The King was no sooner dead than all the plans and schemes he had +laboured at so long, and lied so much for, crumbled away like a hollow +heap of sand. Stephen, whom he had never mistrusted or suspected, +started up to claim the throne. + +Stephen was the son of Adela, the Conqueror’s daughter, married to the +Count of Blois. To Stephen, and to his brother Henry, the late King had +been liberal; making Henry Bishop of Winchester, and finding a good +marriage for Stephen, and much enriching him. This did not prevent +Stephen from hastily producing a false witness, a servant of the late +King, to swear that the King had named him for his heir upon his +death-bed. On this evidence the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him. +The new King, so suddenly made, lost not a moment in seizing the Royal +treasure, and hiring foreign soldiers with some of it to protect his +throne. + +If the dead King had even done as the false witness said, he would have +had small right to will away the English people, like so many sheep or +oxen, without their consent. But he had, in fact, bequeathed all his +territory to Matilda; who, supported by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, +soon began to dispute the crown. Some of the powerful barons and +priests took her side; some took Stephen’s; all fortified their +castles; and again the miserable English people were involved in war, +from which they could never derive advantage whosoever was victorious, +and in which all parties plundered, tortured, starved, and ruined them. + +Five years had passed since the death of Henry the First—and during +those five years there had been two terrible invasions by the people of +Scotland under their King, David, who was at last defeated with all his +army—when Matilda, attended by her brother Robert and a large force, +appeared in England to maintain her claim. A battle was fought between +her troops and King Stephen’s at Lincoln; in which the King himself was +taken prisoner, after bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword +were broken, and was carried into strict confinement at Gloucester. +Matilda then submitted herself to the Priests, and the Priests crowned +her Queen of England. + +She did not long enjoy this dignity. The people of London had a great +affection for Stephen; many of the Barons considered it degrading to be +ruled by a woman; and the Queen’s temper was so haughty that she made +innumerable enemies. The people of London revolted; and, in alliance +with the troops of Stephen, besieged her at Winchester, where they took +her brother Robert prisoner, whom, as her best soldier and chief +general, she was glad to exchange for Stephen himself, who thus +regained his liberty. Then, the long war went on afresh. Once, she was +pressed so hard in the Castle of Oxford, in the winter weather when the +snow lay thick upon the ground, that her only chance of escape was to +dress herself all in white, and, accompanied by no more than three +faithful Knights, dressed in like manner that their figures might not +be seen from Stephen’s camp as they passed over the snow, to steal away +on foot, cross the frozen Thames, walk a long distance, and at last +gallop away on horseback. All this she did, but to no great purpose +then; for her brother dying while the struggle was yet going on, she at +last withdrew to Normandy. + +In two or three years after her withdrawal her cause appeared in +England, afresh, in the person of her son Henry, young Plantagenet, +who, at only eighteen years of age, was very powerful: not only on +account of his mother having resigned all Normandy to him, but also +from his having married Eleanor, the divorced wife of the French King, +a bad woman, who had great possessions in France. Louis, the French +King, not relishing this arrangement, helped Eustace, King Stephen’s +son, to invade Normandy: but Henry drove their united forces out of +that country, and then returned here, to assist his partisans, whom the +King was then besieging at Wallingford upon the Thames. Here, for two +days, divided only by the river, the two armies lay encamped opposite +to one another—on the eve, as it seemed to all men, of another +desperate fight, when the Earl of Arundel took heart and said ‘that it +was not reasonable to prolong the unspeakable miseries of two kingdoms +to minister to the ambition of two princes.’ + +Many other noblemen repeating and supporting this when it was once +uttered, Stephen and young Plantagenet went down, each to his own bank +of the river, and held a conversation across it, in which they arranged +a truce; very much to the dissatisfaction of Eustace, who swaggered +away with some followers, and laid violent hands on the Abbey of St. +Edmund’s-Bury, where he presently died mad. The truce led to a solemn +council at Winchester, in which it was agreed that Stephen should +retain the crown, on condition of his declaring Henry his successor; +that William, another son of the King’s, should inherit his father’s +rightful possessions; and that all the Crown lands which Stephen had +given away should be recalled, and all the Castles he had permitted to +be built demolished. Thus terminated the bitter war, which had now +lasted fifteen years, and had again laid England waste. In the next +year Stephen died, after a troubled reign of nineteen years. + +Although King Stephen was, for the time in which he lived, a humane and +moderate man, with many excellent qualities; and although nothing worse +is known of him than his usurpation of the Crown, which he probably +excused to himself by the consideration that King Henry the First was a +usurper too—which was no excuse at all; the people of England suffered +more in these dread nineteen years, than at any former period even of +their suffering history. In the division of the nobility between the +two rival claimants of the Crown, and in the growth of what is called +the Feudal System (which made the peasants the born vassals and mere +slaves of the Barons), every Noble had his strong Castle, where he +reigned the cruel king of all the neighbouring people. Accordingly, he +perpetrated whatever cruelties he chose. And never were worse cruelties +committed upon earth than in wretched England in those nineteen years. + +The writers who were living then describe them fearfully. They say that +the castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that the +peasants, men and women, were put into dungeons for their gold and +silver, were tortured with fire and smoke, were hung up by the thumbs, +were hung up by the heels with great weights to their heads, were torn +with jagged irons, killed with hunger, broken to death in narrow chests +filled with sharp-pointed stones, murdered in countless fiendish ways. +In England there was no corn, no meat, no cheese, no butter, there were +no tilled lands, no harvests. Ashes of burnt towns, and dreary wastes, +were all that the traveller, fearful of the robbers who prowled abroad +at all hours, would see in a long day’s journey; and from sunrise until +night, he would not come upon a home. + +The clergy sometimes suffered, and heavily too, from pillage, but many +of them had castles of their own, and fought in helmet and armour like +the barons, and drew lots with other fighting men for their share of +booty. The Pope (or Bishop of Rome), on King Stephen’s resisting his +ambition, laid England under an Interdict at one period of this reign; +which means that he allowed no service to be performed in the churches, +no couples to be married, no bells to be rung, no dead bodies to be +buried. Any man having the power to refuse these things, no matter +whether he were called a Pope or a Poulterer, would, of course, have +the power of afflicting numbers of innocent people. That nothing might +be wanting to the miseries of King Stephen’s time, the Pope threw in +this contribution to the public store—not very like the widow’s +contribution, as I think, when Our Saviour sat in Jerusalem +over-against the Treasury, ‘and she threw in two mites, which make a +farthing.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND + +PART THE FIRST + +Henry Plantagenet, when he was but twenty-one years old, quietly +succeeded to the throne of England, according to his agreement made +with the late King at Winchester. Six weeks after Stephen’s death, he +and his Queen, Eleanor, were crowned in that city; into which they rode +on horseback in great state, side by side, amidst much shouting and +rejoicing, and clashing of music, and strewing of flowers. + +The reign of King Henry the Second began well. The King had great +possessions, and (what with his own rights, and what with those of his +wife) was lord of one-third part of France. He was a young man of +vigour, ability, and resolution, and immediately applied himself to +remove some of the evils which had arisen in the last unhappy reign. He +revoked all the grants of land that had been hastily made, on either +side, during the late struggles; he obliged numbers of disorderly +soldiers to depart from England; he reclaimed all the castles belonging +to the Crown; and he forced the wicked nobles to pull down their own +castles, to the number of eleven hundred, in which such dismal +cruelties had been inflicted on the people. The King’s brother, +Geoffrey, rose against him in France, while he was so well employed, +and rendered it necessary for him to repair to that country; where, +after he had subdued and made a friendly arrangement with his brother +(who did not live long), his ambition to increase his possessions +involved him in a war with the French King, Louis, with whom he had +been on such friendly terms just before, that to the French King’s +infant daughter, then a baby in the cradle, he had promised one of his +little sons in marriage, who was a child of five years old. However, +the war came to nothing at last, and the Pope made the two Kings +friends again. + +Now, the clergy, in the troubles of the last reign, had gone on very +ill indeed. There were all kinds of criminals among them—murderers, +thieves, and vagabonds; and the worst of the matter was, that the good +priests would not give up the bad priests to justice, when they +committed crimes, but persisted in sheltering and defending them. The +King, well knowing that there could be no peace or rest in England +while such things lasted, resolved to reduce the power of the clergy; +and, when he had reigned seven years, found (as he considered) a good +opportunity for doing so, in the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury. +‘I will have for the new Archbishop,’ thought the King, ‘a friend in +whom I can trust, who will help me to humble these rebellious priests, +and to have them dealt with, when they do wrong, as other men who do +wrong are dealt with.’ So, he resolved to make his favourite, the new +Archbishop; and this favourite was so extraordinary a man, and his +story is so curious, that I must tell you all about him. + +Once upon a time, a worthy merchant of London, named Gilbert à Becket, +made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was taken prisoner by a Saracen +lord. This lord, who treated him kindly and not like a slave, had one +fair daughter, who fell in love with the merchant; and who told him +that she wanted to become a Christian, and was willing to marry him if +they could fly to a Christian country. The merchant returned her love, +until he found an opportunity to escape, when he did not trouble +himself about the Saracen lady, but escaped with his servant Richard, +who had been taken prisoner along with him, and arrived in England and +forgot her. The Saracen lady, who was more loving than the merchant, +left her father’s house in disguise to follow him, and made her way, +under many hardships, to the sea-shore. The merchant had taught her +only two English words (for I suppose he must have learnt the Saracen +tongue himself, and made love in that language), of which London was +one, and his own name, Gilbert, the other. She went among the ships, +saying, ‘London! London!’ over and over again, until the sailors +understood that she wanted to find an English vessel that would carry +her there; so they showed her such a ship, and she paid for her passage +with some of her jewels, and sailed away. Well! The merchant was +sitting in his counting-house in London one day, when he heard a great +noise in the street; and presently Richard came running in from the +warehouse, with his eyes wide open and his breath almost gone, saying, +‘Master, master, here is the Saracen lady!’ The merchant thought +Richard was mad; but Richard said, ‘No, master! As I live, the Saracen +lady is going up and down the city, calling Gilbert! Gilbert!’ Then, he +took the merchant by the sleeve, and pointed out of window; and there +they saw her among the gables and water-spouts of the dark, dirty +street, in her foreign dress, so forlorn, surrounded by a wondering +crowd, and passing slowly along, calling Gilbert, Gilbert! When the +merchant saw her, and thought of the tenderness she had shown him in +his captivity, and of her constancy, his heart was moved, and he ran +down into the street; and she saw him coming, and with a great cry +fainted in his arms. They were married without loss of time, and +Richard (who was an excellent man) danced with joy the whole day of the +wedding; and they all lived happy ever afterwards. + +This merchant and this Saracen lady had one son, Thomas à Becket. He it +was who became the Favourite of King Henry the Second. + +He had become Chancellor, when the King thought of making him +Archbishop. He was clever, gay, well educated, brave; had fought in +several battles in France; had defeated a French knight in single +combat, and brought his horse away as a token of the victory. He lived +in a noble palace, he was the tutor of the young Prince Henry, he was +served by one hundred and forty knights, his riches were immense. The +King once sent him as his ambassador to France; and the French people, +beholding in what state he travelled, cried out in the streets, ‘How +splendid must the King of England be, when this is only the +Chancellor!’ They had good reason to wonder at the magnificence of +Thomas à Becket, for, when he entered a French town, his procession was +headed by two hundred and fifty singing boys; then, came his hounds in +couples; then, eight waggons, each drawn by five horses driven by five +drivers: two of the waggons filled with strong ale to be given away to +the people; four, with his gold and silver plate and stately clothes; +two, with the dresses of his numerous servants. Then, came twelve +horses, each with a monkey on his back; then, a train of people bearing +shields and leading fine war-horses splendidly equipped; then, +falconers with hawks upon their wrists; then, a host of knights, and +gentlemen and priests; then, the Chancellor with his brilliant garments +flashing in the sun, and all the people capering and shouting with +delight. + +The King was well pleased with all this, thinking that it only made +himself the more magnificent to have so magnificent a favourite; but he +sometimes jested with the Chancellor upon his splendour too. Once, when +they were riding together through the streets of London in hard winter +weather, they saw a shivering old man in rags. ‘Look at the poor +object!’ said the King. ‘Would it not be a charitable act to give that +aged man a comfortable warm cloak?’ ‘Undoubtedly it would,’ said Thomas +à Becket, ‘and you do well, Sir, to think of such Christian duties.’ +‘Come!’ cried the King, ‘then give him your cloak!’ It was made of rich +crimson trimmed with ermine. The King tried to pull it off, the +Chancellor tried to keep it on, both were near rolling from their +saddles in the mud, when the Chancellor submitted, and the King gave +the cloak to the old beggar: much to the beggar’s astonishment, and +much to the merriment of all the courtiers in attendance. For, +courtiers are not only eager to laugh when the King laughs, but they +really do enjoy a laugh against a Favourite. + +‘I will make,’ thought King Henry the second, ‘this Chancellor of mine, +Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will then be the head of +the Church, and, being devoted to me, will help me to correct the +Church. He has always upheld my power against the power of the clergy, +and once publicly told some bishops (I remember), that men of the +Church were equally bound to me, with men of the sword. Thomas à Becket +is the man, of all other men in England, to help me in my great +design.’ So the King, regardless of all objection, either that he was a +fighting man, or a lavish man, or a courtly man, or a man of pleasure, +or anything but a likely man for the office, made him Archbishop +accordingly. + +Now, Thomas à Becket was proud and loved to be famous. He was already +famous for the pomp of his life, for his riches, his gold and silver +plate, his waggons, horses, and attendants. He could do no more in that +way than he had done; and being tired of that kind of fame (which is a +very poor one), he longed to have his name celebrated for something +else. Nothing, he knew, would render him so famous in the world, as the +setting of his utmost power and ability against the utmost power and +ability of the King. He resolved with the whole strength of his mind to +do it. + +He may have had some secret grudge against the King besides. The King +may have offended his proud humour at some time or other, for anything +I know. I think it likely, because it is a common thing for Kings, +Princes, and other great people, to try the tempers of their favourites +rather severely. Even the little affair of the crimson cloak must have +been anything but a pleasant one to a haughty man. Thomas à Becket knew +better than any one in England what the King expected of him. In all +his sumptuous life, he had never yet been in a position to disappoint +the King. He could take up that proud stand now, as head of the Church; +and he determined that it should be written in history, either that he +subdued the King, or that the King subdued him. + +So, of a sudden, he completely altered the whole manner of his life. He +turned off all his brilliant followers, ate coarse food, drank bitter +water, wore next his skin sackcloth covered with dirt and vermin (for +it was then thought very religious to be very dirty), flogged his back +to punish himself, lived chiefly in a little cell, washed the feet of +thirteen poor people every day, and looked as miserable as he possibly +could. If he had put twelve hundred monkeys on horseback instead of +twelve, and had gone in procession with eight thousand waggons instead +of eight, he could not have half astonished the people so much as by +this great change. It soon caused him to be more talked about as an +Archbishop than he had been as a Chancellor. + +The King was very angry; and was made still more so, when the new +Archbishop, claiming various estates from the nobles as being +rightfully Church property, required the King himself, for the same +reason, to give up Rochester Castle, and Rochester City too. Not +satisfied with this, he declared that no power but himself should +appoint a priest to any Church in the part of England over which he was +Archbishop; and when a certain gentleman of Kent made such an +appointment, as he claimed to have the right to do, Thomas à Becket +excommunicated him. + +Excommunication was, next to the Interdict I told you of at the close +of the last chapter, the great weapon of the clergy. It consisted in +declaring the person who was excommunicated, an outcast from the Church +and from all religious offices; and in cursing him all over, from the +top of his head to the sole of his foot, whether he was standing up, +lying down, sitting, kneeling, walking, running, hopping, jumping, +gaping, coughing, sneezing, or whatever else he was doing. This +unchristian nonsense would of course have made no sort of difference to +the person cursed—who could say his prayers at home if he were shut out +of church, and whom none but God could judge—but for the fears and +superstitions of the people, who avoided excommunicated persons, and +made their lives unhappy. So, the King said to the New Archbishop, +‘Take off this Excommunication from this gentleman of Kent.’ To which +the Archbishop replied, ‘I shall do no such thing.’ + +The quarrel went on. A priest in Worcestershire committed a most +dreadful murder, that aroused the horror of the whole nation. The King +demanded to have this wretch delivered up, to be tried in the same +court and in the same way as any other murderer. The Archbishop +refused, and kept him in the Bishop’s prison. The King, holding a +solemn assembly in Westminster Hall, demanded that in future all +priests found guilty before their Bishops of crimes against the law of +the land should be considered priests no longer, and should be +delivered over to the law of the land for punishment. The Archbishop +again refused. The King required to know whether the clergy would obey +the ancient customs of the country? Every priest there, but one, said, +after Thomas à Becket, ‘Saving my order.’ This really meant that they +would only obey those customs when they did not interfere with their +own claims; and the King went out of the Hall in great wrath. + +Some of the clergy began to be afraid, now, that they were going too +far. Though Thomas à Becket was otherwise as unmoved as Westminster +Hall, they prevailed upon him, for the sake of their fears, to go to +the King at Woodstock, and promise to observe the ancient customs of +the country, without saying anything about his order. The King received +this submission favourably, and summoned a great council of the clergy +to meet at the Castle of Clarendon, by Salisbury. But when the council +met, the Archbishop again insisted on the words ‘saying my order;’ and +he still insisted, though lords entreated him, and priests wept before +him and knelt to him, and an adjoining room was thrown open, filled +with armed soldiers of the King, to threaten him. At length he gave +way, for that time, and the ancient customs (which included what the +King had demanded in vain) were stated in writing, and were signed and +sealed by the chief of the clergy, and were called the Constitutions of +Clarendon. + +The quarrel went on, for all that. The Archbishop tried to see the +King. The King would not see him. The Archbishop tried to escape from +England. The sailors on the coast would launch no boat to take him +away. Then, he again resolved to do his worst in opposition to the +King, and began openly to set the ancient customs at defiance. + +The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton, where he +accused him of high treason, and made a claim against him, which was +not a just one, for an enormous sum of money. Thomas à Becket was alone +against the whole assembly, and the very Bishops advised him to resign +his office and abandon his contest with the King. His great anxiety and +agitation stretched him on a sick-bed for two days, but he was still +undaunted. He went to the adjourned council, carrying a great cross in +his right hand, and sat down holding it erect before him. The King +angrily retired into an inner room. The whole assembly angrily retired +and left him there. But there he sat. The Bishops came out again in a +body, and renounced him as a traitor. He only said, ‘I hear!’ and sat +there still. They retired again into the inner room, and his trial +proceeded without him. By-and-by, the Earl of Leicester, heading the +barons, came out to read his sentence. He refused to hear it, denied +the power of the court, and said he would refer his cause to the Pope. +As he walked out of the hall, with the cross in his hand, some of those +present picked up rushes—rushes were strewn upon the floors in those +days by way of carpet—and threw them at him. He proudly turned his +head, and said that were he not Archbishop, he would chastise those +cowards with the sword he had known how to use in bygone days. He then +mounted his horse, and rode away, cheered and surrounded by the common +people, to whom he threw open his house that night and gave a supper, +supping with them himself. That same night he secretly departed from +the town; and so, travelling by night and hiding by day, and calling +himself ‘Brother Dearman,’ got away, not without difficulty, to +Flanders. + +The struggle still went on. The angry King took possession of the +revenues of the archbishopric, and banished all the relations and +servants of Thomas à Becket, to the number of four hundred. The Pope +and the French King both protected him, and an abbey was assigned for +his residence. Stimulated by this support, Thomas à Becket, on a great +festival day, formally proceeded to a great church crowded with people, +and going up into the pulpit publicly cursed and excommunicated all who +had supported the Constitutions of Clarendon: mentioning many English +noblemen by name, and not distantly hinting at the King of England +himself. + +When intelligence of this new affront was carried to the King in his +chamber, his passion was so furious that he tore his clothes, and +rolled like a madman on his bed of straw and rushes. But he was soon up +and doing. He ordered all the ports and coasts of England to be +narrowly watched, that no letters of Interdict might be brought into +the kingdom; and sent messengers and bribes to the Pope’s palace at +Rome. Meanwhile, Thomas à Becket, for his part, was not idle at Rome, +but constantly employed his utmost arts in his own behalf. Thus the +contest stood, until there was peace between France and England (which +had been for some time at war), and until the two children of the two +Kings were married in celebration of it. Then, the French King brought +about a meeting between Henry and his old favourite, so long his enemy. + +Even then, though Thomas à Becket knelt before the King, he was +obstinate and immovable as to those words about his order. King Louis +of France was weak enough in his veneration for Thomas à Becket and +such men, but this was a little too much for him. He said that à Becket +‘wanted to be greater than the saints and better than St. Peter,’ and +rode away from him with the King of England. His poor French Majesty +asked à Becket’s pardon for so doing, however, soon afterwards, and cut +a very pitiful figure. + +At last, and after a world of trouble, it came to this. There was +another meeting on French ground between King Henry and Thomas à +Becket, and it was agreed that Thomas à Becket should be Archbishop of +Canterbury, according to the customs of former Archbishops, and that +the King should put him in possession of the revenues of that post. And +now, indeed, you might suppose the struggle at an end, and Thomas à +Becket at rest. No, not even yet. For Thomas à Becket hearing, by some +means, that King Henry, when he was in dread of his kingdom being +placed under an interdict, had had his eldest son Prince Henry secretly +crowned, not only persuaded the Pope to suspend the Archbishop of York +who had performed that ceremony, and to excommunicate the Bishops who +had assisted at it, but sent a messenger of his own into England, in +spite of all the King’s precautions along the coast, who delivered the +letters of excommunication into the Bishops’ own hands. Thomas à Becket +then came over to England himself, after an absence of seven years. He +was privately warned that it was dangerous to come, and that an ireful +knight, named Ranulf de Broc, had threatened that he should not live to +eat a loaf of bread in England; but he came. + +The common people received him well, and marched about with him in a +soldierly way, armed with such rustic weapons as they could get. He +tried to see the young prince who had once been his pupil, but was +prevented. He hoped for some little support among the nobles and +priests, but found none. He made the most of the peasants who attended +him, and feasted them, and went from Canterbury to Harrow-on-the-Hill, +and from Harrow-on-the-Hill back to Canterbury, and on Christmas Day +preached in the Cathedral there, and told the people in his sermon that +he had come to die among them, and that it was likely he would be +murdered. He had no fear, however—or, if he had any, he had much more +obstinacy—for he, then and there, excommunicated three of his enemies, +of whom Ranulf de Broc, the ireful knight, was one. + +As men in general had no fancy for being cursed, in their sitting and +walking, and gaping and sneezing, and all the rest of it, it was very +natural in the persons so freely excommunicated to complain to the +King. It was equally natural in the King, who had hoped that this +troublesome opponent was at last quieted, to fall into a mighty rage +when he heard of these new affronts; and, on the Archbishop of York +telling him that he never could hope for rest while Thomas à Becket +lived, to cry out hastily before his court, ‘Have I no one here who +will deliver me from this man?’ There were four knights present, who, +hearing the King’s words, looked at one another, and went out. + +The names of these knights were Reginald Fitzurse, William Tracy, Hugh +de Morville, and Richard Brito; three of whom had been in the train of +Thomas à Becket in the old days of his splendour. They rode away on +horseback, in a very secret manner, and on the third day after +Christmas Day arrived at Saltwood House, not far from Canterbury, which +belonged to the family of Ranulf de Broc. They quietly collected some +followers here, in case they should need any; and proceeding to +Canterbury, suddenly appeared (the four knights and twelve men) before +the Archbishop, in his own house, at two o’clock in the afternoon. They +neither bowed nor spoke, but sat down on the floor in silence, staring +at the Archbishop. + +Thomas à Becket said, at length, ‘What do you want?’ + +‘We want,’ said Reginald Fitzurse, ‘the excommunication taken from the +Bishops, and you to answer for your offences to the King.’ Thomas à +Becket defiantly replied, that the power of the clergy was above the +power of the King. That it was not for such men as they were, to +threaten him. That if he were threatened by all the swords in England, +he would never yield. + +‘Then we will do more than threaten!’ said the knights. And they went +out with the twelve men, and put on their armour, and drew their +shining swords, and came back. + +His servants, in the meantime, had shut up and barred the great gate of +the palace. At first, the knights tried to shatter it with their +battle-axes; but, being shown a window by which they could enter, they +let the gate alone, and climbed in that way. While they were battering +at the door, the attendants of Thomas à Becket had implored him to take +refuge in the Cathedral; in which, as a sanctuary or sacred place, they +thought the knights would dare to do no violent deed. He told them, +again and again, that he would not stir. Hearing the distant voices of +the monks singing the evening service, however, he said it was now his +duty to attend, and therefore, and for no other reason, he would go. + +There was a near way between his Palace and the Cathedral, by some +beautiful old cloisters which you may yet see. He went into the +Cathedral, without any hurry, and having the Cross carried before him +as usual. When he was safely there, his servants would have fastened +the door, but he said No! it was the house of God and not a fortress. + +As he spoke, the shadow of Reginald Fitzurse appeared in the Cathedral +doorway, darkening the little light there was outside, on the dark +winter evening. This knight said, in a strong voice, ‘Follow me, loyal +servants of the King!’ The rattle of the armour of the other knights +echoed through the Cathedral, as they came clashing in. + +It was so dark, in the lofty aisles and among the stately pillars of +the church, and there were so many hiding-places in the crypt below and +in the narrow passages above, that Thomas à Becket might even at that +pass have saved himself if he would. But he would not. He told the +monks resolutely that he would not. And though they all dispersed and +left him there with no other follower than Edward Gryme, his faithful +cross-bearer, he was as firm then, as ever he had been in his life. + +The knights came on, through the darkness, making a terrible noise with +their armed tread upon the stone pavement of the church. ‘Where is the +traitor?’ they cried out. He made no answer. But when they cried, +‘Where is the Archbishop?’ he said proudly, ‘I am here!’ and came out +of the shade and stood before them. + +The knights had no desire to kill him, if they could rid the King and +themselves of him by any other means. They told him he must either fly +or go with them. He said he would do neither; and he threw William +Tracy off with such force when he took hold of his sleeve, that Tracy +reeled again. By his reproaches and his steadiness, he so incensed +them, and exasperated their fierce humour, that Reginald Fitzurse, whom +he called by an ill name, said, ‘Then die!’ and struck at his head. But +the faithful Edward Gryme put out his arm, and there received the main +force of the blow, so that it only made his master bleed. Another voice +from among the knights again called to Thomas à Becket to fly; but, +with his blood running down his face, and his hands clasped, and his +head bent, he commanded himself to God, and stood firm. Then they +cruelly killed him close to the altar of St. Bennet; and his body fell +upon the pavement, which was dirtied with his blood and brains. + +It is an awful thing to think of the murdered mortal, who had so +showered his curses about, lying, all disfigured, in the church, where +a few lamps here and there were but red specks on a pall of darkness; +and to think of the guilty knights riding away on horseback, looking +over their shoulders at the dim Cathedral, and remembering what they +had left inside. + +PART THE SECOND + +When the King heard how Thomas à Becket had lost his life in Canterbury +Cathedral, through the ferocity of the four Knights, he was filled with +dismay. Some have supposed that when the King spoke those hasty words, +‘Have I no one here who will deliver me from this man?’ he wished, and +meant à Becket to be slain. But few things are more unlikely; for, +besides that the King was not naturally cruel (though very passionate), +he was wise, and must have known full well what any stupid man in his +dominions must have known, namely, that such a murder would rouse the +Pope and the whole Church against him. + +He sent respectful messengers to the Pope, to represent his innocence +(except in having uttered the hasty words); and he swore solemnly and +publicly to his innocence, and contrived in time to make his peace. As +to the four guilty Knights, who fled into Yorkshire, and never again +dared to show themselves at Court, the Pope excommunicated them; and +they lived miserably for some time, shunned by all their countrymen. At +last, they went humbly to Jerusalem as a penance, and there died and +were buried. + +It happened, fortunately for the pacifying of the Pope, that an +opportunity arose very soon after the murder of à Becket, for the King +to declare his power in Ireland—which was an acceptable undertaking to +the Pope, as the Irish, who had been converted to Christianity by one +Patricius (otherwise Saint Patrick) long ago, before any Pope existed, +considered that the Pope had nothing at all to do with them, or they +with the Pope, and accordingly refused to pay him Peter’s Pence, or +that tax of a penny a house which I have elsewhere mentioned. The +King’s opportunity arose in this way. + +The Irish were, at that time, as barbarous a people as you can well +imagine. They were continually quarrelling and fighting, cutting one +another’s throats, slicing one another’s noses, burning one another’s +houses, carrying away one another’s wives, and committing all sorts of +violence. The country was divided into five kingdoms—Desmond, Thomond, +Connaught, Ulster, and Leinster—each governed by a separate King, of +whom one claimed to be the chief of the rest. Now, one of these Kings, +named Dermond Mac Murrough (a wild kind of name, spelt in more than one +wild kind of way), had carried off the wife of a friend of his, and +concealed her on an island in a bog. The friend resenting this (though +it was quite the custom of the country), complained to the chief King, +and, with the chief King’s help, drove Dermond Mac Murrough out of his +dominions. Dermond came over to England for revenge; and offered to +hold his realm as a vassal of King Henry, if King Henry would help him +to regain it. The King consented to these terms; but only assisted him, +then, with what were called Letters Patent, authorising any English +subjects who were so disposed, to enter into his service, and aid his +cause. + +There was, at Bristol, a certain Earl Richard de Clare, called +Strongbow; of no very good character; needy and desperate, and ready +for anything that offered him a chance of improving his fortunes. There +were, in South Wales, two other broken knights of the same +good-for-nothing sort, called Robert Fitz-Stephen, and Maurice +Fitz-Gerald. These three, each with a small band of followers, took up +Dermond’s cause; and it was agreed that if it proved successful, +Strongbow should marry Dermond’s daughter Eva, and be declared his +heir. + +The trained English followers of these knights were so superior in all +the discipline of battle to the Irish, that they beat them against +immense superiority of numbers. In one fight, early in the war, they +cut off three hundred heads, and laid them before Mac Murrough; who +turned them every one up with his hands, rejoicing, and, coming to one +which was the head of a man whom he had much disliked, grasped it by +the hair and ears, and tore off the nose and lips with his teeth. You +may judge from this, what kind of a gentleman an Irish King in those +times was. The captives, all through this war, were horribly treated; +the victorious party making nothing of breaking their limbs, and +casting them into the sea from the tops of high rocks. It was in the +midst of the miseries and cruelties attendant on the taking of +Waterford, where the dead lay piled in the streets, and the filthy +gutters ran with blood, that Strongbow married Eva. An odious +marriage-company those mounds of corpses must have made, I think, and +one quite worthy of the young lady’s father. + +He died, after Waterford and Dublin had been taken, and various +successes achieved; and Strongbow became King of Leinster. Now came +King Henry’s opportunity. To restrain the growing power of Strongbow, +he himself repaired to Dublin, as Strongbow’s Royal Master, and +deprived him of his kingdom, but confirmed him in the enjoyment of +great possessions. The King, then, holding state in Dublin, received +the homage of nearly all the Irish Kings and Chiefs, and so came home +again with a great addition to his reputation as Lord of Ireland, and +with a new claim on the favour of the Pope. And now, their +reconciliation was completed—more easily and mildly by the Pope, than +the King might have expected, I think. + +At this period of his reign, when his troubles seemed so few and his +prospects so bright, those domestic miseries began which gradually made +the King the most unhappy of men, reduced his great spirit, wore away +his health, and broke his heart. + +He had four sons. Henry, now aged eighteen—his secret crowning of whom +had given such offence to Thomas à Becket. Richard, aged sixteen; +Geoffrey, fifteen; and John, his favourite, a young boy whom the +courtiers named Lackland, because he had no inheritance, but to whom +the King meant to give the Lordship of Ireland. All these misguided +boys, in their turn, were unnatural sons to him, and unnatural brothers +to each other. Prince Henry, stimulated by the French King, and by his +bad mother, Queen Eleanor, began the undutiful history. + +First, he demanded that his young wife, Margaret, the French King’s +daughter, should be crowned as well as he. His father, the King, +consented, and it was done. It was no sooner done, than he demanded to +have a part of his father’s dominions, during his father’s life. This +being refused, he made off from his father in the night, with his bad +heart full of bitterness, and took refuge at the French King’s Court. +Within a day or two, his brothers Richard and Geoffrey followed. Their +mother tried to join them—escaping in man’s clothes—but she was seized +by King Henry’s men, and immured in prison, where she lay, deservedly, +for sixteen years. Every day, however, some grasping English noblemen, +to whom the King’s protection of his people from their avarice and +oppression had given offence, deserted him and joined the Princes. +Every day he heard some fresh intelligence of the Princes levying +armies against him; of Prince Henry’s wearing a crown before his own +ambassadors at the French Court, and being called the Junior King of +England; of all the Princes swearing never to make peace with him, +their father, without the consent and approval of the Barons of France. +But, with his fortitude and energy unshaken, King Henry met the shock +of these disasters with a resolved and cheerful face. He called upon +all Royal fathers who had sons, to help him, for his cause was theirs; +he hired, out of his riches, twenty thousand men to fight the false +French King, who stirred his own blood against him; and he carried on +the war with such vigour, that Louis soon proposed a conference to +treat for peace. + +The conference was held beneath an old wide-spreading green elm-tree, +upon a plain in France. It led to nothing. The war recommenced. Prince +Richard began his fighting career, by leading an army against his +father; but his father beat him and his army back; and thousands of his +men would have rued the day in which they fought in such a wicked +cause, had not the King received news of an invasion of England by the +Scots, and promptly come home through a great storm to repress it. And +whether he really began to fear that he suffered these troubles because +à Becket had been murdered; or whether he wished to rise in the favour +of the Pope, who had now declared à Becket to be a saint, or in the +favour of his own people, of whom many believed that even à Becket’s +senseless tomb could work miracles, I don’t know: but the King no +sooner landed in England than he went straight to Canterbury; and when +he came within sight of the distant Cathedral, he dismounted from his +horse, took off his shoes, and walked with bare and bleeding feet to à +Becket’s grave. There, he lay down on the ground, lamenting, in the +presence of many people; and by-and-by he went into the Chapter House, +and, removing his clothes from his back and shoulders, submitted +himself to be beaten with knotted cords (not beaten very hard, I dare +say though) by eighty Priests, one after another. It chanced that on +the very day when the King made this curious exhibition of himself, a +complete victory was obtained over the Scots; which very much delighted +the Priests, who said that it was won because of his great example of +repentance. For the Priests in general had found out, since à Becket’s +death, that they admired him of all things—though they had hated him +very cordially when he was alive. + +The Earl of Flanders, who was at the head of the base conspiracy of the +King’s undutiful sons and their foreign friends, took the opportunity +of the King being thus employed at home, to lay siege to Rouen, the +capital of Normandy. But the King, who was extraordinarily quick and +active in all his movements, was at Rouen, too, before it was supposed +possible that he could have left England; and there he so defeated the +said Earl of Flanders, that the conspirators proposed peace, and his +bad sons Henry and Geoffrey submitted. Richard resisted for six weeks; +but, being beaten out of castle after castle, he at last submitted too, +and his father forgave him. + +To forgive these unworthy princes was only to afford them +breathing-time for new faithlessness. They were so false, disloyal, and +dishonourable, that they were no more to be trusted than common +thieves. In the very next year, Prince Henry rebelled again, and was +again forgiven. In eight years more, Prince Richard rebelled against +his elder brother; and Prince Geoffrey infamously said that the +brothers could never agree well together, unless they were united +against their father. In the very next year after their reconciliation +by the King, Prince Henry again rebelled against his father; and again +submitted, swearing to be true; and was again forgiven; and again +rebelled with Geoffrey. + +But the end of this perfidious Prince was come. He fell sick at a +French town; and his conscience terribly reproaching him with his +baseness, he sent messengers to the King his father, imploring him to +come and see him, and to forgive him for the last time on his bed of +death. The generous King, who had a royal and forgiving mind towards +his children always, would have gone; but this Prince had been so +unnatural, that the noblemen about the King suspected treachery, and +represented to him that he could not safely trust his life with such a +traitor, though his own eldest son. Therefore the King sent him a ring +from off his finger as a token of forgiveness; and when the Prince had +kissed it, with much grief and many tears, and had confessed to those +around him how bad, and wicked, and undutiful a son he had been; he +said to the attendant Priests: ‘O, tie a rope about my body, and draw +me out of bed, and lay me down upon a bed of ashes, that I may die with +prayers to God in a repentant manner!’ And so he died, at twenty-seven +years old. + +Three years afterwards, Prince Geoffrey, being unhorsed at a +tournament, had his brains trampled out by a crowd of horses passing +over him. So, there only remained Prince Richard, and Prince John—who +had grown to be a young man now, and had solemnly sworn to be faithful +to his father. Richard soon rebelled again, encouraged by his friend +the French King, Philip the Second (son of Louis, who was dead); and +soon submitted and was again forgiven, swearing on the New Testament +never to rebel again; and in another year or so, rebelled again; and, +in the presence of his father, knelt down on his knee before the King +of France; and did the French King homage: and declared that with his +aid he would possess himself, by force, of all his father’s French +dominions. + +And yet this Richard called himself a soldier of Our Saviour! And yet +this Richard wore the Cross, which the Kings of France and England had +both taken, in the previous year, at a brotherly meeting underneath the +old wide-spreading elm-tree on the plain, when they had sworn (like +him) to devote themselves to a new Crusade, for the love and honour of +the Truth! + +Sick at heart, wearied out by the falsehood of his sons, and almost +ready to lie down and die, the unhappy King who had so long stood firm, +began to fail. But the Pope, to his honour, supported him; and obliged +the French King and Richard, though successful in fight, to treat for +peace. Richard wanted to be Crowned King of England, and pretended that +he wanted to be married (which he really did not) to the French King’s +sister, his promised wife, whom King Henry detained in England. King +Henry wanted, on the other hand, that the French King’s sister should +be married to his favourite son, John: the only one of his sons (he +said) who had never rebelled against him. At last King Henry, deserted +by his nobles one by one, distressed, exhausted, broken-hearted, +consented to establish peace. + +One final heavy sorrow was reserved for him, even yet. When they +brought him the proposed treaty of peace, in writing, as he lay very +ill in bed, they brought him also the list of the deserters from their +allegiance, whom he was required to pardon. The first name upon this +list was John, his favourite son, in whom he had trusted to the last. + +‘O John! child of my heart!’ exclaimed the King, in a great agony of +mind. ‘O John, whom I have loved the best! O John, for whom I have +contended through these many troubles! Have you betrayed me too!’ And +then he lay down with a heavy groan, and said, ‘Now let the world go as +it will. I care for nothing more!’ + +After a time, he told his attendants to take him to the French town of +Chinon—a town he had been fond of, during many years. But he was fond +of no place now; it was too true that he could care for nothing more +upon this earth. He wildly cursed the hour when he was born, and cursed +the children whom he left behind him; and expired. + +As, one hundred years before, the servile followers of the Court had +abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death, so they now abandoned +his descendant. The very body was stripped, in the plunder of the Royal +chamber; and it was not easy to find the means of carrying it for +burial to the abbey church of Fontevraud. + +Richard was said in after years, by way of flattery, to have the heart +of a Lion. It would have been far better, I think, to have had the +heart of a Man. His heart, whatever it was, had cause to beat +remorsefully within his breast, when he came—as he did—into the solemn +abbey, and looked on his dead father’s uncovered face. His heart, +whatever it was, had been a black and perjured heart, in all its +dealings with the deceased King, and more deficient in a single touch +of tenderness than any wild beast’s in the forest. + +There is a pretty story told of this Reign, called the story of Fair +Rosamond. It relates how the King doted on Fair Rosamond, who was the +loveliest girl in all the world; and how he had a beautiful Bower built +for her in a Park at Woodstock; and how it was erected in a labyrinth, +and could only be found by a clue of silk. How the bad Queen Eleanor, +becoming jealous of Fair Rosamond, found out the secret of the clue, +and one day, appeared before her, with a dagger and a cup of poison, +and left her to the choice between those deaths. How Fair Rosamond, +after shedding many piteous tears and offering many useless prayers to +the cruel Queen, took the poison, and fell dead in the midst of the +beautiful bower, while the unconscious birds sang gaily all around her. + +Now, there _was_ a fair Rosamond, and she was (I dare say) the +loveliest girl in all the world, and the King was certainly very fond +of her, and the bad Queen Eleanor was certainly made jealous. But I am +afraid—I say afraid, because I like the story so much—that there was no +bower, no labyrinth, no silken clue, no dagger, no poison. I am afraid +fair Rosamond retired to a nunnery near Oxford, and died there, +peaceably; her sister-nuns hanging a silken drapery over her tomb, and +often dressing it with flowers, in remembrance of the youth and beauty +that had enchanted the King when he too was young, and when his life +lay fair before him. + +It was dark and ended now; faded and gone. Henry Plantagenet lay quiet +in the abbey church of Fontevraud, in the fifty-seventh year of his +age—never to be completed—after governing England well, for nearly +thirty-five years. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART + + +In the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, +Richard of the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the +Second, whose paternal heart he had done so much to break. He had been, +as we have seen, a rebel from his boyhood; but, the moment he became a +king against whom others might rebel, he found out that rebellion was a +great wickedness. In the heat of this pious discovery, he punished all +the leading people who had befriended him against his father. He could +scarcely have done anything that would have been a better instance of +his real nature, or a better warning to fawners and parasites not to +trust in lion-hearted princes. + +He likewise put his late father’s treasurer in chains, and locked him +up in a dungeon from which he was not set free until he had +relinquished, not only all the Crown treasure, but all his own money +too. So, Richard certainly got the Lion’s share of the wealth of this +wretched treasurer, whether he had a Lion’s heart or not. + +He was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster: +walking to the Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the tops of +four lances, each carried by a great lord. On the day of his +coronation, a dreadful murdering of the Jews took place, which seems to +have given great delight to numbers of savage persons calling +themselves Christians. The King had issued a proclamation forbidding +the Jews (who were generally hated, though they were the most useful +merchants in England) to appear at the ceremony; but as they had +assembled in London from all parts, bringing presents to show their +respect for the new Sovereign, some of them ventured down to +Westminster Hall with their gifts; which were very readily accepted. It +is supposed, now, that some noisy fellow in the crowd, pretending to be +a very delicate Christian, set up a howl at this, and struck a Jew who +was trying to get in at the Hall door with his present. A riot arose. +The Jews who had got into the Hall, were driven forth; and some of the +rabble cried out that the new King had commanded the unbelieving race +to be put to death. Thereupon the crowd rushed through the narrow +streets of the city, slaughtering all the Jews they met; and when they +could find no more out of doors (on account of their having fled to +their houses, and fastened themselves in), they ran madly about, +breaking open all the houses where the Jews lived, rushing in and +stabbing or spearing them, sometimes even flinging old people and +children out of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. +This great cruelty lasted four-and-twenty hours, and only three men +were punished for it. Even they forfeited their lives not for murdering +and robbing the Jews, but for burning the houses of some Christians. + +King Richard, who was a strong, restless, burly man, with one idea +always in his head, and that the very troublesome idea of breaking the +heads of other men, was mightily impatient to go on a Crusade to the +Holy Land, with a great army. As great armies could not be raised to +go, even to the Holy Land, without a great deal of money, he sold the +Crown domains, and even the high offices of State; recklessly +appointing noblemen to rule over his English subjects, not because they +were fit to govern, but because they could pay high for the privilege. +In this way, and by selling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties of +avarice and oppression, he scraped together a large treasure. He then +appointed two Bishops to take care of his kingdom in his absence, and +gave great powers and possessions to his brother John, to secure his +friendship. John would rather have been made Regent of England; but he +was a sly man, and friendly to the expedition; saying to himself, no +doubt, ‘The more fighting, the more chance of my brother being killed; +and when he _is_ killed, then I become King John!’ + +Before the newly levied army departed from England, the recruits and +the general populace distinguished themselves by astonishing cruelties +on the unfortunate Jews: whom, in many large towns, they murdered by +hundreds in the most horrible manner. + +At York, a large body of Jews took refuge in the Castle, in the absence +of its Governor, after the wives and children of many of them had been +slain before their eyes. Presently came the Governor, and demanded +admission. ‘How can we give it thee, O Governor!’ said the Jews upon +the walls, ‘when, if we open the gate by so much as the width of a +foot, the roaring crowd behind thee will press in and kill us?’ + +Upon this, the unjust Governor became angry, and told the people that +he approved of their killing those Jews; and a mischievous maniac of a +friar, dressed all in white, put himself at the head of the assault, +and they assaulted the Castle for three days. + +Then said Jocen, the head-Jew (who was a Rabbi or Priest), to the rest, +‘Brethren, there is no hope for us with the Christians who are +hammering at the gates and walls, and who must soon break in. As we and +our wives and children must die, either by Christian hands, or by our +own, let it be by our own. Let us destroy by fire what jewels and other +treasure we have here, then fire the castle, and then perish!’ + +A few could not resolve to do this, but the greater part complied. They +made a blazing heap of all their valuables, and, when those were +consumed, set the castle in flames. While the flames roared and +crackled around them, and shooting up into the sky, turned it +blood-red, Jocen cut the throat of his beloved wife, and stabbed +himself. All the others who had wives or children, did the like +dreadful deed. When the populace broke in, they found (except the +trembling few, cowering in corners, whom they soon killed) only heaps +of greasy cinders, with here and there something like part of the +blackened trunk of a burnt tree, but which had lately been a human +creature, formed by the beneficent hand of the Creator as they were. + +After this bad beginning, Richard and his troops went on, in no very +good manner, with the Holy Crusade. It was undertaken jointly by the +King of England and his old friend Philip of France. They commenced the +business by reviewing their forces, to the number of one hundred +thousand men. Afterwards, they severally embarked their troops for +Messina, in Sicily, which was appointed as the next place of meeting. + +King Richard’s sister had married the King of this place, but he was +dead: and his uncle Tancred had usurped the crown, cast the Royal Widow +into prison, and possessed himself of her estates. Richard fiercely +demanded his sister’s release, the restoration of her lands, and +(according to the Royal custom of the Island) that she should have a +golden chair, a golden table, four-and-twenty silver cups, and +four-and-twenty silver dishes. As he was too powerful to be +successfully resisted, Tancred yielded to his demands; and then the +French King grew jealous, and complained that the English King wanted +to be absolute in the Island of Messina and everywhere else. Richard, +however, cared little or nothing for this complaint; and in +consideration of a present of twenty thousand pieces of gold, promised +his pretty little nephew Arthur, then a child of two years old, in +marriage to Tancred’s daughter. We shall hear again of pretty little +Arthur by-and-by. + +This Sicilian affair arranged without anybody’s brains being knocked +out (which must have rather disappointed him), King Richard took his +sister away, and also a fair lady named Berengaria, with whom he had +fallen in love in France, and whom his mother, Queen Eleanor (so long +in prison, you remember, but released by Richard on his coming to the +Throne), had brought out there to be his wife; and sailed with them for +Cyprus. + +He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of Cyprus, +for allowing his subjects to pillage some of the English troops who +were shipwrecked on the shore; and easily conquering this poor monarch, +he seized his only daughter, to be a companion to the lady Berengaria, +and put the King himself into silver fetters. He then sailed away again +with his mother, sister, wife, and the captive princess; and soon +arrived before the town of Acre, which the French King with his fleet +was besieging from the sea. But the French King was in no triumphant +condition, for his army had been thinned by the swords of the Saracens, +and wasted by the plague; and Saladin, the brave Sultan of the Turks, +at the head of a numerous army, was at that time gallantly defending +the place from the hills that rise above it. + +Wherever the united army of Crusaders went, they agreed in few points +except in gaming, drinking, and quarrelling, in a most unholy manner; +in debauching the people among whom they tarried, whether they were +friends or foes; and in carrying disturbance and ruin into quiet +places. The French King was jealous of the English King, and the +English King was jealous of the French King, and the disorderly and +violent soldiers of the two nations were jealous of one another; +consequently, the two Kings could not at first agree, even upon a joint +assault on Acre; but when they did make up their quarrel for that +purpose, the Saracens promised to yield the town, to give up to the +Christians the wood of the Holy Cross, to set at liberty all their +Christian captives, and to pay two hundred thousand pieces of gold. All +this was to be done within forty days; but, not being done, King +Richard ordered some three thousand Saracen prisoners to be brought out +in the front of his camp, and there, in full view of their own +countrymen, to be butchered. + +The French King had no part in this crime; for he was by that time +travelling homeward with the greater part of his men; being offended by +the overbearing conduct of the English King; being anxious to look +after his own dominions; and being ill, besides, from the unwholesome +air of that hot and sandy country. King Richard carried on the war +without him; and remained in the East, meeting with a variety of +adventures, nearly a year and a half. Every night when his army was on +the march, and came to a halt, the heralds cried out three times, to +remind all the soldiers of the cause in which they were engaged, ‘Save +the Holy Sepulchre!’ and then all the soldiers knelt and said ‘Amen!’ +Marching or encamping, the army had continually to strive with the hot +air of the glaring desert, or with the Saracen soldiers animated and +directed by the brave Saladin, or with both together. Sickness and +death, battle and wounds, were always among them; but through every +difficulty King Richard fought like a giant, and worked like a common +labourer. Long and long after he was quiet in his grave, his terrible +battle-axe, with twenty English pounds of English steel in its mighty +head, was a legend among the Saracens; and when all the Saracen and +Christian hosts had been dust for many a year, if a Saracen horse +started at any object by the wayside, his rider would exclaim, ‘What +dost thou fear, Fool? Dost thou think King Richard is behind it?’ + +No one admired this King’s renown for bravery more than Saladin +himself, who was a generous and gallant enemy. When Richard lay ill of +a fever, Saladin sent him fresh fruits from Damascus, and snow from the +mountain-tops. Courtly messages and compliments were frequently +exchanged between them—and then King Richard would mount his horse and +kill as many Saracens as he could; and Saladin would mount his, and +kill as many Christians as he could. In this way King Richard fought to +his heart’s content at Arsoof and at Jaffa; and finding himself with +nothing exciting to do at Ascalon, except to rebuild, for his own +defence, some fortifications there which the Saracens had destroyed, he +kicked his ally the Duke of Austria, for being too proud to work at +them. + +The army at last came within sight of the Holy City of Jerusalem; but, +being then a mere nest of jealousy, and quarrelling and fighting, soon +retired, and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years, +three months, three days, and three hours. Then, the English +Christians, protected by the noble Saladin from Saracen revenge, +visited Our Saviour’s tomb; and then King Richard embarked with a small +force at Acre to return home. + +But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea, and was fain to pass +through Germany, under an assumed name. Now, there were many people in +Germany who had served in the Holy Land under that proud Duke of +Austria who had been kicked; and some of them, easily recognising a man +so remarkable as King Richard, carried their intelligence to the kicked +Duke, who straightway took him prisoner at a little inn near Vienna. + +The Duke’s master the Emperor of Germany, and the King of France, were +equally delighted to have so troublesome a monarch in safe keeping. +Friendships which are founded on a partnership in doing wrong, are +never true; and the King of France was now quite as heartily King +Richard’s foe, as he had ever been his friend in his unnatural conduct +to his father. He monstrously pretended that King Richard had designed +to poison him in the East; he charged him with having murdered, there, +a man whom he had in truth befriended; he bribed the Emperor of Germany +to keep him close prisoner; and, finally, through the plotting of these +two princes, Richard was brought before the German legislature, charged +with the foregoing crimes, and many others. But he defended himself so +well, that many of the assembly were moved to tears by his eloquence +and earnestness. It was decided that he should be treated, during the +rest of his captivity, in a manner more becoming his dignity than he +had been, and that he should be set free on the payment of a heavy +ransom. This ransom the English people willingly raised. When Queen +Eleanor took it over to Germany, it was at first evaded and refused. +But she appealed to the honour of all the princes of the German Empire +in behalf of her son, and appealed so well that it was accepted, and +the King released. Thereupon, the King of France wrote to Prince +John—‘Take care of thyself. The devil is unchained!’ + +Prince John had reason to fear his brother, for he had been a traitor +to him in his captivity. He had secretly joined the French King; had +vowed to the English nobles and people that his brother was dead; and +had vainly tried to seize the crown. He was now in France, at a place +called Evreux. Being the meanest and basest of men, he contrived a mean +and base expedient for making himself acceptable to his brother. He +invited the French officers of the garrison in that town to dinner, +murdered them all, and then took the fortress. With this recommendation +to the good will of a lion-hearted monarch, he hastened to King +Richard, fell on his knees before him, and obtained the intercession of +Queen Eleanor. ‘I forgive him,’ said the King, ‘and I hope I may forget +the injury he has done me, as easily as I know he will forget my +pardon.’ + +While King Richard was in Sicily, there had been trouble in his +dominions at home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge +thereof, arresting the other; and making, in his pride and ambition, as +great a show as if he were King himself. But the King hearing of it at +Messina, and appointing a new Regency, this Longchamp (for that was his +name) had fled to France in a woman’s dress, and had there been +encouraged and supported by the French King. With all these causes of +offence against Philip in his mind, King Richard had no sooner been +welcomed home by his enthusiastic subjects with great display and +splendour, and had no sooner been crowned afresh at Winchester, than he +resolved to show the French King that the Devil was unchained indeed, +and made war against him with great fury. + +There was fresh trouble at home about this time, arising out of the +discontents of the poor people, who complained that they were far more +heavily taxed than the rich, and who found a spirited champion in +William Fitz-Osbert, called Longbeard. He became the leader of a secret +society, comprising fifty thousand men; he was seized by surprise; he +stabbed the citizen who first laid hands upon him; and retreated, +bravely fighting, to a church, which he maintained four days, until he +was dislodged by fire, and run through the body as he came out. He was +not killed, though; for he was dragged, half dead, at the tail of a +horse to Smithfield, and there hanged. Death was long a favourite +remedy for silencing the people’s advocates; but as we go on with this +history, I fancy we shall find them difficult to make an end of, for +all that. + +The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in progress +when a certain Lord named Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, chanced to find +in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the King’s vassal, he +sent the King half of it; but the King claimed the whole. The lord +refused to yield the whole. The King besieged the lord in his castle, +swore that he would take the castle by storm, and hang every man of its +defenders on the battlements. + +There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the effect +that in Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard would die. +It may be that Bertrand de Gourdon, a young man who was one of the +defenders of the castle, had often sung it or heard it sung of a winter +night, and remembered it when he saw, from his post upon the ramparts, +the King attended only by his chief officer riding below the walls +surveying the place. He drew an arrow to the head, took steady aim, +said between his teeth, ‘Now I pray God speed thee well, arrow!’ +discharged it, and struck the King in the left shoulder. + +Although the wound was not at first considered dangerous, it was severe +enough to cause the King to retire to his tent, and direct the assault +to be made without him. The castle was taken; and every man of its +defenders was hanged, as the King had sworn all should be, except +Bertrand de Gourdon, who was reserved until the royal pleasure +respecting him should be known. + +By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the King +knew that he was dying. He directed Bertrand to be brought into his +tent. The young man was brought there, heavily chained, King Richard +looked at him steadily. He looked, as steadily, at the King. + +‘Knave!’ said King Richard. ‘What have I done to thee that thou +shouldest take my life?’ + +‘What hast thou done to me?’ replied the young man. ‘With thine own +hands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. Myself thou +wouldest have hanged. Let me die now, by any torture that thou wilt. My +comfort is, that no torture can save Thee. Thou too must die; and, +through me, the world is quit of thee!’ + +Again the King looked at the young man steadily. Again the young man +looked steadily at him. Perhaps some remembrance of his generous enemy +Saladin, who was not a Christian, came into the mind of the dying King. + +‘Youth!’ he said, ‘I forgive thee. Go unhurt!’ Then, turning to the +chief officer who had been riding in his company when he received the +wound, King Richard said: + +‘Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him +depart.’ + +He sunk down on his couch, and a dark mist seemed in his weakened eyes +to fill the tent wherein he had so often rested, and he died. His age +was forty-two; he had reigned ten years. His last command was not +obeyed; for the chief officer flayed Bertrand de Gourdon alive, and +hanged him. + +There is an old tune yet known—a sorrowful air will sometimes outlive +many generations of strong men, and even last longer than battle-axes +with twenty pounds of steel in the head—by which this King is said to +have been discovered in his captivity. Blondel, a favourite Minstrel of +King Richard, as the story relates, faithfully seeking his Royal +master, went singing it outside the gloomy walls of many foreign +fortresses and prisons; until at last he heard it echoed from within a +dungeon, and knew the voice, and cried out in ecstasy, ‘O Richard, O my +King!’ You may believe it, if you like; it would be easy to believe +worse things. Richard was himself a Minstrel and a Poet. If he had not +been a Prince too, he might have been a better man perhaps, and might +have gone out of the world with less bloodshed and waste of life to +answer for. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV +ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND + + +At two-and-thirty years of age, John became King of England. His pretty +little nephew Arthur had the best claim to the throne; but John seized +the treasure, and made fine promises to the nobility, and got himself +crowned at Westminster within a few weeks after his brother Richard’s +death. I doubt whether the crown could possibly have been put upon the +head of a meaner coward, or a more detestable villain, if England had +been searched from end to end to find him out. + +The French King, Philip, refused to acknowledge the right of John to +his new dignity, and declared in favour of Arthur. You must not suppose +that he had any generosity of feeling for the fatherless boy; it merely +suited his ambitious schemes to oppose the King of England. So John and +the French King went to war about Arthur. + +He was a handsome boy, at that time only twelve years old. He was not +born when his father, Geoffrey, had his brains trampled out at the +tournament; and, besides the misfortune of never having known a +father’s guidance and protection, he had the additional misfortune to +have a foolish mother (Constance by name), lately married to her third +husband. She took Arthur, upon John’s accession, to the French King, +who pretended to be very much his friend, and who made him a Knight, +and promised him his daughter in marriage; but, who cared so little +about him in reality, that finding it his interest to make peace with +King John for a time, he did so without the least consideration for the +poor little Prince, and heartlessly sacrificed all his interests. + +Young Arthur, for two years afterwards, lived quietly; and in the +course of that time his mother died. But, the French King then finding +it his interest to quarrel with King John again, again made Arthur his +pretence, and invited the orphan boy to court. ‘You know your rights, +Prince,’ said the French King, ‘and you would like to be a King. Is it +not so?’ ‘Truly,’ said Prince Arthur, ‘I should greatly like to be a +King!’ ‘Then,’ said Philip, ‘you shall have two hundred gentlemen who +are Knights of mine, and with them you shall go to win back the +provinces belonging to you, of which your uncle, the usurping King of +England, has taken possession. I myself, meanwhile, will head a force +against him in Normandy.’ Poor Arthur was so flattered and so grateful +that he signed a treaty with the crafty French King, agreeing to +consider him his superior Lord, and that the French King should keep +for himself whatever he could take from King John. + +Now, King John was so bad in all ways, and King Philip was so +perfidious, that Arthur, between the two, might as well have been a +lamb between a fox and a wolf. But, being so young, he was ardent and +flushed with hope; and, when the people of Brittany (which was his +inheritance) sent him five hundred more knights and five thousand foot +soldiers, he believed his fortune was made. The people of Brittany had +been fond of him from his birth, and had requested that he might be +called Arthur, in remembrance of that dimly-famous English Arthur, of +whom I told you early in this book, whom they believed to have been the +brave friend and companion of an old King of their own. They had tales +among them about a prophet called Merlin (of the same old time), who +had foretold that their own King should be restored to them after +hundreds of years; and they believed that the prophecy would be +fulfilled in Arthur; that the time would come when he would rule them +with a crown of Brittany upon his head; and when neither King of France +nor King of England would have any power over them. When Arthur found +himself riding in a glittering suit of armour on a richly caparisoned +horse, at the head of his train of knights and soldiers, he began to +believe this too, and to consider old Merlin a very superior prophet. + +He did not know—how could he, being so innocent and inexperienced?—that +his little army was a mere nothing against the power of the King of +England. The French King knew it; but the poor boy’s fate was little to +him, so that the King of England was worried and distressed. Therefore, +King Philip went his way into Normandy and Prince Arthur went his way +towards Mirebeau, a French town near Poictiers, both very well pleased. + +Prince Arthur went to attack the town of Mirebeau, because his +grandmother Eleanor, who has so often made her appearance in this +history (and who had always been his mother’s enemy), was living there, +and because his Knights said, ‘Prince, if you can take her prisoner, +you will be able to bring the King your uncle to terms!’ But she was +not to be easily taken. She was old enough by this time—eighty—but she +was as full of stratagem as she was full of years and wickedness. +Receiving intelligence of young Arthur’s approach, she shut herself up +in a high tower, and encouraged her soldiers to defend it like men. +Prince Arthur with his little army besieged the high tower. King John, +hearing how matters stood, came up to the rescue, with _his_ army. So +here was a strange family-party! The boy-Prince besieging his +grandmother, and his uncle besieging him! + +This position of affairs did not last long. One summer night King John, +by treachery, got his men into the town, surprised Prince Arthur’s +force, took two hundred of his knights, and seized the Prince himself +in his bed. The Knights were put in heavy irons, and driven away in +open carts drawn by bullocks, to various dungeons where they were most +inhumanly treated, and where some of them were starved to death. Prince +Arthur was sent to the castle of Falaise. + +One day, while he was in prison at that castle, mournfully thinking it +strange that one so young should be in so much trouble, and looking out +of the small window in the deep dark wall, at the summer sky and the +birds, the door was softly opened, and he saw his uncle the King +standing in the shadow of the archway, looking very grim. + +‘Arthur,’ said the King, with his wicked eyes more on the stone floor +than on his nephew, ‘will you not trust to the gentleness, the +friendship, and the truthfulness of your loving uncle?’ + +‘I will tell my loving uncle that,’ replied the boy, ‘when he does me +right. Let him restore to me my kingdom of England, and then come to me +and ask the question.’ + +The King looked at him and went out. ‘Keep that boy close prisoner,’ +said he to the warden of the castle. + +Then, the King took secret counsel with the worst of his nobles how the +Prince was to be got rid of. Some said, ‘Put out his eyes and keep him +in prison, as Robort of Normandy was kept.’ Others said, ‘Have him +stabbed.’ Others, ‘Have him hanged.’ Others, ‘Have him poisoned.’ + +King John, feeling that in any case, whatever was done afterwards, it +would be a satisfaction to his mind to have those handsome eyes burnt +out that had looked at him so proudly while his own royal eyes were +blinking at the stone floor, sent certain ruffians to Falaise to blind +the boy with red-hot irons. But Arthur so pathetically entreated them, +and shed such piteous tears, and so appealed to Hubert de Bourg (or +Burgh), the warden of the castle, who had a love for him, and was an +honourable, tender man, that Hubert could not bear it. To his eternal +honour he prevented the torture from being performed, and, at his own +risk, sent the savages away. + +The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing +suggestion next, and, with his shuffling manner and his cruel face, +proposed it to one William de Bray. ‘I am a gentleman and not an +executioner,’ said William de Bray, and left the presence with disdain. + +But it was not difficult for a King to hire a murderer in those days. +King John found one for his money, and sent him down to the castle of +Falaise. ‘On what errand dost thou come?’ said Hubert to this fellow. +‘To despatch young Arthur,’ he returned. ‘Go back to him who sent +thee,’ answered Hubert, ‘and say that I will do it!’ + +King John very well knowing that Hubert would never do it, but that he +courageously sent this reply to save the Prince or gain time, +despatched messengers to convey the young prisoner to the castle of +Rouen. + +Arthur was soon forced from the good Hubert—of whom he had never stood +in greater need than then—carried away by night, and lodged in his new +prison: where, through his grated window, he could hear the deep waters +of the river Seine, rippling against the stone wall below. + +One dark night, as he lay sleeping, dreaming perhaps of rescue by those +unfortunate gentlemen who were obscurely suffering and dying in his +cause, he was roused, and bidden by his jailer to come down the +staircase to the foot of the tower. He hurriedly dressed himself and +obeyed. When they came to the bottom of the winding stairs, and the +night air from the river blew upon their faces, the jailer trod upon +his torch and put it out. Then, Arthur, in the darkness, was hurriedly +drawn into a solitary boat. And in that boat, he found his uncle and +one other man. + +He knelt to them, and prayed them not to murder him. Deaf to his +entreaties, they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with heavy +stones. When the spring-morning broke, the tower-door was closed, the +boat was gone, the river sparkled on its way, and never more was any +trace of the poor boy beheld by mortal eyes. + +The news of this atrocious murder being spread in England, awakened a +hatred of the King (already odious for his many vices, and for his +having stolen away and married a noble lady while his own wife was +living) that never slept again through his whole reign. In Brittany, +the indignation was intense. Arthur’s own sister Eleanor was in the +power of John and shut up in a convent at Bristol, but his half-sister +Alice was in Brittany. The people chose her, and the murdered prince’s +father-in-law, the last husband of Constance, to represent them; and +carried their fiery complaints to King Philip. King Philip summoned +King John (as the holder of territory in France) to come before him and +defend himself. King John refusing to appear, King Philip declared him +false, perjured, and guilty; and again made war. In a little time, by +conquering the greater part of his French territory, King Philip +deprived him of one-third of his dominions. And, through all the +fighting that took place, King John was always found, either to be +eating and drinking, like a gluttonous fool, when the danger was at a +distance, or to be running away, like a beaten cur, when it was near. + +You might suppose that when he was losing his dominions at this rate, +and when his own nobles cared so little for him or his cause that they +plainly refused to follow his banner out of England, he had enemies +enough. But he made another enemy of the Pope, which he did in this +way. + +The Archbishop of Canterbury dying, and the junior monks of that place +wishing to get the start of the senior monks in the appointment of his +successor, met together at midnight, secretly elected a certain +Reginald, and sent him off to Rome to get the Pope’s approval. The +senior monks and the King soon finding this out, and being very angry +about it, the junior monks gave way, and all the monks together elected +the Bishop of Norwich, who was the King’s favourite. The Pope, hearing +the whole story, declared that neither election would do for him, and +that _he_ elected Stephen Langton. The monks submitting to the Pope, +the King turned them all out bodily, and banished them as traitors. The +Pope sent three bishops to the King, to threaten him with an Interdict. +The King told the bishops that if any Interdict were laid upon his +kingdom, he would tear out the eyes and cut off the noses of all the +monks he could lay hold of, and send them over to Rome in that +undecorated state as a present for their master. The bishops, +nevertheless, soon published the Interdict, and fled. + +After it had lasted a year, the Pope proceeded to his next step; which +was Excommunication. King John was declared excommunicated, with all +the usual ceremonies. The King was so incensed at this, and was made so +desperate by the disaffection of his Barons and the hatred of his +people, that it is said he even privately sent ambassadors to the Turks +in Spain, offering to renounce his religion and hold his kingdom of +them if they would help him. It is related that the ambassadors were +admitted to the presence of the Turkish Emir through long lines of +Moorish guards, and that they found the Emir with his eyes seriously +fixed on the pages of a large book, from which he never once looked up. +That they gave him a letter from the King containing his proposals, and +were gravely dismissed. That presently the Emir sent for one of them, +and conjured him, by his faith in his religion, to say what kind of man +the King of England truly was? That the ambassador, thus pressed, +replied that the King of England was a false tyrant, against whom his +own subjects would soon rise. And that this was quite enough for the +Emir. + +Money being, in his position, the next best thing to men, King John +spared no means of getting it. He set on foot another oppressing and +torturing of the unhappy Jews (which was quite in his way), and +invented a new punishment for one wealthy Jew of Bristol. Until such +time as that Jew should produce a certain large sum of money, the King +sentenced him to be imprisoned, and, every day, to have one tooth +violently wrenched out of his head—beginning with the double teeth. For +seven days, the oppressed man bore the daily pain and lost the daily +tooth; but, on the eighth, he paid the money. With the treasure raised +in such ways, the King made an expedition into Ireland, where some +English nobles had revolted. It was one of the very few places from +which he did not run away; because no resistance was shown. He made +another expedition into Wales—whence he _did_ run away in the end: but +not before he had got from the Welsh people, as hostages, twenty-seven +young men of the best families; every one of whom he caused to be slain +in the following year. + +To Interdict and Excommunication, the Pope now added his last sentence; +Deposition. He proclaimed John no longer King, absolved all his +subjects from their allegiance, and sent Stephen Langton and others to +the King of France to tell him that, if he would invade England, he +should be forgiven all his sins—at least, should be forgiven them by +the Pope, if that would do. + +As there was nothing that King Philip desired more than to invade +England, he collected a great army at Rouen, and a fleet of seventeen +hundred ships to bring them over. But the English people, however +bitterly they hated the King, were not a people to suffer invasion +quietly. They flocked to Dover, where the English standard was, in such +great numbers to enrol themselves as defenders of their native land, +that there were not provisions for them, and the King could only select +and retain sixty thousand. But, at this crisis, the Pope, who had his +own reasons for objecting to either King John or King Philip being too +powerful, interfered. He entrusted a legate, whose name was Pandolf, +with the easy task of frightening King John. He sent him to the English +Camp, from France, to terrify him with exaggerations of King Philip’s +power, and his own weakness in the discontent of the English Barons and +people. Pandolf discharged his commission so well, that King John, in a +wretched panic, consented to acknowledge Stephen Langton; to resign his +kingdom ‘to God, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul’—which meant the Pope; and +to hold it, ever afterwards, by the Pope’s leave, on payment of an +annual sum of money. To this shameful contract he publicly bound +himself in the church of the Knights Templars at Dover: where he laid +at the legate’s feet a part of the tribute, which the legate haughtily +trampled upon. But they _do_ say, that this was merely a genteel +flourish, and that he was afterwards seen to pick it up and pocket it. + +There was an unfortunate prophet, the name of Peter, who had greatly +increased King John’s terrors by predicting that he would be unknighted +(which the King supposed to signify that he would die) before the Feast +of the Ascension should be past. That was the day after this +humiliation. When the next morning came, and the King, who had been +trembling all night, found himself alive and safe, he ordered the +prophet—and his son too—to be dragged through the streets at the tails +of horses, and then hanged, for having frightened him. + +As King John had now submitted, the Pope, to King Philip’s great +astonishment, took him under his protection, and informed King Philip +that he found he could not give him leave to invade England. The angry +Philip resolved to do it without his leave but he gained nothing and +lost much; for, the English, commanded by the Earl of Salisbury, went +over, in five hundred ships, to the French coast, before the French +fleet had sailed away from it, and utterly defeated the whole. + +The Pope then took off his three sentences, one after another, and +empowered Stephen Langton publicly to receive King John into the favour +of the Church again, and to ask him to dinner. The King, who hated +Langton with all his might and main—and with reason too, for he was a +great and a good man, with whom such a King could have no +sympathy—pretended to cry and to be _very_ grateful. There was a little +difficulty about settling how much the King should pay as a recompense +to the clergy for the losses he had caused them; but, the end of it +was, that the superior clergy got a good deal, and the inferior clergy +got little or nothing—which has also happened since King John’s time, I +believe. + +When all these matters were arranged, the King in his triumph became +more fierce, and false, and insolent to all around him than he had ever +been. An alliance of sovereigns against King Philip, gave him an +opportunity of landing an army in France; with which he even took a +town! But, on the French King’s gaining a great victory, he ran away, +of course, and made a truce for five years. + +And now the time approached when he was to be still further humbled, +and made to feel, if he could feel anything, what a wretched creature +he was. Of all men in the world, Stephen Langton seemed raised up by +Heaven to oppose and subdue him. When he ruthlessly burnt and destroyed +the property of his own subjects, because their Lords, the Barons, +would not serve him abroad, Stephen Langton fearlessly reproved and +threatened him. When he swore to restore the laws of King Edward, or +the laws of King Henry the First, Stephen Langton knew his falsehood, +and pursued him through all his evasions. When the Barons met at the +abbey of Saint Edmund’s-Bury, to consider their wrongs and the King’s +oppressions, Stephen Langton roused them by his fervid words to demand +a solemn charter of rights and liberties from their perjured master, +and to swear, one by one, on the High Altar, that they would have it, +or would wage war against him to the death. When the King hid himself +in London from the Barons, and was at last obliged to receive them, +they told him roundly they would not believe him unless Stephen Langton +became a surety that he would keep his word. When he took the Cross to +invest himself with some interest, and belong to something that was +received with favour, Stephen Langton was still immovable. When he +appealed to the Pope, and the Pope wrote to Stephen Langton in behalf +of his new favourite, Stephen Langton was deaf, even to the Pope +himself, and saw before him nothing but the welfare of England and the +crimes of the English King. + +At Easter-time, the Barons assembled at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, in +proud array, and, marching near to Oxford where the King was, delivered +into the hands of Stephen Langton and two others, a list of grievances. +‘And these,’ they said, ‘he must redress, or we will do it for +ourselves!’ When Stephen Langton told the King as much, and read the +list to him, he went half mad with rage. But that did him no more good +than his afterwards trying to pacify the Barons with lies. They called +themselves and their followers, ‘The army of God and the Holy Church.’ +Marching through the country, with the people thronging to them +everywhere (except at Northampton, where they failed in an attack upon +the castle), they at last triumphantly set up their banner in London +itself, whither the whole land, tired of the tyrant, seemed to flock to +join them. Seven knights alone, of all the knights in England, remained +with the King; who, reduced to this strait, at last sent the Earl of +Pembroke to the Barons to say that he approved of everything, and would +meet them to sign their charter when they would. ‘Then,’ said the +Barons, ‘let the day be the fifteenth of June, and the place, +Runny-Mead.’ + +On Monday, the fifteenth of June, one thousand two hundred and +fourteen, the King came from Windsor Castle, and the Barons came from +the town of Staines, and they met on Runny-Mead, which is still a +pleasant meadow by the Thames, where rushes grow in the clear water of +the winding river, and its banks are green with grass and trees. On the +side of the Barons, came the General of their army, Robert Fitz-Walter, +and a great concourse of the nobility of England. With the King, came, +in all, some four-and-twenty persons of any note, most of whom despised +him, and were merely his advisers in form. On that great day, and in +that great company, the King signed Magna Charta—the great charter of +England—by which he pledged himself to maintain the Church in its +rights; to relieve the Barons of oppressive obligations as vassals of +the Crown—of which the Barons, in their turn, pledged themselves to +relieve _their_ vassals, the people; to respect the liberties of London +and all other cities and boroughs; to protect foreign merchants who +came to England; to imprison no man without a fair trial; and to sell, +delay, or deny justice to none. As the Barons knew his falsehood well, +they further required, as their securities, that he should send out of +his kingdom all his foreign troops; that for two months they should +hold possession of the city of London, and Stephen Langton of the +Tower; and that five-and-twenty of their body, chosen by themselves, +should be a lawful committee to watch the keeping of the charter, and +to make war upon him if he broke it. + +All this he was obliged to yield. He signed the charter with a smile, +and, if he could have looked agreeable, would have done so, as he +departed from the splendid assembly. When he got home to Windsor +Castle, he was quite a madman in his helpless fury. And he broke the +charter immediately afterwards. + +He sent abroad for foreign soldiers, and sent to the Pope for help, and +plotted to take London by surprise, while the Barons should be holding +a great tournament at Stamford, which they had agreed to hold there as +a celebration of the charter. The Barons, however, found him out and +put it off. Then, when the Barons desired to see him and tax him with +his treachery, he made numbers of appointments with them, and kept +none, and shifted from place to place, and was constantly sneaking and +skulking about. At last he appeared at Dover, to join his foreign +soldiers, of whom numbers came into his pay; and with them he besieged +and took Rochester Castle, which was occupied by knights and soldiers +of the Barons. He would have hanged them every one; but the leader of +the foreign soldiers, fearful of what the English people might +afterwards do to him, interfered to save the knights; therefore the +King was fain to satisfy his vengeance with the death of all the common +men. Then, he sent the Earl of Salisbury, with one portion of his army, +to ravage the eastern part of his own dominions, while he carried fire +and slaughter into the northern part; torturing, plundering, killing, +and inflicting every possible cruelty upon the people; and, every +morning, setting a worthy example to his men by setting fire, with his +own monster-hands, to the house where he had slept last night. Nor was +this all; for the Pope, coming to the aid of his precious friend, laid +the kingdom under an Interdict again, because the people took part with +the Barons. It did not much matter, for the people had grown so used to +it now, that they had begun to think nothing about it. It occurred to +them—perhaps to Stephen Langton too—that they could keep their churches +open, and ring their bells, without the Pope’s permission as well as +with it. So, they tried the experiment—and found that it succeeded +perfectly. + +It being now impossible to bear the country, as a wilderness of +cruelty, or longer to hold any terms with such a forsworn outlaw of a +King, the Barons sent to Louis, son of the French monarch, to offer him +the English crown. Caring as little for the Pope’s excommunication of +him if he accepted the offer, as it is possible his father may have +cared for the Pope’s forgiveness of his sins, he landed at Sandwich +(King John immediately running away from Dover, where he happened to +be), and went on to London. The Scottish King, with whom many of the +Northern English Lords had taken refuge, numbers of the foreign +soldiers, numbers of the Barons, and numbers of the people went over to +him every day;—King John, the while, continually running away in all +directions. + +The career of Louis was checked however, by the suspicions of the +Barons, founded on the dying declaration of a French Lord, that when +the kingdom was conquered he was sworn to banish them as traitors, and +to give their estates to some of his own Nobles. Rather than suffer +this, some of the Barons hesitated: others even went over to King John. + +It seemed to be the turning-point of King John’s fortunes, for, in his +savage and murderous course, he had now taken some towns and met with +some successes. But, happily for England and humanity, his death was +near. Crossing a dangerous quicksand, called the Wash, not very far +from Wisbeach, the tide came up and nearly drowned his army. He and his +soldiers escaped; but, looking back from the shore when he was safe, he +saw the roaring water sweep down in a torrent, overturn the waggons, +horses, and men, that carried his treasure, and engulf them in a raging +whirlpool from which nothing could be delivered. + +Cursing, and swearing, and gnawing his fingers, he went on to +Swinestead Abbey, where the monks set before him quantities of pears, +and peaches, and new cider—some say poison too, but there is very +little reason to suppose so—of which he ate and drank in an immoderate +and beastly way. All night he lay ill of a burning fever, and haunted +with horrible fears. Next day, they put him in a horse-litter, and +carried him to Sleaford Castle, where he passed another night of pain +and horror. Next day, they carried him, with greater difficulty than on +the day before, to the castle of Newark upon Trent; and there, on the +eighteenth of October, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the +seventeenth of his vile reign, was an end of this miserable brute. + + + + +CHAPTER XV +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER + + +If any of the English Barons remembered the murdered Arthur’s sister, +Eleanor the fair maid of Brittany, shut up in her convent at Bristol, +none among them spoke of her now, or maintained her right to the Crown. +The dead Usurper’s eldest boy, Henry by name, was taken by the Earl of +Pembroke, the Marshal of England, to the city of Gloucester, and there +crowned in great haste when he was only ten years old. As the Crown +itself had been lost with the King’s treasure in the raging water, and +as there was no time to make another, they put a circle of plain gold +upon his head instead. ‘We have been the enemies of this child’s +father,’ said Lord Pembroke, a good and true gentleman, to the few +Lords who were present, ‘and he merited our ill-will; but the child +himself is innocent, and his youth demands our friendship and +protection.’ Those Lords felt tenderly towards the little boy, +remembering their own young children; and they bowed their heads, and +said, ‘Long live King Henry the Third!’ + +Next, a great council met at Bristol, revised Magna Charta, and made +Lord Pembroke Regent or Protector of England, as the King was too young +to reign alone. The next thing to be done, was to get rid of Prince +Louis of France, and to win over those English Barons who were still +ranged under his banner. He was strong in many parts of England, and in +London itself; and he held, among other places, a certain Castle called +the Castle of Mount Sorel, in Leicestershire. To this fortress, after +some skirmishing and truce-making, Lord Pembroke laid siege. Louis +despatched an army of six hundred knights and twenty thousand soldiers +to relieve it. Lord Pembroke, who was not strong enough for such a +force, retired with all his men. The army of the French Prince, which +had marched there with fire and plunder, marched away with fire and +plunder, and came, in a boastful swaggering manner, to Lincoln. The +town submitted; but the Castle in the town, held by a brave widow lady, +named Nichola de Camville (whose property it was), made such a sturdy +resistance, that the French Count in command of the army of the French +Prince found it necessary to besiege this Castle. While he was thus +engaged, word was brought to him that Lord Pembroke, with four hundred +knights, two hundred and fifty men with cross-bows, and a stout force +both of horse and foot, was marching towards him. ‘What care I?’ said +the French Count. ‘The Englishman is not so mad as to attack me and my +great army in a walled town!’ But the Englishman did it for all that, +and did it—not so madly but so wisely, that he decoyed the great army +into the narrow, ill-paved lanes and byways of Lincoln, where its +horse-soldiers could not ride in any strong body; and there he made +such havoc with them, that the whole force surrendered themselves +prisoners, except the Count; who said that he would never yield to any +English traitor alive, and accordingly got killed. The end of this +victory, which the English called, for a joke, the Fair of Lincoln, was +the usual one in those times—the common men were slain without any +mercy, and the knights and gentlemen paid ransom and went home. + +The wife of Louis, the fair Blanche of Castile, dutifully equipped a +fleet of eighty good ships, and sent it over from France to her +husband’s aid. An English fleet of forty ships, some good and some bad, +gallantly met them near the mouth of the Thames, and took or sunk +sixty-five in one fight. This great loss put an end to the French +Prince’s hopes. A treaty was made at Lambeth, in virtue of which the +English Barons who had remained attached to his cause returned to their +allegiance, and it was engaged on both sides that the Prince and all +his troops should retire peacefully to France. It was time to go; for +war had made him so poor that he was obliged to borrow money from the +citizens of London to pay his expenses home. + +Lord Pembroke afterwards applied himself to governing the country +justly, and to healing the quarrels and disturbances that had arisen +among men in the days of the bad King John. He caused Magna Charta to +be still more improved, and so amended the Forest Laws that a Peasant +was no longer put to death for killing a stag in a Royal Forest, but +was only imprisoned. It would have been well for England if it could +have had so good a Protector many years longer, but that was not to be. +Within three years after the young King’s Coronation, Lord Pembroke +died; and you may see his tomb, at this day, in the old Temple Church +in London. + +The Protectorship was now divided. Peter de Roches, whom King John had +made Bishop of Winchester, was entrusted with the care of the person of +the young sovereign; and the exercise of the Royal authority was +confided to Earl Hubert de Burgh. These two personages had from the +first no liking for each other, and soon became enemies. When the young +King was declared of age, Peter de Roches, finding that Hubert +increased in power and favour, retired discontentedly, and went abroad. +For nearly ten years afterwards Hubert had full sway alone. + +But ten years is a long time to hold the favour of a King. This King, +too, as he grew up, showed a strong resemblance to his father, in +feebleness, inconsistency, and irresolution. The best that can be said +of him is that he was not cruel. De Roches coming home again, after ten +years, and being a novelty, the King began to favour him and to look +coldly on Hubert. Wanting money besides, and having made Hubert rich, +he began to dislike Hubert. At last he was made to believe, or +pretended to believe, that Hubert had misappropriated some of the Royal +treasure; and ordered him to furnish an account of all he had done in +his administration. Besides which, the foolish charge was brought +against Hubert that he had made himself the King’s favourite by magic. +Hubert very well knowing that he could never defend himself against +such nonsense, and that his old enemy must be determined on his ruin, +instead of answering the charges fled to Merton Abbey. Then the King, +in a violent passion, sent for the Mayor of London, and said to the +Mayor, ‘Take twenty thousand citizens, and drag me Hubert de Burgh out +of that abbey, and bring him here.’ The Mayor posted off to do it, but +the Archbishop of Dublin (who was a friend of Hubert’s) warning the +King that an abbey was a sacred place, and that if he committed any +violence there, he must answer for it to the Church, the King changed +his mind and called the Mayor back, and declared that Hubert should +have four months to prepare his defence, and should be safe and free +during that time. + +Hubert, who relied upon the King’s word, though I think he was old +enough to have known better, came out of Merton Abbey upon these +conditions, and journeyed away to see his wife: a Scottish Princess who +was then at St. Edmund’s-Bury. + +Almost as soon as he had departed from the Sanctuary, his enemies +persuaded the weak King to send out one Sir Godfrey de Crancumb, who +commanded three hundred vagabonds called the Black Band, with orders to +seize him. They came up with him at a little town in Essex, called +Brentwood, when he was in bed. He leaped out of bed, got out of the +house, fled to the church, ran up to the altar, and laid his hand upon +the cross. Sir Godfrey and the Black Band, caring neither for church, +altar, nor cross, dragged him forth to the church door, with their +drawn swords flashing round his head, and sent for a Smith to rivet a +set of chains upon him. When the Smith (I wish I knew his name!) was +brought, all dark and swarthy with the smoke of his forge, and panting +with the speed he had made; and the Black Band, falling aside to show +him the Prisoner, cried with a loud uproar, ‘Make the fetters heavy! +make them strong!’ the Smith dropped upon his knee—but not to the Black +Band—and said, ‘This is the brave Earl Hubert de Burgh, who fought at +Dover Castle, and destroyed the French fleet, and has done his country +much good service. You may kill me, if you like, but I will never make +a chain for Earl Hubert de Burgh!’ + +The Black Band never blushed, or they might have blushed at this. They +knocked the Smith about from one to another, and swore at him, and tied +the Earl on horseback, undressed as he was, and carried him off to the +Tower of London. The Bishops, however, were so indignant at the +violation of the Sanctuary of the Church, that the frightened King soon +ordered the Black Band to take him back again; at the same time +commanding the Sheriff of Essex to prevent his escaping out of +Brentwood Church. Well! the Sheriff dug a deep trench all round the +church, and erected a high fence, and watched the church night and day; +the Black Band and their Captain watched it too, like three hundred and +one black wolves. For thirty-nine days, Hubert de Burgh remained +within. At length, upon the fortieth day, cold and hunger were too much +for him, and he gave himself up to the Black Band, who carried him off, +for the second time, to the Tower. When his trial came on, he refused +to plead; but at last it was arranged that he should give up all the +royal lands which had been bestowed upon him, and should be kept at the +Castle of Devizes, in what was called ‘free prison,’ in charge of four +knights appointed by four lords. There, he remained almost a year, +until, learning that a follower of his old enemy the Bishop was made +Keeper of the Castle, and fearing that he might be killed by treachery, +he climbed the ramparts one dark night, dropped from the top of the +high Castle wall into the moat, and coming safely to the ground, took +refuge in another church. From this place he was delivered by a party +of horse despatched to his help by some nobles, who were by this time +in revolt against the King, and assembled in Wales. He was finally +pardoned and restored to his estates, but he lived privately, and never +more aspired to a high post in the realm, or to a high place in the +King’s favour. And thus end—more happily than the stories of many +favourites of Kings—the adventures of Earl Hubert de Burgh. + +The nobles, who had risen in revolt, were stirred up to rebellion by +the overbearing conduct of the Bishop of Winchester, who, finding that +the King secretly hated the Great Charter which had been forced from +his father, did his utmost to confirm him in that dislike, and in the +preference he showed to foreigners over the English. Of this, and of +his even publicly declaring that the Barons of England were inferior to +those of France, the English Lords complained with such bitterness, +that the King, finding them well supported by the clergy, became +frightened for his throne, and sent away the Bishop and all his foreign +associates. On his marriage, however, with Eleanor, a French lady, the +daughter of the Count of Provence, he openly favoured the foreigners +again; and so many of his wife’s relations came over, and made such an +immense family-party at court, and got so many good things, and +pocketed so much money, and were so high with the English whose money +they pocketed, that the bolder English Barons murmured openly about a +clause there was in the Great Charter, which provided for the +banishment of unreasonable favourites. But, the foreigners only laughed +disdainfully, and said, ‘What are your English laws to us?’ + +King Philip of France had died, and had been succeeded by Prince Louis, +who had also died after a short reign of three years, and had been +succeeded by his son of the same name—so moderate and just a man that +he was not the least in the world like a King, as Kings went. Isabella, +King Henry’s mother, wished very much (for a certain spite she had) +that England should make war against this King; and, as King Henry was +a mere puppet in anybody’s hands who knew how to manage his feebleness, +she easily carried her point with him. But, the Parliament were +determined to give him no money for such a war. So, to defy the +Parliament, he packed up thirty large casks of silver—I don’t know how +he got so much; I dare say he screwed it out of the miserable Jews—and +put them aboard ship, and went away himself to carry war into France: +accompanied by his mother and his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, +who was rich and clever. But he only got well beaten, and came home. + +The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this. They +reproached the King with wasting the public money to make greedy +foreigners rich, and were so stern with him, and so determined not to +let him have more of it to waste if they could help it, that he was at +his wit’s end for some, and tried so shamelessly to get all he could +from his subjects, by excuses or by force, that the people used to say +the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. He took the Cross, +thinking to get some money by that means; but, as it was very well +known that he never meant to go on a crusade, he got none. In all this +contention, the Londoners were particularly keen against the King, and +the King hated them warmly in return. Hating or loving, however, made +no difference; he continued in the same condition for nine or ten +years, when at last the Barons said that if he would solemnly confirm +their liberties afresh, the Parliament would vote him a large sum. + +As he readily consented, there was a great meeting held in Westminster +Hall, one pleasant day in May, when all the clergy, dressed in their +robes and holding every one of them a burning candle in his hand, stood +up (the Barons being also there) while the Archbishop of Canterbury +read the sentence of excommunication against any man, and all men, who +should henceforth, in any way, infringe the Great Charter of the +Kingdom. When he had done, they all put out their burning candles with +a curse upon the soul of any one, and every one, who should merit that +sentence. The King concluded with an oath to keep the Charter, ‘As I am +a man, as I am a Christian, as I am a Knight, as I am a King!’ + +It was easy to make oaths, and easy to break them; and the King did +both, as his father had done before him. He took to his old courses +again when he was supplied with money, and soon cured of their weakness +the few who had ever really trusted him. When his money was gone, and +he was once more borrowing and begging everywhere with a meanness +worthy of his nature, he got into a difficulty with the Pope respecting +the Crown of Sicily, which the Pope said he had a right to give away, +and which he offered to King Henry for his second son, Prince Edmund. +But, if you or I give away what we have not got, and what belongs to +somebody else, it is likely that the person to whom we give it, will +have some trouble in taking it. It was exactly so in this case. It was +necessary to conquer the Sicilian Crown before it could be put upon +young Edmund’s head. It could not be conquered without money. The Pope +ordered the clergy to raise money. The clergy, however, were not so +obedient to him as usual; they had been disputing with him for some +time about his unjust preference of Italian Priests in England; and +they had begun to doubt whether the King’s chaplain, whom he allowed to +be paid for preaching in seven hundred churches, could possibly be, +even by the Pope’s favour, in seven hundred places at once. ‘The Pope +and the King together,’ said the Bishop of London, ‘may take the mitre +off my head; but, if they do, they will find that I shall put on a +soldier’s helmet. I pay nothing.’ The Bishop of Worcester was as bold +as the Bishop of London, and would pay nothing either. Such sums as the +more timid or more helpless of the clergy did raise were squandered +away, without doing any good to the King, or bringing the Sicilian +Crown an inch nearer to Prince Edmund’s head. The end of the business +was, that the Pope gave the Crown to the brother of the King of France +(who conquered it for himself), and sent the King of England in, a bill +of one hundred thousand pounds for the expenses of not having won it. + +The King was now so much distressed that we might almost pity him, if +it were possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. His clever +brother, Richard, had bought the title of King of the Romans from the +German people, and was no longer near him, to help him with advice. The +clergy, resisting the very Pope, were in alliance with the Barons. The +Barons were headed by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, married to +King Henry’s sister, and, though a foreigner himself, the most popular +man in England against the foreign favourites. When the King next met +his Parliament, the Barons, led by this Earl, came before him, armed +from head to foot, and cased in armour. When the Parliament again +assembled, in a month’s time, at Oxford, this Earl was at their head, +and the King was obliged to consent, on oath, to what was called a +Committee of Government: consisting of twenty-four members: twelve +chosen by the Barons, and twelve chosen by himself. + +But, at a good time for him, his brother Richard came back. Richard’s +first act (the Barons would not admit him into England on other terms) +was to swear to be faithful to the Committee of Government—which he +immediately began to oppose with all his might. Then, the Barons began +to quarrel among themselves; especially the proud Earl of Gloucester +with the Earl of Leicester, who went abroad in disgust. Then, the +people began to be dissatisfied with the Barons, because they did not +do enough for them. The King’s chances seemed so good again at length, +that he took heart enough—or caught it from his brother—to tell the +Committee of Government that he abolished them—as to his oath, never +mind that, the Pope said!—and to seize all the money in the Mint, and +to shut himself up in the Tower of London. Here he was joined by his +eldest son, Prince Edward; and, from the Tower, he made public a letter +of the Pope’s to the world in general, informing all men that he had +been an excellent and just King for five-and-forty years. + +As everybody knew he had been nothing of the sort, nobody cared much +for this document. It so chanced that the proud Earl of Gloucester +dying, was succeeded by his son; and that his son, instead of being the +enemy of the Earl of Leicester, was (for the time) his friend. It fell +out, therefore, that these two Earls joined their forces, took several +of the Royal Castles in the country, and advanced as hard as they could +on London. The London people, always opposed to the King, declared for +them with great joy. The King himself remained shut up, not at all +gloriously, in the Tower. Prince Edward made the best of his way to +Windsor Castle. His mother, the Queen, attempted to follow him by +water; but, the people seeing her barge rowing up the river, and hating +her with all their hearts, ran to London Bridge, got together a +quantity of stones and mud, and pelted the barge as it came through, +crying furiously, ‘Drown the Witch! Drown her!’ They were so near doing +it, that the Mayor took the old lady under his protection, and shut her +up in St. Paul’s until the danger was past. + +It would require a great deal of writing on my part, and a great deal +of reading on yours, to follow the King through his disputes with the +Barons, and to follow the Barons through their disputes with one +another—so I will make short work of it for both of us, and only relate +the chief events that arose out of these quarrels. The good King of +France was asked to decide between them. He gave it as his opinion that +the King must maintain the Great Charter, and that the Barons must give +up the Committee of Government, and all the rest that had been done by +the Parliament at Oxford: which the Royalists, or King’s party, +scornfully called the Mad Parliament. The Barons declared that these +were not fair terms, and they would not accept them. Then they caused +the great bell of St. Paul’s to be tolled, for the purpose of rousing +up the London people, who armed themselves at the dismal sound and +formed quite an army in the streets. I am sorry to say, however, that +instead of falling upon the King’s party with whom their quarrel was, +they fell upon the miserable Jews, and killed at least five hundred of +them. They pretended that some of these Jews were on the King’s side, +and that they kept hidden in their houses, for the destruction of the +people, a certain terrible composition called Greek Fire, which could +not be put out with water, but only burnt the fiercer for it. What they +really did keep in their houses was money; and this their cruel enemies +wanted, and this their cruel enemies took, like robbers and murderers. + +The Earl of Leicester put himself at the head of these Londoners and +other forces, and followed the King to Lewes in Sussex, where he lay +encamped with his army. Before giving the King’s forces battle here, +the Earl addressed his soldiers, and said that King Henry the Third had +broken so many oaths, that he had become the enemy of God, and +therefore they would wear white crosses on their breasts, as if they +were arrayed, not against a fellow-Christian, but against a Turk. +White-crossed accordingly, they rushed into the fight. They would have +lost the day—the King having on his side all the foreigners in England: +and, from Scotland, John Comyn, John Baliol, and Robert Bruce, with all +their men—but for the impatience of Prince Edward, who, in his hot +desire to have vengeance on the people of London, threw the whole of +his father’s army into confusion. He was taken Prisoner; so was the +King; so was the King’s brother the King of the Romans; and five +thousand Englishmen were left dead upon the bloody grass. + +For this success, the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: which +neither the Earl nor the people cared at all about. The people loved +him and supported him, and he became the real King; having all the +power of the government in his own hands, though he was outwardly +respectful to King Henry the Third, whom he took with him wherever he +went, like a poor old limp court-card. He summoned a Parliament (in the +year one thousand two hundred and sixty-five) which was the first +Parliament in England that the people had any real share in electing; +and he grew more and more in favour with the people every day, and they +stood by him in whatever he did. + +Many of the other Barons, and particularly the Earl of Gloucester, who +had become by this time as proud as his father, grew jealous of this +powerful and popular Earl, who was proud too, and began to conspire +against him. Since the battle of Lewes, Prince Edward had been kept as +a hostage, and, though he was otherwise treated like a Prince, had +never been allowed to go out without attendants appointed by the Earl +of Leicester, who watched him. The conspiring Lords found means to +propose to him, in secret, that they should assist him to escape, and +should make him their leader; to which he very heartily consented. + +So, on a day that was agreed upon, he said to his attendants after +dinner (being then at Hereford), ‘I should like to ride on horseback, +this fine afternoon, a little way into the country.’ As they, too, +thought it would be very pleasant to have a canter in the sunshine, +they all rode out of the town together in a gay little troop. When they +came to a fine level piece of turf, the Prince fell to comparing their +horses one with another, and offering bets that one was faster than +another; and the attendants, suspecting no harm, rode galloping matches +until their horses were quite tired. The Prince rode no matches +himself, but looked on from his saddle, and staked his money. Thus they +passed the whole merry afternoon. Now, the sun was setting, and they +were all going slowly up a hill, the Prince’s horse very fresh and all +the other horses very weary, when a strange rider mounted on a grey +steed appeared at the top of the hill, and waved his hat. ‘What does +the fellow mean?’ said the attendants one to another. The Prince +answered on the instant by setting spurs to his horse, dashing away at +his utmost speed, joining the man, riding into the midst of a little +crowd of horsemen who were then seen waiting under some trees, and who +closed around him; and so he departed in a cloud of dust, leaving the +road empty of all but the baffled attendants, who sat looking at one +another, while their horses drooped their ears and panted. + +The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. The Earl of +Leicester, with a part of the army and the stupid old King, was at +Hereford. One of the Earl of Leicester’s sons, Simon de Montfort, with +another part of the army, was in Sussex. To prevent these two parts +from uniting was the Prince’s first object. He attacked Simon de +Montfort by night, defeated him, seized his banners and treasure, and +forced him into Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, which belonged to +his family. + +His father, the Earl of Leicester, in the meanwhile, not knowing what +had happened, marched out of Hereford, with his part of the army and +the King, to meet him. He came, on a bright morning in August, to +Evesham, which is watered by the pleasant river Avon. Looking rather +anxiously across the prospect towards Kenilworth, he saw his own +banners advancing; and his face brightened with joy. But, it clouded +darkly when he presently perceived that the banners were captured, and +in the enemy’s hands; and he said, ‘It is over. The Lord have mercy on +our souls, for our bodies are Prince Edward’s!’ + +He fought like a true Knight, nevertheless. When his horse was killed +under him, he fought on foot. It was a fierce battle, and the dead lay +in heaps everywhere. The old King, stuck up in a suit of armour on a +big war-horse, which didn’t mind him at all, and which carried him into +all sorts of places where he didn’t want to go, got into everybody’s +way, and very nearly got knocked on the head by one of his son’s men. +But he managed to pipe out, ‘I am Harry of Winchester!’ and the Prince, +who heard him, seized his bridle, and took him out of peril. The Earl +of Leicester still fought bravely, until his best son Henry was killed, +and the bodies of his best friends choked his path; and then he fell, +still fighting, sword in hand. They mangled his body, and sent it as a +present to a noble lady—but a very unpleasant lady, I should think—who +was the wife of his worst enemy. They could not mangle his memory in +the minds of the faithful people, though. Many years afterwards, they +loved him more than ever, and regarded him as a Saint, and always spoke +of him as ‘Sir Simon the Righteous.’ + +And even though he was dead, the cause for which he had fought still +lived, and was strong, and forced itself upon the King in the very hour +of victory. Henry found himself obliged to respect the Great Charter, +however much he hated it, and to make laws similar to the laws of the +Great Earl of Leicester, and to be moderate and forgiving towards the +people at last—even towards the people of London, who had so long +opposed him. There were more risings before all this was done, but they +were set at rest by these means, and Prince Edward did his best in all +things to restore peace. One Sir Adam de Gourdon was the last +dissatisfied knight in arms; but, the Prince vanquished him in single +combat, in a wood, and nobly gave him his life, and became his friend, +instead of slaying him. Sir Adam was not ungrateful. He ever afterwards +remained devoted to his generous conqueror. + +When the troubles of the Kingdom were thus calmed, Prince Edward and +his cousin Henry took the Cross, and went away to the Holy Land, with +many English Lords and Knights. Four years afterwards the King of the +Romans died, and, next year (one thousand two hundred and seventy-two), +his brother the weak King of England died. He was sixty-eight years old +then, and had reigned fifty-six years. He was as much of a King in +death, as he had ever been in life. He was the mere pale shadow of a +King at all times. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS + + +It was now the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and +seventy-two; and Prince Edward, the heir to the throne, being away in +the Holy Land, knew nothing of his father’s death. The Barons, however, +proclaimed him King, immediately after the Royal funeral; and the +people very willingly consented, since most men knew too well by this +time what the horrors of a contest for the crown were. So King Edward +the First, called, in a not very complimentary manner, Longshanks, +because of the slenderness of his legs, was peacefully accepted by the +English Nation. + +His legs had need to be strong, however long and thin they were; for +they had to support him through many difficulties on the fiery sands of +Asia, where his small force of soldiers fainted, died, deserted, and +seemed to melt away. But his prowess made light of it, and he said, ‘I +will go on, if I go on with no other follower than my groom!’ + +A Prince of this spirit gave the Turks a deal of trouble. He stormed +Nazareth, at which place, of all places on earth, I am sorry to relate, +he made a frightful slaughter of innocent people; and then he went to +Acre, where he got a truce of ten years from the Sultan. He had very +nearly lost his life in Acre, through the treachery of a Saracen Noble, +called the Emir of Jaffa, who, making the pretence that he had some +idea of turning Christian and wanted to know all about that religion, +sent a trusty messenger to Edward very often—with a dagger in his +sleeve. At last, one Friday in Whitsun week, when it was very hot, and +all the sandy prospect lay beneath the blazing sun, burnt up like a +great overdone biscuit, and Edward was lying on a couch, dressed for +coolness in only a loose robe, the messenger, with his +chocolate-coloured face and his bright dark eyes and white teeth, came +creeping in with a letter, and kneeled down like a tame tiger. But, the +moment Edward stretched out his hand to take the letter, the tiger made +a spring at his heart. He was quick, but Edward was quick too. He +seized the traitor by his chocolate throat, threw him to the ground, +and slew him with the very dagger he had drawn. The weapon had struck +Edward in the arm, and although the wound itself was slight, it +threatened to be mortal, for the blade of the dagger had been smeared +with poison. Thanks, however, to a better surgeon than was often to be +found in those times, and to some wholesome herbs, and above all, to +his faithful wife, Eleanor, who devotedly nursed him, and is said by +some to have sucked the poison from the wound with her own red lips +(which I am very willing to believe), Edward soon recovered and was +sound again. + +As the King his father had sent entreaties to him to return home, he +now began the journey. He had got as far as Italy, when he met +messengers who brought him intelligence of the King’s death. Hearing +that all was quiet at home, he made no haste to return to his own +dominions, but paid a visit to the Pope, and went in state through +various Italian Towns, where he was welcomed with acclamations as a +mighty champion of the Cross from the Holy Land, and where he received +presents of purple mantles and prancing horses, and went along in great +triumph. The shouting people little knew that he was the last English +monarch who would ever embark in a crusade, or that within twenty years +every conquest which the Christians had made in the Holy Land at the +cost of so much blood, would be won back by the Turks. But all this +came to pass. + +There was, and there is, an old town standing in a plain in France, +called Châlons. When the King was coming towards this place on his way +to England, a wily French Lord, called the Count of Châlons, sent him a +polite challenge to come with his knights and hold a fair tournament +with the Count and _his_ knights, and make a day of it with sword and +lance. It was represented to the King that the Count of Châlons was not +to be trusted, and that, instead of a holiday fight for mere show and +in good humour, he secretly meant a real battle, in which the English +should be defeated by superior force. + +The King, however, nothing afraid, went to the appointed place on the +appointed day with a thousand followers. When the Count came with two +thousand and attacked the English in earnest, the English rushed at +them with such valour that the Count’s men and the Count’s horses soon +began to be tumbled down all over the field. The Count himself seized +the King round the neck, but the King tumbled _him_ out of his saddle +in return for the compliment, and, jumping from his own horse, and +standing over him, beat away at his iron armour like a blacksmith +hammering on his anvil. Even when the Count owned himself defeated and +offered his sword, the King would not do him the honour to take it, but +made him yield it up to a common soldier. There had been such fury +shown in this fight, that it was afterwards called the little Battle of +Châlons. + +The English were very well disposed to be proud of their King after +these adventures; so, when he landed at Dover in the year one thousand +two hundred and seventy-four (being then thirty-six years old), and +went on to Westminster where he and his good Queen were crowned with +great magnificence, splendid rejoicings took place. For the +coronation-feast there were provided, among other eatables, four +hundred oxen, four hundred sheep, four hundred and fifty pigs, eighteen +wild boars, three hundred flitches of bacon, and twenty thousand fowls. +The fountains and conduits in the street flowed with red and white wine +instead of water; the rich citizens hung silks and cloths of the +brightest colours out of their windows to increase the beauty of the +show, and threw out gold and silver by whole handfuls to make scrambles +for the crowd. In short, there was such eating and drinking, such music +and capering, such a ringing of bells and tossing of caps, such a +shouting, and singing, and revelling, as the narrow overhanging streets +of old London City had not witnessed for many a long day. All the +people were merry except the poor Jews, who, trembling within their +houses, and scarcely daring to peep out, began to foresee that they +would have to find the money for this joviality sooner or later. + +To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present, I am sorry to +add that in this reign they were most unmercifully pillaged. They were +hanged in great numbers, on accusations of having clipped the King’s +coin—which all kinds of people had done. They were heavily taxed; they +were disgracefully badged; they were, on one day, thirteen years after +the coronation, taken up with their wives and children and thrown into +beastly prisons, until they purchased their release by paying to the +King twelve thousand pounds. Finally, every kind of property belonging +to them was seized by the King, except so little as would defray the +charge of their taking themselves away into foreign countries. Many +years elapsed before the hope of gain induced any of their race to +return to England, where they had been treated so heartlessly and had +suffered so much. + +If King Edward the First had been as bad a king to Christians as he was +to Jews, he would have been bad indeed. But he was, in general, a wise +and great monarch, under whom the country much improved. He had no love +for the Great Charter—few Kings had, through many, many years—but he +had high qualities. The first bold object which he conceived when he +came home, was, to unite under one Sovereign England, Scotland, and +Wales; the two last of which countries had each a little king of its +own, about whom the people were always quarrelling and fighting, and +making a prodigious disturbance—a great deal more than he was worth. In +the course of King Edward’s reign he was engaged, besides, in a war +with France. To make these quarrels clearer, we will separate their +histories and take them thus. Wales, first. France, second. Scotland, +third. + + +Llewellyn was the Prince of Wales. He had been on the side of the +Barons in the reign of the stupid old King, but had afterwards sworn +allegiance to him. When King Edward came to the throne, Llewellyn was +required to swear allegiance to him also; which he refused to do. The +King, being crowned and in his own dominions, three times more required +Llewellyn to come and do homage; and three times more Llewellyn said he +would rather not. He was going to be married to Eleanor de Montfort, a +young lady of the family mentioned in the last reign; and it chanced +that this young lady, coming from France with her youngest brother, +Emeric, was taken by an English ship, and was ordered by the English +King to be detained. Upon this, the quarrel came to a head. The King +went, with his fleet, to the coast of Wales, where, so encompassing +Llewellyn, that he could only take refuge in the bleak mountain region +of Snowdon in which no provisions could reach him, he was soon starved +into an apology, and into a treaty of peace, and into paying the +expenses of the war. The King, however, forgave him some of the hardest +conditions of the treaty, and consented to his marriage. And he now +thought he had reduced Wales to obedience. + +But the Welsh, although they were naturally a gentle, quiet, pleasant +people, who liked to receive strangers in their cottages among the +mountains, and to set before them with free hospitality whatever they +had to eat and drink, and to play to them on their harps, and sing +their native ballads to them, were a people of great spirit when their +blood was up. Englishmen, after this affair, began to be insolent in +Wales, and to assume the air of masters; and the Welsh pride could not +bear it. Moreover, they believed in that unlucky old Merlin, some of +whose unlucky old prophecies somebody always seemed doomed to remember +when there was a chance of its doing harm; and just at this time some +blind old gentleman with a harp and a long white beard, who was an +excellent person, but had become of an unknown age and tedious, burst +out with a declaration that Merlin had predicted that when English +money had become round, a Prince of Wales would be crowned in London. +Now, King Edward had recently forbidden the English penny to be cut +into halves and quarters for halfpence and farthings, and had actually +introduced a round coin; therefore, the Welsh people said this was the +time Merlin meant, and rose accordingly. + +King Edward had bought over Prince David, Llewellyn’s brother, by +heaping favours upon him; but he was the first to revolt, being perhaps +troubled in his conscience. One stormy night, he surprised the Castle +of Hawarden, in possession of which an English nobleman had been left; +killed the whole garrison, and carried off the nobleman a prisoner to +Snowdon. Upon this, the Welsh people rose like one man. King Edward, +with his army, marching from Worcester to the Menai Strait, crossed +it—near to where the wonderful tubular iron bridge now, in days so +different, makes a passage for railway trains—by a bridge of boats that +enabled forty men to march abreast. He subdued the Island of Anglesea, +and sent his men forward to observe the enemy. The sudden appearance of +the Welsh created a panic among them, and they fell back to the bridge. +The tide had in the meantime risen and separated the boats; the Welsh +pursuing them, they were driven into the sea, and there they sunk, in +their heavy iron armour, by thousands. After this victory Llewellyn, +helped by the severe winter-weather of Wales, gained another battle; +but the King ordering a portion of his English army to advance through +South Wales, and catch him between two foes, and Llewellyn bravely +turning to meet this new enemy, he was surprised and killed—very +meanly, for he was unarmed and defenceless. His head was struck off and +sent to London, where it was fixed upon the Tower, encircled with a +wreath, some say of ivy, some say of willow, some say of silver, to +make it look like a ghastly coin in ridicule of the prediction. + +David, however, still held out for six months, though eagerly sought +after by the King, and hunted by his own countrymen. One of them +finally betrayed him with his wife and children. He was sentenced to be +hanged, drawn, and quartered; and from that time this became the +established punishment of Traitors in England—a punishment wholly +without excuse, as being revolting, vile, and cruel, after its object +is dead; and which has no sense in it, as its only real degradation +(and that nothing can blot out) is to the country that permits on any +consideration such abominable barbarity. + +Wales was now subdued. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in the +Castle of Carnarvon, the King showed him to the Welsh people as their +countryman, and called him Prince of Wales; a title that has ever since +been borne by the heir-apparent to the English throne—which that little +Prince soon became, by the death of his elder brother. The King did +better things for the Welsh than that, by improving their laws and +encouraging their trade. Disturbances still took place, chiefly +occasioned by the avarice and pride of the English Lords, on whom Welsh +lands and castles had been bestowed; but they were subdued, and the +country never rose again. There is a legend that to prevent the people +from being incited to rebellion by the songs of their bards and +harpers, Edward had them all put to death. Some of them may have fallen +among other men who held out against the King; but this general +slaughter is, I think, a fancy of the harpers themselves, who, I dare +say, made a song about it many years afterwards, and sang it by the +Welsh firesides until it came to be believed. + +The foreign war of the reign of Edward the First arose in this way. The +crews of two vessels, one a Norman ship, and the other an English ship, +happened to go to the same place in their boats to fill their casks +with fresh water. Being rough angry fellows, they began to quarrel, and +then to fight—the English with their fists; the Normans with their +knives—and, in the fight, a Norman was killed. The Norman crew, instead +of revenging themselves upon those English sailors with whom they had +quarrelled (who were too strong for them, I suspect), took to their +ship again in a great rage, attacked the first English ship they met, +laid hold of an unoffending merchant who happened to be on board, and +brutally hanged him in the rigging of their own vessel with a dog at +his feet. This so enraged the English sailors that there was no +restraining them; and whenever, and wherever, English sailors met +Norman sailors, they fell upon each other tooth and nail. The Irish and +Dutch sailors took part with the English; the French and Genoese +sailors helped the Normans; and thus the greater part of the mariners +sailing over the sea became, in their way, as violent and raging as the +sea itself when it is disturbed. + +King Edward’s fame had been so high abroad that he had been chosen to +decide a difference between France and another foreign power, and had +lived upon the Continent three years. At first, neither he nor the +French King Philip (the good Louis had been dead some time) interfered +in these quarrels; but when a fleet of eighty English ships engaged and +utterly defeated a Norman fleet of two hundred, in a pitched battle +fought round a ship at anchor, in which no quarter was given, the +matter became too serious to be passed over. King Edward, as Duke of +Guienne, was summoned to present himself before the King of France, at +Paris, and answer for the damage done by his sailor subjects. At first, +he sent the Bishop of London as his representative, and then his +brother Edmund, who was married to the French Queen’s mother. I am +afraid Edmund was an easy man, and allowed himself to be talked over by +his charming relations, the French court ladies; at all events, he was +induced to give up his brother’s dukedom for forty days—as a mere form, +the French King said, to satisfy his honour—and he was so very much +astonished, when the time was out, to find that the French King had no +idea of giving it up again, that I should not wonder if it hastened his +death: which soon took place. + +King Edward was a King to win his foreign dukedom back again, if it +could be won by energy and valour. He raised a large army, renounced +his allegiance as Duke of Guienne, and crossed the sea to carry war +into France. Before any important battle was fought, however, a truce +was agreed upon for two years; and in the course of that time, the Pope +effected a reconciliation. King Edward, who was now a widower, having +lost his affectionate and good wife, Eleanor, married the French King’s +sister, Margaret; and the Prince of Wales was contracted to the French +King’s daughter Isabella. + +Out of bad things, good things sometimes arise. Out of this hanging of +the innocent merchant, and the bloodshed and strife it caused, there +came to be established one of the greatest powers that the English +people now possess. The preparations for the war being very expensive, +and King Edward greatly wanting money, and being very arbitrary in his +ways of raising it, some of the Barons began firmly to oppose him. Two +of them, in particular, Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and Roger +Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, were so stout against him, that they maintained +he had no right to command them to head his forces in Guienne, and +flatly refused to go there. ‘By Heaven, Sir Earl,’ said the King to the +Earl of Hereford, in a great passion, ‘you shall either go or be +hanged!’ ‘By Heaven, Sir King,’ replied the Earl, ‘I will neither go +nor yet will I be hanged!’ and both he and the other Earl sturdily left +the court, attended by many Lords. The King tried every means of +raising money. He taxed the clergy, in spite of all the Pope said to +the contrary; and when they refused to pay, reduced them to submission, +by saying Very well, then they had no claim upon the government for +protection, and any man might plunder them who would—which a good many +men were very ready to do, and very readily did, and which the clergy +found too losing a game to be played at long. He seized all the wool +and leather in the hands of the merchants, promising to pay for it some +fine day; and he set a tax upon the exportation of wool, which was so +unpopular among the traders that it was called ‘The evil toll.’ But all +would not do. The Barons, led by those two great Earls, declared any +taxes imposed without the consent of Parliament, unlawful; and the +Parliament refused to impose taxes, until the King should confirm +afresh the two Great Charters, and should solemnly declare in writing, +that there was no power in the country to raise money from the people, +evermore, but the power of Parliament representing all ranks of the +people. The King was very unwilling to diminish his own power by +allowing this great privilege in the Parliament; but there was no help +for it, and he at last complied. We shall come to another King +by-and-by, who might have saved his head from rolling off, if he had +profited by this example. + +The people gained other benefits in Parliament from the good sense and +wisdom of this King. Many of the laws were much improved; provision was +made for the greater safety of travellers, and the apprehension of +thieves and murderers; the priests were prevented from holding too much +land, and so becoming too powerful; and Justices of the Peace were +first appointed (though not at first under that name) in various parts +of the country. + + +And now we come to Scotland, which was the great and lasting trouble of +the reign of King Edward the First. + +About thirteen years after King Edward’s coronation, Alexander the +Third, the King of Scotland, died of a fall from his horse. He had been +married to Margaret, King Edward’s sister. All their children being +dead, the Scottish crown became the right of a young Princess only +eight years old, the daughter of Eric, King of Norway, who had married +a daughter of the deceased sovereign. King Edward proposed, that the +Maiden of Norway, as this Princess was called, should be engaged to be +married to his eldest son; but, unfortunately, as she was coming over +to England she fell sick, and landing on one of the Orkney Islands, +died there. A great commotion immediately began in Scotland, where as +many as thirteen noisy claimants to the vacant throne started up and +made a general confusion. + +King Edward being much renowned for his sagacity and justice, it seems +to have been agreed to refer the dispute to him. He accepted the trust, +and went, with an army, to the Border-land where England and Scotland +joined. There, he called upon the Scottish gentlemen to meet him at the +Castle of Norham, on the English side of the river Tweed; and to that +Castle they came. But, before he would take any step in the business, +he required those Scottish gentlemen, one and all, to do homage to him +as their superior Lord; and when they hesitated, he said, ‘By holy +Edward, whose crown I wear, I will have my rights, or I will die in +maintaining them!’ The Scottish gentlemen, who had not expected this, +were disconcerted, and asked for three weeks to think about it. + +At the end of the three weeks, another meeting took place, on a green +plain on the Scottish side of the river. Of all the competitors for the +Scottish throne, there were only two who had any real claim, in right +of their near kindred to the Royal Family. These were John Baliol and +Robert Bruce: and the right was, I have no doubt, on the side of John +Baliol. At this particular meeting John Baliol was not present, but +Robert Bruce was; and on Robert Bruce being formally asked whether he +acknowledged the King of England for his superior lord, he answered, +plainly and distinctly, Yes, he did. Next day, John Baliol appeared, +and said the same. This point settled, some arrangements were made for +inquiring into their titles. + +The inquiry occupied a pretty long time—more than a year. While it was +going on, King Edward took the opportunity of making a journey through +Scotland, and calling upon the Scottish people of all degrees to +acknowledge themselves his vassals, or be imprisoned until they did. In +the meanwhile, Commissioners were appointed to conduct the inquiry, a +Parliament was held at Berwick about it, the two claimants were heard +at full length, and there was a vast amount of talking. At last, in the +great hall of the Castle of Berwick, the King gave judgment in favour +of John Baliol: who, consenting to receive his crown by the King of +England’s favour and permission, was crowned at Scone, in an old stone +chair which had been used for ages in the abbey there, at the +coronations of Scottish Kings. Then, King Edward caused the great seal +of Scotland, used since the late King’s death, to be broken in four +pieces, and placed in the English Treasury; and considered that he now +had Scotland (according to the common saying) under his thumb. + +Scotland had a strong will of its own yet, however. King Edward, +determined that the Scottish King should not forget he was his vassal, +summoned him repeatedly to come and defend himself and his judges +before the English Parliament when appeals from the decisions of +Scottish courts of justice were being heard. At length, John Baliol, +who had no great heart of his own, had so much heart put into him by +the brave spirit of the Scottish people, who took this as a national +insult, that he refused to come any more. Thereupon, the King further +required him to help him in his war abroad (which was then in +progress), and to give up, as security for his good behaviour in +future, the three strong Scottish Castles of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and +Berwick. Nothing of this being done; on the contrary, the Scottish +people concealing their King among their mountains in the Highlands and +showing a determination to resist; Edward marched to Berwick with an +army of thirty thousand foot, and four thousand horse; took the Castle, +and slew its whole garrison, and the inhabitants of the town as +well—men, women, and children. Lord Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, then went +on to the Castle of Dunbar, before which a battle was fought, and the +whole Scottish army defeated with great slaughter. The victory being +complete, the Earl of Surrey was left as guardian of Scotland; the +principal offices in that kingdom were given to Englishmen; the more +powerful Scottish Nobles were obliged to come and live in England; the +Scottish crown and sceptre were brought away; and even the old stone +chair was carried off and placed in Westminster Abbey, where you may +see it now. Baliol had the Tower of London lent him for a residence, +with permission to range about within a circle of twenty miles. Three +years afterwards he was allowed to go to Normandy, where he had +estates, and where he passed the remaining six years of his life: far +more happily, I dare say, than he had lived for a long while in angry +Scotland. + +Now, there was, in the West of Scotland, a gentleman of small fortune, +named William Wallace, the second son of a Scottish knight. He was a +man of great size and great strength; he was very brave and daring; +when he spoke to a body of his countrymen, he could rouse them in a +wonderful manner by the power of his burning words; he loved Scotland +dearly, and he hated England with his utmost might. The domineering +conduct of the English who now held the places of trust in Scotland +made them as intolerable to the proud Scottish people as they had been, +under similar circumstances, to the Welsh; and no man in all Scotland +regarded them with so much smothered rage as William Wallace. One day, +an Englishman in office, little knowing what he was, affronted _him_. +Wallace instantly struck him dead, and taking refuge among the rocks +and hills, and there joining with his countryman, Sir William Douglas, +who was also in arms against King Edward, became the most resolute and +undaunted champion of a people struggling for their independence that +ever lived upon the earth. + +The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled before him, and, thus +encouraged, the Scottish people revolted everywhere, and fell upon the +English without mercy. The Earl of Surrey, by the King’s commands, +raised all the power of the Border-counties, and two English armies +poured into Scotland. Only one Chief, in the face of those armies, +stood by Wallace, who, with a force of forty thousand men, awaited the +invaders at a place on the river Forth, within two miles of Stirling. +Across the river there was only one poor wooden bridge, called the +bridge of Kildean—so narrow, that but two men could cross it abreast. +With his eyes upon this bridge, Wallace posted the greater part of his +men among some rising grounds, and waited calmly. When the English army +came up on the opposite bank of the river, messengers were sent forward +to offer terms. Wallace sent them back with a defiance, in the name of +the freedom of Scotland. Some of the officers of the Earl of Surrey in +command of the English, with _their_ eyes also on the bridge, advised +him to be discreet and not hasty. He, however, urged to immediate +battle by some other officers, and particularly by Cressingham, King +Edward’s treasurer, and a rash man, gave the word of command to +advance. One thousand English crossed the bridge, two abreast; the +Scottish troops were as motionless as stone images. Two thousand +English crossed; three thousand, four thousand, five. Not a feather, +all this time, had been seen to stir among the Scottish bonnets. Now, +they all fluttered. ‘Forward, one party, to the foot of the Bridge!’ +cried Wallace, ‘and let no more English cross! The rest, down with me +on the five thousand who have come over, and cut them all to pieces!’ +It was done, in the sight of the whole remainder of the English army, +who could give no help. Cressingham himself was killed, and the Scotch +made whips for their horses of his skin. + +King Edward was abroad at this time, and during the successes on the +Scottish side which followed, and which enabled bold Wallace to win the +whole country back again, and even to ravage the English borders. But, +after a few winter months, the King returned, and took the field with +more than his usual energy. One night, when a kick from his horse as +they both lay on the ground together broke two of his ribs, and a cry +arose that he was killed, he leaped into his saddle, regardless of the +pain he suffered, and rode through the camp. Day then appearing, he +gave the word (still, of course, in that bruised and aching state) +Forward! and led his army on to near Falkirk, where the Scottish forces +were seen drawn up on some stony ground, behind a morass. Here, he +defeated Wallace, and killed fifteen thousand of his men. With the +shattered remainder, Wallace drew back to Stirling; but, being pursued, +set fire to the town that it might give no help to the English, and +escaped. The inhabitants of Perth afterwards set fire to their houses +for the same reason, and the King, unable to find provisions, was +forced to withdraw his army. + +Another Robert Bruce, the grandson of him who had disputed the Scottish +crown with Baliol, was now in arms against the King (that elder Bruce +being dead), and also John Comyn, Baliol’s nephew. These two young men +might agree in opposing Edward, but could agree in nothing else, as +they were rivals for the throne of Scotland. Probably it was because +they knew this, and knew what troubles must arise even if they could +hope to get the better of the great English King, that the principal +Scottish people applied to the Pope for his interference. The Pope, on +the principle of losing nothing for want of trying to get it, very +coolly claimed that Scotland belonged to him; but this was a little too +much, and the Parliament in a friendly manner told him so. + +In the spring time of the year one thousand three hundred and three, +the King sent Sir John Segrave, whom he made Governor of Scotland, with +twenty thousand men, to reduce the rebels. Sir John was not as careful +as he should have been, but encamped at Rosslyn, near Edinburgh, with +his army divided into three parts. The Scottish forces saw their +advantage; fell on each part separately; defeated each; and killed all +the prisoners. Then, came the King himself once more, as soon as a +great army could be raised; he passed through the whole north of +Scotland, laying waste whatsoever came in his way; and he took up his +winter quarters at Dunfermline. The Scottish cause now looked so +hopeless, that Comyn and the other nobles made submission and received +their pardons. Wallace alone stood out. He was invited to surrender, +though on no distinct pledge that his life should be spared; but he +still defied the ireful King, and lived among the steep crags of the +Highland glens, where the eagles made their nests, and where the +mountain torrents roared, and the white snow was deep, and the bitter +winds blew round his unsheltered head, as he lay through many a +pitch-dark night wrapped up in his plaid. Nothing could break his +spirit; nothing could lower his courage; nothing could induce him to +forget or to forgive his country’s wrongs. Even when the Castle of +Stirling, which had long held out, was besieged by the King with every +kind of military engine then in use; even when the lead upon cathedral +roofs was taken down to help to make them; even when the King, though +an old man, commanded in the siege as if he were a youth, being so +resolved to conquer; even when the brave garrison (then found with +amazement to be not two hundred people, including several ladies) were +starved and beaten out and were made to submit on their knees, and with +every form of disgrace that could aggravate their sufferings; even +then, when there was not a ray of hope in Scotland, William Wallace was +as proud and firm as if he had beheld the powerful and relentless +Edward lying dead at his feet. + +Who betrayed William Wallace in the end, is not quite certain. That he +was betrayed—probably by an attendant—is too true. He was taken to the +Castle of Dumbarton, under Sir John Menteith, and thence to London, +where the great fame of his bravery and resolution attracted immense +concourses of people to behold him. He was tried in Westminster Hall, +with a crown of laurel on his head—it is supposed because he was +reported to have said that he ought to wear, or that he would wear, a +crown there and was found guilty as a robber, a murderer, and a +traitor. What they called a robber (he said to those who tried him) he +was, because he had taken spoil from the King’s men. What they called a +murderer, he was, because he had slain an insolent Englishman. What +they called a traitor, he was not, for he had never sworn allegiance to +the King, and had ever scorned to do it. He was dragged at the tails of +horses to West Smithfield, and there hanged on a high gallows, torn +open before he was dead, beheaded, and quartered. His head was set upon +a pole on London Bridge, his right arm was sent to Newcastle, his left +arm to Berwick, his legs to Perth and Aberdeen. But, if King Edward had +had his body cut into inches, and had sent every separate inch into a +separate town, he could not have dispersed it half so far and wide as +his fame. Wallace will be remembered in songs and stories, while there +are songs and stories in the English tongue, and Scotland will hold him +dear while her lakes and mountains last. + +Released from this dreaded enemy, the King made a fairer plan of +Government for Scotland, divided the offices of honour among Scottish +gentlemen and English gentlemen, forgave past offences, and thought, in +his old age, that his work was done. + +But he deceived himself. Comyn and Bruce conspired, and made an +appointment to meet at Dumfries, in the church of the Minorites. There +is a story that Comyn was false to Bruce, and had informed against him +to the King; that Bruce was warned of his danger and the necessity of +flight, by receiving, one night as he sat at supper, from his friend +the Earl of Gloucester, twelve pennies and a pair of spurs; that as he +was riding angrily to keep his appointment (through a snow-storm, with +his horse’s shoes reversed that he might not be tracked), he met an +evil-looking serving man, a messenger of Comyn, whom he killed, and +concealed in whose dress he found letters that proved Comyn’s +treachery. However this may be, they were likely enough to quarrel in +any case, being hot-headed rivals; and, whatever they quarrelled about, +they certainly did quarrel in the church where they met, and Bruce drew +his dagger and stabbed Comyn, who fell upon the pavement. When Bruce +came out, pale and disturbed, the friends who were waiting for him +asked what was the matter? ‘I think I have killed Comyn,’ said he. ‘You +only think so?’ returned one of them; ‘I will make sure!’ and going +into the church, and finding him alive, stabbed him again and again. +Knowing that the King would never forgive this new deed of violence, +the party then declared Bruce King of Scotland: got him crowned at +Scone—without the chair; and set up the rebellious standard once again. + +When the King heard of it he kindled with fiercer anger than he had +ever shown yet. He caused the Prince of Wales and two hundred and +seventy of the young nobility to be knighted—the trees in the Temple +Gardens were cut down to make room for their tents, and they watched +their armour all night, according to the old usage: some in the Temple +Church: some in Westminster Abbey—and at the public Feast which then +took place, he swore, by Heaven, and by two swans covered with gold +network which his minstrels placed upon the table, that he would avenge +the death of Comyn, and would punish the false Bruce. And before all +the company, he charged the Prince his son, in case that he should die +before accomplishing his vow, not to bury him until it was fulfilled. +Next morning the Prince and the rest of the young Knights rode away to +the Border-country to join the English army; and the King, now weak and +sick, followed in a horse-litter. + +Bruce, after losing a battle and undergoing many dangers and much +misery, fled to Ireland, where he lay concealed through the winter. +That winter, Edward passed in hunting down and executing Bruce’s +relations and adherents, sparing neither youth nor age, and showing no +touch of pity or sign of mercy. In the following spring, Bruce +reappeared and gained some victories. In these frays, both sides were +grievously cruel. For instance—Bruce’s two brothers, being taken +captives desperately wounded, were ordered by the King to instant +execution. Bruce’s friend Sir John Douglas, taking his own Castle of +Douglas out of the hands of an English Lord, roasted the dead bodies of +the slaughtered garrison in a great fire made of every movable within +it; which dreadful cookery his men called the Douglas Larder. Bruce, +still successful, however, drove the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of +Gloucester into the Castle of Ayr and laid siege to it. + +The King, who had been laid up all the winter, but had directed the +army from his sick-bed, now advanced to Carlisle, and there, causing +the litter in which he had travelled to be placed in the Cathedral as +an offering to Heaven, mounted his horse once more, and for the last +time. He was now sixty-nine years old, and had reigned thirty-five +years. He was so ill, that in four days he could go no more than six +miles; still, even at that pace, he went on and resolutely kept his +face towards the Border. At length, he lay down at the village of +Burgh-upon-Sands; and there, telling those around him to impress upon +the Prince that he was to remember his father’s vow, and was never to +rest until he had thoroughly subdued Scotland, he yielded up his last +breath. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND + + +King Edward the Second, the first Prince of Wales, was twenty-three +years old when his father died. There was a certain favourite of his, a +young man from Gascony, named Piers Gaveston, of whom his father had so +much disapproved that he had ordered him out of England, and had made +his son swear by the side of his sick-bed, never to bring him back. +But, the Prince no sooner found himself King, than he broke his oath, +as so many other Princes and Kings did (they were far too ready to take +oaths), and sent for his dear friend immediately. + +Now, this same Gaveston was handsome enough, but was a reckless, +insolent, audacious fellow. He was detested by the proud English Lords: +not only because he had such power over the King, and made the Court +such a dissipated place, but, also, because he could ride better than +they at tournaments, and was used, in his impudence, to cut very bad +jokes on them; calling one, the old hog; another, the stage-player; +another, the Jew; another, the black dog of Ardenne. This was as poor +wit as need be, but it made those Lords very wroth; and the surly Earl +of Warwick, who was the black dog, swore that the time should come when +Piers Gaveston should feel the black dog’s teeth. + +It was not come yet, however, nor did it seem to be coming. The King +made him Earl of Cornwall, and gave him vast riches; and, when the King +went over to France to marry the French Princess, Isabella, daughter of +Philip le Bel: who was said to be the most beautiful woman in the +world: he made Gaveston, Regent of the Kingdom. His splendid +marriage-ceremony in the Church of Our Lady at Boulogne, where there +were four Kings and three Queens present (quite a pack of Court Cards, +for I dare say the Knaves were not wanting), being over, he seemed to +care little or nothing for his beautiful wife; but was wild with +impatience to meet Gaveston again. + +When he landed at home, he paid no attention to anybody else, but ran +into the favourite’s arms before a great concourse of people, and +hugged him, and kissed him, and called him his brother. At the +coronation which soon followed, Gaveston was the richest and brightest +of all the glittering company there, and had the honour of carrying the +crown. This made the proud Lords fiercer than ever; the people, too, +despised the favourite, and would never call him Earl of Cornwall, +however much he complained to the King and asked him to punish them for +not doing so, but persisted in styling him plain Piers Gaveston. + +The Barons were so unceremonious with the King in giving him to +understand that they would not bear this favourite, that the King was +obliged to send him out of the country. The favourite himself was made +to take an oath (more oaths!) that he would never come back, and the +Barons supposed him to be banished in disgrace, until they heard that +he was appointed Governor of Ireland. Even this was not enough for the +besotted King, who brought him home again in a year’s time, and not +only disgusted the Court and the people by his doting folly, but +offended his beautiful wife too, who never liked him afterwards. + +He had now the old Royal want—of money—and the Barons had the new power +of positively refusing to let him raise any. He summoned a Parliament +at York; the Barons refused to make one, while the favourite was near +him. He summoned another Parliament at Westminster, and sent Gaveston +away. Then, the Barons came, completely armed, and appointed a +committee of themselves to correct abuses in the state and in the +King’s household. He got some money on these conditions, and directly +set off with Gaveston to the Border-country, where they spent it in +idling away the time, and feasting, while Bruce made ready to drive the +English out of Scotland. For, though the old King had even made this +poor weak son of his swear (as some say) that he would not bury his +bones, but would have them boiled clean in a caldron, and carried +before the English army until Scotland was entirely subdued, the second +Edward was so unlike the first that Bruce gained strength and power +every day. + +The committee of Nobles, after some months of deliberation, ordained +that the King should henceforth call a Parliament together, once every +year, and even twice if necessary, instead of summoning it only when he +chose. Further, that Gaveston should once more be banished, and, this +time, on pain of death if he ever came back. The King’s tears were of +no avail; he was obliged to send his favourite to Flanders. As soon as +he had done so, however, he dissolved the Parliament, with the low +cunning of a mere fool, and set off to the North of England, thinking +to get an army about him to oppose the Nobles. And once again he +brought Gaveston home, and heaped upon him all the riches and titles of +which the Barons had deprived him. + +The Lords saw, now, that there was nothing for it but to put the +favourite to death. They could have done so, legally, according to the +terms of his banishment; but they did so, I am sorry to say, in a +shabby manner. Led by the Earl of Lancaster, the King’s cousin, they +first of all attacked the King and Gaveston at Newcastle. They had time +to escape by sea, and the mean King, having his precious Gaveston with +him, was quite content to leave his lovely wife behind. When they were +comparatively safe, they separated; the King went to York to collect a +force of soldiers; and the favourite shut himself up, in the meantime, +in Scarborough Castle overlooking the sea. This was what the Barons +wanted. They knew that the Castle could not hold out; they attacked it, +and made Gaveston surrender. He delivered himself up to the Earl of +Pembroke—that Lord whom he had called the Jew—on the Earl’s pledging +his faith and knightly word, that no harm should happen to him and no +violence be done him. + +Now, it was agreed with Gaveston that he should be taken to the Castle +of Wallingford, and there kept in honourable custody. They travelled as +far as Dedington, near Banbury, where, in the Castle of that place, +they stopped for a night to rest. Whether the Earl of Pembroke left his +prisoner there, knowing what would happen, or really left him thinking +no harm, and only going (as he pretended) to visit his wife, the +Countess, who was in the neighbourhood, is no great matter now; in any +case, he was bound as an honourable gentleman to protect his prisoner, +and he did not do it. In the morning, while the favourite was yet in +bed, he was required to dress himself and come down into the +court-yard. He did so without any mistrust, but started and turned pale +when he found it full of strange armed men. ‘I think you know me?’ said +their leader, also armed from head to foot. ‘I am the black dog of +Ardenne!’ The time was come when Piers Gaveston was to feel the black +dog’s teeth indeed. They set him on a mule, and carried him, in mock +state and with military music, to the black dog’s kennel—Warwick +Castle—where a hasty council, composed of some great noblemen, +considered what should be done with him. Some were for sparing him, but +one loud voice—it was the black dog’s bark, I dare say—sounded through +the Castle Hall, uttering these words: ‘You have the fox in your power. +Let him go now, and you must hunt him again.’ + +They sentenced him to death. He threw himself at the feet of the Earl +of Lancaster—the old hog—but the old hog was as savage as the dog. He +was taken out upon the pleasant road, leading from Warwick to Coventry, +where the beautiful river Avon, by which, long afterwards, William +Shakespeare was born and now lies buried, sparkled in the bright +landscape of the beautiful May-day; and there they struck off his +wretched head, and stained the dust with his blood. + +When the King heard of this black deed, in his grief and rage he +denounced relentless war against his Barons, and both sides were in +arms for half a year. But, it then became necessary for them to join +their forces against Bruce, who had used the time well while they were +divided, and had now a great power in Scotland. + +Intelligence was brought that Bruce was then besieging Stirling Castle, +and that the Governor had been obliged to pledge himself to surrender +it, unless he should be relieved before a certain day. Hereupon, the +King ordered the nobles and their fighting-men to meet him at Berwick; +but, the nobles cared so little for the King, and so neglected the +summons, and lost time, that only on the day before that appointed for +the surrender, did the King find himself at Stirling, and even then +with a smaller force than he had expected. However, he had, altogether, +a hundred thousand men, and Bruce had not more than forty thousand; +but, Bruce’s army was strongly posted in three square columns, on the +ground lying between the Burn or Brook of Bannock and the walls of +Stirling Castle. + +On the very evening, when the King came up, Bruce did a brave act that +encouraged his men. He was seen by a certain Henry de Bohun, an English +Knight, riding about before his army on a little horse, with a light +battle-axe in his hand, and a crown of gold on his head. This English +Knight, who was mounted on a strong war-horse, cased in steel, strongly +armed, and able (as he thought) to overthrow Bruce by crushing him with +his mere weight, set spurs to his great charger, rode on him, and made +a thrust at him with his heavy spear. Bruce parried the thrust, and +with one blow of his battle-axe split his skull. + +The Scottish men did not forget this, next day when the battle raged. +Randolph, Bruce’s valiant Nephew, rode, with the small body of men he +commanded, into such a host of the English, all shining in polished +armour in the sunlight, that they seemed to be swallowed up and lost, +as if they had plunged into the sea. But, they fought so well, and did +such dreadful execution, that the English staggered. Then came Bruce +himself upon them, with all the rest of his army. While they were thus +hard pressed and amazed, there appeared upon the hills what they +supposed to be a new Scottish army, but what were really only the camp +followers, in number fifteen thousand: whom Bruce had taught to show +themselves at that place and time. The Earl of Gloucester, commanding +the English horse, made a last rush to change the fortune of the day; +but Bruce (like Jack the Giant-killer in the story) had had pits dug in +the ground, and covered over with turfs and stakes. Into these, as they +gave way beneath the weight of the horses, riders and horses rolled by +hundreds. The English were completely routed; all their treasure, +stores, and engines, were taken by the Scottish men; so many waggons +and other wheeled vehicles were seized, that it is related that they +would have reached, if they had been drawn out in a line, one hundred +and eighty miles. The fortunes of Scotland were, for the time, +completely changed; and never was a battle won, more famous upon +Scottish ground, than this great battle of Bannockburn. + +Plague and famine succeeded in England; and still the powerless King +and his disdainful Lords were always in contention. Some of the +turbulent chiefs of Ireland made proposals to Bruce, to accept the rule +of that country. He sent his brother Edward to them, who was crowned +King of Ireland. He afterwards went himself to help his brother in his +Irish wars, but his brother was defeated in the end and killed. Robert +Bruce, returning to Scotland, still increased his strength there. + +As the King’s ruin had begun in a favourite, so it seemed likely to end +in one. He was too poor a creature to rely at all upon himself; and his +new favourite was one Hugh le Despenser, the son of a gentleman of +ancient family. Hugh was handsome and brave, but he was the favourite +of a weak King, whom no man cared a rush for, and that was a dangerous +place to hold. The Nobles leagued against him, because the King liked +him; and they lay in wait, both for his ruin and his father’s. Now, the +King had married him to the daughter of the late Earl of Gloucester, +and had given both him and his father great possessions in Wales. In +their endeavours to extend these, they gave violent offence to an angry +Welsh gentleman, named John de Mowbray, and to divers other angry Welsh +gentlemen, who resorted to arms, took their castles, and seized their +estates. The Earl of Lancaster had first placed the favourite (who was +a poor relation of his own) at Court, and he considered his own dignity +offended by the preference he received and the honours he acquired; so +he, and the Barons who were his friends, joined the Welshmen, marched +on London, and sent a message to the King demanding to have the +favourite and his father banished. At first, the King unaccountably +took it into his head to be spirited, and to send them a bold reply; +but when they quartered themselves around Holborn and Clerkenwell, and +went down, armed, to the Parliament at Westminster, he gave way, and +complied with their demands. + +His turn of triumph came sooner than he expected. It arose out of an +accidental circumstance. The beautiful Queen happening to be +travelling, came one night to one of the royal castles, and demanded to +be lodged and entertained there until morning. The governor of this +castle, who was one of the enraged lords, was away, and in his absence, +his wife refused admission to the Queen; a scuffle took place among the +common men on either side, and some of the royal attendants were +killed. The people, who cared nothing for the King, were very angry +that their beautiful Queen should be thus rudely treated in her own +dominions; and the King, taking advantage of this feeling, besieged the +castle, took it, and then called the two Despensers home. Upon this, +the confederate lords and the Welshmen went over to Bruce. The King +encountered them at Boroughbridge, gained the victory, and took a +number of distinguished prisoners; among them, the Earl of Lancaster, +now an old man, upon whose destruction he was resolved. This Earl was +taken to his own castle of Pontefract, and there tried and found guilty +by an unfair court appointed for the purpose; he was not even allowed +to speak in his own defence. He was insulted, pelted, mounted on a +starved pony without saddle or bridle, carried out, and beheaded. +Eight-and-twenty knights were hanged, drawn, and quartered. When the +King had despatched this bloody work, and had made a fresh and a long +truce with Bruce, he took the Despensers into greater favour than ever, +and made the father Earl of Winchester. + +One prisoner, and an important one, who was taken at Boroughbridge, +made his escape, however, and turned the tide against the King. This +was Roger Mortimer, always resolutely opposed to him, who was sentenced +to death, and placed for safe custody in the Tower of London. He +treated his guards to a quantity of wine into which he had put a +sleeping potion; and, when they were insensible, broke out of his +dungeon, got into a kitchen, climbed up the chimney, let himself down +from the roof of the building with a rope-ladder, passed the sentries, +got down to the river, and made away in a boat to where servants and +horses were waiting for him. He finally escaped to France, where +Charles le Bel, the brother of the beautiful Queen, was King. Charles +sought to quarrel with the King of England, on pretence of his not +having come to do him homage at his coronation. It was proposed that +the beautiful Queen should go over to arrange the dispute; she went, +and wrote home to the King, that as he was sick and could not come to +France himself, perhaps it would be better to send over the young +Prince, their son, who was only twelve years old, who could do homage +to her brother in his stead, and in whose company she would immediately +return. The King sent him: but, both he and the Queen remained at the +French Court, and Roger Mortimer became the Queen’s lover. + +When the King wrote, again and again, to the Queen to come home, she +did not reply that she despised him too much to live with him any more +(which was the truth), but said she was afraid of the two Despensers. +In short, her design was to overthrow the favourites’ power, and the +King’s power, such as it was, and invade England. Having obtained a +French force of two thousand men, and being joined by all the English +exiles then in France, she landed, within a year, at Orewell, in +Suffolk, where she was immediately joined by the Earls of Kent and +Norfolk, the King’s two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and +lastly, by the first English general who was despatched to check her: +who went over to her with all his men. The people of London, receiving +these tidings, would do nothing for the King, but broke open the Tower, +let out all his prisoners, and threw up their caps and hurrahed for the +beautiful Queen. + +The King, with his two favourites, fled to Bristol, where he left old +Despenser in charge of the town and castle, while he went on with the +son to Wales. The Bristol men being opposed to the King, and it being +impossible to hold the town with enemies everywhere within the walls, +Despenser yielded it up on the third day, and was instantly brought to +trial for having traitorously influenced what was called ‘the King’s +mind’—though I doubt if the King ever had any. He was a venerable old +man, upwards of ninety years of age, but his age gained no respect or +mercy. He was hanged, torn open while he was yet alive, cut up into +pieces, and thrown to the dogs. His son was soon taken, tried at +Hereford before the same judge on a long series of foolish charges, +found guilty, and hanged upon a gallows fifty feet high, with a chaplet +of nettles round his head. His poor old father and he were innocent +enough of any worse crimes than the crime of having been friends of a +King, on whom, as a mere man, they would never have deigned to cast a +favourable look. It is a bad crime, I know, and leads to worse; but, +many lords and gentlemen—I even think some ladies, too, if I recollect +right—have committed it in England, who have neither been given to the +dogs, nor hanged up fifty feet high. + +The wretched King was running here and there, all this time, and never +getting anywhere in particular, until he gave himself up, and was taken +off to Kenilworth Castle. When he was safely lodged there, the Queen +went to London and met the Parliament. And the Bishop of Hereford, who +was the most skilful of her friends, said, What was to be done now? +Here was an imbecile, indolent, miserable King upon the throne; +wouldn’t it be better to take him off, and put his son there instead? I +don’t know whether the Queen really pitied him at this pass, but she +began to cry; so, the Bishop said, Well, my Lords and Gentlemen, what +do you think, upon the whole, of sending down to Kenilworth, and seeing +if His Majesty (God bless him, and forbid we should depose him!) won’t +resign? + +My Lords and Gentlemen thought it a good notion, so a deputation of +them went down to Kenilworth; and there the King came into the great +hall of the Castle, commonly dressed in a poor black gown; and when he +saw a certain bishop among them, fell down, poor feeble-headed man, and +made a wretched spectacle of himself. Somebody lifted him up, and then +Sir William Trussel, the Speaker of the House of Commons, almost +frightened him to death by making him a tremendous speech to the effect +that he was no longer a King, and that everybody renounced allegiance +to him. After which, Sir Thomas Blount, the Steward of the Household, +nearly finished him, by coming forward and breaking his white +wand—which was a ceremony only performed at a King’s death. Being asked +in this pressing manner what he thought of resigning, the King said he +thought it was the best thing he could do. So, he did it, and they +proclaimed his son next day. + +I wish I could close his history by saying that he lived a harmless +life in the Castle and the Castle gardens at Kenilworth, many +years—that he had a favourite, and plenty to eat and drink—and, having +that, wanted nothing. But he was shamefully humiliated. He was +outraged, and slighted, and had dirty water from ditches given him to +shave with, and wept and said he would have clean warm water, and was +altogether very miserable. He was moved from this castle to that +castle, and from that castle to the other castle, because this lord or +that lord, or the other lord, was too kind to him: until at last he +came to Berkeley Castle, near the River Severn, where (the Lord +Berkeley being then ill and absent) he fell into the hands of two black +ruffians, called Thomas Gournay and William Ogle. + +One night—it was the night of September the twenty-first, one thousand +three hundred and twenty-seven—dreadful screams were heard, by the +startled people in the neighbouring town, ringing through the thick +walls of the Castle, and the dark, deep night; and they said, as they +were thus horribly awakened from their sleep, ‘May Heaven be merciful +to the King; for those cries forbode that no good is being done to him +in his dismal prison!’ Next morning he was dead—not bruised, or +stabbed, or marked upon the body, but much distorted in the face; and +it was whispered afterwards, that those two villains, Gournay and Ogle, +had burnt up his inside with a red-hot iron. + +If you ever come near Gloucester, and see the centre tower of its +beautiful Cathedral, with its four rich pinnacles, rising lightly in +the air; you may remember that the wretched Edward the Second was +buried in the old abbey of that ancient city, at forty-three years old, +after being for nineteen years and a half a perfectly incapable King. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD + + +Roger Mortimer, the Queen’s lover (who escaped to France in the last +chapter), was far from profiting by the examples he had had of the fate +of favourites. Having, through the Queen’s influence, come into +possession of the estates of the two Despensers, he became extremely +proud and ambitious, and sought to be the real ruler of England. The +young King, who was crowned at fourteen years of age with all the usual +solemnities, resolved not to bear this, and soon pursued Mortimer to +his ruin. + +The people themselves were not fond of Mortimer—first, because he was a +Royal favourite; secondly, because he was supposed to have helped to +make a peace with Scotland which now took place, and in virtue of which +the young King’s sister Joan, only seven years old, was promised in +marriage to David, the son and heir of Robert Bruce, who was only five +years old. The nobles hated Mortimer because of his pride, riches, and +power. They went so far as to take up arms against him; but were +obliged to submit. The Earl of Kent, one of those who did so, but who +afterwards went over to Mortimer and the Queen, was made an example of +in the following cruel manner: + +He seems to have been anything but a wise old earl; and he was +persuaded by the agents of the favourite and the Queen, that poor King +Edward the Second was not really dead; and thus was betrayed into +writing letters favouring his rightful claim to the throne. This was +made out to be high treason, and he was tried, found guilty, and +sentenced to be executed. They took the poor old lord outside the town +of Winchester, and there kept him waiting some three or four hours +until they could find somebody to cut off his head. At last, a convict +said he would do it, if the government would pardon him in return; and +they gave him the pardon; and at one blow he put the Earl of Kent out +of his last suspense. + +While the Queen was in France, she had found a lovely and good young +lady, named Philippa, who she thought would make an excellent wife for +her son. The young King married this lady, soon after he came to the +throne; and her first child, Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards became +celebrated, as we shall presently see, under the famous title of Edward +the Black Prince. + +The young King, thinking the time ripe for the downfall of Mortimer, +took counsel with Lord Montacute how he should proceed. A Parliament +was going to be held at Nottingham, and that lord recommended that the +favourite should be seized by night in Nottingham Castle, where he was +sure to be. Now, this, like many other things, was more easily said +than done; because, to guard against treachery, the great gates of the +Castle were locked every night, and the great keys were carried +up-stairs to the Queen, who laid them under her own pillow. But the +Castle had a governor, and the governor being Lord Montacute’s friend, +confided to him how he knew of a secret passage underground, hidden +from observation by the weeds and brambles with which it was overgrown; +and how, through that passage, the conspirators might enter in the dead +of the night, and go straight to Mortimer’s room. Accordingly, upon a +certain dark night, at midnight, they made their way through this +dismal place: startling the rats, and frightening the owls and bats: +and came safely to the bottom of the main tower of the Castle, where +the King met them, and took them up a profoundly-dark staircase in a +deep silence. They soon heard the voice of Mortimer in council with +some friends; and bursting into the room with a sudden noise, took him +prisoner. The Queen cried out from her bed-chamber, ‘Oh, my sweet son, +my dear son, spare my gentle Mortimer!’ They carried him off, however; +and, before the next Parliament, accused him of having made differences +between the young King and his mother, and of having brought about the +death of the Earl of Kent, and even of the late King; for, as you know +by this time, when they wanted to get rid of a man in those old days, +they were not very particular of what they accused him. Mortimer was +found guilty of all this, and was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn. The +King shut his mother up in genteel confinement, where she passed the +rest of her life; and now he became King in earnest. + +The first effort he made was to conquer Scotland. The English lords who +had lands in Scotland, finding that their rights were not respected +under the late peace, made war on their own account: choosing for their +general, Edward, the son of John Baliol, who made such a vigorous +fight, that in less than two months he won the whole Scottish Kingdom. +He was joined, when thus triumphant, by the King and Parliament; and he +and the King in person besieged the Scottish forces in Berwick. The +whole Scottish army coming to the assistance of their countrymen, such +a furious battle ensued, that thirty thousand men are said to have been +killed in it. Baliol was then crowned King of Scotland, doing homage to +the King of England; but little came of his successes after all, for +the Scottish men rose against him, within no very long time, and David +Bruce came back within ten years and took his kingdom. + +France was a far richer country than Scotland, and the King had a much +greater mind to conquer it. So, he let Scotland alone, and pretended +that he had a claim to the French throne in right of his mother. He +had, in reality, no claim at all; but that mattered little in those +times. He brought over to his cause many little princes and sovereigns, +and even courted the alliance of the people of Flanders—a busy, working +community, who had very small respect for kings, and whose head man was +a brewer. With such forces as he raised by these means, Edward invaded +France; but he did little by that, except run into debt in carrying on +the war to the extent of three hundred thousand pounds. The next year +he did better; gaining a great sea-fight in the harbour of Sluys. This +success, however, was very shortlived, for the Flemings took fright at +the siege of Saint Omer and ran away, leaving their weapons and baggage +behind them. Philip, the French King, coming up with his army, and +Edward being very anxious to decide the war, proposed to settle the +difference by single combat with him, or by a fight of one hundred +knights on each side. The French King said, he thanked him; but being +very well as he was, he would rather not. So, after some skirmishing +and talking, a short peace was made. + +It was soon broken by King Edward’s favouring the cause of John, Earl +of Montford; a French nobleman, who asserted a claim of his own against +the French King, and offered to do homage to England for the Crown of +France, if he could obtain it through England’s help. This French lord, +himself, was soon defeated by the French King’s son, and shut up in a +tower in Paris; but his wife, a courageous and beautiful woman, who is +said to have had the courage of a man, and the heart of a lion, +assembled the people of Brittany, where she then was; and, showing them +her infant son, made many pathetic entreaties to them not to desert her +and their young Lord. They took fire at this appeal, and rallied round +her in the strong castle of Hennebon. Here she was not only besieged +without by the French under Charles de Blois, but was endangered within +by a dreary old bishop, who was always representing to the people what +horrors they must undergo if they were faithful—first from famine, and +afterwards from fire and sword. But this noble lady, whose heart never +failed her, encouraged her soldiers by her own example; went from post +to post like a great general; even mounted on horseback fully armed, +and, issuing from the castle by a by-path, fell upon the French camp, +set fire to the tents, and threw the whole force into disorder. This +done, she got safely back to Hennebon again, and was received with loud +shouts of joy by the defenders of the castle, who had given her up for +lost. As they were now very short of provisions, however, and as they +could not dine off enthusiasm, and as the old bishop was always saying, +‘I told you what it would come to!’ they began to lose heart, and to +talk of yielding the castle up. The brave Countess retiring to an upper +room and looking with great grief out to sea, where she expected relief +from England, saw, at this very time, the English ships in the +distance, and was relieved and rescued! Sir Walter Manning, the English +commander, so admired her courage, that, being come into the castle +with the English knights, and having made a feast there, he assaulted +the French by way of dessert, and beat them off triumphantly. Then he +and the knights came back to the castle with great joy; and the +Countess who had watched them from a high tower, thanked them with all +her heart, and kissed them every one. + +This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight with +the French off Guernsey, when she was on her way to England to ask for +more troops. Her great spirit roused another lady, the wife of another +French lord (whom the French King very barbarously murdered), to +distinguish herself scarcely less. The time was fast coming, however, +when Edward, Prince of Wales, was to be the great star of this French +and English war. + +It was in the month of July, in the year one thousand three hundred and +forty-six, when the King embarked at Southampton for France, with an +army of about thirty thousand men in all, attended by the Prince of +Wales and by several of the chief nobles. He landed at La Hogue in +Normandy; and, burning and destroying as he went, according to custom, +advanced up the left bank of the River Seine, and fired the small towns +even close to Paris; but, being watched from the right bank of the +river by the French King and all his army, it came to this at last, +that Edward found himself, on Saturday the twenty-sixth of August, one +thousand three hundred and forty-six, on a rising ground behind the +little French village of Crecy, face to face with the French King’s +force. And, although the French King had an enormous army—in number +more than eight times his—he there resolved to beat him or be beaten. + +The young Prince, assisted by the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of +Warwick, led the first division of the English army; two other great +Earls led the second; and the King, the third. When the morning dawned, +the King received the sacrament, and heard prayers, and then, mounted +on horseback with a white wand in his hand, rode from company to +company, and rank to rank, cheering and encouraging both officers and +men. Then the whole army breakfasted, each man sitting on the ground +where he had stood; and then they remained quietly on the ground with +their weapons ready. + +Up came the French King with all his great force. It was dark and angry +weather; there was an eclipse of the sun; there was a thunder-storm, +accompanied with tremendous rain; the frightened birds flew screaming +above the soldiers’ heads. A certain captain in the French army advised +the French King, who was by no means cheerful, not to begin the battle +until the morrow. The King, taking this advice, gave the word to halt. +But, those behind not understanding it, or desiring to be foremost with +the rest, came pressing on. The roads for a great distance were covered +with this immense army, and with the common people from the villages, +who were flourishing their rude weapons, and making a great noise. +Owing to these circumstances, the French army advanced in the greatest +confusion; every French lord doing what he liked with his own men, and +putting out the men of every other French lord. + +Now, their King relied strongly upon a great body of cross-bowmen from +Genoa; and these he ordered to the front to begin the battle, on +finding that he could not stop it. They shouted once, they shouted +twice, they shouted three times, to alarm the English archers; but, the +English would have heard them shout three thousand times and would have +never moved. At last the cross-bowmen went forward a little, and began +to discharge their bolts; upon which, the English let fly such a hail +of arrows, that the Genoese speedily made off—for their cross-bows, +besides being heavy to carry, required to be wound up with a handle, +and consequently took time to re-load; the English, on the other hand, +could discharge their arrows almost as fast as the arrows could fly. + +When the French King saw the Genoese turning, he cried out to his men +to kill those scoundrels, who were doing harm instead of service. This +increased the confusion. Meanwhile the English archers, continuing to +shoot as fast as ever, shot down great numbers of the French soldiers +and knights; whom certain sly Cornish-men and Welshmen, from the +English army, creeping along the ground, despatched with great knives. + +The Prince and his division were at this time so hard-pressed, that the +Earl of Warwick sent a message to the King, who was overlooking the +battle from a windmill, beseeching him to send more aid. + +‘Is my son killed?’ said the King. + +‘No, sire, please God,’ returned the messenger. + +‘Is he wounded?’ said the King. + +‘No, sire.’ + +‘Is he thrown to the ground?’ said the King. + +‘No, sire, not so; but, he is very hard-pressed.’ + +‘Then,’ said the King, ‘go back to those who sent you, and tell them I +shall send no aid; because I set my heart upon my son proving himself +this day a brave knight, and because I am resolved, please God, that +the honour of a great victory shall be his!’ + +These bold words, being reported to the Prince and his division, so +raised their spirits, that they fought better than ever. The King of +France charged gallantly with his men many times; but it was of no use. +Night closing in, his horse was killed under him by an English arrow, +and the knights and nobles who had clustered thick about him early in +the day, were now completely scattered. At last, some of his few +remaining followers led him off the field by force since he would not +retire of himself, and they journeyed away to Amiens. The victorious +English, lighting their watch-fires, made merry on the field, and the +King, riding to meet his gallant son, took him in his arms, kissed him, +and told him that he had acted nobly, and proved himself worthy of the +day and of the crown. While it was yet night, King Edward was hardly +aware of the great victory he had gained; but, next day, it was +discovered that eleven princes, twelve hundred knights, and thirty +thousand common men lay dead upon the French side. Among these was the +King of Bohemia, an old blind man; who, having been told that his son +was wounded in the battle, and that no force could stand against the +Black Prince, called to him two knights, put himself on horse-back +between them, fastened the three bridles together, and dashed in among +the English, where he was presently slain. He bore as his crest three +white ostrich feathers, with the motto _Ich dien_, signifying in +English ‘I serve.’ This crest and motto were taken by the Prince of +Wales in remembrance of that famous day, and have been borne by the +Prince of Wales ever since. + +Five days after this great battle, the King laid siege to Calais. This +siege—ever afterwards memorable—lasted nearly a year. In order to +starve the inhabitants out, King Edward built so many wooden houses for +the lodgings of his troops, that it is said their quarters looked like +a second Calais suddenly sprung around the first. Early in the siege, +the governor of the town drove out what he called the useless mouths, +to the number of seventeen hundred persons, men and women, young and +old. King Edward allowed them to pass through his lines, and even fed +them, and dismissed them with money; but, later in the siege, he was +not so merciful—five hundred more, who were afterwards driven out, +dying of starvation and misery. The garrison were so hard-pressed at +last, that they sent a letter to King Philip, telling him that they had +eaten all the horses, all the dogs, and all the rats and mice that +could be found in the place; and, that if he did not relieve them, they +must either surrender to the English, or eat one another. Philip made +one effort to give them relief; but they were so hemmed in by the +English power, that he could not succeed, and was fain to leave the +place. Upon this they hoisted the English flag, and surrendered to King +Edward. ‘Tell your general,’ said he to the humble messengers who came +out of the town, ‘that I require to have sent here, six of the most +distinguished citizens, bare-legged, and in their shirts, with ropes +about their necks; and let those six men bring with them the keys of +the castle and the town.’ + +When the Governor of Calais related this to the people in the +Market-place, there was great weeping and distress; in the midst of +which, one worthy citizen, named Eustace de Saint Pierre, rose up and +said, that if the six men required were not sacrificed, the whole +population would be; therefore, he offered himself as the first. +Encouraged by this bright example, five other worthy citizens rose up +one after another, and offered themselves to save the rest. The +Governor, who was too badly wounded to be able to walk, mounted a poor +old horse that had not been eaten, and conducted these good men to the +gate, while all the people cried and mourned. + +Edward received them wrathfully, and ordered the heads of the whole six +to be struck off. However, the good Queen fell upon her knees, and +besought the King to give them up to her. The King replied, ‘I wish you +had been somewhere else; but I cannot refuse you.’ So she had them +properly dressed, made a feast for them, and sent them back with a +handsome present, to the great rejoicing of the whole camp. I hope the +people of Calais loved the daughter to whom she gave birth soon +afterwards, for her gentle mother’s sake. + +Now came that terrible disease, the Plague, into Europe, hurrying from +the heart of China; and killed the wretched people—especially the +poor—in such enormous numbers, that one-half of the inhabitants of +England are related to have died of it. It killed the cattle, in great +numbers, too; and so few working men remained alive, that there were +not enough left to till the ground. + +After eight years of differing and quarrelling, the Prince of Wales +again invaded France with an army of sixty thousand men. He went +through the south of the country, burning and plundering wheresoever he +went; while his father, who had still the Scottish war upon his hands, +did the like in Scotland, but was harassed and worried in his retreat +from that country by the Scottish men, who repaid his cruelties with +interest. + +The French King, Philip, was now dead, and was succeeded by his son +John. The Black Prince, called by that name from the colour of the +armour he wore to set off his fair complexion, continuing to burn and +destroy in France, roused John into determined opposition; and so cruel +had the Black Prince been in his campaign, and so severely had the +French peasants suffered, that he could not find one who, for love, or +money, or the fear of death, would tell him what the French King was +doing, or where he was. Thus it happened that he came upon the French +King’s forces, all of a sudden, near the town of Poitiers, and found +that the whole neighbouring country was occupied by a vast French army. +‘God help us!’ said the Black Prince, ‘we must make the best of it.’ + +So, on a Sunday morning, the eighteenth of September, the Prince whose +army was now reduced to ten thousand men in all—prepared to give battle +to the French King, who had sixty thousand horse alone. While he was so +engaged, there came riding from the French camp, a Cardinal, who had +persuaded John to let him offer terms, and try to save the shedding of +Christian blood. ‘Save my honour,’ said the Prince to this good priest, +‘and save the honour of my army, and I will make any reasonable terms.’ +He offered to give up all the towns, castles, and prisoners, he had +taken, and to swear to make no war in France for seven years; but, as +John would hear of nothing but his surrender, with a hundred of his +chief knights, the treaty was broken off, and the Prince said +quietly—‘God defend the right; we shall fight to-morrow.’ + +Therefore, on the Monday morning, at break of day, the two armies +prepared for battle. The English were posted in a strong place, which +could only be approached by one narrow lane, skirted by hedges on both +sides. The French attacked them by this lane; but were so galled and +slain by English arrows from behind the hedges, that they were forced +to retreat. Then went six hundred English bowmen round about, and, +coming upon the rear of the French army, rained arrows on them thick +and fast. The French knights, thrown into confusion, quitted their +banners and dispersed in all directions. Said Sir John Chandos to the +Prince, ‘Ride forward, noble Prince, and the day is yours. The King of +France is so valiant a gentleman, that I know he will never fly, and +may be taken prisoner.’ Said the Prince to this, ‘Advance, English +banners, in the name of God and St. George!’ and on they pressed until +they came up with the French King, fighting fiercely with his +battle-axe, and, when all his nobles had forsaken him, attended +faithfully to the last by his youngest son Philip, only sixteen years +of age. Father and son fought well, and the King had already two wounds +in his face, and had been beaten down, when he at last delivered +himself to a banished French knight, and gave him his right-hand glove +in token that he had done so. + +The Black Prince was generous as well as brave, and he invited his +royal prisoner to supper in his tent, and waited upon him at table, +and, when they afterwards rode into London in a gorgeous procession, +mounted the French King on a fine cream-coloured horse, and rode at his +side on a little pony. This was all very kind, but I think it was, +perhaps, a little theatrical too, and has been made more meritorious +than it deserved to be; especially as I am inclined to think that the +greatest kindness to the King of France would have been not to have +shown him to the people at all. However, it must be said, for these +acts of politeness, that, in course of time, they did much to soften +the horrors of war and the passions of conquerors. It was a long, long +time before the common soldiers began to have the benefit of such +courtly deeds; but they did at last; and thus it is possible that a +poor soldier who asked for quarter at the battle of Waterloo, or any +other such great fight, may have owed his life indirectly to Edward the +Black Prince. + +At this time there stood in the Strand, in London, a palace called the +Savoy, which was given up to the captive King of France and his son for +their residence. As the King of Scotland had now been King Edward’s +captive for eleven years too, his success was, at this time, tolerably +complete. The Scottish business was settled by the prisoner being +released under the title of Sir David, King of Scotland, and by his +engaging to pay a large ransom. The state of France encouraged England +to propose harder terms to that country, where the people rose against +the unspeakable cruelty and barbarity of its nobles; where the nobles +rose in turn against the people; where the most frightful outrages were +committed on all sides; and where the insurrection of the peasants, +called the insurrection of the Jacquerie, from Jacques, a common +Christian name among the country people of France, awakened terrors and +hatreds that have scarcely yet passed away. A treaty called the Great +Peace, was at last signed, under which King Edward agreed to give up +the greater part of his conquests, and King John to pay, within six +years, a ransom of three million crowns of gold. He was so beset by his +own nobles and courtiers for having yielded to these conditions—though +they could help him to no better—that he came back of his own will to +his old palace-prison of the Savoy, and there died. + +There was a Sovereign of Castile at that time, called Pedro the Cruel, +who deserved the name remarkably well: having committed, among other +cruelties, a variety of murders. This amiable monarch being driven from +his throne for his crimes, went to the province of Bordeaux, where the +Black Prince—now married to his cousin Joan, a pretty widow—was +residing, and besought his help. The Prince, who took to him much more +kindly than a prince of such fame ought to have taken to such a +ruffian, readily listened to his fair promises, and agreeing to help +him, sent secret orders to some troublesome disbanded soldiers of his +and his father’s, who called themselves the Free Companions, and who +had been a pest to the French people, for some time, to aid this Pedro. +The Prince, himself, going into Spain to head the army of relief, soon +set Pedro on his throne again—where he no sooner found himself, than, +of course, he behaved like the villain he was, broke his word without +the least shame, and abandoned all the promises he had made to the +Black Prince. + +Now, it had cost the Prince a good deal of money to pay soldiers to +support this murderous King; and finding himself, when he came back +disgusted to Bordeaux, not only in bad health, but deeply in debt, he +began to tax his French subjects to pay his creditors. They appealed to +the French King, Charles; war again broke out; and the French town of +Limoges, which the Prince had greatly benefited, went over to the +French King. Upon this he ravaged the province of which it was the +capital; burnt, and plundered, and killed in the old sickening way; and +refused mercy to the prisoners, men, women, and children taken in the +offending town, though he was so ill and so much in need of pity +himself from Heaven, that he was carried in a litter. He lived to come +home and make himself popular with the people and Parliament, and he +died on Trinity Sunday, the eighth of June, one thousand three hundred +and seventy-six, at forty-six years old. + +The whole nation mourned for him as one of the most renowned and +beloved princes it had ever had; and he was buried with great +lamentations in Canterbury Cathedral. Near to the tomb of Edward the +Confessor, his monument, with his figure, carved in stone, and +represented in the old black armour, lying on its back, may be seen at +this day, with an ancient coat of mail, a helmet, and a pair of +gauntlets hanging from a beam above it, which most people like to +believe were once worn by the Black Prince. + +King Edward did not outlive his renowned son, long. He was old, and one +Alice Perrers, a beautiful lady, had contrived to make him so fond of +her in his old age, that he could refuse her nothing, and made himself +ridiculous. She little deserved his love, or—what I dare say she valued +a great deal more—the jewels of the late Queen, which he gave her among +other rich presents. She took the very ring from his finger on the +morning of the day when he died, and left him to be pillaged by his +faithless servants. Only one good priest was true to him, and attended +him to the last. + +Besides being famous for the great victories I have related, the reign +of King Edward the Third was rendered memorable in better ways, by the +growth of architecture and the erection of Windsor Castle. In better +ways still, by the rising up of Wickliffe, originally a poor parish +priest: who devoted himself to exposing, with wonderful power and +success, the ambition and corruption of the Pope, and of the whole +church of which he was the head. + +Some of those Flemings were induced to come to England in this reign +too, and to settle in Norfolk, where they made better woollen cloths +than the English had ever had before. The Order of the Garter (a very +fine thing in its way, but hardly so important as good clothes for the +nation) also dates from this period. The King is said to have picked +‘up a lady’s garter at a ball, and to have said, _Honi soit qui mal y +pense_—in English, ‘Evil be to him who evil thinks of it.’ The +courtiers were usually glad to imitate what the King said or did, and +hence from a slight incident the Order of the Garter was instituted, +and became a great dignity. So the story goes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND + + +Richard, son of the Black Prince, a boy eleven years of age, succeeded +to the Crown under the title of King Richard the Second. The whole +English nation were ready to admire him for the sake of his brave +father. As to the lords and ladies about the Court, they declared him +to be the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best—even of princes—whom +the lords and ladies about the Court, generally declare to be the most +beautiful, the wisest, and the best of mankind. To flatter a poor boy +in this base manner was not a very likely way to develop whatever good +was in him; and it brought him to anything but a good or happy end. + +The Duke of Lancaster, the young King’s uncle—commonly called John of +Gaunt, from having been born at Ghent, which the common people so +pronounced—was supposed to have some thoughts of the throne himself; +but, as he was not popular, and the memory of the Black Prince was, he +submitted to his nephew. + +The war with France being still unsettled, the Government of England +wanted money to provide for the expenses that might arise out of it; +accordingly a certain tax, called the Poll-tax, which had originated in +the last reign, was ordered to be levied on the people. This was a tax +on every person in the kingdom, male and female, above the age of +fourteen, of three groats (or three four-penny pieces) a year; +clergymen were charged more, and only beggars were exempt. + +I have no need to repeat that the common people of England had long +been suffering under great oppression. They were still the mere slaves +of the lords of the land on which they lived, and were on most +occasions harshly and unjustly treated. But, they had begun by this +time to think very seriously of not bearing quite so much; and, +probably, were emboldened by that French insurrection I mentioned in +the last chapter. + +The people of Essex rose against the Poll-tax, and being severely +handled by the government officers, killed some of them. At this very +time one of the tax-collectors, going his rounds from house to house, +at Dartford in Kent came to the cottage of one Wat, a tiler by trade, +and claimed the tax upon his daughter. Her mother, who was at home, +declared that she was under the age of fourteen; upon that, the +collector (as other collectors had already done in different parts of +England) behaved in a savage way, and brutally insulted Wat Tyler’s +daughter. The daughter screamed, the mother screamed. Wat the Tiler, +who was at work not far off, ran to the spot, and did what any honest +father under such provocation might have done—struck the collector dead +at a blow. + +Instantly the people of that town uprose as one man. They made Wat +Tyler their leader; they joined with the people of Essex, who were in +arms under a priest called Jack Straw; they took out of prison another +priest named John Ball; and gathering in numbers as they went along, +advanced, in a great confused army of poor men, to Blackheath. It is +said that they wanted to abolish all property, and to declare all men +equal. I do not think this very likely; because they stopped the +travellers on the roads and made them swear to be true to King Richard +and the people. Nor were they at all disposed to injure those who had +done them no harm, merely because they were of high station; for, the +King’s mother, who had to pass through their camp at Blackheath, on her +way to her young son, lying for safety in the Tower of London, had +merely to kiss a few dirty-faced rough-bearded men who were noisily +fond of royalty, and so got away in perfect safety. Next day the whole +mass marched on to London Bridge. + +There was a drawbridge in the middle, which William Walworth the Mayor +caused to be raised to prevent their coming into the city; but they +soon terrified the citizens into lowering it again, and spread +themselves, with great uproar, over the streets. They broke open the +prisons; they burned the papers in Lambeth Palace; they destroyed the +Duke of Lancaster’s Palace, the Savoy, in the Strand, said to be the +most beautiful and splendid in England; they set fire to the books and +documents in the Temple; and made a great riot. Many of these outrages +were committed in drunkenness; since those citizens, who had +well-filled cellars, were only too glad to throw them open to save the +rest of their property; but even the drunken rioters were very careful +to steal nothing. They were so angry with one man, who was seen to take +a silver cup at the Savoy Palace, and put it in his breast, that they +drowned him in the river, cup and all. + +The young King had been taken out to treat with them before they +committed these excesses; but, he and the people about him were so +frightened by the riotous shouts, that they got back to the Tower in +the best way they could. This made the insurgents bolder; so they went +on rioting away, striking off the heads of those who did not, at a +moment’s notice, declare for King Richard and the people; and killing +as many of the unpopular persons whom they supposed to be their enemies +as they could by any means lay hold of. In this manner they passed one +very violent day, and then proclamation was made that the King would +meet them at Mile-end, and grant their requests. + +The rioters went to Mile-end to the number of sixty thousand, and the +King met them there, and to the King the rioters peaceably proposed +four conditions. First, that neither they, nor their children, nor any +coming after them, should be made slaves any more. Secondly, that the +rent of land should be fixed at a certain price in money, instead of +being paid in service. Thirdly, that they should have liberty to buy +and sell in all markets and public places, like other free men. +Fourthly, that they should be pardoned for past offences. Heaven knows, +there was nothing very unreasonable in these proposals! The young King +deceitfully pretended to think so, and kept thirty clerks up, all +night, writing out a charter accordingly. + +Now, Wat Tyler himself wanted more than this. He wanted the entire +abolition of the forest laws. He was not at Mile-end with the rest, +but, while that meeting was being held, broke into the Tower of London +and slew the archbishop and the treasurer, for whose heads the people +had cried out loudly the day before. He and his men even thrust their +swords into the bed of the Princess of Wales while the Princess was in +it, to make certain that none of their enemies were concealed there. + +So, Wat and his men still continued armed, and rode about the city. +Next morning, the King with a small train of some sixty gentlemen—among +whom was Walworth the Mayor—rode into Smithfield, and saw Wat and his +people at a little distance. Says Wat to his men, ‘There is the King. I +will go speak with him, and tell him what we want.’ + +Straightway Wat rode up to him, and began to talk. ‘King,’ says Wat, +‘dost thou see all my men there?’ + +‘Ah,’ says the King. ‘Why?’ + +‘Because,’ says Wat, ‘they are all at my command, and have sworn to do +whatever I bid them.’ + +Some declared afterwards that as Wat said this, he laid his hand on the +King’s bridle. Others declared that he was seen to play with his own +dagger. I think, myself, that he just spoke to the King like a rough, +angry man as he was, and did nothing more. At any rate he was expecting +no attack, and preparing for no resistance, when Walworth the Mayor did +the not very valiant deed of drawing a short sword and stabbing him in +the throat. He dropped from his horse, and one of the King’s people +speedily finished him. So fell Wat Tyler. Fawners and flatterers made a +mighty triumph of it, and set up a cry which will occasionally find an +echo to this day. But Wat was a hard-working man, who had suffered +much, and had been foully outraged; and it is probable that he was a +man of a much higher nature and a much braver spirit than any of the +parasites who exulted then, or have exulted since, over his defeat. + +Seeing Wat down, his men immediately bent their bows to avenge his +fall. If the young King had not had presence of mind at that dangerous +moment, both he and the Mayor to boot, might have followed Tyler pretty +fast. But the King riding up to the crowd, cried out that Tyler was a +traitor, and that he would be their leader. They were so taken by +surprise, that they set up a great shouting, and followed the boy until +he was met at Islington by a large body of soldiers. + +The end of this rising was the then usual end. As soon as the King +found himself safe, he unsaid all he had said, and undid all he had +done; some fifteen hundred of the rioters were tried (mostly in Essex) +with great rigour, and executed with great cruelty. Many of them were +hanged on gibbets, and left there as a terror to the country people; +and, because their miserable friends took some of the bodies down to +bury, the King ordered the rest to be chained up—which was the +beginning of the barbarous custom of hanging in chains. The King’s +falsehood in this business makes such a pitiful figure, that I think +Wat Tyler appears in history as beyond comparison the truer and more +respectable man of the two. + +Richard was now sixteen years of age, and married Anne of Bohemia, an +excellent princess, who was called ‘the good Queen Anne.’ She deserved +a better husband; for the King had been fawned and flattered into a +treacherous, wasteful, dissolute, bad young man. + +There were two Popes at this time (as if one were not enough!), and +their quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. Scotland was +still troublesome too; and at home there was much jealousy and +distrust, and plotting and counter-plotting, because the King feared +the ambition of his relations, and particularly of his uncle, the Duke +of Lancaster, and the duke had his party against the King, and the King +had his party against the duke. Nor were these home troubles lessened +when the duke went to Castile to urge his claim to the crown of that +kingdom; for then the Duke of Gloucester, another of Richard’s uncles, +opposed him, and influenced the Parliament to demand the dismissal of +the King’s favourite ministers. The King said in reply, that he would +not for such men dismiss the meanest servant in his kitchen. But, it +had begun to signify little what a King said when a Parliament was +determined; so Richard was at last obliged to give way, and to agree to +another Government of the kingdom, under a commission of fourteen +nobles, for a year. His uncle of Gloucester was at the head of this +commission, and, in fact, appointed everybody composing it. + +Having done all this, the King declared as soon as he saw an +opportunity that he had never meant to do it, and that it was all +illegal; and he got the judges secretly to sign a declaration to that +effect. The secret oozed out directly, and was carried to the Duke of +Gloucester. The Duke of Gloucester, at the head of forty thousand men, +met the King on his entering into London to enforce his authority; the +King was helpless against him; his favourites and ministers were +impeached and were mercilessly executed. Among them were two men whom +the people regarded with very different feelings; one, Robert +Tresilian, Chief Justice, who was hated for having made what was called +‘the bloody circuit’ to try the rioters; the other, Sir Simon Burley, +an honourable knight, who had been the dear friend of the Black Prince, +and the governor and guardian of the King. For this gentleman’s life +the good Queen even begged of Gloucester on her knees; but Gloucester +(with or without reason) feared and hated him, and replied, that if she +valued her husband’s crown, she had better beg no more. All this was +done under what was called by some the wonderful—and by others, with +better reason, the merciless—Parliament. + +But Gloucester’s power was not to last for ever. He held it for only a +year longer; in which year the famous battle of Otterbourne, sung in +the old ballad of Chevy Chase, was fought. When the year was out, the +King, turning suddenly to Gloucester, in the midst of a great council +said, ‘Uncle, how old am I?’ ‘Your highness,’ returned the Duke, ‘is in +your twenty-second year.’ ‘Am I so much?’ said the King; ‘then I will +manage my own affairs! I am much obliged to you, my good lords, for +your past services, but I need them no more.’ He followed this up, by +appointing a new Chancellor and a new Treasurer, and announced to the +people that he had resumed the Government. He held it for eight years +without opposition. Through all that time, he kept his determination to +revenge himself some day upon his uncle Gloucester, in his own breast. + +At last the good Queen died, and then the King, desiring to take a +second wife, proposed to his council that he should marry Isabella, of +France, the daughter of Charles the Sixth: who, the French courtiers +said (as the English courtiers had said of Richard), was a marvel of +beauty and wit, and quite a phenomenon—of seven years old. The council +were divided about this marriage, but it took place. It secured peace +between England and France for a quarter of a century; but it was +strongly opposed to the prejudices of the English people. The Duke of +Gloucester, who was anxious to take the occasion of making himself +popular, declaimed against it loudly, and this at length decided the +King to execute the vengeance he had been nursing so long. + +He went with a gay company to the Duke of Gloucester’s house, Pleshey +Castle, in Essex, where the Duke, suspecting nothing, came out into the +court-yard to receive his royal visitor. While the King conversed in a +friendly manner with the Duchess, the Duke was quietly seized, hurried +away, shipped for Calais, and lodged in the castle there. His friends, +the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, were taken in the same treacherous +manner, and confined to their castles. A few days after, at Nottingham, +they were impeached of high treason. The Earl of Arundel was condemned +and beheaded, and the Earl of Warwick was banished. Then, a writ was +sent by a messenger to the Governor of Calais, requiring him to send +the Duke of Gloucester over to be tried. In three days he returned an +answer that he could not do that, because the Duke of Gloucester had +died in prison. The Duke was declared a traitor, his property was +confiscated to the King, a real or pretended confession he had made in +prison to one of the Justices of the Common Pleas was produced against +him, and there was an end of the matter. How the unfortunate duke died, +very few cared to know. Whether he really died naturally; whether he +killed himself; whether, by the King’s order, he was strangled, or +smothered between two beds (as a serving-man of the Governor’s named +Hall, did afterwards declare), cannot be discovered. There is not much +doubt that he was killed, somehow or other, by his nephew’s orders. +Among the most active nobles in these proceedings were the King’s +cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, whom the King had made Duke of Hereford to +smooth down the old family quarrels, and some others: who had in the +family-plotting times done just such acts themselves as they now +condemned in the duke. They seem to have been a corrupt set of men; but +such men were easily found about the court in such days. + +The people murmured at all this, and were still very sore about the +French marriage. The nobles saw how little the King cared for law, and +how crafty he was, and began to be somewhat afraid for themselves. The +King’s life was a life of continued feasting and excess; his retinue, +down to the meanest servants, were dressed in the most costly manner, +and caroused at his tables, it is related, to the number of ten +thousand persons every day. He himself, surrounded by a body of ten +thousand archers, and enriched by a duty on wool which the Commons had +granted him for life, saw no danger of ever being otherwise than +powerful and absolute, and was as fierce and haughty as a King could +be. + +He had two of his old enemies left, in the persons of the Dukes of +Hereford and Norfolk. Sparing these no more than the others, he +tampered with the Duke of Hereford until he got him to declare before +the Council that the Duke of Norfolk had lately held some treasonable +talk with him, as he was riding near Brentford; and that he had told +him, among other things, that he could not believe the King’s +oath—which nobody could, I should think. For this treachery he obtained +a pardon, and the Duke of Norfolk was summoned to appear and defend +himself. As he denied the charge and said his accuser was a liar and a +traitor, both noblemen, according to the manner of those times, were +held in custody, and the truth was ordered to be decided by wager of +battle at Coventry. This wager of battle meant that whosoever won the +combat was to be considered in the right; which nonsense meant in +effect, that no strong man could ever be wrong. A great holiday was +made; a great crowd assembled, with much parade and show; and the two +combatants were about to rush at each other with their lances, when the +King, sitting in a pavilion to see fair, threw down the truncheon he +carried in his hand, and forbade the battle. The Duke of Hereford was +to be banished for ten years, and the Duke of Norfolk was to be +banished for life. So said the King. The Duke of Hereford went to +France, and went no farther. The Duke of Norfolk made a pilgrimage to +the Holy Land, and afterwards died at Venice of a broken heart. + +Faster and fiercer, after this, the King went on in his career. The +Duke of Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of Hereford, died +soon after the departure of his son; and, the King, although he had +solemnly granted to that son leave to inherit his father’s property, if +it should come to him during his banishment, immediately seized it all, +like a robber. The judges were so afraid of him, that they disgraced +themselves by declaring this theft to be just and lawful. His avarice +knew no bounds. He outlawed seventeen counties at once, on a frivolous +pretence, merely to raise money by way of fines for misconduct. In +short, he did as many dishonest things as he could; and cared so little +for the discontent of his subjects—though even the spaniel favourites +began to whisper to him that there was such a thing as discontent +afloat—that he took that time, of all others, for leaving England and +making an expedition against the Irish. + +He was scarcely gone, leaving the Duke of York Regent in his absence, +when his cousin, Henry of Hereford, came over from France to claim the +rights of which he had been so monstrously deprived. He was immediately +joined by the two great Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland; and +his uncle, the Regent, finding the King’s cause unpopular, and the +disinclination of the army to act against Henry, very strong, withdrew +with the Royal forces towards Bristol. Henry, at the head of an army, +came from Yorkshire (where he had landed) to London and followed him. +They joined their forces—how they brought that about, is not distinctly +understood—and proceeded to Bristol Castle, whither three noblemen had +taken the young Queen. The castle surrendering, they presently put +those three noblemen to death. The Regent then remained there, and +Henry went on to Chester. + +All this time, the boisterous weather had prevented the King from +receiving intelligence of what had occurred. At length it was conveyed +to him in Ireland, and he sent over the Earl of Salisbury, who, landing +at Conway, rallied the Welshmen, and waited for the King a whole +fortnight; at the end of that time the Welshmen, who were perhaps not +very warm for him in the beginning, quite cooled down and went home. +When the King did land on the coast at last, he came with a pretty good +power, but his men cared nothing for him, and quickly deserted. +Supposing the Welshmen to be still at Conway, he disguised himself as a +priest, and made for that place in company with his two brothers and +some few of their adherents. But, there were no Welshmen left—only +Salisbury and a hundred soldiers. In this distress, the King’s two +brothers, Exeter and Surrey, offered to go to Henry to learn what his +intentions were. Surrey, who was true to Richard, was put into prison. +Exeter, who was false, took the royal badge, which was a hart, off his +shield, and assumed the rose, the badge of Henry. After this, it was +pretty plain to the King what Henry’s intentions were, without sending +any more messengers to ask. + +The fallen King, thus deserted—hemmed in on all sides, and pressed with +hunger—rode here and rode there, and went to this castle, and went to +that castle, endeavouring to obtain some provisions, but could find +none. He rode wretchedly back to Conway, and there surrendered himself +to the Earl of Northumberland, who came from Henry, in reality to take +him prisoner, but in appearance to offer terms; and whose men were +hidden not far off. By this earl he was conducted to the castle of +Flint, where his cousin Henry met him, and dropped on his knee as if he +were still respectful to his sovereign. + +‘Fair cousin of Lancaster,’ said the King, ‘you are very welcome’ (very +welcome, no doubt; but he would have been more so, in chains or without +a head). + +‘My lord,’ replied Henry, ‘I am come a little before my time; but, with +your good pleasure, I will show you the reason. Your people complain +with some bitterness, that you have ruled them rigorously for +two-and-twenty years. Now, if it please God, I will help you to govern +them better in future.’ + +‘Fair cousin,’ replied the abject King, ‘since it pleaseth you, it +pleaseth me mightily.’ + +After this, the trumpets sounded, and the King was stuck on a wretched +horse, and carried prisoner to Chester, where he was made to issue a +proclamation, calling a Parliament. From Chester he was taken on +towards London. At Lichfield he tried to escape by getting out of a +window and letting himself down into a garden; it was all in vain, +however, and he was carried on and shut up in the Tower, where no one +pitied him, and where the whole people, whose patience he had quite +tired out, reproached him without mercy. Before he got there, it is +related, that his very dog left him and departed from his side to lick +the hand of Henry. + +The day before the Parliament met, a deputation went to this wrecked +King, and told him that he had promised the Earl of Northumberland at +Conway Castle to resign the crown. He said he was quite ready to do it, +and signed a paper in which he renounced his authority and absolved his +people from their allegiance to him. He had so little spirit left that +he gave his royal ring to his triumphant cousin Henry with his own +hand, and said, that if he could have had leave to appoint a successor, +that same Henry was the man of all others whom he would have named. +Next day, the Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall, where Henry sat +at the side of the throne, which was empty and covered with a cloth of +gold. The paper just signed by the King was read to the multitude amid +shouts of joy, which were echoed through all the streets; when some of +the noise had died away, the King was formally deposed. Then Henry +arose, and, making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast, +challenged the realm of England as his right; the archbishops of +Canterbury and York seated him on the throne. + +The multitude shouted again, and the shouts re-echoed throughout all +the streets. No one remembered, now, that Richard the Second had ever +been the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best of princes; and he +now made living (to my thinking) a far more sorry spectacle in the +Tower of London, than Wat Tyler had made, lying dead, among the hoofs +of the royal horses in Smithfield. + +The Poll-tax died with Wat. The Smiths to the King and Royal Family, +could make no chains in which the King could hang the people’s +recollection of him; so the Poll-tax was never collected. + + + + +CHAPTER XX +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE + + +During the last reign, the preaching of Wickliffe against the pride and +cunning of the Pope and all his men, had made a great noise in England. +Whether the new King wished to be in favour with the priests, or +whether he hoped, by pretending to be very religious, to cheat Heaven +itself into the belief that he was not a usurper, I don’t know. Both +suppositions are likely enough. It is certain that he began his reign +by making a strong show against the followers of Wickliffe, who were +called Lollards, or heretics—although his father, John of Gaunt, had +been of that way of thinking, as he himself had been more than +suspected of being. It is no less certain that he first established in +England the detestable and atrocious custom, brought from abroad, of +burning those people as a punishment for their opinions. It was the +importation into England of one of the practices of what was called the +Holy Inquisition: which was the most _un_holy and the most infamous +tribunal that ever disgraced mankind, and made men more like demons +than followers of Our Saviour. + +No real right to the crown, as you know, was in this King. Edward +Mortimer, the young Earl of March—who was only eight or nine years old, +and who was descended from the Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of +Henry’s father—was, by succession, the real heir to the throne. +However, the King got his son declared Prince of Wales; and, obtaining +possession of the young Earl of March and his little brother, kept them +in confinement (but not severely) in Windsor Castle. He then required +the Parliament to decide what was to be done with the deposed King, who +was quiet enough, and who only said that he hoped his cousin Henry +would be ‘a good lord’ to him. The Parliament replied that they would +recommend his being kept in some secret place where the people could +not resort, and where his friends could not be admitted to see him. +Henry accordingly passed this sentence upon him, and it now began to be +pretty clear to the nation that Richard the Second would not live very +long. + +It was a noisy Parliament, as it was an unprincipled one, and the Lords +quarrelled so violently among themselves as to which of them had been +loyal and which disloyal, and which consistent and which inconsistent, +that forty gauntlets are said to have been thrown upon the floor at one +time as challenges to as many battles: the truth being that they were +all false and base together, and had been, at one time with the old +King, and at another time with the new one, and seldom true for any +length of time to any one. They soon began to plot again. A conspiracy +was formed to invite the King to a tournament at Oxford, and then to +take him by surprise and kill him. This murderous enterprise, which was +agreed upon at secret meetings in the house of the Abbot of +Westminster, was betrayed by the Earl of Rutland—one of the +conspirators. The King, instead of going to the tournament or staying +at Windsor (where the conspirators suddenly went, on finding themselves +discovered, with the hope of seizing him), retired to London, +proclaimed them all traitors, and advanced upon them with a great +force. They retired into the west of England, proclaiming Richard King; +but, the people rose against them, and they were all slain. Their +treason hastened the death of the deposed monarch. Whether he was +killed by hired assassins, or whether he was starved to death, or +whether he refused food on hearing of his brothers being killed (who +were in that plot), is very doubtful. He met his death somehow; and his +body was publicly shown at St. Paul’s Cathedral with only the lower +part of the face uncovered. I can scarcely doubt that he was killed by +the King’s orders. + +The French wife of the miserable Richard was now only ten years old; +and, when her father, Charles of France, heard of her misfortunes and +of her lonely condition in England, he went mad: as he had several +times done before, during the last five or six years. The French Dukes +of Burgundy and Bourbon took up the poor girl’s cause, without caring +much about it, but on the chance of getting something out of England. +The people of Bordeaux, who had a sort of superstitious attachment to +the memory of Richard, because he was born there, swore by the Lord +that he had been the best man in all his kingdom—which was going rather +far—and promised to do great things against the English. Nevertheless, +when they came to consider that they, and the whole people of France, +were ruined by their own nobles, and that the English rule was much the +better of the two, they cooled down again; and the two dukes, although +they were very great men, could do nothing without them. Then, began +negotiations between France and England for the sending home to Paris +of the poor little Queen with all her jewels and her fortune of two +hundred thousand francs in gold. The King was quite willing to restore +the young lady, and even the jewels; but he said he really could not +part with the money. So, at last she was safely deposited at Paris +without her fortune, and then the Duke of Burgundy (who was cousin to +the French King) began to quarrel with the Duke of Orleans (who was +brother to the French King) about the whole matter; and those two dukes +made France even more wretched than ever. + +As the idea of conquering Scotland was still popular at home, the King +marched to the river Tyne and demanded homage of the King of that +country. This being refused, he advanced to Edinburgh, but did little +there; for, his army being in want of provisions, and the Scotch being +very careful to hold him in check without giving battle, he was obliged +to retire. It is to his immortal honour that in this sally he burnt no +villages and slaughtered no people, but was particularly careful that +his army should be merciful and harmless. It was a great example in +those ruthless times. + +A war among the border people of England and Scotland went on for +twelve months, and then the Earl of Northumberland, the nobleman who +had helped Henry to the crown, began to rebel against him—probably +because nothing that Henry could do for him would satisfy his +extravagant expectations. There was a certain Welsh gentleman, named +Owen Glendower, who had been a student in one of the Inns of Court, and +had afterwards been in the service of the late King, whose Welsh +property was taken from him by a powerful lord related to the present +King, who was his neighbour. Appealing for redress, and getting none, +he took up arms, was made an outlaw, and declared himself sovereign of +Wales. He pretended to be a magician; and not only were the Welsh +people stupid enough to believe him, but, even Henry believed him too; +for, making three expeditions into Wales, and being three times driven +back by the wildness of the country, the bad weather, and the skill of +Glendower, he thought he was defeated by the Welshman’s magic arts. +However, he took Lord Grey and Sir Edmund Mortimer, prisoners, and +allowed the relatives of Lord Grey to ransom him, but would not extend +such favour to Sir Edmund Mortimer. Now, Henry Percy, called Hotspur, +son of the Earl of Northumberland, who was married to Mortimer’s +sister, is supposed to have taken offence at this; and, therefore, in +conjunction with his father and some others, to have joined Owen +Glendower, and risen against Henry. It is by no means clear that this +was the real cause of the conspiracy; but perhaps it was made the +pretext. It was formed, and was very powerful; including Scroop, +Archbishop of York, and the Earl of Douglas, a powerful and brave +Scottish nobleman. The King was prompt and active, and the two armies +met at Shrewsbury. + +There were about fourteen thousand men in each. The old Earl of +Northumberland being sick, the rebel forces were led by his son. The +King wore plain armour to deceive the enemy; and four noblemen, with +the same object, wore the royal arms. The rebel charge was so furious, +that every one of those gentlemen was killed, the royal standard was +beaten down, and the young Prince of Wales was severely wounded in the +face. But he was one of the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived, +and he fought so well, and the King’s troops were so encouraged by his +bold example, that they rallied immediately, and cut the enemy’s forces +all to pieces. Hotspur was killed by an arrow in the brain, and the +rout was so complete that the whole rebellion was struck down by this +one blow. The Earl of Northumberland surrendered himself soon after +hearing of the death of his son, and received a pardon for all his +offences. + +There were some lingerings of rebellion yet: Owen Glendower being +retired to Wales, and a preposterous story being spread among the +ignorant people that King Richard was still alive. How they could have +believed such nonsense it is difficult to imagine; but they certainly +did suppose that the Court fool of the late King, who was something +like him, was he, himself; so that it seemed as if, after giving so +much trouble to the country in his life, he was still to trouble it +after his death. This was not the worst. The young Earl of March and +his brother were stolen out of Windsor Castle. Being retaken, and being +found to have been spirited away by one Lady Spencer, she accused her +own brother, that Earl of Rutland who was in the former conspiracy and +was now Duke of York, of being in the plot. For this he was ruined in +fortune, though not put to death; and then another plot arose among the +old Earl of Northumberland, some other lords, and that same Scroop, +Archbishop of York, who was with the rebels before. These conspirators +caused a writing to be posted on the church doors, accusing the King of +a variety of crimes; but, the King being eager and vigilant to oppose +them, they were all taken, and the Archbishop was executed. This was +the first time that a great churchman had been slain by the law in +England; but the King was resolved that it should be done, and done it +was. + +The next most remarkable event of this time was the seizure, by Henry, +of the heir to the Scottish throne—James, a boy of nine years old. He +had been put aboard-ship by his father, the Scottish King Robert, to +save him from the designs of his uncle, when, on his way to France, he +was accidentally taken by some English cruisers. He remained a prisoner +in England for nineteen years, and became in his prison a student and a +famous poet. + +With the exception of occasional troubles with the Welsh and with the +French, the rest of King Henry’s reign was quiet enough. But, the King +was far from happy, and probably was troubled in his conscience by +knowing that he had usurped the crown, and had occasioned the death of +his miserable cousin. The Prince of Wales, though brave and generous, +is said to have been wild and dissipated, and even to have drawn his +sword on Gascoigne, the Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, because he +was firm in dealing impartially with one of his dissolute companions. +Upon this the Chief Justice is said to have ordered him immediately to +prison; the Prince of Wales is said to have submitted with a good +grace; and the King is said to have exclaimed, ‘Happy is the monarch +who has so just a judge, and a son so willing to obey the laws.’ This +is all very doubtful, and so is another story (of which Shakespeare has +made beautiful use), that the Prince once took the crown out of his +father’s chamber as he was sleeping, and tried it on his own head. + +The King’s health sank more and more, and he became subject to violent +eruptions on the face and to bad epileptic fits, and his spirits sank +every day. At last, as he was praying before the shrine of St. Edward +at Westminster Abbey, he was seized with a terrible fit, and was +carried into the Abbot’s chamber, where he presently died. It had been +foretold that he would die at Jerusalem, which certainly is not, and +never was, Westminster. But, as the Abbot’s room had long been called +the Jerusalem chamber, people said it was all the same thing, and were +quite satisfied with the prediction. + +The King died on the 20th of March, 1413, in the forty-seventh year of +his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. He was buried in Canterbury +Cathedral. He had been twice married, and had, by his first wife, a +family of four sons and two daughters. Considering his duplicity before +he came to the throne, his unjust seizure of it, and above all, his +making that monstrous law for the burning of what the priests called +heretics, he was a reasonably good king, as kings went. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH + +FIRST PART + +The Prince of Wales began his reign like a generous and honest man. He +set the young Earl of March free; he restored their estates and their +honours to the Percy family, who had lost them by their rebellion +against his father; he ordered the imbecile and unfortunate Richard to +be honourably buried among the Kings of England; and he dismissed all +his wild companions, with assurances that they should not want, if they +would resolve to be steady, faithful, and true. + +It is much easier to burn men than to burn their opinions; and those of +the Lollards were spreading every day. The Lollards were represented by +the priests—probably falsely for the most part—to entertain treasonable +designs against the new King; and Henry, suffering himself to be worked +upon by these representations, sacrificed his friend Sir John +Oldcastle, the Lord Cobham, to them, after trying in vain to convert +him by arguments. He was declared guilty, as the head of the sect, and +sentenced to the flames; but he escaped from the Tower before the day +of execution (postponed for fifty days by the King himself), and +summoned the Lollards to meet him near London on a certain day. So the +priests told the King, at least. I doubt whether there was any +conspiracy beyond such as was got up by their agents. On the day +appointed, instead of five-and-twenty thousand men, under the command +of Sir John Oldcastle, in the meadows of St. Giles, the King found only +eighty men, and no Sir John at all. There was, in another place, an +addle-headed brewer, who had gold trappings to his horses, and a pair +of gilt spurs in his breast—expecting to be made a knight next day by +Sir John, and so to gain the right to wear them—but there was no Sir +John, nor did anybody give information respecting him, though the King +offered great rewards for such intelligence. Thirty of these +unfortunate Lollards were hanged and drawn immediately, and were then +burnt, gallows and all; and the various prisons in and around London +were crammed full of others. Some of these unfortunate men made various +confessions of treasonable designs; but, such confessions were easily +got, under torture and the fear of fire, and are very little to be +trusted. To finish the sad story of Sir John Oldcastle at once, I may +mention that he escaped into Wales, and remained there safely, for four +years. When discovered by Lord Powis, it is very doubtful if he would +have been taken alive—so great was the old soldier’s bravery—if a +miserable old woman had not come behind him and broken his legs with a +stool. He was carried to London in a horse-litter, was fastened by an +iron chain to a gibbet, and so roasted to death. + +To make the state of France as plain as I can in a few words, I should +tell you that the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Burgundy, commonly +called ‘John without fear,’ had had a grand reconciliation of their +quarrel in the last reign, and had appeared to be quite in a heavenly +state of mind. Immediately after which, on a Sunday, in the public +streets of Paris, the Duke of Orleans was murdered by a party of twenty +men, set on by the Duke of Burgundy—according to his own deliberate +confession. The widow of King Richard had been married in France to the +eldest son of the Duke of Orleans. The poor mad King was quite +powerless to help her, and the Duke of Burgundy became the real master +of France. Isabella dying, her husband (Duke of Orleans since the death +of his father) married the daughter of the Count of Armagnac, who, +being a much abler man than his young son-in-law, headed his party; +thence called after him Armagnacs. Thus, France was now in this +terrible condition, that it had in it the party of the King’s son, the +Dauphin Louis; the party of the Duke of Burgundy, who was the father of +the Dauphin’s ill-used wife; and the party of the Armagnacs; all hating +each other; all fighting together; all composed of the most depraved +nobles that the earth has ever known; and all tearing unhappy France to +pieces. + +The late King had watched these dissensions from England, sensible +(like the French people) that no enemy of France could injure her more +than her own nobility. The present King now advanced a claim to the +French throne. His demand being, of course, refused, he reduced his +proposal to a certain large amount of French territory, and to +demanding the French princess, Catherine, in marriage, with a fortune +of two millions of golden crowns. He was offered less territory and +fewer crowns, and no princess; but he called his ambassadors home and +prepared for war. Then, he proposed to take the princess with one +million of crowns. The French Court replied that he should have the +princess with two hundred thousand crowns less; he said this would not +do (he had never seen the princess in his life), and assembled his army +at Southampton. There was a short plot at home just at that time, for +deposing him, and making the Earl of March king; but the conspirators +were all speedily condemned and executed, and the King embarked for +France. + +It is dreadful to observe how long a bad example will be followed; but, +it is encouraging to know that a good example is never thrown away. The +King’s first act on disembarking at the mouth of the river Seine, three +miles from Harfleur, was to imitate his father, and to proclaim his +solemn orders that the lives and property of the peaceable inhabitants +should be respected on pain of death. It is agreed by French writers, +to his lasting renown, that even while his soldiers were suffering the +greatest distress from want of food, these commands were rigidly +obeyed. + +With an army in all of thirty thousand men, he besieged the town of +Harfleur both by sea and land for five weeks; at the end of which time +the town surrendered, and the inhabitants were allowed to depart with +only fivepence each, and a part of their clothes. All the rest of their +possessions was divided amongst the English army. But, that army +suffered so much, in spite of its successes, from disease and +privation, that it was already reduced one half. Still, the King was +determined not to retire until he had struck a greater blow. Therefore, +against the advice of all his counsellors, he moved on with his little +force towards Calais. When he came up to the river Somme he was unable +to cross, in consequence of the fort being fortified; and, as the +English moved up the left bank of the river looking for a crossing, the +French, who had broken all the bridges, moved up the right bank, +watching them, and waiting to attack them when they should try to pass +it. At last the English found a crossing and got safely over. The +French held a council of war at Rouen, resolved to give the English +battle, and sent heralds to King Henry to know by which road he was +going. ‘By the road that will take me straight to Calais!’ said the +King, and sent them away with a present of a hundred crowns. + +The English moved on, until they beheld the French, and then the King +gave orders to form in line of battle. The French not coming on, the +army broke up after remaining in battle array till night, and got good +rest and refreshment at a neighbouring village. The French were now all +lying in another village, through which they knew the English must +pass. They were resolved that the English should begin the battle. The +English had no means of retreat, if their King had any such intention; +and so the two armies passed the night, close together. + +To understand these armies well, you must bear in mind that the immense +French army had, among its notable persons, almost the whole of that +wicked nobility, whose debauchery had made France a desert; and so +besotted were they by pride, and by contempt for the common people, +that they had scarcely any bowmen (if indeed they had any at all) in +their whole enormous number: which, compared with the English army, was +at least as six to one. For these proud fools had said that the bow was +not a fit weapon for knightly hands, and that France must be defended +by gentlemen only. We shall see, presently, what hand the gentlemen +made of it. + +Now, on the English side, among the little force, there was a good +proportion of men who were not gentlemen by any means, but who were +good stout archers for all that. Among them, in the morning—having +slept little at night, while the French were carousing and making sure +of victory—the King rode, on a grey horse; wearing on his head a helmet +of shining steel, surmounted by a crown of gold, sparkling with +precious stones; and bearing over his armour, embroidered together, the +arms of England and the arms of France. The archers looked at the +shining helmet and the crown of gold and the sparkling jewels, and +admired them all; but, what they admired most was the King’s cheerful +face, and his bright blue eye, as he told them that, for himself, he +had made up his mind to conquer there or to die there, and that England +should never have a ransom to pay for _him_. There was one brave knight +who chanced to say that he wished some of the many gallant gentlemen +and good soldiers, who were then idle at home in England, were there to +increase their numbers. But the King told him that, for his part, he +did not wish for one more man. ‘The fewer we have,’ said he, ‘the +greater will be the honour we shall win!’ His men, being now all in +good heart, were refreshed with bread and wine, and heard prayers, and +waited quietly for the French. The King waited for the French, because +they were drawn up thirty deep (the little English force was only three +deep), on very difficult and heavy ground; and he knew that when they +moved, there must be confusion among them. + +As they did not move, he sent off two parties:—one to lie concealed in +a wood on the left of the French: the other, to set fire to some houses +behind the French after the battle should be begun. This was scarcely +done, when three of the proud French gentlemen, who were to defend +their country without any help from the base peasants, came riding out, +calling upon the English to surrender. The King warned those gentlemen +himself to retire with all speed if they cared for their lives, and +ordered the English banners to advance. Upon that, Sir Thomas +Erpingham, a great English general, who commanded the archers, threw +his truncheon into the air, joyfully, and all the English men, kneeling +down upon the ground and biting it as if they took possession of the +country, rose up with a great shout and fell upon the French. + +Every archer was furnished with a great stake tipped with iron; and his +orders were, to thrust this stake into the ground, to discharge his +arrow, and then to fall back, when the French horsemen came on. As the +haughty French gentlemen, who were to break the English archers and +utterly destroy them with their knightly lances, came riding up, they +were received with such a blinding storm of arrows, that they broke and +turned. Horses and men rolled over one another, and the confusion was +terrific. Those who rallied and charged the archers got among the +stakes on slippery and boggy ground, and were so bewildered that the +English archers—who wore no armour, and even took off their leathern +coats to be more active—cut them to pieces, root and branch. Only three +French horsemen got within the stakes, and those were instantly +despatched. All this time the dense French army, being in armour, were +sinking knee-deep into the mire; while the light English archers, +half-naked, were as fresh and active as if they were fighting on a +marble floor. + +But now, the second division of the French coming to the relief of the +first, closed up in a firm mass; the English, headed by the King, +attacked them; and the deadliest part of the battle began. The King’s +brother, the Duke of Clarence, was struck down, and numbers of the +French surrounded him; but, King Henry, standing over the body, fought +like a lion until they were beaten off. + +Presently, came up a band of eighteen French knights, bearing the +banner of a certain French lord, who had sworn to kill or take the +English King. One of them struck him such a blow with a battle-axe that +he reeled and fell upon his knees; but, his faithful men, immediately +closing round him, killed every one of those eighteen knights, and so +that French lord never kept his oath. + +The French Duke of Alençon, seeing this, made a desperate charge, and +cut his way close up to the Royal Standard of England. He beat down the +Duke of York, who was standing near it; and, when the King came to his +rescue, struck off a piece of the crown he wore. But, he never struck +another blow in this world; for, even as he was in the act of saying +who he was, and that he surrendered to the King; and even as the King +stretched out his hand to give him a safe and honourable acceptance of +the offer; he fell dead, pierced by innumerable wounds. + +The death of this nobleman decided the battle. The third division of +the French army, which had never struck a blow yet, and which was, in +itself, more than double the whole English power, broke and fled. At +this time of the fight, the English, who as yet had made no prisoners, +began to take them in immense numbers, and were still occupied in doing +so, or in killing those who would not surrender, when a great noise +arose in the rear of the French—their flying banners were seen to +stop—and King Henry, supposing a great reinforcement to have arrived, +gave orders that all the prisoners should be put to death. As soon, +however, as it was found that the noise was only occasioned by a body +of plundering peasants, the terrible massacre was stopped. + +Then King Henry called to him the French herald, and asked him to whom +the victory belonged. + +The herald replied, ‘To the King of England.’ + +‘_We_ have not made this havoc and slaughter,’ said the King. ‘It is +the wrath of Heaven on the sins of France. What is the name of that +castle yonder?’ + +The herald answered him, ‘My lord, it is the castle of Azincourt.’ Said +the King, ‘From henceforth this battle shall be known to posterity, by +the name of the battle of Azincourt.’ + +Our English historians have made it Agincourt; but, under that name, it +will ever be famous in English annals. + +The loss upon the French side was enormous. Three Dukes were killed, +two more were taken prisoners, seven Counts were killed, three more +were taken prisoners, and ten thousand knights and gentlemen were slain +upon the field. The English loss amounted to sixteen hundred men, among +whom were the Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk. + +War is a dreadful thing; and it is appalling to know how the English +were obliged, next morning, to kill those prisoners mortally wounded, +who yet writhed in agony upon the ground; how the dead upon the French +side were stripped by their own countrymen and countrywomen, and +afterwards buried in great pits; how the dead upon the English side +were piled up in a great barn, and how their bodies and the barn were +all burned together. It is in such things, and in many more much too +horrible to relate, that the real desolation and wickedness of war +consist. Nothing can make war otherwise than horrible. But the dark +side of it was little thought of and soon forgotten; and it cast no +shade of trouble on the English people, except on those who had lost +friends or relations in the fight. They welcomed their King home with +shouts of rejoicing, and plunged into the water to bear him ashore on +their shoulders, and flocked out in crowds to welcome him in every town +through which he passed, and hung rich carpets and tapestries out of +the windows, and strewed the streets with flowers, and made the +fountains run with wine, as the great field of Agincourt had run with +blood. + +SECOND PART + +That proud and wicked French nobility who dragged their country to +destruction, and who were every day and every year regarded with deeper +hatred and detestation in the hearts of the French people, learnt +nothing, even from the defeat of Agincourt. So far from uniting against +the common enemy, they became, among themselves, more violent, more +bloody, and more false—if that were possible—than they had been before. +The Count of Armagnac persuaded the French king to plunder of her +treasures Queen Isabella of Bavaria, and to make her a prisoner. She, +who had hitherto been the bitter enemy of the Duke of Burgundy, +proposed to join him, in revenge. He carried her off to Troyes, where +she proclaimed herself Regent of France, and made him her lieutenant. +The Armagnac party were at that time possessed of Paris; but, one of +the gates of the city being secretly opened on a certain night to a +party of the duke’s men, they got into Paris, threw into the prisons +all the Armagnacs upon whom they could lay their hands, and, a few +nights afterwards, with the aid of a furious mob of sixty thousand +people, broke the prisons open, and killed them all. The former Dauphin +was now dead, and the King’s third son bore the title. Him, in the +height of this murderous scene, a French knight hurried out of bed, +wrapped in a sheet, and bore away to Poitiers. So, when the revengeful +Isabella and the Duke of Burgundy entered Paris in triumph after the +slaughter of their enemies, the Dauphin was proclaimed at Poitiers as +the real Regent. + +King Henry had not been idle since his victory of Agincourt, but had +repulsed a brave attempt of the French to recover Harfleur; had +gradually conquered a great part of Normandy; and, at this crisis of +affairs, took the important town of Rouen, after a siege of half a +year. This great loss so alarmed the French, that the Duke of Burgundy +proposed that a meeting to treat of peace should be held between the +French and the English kings in a plain by the river Seine. On the +appointed day, King Henry appeared there, with his two brothers, +Clarence and Gloucester, and a thousand men. The unfortunate French +King, being more mad than usual that day, could not come; but the Queen +came, and with her the Princess Catherine: who was a very lovely +creature, and who made a real impression on King Henry, now that he saw +her for the first time. This was the most important circumstance that +arose out of the meeting. + +As if it were impossible for a French nobleman of that time to be true +to his word of honour in anything, Henry discovered that the Duke of +Burgundy was, at that very moment, in secret treaty with the Dauphin; +and he therefore abandoned the negotiation. + +The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, each of whom with the best reason +distrusted the other as a noble ruffian surrounded by a party of noble +ruffians, were rather at a loss how to proceed after this; but, at +length they agreed to meet, on a bridge over the river Yonne, where it +was arranged that there should be two strong gates put up, with an +empty space between them; and that the Duke of Burgundy should come +into that space by one gate, with ten men only; and that the Dauphin +should come into that space by the other gate, also with ten men, and +no more. + +So far the Dauphin kept his word, but no farther. When the Duke of +Burgundy was on his knee before him in the act of speaking, one of the +Dauphin’s noble ruffians cut the said duke down with a small axe, and +others speedily finished him. + +It was in vain for the Dauphin to pretend that this base murder was not +done with his consent; it was too bad, even for France, and caused a +general horror. The duke’s heir hastened to make a treaty with King +Henry, and the French Queen engaged that her husband should consent to +it, whatever it was. Henry made peace, on condition of receiving the +Princess Catherine in marriage, and being made Regent of France during +the rest of the King’s lifetime, and succeeding to the French crown at +his death. He was soon married to the beautiful Princess, and took her +proudly home to England, where she was crowned with great honour and +glory. + +This peace was called the Perpetual Peace; we shall soon see how long +it lasted. It gave great satisfaction to the French people, although +they were so poor and miserable, that, at the time of the celebration +of the Royal marriage, numbers of them were dying with starvation, on +the dunghills in the streets of Paris. There was some resistance on the +part of the Dauphin in some few parts of France, but King Henry beat it +all down. + +And now, with his great possessions in France secured, and his +beautiful wife to cheer him, and a son born to give him greater +happiness, all appeared bright before him. But, in the fulness of his +triumph and the height of his power, Death came upon him, and his day +was done. When he fell ill at Vincennes, and found that he could not +recover, he was very calm and quiet, and spoke serenely to those who +wept around his bed. His wife and child, he said, he left to the loving +care of his brother the Duke of Bedford, and his other faithful nobles. +He gave them his advice that England should establish a friendship with +the new Duke of Burgundy, and offer him the regency of France; that it +should not set free the royal princes who had been taken at Agincourt; +and that, whatever quarrel might arise with France, England should +never make peace without holding Normandy. Then, he laid down his head, +and asked the attendant priests to chant the penitential psalms. Amid +which solemn sounds, on the thirty-first of August, one thousand four +hundred and twenty-two, in only the thirty-fourth year of his age and +the tenth of his reign, King Henry the Fifth passed away. + +Slowly and mournfully they carried his embalmed body in a procession of +great state to Paris, and thence to Rouen where his Queen was: from +whom the sad intelligence of his death was concealed until he had been +dead some days. Thence, lying on a bed of crimson and gold, with a +golden crown upon the head, and a golden ball and sceptre lying in the +nerveless hands, they carried it to Calais, with such a great retinue +as seemed to dye the road black. The King of Scotland acted as chief +mourner, all the Royal Household followed, the knights wore black +armour and black plumes of feathers, crowds of men bore torches, making +the night as light as day; and the widowed Princess followed last of +all. At Calais there was a fleet of ships to bring the funeral host to +Dover. And so, by way of London Bridge, where the service for the dead +was chanted as it passed along, they brought the body to Westminster +Abbey, and there buried it with great respect. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH + +PART THE FIRST + +It had been the wish of the late King, that while his infant son King +Henry the Sixth, at this time only nine months old, was under age, the +Duke of Gloucester should be appointed Regent. The English Parliament, +however, preferred to appoint a Council of Regency, with the Duke of +Bedford at its head: to be represented, in his absence only, by the +Duke of Gloucester. The Parliament would seem to have been wise in +this, for Gloucester soon showed himself to be ambitious and +troublesome, and, in the gratification of his own personal schemes, +gave dangerous offence to the Duke of Burgundy, which was with +difficulty adjusted. + +As that duke declined the Regency of France, it was bestowed by the +poor French King upon the Duke of Bedford. But, the French King dying +within two months, the Dauphin instantly asserted his claim to the +French throne, and was actually crowned under the title of Charles the +Seventh. The Duke of Bedford, to be a match for him, entered into a +friendly league with the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, and gave them +his two sisters in marriage. War with France was immediately renewed, +and the Perpetual Peace came to an untimely end. + +In the first campaign, the English, aided by this alliance, were +speedily successful. As Scotland, however, had sent the French five +thousand men, and might send more, or attack the North of England while +England was busy with France, it was considered that it would be a good +thing to offer the Scottish King, James, who had been so long +imprisoned, his liberty, on his paying forty thousand pounds for his +board and lodging during nineteen years, and engaging to forbid his +subjects from serving under the flag of France. It is pleasant to know, +not only that the amiable captive at last regained his freedom upon +these terms, but, that he married a noble English lady, with whom he +had been long in love, and became an excellent King. I am afraid we +have met with some Kings in this history, and shall meet with some +more, who would have been very much the better, and would have left the +world much happier, if they had been imprisoned nineteen years too. + +In the second campaign, the English gained a considerable victory at +Verneuil, in a battle which was chiefly remarkable, otherwise, for +their resorting to the odd expedient of tying their baggage-horses +together by the heads and tails, and jumbling them up with the baggage, +so as to convert them into a sort of live fortification—which was found +useful to the troops, but which I should think was not agreeable to the +horses. For three years afterwards very little was done, owing to both +sides being too poor for war, which is a very expensive entertainment; +but, a council was then held in Paris, in which it was decided to lay +siege to the town of Orleans, which was a place of great importance to +the Dauphin’s cause. An English army of ten thousand men was despatched +on this service, under the command of the Earl of Salisbury, a general +of fame. He being unfortunately killed early in the siege, the Earl of +Suffolk took his place; under whom (reinforced by Sir John Falstaff, +who brought up four hundred waggons laden with salt herrings and other +provisions for the troops, and, beating off the French who tried to +intercept him, came victorious out of a hot skirmish, which was +afterwards called in jest the Battle of the Herrings) the town of +Orleans was so completely hemmed in, that the besieged proposed to +yield it up to their countryman the Duke of Burgundy. The English +general, however, replied that his English men had won it, so far, by +their blood and valour, and that his English men must have it. There +seemed to be no hope for the town, or for the Dauphin, who was so +dismayed that he even thought of flying to Scotland or to Spain—when a +peasant girl rose up and changed the whole state of affairs. + +The story of this peasant girl I have now to tell. + +PART THE SECOND: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC + +In a remote village among some wild hills in the province of Lorraine, +there lived a countryman whose name was Jacques d’Arc. He had a +daughter, Joan of Arc, who was at this time in her twentieth year. She +had been a solitary girl from her childhood; she had often tended sheep +and cattle for whole days where no human figure was seen or human voice +heard; and she had often knelt, for hours together, in the gloomy, +empty, little village chapel, looking up at the altar and at the dim +lamp burning before it, until she fancied that she saw shadowy figures +standing there, and even that she heard them speak to her. The people +in that part of France were very ignorant and superstitious, and they +had many ghostly tales to tell about what they had dreamed, and what +they saw among the lonely hills when the clouds and the mists were +resting on them. So, they easily believed that Joan saw strange sights, +and they whispered among themselves that angels and spirits talked to +her. + +At last, Joan told her father that she had one day been surprised by a +great unearthly light, and had afterwards heard a solemn voice, which +said it was Saint Michael’s voice, telling her that she was to go and +help the Dauphin. Soon after this (she said), Saint Catherine and Saint +Margaret had appeared to her with sparkling crowns upon their heads, +and had encouraged her to be virtuous and resolute. These visions had +returned sometimes; but the Voices very often; and the voices always +said, ‘Joan, thou art appointed by Heaven to go and help the Dauphin!’ +She almost always heard them while the chapel bells were ringing. + +There is no doubt, now, that Joan believed she saw and heard these +things. It is very well known that such delusions are a disease which +is not by any means uncommon. It is probable enough that there were +figures of Saint Michael, and Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, in +the little chapel (where they would be very likely to have shining +crowns upon their heads), and that they first gave Joan the idea of +those three personages. She had long been a moping, fanciful girl, and, +though she was a very good girl, I dare say she was a little vain, and +wishful for notoriety. + +Her father, something wiser than his neighbours, said, ‘I tell thee, +Joan, it is thy fancy. Thou hadst better have a kind husband to take +care of thee, girl, and work to employ thy mind!’ But Joan told him in +reply, that she had taken a vow never to have a husband, and that she +must go as Heaven directed her, to help the Dauphin. + +It happened, unfortunately for her father’s persuasions, and most +unfortunately for the poor girl, too, that a party of the Dauphin’s +enemies found their way into the village while Joan’s disorder was at +this point, and burnt the chapel, and drove out the inhabitants. The +cruelties she saw committed, touched Joan’s heart and made her worse. +She said that the voices and the figures were now continually with her; +that they told her she was the girl who, according to an old prophecy, +was to deliver France; and she must go and help the Dauphin, and must +remain with him until he should be crowned at Rheims: and that she must +travel a long way to a certain lord named Baudricourt, who could and +would, bring her into the Dauphin’s presence. + +As her father still said, ‘I tell thee, Joan, it is thy fancy,’ she set +off to find out this lord, accompanied by an uncle, a poor village +wheelwright and cart-maker, who believed in the reality of her visions. +They travelled a long way and went on and on, over a rough country, +full of the Duke of Burgundy’s men, and of all kinds of robbers and +marauders, until they came to where this lord was. + +When his servants told him that there was a poor peasant girl named +Joan of Arc, accompanied by nobody but an old village wheelwright and +cart-maker, who wished to see him because she was commanded to help the +Dauphin and save France, Baudricourt burst out a-laughing, and bade +them send the girl away. But, he soon heard so much about her lingering +in the town, and praying in the churches, and seeing visions, and doing +harm to no one, that he sent for her, and questioned her. As she said +the same things after she had been well sprinkled with holy water as +she had said before the sprinkling, Baudricourt began to think there +might be something in it. At all events, he thought it worth while to +send her on to the town of Chinon, where the Dauphin was. So, he bought +her a horse, and a sword, and gave her two squires to conduct her. As +the Voices had told Joan that she was to wear a man’s dress, now, she +put one on, and girded her sword to her side, and bound spurs to her +heels, and mounted her horse and rode away with her two squires. As to +her uncle the wheelwright, he stood staring at his niece in wonder +until she was out of sight—as well he might—and then went home again. +The best place, too. + +Joan and her two squires rode on and on, until they came to Chinon, +where she was, after some doubt, admitted into the Dauphin’s presence. +Picking him out immediately from all his court, she told him that she +came commanded by Heaven to subdue his enemies and conduct him to his +coronation at Rheims. She also told him (or he pretended so afterwards, +to make the greater impression upon his soldiers) a number of his +secrets known only to himself, and, furthermore, she said there was an +old, old sword in the cathedral of Saint Catherine at Fierbois, marked +with five old crosses on the blade, which Saint Catherine had ordered +her to wear. + +[Illustration: Joan of Arc] + +Now, nobody knew anything about this old, old sword, but when the +cathedral came to be examined—which was immediately done—there, sure +enough, the sword was found! The Dauphin then required a number of +grave priests and bishops to give him their opinion whether the girl +derived her power from good spirits or from evil spirits, which they +held prodigiously long debates about, in the course of which several +learned men fell fast asleep and snored loudly. At last, when one gruff +old gentleman had said to Joan, ‘What language do your Voices speak?’ +and when Joan had replied to the gruff old gentleman, ‘A pleasanter +language than yours,’ they agreed that it was all correct, and that +Joan of Arc was inspired from Heaven. This wonderful circumstance put +new heart into the Dauphin’s soldiers when they heard of it, and +dispirited the English army, who took Joan for a witch. + +So Joan mounted horse again, and again rode on and on, until she came +to Orleans. But she rode now, as never peasant girl had ridden yet. She +rode upon a white war-horse, in a suit of glittering armour; with the +old, old sword from the cathedral, newly burnished, in her belt; with a +white flag carried before her, upon which were a picture of God, and +the words Jesus Maria. In this splendid state, at the head of a great +body of troops escorting provisions of all kinds for the starving +inhabitants of Orleans, she appeared before that beleaguered city. + +When the people on the walls beheld her, they cried out ‘The Maid is +come! The Maid of the Prophecy is come to deliver us!’ And this, and +the sight of the Maid fighting at the head of their men, made the +French so bold, and made the English so fearful, that the English line +of forts was soon broken, the troops and provisions were got into the +town, and Orleans was saved. + +Joan, henceforth called The Maid of Orleans, remained within the walls +for a few days, and caused letters to be thrown over, ordering Lord +Suffolk and his Englishmen to depart from before the town according to +the will of Heaven. As the English general very positively declined to +believe that Joan knew anything about the will of Heaven (which did not +mend the matter with his soldiers, for they stupidly said if she were +not inspired she was a witch, and it was of no use to fight against a +witch), she mounted her white war-horse again, and ordered her white +banner to advance. + +The besiegers held the bridge, and some strong towers upon the bridge; +and here the Maid of Orleans attacked them. The fight was fourteen +hours long. She planted a scaling ladder with her own hands, and +mounted a tower wall, but was struck by an English arrow in the neck, +and fell into the trench. She was carried away and the arrow was taken +out, during which operation she screamed and cried with the pain, as +any other girl might have done; but presently she said that the Voices +were speaking to her and soothing her to rest. After a while, she got +up, and was again foremost in the fight. When the English who had seen +her fall and supposed her dead, saw this, they were troubled with the +strangest fears, and some of them cried out that they beheld Saint +Michael on a white horse (probably Joan herself) fighting for the +French. They lost the bridge, and lost the towers, and next day set +their chain of forts on fire, and left the place. + +But as Lord Suffolk himself retired no farther than the town of +Jargeau, which was only a few miles off, the Maid of Orleans besieged +him there, and he was taken prisoner. As the white banner scaled the +wall, she was struck upon the head with a stone, and was again tumbled +down into the ditch; but, she only cried all the more, as she lay +there, ‘On, on, my countrymen! And fear nothing, for the Lord hath +delivered them into our hands!’ After this new success of the Maid’s, +several other fortresses and places which had previously held out +against the Dauphin were delivered up without a battle; and at Patay +she defeated the remainder of the English army, and set up her +victorious white banner on a field where twelve hundred Englishmen lay +dead. + +She now urged the Dauphin (who always kept out of the way when there +was any fighting) to proceed to Rheims, as the first part of her +mission was accomplished; and to complete the whole by being crowned +there. The Dauphin was in no particular hurry to do this, as Rheims was +a long way off, and the English and the Duke of Burgundy were still +strong in the country through which the road lay. However, they set +forth, with ten thousand men, and again the Maid of Orleans rode on and +on, upon her white war-horse, and in her shining armour. Whenever they +came to a town which yielded readily, the soldiers believed in her; +but, whenever they came to a town which gave them any trouble, they +began to murmur that she was an impostor. The latter was particularly +the case at Troyes, which finally yielded, however, through the +persuasion of one Richard, a friar of the place. Friar Richard was in +the old doubt about the Maid of Orleans, until he had sprinkled her +well with holy water, and had also well sprinkled the threshold of the +gate by which she came into the city. Finding that it made no change in +her or the gate, he said, as the other grave old gentlemen had said, +that it was all right, and became her great ally. + +So, at last, by dint of riding on and on, the Maid of Orleans, and the +Dauphin, and the ten thousand sometimes believing and sometimes +unbelieving men, came to Rheims. And in the great cathedral of Rheims, +the Dauphin actually was crowned Charles the Seventh in a great +assembly of the people. Then, the Maid, who with her white banner stood +beside the King in that hour of his triumph, kneeled down upon the +pavement at his feet, and said, with tears, that what she had been +inspired to do, was done, and that the only recompense she asked for, +was, that she should now have leave to go back to her distant home, and +her sturdily incredulous father, and her first simple escort the +village wheelwright and cart-maker. But the King said ‘No!’ and made +her and her family as noble as a King could, and settled upon her the +income of a Count. + +Ah! happy had it been for the Maid of Orleans, if she had resumed her +rustic dress that day, and had gone home to the little chapel and the +wild hills, and had forgotten all these things, and had been a good +man’s wife, and had heard no stranger voices than the voices of little +children! + +It was not to be, and she continued helping the King (she did a world +for him, in alliance with Friar Richard), and trying to improve the +lives of the coarse soldiers, and leading a religious, an unselfish, +and a modest life, herself, beyond any doubt. Still, many times she +prayed the King to let her go home; and once she even took off her +bright armour and hung it up in a church, meaning never to wear it +more. But, the King always won her back again—while she was of any use +to him—and so she went on and on and on, to her doom. + +When the Duke of Bedford, who was a very able man, began to be active +for England, and, by bringing the war back into France and by holding +the Duke of Burgundy to his faith, to distress and disturb Charles very +much, Charles sometimes asked the Maid of Orleans what the Voices said +about it? But, the Voices had become (very like ordinary voices in +perplexed times) contradictory and confused, so that now they said one +thing, and now said another, and the Maid lost credit every day. +Charles marched on Paris, which was opposed to him, and attacked the +suburb of Saint Honoré. In this fight, being again struck down into the +ditch, she was abandoned by the whole army. She lay unaided among a +heap of dead, and crawled out how she could. Then, some of her +believers went over to an opposition Maid, Catherine of La Rochelle, +who said she was inspired to tell where there were treasures of buried +money—though she never did—and then Joan accidentally broke the old, +old sword, and others said that her power was broken with it. Finally, +at the siege of Compiègne, held by the Duke of Burgundy, where she did +valiant service, she was basely left alone in a retreat, though facing +about and fighting to the last; and an archer pulled her off her horse. + +O the uproar that was made, and the thanksgivings that were sung, about +the capture of this one poor country-girl! O the way in which she was +demanded to be tried for sorcery and heresy, and anything else you +like, by the Inquisitor-General of France, and by this great man, and +by that great man, until it is wearisome to think of! She was bought at +last by the Bishop of Beauvais for ten thousand francs, and was shut up +in her narrow prison: plain Joan of Arc again, and Maid of Orleans no +more. + +I should never have done if I were to tell you how they had Joan out to +examine her, and cross-examine her, and re-examine her, and worry her +into saying anything and everything; and how all sorts of scholars and +doctors bestowed their utmost tediousness upon her. Sixteen times she +was brought out and shut up again, and worried, and entrapped, and +argued with, until she was heart-sick of the dreary business. On the +last occasion of this kind she was brought into a burial-place at +Rouen, dismally decorated with a scaffold, and a stake and faggots, and +the executioner, and a pulpit with a friar therein, and an awful sermon +ready. It is very affecting to know that even at that pass the poor +girl honoured the mean vermin of a King, who had so used her for his +purposes and so abandoned her; and, that while she had been regardless +of reproaches heaped upon herself, she spoke out courageously for him. + +It was natural in one so young to hold to life. To save her life, she +signed a declaration prepared for her—signed it with a cross, for she +couldn’t write—that all her visions and Voices had come from the Devil. +Upon her recanting the past, and protesting that she would never wear a +man’s dress in future, she was condemned to imprisonment for life, ‘on +the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction.’ + +But, on the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction, the visions +and the Voices soon returned. It was quite natural that they should do +so, for that kind of disease is much aggravated by fasting, loneliness, +and anxiety of mind. It was not only got out of Joan that she +considered herself inspired again, but, she was taken in a man’s dress, +which had been left—to entrap her—in her prison, and which she put on, +in her solitude; perhaps, in remembrance of her past glories, perhaps, +because the imaginary Voices told her. For this relapse into the +sorcery and heresy and anything else you like, she was sentenced to be +burnt to death. And, in the market-place of Rouen, in the hideous dress +which the monks had invented for such spectacles; with priests and +bishops sitting in a gallery looking on, though some had the Christian +grace to go away, unable to endure the infamous scene; this shrieking +girl—last seen amidst the smoke and fire, holding a crucifix between +her hands; last heard, calling upon Christ—was burnt to ashes. They +threw her ashes into the river Seine; but they will rise against her +murderers on the last day. + +From the moment of her capture, neither the French King nor one single +man in all his court raised a finger to save her. It is no defence of +them that they may have never really believed in her, or that they may +have won her victories by their skill and bravery. The more they +pretended to believe in her, the more they had caused her to believe in +herself; and she had ever been true to them, ever brave, ever nobly +devoted. But, it is no wonder, that they, who were in all things false +to themselves, false to one another, false to their country, false to +Heaven, false to Earth, should be monsters of ingratitude and treachery +to a helpless peasant girl. + +In the picturesque old town of Rouen, where weeds and grass grow high +on the cathedral towers, and the venerable Norman streets are still +warm in the blessed sunlight though the monkish fires that once gleamed +horribly upon them have long grown cold, there is a statue of Joan of +Arc, in the scene of her last agony, the square to which she has given +its present name. I know some statues of modern times—even in the +World’s metropolis, I think—which commemorate less constancy, less +earnestness, smaller claims upon the world’s attention, and much +greater impostors. + +PART THE THIRD + +Bad deeds seldom prosper, happily for mankind; and the English cause +gained no advantage from the cruel death of Joan of Arc. For a long +time, the war went heavily on. The Duke of Bedford died; the alliance +with the Duke of Burgundy was broken; and Lord Talbot became a great +general on the English side in France. But, two of the consequences of +wars are, Famine—because the people cannot peacefully cultivate the +ground—and Pestilence, which comes of want, misery, and suffering. Both +these horrors broke out in both countries, and lasted for two wretched +years. Then, the war went on again, and came by slow degrees to be so +badly conducted by the English government, that, within twenty years +from the execution of the Maid of Orleans, of all the great French +conquests, the town of Calais alone remained in English hands. + +While these victories and defeats were taking place in the course of +time, many strange things happened at home. The young King, as he grew +up, proved to be very unlike his great father, and showed himself a +miserable puny creature. There was no harm in him—he had a great +aversion to shedding blood: which was something—but, he was a weak, +silly, helpless young man, and a mere shuttlecock to the great lordly +battledores about the Court. + +Of these battledores, Cardinal Beaufort, a relation of the King, and +the Duke of Gloucester, were at first the most powerful. The Duke of +Gloucester had a wife, who was nonsensically accused of practising +witchcraft to cause the King’s death and lead to her husband’s coming +to the throne, he being the next heir. She was charged with having, by +the help of a ridiculous old woman named Margery (who was called a +witch), made a little waxen doll in the King’s likeness, and put it +before a slow fire that it might gradually melt away. It was supposed, +in such cases, that the death of the person whom the doll was made to +represent, was sure to happen. Whether the duchess was as ignorant as +the rest of them, and really did make such a doll with such an +intention, I don’t know; but, you and I know very well that she might +have made a thousand dolls, if she had been stupid enough, and might +have melted them all, without hurting the King or anybody else. +However, she was tried for it, and so was old Margery, and so was one +of the duke’s chaplains, who was charged with having assisted them. +Both he and Margery were put to death, and the duchess, after being +taken on foot and bearing a lighted candle, three times round the City, +as a penance, was imprisoned for life. The duke, himself, took all this +pretty quietly, and made as little stir about the matter as if he were +rather glad to be rid of the duchess. + +But, he was not destined to keep himself out of trouble long. The royal +shuttlecock being three-and-twenty, the battledores were very anxious +to get him married. The Duke of Gloucester wanted him to marry a +daughter of the Count of Armagnac; but, the Cardinal and the Earl of +Suffolk were all for Margaret, the daughter of the King of Sicily, who +they knew was a resolute, ambitious woman and would govern the King as +she chose. To make friends with this lady, the Earl of Suffolk, who +went over to arrange the match, consented to accept her for the King’s +wife without any fortune, and even to give up the two most valuable +possessions England then had in France. So, the marriage was arranged, +on terms very advantageous to the lady; and Lord Suffolk brought her to +England, and she was married at Westminster. On what pretence this +queen and her party charged the Duke of Gloucester with high treason +within a couple of years, it is impossible to make out, the matter is +so confused; but, they pretended that the King’s life was in danger, +and they took the duke prisoner. A fortnight afterwards, he was found +dead in bed (they said), and his body was shown to the people, and Lord +Suffolk came in for the best part of his estates. You know by this time +how strangely liable state prisoners were to sudden death. + +If Cardinal Beaufort had any hand in this matter, it did him no good, +for he died within six weeks; thinking it very hard and curious—at +eighty years old!—that he could not live to be Pope. + +This was the time when England had completed her loss of all her great +French conquests. The people charged the loss principally upon the Earl +of Suffolk, now a duke, who had made those easy terms about the Royal +Marriage, and who, they believed, had even been bought by France. So he +was impeached as a traitor, on a great number of charges, but chiefly +on accusations of having aided the French King, and of designing to +make his own son King of England. The Commons and the people being +violent against him, the King was made (by his friends) to interpose to +save him, by banishing him for five years, and proroguing the +Parliament. The duke had much ado to escape from a London mob, two +thousand strong, who lay in wait for him in St. Giles’s fields; but, he +got down to his own estates in Suffolk, and sailed away from Ipswich. +Sailing across the Channel, he sent into Calais to know if he might +land there; but, they kept his boat and men in the harbour, until an +English ship, carrying a hundred and fifty men and called the Nicholas +of the Tower, came alongside his little vessel, and ordered him on +board. ‘Welcome, traitor, as men say,’ was the captain’s grim and not +very respectful salutation. He was kept on board, a prisoner, for +eight-and-forty hours, and then a small boat appeared rowing toward the +ship. As this boat came nearer, it was seen to have in it a block, a +rusty sword, and an executioner in a black mask. The duke was handed +down into it, and there his head was cut off with six strokes of the +rusty sword. Then, the little boat rowed away to Dover beach, where the +body was cast out, and left until the duchess claimed it. By whom, high +in authority, this murder was committed, has never appeared. No one was +ever punished for it. + +There now arose in Kent an Irishman, who gave himself the name of +Mortimer, but whose real name was Jack Cade. Jack, in imitation of Wat +Tyler, though he was a very different and inferior sort of man, +addressed the Kentish men upon their wrongs, occasioned by the bad +government of England, among so many battledores and such a poor +shuttlecock; and the Kentish men rose up to the number of twenty +thousand. Their place of assembly was Blackheath, where, headed by +Jack, they put forth two papers, which they called ‘The Complaint of +the Commons of Kent,’ and ‘The Requests of the Captain of the Great +Assembly in Kent.’ They then retired to Sevenoaks. The royal army +coming up with them here, they beat it and killed their general. Then, +Jack dressed himself in the dead general’s armour, and led his men to +London. + +Jack passed into the City from Southwark, over the bridge, and entered +it in triumph, giving the strictest orders to his men not to plunder. +Having made a show of his forces there, while the citizens looked on +quietly, he went back into Southwark in good order, and passed the +night. Next day, he came back again, having got hold in the meantime of +Lord Say, an unpopular nobleman. Says Jack to the Lord Mayor and +judges: ‘Will you be so good as to make a tribunal in Guildhall, and +try me this nobleman?’ The court being hastily made, he was found +guilty, and Jack and his men cut his head off on Cornhill. They also +cut off the head of his son-in-law, and then went back in good order to +Southwark again. + +But, although the citizens could bear the beheading of an unpopular +lord, they could not bear to have their houses pillaged. And it did so +happen that Jack, after dinner—perhaps he had drunk a little too +much—began to plunder the house where he lodged; upon which, of course, +his men began to imitate him. Wherefore, the Londoners took counsel +with Lord Scales, who had a thousand soldiers in the Tower; and +defended London Bridge, and kept Jack and his people out. This +advantage gained, it was resolved by divers great men to divide Jack’s +army in the old way, by making a great many promises on behalf of the +state, that were never intended to be performed. This _did_ divide +them; some of Jack’s men saying that they ought to take the conditions +which were offered, and others saying that they ought not, for they +were only a snare; some going home at once; others staying where they +were; and all doubting and quarrelling among themselves. + +Jack, who was in two minds about fighting or accepting a pardon, and +who indeed did both, saw at last that there was nothing to expect from +his men, and that it was very likely some of them would deliver him up +and get a reward of a thousand marks, which was offered for his +apprehension. So, after they had travelled and quarrelled all the way +from Southwark to Blackheath, and from Blackheath to Rochester, he +mounted a good horse and galloped away into Sussex. But, there galloped +after him, on a better horse, one Alexander Iden, who came up with him, +had a hard fight with him, and killed him. Jack’s head was set aloft on +London Bridge, with the face looking towards Blackheath, where he had +raised his flag; and Alexander Iden got the thousand marks. + +It is supposed by some, that the Duke of York, who had been removed +from a high post abroad through the Queen’s influence, and sent out of +the way, to govern Ireland, was at the bottom of this rising of Jack +and his men, because he wanted to trouble the government. He claimed +(though not yet publicly) to have a better right to the throne than +Henry of Lancaster, as one of the family of the Earl of March, whom +Henry the Fourth had set aside. Touching this claim, which, being +through female relationship, was not according to the usual descent, it +is enough to say that Henry the Fourth was the free choice of the +people and the Parliament, and that his family had now reigned +undisputed for sixty years. The memory of Henry the Fifth was so +famous, and the English people loved it so much, that the Duke of +York’s claim would, perhaps, never have been thought of (it would have +been so hopeless) but for the unfortunate circumstance of the present +King’s being by this time quite an idiot, and the country very ill +governed. These two circumstances gave the Duke of York a power he +could not otherwise have had. + +Whether the Duke knew anything of Jack Cade, or not, he came over from +Ireland while Jack’s head was on London Bridge; being secretly advised +that the Queen was setting up his enemy, the Duke of Somerset, against +him. He went to Westminster, at the head of four thousand men, and on +his knees before the King, represented to him the bad state of the +country, and petitioned him to summon a Parliament to consider it. This +the King promised. When the Parliament was summoned, the Duke of York +accused the Duke of Somerset, and the Duke of Somerset accused the Duke +of York; and, both in and out of Parliament, the followers of each +party were full of violence and hatred towards the other. At length the +Duke of York put himself at the head of a large force of his tenants, +and, in arms, demanded the reformation of the Government. Being shut +out of London, he encamped at Dartford, and the royal army encamped at +Blackheath. According as either side triumphed, the Duke of York was +arrested, or the Duke of Somerset was arrested. The trouble ended, for +the moment, in the Duke of York renewing his oath of allegiance, and +going in peace to one of his own castles. + +Half a year afterwards the Queen gave birth to a son, who was very ill +received by the people, and not believed to be the son of the King. It +shows the Duke of York to have been a moderate man, unwilling to +involve England in new troubles, that he did not take advantage of the +general discontent at this time, but really acted for the public good. +He was made a member of the cabinet, and the King being now so much +worse that he could not be carried about and shown to the people with +any decency, the duke was made Lord Protector of the kingdom, until the +King should recover, or the Prince should come of age. At the same time +the Duke of Somerset was committed to the Tower. So, now the Duke of +Somerset was down, and the Duke of York was up. By the end of the year, +however, the King recovered his memory and some spark of sense; upon +which the Queen used her power—which recovered with him—to get the +Protector disgraced, and her favourite released. So now the Duke of +York was down, and the Duke of Somerset was up. + +These ducal ups and downs gradually separated the whole nation into the +two parties of York and Lancaster, and led to those terrible civil wars +long known as the Wars of the Red and White Roses, because the red rose +was the badge of the House of Lancaster, and the white rose was the +badge of the House of York. + +The Duke of York, joined by some other powerful noblemen of the White +Rose party, and leading a small army, met the King with another small +army at St. Alban’s, and demanded that the Duke of Somerset should be +given up. The poor King, being made to say in answer that he would +sooner die, was instantly attacked. The Duke of Somerset was killed, +and the King himself was wounded in the neck, and took refuge in the +house of a poor tanner. Whereupon, the Duke of York went to him, led +him with great submission to the Abbey, and said he was very sorry for +what had happened. Having now the King in his possession, he got a +Parliament summoned and himself once more made Protector, but, only for +a few months; for, on the King getting a little better again, the Queen +and her party got him into their possession, and disgraced the Duke +once more. So, now the Duke of York was down again. + +Some of the best men in power, seeing the danger of these constant +changes, tried even then to prevent the Red and the White Rose Wars. +They brought about a great council in London between the two parties. +The White Roses assembled in Blackfriars, the Red Roses in Whitefriars; +and some good priests communicated between them, and made the +proceedings known at evening to the King and the judges. They ended in +a peaceful agreement that there should be no more quarrelling; and +there was a great royal procession to St. Paul’s, in which the Queen +walked arm-in-arm with her old enemy, the Duke of York, to show the +people how comfortable they all were. This state of peace lasted half a +year, when a dispute between the Earl of Warwick (one of the Duke’s +powerful friends) and some of the King’s servants at Court, led to an +attack upon that Earl—who was a White Rose—and to a sudden breaking out +of all old animosities. So, here were greater ups and downs than ever. + +There were even greater ups and downs than these, soon after. After +various battles, the Duke of York fled to Ireland, and his son the Earl +of March to Calais, with their friends the Earls of Salisbury and +Warwick; and a Parliament was held declaring them all traitors. Little +the worse for this, the Earl of Warwick presently came back, landed in +Kent, was joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other powerful +noblemen and gentlemen, engaged the King’s forces at Northampton, +signally defeated them, and took the King himself prisoner, who was +found in his tent. Warwick would have been glad, I dare say, to have +taken the Queen and Prince too, but they escaped into Wales and thence +into Scotland. + +The King was carried by the victorious force straight to London, and +made to call a new Parliament, which immediately declared that the Duke +of York and those other noblemen were not traitors, but excellent +subjects. Then, back comes the Duke from Ireland at the head of five +hundred horsemen, rides from London to Westminster, and enters the +House of Lords. There, he laid his hand upon the cloth of gold which +covered the empty throne, as if he had half a mind to sit down in +it—but he did not. On the Archbishop of Canterbury, asking him if he +would visit the King, who was in his palace close by, he replied, ‘I +know no one in this country, my lord, who ought not to visit _me_.’ +None of the lords present spoke a single word; so, the duke went out as +he had come in, established himself royally in the King’s palace, and, +six days afterwards, sent in to the Lords a formal statement of his +claim to the throne. The lords went to the King on this momentous +subject, and after a great deal of discussion, in which the judges and +the other law officers were afraid to give an opinion on either side, +the question was compromised. It was agreed that the present King +should retain the crown for his life, and that it should then pass to +the Duke of York and his heirs. + +But, the resolute Queen, determined on asserting her son’s right, would +hear of no such thing. She came from Scotland to the north of England, +where several powerful lords armed in her cause. The Duke of York, for +his part, set off with some five thousand men, a little time before +Christmas Day, one thousand four hundred and sixty, to give her battle. +He lodged at Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, and the Red Roses defied +him to come out on Wakefield Green, and fight them then and there. His +generals said, he had best wait until his gallant son, the Earl of +March, came up with his power; but, he was determined to accept the +challenge. He did so, in an evil hour. He was hotly pressed on all +sides, two thousand of his men lay dead on Wakefield Green, and he +himself was taken prisoner. They set him down in mock state on an +ant-hill, and twisted grass about his head, and pretended to pay court +to him on their knees, saying, ‘O King, without a kingdom, and Prince +without a people, we hope your gracious Majesty is very well and +happy!’ They did worse than this; they cut his head off, and handed it +on a pole to the Queen, who laughed with delight when she saw it (you +recollect their walking so religiously and comfortably to St. Paul’s!), +and had it fixed, with a paper crown upon its head, on the walls of +York. The Earl of Salisbury lost his head, too; and the Duke of York’s +second son, a handsome boy who was flying with his tutor over Wakefield +Bridge, was stabbed in the heart by a murderous, lord—Lord Clifford by +name—whose father had been killed by the White Roses in the fight at +St. Alban’s. There was awful sacrifice of life in this battle, for no +quarter was given, and the Queen was wild for revenge. When men +unnaturally fight against their own countrymen, they are always +observed to be more unnaturally cruel and filled with rage than they +are against any other enemy. + +But, Lord Clifford had stabbed the second son of the Duke of York—not +the first. The eldest son, Edward Earl of March, was at Gloucester; +and, vowing vengeance for the death of his father, his brother, and +their faithful friends, he began to march against the Queen. He had to +turn and fight a great body of Welsh and Irish first, who worried his +advance. These he defeated in a great fight at Mortimer’s Cross, near +Hereford, where he beheaded a number of the Red Roses taken in battle, +in retaliation for the beheading of the White Roses at Wakefield. The +Queen had the next turn of beheading. Having moved towards London, and +falling in, between St. Alban’s and Barnet, with the Earl of Warwick +and the Duke of Norfolk, White Roses both, who were there with an army +to oppose her, and had got the King with them; she defeated them with +great loss, and struck off the heads of two prisoners of note, who were +in the King’s tent with him, and to whom the King had promised his +protection. Her triumph, however, was very short. She had no treasure, +and her army subsisted by plunder. This caused them to be hated and +dreaded by the people, and particularly by the London people, who were +wealthy. As soon as the Londoners heard that Edward, Earl of March, +united with the Earl of Warwick, was advancing towards the city, they +refused to send the Queen supplies, and made a great rejoicing. + +The Queen and her men retreated with all speed, and Edward and Warwick +came on, greeted with loud acclamations on every side. The courage, +beauty, and virtues of young Edward could not be sufficiently praised +by the whole people. He rode into London like a conqueror, and met with +an enthusiastic welcome. A few days afterwards, Lord Falconbridge and +the Bishop of Exeter assembled the citizens in St. John’s Field, +Clerkenwell, and asked them if they would have Henry of Lancaster for +their King? To this they all roared, ‘No, no, no!’ and ‘King Edward! +King Edward!’ Then, said those noblemen, would they love and serve +young Edward? To this they all cried, ‘Yes, yes!’ and threw up their +caps and clapped their hands, and cheered tremendously. + +Therefore, it was declared that by joining the Queen and not protecting +those two prisoners of note, Henry of Lancaster had forfeited the +crown; and Edward of York was proclaimed King. He made a great speech +to the applauding people at Westminster, and sat down as sovereign of +England on that throne, on the golden covering of which his +father—worthy of a better fate than the bloody axe which cut the thread +of so many lives in England, through so many years—had laid his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH + + +King Edward the Fourth was not quite twenty-one years of age when he +took that unquiet seat upon the throne of England. The Lancaster party, +the Red Roses, were then assembling in great numbers near York, and it +was necessary to give them battle instantly. But, the stout Earl of +Warwick leading for the young King, and the young King himself closely +following him, and the English people crowding round the Royal +standard, the White and the Red Roses met, on a wild March day when the +snow was falling heavily, at Towton; and there such a furious battle +raged between them, that the total loss amounted to forty thousand +men—all Englishmen, fighting, upon English ground, against one another. +The young King gained the day, took down the heads of his father and +brother from the walls of York, and put up the heads of some of the +most famous noblemen engaged in the battle on the other side. Then, he +went to London and was crowned with great splendour. + +A new Parliament met. No fewer than one hundred and fifty of the +principal noblemen and gentlemen on the Lancaster side were declared +traitors, and the King—who had very little humanity, though he was +handsome in person and agreeable in manners—resolved to do all he +could, to pluck up the Red Rose root and branch. + +Queen Margaret, however, was still active for her young son. She +obtained help from Scotland and from Normandy, and took several +important English castles. But, Warwick soon retook them; the Queen +lost all her treasure on board ship in a great storm; and both she and +her son suffered great misfortunes. Once, in the winter weather, as +they were riding through a forest, they were attacked and plundered by +a party of robbers; and, when they had escaped from these men and were +passing alone and on foot through a thick dark part of the wood, they +came, all at once, upon another robber. So the Queen, with a stout +heart, took the little Prince by the hand, and going straight up to +that robber, said to him, ‘My friend, this is the young son of your +lawful King! I confide him to your care.’ The robber was surprised, but +took the boy in his arms, and faithfully restored him and his mother to +their friends. In the end, the Queen’s soldiers being beaten and +dispersed, she went abroad again, and kept quiet for the present. + +Now, all this time, the deposed King Henry was concealed by a Welsh +knight, who kept him close in his castle. But, next year, the Lancaster +party recovering their spirits, raised a large body of men, and called +him out of his retirement, to put him at their head. They were joined +by some powerful noblemen who had sworn fidelity to the new King, but +who were ready, as usual, to break their oaths, whenever they thought +there was anything to be got by it. One of the worst things in the +history of the war of the Red and White Roses, is the ease with which +these noblemen, who should have set an example of honour to the people, +left either side as they took slight offence, or were disappointed in +their greedy expectations, and joined the other. Well! Warwick’s +brother soon beat the Lancastrians, and the false noblemen, being +taken, were beheaded without a moment’s loss of time. The deposed King +had a narrow escape; three of his servants were taken, and one of them +bore his cap of estate, which was set with pearls and embroidered with +two golden crowns. However, the head to which the cap belonged, got +safely into Lancashire, and lay pretty quietly there (the people in the +secret being very true) for more than a year. At length, an old monk +gave such intelligence as led to Henry’s being taken while he was +sitting at dinner in a place called Waddington Hall. He was immediately +sent to London, and met at Islington by the Earl of Warwick, by whose +directions he was put upon a horse, with his legs tied under it, and +paraded three times round the pillory. Then, he was carried off to the +Tower, where they treated him well enough. + +The White Rose being so triumphant, the young King abandoned himself +entirely to pleasure, and led a jovial life. But, thorns were springing +up under his bed of roses, as he soon found out. For, having been +privately married to Elizabeth Woodville, a young widow lady, very +beautiful and very captivating; and at last resolving to make his +secret known, and to declare her his Queen; he gave some offence to the +Earl of Warwick, who was usually called the King-Maker, because of his +power and influence, and because of his having lent such great help to +placing Edward on the throne. This offence was not lessened by the +jealousy with which the Nevil family (the Earl of Warwick’s) regarded +the promotion of the Woodville family. For, the young Queen was so bent +on providing for her relations, that she made her father an earl and a +great officer of state; married her five sisters to young noblemen of +the highest rank; and provided for her younger brother, a young man of +twenty, by marrying him to an immensely rich old duchess of eighty. The +Earl of Warwick took all this pretty graciously for a man of his proud +temper, until the question arose to whom the King’s sister, Margaret, +should be married. The Earl of Warwick said, ‘To one of the French +King’s sons,’ and was allowed to go over to the French King to make +friendly proposals for that purpose, and to hold all manner of friendly +interviews with him. But, while he was so engaged, the Woodville party +married the young lady to the Duke of Burgundy! Upon this he came back +in great rage and scorn, and shut himself up discontented, in his +Castle of Middleham. + +A reconciliation, though not a very sincere one, was patched up between +the Earl of Warwick and the King, and lasted until the Earl married his +daughter, against the King’s wishes, to the Duke of Clarence. While the +marriage was being celebrated at Calais, the people in the north of +England, where the influence of the Nevil family was strongest, broke +out into rebellion; their complaint was, that England was oppressed and +plundered by the Woodville family, whom they demanded to have removed +from power. As they were joined by great numbers of people, and as they +openly declared that they were supported by the Earl of Warwick, the +King did not know what to do. At last, as he wrote to the earl +beseeching his aid, he and his new son-in-law came over to England, and +began to arrange the business by shutting the King up in Middleham +Castle in the safe keeping of the Archbishop of York; so England was +not only in the strange position of having two kings at once, but they +were both prisoners at the same time. + +Even as yet, however, the King-Maker was so far true to the King, that +he dispersed a new rising of the Lancastrians, took their leader +prisoner, and brought him to the King, who ordered him to be +immediately executed. He presently allowed the King to return to +London, and there innumerable pledges of forgiveness and friendship +were exchanged between them, and between the Nevils and the Woodvilles; +the King’s eldest daughter was promised in marriage to the heir of the +Nevil family; and more friendly oaths were sworn, and more friendly +promises made, than this book would hold. + +They lasted about three months. At the end of that time, the Archbishop +of York made a feast for the King, the Earl of Warwick, and the Duke of +Clarence, at his house, the Moor, in Hertfordshire. The King was +washing his hands before supper, when some one whispered him that a +body of a hundred men were lying in ambush outside the house. Whether +this were true or untrue, the King took fright, mounted his horse, and +rode through the dark night to Windsor Castle. Another reconciliation +was patched up between him and the King-Maker, but it was a short one, +and it was the last. A new rising took place in Lincolnshire, and the +King marched to repress it. Having done so, he proclaimed that both the +Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were traitors, who had +secretly assisted it, and who had been prepared publicly to join it on +the following day. In these dangerous circumstances they both took ship +and sailed away to the French court. + +And here a meeting took place between the Earl of Warwick and his old +enemy, the Dowager Queen Margaret, through whom his father had had his +head struck off, and to whom he had been a bitter foe. But, now, when +he said that he had done with the ungrateful and perfidious Edward of +York, and that henceforth he devoted himself to the restoration of the +House of Lancaster, either in the person of her husband or of her +little son, she embraced him as if he had ever been her dearest friend. +She did more than that; she married her son to his second daughter, the +Lady Anne. However agreeable this marriage was to the new friends, it +was very disagreeable to the Duke of Clarence, who perceived that his +father-in-law, the King-Maker, would never make _him_ King, now. So, +being but a weak-minded young traitor, possessed of very little worth +or sense, he readily listened to an artful court lady sent over for the +purpose, and promised to turn traitor once more, and go over to his +brother, King Edward, when a fitting opportunity should come. + +The Earl of Warwick, knowing nothing of this, soon redeemed his promise +to the Dowager Queen Margaret, by invading England and landing at +Plymouth, where he instantly proclaimed King Henry, and summoned all +Englishmen between the ages of sixteen and sixty, to join his banner. +Then, with his army increasing as he marched along, he went northward, +and came so near King Edward, who was in that part of the country, that +Edward had to ride hard for it to the coast of Norfolk, and thence to +get away in such ships as he could find, to Holland. Thereupon, the +triumphant King-Maker and his false son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence, +went to London, took the old King out of the Tower, and walked him in a +great procession to Saint Paul’s Cathedral with the crown upon his +head. This did not improve the temper of the Duke of Clarence, who saw +himself farther off from being King than ever; but he kept his secret, +and said nothing. The Nevil family were restored to all their honours +and glories, and the Woodvilles and the rest were disgraced. The +King-Maker, less sanguinary than the King, shed no blood except that of +the Earl of Worcester, who had been so cruel to the people as to have +gained the title of the Butcher. Him they caught hidden in a tree, and +him they tried and executed. No other death stained the King-Maker’s +triumph. + +To dispute this triumph, back came King Edward again, next year, +landing at Ravenspur, coming on to York, causing all his men to cry +‘Long live King Henry!’ and swearing on the altar, without a blush, +that he came to lay no claim to the crown. Now was the time for the +Duke of Clarence, who ordered his men to assume the White Rose, and +declare for his brother. The Marquis of Montague, though the Earl of +Warwick’s brother, also declining to fight against King Edward, he went +on successfully to London, where the Archbishop of York let him into +the City, and where the people made great demonstrations in his favour. +For this they had four reasons. Firstly, there were great numbers of +the King’s adherents hiding in the City and ready to break out; +secondly, the King owed them a great deal of money, which they could +never hope to get if he were unsuccessful; thirdly, there was a young +prince to inherit the crown; and fourthly, the King was gay and +handsome, and more popular than a better man might have been with the +City ladies. After a stay of only two days with these worthy +supporters, the King marched out to Barnet Common, to give the Earl of +Warwick battle. And now it was to be seen, for the last time, whether +the King or the King-Maker was to carry the day. + +While the battle was yet pending, the fainthearted Duke of Clarence +began to repent, and sent over secret messages to his father-in-law, +offering his services in mediation with the King. But, the Earl of +Warwick disdainfully rejected them, and replied that Clarence was false +and perjured, and that he would settle the quarrel by the sword. The +battle began at four o’clock in the morning and lasted until ten, and +during the greater part of the time it was fought in a thick +mist—absurdly supposed to be raised by a magician. The loss of life was +very great, for the hatred was strong on both sides. The King-Maker was +defeated, and the King triumphed. Both the Earl of Warwick and his +brother were slain, and their bodies lay in St. Paul’s, for some days, +as a spectacle to the people. + +Margaret’s spirit was not broken even by this great blow. Within five +days she was in arms again, and raised her standard in Bath, whence she +set off with her army, to try and join Lord Pembroke, who had a force +in Wales. But, the King, coming up with her outside the town of +Tewkesbury, and ordering his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who was a +brave soldier, to attack her men, she sustained an entire defeat, and +was taken prisoner, together with her son, now only eighteen years of +age. The conduct of the King to this poor youth was worthy of his cruel +character. He ordered him to be led into his tent. ‘And what,’ said he, +‘brought _you_ to England?’ ‘I came to England,’ replied the prisoner, +with a spirit which a man of spirit might have admired in a captive, +‘to recover my father’s kingdom, which descended to him as his right, +and from him descends to me, as mine.’ The King, drawing off his iron +gauntlet, struck him with it in the face; and the Duke of Clarence and +some other lords, who were there, drew their noble swords, and killed +him. + +His mother survived him, a prisoner, for five years; after her ransom +by the King of France, she survived for six years more. Within three +weeks of this murder, Henry died one of those convenient sudden deaths +which were so common in the Tower; in plainer words, he was murdered by +the King’s order. + +Having no particular excitement on his hands after this great defeat of +the Lancaster party, and being perhaps desirous to get rid of some of +his fat (for he was now getting too corpulent to be handsome), the King +thought of making war on France. As he wanted more money for this +purpose than the Parliament could give him, though they were usually +ready enough for war, he invented a new way of raising it, by sending +for the principal citizens of London, and telling them, with a grave +face, that he was very much in want of cash, and would take it very +kind in them if they would lend him some. It being impossible for them +safely to refuse, they complied, and the moneys thus forced from them +were called—no doubt to the great amusement of the King and the +Court—as if they were free gifts, ‘Benevolences.’ What with grants from +Parliament, and what with Benevolences, the King raised an army and +passed over to Calais. As nobody wanted war, however, the French King +made proposals of peace, which were accepted, and a truce was concluded +for seven long years. The proceedings between the Kings of France and +England on this occasion, were very friendly, very splendid, and very +distrustful. They finished with a meeting between the two Kings, on a +temporary bridge over the river Somme, where they embraced through two +holes in a strong wooden grating like a lion’s cage, and made several +bows and fine speeches to one another. + +It was time, now, that the Duke of Clarence should be punished for his +treacheries; and Fate had his punishment in store. He was, probably, +not trusted by the King—for who could trust him who knew him!—and he +had certainly a powerful opponent in his brother Richard, Duke of +Gloucester, who, being avaricious and ambitious, wanted to marry that +widowed daughter of the Earl of Warwick’s who had been espoused to the +deceased young Prince, at Calais. Clarence, who wanted all the family +wealth for himself, secreted this lady, whom Richard found disguised as +a servant in the City of London, and whom he married; arbitrators +appointed by the King, then divided the property between the brothers. +This led to ill-will and mistrust between them. Clarence’s wife dying, +and he wishing to make another marriage, which was obnoxious to the +King, his ruin was hurried by that means, too. At first, the Court +struck at his retainers and dependents, and accused some of them of +magic and witchcraft, and similar nonsense. Successful against this +small game, it then mounted to the Duke himself, who was impeached by +his brother the King, in person, on a variety of such charges. He was +found guilty, and sentenced to be publicly executed. He never was +publicly executed, but he met his death somehow, in the Tower, and, no +doubt, through some agency of the King or his brother Gloucester, or +both. It was supposed at the time that he was told to choose the manner +of his death, and that he chose to be drowned in a butt of Malmsey +wine. I hope the story may be true, for it would have been a becoming +death for such a miserable creature. + +The King survived him some five years. He died in the forty-second year +of his life, and the twenty-third of his reign. He had a very good +capacity and some good points, but he was selfish, careless, sensual, +and cruel. He was a favourite with the people for his showy manners; +and the people were a good example to him in the constancy of their +attachment. He was penitent on his death-bed for his ‘benevolences,’ +and other extortions, and ordered restitution to be made to the people +who had suffered from them. He also called about his bed the enriched +members of the Woodville family, and the proud lords whose honours were +of older date, and endeavoured to reconcile them, for the sake of the +peaceful succession of his son and the tranquillity of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH + + +The late King’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, called Edward after +him, was only thirteen years of age at his father’s death. He was at +Ludlow Castle with his uncle, the Earl of Rivers. The prince’s brother, +the Duke of York, only eleven years of age, was in London with his +mother. The boldest, most crafty, and most dreaded nobleman in England +at that time was their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and everybody +wondered how the two poor boys would fare with such an uncle for a +friend or a foe. + +The Queen, their mother, being exceedingly uneasy about this, was +anxious that instructions should be sent to Lord Rivers to raise an +army to escort the young King safely to London. But, Lord Hastings, who +was of the Court party opposed to the Woodvilles, and who disliked the +thought of giving them that power, argued against the proposal, and +obliged the Queen to be satisfied with an escort of two thousand horse. +The Duke of Gloucester did nothing, at first, to justify suspicion. He +came from Scotland (where he was commanding an army) to York, and was +there the first to swear allegiance to his nephew. He then wrote a +condoling letter to the Queen-Mother, and set off to be present at the +coronation in London. + +Now, the young King, journeying towards London too, with Lord Rivers +and Lord Gray, came to Stony Stratford, as his uncle came to +Northampton, about ten miles distant; and when those two lords heard +that the Duke of Gloucester was so near, they proposed to the young +King that they should go back and greet him in his name. The boy being +very willing that they should do so, they rode off and were received +with great friendliness, and asked by the Duke of Gloucester to stay +and dine with him. In the evening, while they were merry together, up +came the Duke of Buckingham with three hundred horsemen; and next +morning the two lords and the two dukes, and the three hundred +horsemen, rode away together to rejoin the King. Just as they were +entering Stony Stratford, the Duke of Gloucester, checking his horse, +turned suddenly on the two lords, charged them with alienating from him +the affections of his sweet nephew, and caused them to be arrested by +the three hundred horsemen and taken back. Then, he and the Duke of +Buckingham went straight to the King (whom they had now in their +power), to whom they made a show of kneeling down, and offering great +love and submission; and then they ordered his attendants to disperse, +and took him, alone with them, to Northampton. + +A few days afterwards they conducted him to London, and lodged him in +the Bishop’s Palace. But, he did not remain there long; for, the Duke +of Buckingham with a tender face made a speech expressing how anxious +he was for the Royal boy’s safety, and how much safer he would be in +the Tower until his coronation, than he could be anywhere else. So, to +the Tower he was taken, very carefully, and the Duke of Gloucester was +named Protector of the State. + +Although Gloucester had proceeded thus far with a very smooth +countenance—and although he was a clever man, fair of speech, and not +ill-looking, in spite of one of his shoulders being something higher +than the other—and although he had come into the City riding +bare-headed at the King’s side, and looking very fond of him—he had +made the King’s mother more uneasy yet; and when the Royal boy was +taken to the Tower, she became so alarmed that she took sanctuary in +Westminster with her five daughters. + +Nor did she do this without reason, for, the Duke of Gloucester, +finding that the lords who were opposed to the Woodville family were +faithful to the young King nevertheless, quickly resolved to strike a +blow for himself. Accordingly, while those lords met in council at the +Tower, he and those who were in his interest met in separate council at +his own residence, Crosby Palace, in Bishopsgate Street. Being at last +quite prepared, he one day appeared unexpectedly at the council in the +Tower, and appeared to be very jocular and merry. He was particularly +gay with the Bishop of Ely: praising the strawberries that grew in his +garden on Holborn Hill, and asking him to have some gathered that he +might eat them at dinner. The Bishop, quite proud of the honour, sent +one of his men to fetch some; and the Duke, still very jocular and gay, +went out; and the council all said what a very agreeable duke he was! +In a little time, however, he came back quite altered—not at all +jocular—frowning and fierce—and suddenly said,— + +‘What do those persons deserve who have compassed my destruction; I +being the King’s lawful, as well as natural, protector?’ + +To this strange question, Lord Hastings replied, that they deserved +death, whosoever they were. + +‘Then,’ said the Duke, ‘I tell you that they are that sorceress my +brother’s wife;’ meaning the Queen: ‘and that other sorceress, Jane +Shore. Who, by witchcraft, have withered my body, and caused my arm to +shrink as I now show you.’ + +He then pulled up his sleeve and showed them his arm, which was +shrunken, it is true, but which had been so, as they all very well +knew, from the hour of his birth. + +Jane Shore, being then the lover of Lord Hastings, as she had formerly +been of the late King, that lord knew that he himself was attacked. So, +he said, in some confusion, ‘Certainly, my Lord, if they have done +this, they be worthy of punishment.’ + +‘If?’ said the Duke of Gloucester; ‘do you talk to me of ifs? I tell +you that they _have_ so done, and I will make it good upon thy body, +thou traitor!’ + +With that, he struck the table a great blow with his fist. This was a +signal to some of his people outside to cry ‘Treason!’ They immediately +did so, and there was a rush into the chamber of so many armed men that +it was filled in a moment. + +‘First,’ said the Duke of Gloucester to Lord Hastings, ‘I arrest thee, +traitor! And let him,’ he added to the armed men who took him, ‘have a +priest at once, for by St. Paul I will not dine until I have seen his +head of!’ + +Lord Hastings was hurried to the green by the Tower chapel, and there +beheaded on a log of wood that happened to be lying on the ground. +Then, the Duke dined with a good appetite, and after dinner summoning +the principal citizens to attend him, told them that Lord Hastings and +the rest had designed to murder both himself and the Duke if +Buckingham, who stood by his side, if he had not providentially +discovered their design. He requested them to be so obliging as to +inform their fellow-citizens of the truth of what he said, and issued a +proclamation (prepared and neatly copied out beforehand) to the same +effect. + +On the same day that the Duke did these things in the Tower, Sir +Richard Ratcliffe, the boldest and most undaunted of his men, went down +to Pontefract; arrested Lord Rivers, Lord Gray, and two other +gentlemen; and publicly executed them on the scaffold, without any +trial, for having intended the Duke’s death. Three days afterwards the +Duke, not to lose time, went down the river to Westminster in his +barge, attended by divers bishops, lords, and soldiers, and demanded +that the Queen should deliver her second son, the Duke of York, into +his safe keeping. The Queen, being obliged to comply, resigned the +child after she had wept over him; and Richard of Gloucester placed him +with his brother in the Tower. Then, he seized Jane Shore, and, because +she had been the lover of the late King, confiscated her property, and +got her sentenced to do public penance in the streets by walking in a +scanty dress, with bare feet, and carrying a lighted candle, to St. +Paul’s Cathedral, through the most crowded part of the City. + +Having now all things ready for his own advancement, he caused a friar +to preach a sermon at the cross which stood in front of St. Paul’s +Cathedral, in which he dwelt upon the profligate manners of the late +King, and upon the late shame of Jane Shore, and hinted that the +princes were not his children. ‘Whereas, good people,’ said the friar, +whose name was Shaw, ‘my Lord the Protector, the noble Duke of +Gloucester, that sweet prince, the pattern of all the noblest virtues, +is the perfect image and express likeness of his father.’ There had +been a little plot between the Duke and the friar, that the Duke should +appear in the crowd at this moment, when it was expected that the +people would cry ‘Long live King Richard!’ But, either through the +friar saying the words too soon, or through the Duke’s coming too late, +the Duke and the words did not come together, and the people only +laughed, and the friar sneaked off ashamed. + +The Duke of Buckingham was a better hand at such business than the +friar, so he went to the Guildhall the next day, and addressed the +citizens in the Lord Protector’s behalf. A few dirty men, who had been +hired and stationed there for the purpose, crying when he had done, +‘God save King Richard!’ he made them a great bow, and thanked them +with all his heart. Next day, to make an end of it, he went with the +mayor and some lords and citizens to Bayard Castle, by the river, where +Richard then was, and read an address, humbly entreating him to accept +the Crown of England. Richard, who looked down upon them out of a +window and pretended to be in great uneasiness and alarm, assured them +there was nothing he desired less, and that his deep affection for his +nephews forbade him to think of it. To this the Duke of Buckingham +replied, with pretended warmth, that the free people of England would +never submit to his nephew’s rule, and that if Richard, who was the +lawful heir, refused the Crown, why then they must find some one else +to wear it. The Duke of Gloucester returned, that since he used that +strong language, it became his painful duty to think no more of +himself, and to accept the Crown. + +Upon that, the people cheered and dispersed; and the Duke of Gloucester +and the Duke of Buckingham passed a pleasant evening, talking over the +play they had just acted with so much success, and every word of which +they had prepared together. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD + + +King Richard the Third was up betimes in the morning, and went to +Westminster Hall. In the Hall was a marble seat, upon which he sat +himself down between two great noblemen, and told the people that he +began the new reign in that place, because the first duty of a +sovereign was to administer the laws equally to all, and to maintain +justice. He then mounted his horse and rode back to the City, where he +was received by the clergy and the crowd as if he really had a right to +the throne, and really were a just man. The clergy and the crowd must +have been rather ashamed of themselves in secret, I think, for being +such poor-spirited knaves. + +The new King and his Queen were soon crowned with a great deal of show +and noise, which the people liked very much; and then the King set +forth on a royal progress through his dominions. He was crowned a +second time at York, in order that the people might have show and noise +enough; and wherever he went was received with shouts of rejoicing—from +a good many people of strong lungs, who were paid to strain their +throats in crying, ‘God save King Richard!’ The plan was so successful +that I am told it has been imitated since, by other usurpers, in other +progresses through other dominions. + +While he was on this journey, King Richard stayed a week at Warwick. +And from Warwick he sent instructions home for one of the wickedest +murders that ever was done—the murder of the two young princes, his +nephews, who were shut up in the Tower of London. + +Sir Robert Brackenbury was at that time Governor of the Tower. To him, +by the hands of a messenger named John Green, did King Richard send a +letter, ordering him by some means to put the two young princes to +death. But Sir Robert—I hope because he had children of his own, and +loved them—sent John Green back again, riding and spurring along the +dusty roads, with the answer that he could not do so horrible a piece +of work. The King, having frowningly considered a little, called to him +Sir James Tyrrel, his master of the horse, and to him gave authority to +take command of the Tower, whenever he would, for twenty-four hours, +and to keep all the keys of the Tower during that space of time. +Tyrrel, well knowing what was wanted, looked about him for two hardened +ruffians, and chose John Dighton, one of his own grooms, and Miles +Forest, who was a murderer by trade. Having secured these two +assistants, he went, upon a day in August, to the Tower, showed his +authority from the King, took the command for four-and-twenty hours, +and obtained possession of the keys. And when the black night came he +went creeping, creeping, like a guilty villain as he was, up the dark, +stone winding stairs, and along the dark stone passages, until he came +to the door of the room where the two young princes, having said their +prayers, lay fast asleep, clasped in each other’s arms. And while he +watched and listened at the door, he sent in those evil demons, John +Dighton and Miles Forest, who smothered the two princes with the bed +and pillows, and carried their bodies down the stairs, and buried them +under a great heap of stones at the staircase foot. And when the day +came, he gave up the command of the Tower, and restored the keys, and +hurried away without once looking behind him; and Sir Robert +Brackenbury went with fear and sadness to the princes’ room, and found +the princes gone for ever. + +You know, through all this history, how true it is that traitors are +never true, and you will not be surprised to learn that the Duke of +Buckingham soon turned against King Richard, and joined a great +conspiracy that was formed to dethrone him, and to place the crown upon +its rightful owner’s head. Richard had meant to keep the murder secret; +but when he heard through his spies that this conspiracy existed, and +that many lords and gentlemen drank in secret to the healths of the two +young princes in the Tower, he made it known that they were dead. The +conspirators, though thwarted for a moment, soon resolved to set up for +the crown against the murderous Richard, Henry Earl of Richmond, +grandson of Catherine: that widow of Henry the Fifth who married Owen +Tudor. And as Henry was of the house of Lancaster, they proposed that +he should marry the Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the late +King, now the heiress of the house of York, and thus by uniting the +rival families put an end to the fatal wars of the Red and White Roses. +All being settled, a time was appointed for Henry to come over from +Brittany, and for a great rising against Richard to take place in +several parts of England at the same hour. On a certain day, therefore, +in October, the revolt took place; but unsuccessfully. Richard was +prepared, Henry was driven back at sea by a storm, his followers in +England were dispersed, and the Duke of Buckingham was taken, and at +once beheaded in the market-place at Salisbury. + +The time of his success was a good time, Richard thought, for summoning +a Parliament and getting some money. So, a Parliament was called, and +it flattered and fawned upon him as much as he could possibly desire, +and declared him to be the rightful King of England, and his only son +Edward, then eleven years of age, the next heir to the throne. + +Richard knew full well that, let the Parliament say what it would, the +Princess Elizabeth was remembered by people as the heiress of the house +of York; and having accurate information besides, of its being designed +by the conspirators to marry her to Henry of Richmond, he felt that it +would much strengthen him and weaken them, to be beforehand with them, +and marry her to his son. With this view he went to the Sanctuary at +Westminster, where the late King’s widow and her daughter still were, +and besought them to come to Court: where (he swore by anything and +everything) they should be safely and honourably entertained. They +came, accordingly, but had scarcely been at Court a month when his son +died suddenly—or was poisoned—and his plan was crushed to pieces. + +In this extremity, King Richard, always active, thought, ‘I must make +another plan.’ And he made the plan of marrying the Princess Elizabeth +himself, although she was his niece. There was one difficulty in the +way: his wife, the Queen Anne, was alive. But, he knew (remembering his +nephews) how to remove that obstacle, and he made love to the Princess +Elizabeth, telling her he felt perfectly confident that the Queen would +die in February. The Princess was not a very scrupulous young lady, +for, instead of rejecting the murderer of her brothers with scorn and +hatred, she openly declared she loved him dearly; and, when February +came and the Queen did not die, she expressed her impatient opinion +that she was too long about it. However, King Richard was not so far +out in his prediction, but, that she died in March—he took good care of +that—and then this precious pair hoped to be married. But they were +disappointed, for the idea of such a marriage was so unpopular in the +country, that the King’s chief counsellors, Ratcliffe and Catesby, +would by no means undertake to propose it, and the King was even +obliged to declare in public that he had never thought of such a thing. + +He was, by this time, dreaded and hated by all classes of his subjects. +His nobles deserted every day to Henry’s side; he dared not call +another Parliament, lest his crimes should be denounced there; and for +want of money, he was obliged to get Benevolences from the citizens, +which exasperated them all against him. It was said too, that, being +stricken by his conscience, he dreamed frightful dreams, and started up +in the night-time, wild with terror and remorse. Active to the last, +through all this, he issued vigorous proclamations against Henry of +Richmond and all his followers, when he heard that they were coming +against him with a Fleet from France; and took the field as fierce and +savage as a wild boar—the animal represented on his shield. + +Henry of Richmond landed with six thousand men at Milford Haven, and +came on against King Richard, then encamped at Leicester with an army +twice as great, through North Wales. On Bosworth Field the two armies +met; and Richard, looking along Henry’s ranks, and seeing them crowded +with the English nobles who had abandoned him, turned pale when he +beheld the powerful Lord Stanley and his son (whom he had tried hard to +retain) among them. But, he was as brave as he was wicked, and plunged +into the thickest of the fight. He was riding hither and thither, +laying about him in all directions, when he observed the Earl of +Northumberland—one of his few great allies—to stand inactive, and the +main body of his troops to hesitate. At the same moment, his desperate +glance caught Henry of Richmond among a little group of his knights. +Riding hard at him, and crying ‘Treason!’ he killed his +standard-bearer, fiercely unhorsed another gentleman, and aimed a +powerful stroke at Henry himself, to cut him down. But, Sir William +Stanley parried it as it fell, and before Richard could raise his arm +again, he was borne down in a press of numbers, unhorsed, and killed. +Lord Stanley picked up the crown, all bruised and trampled, and stained +with blood, and put it upon Richmond’s head, amid loud and rejoicing +cries of ‘Long live King Henry!’ + +That night, a horse was led up to the church of the Grey Friars at +Leicester; across whose back was tied, like some worthless sack, a +naked body brought there for burial. It was the body of the last of the +Plantagenet line, King Richard the Third, usurper and murderer, slain +at the battle of Bosworth Field in the thirty-second year of his age, +after a reign of two years. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH + + +King Henry the Seventh did not turn out to be as fine a fellow as the +nobility and people hoped, in the first joy of their deliverance from +Richard the Third. He was very cold, crafty, and calculating, and would +do almost anything for money. He possessed considerable ability, but +his chief merit appears to have been that he was not cruel when there +was nothing to be got by it. + +The new King had promised the nobles who had espoused his cause that he +would marry the Princess Elizabeth. The first thing he did, was, to +direct her to be removed from the castle of Sheriff Hutton in +Yorkshire, where Richard had placed her, and restored to the care of +her mother in London. The young Earl of Warwick, Edward Plantagenet, +son and heir of the late Duke of Clarence, had been kept a prisoner in +the same old Yorkshire Castle with her. This boy, who was now fifteen, +the new King placed in the Tower for safety. Then he came to London in +great state, and gratified the people with a fine procession; on which +kind of show he often very much relied for keeping them in good humour. +The sports and feasts which took place were followed by a terrible +fever, called the Sweating Sickness; of which great numbers of people +died. Lord Mayors and Aldermen are thought to have suffered most from +it; whether, because they were in the habit of over-eating themselves, +or because they were very jealous of preserving filth and nuisances in +the City (as they have been since), I don’t know. + +The King’s coronation was postponed on account of the general +ill-health, and he afterwards deferred his marriage, as if he were not +very anxious that it should take place: and, even after that, deferred +the Queen’s coronation so long that he gave offence to the York party. +However, he set these things right in the end, by hanging some men and +seizing on the rich possessions of others; by granting more popular +pardons to the followers of the late King than could, at first, be got +from him; and, by employing about his Court, some very scrupulous +persons who had been employed in the previous reign. + +As this reign was principally remarkable for two very curious +impostures which have become famous in history, we will make those two +stories its principal feature. + +There was a priest at Oxford of the name of Simons, who had for a pupil +a handsome boy named Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker. Partly to +gratify his own ambitious ends, and partly to carry out the designs of +a secret party formed against the King, this priest declared that his +pupil, the boy, was no other than the young Earl of Warwick; who (as +everybody might have known) was safely locked up in the Tower of +London. The priest and the boy went over to Ireland; and, at Dublin, +enlisted in their cause all ranks of the people: who seem to have been +generous enough, but exceedingly irrational. The Earl of Kildare, the +governor of Ireland, declared that he believed the boy to be what the +priest represented; and the boy, who had been well tutored by the +priest, told them such things of his childhood, and gave them so many +descriptions of the Royal Family, that they were perpetually shouting +and hurrahing, and drinking his health, and making all kinds of noisy +and thirsty demonstrations, to express their belief in him. Nor was +this feeling confined to Ireland alone, for the Earl of Lincoln—whom +the late usurper had named as his successor—went over to the young +Pretender; and, after holding a secret correspondence with the Dowager +Duchess of Burgundy—the sister of Edward the Fourth, who detested the +present King and all his race—sailed to Dublin with two thousand German +soldiers of her providing. In this promising state of the boy’s +fortunes, he was crowned there, with a crown taken off the head of a +statue of the Virgin Mary; and was then, according to the Irish custom +of those days, carried home on the shoulders of a big chieftain +possessing a great deal more strength than sense. Father Simons, you +may be sure, was mighty busy at the coronation. + +Ten days afterwards, the Germans, and the Irish, and the priest, and +the boy, and the Earl of Lincoln, all landed in Lancashire to invade +England. The King, who had good intelligence of their movements, set up +his standard at Nottingham, where vast numbers resorted to him every +day; while the Earl of Lincoln could gain but very few. With his small +force he tried to make for the town of Newark; but the King’s army +getting between him and that place, he had no choice but to risk a +battle at Stoke. It soon ended in the complete destruction of the +Pretender’s forces, one half of whom were killed; among them, the Earl +himself. The priest and the baker’s boy were taken prisoners. The +priest, after confessing the trick, was shut up in prison, where he +afterwards died—suddenly perhaps. The boy was taken into the King’s +kitchen and made a turnspit. He was afterwards raised to the station of +one of the King’s falconers; and so ended this strange imposition. + +There seems reason to suspect that the Dowager Queen—always a restless +and busy woman—had had some share in tutoring the baker’s son. The King +was very angry with her, whether or no. He seized upon her property, +and shut her up in a convent at Bermondsey. + +One might suppose that the end of this story would have put the Irish +people on their guard; but they were quite ready to receive a second +impostor, as they had received the first, and that same troublesome +Duchess of Burgundy soon gave them the opportunity. All of a sudden +there appeared at Cork, in a vessel arriving from Portugal, a young man +of excellent abilities, of very handsome appearance and most winning +manners, who declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the second +son of King Edward the Fourth. ‘O,’ said some, even of those ready +Irish believers, ‘but surely that young Prince was murdered by his +uncle in the Tower!’—‘It _is_ supposed so,’ said the engaging young +man; ‘and my brother _was_ killed in that gloomy prison; but I +escaped—it don’t matter how, at present—and have been wandering about +the world for seven long years.’ This explanation being quite +satisfactory to numbers of the Irish people, they began again to shout +and to hurrah, and to drink his health, and to make the noisy and +thirsty demonstrations all over again. And the big chieftain in Dublin +began to look out for another coronation, and another young King to be +carried home on his back. + +Now, King Henry being then on bad terms with France, the French King, +Charles the Eighth, saw that, by pretending to believe in the handsome +young man, he could trouble his enemy sorely. So, he invited him over +to the French Court, and appointed him a body-guard, and treated him in +all respects as if he really were the Duke of York. Peace, however, +being soon concluded between the two Kings, the pretended Duke was +turned adrift, and wandered for protection to the Duchess of Burgundy. +She, after feigning to inquire into the reality of his claims, declared +him to be the very picture of her dear departed brother; gave him a +body-guard at her Court, of thirty halberdiers; and called him by the +sounding name of the White Rose of England. + +The leading members of the White Rose party in England sent over an +agent, named Sir Robert Clifford, to ascertain whether the White Rose’s +claims were good: the King also sent over his agents to inquire into +the Rose’s history. The White Roses declared the young man to be really +the Duke of York; the King declared him to be Perkin Warbeck, the son +of a merchant of the city of Tournay, who had acquired his knowledge of +England, its language and manners, from the English merchants who +traded in Flanders; it was also stated by the Royal agents that he had +been in the service of Lady Brompton, the wife of an exiled English +nobleman, and that the Duchess of Burgundy had caused him to be trained +and taught, expressly for this deception. The King then required the +Archduke Philip—who was the sovereign of Burgundy—to banish this new +Pretender, or to deliver him up; but, as the Archduke replied that he +could not control the Duchess in her own land, the King, in revenge, +took the market of English cloth away from Antwerp, and prevented all +commercial intercourse between the two countries. + +He also, by arts and bribes, prevailed on Sir Robert Clifford to betray +his employers; and he denouncing several famous English noblemen as +being secretly the friends of Perkin Warbeck, the King had three of the +foremost executed at once. Whether he pardoned the remainder because +they were poor, I do not know; but it is only too probable that he +refused to pardon one famous nobleman against whom the same Clifford +soon afterwards informed separately, because he was rich. This was no +other than Sir William Stanley, who had saved the King’s life at the +battle of Bosworth Field. It is very doubtful whether his treason +amounted to much more than his having said, that if he were sure the +young man was the Duke of York, he would not take arms against him. +Whatever he had done he admitted, like an honourable spirit; and he +lost his head for it, and the covetous King gained all his wealth. + +Perkin Warbeck kept quiet for three years; but, as the Flemings began +to complain heavily of the loss of their trade by the stoppage of the +Antwerp market on his account, and as it was not unlikely that they +might even go so far as to take his life, or give him up, he found it +necessary to do something. Accordingly he made a desperate sally, and +landed, with only a few hundred men, on the coast of Deal. But he was +soon glad to get back to the place from whence he came; for the country +people rose against his followers, killed a great many, and took a +hundred and fifty prisoners: who were all driven to London, tied +together with ropes, like a team of cattle. Every one of them was +hanged on some part or other of the sea-shore; in order, that if any +more men should come over with Perkin Warbeck, they might see the +bodies as a warning before they landed. + +Then the wary King, by making a treaty of commerce with the Flemings, +drove Perkin Warbeck out of that country; and, by completely gaining +over the Irish to his side, deprived him of that asylum too. He +wandered away to Scotland, and told his story at that Court. King James +the Fourth of Scotland, who was no friend to King Henry, and had no +reason to be (for King Henry had bribed his Scotch lords to betray him +more than once; but had never succeeded in his plots), gave him a great +reception, called him his cousin, and gave him in marriage the Lady +Catherine Gordon, a beautiful and charming creature related to the +royal house of Stuart. + +Alarmed by this successful reappearance of the Pretender, the King +still undermined, and bought, and bribed, and kept his doings and +Perkin Warbeck’s story in the dark, when he might, one would imagine, +have rendered the matter clear to all England. But, for all this +bribing of the Scotch lords at the Scotch King’s Court, he could not +procure the Pretender to be delivered up to him. James, though not very +particular in many respects, would not betray him; and the ever-busy +Duchess of Burgundy so provided him with arms, and good soldiers, and +with money besides, that he had soon a little army of fifteen hundred +men of various nations. With these, and aided by the Scottish King in +person, he crossed the border into England, and made a proclamation to +the people, in which he called the King ‘Henry Tudor;’ offered large +rewards to any who should take or distress him; and announced himself +as King Richard the Fourth come to receive the homage of his faithful +subjects. His faithful subjects, however, cared nothing for him, and +hated his faithful troops: who, being of different nations, quarrelled +also among themselves. Worse than this, if worse were possible, they +began to plunder the country; upon which the White Rose said, that he +would rather lose his rights, than gain them through the miseries of +the English people. The Scottish King made a jest of his scruples; but +they and their whole force went back again without fighting a battle. + +The worst consequence of this attempt was, that a rising took place +among the people of Cornwall, who considered themselves too heavily +taxed to meet the charges of the expected war. Stimulated by Flammock, +a lawyer, and Joseph, a blacksmith, and joined by Lord Audley and some +other country gentlemen, they marched on all the way to Deptford +Bridge, where they fought a battle with the King’s army. They were +defeated—though the Cornish men fought with great bravery—and the lord +was beheaded, and the lawyer and the blacksmith were hanged, drawn, and +quartered. The rest were pardoned. The King, who believed every man to +be as avaricious as himself, and thought that money could settle +anything, allowed them to make bargains for their liberty with the +soldiers who had taken them. + +Perkin Warbeck, doomed to wander up and down, and never to find rest +anywhere—a sad fate: almost a sufficient punishment for an imposture, +which he seems in time to have half believed himself—lost his Scottish +refuge through a truce being made between the two Kings; and found +himself, once more, without a country before him in which he could lay +his head. But James (always honourable and true to him, alike when he +melted down his plate, and even the great gold chain he had been used +to wear, to pay soldiers in his cause; and now, when that cause was +lost and hopeless) did not conclude the treaty, until he had safely +departed out of the Scottish dominions. He, and his beautiful wife, who +was faithful to him under all reverses, and left her state and home to +follow his poor fortunes, were put aboard ship with everything +necessary for their comfort and protection, and sailed for Ireland. + +But, the Irish people had had enough of counterfeit Earls of Warwick +and Dukes of York, for one while; and would give the White Rose no aid. +So, the White Rose—encircled by thorns indeed—resolved to go with his +beautiful wife to Cornwall as a forlorn resource, and see what might be +made of the Cornish men, who had risen so valiantly a little while +before, and who had fought so bravely at Deptford Bridge. + +To Whitsand Bay, in Cornwall, accordingly, came Perkin Warbeck and his +wife; and the lovely lady he shut up for safety in the Castle of St. +Michael’s Mount, and then marched into Devonshire at the head of three +thousand Cornishmen. These were increased to six thousand by the time +of his arrival in Exeter; but, there the people made a stout +resistance, and he went on to Taunton, where he came in sight of the +King’s army. The stout Cornish men, although they were few in number, +and badly armed, were so bold, that they never thought of retreating; +but bravely looked forward to a battle on the morrow. Unhappily for +them, the man who was possessed of so many engaging qualities, and who +attracted so many people to his side when he had nothing else with +which to tempt them, was not as brave as they. In the night, when the +two armies lay opposite to each other, he mounted a swift horse and +fled. When morning dawned, the poor confiding Cornish men, discovering +that they had no leader, surrendered to the King’s power. Some of them +were hanged, and the rest were pardoned and went miserably home. + +Before the King pursued Perkin Warbeck to the sanctuary of Beaulieu in +the New Forest, where it was soon known that he had taken refuge, he +sent a body of horsemen to St. Michael’s Mount, to seize his wife. She +was soon taken and brought as a captive before the King. But she was so +beautiful, and so good, and so devoted to the man in whom she believed, +that the King regarded her with compassion, treated her with great +respect, and placed her at Court, near the Queen’s person. And many +years after Perkin Warbeck was no more, and when his strange story had +become like a nursery tale, _she_ was called the White Rose, by the +people, in remembrance of her beauty. + +The sanctuary at Beaulieu was soon surrounded by the King’s men; and +the King, pursuing his usual dark, artful ways, sent pretended friends +to Perkin Warbeck to persuade him to come out and surrender himself. +This he soon did; the King having taken a good look at the man of whom +he had heard so much—from behind a screen—directed him to be well +mounted, and to ride behind him at a little distance, guarded, but not +bound in any way. So they entered London with the King’s favourite +show—a procession; and some of the people hooted as the Pretender rode +slowly through the streets to the Tower; but the greater part were +quiet, and very curious to see him. From the Tower, he was taken to the +Palace at Westminster, and there lodged like a gentleman, though +closely watched. He was examined every now and then as to his +imposture; but the King was so secret in all he did, that even then he +gave it a consequence, which it cannot be supposed to have in itself +deserved. + +At last Perkin Warbeck ran away, and took refuge in another sanctuary +near Richmond in Surrey. From this he was again persuaded to deliver +himself up; and, being conveyed to London, he stood in the stocks for a +whole day, outside Westminster Hall, and there read a paper purporting +to be his full confession, and relating his history as the King’s +agents had originally described it. He was then shut up in the Tower +again, in the company of the Earl of Warwick, who had now been there +for fourteen years: ever since his removal out of Yorkshire, except +when the King had had him at Court, and had shown him to the people, to +prove the imposture of the Baker’s boy. It is but too probable, when we +consider the crafty character of Henry the Seventh, that these two were +brought together for a cruel purpose. A plot was soon discovered +between them and the keepers, to murder the Governor, get possession of +the keys, and proclaim Perkin Warbeck as King Richard the Fourth. That +there was some such plot, is likely; that they were tempted into it, is +at least as likely; that the unfortunate Earl of Warwick—last male of +the Plantagenet line—was too unused to the world, and too ignorant and +simple to know much about it, whatever it was, is perfectly certain; +and that it was the King’s interest to get rid of him, is no less so. +He was beheaded on Tower Hill, and Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn. + +Such was the end of the pretended Duke of York, whose shadowy history +was made more shadowy—and ever will be—by the mystery and craft of the +King. If he had turned his great natural advantages to a more honest +account, he might have lived a happy and respected life, even in those +days. But he died upon a gallows at Tyburn, leaving the Scottish lady, +who had loved him so well, kindly protected at the Queen’s Court. After +some time she forgot her old loves and troubles, as many people do with +Time’s merciful assistance, and married a Welsh gentleman. Her second +husband, Sir Matthew Cradoc, more honest and more happy than her first, +lies beside her in a tomb in the old church of Swansea. + +The ill-blood between France and England in this reign, arose out of +the continued plotting of the Duchess of Burgundy, and disputes +respecting the affairs of Brittany. The King feigned to be very +patriotic, indignant, and warlike; but he always contrived so as never +to make war in reality, and always to make money. His taxation of the +people, on pretence of war with France, involved, at one time, a very +dangerous insurrection, headed by Sir John Egremont, and a common man +called John à Chambre. But it was subdued by the royal forces, under +the command of the Earl of Surrey. The knighted John escaped to the +Duchess of Burgundy, who was ever ready to receive any one who gave the +King trouble; and the plain John was hanged at York, in the midst of a +number of his men, but on a much higher gibbet, as being a greater +traitor. Hung high or hung low, however, hanging is much the same to +the person hung. + +Within a year after her marriage, the Queen had given birth to a son, +who was called Prince Arthur, in remembrance of the old British prince +of romance and story; and who, when all these events had happened, +being then in his fifteenth year, was married to Catherine, the +daughter of the Spanish monarch, with great rejoicings and bright +prospects; but in a very few months he sickened and died. As soon as +the King had recovered from his grief, he thought it a pity that the +fortune of the Spanish Princess, amounting to two hundred thousand +crowns, should go out of the family; and therefore arranged that the +young widow should marry his second son Henry, then twelve years of +age, when he too should be fifteen. There were objections to this +marriage on the part of the clergy; but, as the infallible Pope was +gained over, and, as he _must_ be right, that settled the business for +the time. The King’s eldest daughter was provided for, and a long +course of disturbance was considered to be set at rest, by her being +married to the Scottish King. + +And now the Queen died. When the King had got over that grief too, his +mind once more reverted to his darling money for consolation, and he +thought of marrying the Dowager Queen of Naples, who was immensely +rich: but, as it turned out not to be practicable to gain the money +however practicable it might have been to gain the lady, he gave up the +idea. He was not so fond of her but that he soon proposed to marry the +Dowager Duchess of Savoy; and, soon afterwards, the widow of the King +of Castile, who was raving mad. But he made a money-bargain instead, +and married neither. + +The Duchess of Burgundy, among the other discontented people to whom +she had given refuge, had sheltered Edmund de la Pole (younger brother +of that Earl of Lincoln who was killed at Stoke), now Earl of Suffolk. +The King had prevailed upon him to return to the marriage of Prince +Arthur; but, he soon afterwards went away again; and then the King, +suspecting a conspiracy, resorted to his favourite plan of sending him +some treacherous friends, and buying of those scoundrels the secrets +they disclosed or invented. Some arrests and executions took place in +consequence. In the end, the King, on a promise of not taking his life, +obtained possession of the person of Edmund de la Pole, and shut him up +in the Tower. + +This was his last enemy. If he had lived much longer he would have made +many more among the people, by the grinding exaction to which he +constantly exposed them, and by the tyrannical acts of his two prime +favourites in all money-raising matters, Edmund Dudley and Richard +Empson. But Death—the enemy who is not to be bought off or deceived, +and on whom no money, and no treachery has any effect—presented himself +at this juncture, and ended the King’s reign. He died of the gout, on +the twenty-second of April, one thousand five hundred and nine, and in +the fifty-third year of his age, after reigning twenty-four years; he +was buried in the beautiful Chapel of Westminster Abbey, which he had +himself founded, and which still bears his name. + +It was in this reign that the great Christopher Columbus, on behalf of +Spain, discovered what was then called The New World. Great wonder, +interest, and hope of wealth being awakened in England thereby, the +King and the merchants of London and Bristol fitted out an English +expedition for further discoveries in the New World, and entrusted it +to Sebastian Cabot, of Bristol, the son of a Venetian pilot there. He +was very successful in his voyage, and gained high reputation, both for +himself and England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY KING +HARRY + +PART THE FIRST + +We now come to King Henry the Eighth, whom it has been too much the +fashion to call ‘Bluff King Hal,’ and ‘Burly King Harry,’ and other +fine names; but whom I shall take the liberty to call, plainly, one of +the most detestable villains that ever drew breath. You will be able to +judge, long before we come to the end of his life, whether he deserves +the character. + +He was just eighteen years of age when he came to the throne. People +said he was handsome then; but I don’t believe it. He was a big, burly, +noisy, small-eyed, large-faced, double-chinned, swinish-looking fellow +in later life (as we know from the likenesses of him, painted by the +famous Hans Holbein), and it is not easy to believe that so bad a +character can ever have been veiled under a prepossessing appearance. + +He was anxious to make himself popular; and the people, who had long +disliked the late King, were very willing to believe that he deserved +to be so. He was extremely fond of show and display, and so were they. +Therefore there was great rejoicing when he married the Princess +Catherine, and when they were both crowned. And the King fought at +tournaments and always came off victorious—for the courtiers took care +of that—and there was a general outcry that he was a wonderful man. +Empson, Dudley, and their supporters were accused of a variety of +crimes they had never committed, instead of the offences of which they +really had been guilty; and they were pilloried, and set upon horses +with their faces to the tails, and knocked about and beheaded, to the +satisfaction of the people, and the enrichment of the King. + +The Pope, so indefatigable in getting the world into trouble, had mixed +himself up in a war on the continent of Europe, occasioned by the +reigning Princes of little quarrelling states in Italy having at +various times married into other Royal families, and so led to _their_ +claiming a share in those petty Governments. The King, who discovered +that he was very fond of the Pope, sent a herald to the King of France, +to say that he must not make war upon that holy personage, because he +was the father of all Christians. As the French King did not mind this +relationship in the least, and also refused to admit a claim King Henry +made to certain lands in France, war was declared between the two +countries. Not to perplex this story with an account of the tricks and +designs of all the sovereigns who were engaged in it, it is enough to +say that England made a blundering alliance with Spain, and got +stupidly taken in by that country; which made its own terms with France +when it could and left England in the lurch. Sir Edward Howard, a bold +admiral, son of the Earl of Surrey, distinguished himself by his +bravery against the French in this business; but, unfortunately, he was +more brave than wise, for, skimming into the French harbour of Brest +with only a few row-boats, he attempted (in revenge for the defeat and +death of Sir Thomas Knyvett, another bold English admiral) to take some +strong French ships, well defended with batteries of cannon. The upshot +was, that he was left on board of one of them (in consequence of its +shooting away from his own boat), with not more than about a dozen men, +and was thrown into the sea and drowned: though not until he had taken +from his breast his gold chain and gold whistle, which were the signs +of his office, and had cast them into the sea to prevent their being +made a boast of by the enemy. After this defeat—which was a great one, +for Sir Edward Howard was a man of valour and fame—the King took it +into his head to invade France in person; first executing that +dangerous Earl of Suffolk whom his father had left in the Tower, and +appointing Queen Catherine to the charge of his kingdom in his absence. +He sailed to Calais, where he was joined by Maximilian, Emperor of +Germany, who pretended to be his soldier, and who took pay in his +service: with a good deal of nonsense of that sort, flattering enough +to the vanity of a vain blusterer. The King might be successful enough +in sham fights; but his idea of real battles chiefly consisted in +pitching silken tents of bright colours that were ignominiously blown +down by the wind, and in making a vast display of gaudy flags and +golden curtains. Fortune, however, favoured him better than he +deserved; for, after much waste of time in tent pitching, flag flying, +gold curtaining, and other such masquerading, he gave the French battle +at a place called Guinegate: where they took such an unaccountable +panic, and fled with such swiftness, that it was ever afterwards called +by the English the Battle of Spurs. Instead of following up his +advantage, the King, finding that he had had enough of real fighting, +came home again. + +The Scottish King, though nearly related to Henry by marriage, had +taken part against him in this war. The Earl of Surrey, as the English +general, advanced to meet him when he came out of his own dominions and +crossed the river Tweed. The two armies came up with one another when +the Scottish King had also crossed the river Till, and was encamped +upon the last of the Cheviot Hills, called the Hill of Flodden. Along +the plain below it, the English, when the hour of battle came, +advanced. The Scottish army, which had been drawn up in five great +bodies, then came steadily down in perfect silence. So they, in their +turn, advanced to meet the English army, which came on in one long +line; and they attacked it with a body of spearmen, under Lord Home. At +first they had the best of it; but the English recovered themselves so +bravely, and fought with such valour, that, when the Scottish King had +almost made his way up to the Royal Standard, he was slain, and the +whole Scottish power routed. Ten thousand Scottish men lay dead that +day on Flodden Field; and among them, numbers of the nobility and +gentry. For a long time afterwards, the Scottish peasantry used to +believe that their King had not been really killed in this battle, +because no Englishman had found an iron belt he wore about his body as +a penance for having been an unnatural and undutiful son. But, whatever +became of his belt, the English had his sword and dagger, and the ring +from his finger, and his body too, covered with wounds. There is no +doubt of it; for it was seen and recognised by English gentlemen who +had known the Scottish King well. + +When King Henry was making ready to renew the war in France, the French +King was contemplating peace. His queen, dying at this time, he +proposed, though he was upwards of fifty years old, to marry King +Henry’s sister, the Princess Mary, who, besides being only sixteen, was +betrothed to the Duke of Suffolk. As the inclinations of young +Princesses were not much considered in such matters, the marriage was +concluded, and the poor girl was escorted to France, where she was +immediately left as the French King’s bride, with only one of all her +English attendants. That one was a pretty young girl named Anne Boleyn, +niece of the Earl of Surrey, who had been made Duke of Norfolk, after +the victory of Flodden Field. Anne Boleyn’s is a name to be remembered, +as you will presently find. + +And now the French King, who was very proud of his young wife, was +preparing for many years of happiness, and she was looking forward, I +dare say, to many years of misery, when he died within three months, +and left her a young widow. The new French monarch, Francis the First, +seeing how important it was to his interests that she should take for +her second husband no one but an Englishman, advised her first lover, +the Duke of Suffolk, when King Henry sent him over to France to fetch +her home, to marry her. The Princess being herself so fond of that +Duke, as to tell him that he must either do so then, or for ever lose +her, they were wedded; and Henry afterwards forgave them. In making +interest with the King, the Duke of Suffolk had addressed his most +powerful favourite and adviser, Thomas Wolsey—a name very famous in +history for its rise and downfall. + +Wolsey was the son of a respectable butcher at Ipswich, in Suffolk and +received so excellent an education that he became a tutor to the family +of the Marquis of Dorset, who afterwards got him appointed one of the +late King’s chaplains. On the accession of Henry the Eighth, he was +promoted and taken into great favour. He was now Archbishop of York; +the Pope had made him a Cardinal besides; and whoever wanted influence +in England or favour with the King—whether he were a foreign monarch or +an English nobleman—was obliged to make a friend of the great Cardinal +Wolsey. + +He was a gay man, who could dance and jest, and sing and drink; and +those were the roads to so much, or rather so little, of a heart as +King Henry had. He was wonderfully fond of pomp and glitter, and so was +the King. He knew a good deal of the Church learning of that time; much +of which consisted in finding artful excuses and pretences for almost +any wrong thing, and in arguing that black was white, or any other +colour. This kind of learning pleased the King too. For many such +reasons, the Cardinal was high in estimation with the King; and, being +a man of far greater ability, knew as well how to manage him, as a +clever keeper may know how to manage a wolf or a tiger, or any other +cruel and uncertain beast, that may turn upon him and tear him any day. +Never had there been seen in England such state as my Lord Cardinal +kept. His wealth was enormous; equal, it was reckoned, to the riches of +the Crown. His palaces were as splendid as the King’s, and his retinue +was eight hundred strong. He held his Court, dressed out from top to +toe in flaming scarlet; and his very shoes were golden, set with +precious stones. His followers rode on blood horses; while he, with a +wonderful affectation of humility in the midst of his great splendour, +ambled on a mule with a red velvet saddle and bridle and golden +stirrups. + +Through the influence of this stately priest, a grand meeting was +arranged to take place between the French and English Kings in France; +but on ground belonging to England. A prodigious show of friendship and +rejoicing was to be made on the occasion; and heralds were sent to +proclaim with brazen trumpets through all the principal cities of +Europe, that, on a certain day, the Kings of France and England, as +companions and brothers in arms, each attended by eighteen followers, +would hold a tournament against all knights who might choose to come. + +Charles, the new Emperor of Germany (the old one being dead), wanted to +prevent too cordial an alliance between these sovereigns, and came over +to England before the King could repair to the place of meeting; and, +besides making an agreeable impression upon him, secured Wolsey’s +interest by promising that his influence should make him Pope when the +next vacancy occurred. On the day when the Emperor left England, the +King and all the Court went over to Calais, and thence to the place of +meeting, between Ardres and Guisnes, commonly called the Field of the +Cloth of Gold. Here, all manner of expense and prodigality was lavished +on the decorations of the show; many of the knights and gentlemen being +so superbly dressed that it was said they carried their whole estates +upon their shoulders. + +There were sham castles, temporary chapels, fountains running wine, +great cellars full of wine free as water to all comers, silk tents, +gold lace and foil, gilt lions, and such things without end; and, in +the midst of all, the rich Cardinal out-shone and out-glittered all the +noblemen and gentlemen assembled. After a treaty made between the two +Kings with as much solemnity as if they had intended to keep it, the +lists—nine hundred feet long, and three hundred and twenty broad—were +opened for the tournament; the Queens of France and England looking on +with great array of lords and ladies. Then, for ten days, the two +sovereigns fought five combats every day, and always beat their polite +adversaries; though they _do_ write that the King of England, being +thrown in a wrestle one day by the King of France, lost his kingly +temper with his brother-in-arms, and wanted to make a quarrel of it. +Then, there is a great story belonging to this Field of the Cloth of +Gold, showing how the English were distrustful of the French, and the +French of the English, until Francis rode alone one morning to Henry’s +tent; and, going in before he was out of bed, told him in joke that he +was his prisoner; and how Henry jumped out of bed and embraced Francis; +and how Francis helped Henry to dress, and warmed his linen for him; +and how Henry gave Francis a splendid jewelled collar, and how Francis +gave Henry, in return, a costly bracelet. All this and a great deal +more was so written about, and sung about, and talked about at that +time (and, indeed, since that time too), that the world has had good +cause to be sick of it, for ever. + +Of course, nothing came of all these fine doings but a speedy renewal +of the war between England and France, in which the two Royal +companions and brothers in arms longed very earnestly to damage one +another. But, before it broke out again, the Duke of Buckingham was +shamefully executed on Tower Hill, on the evidence of a discharged +servant—really for nothing, except the folly of having believed in a +friar of the name of Hopkins, who had pretended to be a prophet, and +who had mumbled and jumbled out some nonsense about the Duke’s son +being destined to be very great in the land. It was believed that the +unfortunate Duke had given offence to the great Cardinal by expressing +his mind freely about the expense and absurdity of the whole business +of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At any rate, he was beheaded, as I +have said, for nothing. And the people who saw it done were very angry, +and cried out that it was the work of ‘the butcher’s son!’ + +The new war was a short one, though the Earl of Surrey invaded France +again, and did some injury to that country. It ended in another treaty +of peace between the two kingdoms, and in the discovery that the +Emperor of Germany was not such a good friend to England in reality, as +he pretended to be. Neither did he keep his promise to Wolsey to make +him Pope, though the King urged him. Two Popes died in pretty quick +succession; but the foreign priests were too much for the Cardinal, and +kept him out of the post. So the Cardinal and King together found out +that the Emperor of Germany was not a man to keep faith with; broke off +a projected marriage between the King’s daughter Mary, Princess of +Wales, and that sovereign; and began to consider whether it might not +be well to marry the young lady, either to Francis himself, or to his +eldest son. + +There now arose at Wittemberg, in Germany, the great leader of the +mighty change in England which is called The Reformation, and which set +the people free from their slavery to the priests. This was a learned +Doctor, named Martin Luther, who knew all about them, for he had been a +priest, and even a monk, himself. The preaching and writing of +Wickliffe had set a number of men thinking on this subject; and Luther, +finding one day to his great surprise, that there really was a book +called the New Testament which the priests did not allow to be read, +and which contained truths that they suppressed, began to be very +vigorous against the whole body, from the Pope downward. It happened, +while he was yet only beginning his vast work of awakening the nation, +that an impudent fellow named Tetzel, a friar of very bad character, +came into his neighbourhood selling what were called Indulgences, by +wholesale, to raise money for beautifying the great Cathedral of St. +Peter’s, at Rome. Whoever bought an Indulgence of the Pope was supposed +to buy himself off from the punishment of Heaven for his offences. +Luther told the people that these Indulgences were worthless bits of +paper, before God, and that Tetzel and his masters were a crew of +impostors in selling them. + +The King and the Cardinal were mightily indignant at this presumption; +and the King (with the help of Sir Thomas More, a wise man, whom he +afterwards repaid by striking off his head) even wrote a book about it, +with which the Pope was so well pleased that he gave the King the title +of Defender of the Faith. The King and the Cardinal also issued flaming +warnings to the people not to read Luther’s books, on pain of +excommunication. But they did read them for all that; and the rumour of +what was in them spread far and wide. + +When this great change was thus going on, the King began to show +himself in his truest and worst colours. Anne Boleyn, the pretty little +girl who had gone abroad to France with his sister, was by this time +grown up to be very beautiful, and was one of the ladies in attendance +on Queen Catherine. Now, Queen Catherine was no longer young or +handsome, and it is likely that she was not particularly good-tempered; +having been always rather melancholy, and having been made more so by +the deaths of four of her children when they were very young. So, the +King fell in love with the fair Anne Boleyn, and said to himself, ‘How +can I be best rid of my own troublesome wife whom I am tired of, and +marry Anne?’ + +[Illustration: Catherine was old, so he fell in love with Anne Boleyn] + +You recollect that Queen Catherine had been the wife of Henry’s +brother. What does the King do, after thinking it over, but calls his +favourite priests about him, and says, O! his mind is in such a +dreadful state, and he is so frightfully uneasy, because he is afraid +it was not lawful for him to marry the Queen! Not one of those priests +had the courage to hint that it was rather curious he had never thought +of that before, and that his mind seemed to have been in a tolerably +jolly condition during a great many years, in which he certainly had +not fretted himself thin; but, they all said, Ah! that was very true, +and it was a serious business; and perhaps the best way to make it +right, would be for his Majesty to be divorced! The King replied, Yes, +he thought that would be the best way, certainly; so they all went to +work. + +If I were to relate to you the intrigues and plots that took place in +the endeavour to get this divorce, you would think the History of +England the most tiresome book in the world. So I shall say no more, +than that after a vast deal of negotiation and evasion, the Pope issued +a commission to Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio (whom he sent +over from Italy for the purpose), to try the whole case in England. It +is supposed—and I think with reason—that Wolsey was the Queen’s enemy, +because she had reproved him for his proud and gorgeous manner of life. +But, he did not at first know that the King wanted to marry Anne +Boleyn; and when he did know it, he even went down on his knees, in the +endeavour to dissuade him. + +The Cardinals opened their court in the Convent of the Black Friars, +near to where the bridge of that name in London now stands; and the +King and Queen, that they might be near it, took up their lodgings at +the adjoining palace of Bridewell, of which nothing now remains but a +bad prison. On the opening of the court, when the King and Queen were +called on to appear, that poor ill-used lady, with a dignity and +firmness and yet with a womanly affection worthy to be always admired, +went and kneeled at the King’s feet, and said that she had come, a +stranger, to his dominions; that she had been a good and true wife to +him for twenty years; and that she could acknowledge no power in those +Cardinals to try whether she should be considered his wife after all +that time, or should be put away. With that, she got up and left the +court, and would never afterwards come back to it. + +The King pretended to be very much overcome, and said, O! my lords and +gentlemen, what a good woman she was to be sure, and how delighted he +would be to live with her unto death, but for that terrible uneasiness +in his mind which was quite wearing him away! So, the case went on, and +there was nothing but talk for two months. Then Cardinal Campeggio, +who, on behalf of the Pope, wanted nothing so much as delay, adjourned +it for two more months; and before that time was elapsed, the Pope +himself adjourned it indefinitely, by requiring the King and Queen to +come to Rome and have it tried there. But by good luck for the King, +word was brought to him by some of his people, that they had happened +to meet at supper, Thomas Cranmer, a learned Doctor of Cambridge, who +had proposed to urge the Pope on, by referring the case to all the +learned doctors and bishops, here and there and everywhere, and getting +their opinions that the King’s marriage was unlawful. The King, who was +now in a hurry to marry Anne Boleyn, thought this such a good idea, +that he sent for Cranmer, post haste, and said to Lord Rochfort, Anne +Boleyn’s father, ‘Take this learned Doctor down to your country-house, +and there let him have a good room for a study, and no end of books out +of which to prove that I may marry your daughter.’ Lord Rochfort, not +at all reluctant, made the learned Doctor as comfortable as he could; +and the learned Doctor went to work to prove his case. All this time, +the King and Anne Boleyn were writing letters to one another almost +daily, full of impatience to have the case settled; and Anne Boleyn was +showing herself (as I think) very worthy of the fate which afterwards +befel her. + +It was bad for Cardinal Wolsey that he had left Cranmer to render this +help. It was worse for him that he had tried to dissuade the King from +marrying Anne Boleyn. Such a servant as he, to such a master as Henry, +would probably have fallen in any case; but, between the hatred of the +party of the Queen that was, and the hatred of the party of the Queen +that was to be, he fell suddenly and heavily. Going down one day to the +Court of Chancery, where he now presided, he was waited upon by the +Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, who told him that they brought an order +to him to resign that office, and to withdraw quietly to a house he had +at Esher, in Surrey. The Cardinal refusing, they rode off to the King; +and next day came back with a letter from him, on reading which, the +Cardinal submitted. An inventory was made out of all the riches in his +palace at York Place (now Whitehall), and he went sorrowfully up the +river, in his barge, to Putney. An abject man he was, in spite of his +pride; for being overtaken, riding out of that place towards Esher, by +one of the King’s chamberlains who brought him a kind message and a +ring, he alighted from his mule, took off his cap, and kneeled down in +the dirt. His poor Fool, whom in his prosperous days he had always kept +in his palace to entertain him, cut a far better figure than he; for, +when the Cardinal said to the chamberlain that he had nothing to send +to his lord the King as a present, but that jester who was a most +excellent one, it took six strong yeomen to remove the faithful fool +from his master. + +The once proud Cardinal was soon further disgraced, and wrote the most +abject letters to his vile sovereign; who humbled him one day and +encouraged him the next, according to his humour, until he was at last +ordered to go and reside in his diocese of York. He said he was too +poor; but I don’t know how he made that out, for he took a hundred and +sixty servants with him, and seventy-two cart-loads of furniture, food, +and wine. He remained in that part of the country for the best part of +a year, and showed himself so improved by his misfortunes, and was so +mild and so conciliating, that he won all hearts. And indeed, even in +his proud days, he had done some magnificent things for learning and +education. At last, he was arrested for high treason; and, coming +slowly on his journey towards London, got as far as Leicester. Arriving +at Leicester Abbey after dark, and very ill, he said—when the monks +came out at the gate with lighted torches to receive him—that he had +come to lay his bones among them. He had indeed; for he was taken to a +bed, from which he never rose again. His last words were, ‘Had I but +served God as diligently as I have served the King, He would not have +given me over, in my grey hairs. Howbeit, this is my just reward for my +pains and diligence, not regarding my service to God, but only my duty +to my prince.’ The news of his death was quickly carried to the King, +who was amusing himself with archery in the garden of the magnificent +Palace at Hampton Court, which that very Wolsey had presented to him. +The greatest emotion his royal mind displayed at the loss of a servant +so faithful and so ruined, was a particular desire to lay hold of +fifteen hundred pounds which the Cardinal was reported to have hidden +somewhere. + +The opinions concerning the divorce, of the learned doctors and bishops +and others, being at last collected, and being generally in the King’s +favour, were forwarded to the Pope, with an entreaty that he would now +grant it. The unfortunate Pope, who was a timid man, was half +distracted between his fear of his authority being set aside in England +if he did not do as he was asked, and his dread of offending the +Emperor of Germany, who was Queen Catherine’s nephew. In this state of +mind he still evaded and did nothing. Then, Thomas Cromwell, who had +been one of Wolsey’s faithful attendants, and had remained so even in +his decline, advised the King to take the matter into his own hands, +and make himself the head of the whole Church. This, the King by +various artful means, began to do; but he recompensed the clergy by +allowing them to burn as many people as they pleased, for holding +Luther’s opinions. You must understand that Sir Thomas More, the wise +man who had helped the King with his book, had been made Chancellor in +Wolsey’s place. But, as he was truly attached to the Church as it was +even in its abuses, he, in this state of things, resigned. + +Being now quite resolved to get rid of Queen Catherine, and to marry +Anne Boleyn without more ado, the King made Cranmer Archbishop of +Canterbury, and directed Queen Catherine to leave the Court. She +obeyed; but replied that wherever she went, she was Queen of England +still, and would remain so, to the last. The King then married Anne +Boleyn privately; and the new Archbishop of Canterbury, within half a +year, declared his marriage with Queen Catherine void, and crowned Anne +Boleyn Queen. + +She might have known that no good could ever come from such wrong, and +that the corpulent brute who had been so faithless and so cruel to his +first wife, could be more faithless and more cruel to his second. She +might have known that, even when he was in love with her, he had been a +mean and selfish coward, running away, like a frightened cur, from her +society and her house, when a dangerous sickness broke out in it, and +when she might easily have taken it and died, as several of the +household did. But, Anne Boleyn arrived at all this knowledge too late, +and bought it at a dear price. Her bad marriage with a worse man came +to its natural end. Its natural end was not, as we shall too soon see, +a natural death for her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH + +PART THE SECOND + +The Pope was thrown into a very angry state of mind when he heard of +the King’s marriage, and fumed exceedingly. Many of the English monks +and friars, seeing that their order was in danger, did the same; some +even declaimed against the King in church before his face, and were not +to be stopped until he himself roared out ‘Silence!’ The King, not much +the worse for this, took it pretty quietly; and was very glad when his +Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was christened Elizabeth, and +declared Princess of Wales as her sister Mary had already been. + +One of the most atrocious features of this reign was that Henry the +Eighth was always trimming between the reformed religion and the +unreformed one; so that the more he quarrelled with the Pope, the more +of his own subjects he roasted alive for not holding the Pope’s +opinions. Thus, an unfortunate student named John Frith, and a poor +simple tailor named Andrew Hewet who loved him very much, and said that +whatever John Frith believed _he_ believed, were burnt in Smithfield—to +show what a capital Christian the King was. + +But, these were speedily followed by two much greater victims, Sir +Thomas More, and John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. The latter, who +was a good and amiable old man, had committed no greater offence than +believing in Elizabeth Barton, called the Maid of Kent—another of those +ridiculous women who pretended to be inspired, and to make all sorts of +heavenly revelations, though they indeed uttered nothing but evil +nonsense. For this offence—as it was pretended, but really for denying +the King to be the supreme Head of the Church—he got into trouble, and +was put in prison; but, even then, he might have been suffered to die +naturally (short work having been made of executing the Kentish Maid +and her principal followers), but that the Pope, to spite the King, +resolved to make him a cardinal. Upon that the King made a ferocious +joke to the effect that the Pope might send Fisher a red hat—which is +the way they make a cardinal—but he should have no head on which to +wear it; and he was tried with all unfairness and injustice, and +sentenced to death. He died like a noble and virtuous old man, and left +a worthy name behind him. The King supposed, I dare say, that Sir +Thomas More would be frightened by this example; but, as he was not to +be easily terrified, and, thoroughly believing in the Pope, had made up +his mind that the King was not the rightful Head of the Church, he +positively refused to say that he was. For this crime he too was tried +and sentenced, after having been in prison a whole year. When he was +doomed to death, and came away from his trial with the edge of the +executioner’s axe turned towards him—as was always done in those times +when a state prisoner came to that hopeless pass—he bore it quite +serenely, and gave his blessing to his son, who pressed through the +crowd in Westminster Hall and kneeled down to receive it. But, when he +got to the Tower Wharf on his way back to his prison, and his favourite +daughter, Margaret Roper, a very good woman, rushed through the guards +again and again, to kiss him and to weep upon his neck, he was overcome +at last. He soon recovered, and never more showed any feeling but +cheerfulness and courage. When he was going up the steps of the +scaffold to his death, he said jokingly to the Lieutenant of the Tower, +observing that they were weak and shook beneath his tread, ‘I pray you, +master Lieutenant, see me safe up; and, for my coming down, I can shift +for myself.’ Also he said to the executioner, after he had laid his +head upon the block, ‘Let me put my beard out of the way; for that, at +least, has never committed any treason.’ Then his head was struck off +at a blow. These two executions were worthy of King Henry the Eighth. +Sir Thomas More was one of the most virtuous men in his dominions, and +the Bishop was one of his oldest and truest friends. But to be a friend +of that fellow was almost as dangerous as to be his wife. + +When the news of these two murders got to Rome, the Pope raged against +the murderer more than ever Pope raged since the world began, and +prepared a Bull, ordering his subjects to take arms against him and +dethrone him. The King took all possible precautions to keep that +document out of his dominions, and set to work in return to suppress a +great number of the English monasteries and abbeys. + +This destruction was begun by a body of commissioners, of whom Cromwell +(whom the King had taken into great favour) was the head; and was +carried on through some few years to its entire completion. There is no +doubt that many of these religious establishments were religious in +nothing but in name, and were crammed with lazy, indolent, and sensual +monks. There is no doubt that they imposed upon the people in every +possible way; that they had images moved by wires, which they pretended +were miraculously moved by Heaven; that they had among them a whole tun +measure full of teeth, all purporting to have come out of the head of +one saint, who must indeed have been a very extraordinary person with +that enormous allowance of grinders; that they had bits of coal which +they said had fried Saint Lawrence, and bits of toe-nails which they +said belonged to other famous saints; penknives, and boots, and +girdles, which they said belonged to others; and that all these bits of +rubbish were called Relics, and adored by the ignorant people. But, on +the other hand, there is no doubt either, that the King’s officers and +men punished the good monks with the bad; did great injustice; +demolished many beautiful things and many valuable libraries; destroyed +numbers of paintings, stained glass windows, fine pavements, and +carvings; and that the whole court were ravenously greedy and rapacious +for the division of this great spoil among them. The King seems to have +grown almost mad in the ardour of this pursuit; for he declared Thomas +à Becket a traitor, though he had been dead so many years, and had his +body dug up out of his grave. He must have been as miraculous as the +monks pretended, if they had told the truth, for he was found with one +head on his shoulders, and they had shown another as his undoubted and +genuine head ever since his death; it had brought them vast sums of +money, too. The gold and jewels on his shrine filled two great chests, +and eight men tottered as they carried them away. How rich the +monasteries were you may infer from the fact that, when they were all +suppressed, one hundred and thirty thousand pounds a year—in those days +an immense sum—came to the Crown. + +These things were not done without causing great discontent among the +people. The monks had been good landlords and hospitable entertainers +of all travellers, and had been accustomed to give away a great deal of +corn, and fruit, and meat, and other things. In those days it was +difficult to change goods into money, in consequence of the roads being +very few and very bad, and the carts, and waggons of the worst +description; and they must either have given away some of the good +things they possessed in enormous quantities, or have suffered them to +spoil and moulder. So, many of the people missed what it was more +agreeable to get idly than to work for; and the monks who were driven +out of their homes and wandered about encouraged their discontent; and +there were, consequently, great risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. +These were put down by terrific executions, from which the monks +themselves did not escape, and the King went on grunting and growling +in his own fat way, like a Royal pig. + +I have told all this story of the religious houses at one time, to make +it plainer, and to get back to the King’s domestic affairs. + +The unfortunate Queen Catherine was by this time dead; and the King was +by this time as tired of his second Queen as he had been of his first. +As he had fallen in love with Anne when she was in the service of +Catherine, so he now fell in love with another lady in the service of +Anne. See how wicked deeds are punished, and how bitterly and +self-reproachfully the Queen must now have thought of her own rise to +the throne! The new fancy was a Lady Jane Seymour; and the King no +sooner set his mind on her, than he resolved to have Anne Boleyn’s +head. So, he brought a number of charges against Anne, accusing her of +dreadful crimes which she had never committed, and implicating in them +her own brother and certain gentlemen in her service: among whom one +Norris, and Mark Smeaton a musician, are best remembered. As the lords +and councillors were as afraid of the King and as subservient to him as +the meanest peasant in England was, they brought in Anne Boleyn guilty, +and the other unfortunate persons accused with her, guilty too. Those +gentlemen died like men, with the exception of Smeaton, who had been +tempted by the King into telling lies, which he called confessions, and +who had expected to be pardoned; but who, I am very glad to say, was +not. There was then only the Queen to dispose of. She had been +surrounded in the Tower with women spies; had been monstrously +persecuted and foully slandered; and had received no justice. But her +spirit rose with her afflictions; and, after having in vain tried to +soften the King by writing an affecting letter to him which still +exists, ‘from her doleful prison in the Tower,’ she resigned herself to +death. She said to those about her, very cheerfully, that she had heard +say the executioner was a good one, and that she had a little neck (she +laughed and clasped it with her hands as she said that), and would soon +be out of her pain. And she _was_ soon out of her pain, poor creature, +on the Green inside the Tower, and her body was flung into an old box +and put away in the ground under the chapel. + +There is a story that the King sat in his palace listening very +anxiously for the sound of the cannon which was to announce this new +murder; and that, when he heard it come booming on the air, he rose up +in great spirits and ordered out his dogs to go a-hunting. He was bad +enough to do it; but whether he did it or not, it is certain that he +married Jane Seymour the very next day. + +I have not much pleasure in recording that she lived just long enough +to give birth to a son who was christened Edward, and then to die of a +fever: for, I cannot but think that any woman who married such a +ruffian, and knew what innocent blood was on his hands, deserved the +axe that would assuredly have fallen on the neck of Jane Seymour, if +she had lived much longer. + +Cranmer had done what he could to save some of the Church property for +purposes of religion and education; but, the great families had been so +hungry to get hold of it, that very little could be rescued for such +objects. Even Miles Coverdale, who did the people the inestimable +service of translating the Bible into English (which the unreformed +religion never permitted to be done), was left in poverty while the +great families clutched the Church lands and money. The people had been +told that when the Crown came into possession of these funds, it would +not be necessary to tax them; but they were taxed afresh directly +afterwards. It was fortunate for them, indeed, that so many nobles were +so greedy for this wealth; since, if it had remained with the Crown, +there might have been no end to tyranny for hundreds of years. One of +the most active writers on the Church’s side against the King was a +member of his own family—a sort of distant cousin, Reginald Pole by +name—who attacked him in the most violent manner (though he received a +pension from him all the time), and fought for the Church with his pen, +day and night. As he was beyond the King’s reach—being in Italy—the +King politely invited him over to discuss the subject; but he, knowing +better than to come, and wisely staying where he was, the King’s rage +fell upon his brother Lord Montague, the Marquis of Exeter, and some +other gentlemen: who were tried for high treason in corresponding with +him and aiding him—which they probably did—and were all executed. The +Pope made Reginald Pole a cardinal; but, so much against his will, that +it is thought he even aspired in his own mind to the vacant throne of +England, and had hopes of marrying the Princess Mary. His being made a +high priest, however, put an end to all that. His mother, the venerable +Countess of Salisbury—who was, unfortunately for herself, within the +tyrant’s reach—was the last of his relatives on whom his wrath fell. +When she was told to lay her grey head upon the block, she answered the +executioner, ‘No! My head never committed treason, and if you want it, +you shall seize it.’ So, she ran round and round the scaffold with the +executioner striking at her, and her grey hair bedabbled with blood; +and even when they held her down upon the block she moved her head +about to the last, resolved to be no party to her own barbarous murder. +All this the people bore, as they had borne everything else. + +Indeed they bore much more; for the slow fires of Smithfield were +continually burning, and people were constantly being roasted to +death—still to show what a good Christian the King was. He defied the +Pope and his Bull, which was now issued, and had come into England; but +he burned innumerable people whose only offence was that they differed +from the Pope’s religious opinions. There was a wretched man named +Lambert, among others, who was tried for this before the King, and with +whom six bishops argued one after another. When he was quite exhausted +(as well he might be, after six bishops), he threw himself on the +King’s mercy; but the King blustered out that he had no mercy for +heretics. So, _he_ too fed the fire. + +All this the people bore, and more than all this yet. The national +spirit seems to have been banished from the kingdom at this time. The +very people who were executed for treason, the very wives and friends +of the ‘bluff’ King, spoke of him on the scaffold as a good prince, and +a gentle prince—just as serfs in similar circumstances have been known +to do, under the Sultan and Bashaws of the East, or under the fierce +old tyrants of Russia, who poured boiling and freezing water on them +alternately, until they died. The Parliament were as bad as the rest, +and gave the King whatever he wanted; among other vile accommodations, +they gave him new powers of murdering, at his will and pleasure, any +one whom he might choose to call a traitor. But the worst measure they +passed was an Act of Six Articles, commonly called at the time ‘the +whip with six strings;’ which punished offences against the Pope’s +opinions, without mercy, and enforced the very worst parts of the +monkish religion. Cranmer would have modified it, if he could; but, +being overborne by the Romish party, had not the power. As one of the +articles declared that priests should not marry, and as he was married +himself, he sent his wife and children into Germany, and began to +tremble at his danger; none the less because he was, and had long been, +the King’s friend. This whip of six strings was made under the King’s +own eye. It should never be forgotten of him how cruelly he supported +the worst of the Popish doctrines when there was nothing to be got by +opposing them. + +This amiable monarch now thought of taking another wife. He proposed to +the French King to have some of the ladies of the French Court +exhibited before him, that he might make his Royal choice; but the +French King answered that he would rather not have his ladies trotted +out to be shown like horses at a fair. He proposed to the Dowager +Duchess of Milan, who replied that she might have thought of such a +match if she had had two heads; but, that only owning one, she must beg +to keep it safe. At last Cromwell represented that there was a +Protestant Princess in Germany—those who held the reformed religion +were called Protestants, because their leaders had Protested against +the abuses and impositions of the unreformed Church—named Anne of +Cleves, who was beautiful, and would answer the purpose admirably. The +King said was she a large woman, because he must have a fat wife? ‘O +yes,’ said Cromwell; ‘she was very large, just the thing.’ On hearing +this the King sent over his famous painter, Hans Holbein, to take her +portrait. Hans made her out to be so good-looking that the King was +satisfied, and the marriage was arranged. But, whether anybody had paid +Hans to touch up the picture; or whether Hans, like one or two other +painters, flattered a princess in the ordinary way of business, I +cannot say: all I know is, that when Anne came over and the King went +to Rochester to meet her, and first saw her without her seeing him, he +swore she was ‘a great Flanders mare,’ and said he would never marry +her. Being obliged to do it now matters had gone so far, he would not +give her the presents he had prepared, and would never notice her. He +never forgave Cromwell his part in the affair. His downfall dates from +that time. + +It was quickened by his enemies, in the interests of the unreformed +religion, putting in the King’s way, at a state dinner, a niece of the +Duke of Norfolk, Catherine Howard, a young lady of fascinating manners, +though small in stature and not particularly beautiful. Falling in love +with her on the spot, the King soon divorced Anne of Cleves after +making her the subject of much brutal talk, on pretence that she had +been previously betrothed to some one else—which would never do for one +of his dignity—and married Catherine. It is probable that on his +wedding day, of all days in the year, he sent his faithful Cromwell to +the scaffold, and had his head struck off. He further celebrated the +occasion by burning at one time, and causing to be drawn to the fire on +the same hurdles, some Protestant prisoners for denying the Pope’s +doctrines, and some Roman Catholic prisoners for denying his own +supremacy. Still the people bore it, and not a gentleman in England +raised his hand. + +But, by a just retribution, it soon came out that Catherine Howard, +before her marriage, had been really guilty of such crimes as the King +had falsely attributed to his second wife Anne Boleyn; so, again the +dreadful axe made the King a widower, and this Queen passed away as so +many in that reign had passed away before her. As an appropriate +pursuit under the circumstances, Henry then applied himself to +superintending the composition of a religious book called ‘A necessary +doctrine for any Christian Man.’ He must have been a little confused in +his mind, I think, at about this period; for he was so false to himself +as to be true to some one: that some one being Cranmer, whom the Duke +of Norfolk and others of his enemies tried to ruin; but to whom the +King was steadfast, and to whom he one night gave his ring, charging +him when he should find himself, next day, accused of treason, to show +it to the council board. This Cranmer did to the confusion of his +enemies. I suppose the King thought he might want him a little longer. + +He married yet once more. Yes, strange to say, he found in England +another woman who would become his wife, and she was Catherine Parr, +widow of Lord Latimer. She leaned towards the reformed religion; and it +is some comfort to know, that she tormented the King considerably by +arguing a variety of doctrinal points with him on all possible +occasions. She had very nearly done this to her own destruction. After +one of these conversations the King in a very black mood actually +instructed Gardiner, one of his Bishops who favoured the Popish +opinions, to draw a bill of accusation against her, which would have +inevitably brought her to the scaffold where her predecessors had died, +but that one of her friends picked up the paper of instructions which +had been dropped in the palace, and gave her timely notice. She fell +ill with terror; but managed the King so well when he came to entrap +her into further statements—by saying that she had only spoken on such +points to divert his mind and to get some information from his +extraordinary wisdom—that he gave her a kiss and called her his +sweetheart. And, when the Chancellor came next day actually to take her +to the Tower, the King sent him about his business, and honoured him +with the epithets of a beast, a knave, and a fool. So near was +Catherine Parr to the block, and so narrow was her escape! + +There was war with Scotland in this reign, and a short clumsy war with +France for favouring Scotland; but, the events at home were so +dreadful, and leave such an enduring stain on the country, that I need +say no more of what happened abroad. + +A few more horrors, and this reign is over. There was a lady, Anne +Askew, in Lincolnshire, who inclined to the Protestant opinions, and +whose husband being a fierce Catholic, turned her out of his house. She +came to London, and was considered as offending against the six +articles, and was taken to the Tower, and put upon the rack—probably +because it was hoped that she might, in her agony, criminate some +obnoxious persons; if falsely, so much the better. She was tortured +without uttering a cry, until the Lieutenant of the Tower would suffer +his men to torture her no more; and then two priests who were present +actually pulled off their robes, and turned the wheels of the rack with +their own hands, so rending and twisting and breaking her that she was +afterwards carried to the fire in a chair. She was burned with three +others, a gentleman, a clergyman, and a tailor; and so the world went +on. + +Either the King became afraid of the power of the Duke of Norfolk, and +his son the Earl of Surrey, or they gave him some offence, but he +resolved to pull _them_ down, to follow all the rest who were gone. The +son was tried first—of course for nothing—and defended himself bravely; +but of course he was found guilty, and of course he was executed. Then +his father was laid hold of, and left for death too. + +But the King himself was left for death by a Greater King, and the +earth was to be rid of him at last. He was now a swollen, hideous +spectacle, with a great hole in his leg, and so odious to every sense +that it was dreadful to approach him. When he was found to be dying, +Cranmer was sent for from his palace at Croydon, and came with all +speed, but found him speechless. Happily, in that hour he perished. He +was in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirty-eighth of his +reign. + +Henry the Eighth has been favoured by some Protestant writers, because +the Reformation was achieved in his time. But the mighty merit of it +lies with other men and not with him; and it can be rendered none the +worse by this monster’s crimes, and none the better by any defence of +them. The plain truth is, that he was a most intolerable ruffian, a +disgrace to human nature, and a blot of blood and grease upon the +History of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH + + +Henry the Eighth had made a will, appointing a council of sixteen to +govern the kingdom for his son while he was under age (he was now only +ten years old), and another council of twelve to help them. The most +powerful of the first council was the Earl of Hertford, the young +King’s uncle, who lost no time in bringing his nephew with great state +up to Enfield, and thence to the Tower. It was considered at the time a +striking proof of virtue in the young King that he was sorry for his +father’s death; but, as common subjects have that virtue too, +sometimes, we will say no more about it. + +There was a curious part of the late King’s will, requiring his +executors to fulfil whatever promises he had made. Some of the court +wondering what these might be, the Earl of Hertford and the other +noblemen interested, said that they were promises to advance and enrich +_them_. So, the Earl of Hertford made himself Duke of Somerset, and +made his brother Edward Seymour a baron; and there were various similar +promotions, all very agreeable to the parties concerned, and very +dutiful, no doubt, to the late King’s memory. To be more dutiful still, +they made themselves rich out of the Church lands, and were very +comfortable. The new Duke of Somerset caused himself to be declared +Protector of the kingdom, and was, indeed, the King. + +As young Edward the Sixth had been brought up in the principles of the +Protestant religion, everybody knew that they would be maintained. But +Cranmer, to whom they were chiefly entrusted, advanced them steadily +and temperately. Many superstitious and ridiculous practices were +stopped; but practices which were harmless were not interfered with. + +The Duke of Somerset, the Protector, was anxious to have the young King +engaged in marriage to the young Queen of Scotland, in order to prevent +that princess from making an alliance with any foreign power; but, as a +large party in Scotland were unfavourable to this plan, he invaded that +country. His excuse for doing so was, that the Border men—that is, the +Scotch who lived in that part of the country where England and Scotland +joined—troubled the English very much. But there were two sides to this +question; for the English Border men troubled the Scotch too; and, +through many long years, there were perpetual border quarrels which +gave rise to numbers of old tales and songs. However, the Protector +invaded Scotland; and Arran, the Scottish Regent, with an army twice as +large as his, advanced to meet him. They encountered on the banks of +the river Esk, within a few miles of Edinburgh; and there, after a +little skirmish, the Protector made such moderate proposals, in +offering to retire if the Scotch would only engage not to marry their +princess to any foreign prince, that the Regent thought the English +were afraid. But in this he made a horrible mistake; for the English +soldiers on land, and the English sailors on the water, so set upon the +Scotch, that they broke and fled, and more than ten thousand of them +were killed. It was a dreadful battle, for the fugitives were slain +without mercy. The ground for four miles, all the way to Edinburgh, was +strewn with dead men, and with arms, and legs, and heads. Some hid +themselves in streams and were drowned; some threw away their armour +and were killed running, almost naked; but in this battle of Pinkey the +English lost only two or three hundred men. They were much better +clothed than the Scotch; at the poverty of whose appearance and country +they were exceedingly astonished. + +A Parliament was called when Somerset came back, and it repealed the +whip with six strings, and did one or two other good things; though it +unhappily retained the punishment of burning for those people who did +not make believe to believe, in all religious matters, what the +Government had declared that they must and should believe. It also made +a foolish law (meant to put down beggars), that any man who lived idly +and loitered about for three days together, should be burned with a hot +iron, made a slave, and wear an iron fetter. But this savage absurdity +soon came to an end, and went the way of a great many other foolish +laws. + +The Protector was now so proud that he sat in Parliament before all the +nobles, on the right hand of the throne. Many other noblemen, who only +wanted to be as proud if they could get a chance, became his enemies of +course; and it is supposed that he came back suddenly from Scotland +because he had received news that his brother, Lord Seymour, was +becoming dangerous to him. This lord was now High Admiral of England; a +very handsome man, and a great favourite with the Court ladies—even +with the young Princess Elizabeth, who romped with him a little more +than young princesses in these times do with any one. He had married +Catherine Parr, the late King’s widow, who was now dead; and, to +strengthen his power, he secretly supplied the young King with money. +He may even have engaged with some of his brother’s enemies in a plot +to carry the boy off. On these and other accusations, at any rate, he +was confined in the Tower, impeached, and found guilty; his own +brother’s name being—unnatural and sad to tell—the first signed to the +warrant of his execution. He was executed on Tower Hill, and died +denying his treason. One of his last proceedings in this world was to +write two letters, one to the Princess Elizabeth, and one to the +Princess Mary, which a servant of his took charge of, and concealed in +his shoe. These letters are supposed to have urged them against his +brother, and to revenge his death. What they truly contained is not +known; but there is no doubt that he had, at one time, obtained great +influence over the Princess Elizabeth. + +All this while, the Protestant religion was making progress. The images +which the people had gradually come to worship, were removed from the +churches; the people were informed that they need not confess +themselves to priests unless they chose; a common prayer-book was drawn +up in the English language, which all could understand, and many other +improvements were made; still moderately. For Cranmer was a very +moderate man, and even restrained the Protestant clergy from violently +abusing the unreformed religion—as they very often did, and which was +not a good example. But the people were at this time in great distress. +The rapacious nobility who had come into possession of the Church +lands, were very bad landlords. They enclosed great quantities of +ground for the feeding of sheep, which was then more profitable than +the growing of crops; and this increased the general distress. So the +people, who still understood little of what was going on about them, +and still readily believed what the homeless monks told them—many of +whom had been their good friends in their better days—took it into +their heads that all this was owing to the reformed religion, and +therefore rose, in many parts of the country. + +The most powerful risings were in Devonshire and Norfolk. In +Devonshire, the rebellion was so strong that ten thousand men united +within a few days, and even laid siege to Exeter. But Lord Russell, +coming to the assistance of the citizens who defended that town, +defeated the rebels; and, not only hanged the Mayor of one place, but +hanged the vicar of another from his own church steeple. What with +hanging and killing by the sword, four thousand of the rebels are +supposed to have fallen in that one county. In Norfolk (where the +rising was more against the enclosure of open lands than against the +reformed religion), the popular leader was a man named Robert Ket, a +tanner of Wymondham. The mob were, in the first instance, excited +against the tanner by one John Flowerdew, a gentleman who owed him a +grudge: but the tanner was more than a match for the gentleman, since +he soon got the people on his side, and established himself near +Norwich with quite an army. There was a large oak-tree in that place, +on a spot called Moushold Hill, which Ket named the Tree of +Reformation; and under its green boughs, he and his men sat, in the +midsummer weather, holding courts of justice, and debating affairs of +state. They were even impartial enough to allow some rather tiresome +public speakers to get up into this Tree of Reformation, and point out +their errors to them, in long discourses, while they lay listening (not +always without some grumbling and growling) in the shade below. At +last, one sunny July day, a herald appeared below the tree, and +proclaimed Ket and all his men traitors, unless from that moment they +dispersed and went home: in which case they were to receive a pardon. +But, Ket and his men made light of the herald and became stronger than +ever, until the Earl of Warwick went after them with a sufficient +force, and cut them all to pieces. A few were hanged, drawn, and +quartered, as traitors, and their limbs were sent into various country +places to be a terror to the people. Nine of them were hanged upon nine +green branches of the Oak of Reformation; and so, for the time, that +tree may be said to have withered away. + +The Protector, though a haughty man, had compassion for the real +distresses of the common people, and a sincere desire to help them. But +he was too proud and too high in degree to hold even their favour +steadily; and many of the nobles always envied and hated him, because +they were as proud and not as high as he. He was at this time building +a great Palace in the Strand: to get the stone for which he blew up +church steeples with gunpowder, and pulled down bishops’ houses: thus +making himself still more disliked. At length, his principal enemy, the +Earl of Warwick—Dudley by name, and the son of that Dudley who had made +himself so odious with Empson, in the reign of Henry the Seventh—joined +with seven other members of the Council against him, formed a separate +Council; and, becoming stronger in a few days, sent him to the Tower +under twenty-nine articles of accusation. After being sentenced by the +Council to the forfeiture of all his offices and lands, he was +liberated and pardoned, on making a very humble submission. He was even +taken back into the Council again, after having suffered this fall, and +married his daughter, Lady Anne Seymour, to Warwick’s eldest son. But +such a reconciliation was little likely to last, and did not outlive a +year. Warwick, having got himself made Duke of Northumberland, and +having advanced the more important of his friends, then finished the +history by causing the Duke of Somerset and his friend Lord Grey, and +others, to be arrested for treason, in having conspired to seize and +dethrone the King. They were also accused of having intended to seize +the new Duke of Northumberland, with his friends Lord Northampton and +Lord Pembroke; to murder them if they found need; and to raise the City +to revolt. All this the fallen Protector positively denied; except that +he confessed to having spoken of the murder of those three noblemen, +but having never designed it. He was acquitted of the charge of +treason, and found guilty of the other charges; so when the people—who +remembered his having been their friend, now that he was disgraced and +in danger, saw him come out from his trial with the axe turned from +him—they thought he was altogether acquitted, and sent up a loud shout +of joy. + +But the Duke of Somerset was ordered to be beheaded on Tower Hill, at +eight o’clock in the morning, and proclamations were issued bidding the +citizens keep at home until after ten. They filled the streets, +however, and crowded the place of execution as soon as it was light; +and, with sad faces and sad hearts, saw the once powerful Protector +ascend the scaffold to lay his head upon the dreadful block. While he +was yet saying his last words to them with manly courage, and telling +them, in particular, how it comforted him, at that pass, to have +assisted in reforming the national religion, a member of the Council +was seen riding up on horseback. They again thought that the Duke was +saved by his bringing a reprieve, and again shouted for joy. But the +Duke himself told them they were mistaken, and laid down his head and +had it struck off at a blow. + +Many of the bystanders rushed forward and steeped their handkerchiefs +in his blood, as a mark of their affection. He had, indeed, been +capable of many good acts, and one of them was discovered after he was +no more. The Bishop of Durham, a very good man, had been informed +against to the Council, when the Duke was in power, as having answered +a treacherous letter proposing a rebellion against the reformed +religion. As the answer could not be found, he could not be declared +guilty; but it was now discovered, hidden by the Duke himself among +some private papers, in his regard for that good man. The Bishop lost +his office, and was deprived of his possessions. + +It is not very pleasant to know that while his uncle lay in prison +under sentence of death, the young King was being vastly entertained by +plays, and dances, and sham fights: but there is no doubt of it, for he +kept a journal himself. It is pleasanter to know that not a single +Roman Catholic was burnt in this reign for holding that religion; +though two wretched victims suffered for heresy. One, a woman named +Joan Bocher, for professing some opinions that even she could only +explain in unintelligible jargon. The other, a Dutchman, named Von +Paris, who practised as a surgeon in London. Edward was, to his credit, +exceedingly unwilling to sign the warrant for the woman’s execution: +shedding tears before he did so, and telling Cranmer, who urged him to +do it (though Cranmer really would have spared the woman at first, but +for her own determined obstinacy), that the guilt was not his, but that +of the man who so strongly urged the dreadful act. We shall see, too +soon, whether the time ever came when Cranmer is likely to have +remembered this with sorrow and remorse. + +Cranmer and Ridley (at first Bishop of Rochester, and afterwards Bishop +of London) were the most powerful of the clergy of this reign. Others +were imprisoned and deprived of their property for still adhering to +the unreformed religion; the most important among whom were Gardiner +Bishop of Winchester, Heath Bishop of Worcester, Day Bishop of +Chichester, and Bonner that Bishop of London who was superseded by +Ridley. The Princess Mary, who inherited her mother’s gloomy temper, +and hated the reformed religion as connected with her mother’s wrongs +and sorrows—she knew nothing else about it, always refusing to read a +single book in which it was truly described—held by the unreformed +religion too, and was the only person in the kingdom for whom the old +Mass was allowed to be performed; nor would the young King have made +that exception even in her favour, but for the strong persuasions of +Cranmer and Ridley. He always viewed it with horror; and when he fell +into a sickly condition, after having been very ill, first of the +measles and then of the small-pox, he was greatly troubled in mind to +think that if he died, and she, the next heir to the throne, succeeded, +the Roman Catholic religion would be set up again. + +This uneasiness, the Duke of Northumberland was not slow to encourage: +for, if the Princess Mary came to the throne, he, who had taken part +with the Protestants, was sure to be disgraced. Now, the Duchess of +Suffolk was descended from King Henry the Seventh; and, if she resigned +what little or no right she had, in favour of her daughter Lady Jane +Grey, that would be the succession to promote the Duke’s greatness; +because Lord Guilford Dudley, one of his sons, was, at this very time, +newly married to her. So, he worked upon the King’s fears, and +persuaded him to set aside both the Princess Mary and the Princess +Elizabeth, and assert his right to appoint his successor. Accordingly +the young King handed to the Crown lawyers a writing signed half a +dozen times over by himself, appointing Lady Jane Grey to succeed to +the Crown, and requiring them to have his will made out according to +law. They were much against it at first, and told the King so; but the +Duke of Northumberland—being so violent about it that the lawyers even +expected him to beat them, and hotly declaring that, stripped to his +shirt, he would fight any man in such a quarrel—they yielded. Cranmer, +also, at first hesitated; pleading that he had sworn to maintain the +succession of the Crown to the Princess Mary; but, he was a weak man in +his resolutions, and afterwards signed the document with the rest of +the council. + +It was completed none too soon; for Edward was now sinking in a rapid +decline; and, by way of making him better, they handed him over to a +woman-doctor who pretended to be able to cure it. He speedily got +worse. On the sixth of July, in the year one thousand five hundred and +fifty-three, he died, very peaceably and piously, praying God, with his +last breath, to protect the reformed religion. + +This King died in the sixteenth year of his age, and in the seventh of +his reign. It is difficult to judge what the character of one so young +might afterwards have become among so many bad, ambitious, quarrelling +nobles. But, he was an amiable boy, of very good abilities, and had +nothing coarse or cruel or brutal in his disposition—which in the son +of such a father is rather surprising. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX +ENGLAND UNDER MARY + + +The Duke of Northumberland was very anxious to keep the young King’s +death a secret, in order that he might get the two Princesses into his +power. But, the Princess Mary, being informed of that event as she was +on her way to London to see her sick brother, turned her horse’s head, +and rode away into Norfolk. The Earl of Arundel was her friend, and it +was he who sent her warning of what had happened. + +As the secret could not be kept, the Duke of Northumberland and the +council sent for the Lord Mayor of London and some of the aldermen, and +made a merit of telling it to them. Then, they made it known to the +people, and set off to inform Lady Jane Grey that she was to be Queen. + +She was a pretty girl of only sixteen, and was amiable, learned, and +clever. When the lords who came to her, fell on their knees before her, +and told her what tidings they brought, she was so astonished that she +fainted. On recovering, she expressed her sorrow for the young King’s +death, and said that she knew she was unfit to govern the kingdom; but +that if she must be Queen, she prayed God to direct her. She was then +at Sion House, near Brentford; and the lords took her down the river in +state to the Tower, that she might remain there (as the custom was) +until she was crowned. But the people were not at all favourable to +Lady Jane, considering that the right to be Queen was Mary’s, and +greatly disliking the Duke of Northumberland. They were not put into a +better humour by the Duke’s causing a vintner’s servant, one Gabriel +Pot, to be taken up for expressing his dissatisfaction among the crowd, +and to have his ears nailed to the pillory, and cut off. Some powerful +men among the nobility declared on Mary’s side. They raised troops to +support her cause, had her proclaimed Queen at Norwich, and gathered +around her at the castle of Framlingham, which belonged to the Duke of +Norfolk. For, she was not considered so safe as yet, but that it was +best to keep her in a castle on the sea-coast, from whence she might be +sent abroad, if necessary. + +The Council would have despatched Lady Jane’s father, the Duke of +Suffolk, as the general of the army against this force; but, as Lady +Jane implored that her father might remain with her, and as he was +known to be but a weak man, they told the Duke of Northumberland that +he must take the command himself. He was not very ready to do so, as he +mistrusted the Council much; but there was no help for it, and he set +forth with a heavy heart, observing to a lord who rode beside him +through Shoreditch at the head of the troops, that, although the people +pressed in great numbers to look at them, they were terribly silent. + +And his fears for himself turned out to be well founded. While he was +waiting at Cambridge for further help from the Council, the Council +took it into their heads to turn their backs on Lady Jane’s cause, and +to take up the Princess Mary’s. This was chiefly owing to the +before-mentioned Earl of Arundel, who represented to the Lord Mayor and +aldermen, in a second interview with those sagacious persons, that, as +for himself, he did not perceive the Reformed religion to be in much +danger—which Lord Pembroke backed by flourishing his sword as another +kind of persuasion. The Lord Mayor and aldermen, thus enlightened, said +there could be no doubt that the Princess Mary ought to be Queen. So, +she was proclaimed at the Cross by St. Paul’s, and barrels of wine were +given to the people, and they got very drunk, and danced round blazing +bonfires—little thinking, poor wretches, what other bonfires would soon +be blazing in Queen Mary’s name. + +After a ten days’ dream of royalty, Lady Jane Grey resigned the Crown +with great willingness, saying that she had only accepted it in +obedience to her father and mother; and went gladly back to her +pleasant house by the river, and her books. Mary then came on towards +London; and at Wanstead in Essex, was joined by her half-sister, the +Princess Elizabeth. They passed through the streets of London to the +Tower, and there the new Queen met some eminent prisoners then confined +in it, kissed them, and gave them their liberty. Among these was that +Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who had been imprisoned in the last +reign for holding to the unreformed religion. Him she soon made +chancellor. + +The Duke of Northumberland had been taken prisoner, and, together with +his son and five others, was quickly brought before the Council. He, +not unnaturally, asked that Council, in his defence, whether it was +treason to obey orders that had been issued under the great seal; and, +if it were, whether they, who had obeyed them too, ought to be his +judges? But they made light of these points; and, being resolved to +have him out of the way, soon sentenced him to death. He had risen into +power upon the death of another man, and made but a poor show (as might +be expected) when he himself lay low. He entreated Gardiner to let him +live, if it were only in a mouse’s hole; and, when he ascended the +scaffold to be beheaded on Tower Hill, addressed the people in a +miserable way, saying that he had been incited by others, and exhorting +them to return to the unreformed religion, which he told them was his +faith. There seems reason to suppose that he expected a pardon even +then, in return for this confession; but it matters little whether he +did or not. His head was struck off. + +Mary was now crowned Queen. She was thirty-seven years of age, short +and thin, wrinkled in the face, and very unhealthy. But she had a great +liking for show and for bright colours, and all the ladies of her Court +were magnificently dressed. She had a great liking too for old customs, +without much sense in them; and she was oiled in the oldest way, and +blessed in the oldest way, and done all manner of things to in the +oldest way, at her coronation. I hope they did her good. + +She soon began to show her desire to put down the Reformed religion, +and put up the unreformed one: though it was dangerous work as yet, the +people being something wiser than they used to be. They even cast a +shower of stones—and among them a dagger—at one of the royal chaplains +who attacked the Reformed religion in a public sermon. But the Queen +and her priests went steadily on. Ridley, the powerful bishop of the +last reign, was seized and sent to the Tower. Latimer, also celebrated +among the Clergy of the last reign, was likewise sent to the Tower, and +Cranmer speedily followed. Latimer was an aged man; and, as his guards +took him through Smithfield, he looked round it, and said, ‘This is a +place that hath long groaned for me.’ For he knew well, what kind of +bonfires would soon be burning. Nor was the knowledge confined to him. +The prisons were fast filled with the chief Protestants, who were there +left rotting in darkness, hunger, dirt, and separation from their +friends; many, who had time left them for escape, fled from the +kingdom; and the dullest of the people began, now, to see what was +coming. + +It came on fast. A Parliament was got together; not without strong +suspicion of unfairness; and they annulled the divorce, formerly +pronounced by Cranmer between the Queen’s mother and King Henry the +Eighth, and unmade all the laws on the subject of religion that had +been made in the last King Edward’s reign. They began their +proceedings, in violation of the law, by having the old mass said +before them in Latin, and by turning out a bishop who would not kneel +down. They also declared guilty of treason, Lady Jane Grey for aspiring +to the Crown; her husband, for being her husband; and Cranmer, for not +believing in the mass aforesaid. They then prayed the Queen graciously +to choose a husband for herself, as soon as might be. + +Now, the question who should be the Queen’s husband had given rise to a +great deal of discussion, and to several contending parties. Some said +Cardinal Pole was the man—but the Queen was of opinion that he was +_not_ the man, he being too old and too much of a student. Others said +that the gallant young Courtenay, whom the Queen had made Earl of +Devonshire, was the man—and the Queen thought so too, for a while; but +she changed her mind. At last it appeared that Philip, Prince of Spain, +was certainly the man—though certainly not the people’s man; for they +detested the idea of such a marriage from the beginning to the end, and +murmured that the Spaniard would establish in England, by the aid of +foreign soldiers, the worst abuses of the Popish religion, and even the +terrible Inquisition itself. + +These discontents gave rise to a conspiracy for marrying young +Courtenay to the Princess Elizabeth, and setting them up, with popular +tumults all over the kingdom, against the Queen. This was discovered in +time by Gardiner; but in Kent, the old bold county, the people rose in +their old bold way. Sir Thomas Wyat, a man of great daring, was their +leader. He raised his standard at Maidstone, marched on to Rochester, +established himself in the old castle there, and prepared to hold out +against the Duke of Norfolk, who came against him with a party of the +Queen’s guards, and a body of five hundred London men. The London men, +however, were all for Elizabeth, and not at all for Mary. They +declared, under the castle walls, for Wyat; the Duke retreated; and +Wyat came on to Deptford, at the head of fifteen thousand men. + +But these, in their turn, fell away. When he came to Southwark, there +were only two thousand left. Not dismayed by finding the London +citizens in arms, and the guns at the Tower ready to oppose his +crossing the river there, Wyat led them off to Kingston-upon-Thames, +intending to cross the bridge that he knew to be in that place, and so +to work his way round to Ludgate, one of the old gates of the City. He +found the bridge broken down, but mended it, came across, and bravely +fought his way up Fleet Street to Ludgate Hill. Finding the gate closed +against him, he fought his way back again, sword in hand, to Temple +Bar. Here, being overpowered, he surrendered himself, and three or four +hundred of his men were taken, besides a hundred killed. Wyat, in a +moment of weakness (and perhaps of torture) was afterwards made to +accuse the Princess Elizabeth as his accomplice to some very small +extent. But his manhood soon returned to him, and he refused to save +his life by making any more false confessions. He was quartered and +distributed in the usual brutal way, and from fifty to a hundred of his +followers were hanged. The rest were led out, with halters round their +necks, to be pardoned, and to make a parade of crying out, ‘God save +Queen Mary!’ + +In the danger of this rebellion, the Queen showed herself to be a woman +of courage and spirit. She disdained to retreat to any place of safety, +and went down to the Guildhall, sceptre in hand, and made a gallant +speech to the Lord Mayor and citizens. But on the day after Wyat’s +defeat, she did the most cruel act, even of her cruel reign, in signing +the warrant for the execution of Lady Jane Grey. + +They tried to persuade Lady Jane to accept the unreformed religion; but +she steadily refused. On the morning when she was to die, she saw from +her window the bleeding and headless body of her husband brought back +in a cart from the scaffold on Tower Hill where he had laid down his +life. But, as she had declined to see him before his execution, lest +she should be overpowered and not make a good end, so, she even now +showed a constancy and calmness that will never be forgotten. She came +up to the scaffold with a firm step and a quiet face, and addressed the +bystanders in a steady voice. They were not numerous; for she was too +young, too innocent and fair, to be murdered before the people on Tower +Hill, as her husband had just been; so, the place of her execution was +within the Tower itself. She said that she had done an unlawful act in +taking what was Queen Mary’s right; but that she had done so with no +bad intent, and that she died a humble Christian. She begged the +executioner to despatch her quickly, and she asked him, ‘Will you take +my head off before I lay me down?’ He answered, ‘No, Madam,’ and then +she was very quiet while they bandaged her eyes. Being blinded, and +unable to see the block on which she was to lay her young head, she was +seen to feel about for it with her hands, and was heard to say, +confused, ‘O what shall I do! Where is it?’ Then they guided her to the +right place, and the executioner struck off her head. You know too +well, now, what dreadful deeds the executioner did in England, through +many, many years, and how his axe descended on the hateful block +through the necks of some of the bravest, wisest, and best in the land. +But it never struck so cruel and so vile a blow as this. + +The father of Lady Jane soon followed, but was little pitied. Queen +Mary’s next object was to lay hold of Elizabeth, and this was pursued +with great eagerness. Five hundred men were sent to her retired house +at Ashridge, by Berkhampstead, with orders to bring her up, alive or +dead. They got there at ten at night, when she was sick in bed. But, +their leaders followed her lady into her bedchamber, whence she was +brought out betimes next morning, and put into a litter to be conveyed +to London. She was so weak and ill, that she was five days on the road; +still, she was so resolved to be seen by the people that she had the +curtains of the litter opened; and so, very pale and sickly, passed +through the streets. She wrote to her sister, saying she was innocent +of any crime, and asking why she was made a prisoner; but she got no +answer, and was ordered to the Tower. They took her in by the Traitor’s +Gate, to which she objected, but in vain. One of the lords who conveyed +her offered to cover her with his cloak, as it was raining, but she put +it away from her, proudly and scornfully, and passed into the Tower, +and sat down in a court-yard on a stone. They besought her to come in +out of the wet; but she answered that it was better sitting there, than +in a worse place. At length she went to her apartment, where she was +kept a prisoner, though not so close a prisoner as at Woodstock, +whither she was afterwards removed, and where she is said to have one +day envied a milkmaid whom she heard singing in the sunshine as she +went through the green fields. Gardiner, than whom there were not many +worse men among the fierce and sullen priests, cared little to keep +secret his stern desire for her death: being used to say that it was of +little service to shake off the leaves, and lop the branches of the +tree of heresy, if its root, the hope of heretics, were left. He +failed, however, in his benevolent design. Elizabeth was, at length, +released; and Hatfield House was assigned to her as a residence, under +the care of one Sir Thomas Pope. + +It would seem that Philip, the Prince of Spain, was a main cause of +this change in Elizabeth’s fortunes. He was not an amiable man, being, +on the contrary, proud, overbearing, and gloomy; but he and the Spanish +lords who came over with him, assuredly did discountenance the idea of +doing any violence to the Princess. It may have been mere prudence, but +we will hope it was manhood and honour. The Queen had been expecting +her husband with great impatience, and at length he came, to her great +joy, though he never cared much for her. They were married by Gardiner, +at Winchester, and there was more holiday-making among the people; but +they had their old distrust of this Spanish marriage, in which even the +Parliament shared. Though the members of that Parliament were far from +honest, and were strongly suspected to have been bought with Spanish +money, they would pass no bill to enable the Queen to set aside the +Princess Elizabeth and appoint her own successor. + +Although Gardiner failed in this object, as well as in the darker one +of bringing the Princess to the scaffold, he went on at a great pace in +the revival of the unreformed religion. A new Parliament was packed, in +which there were no Protestants. Preparations were made to receive +Cardinal Pole in England as the Pope’s messenger, bringing his holy +declaration that all the nobility who had acquired Church property, +should keep it—which was done to enlist their selfish interest on the +Pope’s side. Then a great scene was enacted, which was the triumph of +the Queen’s plans. Cardinal Pole arrived in great splendour and +dignity, and was received with great pomp. The Parliament joined in a +petition expressive of their sorrow at the change in the national +religion, and praying him to receive the country again into the Popish +Church. With the Queen sitting on her throne, and the King on one side +of her, and the Cardinal on the other, and the Parliament present, +Gardiner read the petition aloud. The Cardinal then made a great +speech, and was so obliging as to say that all was forgotten and +forgiven, and that the kingdom was solemnly made Roman Catholic again. + +Everything was now ready for the lighting of the terrible bonfires. The +Queen having declared to the Council, in writing, that she would wish +none of her subjects to be burnt without some of the Council being +present, and that she would particularly wish there to be good sermons +at all burnings, the Council knew pretty well what was to be done next. +So, after the Cardinal had blessed all the bishops as a preface to the +burnings, the Chancellor Gardiner opened a High Court at Saint Mary +Overy, on the Southwark side of London Bridge, for the trial of +heretics. Here, two of the late Protestant clergymen, Hooper, Bishop of +Gloucester, and Rogers, a Prebendary of St. Paul’s, were brought to be +tried. Hooper was tried first for being married, though a priest, and +for not believing in the mass. He admitted both of these accusations, +and said that the mass was a wicked imposition. Then they tried Rogers, +who said the same. Next morning the two were brought up to be +sentenced; and then Rogers said that his poor wife, being a German +woman and a stranger in the land, he hoped might be allowed to come to +speak to him before he died. To this the inhuman Gardiner replied, that +she was not his wife. ‘Yea, but she is, my lord,’ said Rogers, ‘and she +hath been my wife these eighteen years.’ His request was still refused, +and they were both sent to Newgate; all those who stood in the streets +to sell things, being ordered to put out their lights that the people +might not see them. But, the people stood at their doors with candles +in their hands, and prayed for them as they went by. Soon afterwards, +Rogers was taken out of jail to be burnt in Smithfield; and, in the +crowd as he went along, he saw his poor wife and his ten children, of +whom the youngest was a little baby. And so he was burnt to death. + +The next day, Hooper, who was to be burnt at Gloucester, was brought +out to take his last journey, and was made to wear a hood over his face +that he might not be known by the people. But, they did know him for +all that, down in his own part of the country; and, when he came near +Gloucester, they lined the road, making prayers and lamentations. His +guards took him to a lodging, where he slept soundly all night. At nine +o’clock next morning, he was brought forth leaning on a staff; for he +had taken cold in prison, and was infirm. The iron stake, and the iron +chain which was to bind him to it, were fixed up near a great elm-tree +in a pleasant open place before the cathedral, where, on peaceful +Sundays, he had been accustomed to preach and to pray, when he was +bishop of Gloucester. This tree, which had no leaves then, it being +February, was filled with people; and the priests of Gloucester College +were looking complacently on from a window, and there was a great +concourse of spectators in every spot from which a glimpse of the +dreadful sight could be beheld. When the old man kneeled down on the +small platform at the foot of the stake, and prayed aloud, the nearest +people were observed to be so attentive to his prayers that they were +ordered to stand farther back; for it did not suit the Romish Church to +have those Protestant words heard. His prayers concluded, he went up to +the stake and was stripped to his shirt, and chained ready for the +fire. One of his guards had such compassion on him that, to shorten his +agonies, he tied some packets of gunpowder about him. Then they heaped +up wood and straw and reeds, and set them all alight. But, unhappily, +the wood was green and damp, and there was a wind blowing that blew +what flame there was, away. Thus, through three-quarters of an hour, +the good old man was scorched and roasted and smoked, as the fire rose +and sank; and all that time they saw him, as he burned, moving his lips +in prayer, and beating his breast with one hand, even after the other +was burnt away and had fallen off. + +Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, were taken to Oxford to dispute with a +commission of priests and doctors about the mass. They were shamefully +treated; and it is recorded that the Oxford scholars hissed and howled +and groaned, and misconducted themselves in an anything but a scholarly +way. The prisoners were taken back to jail, and afterwards tried in St. +Mary’s Church. They were all found guilty. On the sixteenth of the +month of October, Ridley and Latimer were brought out, to make another +of the dreadful bonfires. + +The scene of the suffering of these two good Protestant men was in the +City ditch, near Baliol College. On coming to the dreadful spot, they +kissed the stakes, and then embraced each other. And then a learned +doctor got up into a pulpit which was placed there, and preached a +sermon from the text, ‘Though I give my body to be burned, and have not +charity, it profiteth me nothing.’ When you think of the charity of +burning men alive, you may imagine that this learned doctor had a +rather brazen face. Ridley would have answered his sermon when it came +to an end, but was not allowed. When Latimer was stripped, it appeared +that he had dressed himself under his other clothes, in a new shroud; +and, as he stood in it before all the people, it was noted of him, and +long remembered, that, whereas he had been stooping and feeble but a +few minutes before, he now stood upright and handsome, in the knowledge +that he was dying for a just and a great cause. Ridley’s brother-in-law +was there with bags of gunpowder; and when they were both chained up, +he tied them round their bodies. Then, a light was thrown upon the pile +to fire it. ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley,’ said Latimer, at that +awful moment, ‘and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, +by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’ And +then he was seen to make motions with his hands as if he were washing +them in the flames, and to stroke his aged face with them, and was +heard to cry, ‘Father of Heaven, receive my soul!’ He died quickly, but +the fire, after having burned the legs of Ridley, sunk. There he +lingered, chained to the iron post, and crying, ‘O! I cannot burn! O! +for Christ’s sake let the fire come unto me!’ And still, when his +brother-in-law had heaped on more wood, he was heard through the +blinding smoke, still dismally crying, ‘O! I cannot burn, I cannot +burn!’ At last, the gunpowder caught fire, and ended his miseries. + +Five days after this fearful scene, Gardiner went to his tremendous +account before God, for the cruelties he had so much assisted in +committing. + +Cranmer remained still alive and in prison. He was brought out again in +February, for more examining and trying, by Bonner, Bishop of London: +another man of blood, who had succeeded to Gardiner’s work, even in his +lifetime, when Gardiner was tired of it. Cranmer was now degraded as a +priest, and left for death; but, if the Queen hated any one on earth, +she hated him, and it was resolved that he should be ruined and +disgraced to the utmost. There is no doubt that the Queen and her +husband personally urged on these deeds, because they wrote to the +Council, urging them to be active in the kindling of the fearful fires. +As Cranmer was known not to be a firm man, a plan was laid for +surrounding him with artful people, and inducing him to recant to the +unreformed religion. Deans and friars visited him, played at bowls with +him, showed him various attentions, talked persuasively with him, gave +him money for his prison comforts, and induced him to sign, I fear, as +many as six recantations. But when, after all, he was taken out to be +burnt, he was nobly true to his better self, and made a glorious end. + +After prayers and a sermon, Dr. Cole, the preacher of the day (who had +been one of the artful priests about Cranmer in prison), required him +to make a public confession of his faith before the people. This, Cole +did, expecting that he would declare himself a Roman Catholic. ‘I will +make a profession of my faith,’ said Cranmer, ‘and with a good will +too.’ + +Then, he arose before them all, and took from the sleeve of his robe a +written prayer and read it aloud. That done, he kneeled and said the +Lord’s Prayer, all the people joining; and then he arose again and told +them that he believed in the Bible, and that in what he had lately +written, he had written what was not the truth, and that, because his +right hand had signed those papers, he would burn his right hand first +when he came to the fire. As for the Pope, he did refuse him and +denounce him as the enemy of Heaven. Hereupon the pious Dr. Cole cried +out to the guards to stop that heretic’s mouth and take him away. + +So they took him away, and chained him to the stake, where he hastily +took off his own clothes to make ready for the flames. And he stood +before the people with a bald head and a white and flowing beard. He +was so firm now when the worst was come, that he again declared against +his recantation, and was so impressive and so undismayed, that a +certain lord, who was one of the directors of the execution, called out +to the men to make haste! When the fire was lighted, Cranmer, true to +his latest word, stretched out his right hand, and crying out, ‘This +hand hath offended!’ held it among the flames, until it blazed and +burned away. His heart was found entire among his ashes, and he left at +last a memorable name in English history. Cardinal Pole celebrated the +day by saying his first mass, and next day he was made Archbishop of +Canterbury in Cranmer’s place. + +The Queen’s husband, who was now mostly abroad in his own dominions, +and generally made a coarse jest of her to his more familiar courtiers, +was at war with France, and came over to seek the assistance of +England. England was very unwilling to engage in a French war for his +sake; but it happened that the King of France, at this very time, aided +a descent upon the English coast. Hence, war was declared, greatly to +Philip’s satisfaction; and the Queen raised a sum of money with which +to carry it on, by every unjustifiable means in her power. It met with +no profitable return, for the French Duke of Guise surprised Calais, +and the English sustained a complete defeat. The losses they met with +in France greatly mortified the national pride, and the Queen never +recovered the blow. + +There was a bad fever raging in England at this time, and I am glad to +write that the Queen took it, and the hour of her death came. ‘When I +am dead and my body is opened,’ she said to those around those around +her, ‘ye shall find Calais written on my heart.’ I should have thought, +if anything were written on it, they would have found the words—Jane +Grey, Hooper, Rogers, Ridley, Latimer, Cranmer, and three hundred +people burnt alive within four years of my wicked reign, including +sixty women and forty little children. But it is enough that their +deaths were written in Heaven. + +The Queen died on the seventeenth of November, fifteen hundred and +fifty-eight, after reigning not quite five years and a half, and in the +forty-fourth year of her age. Cardinal Pole died of the same fever next +day. + +As Bloody Queen Mary, this woman has become famous, and as Bloody Queen +Mary, she will ever be justly remembered with horror and detestation in +Great Britain. Her memory has been held in such abhorrence that some +writers have arisen in later years to take her part, and to show that +she was, upon the whole, quite an amiable and cheerful sovereign! ‘By +their fruits ye shall know them,’ said Our Saviour. The stake and the +fire were the fruits of this reign, and you will judge this Queen by +nothing else. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI +ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH + + +There was great rejoicing all over the land when the Lords of the +Council went down to Hatfield, to hail the Princess Elizabeth as the +new Queen of England. Weary of the barbarities of Mary’s reign, the +people looked with hope and gladness to the new Sovereign. The nation +seemed to wake from a horrible dream; and Heaven, so long hidden by the +smoke of the fires that roasted men and women to death, appeared to +brighten once more. + +Queen Elizabeth was five-and-twenty years of age when she rode through +the streets of London, from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, to be +crowned. Her countenance was strongly marked, but on the whole, +commanding and dignified; her hair was red, and her nose something too +long and sharp for a woman’s. She was not the beautiful creature her +courtiers made out; but she was well enough, and no doubt looked all +the better for coming after the dark and gloomy Mary. She was well +educated, but a roundabout writer, and rather a hard swearer and coarse +talker. She was clever, but cunning and deceitful, and inherited much +of her father’s violent temper. I mention this now, because she has +been so over-praised by one party, and so over-abused by another, that +it is hardly possible to understand the greater part of her reign +without first understanding what kind of woman she really was. + +She began her reign with the great advantage of having a very wise and +careful Minister, Sir William Cecil, whom she afterwards made Lord +Burleigh. Altogether, the people had greater reason for rejoicing than +they usually had, when there were processions in the streets; and they +were happy with some reason. All kinds of shows and images were set up; +Gog and Magog were hoisted to the top of Temple Bar, and (which was +more to the purpose) the Corporation dutifully presented the young +Queen with the sum of a thousand marks in gold—so heavy a present, that +she was obliged to take it into her carriage with both hands. The +coronation was a great success; and, on the next day, one of the +courtiers presented a petition to the new Queen, praying that as it was +the custom to release some prisoners on such occasions, she would have +the goodness to release the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and +John, and also the Apostle Saint Paul, who had been for some time shut +up in a strange language so that the people could not get at them. + +To this, the Queen replied that it would be better first to inquire of +themselves whether they desired to be released or not; and, as a means +of finding out, a great public discussion—a sort of religious +tournament—was appointed to take place between certain champions of the +two religions, in Westminster Abbey. You may suppose that it was soon +made pretty clear to common sense, that for people to benefit by what +they repeat or read, it is rather necessary they should understand +something about it. Accordingly, a Church Service in plain English was +settled, and other laws and regulations were made, completely +establishing the great work of the Reformation. The Romish bishops and +champions were not harshly dealt with, all things considered; and the +Queen’s Ministers were both prudent and merciful. + +The one great trouble of this reign, and the unfortunate cause of the +greater part of such turmoil and bloodshed as occurred in it, was Mary +Stuart, Queen of Scots. We will try to understand, in as few words as +possible, who Mary was, what she was, and how she came to be a thorn in +the royal pillow of Elizabeth. + +She was the daughter of the Queen Regent of Scotland, Mary of Guise. +She had been married, when a mere child, to the Dauphin, the son and +heir of the King of France. The Pope, who pretended that no one could +rightfully wear the crown of England without his gracious permission, +was strongly opposed to Elizabeth, who had not asked for the said +gracious permission. And as Mary Queen of Scots would have inherited +the English crown in right of her birth, supposing the English +Parliament not to have altered the succession, the Pope himself, and +most of the discontented who were followers of his, maintained that +Mary was the rightful Queen of England, and Elizabeth the wrongful +Queen. Mary being so closely connected with France, and France being +jealous of England, there was far greater danger in this than there +would have been if she had had no alliance with that great power. And +when her young husband, on the death of his father, became Francis the +Second, King of France, the matter grew very serious. For, the young +couple styled themselves King and Queen of England, and the Pope was +disposed to help them by doing all the mischief he could. + +Now, the reformed religion, under the guidance of a stern and powerful +preacher, named John Knox, and other such men, had been making fierce +progress in Scotland. It was still a half savage country, where there +was a great deal of murdering and rioting continually going on; and the +Reformers, instead of reforming those evils as they should have done, +went to work in the ferocious old Scottish spirit, laying churches and +chapels waste, pulling down pictures and altars, and knocking about the +Grey Friars, and the Black Friars, and the White Friars, and the friars +of all sorts of colours, in all directions. This obdurate and harsh +spirit of the Scottish Reformers (the Scotch have always been rather a +sullen and frowning people in religious matters) put up the blood of +the Romish French court, and caused France to send troops over to +Scotland, with the hope of setting the friars of all sorts of colours +on their legs again; of conquering that country first, and England +afterwards; and so crushing the Reformation all to pieces. The Scottish +Reformers, who had formed a great league which they called The +Congregation of the Lord, secretly represented to Elizabeth that, if +the reformed religion got the worst of it with them, it would be likely +to get the worst of it in England too; and thus, Elizabeth, though she +had a high notion of the rights of Kings and Queens to do anything they +liked, sent an army to Scotland to support the Reformers, who were in +arms against their sovereign. All these proceedings led to a treaty of +peace at Edinburgh, under which the French consented to depart from the +kingdom. By a separate treaty, Mary and her young husband engaged to +renounce their assumed title of King and Queen of England. But this +treaty they never fulfilled. + +It happened, soon after matters had got to this state, that the young +French King died, leaving Mary a young widow. She was then invited by +her Scottish subjects to return home and reign over them; and as she +was not now happy where she was, she, after a little time, complied. + +Elizabeth had been Queen three years, when Mary Queen of Scots embarked +at Calais for her own rough, quarrelling country. As she came out of +the harbour, a vessel was lost before her eyes, and she said, ‘O! good +God! what an omen this is for such a voyage!’ She was very fond of +France, and sat on the deck, looking back at it and weeping, until it +was quite dark. When she went to bed, she directed to be called at +daybreak, if the French coast were still visible, that she might behold +it for the last time. As it proved to be a clear morning, this was +done, and she again wept for the country she was leaving, and said many +times, ‘Farewell, France! Farewell, France! I shall never see thee +again!’ All this was long remembered afterwards, as sorrowful and +interesting in a fair young princess of nineteen. Indeed, I am afraid +it gradually came, together with her other distresses, to surround her +with greater sympathy than she deserved. + +When she came to Scotland, and took up her abode at the palace of +Holyrood in Edinburgh, she found herself among uncouth strangers and +wild uncomfortable customs very different from her experiences in the +court of France. The very people who were disposed to love her, made +her head ache when she was tired out by her voyage, with a serenade of +discordant music—a fearful concert of bagpipes, I suppose—and brought +her and her train home to her palace on miserable little Scotch horses +that appeared to be half starved. Among the people who were not +disposed to love her, she found the powerful leaders of the Reformed +Church, who were bitter upon her amusements, however innocent, and +denounced music and dancing as works of the devil. John Knox himself +often lectured her, violently and angrily, and did much to make her +life unhappy. All these reasons confirmed her old attachment to the +Romish religion, and caused her, there is no doubt, most imprudently +and dangerously both for herself and for England too, to give a solemn +pledge to the heads of the Romish Church that if she ever succeeded to +the English crown, she would set up that religion again. In reading her +unhappy history, you must always remember this; and also that during +her whole life she was constantly put forward against the Queen, in +some form or other, by the Romish party. + +That Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not inclined to like her, is +pretty certain. Elizabeth was very vain and jealous, and had an +extraordinary dislike to people being married. She treated Lady +Catherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Lady Jane, with such shameful +severity, for no other reason than her being secretly married, that she +died and her husband was ruined; so, when a second marriage for Mary +began to be talked about, probably Elizabeth disliked her more. Not +that Elizabeth wanted suitors of her own, for they started up from +Spain, Austria, Sweden, and England. Her English lover at this time, +and one whom she much favoured too, was Lord Robert Dudley, Earl of +Leicester—himself secretly married to Amy Robsart, the daughter of an +English gentleman, whom he was strongly suspected of causing to be +murdered, down at his country seat, Cumnor Hall in Berkshire, that he +might be free to marry the Queen. Upon this story, the great writer, +Sir Walter Scott, has founded one of his best romances. But if +Elizabeth knew how to lead her handsome favourite on, for her own +vanity and pleasure, she knew how to stop him for her own pride; and +his love, and all the other proposals, came to nothing. The Queen +always declared in good set speeches, that she would never be married +at all, but would live and die a Maiden Queen. It was a very pleasant +and meritorious declaration, I suppose; but it has been puffed and +trumpeted so much, that I am rather tired of it myself. + +Divers princes proposed to marry Mary, but the English court had +reasons for being jealous of them all, and even proposed as a matter of +policy that she should marry that very Earl of Leicester who had +aspired to be the husband of Elizabeth. At last, Lord Darnley, son of +the Earl of Lennox, and himself descended from the Royal Family of +Scotland, went over with Elizabeth’s consent to try his fortune at +Holyrood. He was a tall simpleton; and could dance and play the guitar; +but I know of nothing else he could do, unless it were to get very +drunk, and eat gluttonously, and make a contemptible spectacle of +himself in many mean and vain ways. However, he gained Mary’s heart, +not disdaining in the pursuit of his object to ally himself with one of +her secretaries, David Rizzio, who had great influence with her. He +soon married the Queen. This marriage does not say much for her, but +what followed will presently say less. + +Mary’s brother, the Earl of Murray, and head of the Protestant party in +Scotland, had opposed this marriage, partly on religious grounds, and +partly perhaps from personal dislike of the very contemptible +bridegroom. When it had taken place, through Mary’s gaining over to it +the more powerful of the lords about her, she banished Murray for his +pains; and, when he and some other nobles rose in arms to support the +reformed religion, she herself, within a month of her wedding day, rode +against them in armour with loaded pistols in her saddle. Driven out of +Scotland, they presented themselves before Elizabeth—who called them +traitors in public, and assisted them in private, according to her +crafty nature. + +Mary had been married but a little while, when she began to hate her +husband, who, in his turn, began to hate that David Rizzio, with whom +he had leagued to gain her favour, and whom he now believed to be her +lover. He hated Rizzio to that extent, that he made a compact with Lord +Ruthven and three other lords to get rid of him by murder. This wicked +agreement they made in solemn secrecy upon the first of March, fifteen +hundred and sixty-six, and on the night of Saturday the ninth, the +conspirators were brought by Darnley up a private staircase, dark and +steep, into a range of rooms where they knew that Mary was sitting at +supper with her sister, Lady Argyle, and this doomed man. When they +went into the room, Darnley took the Queen round the waist, and Lord +Ruthven, who had risen from a bed of sickness to do this murder, came +in, gaunt and ghastly, leaning on two men. Rizzio ran behind the Queen +for shelter and protection. ‘Let him come out of the room,’ said +Ruthven. ‘He shall not leave the room,’ replied the Queen; ‘I read his +danger in your face, and it is my will that he remain here.’ They then +set upon him, struggled with him, overturned the table, dragged him +out, and killed him with fifty-six stabs. When the Queen heard that he +was dead, she said, ‘No more tears. I will think now of revenge!’ + +Within a day or two, she gained her husband over, and prevailed on the +tall idiot to abandon the conspirators and fly with her to Dunbar. +There, he issued a proclamation, audaciously and falsely denying that +he had any knowledge of the late bloody business; and there they were +joined by the Earl Bothwell and some other nobles. With their help, +they raised eight thousand men; returned to Edinburgh, and drove the +assassins into England. Mary soon afterwards gave birth to a son—still +thinking of revenge. + +That she should have had a greater scorn for her husband after his late +cowardice and treachery than she had had before, was natural enough. +There is little doubt that she now began to love Bothwell instead, and +to plan with him means of getting rid of Darnley. Bothwell had such +power over her that he induced her even to pardon the assassins of +Rizzio. The arrangements for the Christening of the young Prince were +entrusted to him, and he was one of the most important people at the +ceremony, where the child was named James: Elizabeth being his +godmother, though not present on the occasion. A week afterwards, +Darnley, who had left Mary and gone to his father’s house at Glasgow, +being taken ill with the small-pox, she sent her own physician to +attend him. But there is reason to apprehend that this was merely a +show and a pretence, and that she knew what was doing, when Bothwell +within another month proposed to one of the late conspirators against +Rizzio, to murder Darnley, ‘for that it was the Queen’s mind that he +should be taken away.’ It is certain that on that very day she wrote to +her ambassador in France, complaining of him, and yet went immediately +to Glasgow, feigning to be very anxious about him, and to love him very +much. If she wanted to get him in her power, she succeeded to her +heart’s content; for she induced him to go back with her to Edinburgh, +and to occupy, instead of the palace, a lone house outside the city +called the Kirk of Field. Here, he lived for about a week. One Sunday +night, she remained with him until ten o’clock, and then left him, to +go to Holyrood to be present at an entertainment given in celebration +of the marriage of one of her favourite servants. At two o’clock in the +morning the city was shaken by a great explosion, and the Kirk of Field +was blown to atoms. + +Darnley’s body was found next day lying under a tree at some distance. +How it came there, undisfigured and unscorched by gunpowder, and how +this crime came to be so clumsily and strangely committed, it is +impossible to discover. The deceitful character of Mary, and the +deceitful character of Elizabeth, have rendered almost every part of +their joint history uncertain and obscure. But, I fear that Mary was +unquestionably a party to her husband’s murder, and that this was the +revenge she had threatened. The Scotch people universally believed it. +Voices cried out in the streets of Edinburgh in the dead of the night, +for justice on the murderess. Placards were posted by unknown hands in +the public places denouncing Bothwell as the murderer, and the Queen as +his accomplice; and, when he afterwards married her (though himself +already married), previously making a show of taking her prisoner by +force, the indignation of the people knew no bounds. The women +particularly are described as having been quite frantic against the +Queen, and to have hooted and cried after her in the streets with +terrific vehemence. + +Such guilty unions seldom prosper. This husband and wife had lived +together but a month, when they were separated for ever by the +successes of a band of Scotch nobles who associated against them for +the protection of the young Prince: whom Bothwell had vainly +endeavoured to lay hold of, and whom he would certainly have murdered, +if the Earl of Mar, in whose hands the boy was, had not been firmly and +honourably faithful to his trust. Before this angry power, Bothwell +fled abroad, where he died, a prisoner and mad, nine miserable years +afterwards. Mary being found by the associated lords to deceive them at +every turn, was sent a prisoner to Lochleven Castle; which, as it stood +in the midst of a lake, could only be approached by boat. Here, one +Lord Lindsay, who was so much of a brute that the nobles would have +done better if they had chosen a mere gentleman for their messenger, +made her sign her abdication, and appoint Murray, Regent of Scotland. +Here, too, Murray saw her in a sorrowing and humbled state. + +She had better have remained in the castle of Lochleven, dull prison as +it was, with the rippling of the lake against it, and the moving +shadows of the water on the room walls; but she could not rest there, +and more than once tried to escape. The first time she had nearly +succeeded, dressed in the clothes of her own washer-woman, but, putting +up her hand to prevent one of the boatmen from lifting her veil, the +men suspected her, seeing how white it was, and rowed her back again. A +short time afterwards, her fascinating manners enlisted in her cause a +boy in the Castle, called the little Douglas, who, while the family +were at supper, stole the keys of the great gate, went softly out with +the Queen, locked the gate on the outside, and rowed her away across +the lake, sinking the keys as they went along. On the opposite shore +she was met by another Douglas, and some few lords; and, so +accompanied, rode away on horseback to Hamilton, where they raised +three thousand men. Here, she issued a proclamation declaring that the +abdication she had signed in her prison was illegal, and requiring the +Regent to yield to his lawful Queen. Being a steady soldier, and in no +way discomposed although he was without an army, Murray pretended to +treat with her, until he had collected a force about half equal to her +own, and then he gave her battle. In one quarter of an hour he cut down +all her hopes. She had another weary ride on horse-back of sixty long +Scotch miles, and took shelter at Dundrennan Abbey, whence she fled for +safety to Elizabeth’s dominions. + +Mary Queen of Scots came to England—to her own ruin, the trouble of the +kingdom, and the misery and death of many—in the year one thousand five +hundred and sixty-eight. How she left it and the world, nineteen years +afterwards, we have now to see. + +SECOND PART + +When Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England, without money and even +without any other clothes than those she wore, she wrote to Elizabeth, +representing herself as an innocent and injured piece of Royalty, and +entreating her assistance to oblige her Scottish subjects to take her +back again and obey her. But, as her character was already known in +England to be a very different one from what she made it out to be, she +was told in answer that she must first clear herself. Made uneasy by +this condition, Mary, rather than stay in England, would have gone to +Spain, or to France, or would even have gone back to Scotland. But, as +her doing either would have been likely to trouble England afresh, it +was decided that she should be detained here. She first came to +Carlisle, and, after that, was moved about from castle to castle, as +was considered necessary; but England she never left again. + +After trying very hard to get rid of the necessity of clearing herself, +Mary, advised by Lord Herries, her best friend in England, agreed to +answer the charges against her, if the Scottish noblemen who made them +would attend to maintain them before such English noblemen as Elizabeth +might appoint for that purpose. Accordingly, such an assembly, under +the name of a conference, met, first at York, and afterwards at Hampton +Court. In its presence Lord Lennox, Darnley’s father, openly charged +Mary with the murder of his son; and whatever Mary’s friends may now +say or write in her behalf, there is no doubt that, when her brother +Murray produced against her a casket containing certain guilty letters +and verses which he stated to have passed between her and Bothwell, she +withdrew from the inquiry. Consequently, it is to be supposed that she +was then considered guilty by those who had the best opportunities of +judging of the truth, and that the feeling which afterwards arose in +her behalf was a very generous but not a very reasonable one. + +However, the Duke of Norfolk, an honourable but rather weak nobleman, +partly because Mary was captivating, partly because he was ambitious, +partly because he was over-persuaded by artful plotters against +Elizabeth, conceived a strong idea that he would like to marry the +Queen of Scots—though he was a little frightened, too, by the letters +in the casket. This idea being secretly encouraged by some of the +noblemen of Elizabeth’s court, and even by the favourite Earl of +Leicester (because it was objected to by other favourites who were his +rivals), Mary expressed her approval of it, and the King of France and +the King of Spain are supposed to have done the same. It was not so +quietly planned, though, but that it came to Elizabeth’s ears, who +warned the Duke ‘to be careful what sort of pillow he was going to lay +his head upon.’ He made a humble reply at the time; but turned sulky +soon afterwards, and, being considered dangerous, was sent to the +Tower. + +Thus, from the moment of Mary’s coming to England she began to be the +centre of plots and miseries. + +A rise of the Catholics in the north was the next of these, and it was +only checked by many executions and much bloodshed. It was followed by +a great conspiracy of the Pope and some of the Catholic sovereigns of +Europe to depose Elizabeth, place Mary on the throne, and restore the +unreformed religion. It is almost impossible to doubt that Mary knew +and approved of this; and the Pope himself was so hot in the matter +that he issued a bull, in which he openly called Elizabeth the +‘pretended Queen’ of England, excommunicated her, and excommunicated +all her subjects who should continue to obey her. A copy of this +miserable paper got into London, and was found one morning publicly +posted on the Bishop of London’s gate. A great hue and cry being +raised, another copy was found in the chamber of a student of Lincoln’s +Inn, who confessed, being put upon the rack, that he had received it +from one John Felton, a rich gentleman who lived across the Thames, +near Southwark. This John Felton, being put upon the rack too, +confessed that he had posted the placard on the Bishop’s gate. For this +offence he was, within four days, taken to St. Paul’s Churchyard, and +there hanged and quartered. As to the Pope’s bull, the people by the +reformation having thrown off the Pope, did not care much, you may +suppose, for the Pope’s throwing off them. It was a mere dirty piece of +paper, and not half so powerful as a street ballad. + +On the very day when Felton was brought to his trial, the poor Duke of +Norfolk was released. It would have been well for him if he had kept +away from the Tower evermore, and from the snares that had taken him +there. But, even while he was in that dismal place he corresponded with +Mary, and as soon as he was out of it, he began to plot again. Being +discovered in correspondence with the Pope, with a view to a rising in +England which should force Elizabeth to consent to his marriage with +Mary and to repeal the laws against the Catholics, he was re-committed +to the Tower and brought to trial. He was found guilty by the unanimous +verdict of the Lords who tried him, and was sentenced to the block. + +It is very difficult to make out, at this distance of time, and between +opposite accounts, whether Elizabeth really was a humane woman, or +desired to appear so, or was fearful of shedding the blood of people of +great name who were popular in the country. Twice she commanded and +countermanded the execution of this Duke, and it did not take place +until five months after his trial. The scaffold was erected on Tower +Hill, and there he died like a brave man. He refused to have his eyes +bandaged, saying that he was not at all afraid of death; and he +admitted the justice of his sentence, and was much regretted by the +people. + +Although Mary had shrunk at the most important time from disproving her +guilt, she was very careful never to do anything that would admit it. +All such proposals as were made to her by Elizabeth for her release, +required that admission in some form or other, and therefore came to +nothing. Moreover, both women being artful and treacherous, and neither +ever trusting the other, it was not likely that they could ever make an +agreement. So, the Parliament, aggravated by what the Pope had done, +made new and strong laws against the spreading of the Catholic religion +in England, and declared it treason in any one to say that the Queen +and her successors were not the lawful sovereigns of England. It would +have done more than this, but for Elizabeth’s moderation. + +Since the Reformation, there had come to be three great sects of +religious people—or people who called themselves so—in England; that is +to say, those who belonged to the Reformed Church, those who belonged +to the Unreformed Church, and those who were called the Puritans, +because they said that they wanted to have everything very pure and +plain in all the Church service. These last were for the most part an +uncomfortable people, who thought it highly meritorious to dress in a +hideous manner, talk through their noses, and oppose all harmless +enjoyments. But they were powerful too, and very much in earnest, and +they were one and all the determined enemies of the Queen of Scots. The +Protestant feeling in England was further strengthened by the +tremendous cruelties to which Protestants were exposed in France and in +the Netherlands. Scores of thousands of them were put to death in those +countries with every cruelty that can be imagined, and at last, in the +autumn of the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-two, one of +the greatest barbarities ever committed in the world took place at +Paris. + +It is called in history, The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, because it +took place on Saint Bartholomew’s Eve. The day fell on Saturday the +twenty-third of August. On that day all the great leaders of the +Protestants (who were there called Huguenots) were assembled together, +for the purpose, as was represented to them, of doing honour to the +marriage of their chief, the young King of Navarre, with the sister of +Charles the Ninth: a miserable young King who then occupied the French +throne. This dull creature was made to believe by his mother and other +fierce Catholics about him that the Huguenots meant to take his life; +and he was persuaded to give secret orders that, on the tolling of a +great bell, they should be fallen upon by an overpowering force of +armed men, and slaughtered wherever they could be found. When the +appointed hour was close at hand, the stupid wretch, trembling from +head to foot, was taken into a balcony by his mother to see the +atrocious work begun. The moment the bell tolled, the murderers broke +forth. During all that night and the two next days, they broke into the +houses, fired the houses, shot and stabbed the Protestants, men, women, +and children, and flung their bodies into the streets. They were shot +at in the streets as they passed along, and their blood ran down the +gutters. Upwards of ten thousand Protestants were killed in Paris +alone; in all France four or five times that number. To return thanks +to Heaven for these diabolical murders, the Pope and his train actually +went in public procession at Rome, and as if this were not shame enough +for them, they had a medal struck to commemorate the event. But, +however comfortable the wholesale murders were to these high +authorities, they had not that soothing effect upon the doll-King. I am +happy to state that he never knew a moment’s peace afterwards; that he +was continually crying out that he saw the Huguenots covered with blood +and wounds falling dead before him; and that he died within a year, +shrieking and yelling and raving to that degree, that if all the Popes +who had ever lived had been rolled into one, they would not have +afforded His guilty Majesty the slightest consolation. + +When the terrible news of the massacre arrived in England, it made a +powerful impression indeed upon the people. If they began to run a +little wild against the Catholics at about this time, this fearful +reason for it, coming so soon after the days of bloody Queen Mary, must +be remembered in their excuse. The Court was not quite so honest as the +people—but perhaps it sometimes is not. It received the French +ambassador, with all the lords and ladies dressed in deep mourning, and +keeping a profound silence. Nevertheless, a proposal of marriage which +he had made to Elizabeth only two days before the eve of Saint +Bartholomew, on behalf of the Duke of Alençon, the French King’s +brother, a boy of seventeen, still went on; while on the other hand, in +her usual crafty way, the Queen secretly supplied the Huguenots with +money and weapons. + +I must say that for a Queen who made all those fine speeches, of which +I have confessed myself to be rather tired, about living and dying a +Maiden Queen, Elizabeth was ‘going’ to be married pretty often. Besides +always having some English favourite or other whom she by turns +encouraged and swore at and knocked about—for the maiden Queen was very +free with her fists—she held this French Duke off and on through +several years. When he at last came over to England, the marriage +articles were actually drawn up, and it was settled that the wedding +should take place in six weeks. The Queen was then so bent upon it, +that she prosecuted a poor Puritan named Stubbs, and a poor bookseller +named Page, for writing and publishing a pamphlet against it. Their +right hands were chopped off for this crime; and poor Stubbs—more loyal +than I should have been myself under the circumstances—immediately +pulled off his hat with his left hand, and cried, ‘God save the Queen!’ +Stubbs was cruelly treated; for the marriage never took place after +all, though the Queen pledged herself to the Duke with a ring from her +own finger. He went away, no better than he came, when the courtship +had lasted some ten years altogether; and he died a couple of years +afterwards, mourned by Elizabeth, who appears to have been really fond +of him. It is not much to her credit, for he was a bad enough member of +a bad family. + +To return to the Catholics. There arose two orders of priests, who were +very busy in England, and who were much dreaded. These were the Jesuits +(who were everywhere in all sorts of disguises), and the Seminary +Priests. The people had a great horror of the first, because they were +known to have taught that murder was lawful if it were done with an +object of which they approved; and they had a great horror of the +second, because they came to teach the old religion, and to be the +successors of ‘Queen Mary’s priests,’ as those yet lingering in England +were called, when they should die out. The severest laws were made +against them, and were most unmercifully executed. Those who sheltered +them in their houses often suffered heavily for what was an act of +humanity; and the rack, that cruel torture which tore men’s limbs +asunder, was constantly kept going. What these unhappy men confessed, +or what was ever confessed by any one under that agony, must always be +received with great doubt, as it is certain that people have frequently +owned to the most absurd and impossible crimes to escape such dreadful +suffering. But I cannot doubt it to have been proved by papers, that +there were many plots, both among the Jesuits, and with France, and +with Scotland, and with Spain, for the destruction of Queen Elizabeth, +for the placing of Mary on the throne, and for the revival of the old +religion. + +If the English people were too ready to believe in plots, there were, +as I have said, good reasons for it. When the massacre of Saint +Bartholomew was yet fresh in their recollection, a great Protestant +Dutch hero, the Prince of Orange, was shot by an assassin, who +confessed that he had been kept and trained for the purpose in a +college of Jesuits. The Dutch, in this surprise and distress, offered +to make Elizabeth their sovereign, but she declined the honour, and +sent them a small army instead, under the command of the Earl of +Leicester, who, although a capital Court favourite, was not much of a +general. He did so little in Holland, that his campaign there would +probably have been forgotten, but for its occasioning the death of one +of the best writers, the best knights, and the best gentlemen, of that +or any age. This was Sir Philip Sidney, who was wounded by a musket +ball in the thigh as he mounted a fresh horse, after having had his own +killed under him. He had to ride back wounded, a long distance, and was +very faint with fatigue and loss of blood, when some water, for which +he had eagerly asked, was handed to him. But he was so good and gentle +even then, that seeing a poor badly wounded common soldier lying on the +ground, looking at the water with longing eyes, he said, ‘Thy necessity +is greater than mine,’ and gave it up to him. This touching action of a +noble heart is perhaps as well known as any incident in history—is as +famous far and wide as the blood-stained Tower of London, with its axe, +and block, and murders out of number. So delightful is an act of true +humanity, and so glad are mankind to remember it. + +At home, intelligence of plots began to thicken every day. I suppose +the people never did live under such continual terrors as those by +which they were possessed now, of Catholic risings, and burnings, and +poisonings, and I don’t know what. Still, we must always remember that +they lived near and close to awful realities of that kind, and that +with their experience it was not difficult to believe in any enormity. +The government had the same fear, and did not take the best means of +discovering the truth—for, besides torturing the suspected, it employed +paid spies, who will always lie for their own profit. It even made some +of the conspiracies it brought to light, by sending false letters to +disaffected people, inviting them to join in pretended plots, which +they too readily did. + +But, one great real plot was at length discovered, and it ended the +career of Mary, Queen of Scots. A seminary priest named Ballard, and a +Spanish soldier named Savage, set on and encouraged by certain French +priests, imparted a design to one Antony Babington—a gentleman of +fortune in Derbyshire, who had been for some time a secret agent of +Mary’s—for murdering the Queen. Babington then confided the scheme to +some other Catholic gentlemen who were his friends, and they joined in +it heartily. They were vain, weak-headed young men, ridiculously +confident, and preposterously proud of their plan; for they got a +gimcrack painting made, of the six choice spirits who were to murder +Elizabeth, with Babington in an attitude for the centre figure. Two of +their number, however, one of whom was a priest, kept Elizabeth’s +wisest minister, Sir Francis Walsingham, acquainted with the whole +project from the first. The conspirators were completely deceived to +the final point, when Babington gave Savage, because he was shabby, a +ring from his finger, and some money from his purse, wherewith to buy +himself new clothes in which to kill the Queen. Walsingham, having then +full evidence against the whole band, and two letters of Mary’s +besides, resolved to seize them. Suspecting something wrong, they stole +out of the city, one by one, and hid themselves in St. John’s Wood, and +other places which really were hiding places then; but they were all +taken, and all executed. When they were seized, a gentleman was sent +from Court to inform Mary of the fact, and of her being involved in the +discovery. Her friends have complained that she was kept in very hard +and severe custody. It does not appear very likely, for she was going +out a hunting that very morning. + +Queen Elizabeth had been warned long ago, by one in France who had good +information of what was secretly doing, that in holding Mary alive, she +held ‘the wolf who would devour her.’ The Bishop of London had, more +lately, given the Queen’s favourite minister the advice in writing, +‘forthwith to cut off the Scottish Queen’s head.’ The question now was, +what to do with her? The Earl of Leicester wrote a little note home +from Holland, recommending that she should be quietly poisoned; that +noble favourite having accustomed his mind, it is possible, to remedies +of that nature. His black advice, however, was disregarded, and she was +brought to trial at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, before a +tribunal of forty, composed of both religions. There, and in the Star +Chamber at Westminster, the trial lasted a fortnight. She defended +herself with great ability, but could only deny the confessions that +had been made by Babington and others; could only call her own letters, +produced against her by her own secretaries, forgeries; and, in short, +could only deny everything. She was found guilty, and declared to have +incurred the penalty of death. The Parliament met, approved the +sentence, and prayed the Queen to have it executed. The Queen replied +that she requested them to consider whether no means could be found of +saving Mary’s life without endangering her own. The Parliament +rejoined, No; and the citizens illuminated their houses and lighted +bonfires, in token of their joy that all these plots and troubles were +to be ended by the death of the Queen of Scots. + +[Illustration: Mary Queen of Scots Reading the death warrant] + +She, feeling sure that her time was now come, wrote a letter to the +Queen of England, making three entreaties; first, that she might be +buried in France; secondly, that she might not be executed in secret, +but before her servants and some others; thirdly, that after her death, +her servants should not be molested, but should be suffered to go home +with the legacies she left them. It was an affecting letter, and +Elizabeth shed tears over it, but sent no answer. Then came a special +ambassador from France, and another from Scotland, to intercede for +Mary’s life; and then the nation began to clamour, more and more, for +her death. + +What the real feelings or intentions of Elizabeth were, can never be +known now; but I strongly suspect her of only wishing one thing more +than Mary’s death, and that was to keep free of the blame of it. On the +first of February, one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, Lord +Burleigh having drawn out the warrant for the execution, the Queen sent +to the secretary Davison to bring it to her, that she might sign it: +which she did. Next day, when Davison told her it was sealed, she +angrily asked him why such haste was necessary? Next day but one, she +joked about it, and swore a little. Again, next day but one, she seemed +to complain that it was not yet done, but still she would not be plain +with those about her. So, on the seventh, the Earls of Kent and +Shrewsbury, with the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, came with the warrant +to Fotheringay, to tell the Queen of Scots to prepare for death. + +When those messengers of ill omen were gone, Mary made a frugal supper, +drank to her servants, read over her will, went to bed, slept for some +hours, and then arose and passed the remainder of the night saying +prayers. In the morning she dressed herself in her best clothes; and, +at eight o’clock when the sheriff came for her to her chapel, took +leave of her servants who were there assembled praying with her, and +went down-stairs, carrying a Bible in one hand and a crucifix in the +other. Two of her women and four of her men were allowed to be present +in the hall; where a low scaffold, only two feet from the ground, was +erected and covered with black; and where the executioner from the +Tower, and his assistant, stood, dressed in black velvet. The hall was +full of people. While the sentence was being read she sat upon a stool; +and, when it was finished, she again denied her guilt, as she had done +before. The Earl of Kent and the Dean of Peterborough, in their +Protestant zeal, made some very unnecessary speeches to her; to which +she replied that she died in the Catholic religion, and they need not +trouble themselves about that matter. When her head and neck were +uncovered by the executioners, she said that she had not been used to +be undressed by such hands, or before so much company. Finally, one of +her women fastened a cloth over her face, and she laid her neck upon +the block, and repeated more than once in Latin, ‘Into thy hands, O +Lord, I commend my spirit!’ Some say her head was struck off in two +blows, some say in three. However that be, when it was held up, +streaming with blood, the real hair beneath the false hair she had long +worn was seen to be as grey as that of a woman of seventy, though she +was at that time only in her forty-sixth year. All her beauty was gone. + +But she was beautiful enough to her little dog, who cowered under her +dress, frightened, when she went upon the scaffold, and who lay down +beside her headless body when all her earthly sorrows were over. + +THIRD PART + +On its being formally made known to Elizabeth that the sentence had +been executed on the Queen of Scots, she showed the utmost grief and +rage, drove her favourites from her with violent indignation, and sent +Davison to the Tower; from which place he was only released in the end +by paying an immense fine which completely ruined him. Elizabeth not +only over-acted her part in making these pretences, but most basely +reduced to poverty one of her faithful servants for no other fault than +obeying her commands. + +James, King of Scotland, Mary’s son, made a show likewise of being very +angry on the occasion; but he was a pensioner of England to the amount +of five thousand pounds a year, and he had known very little of his +mother, and he possibly regarded her as the murderer of his father, and +he soon took it quietly. + +Philip, King of Spain, however, threatened to do greater things than +ever had been done yet, to set up the Catholic religion and punish +Protestant England. Elizabeth, hearing that he and the Prince of Parma +were making great preparations for this purpose, in order to be +beforehand with them sent out Admiral Drake (a famous navigator, who +had sailed about the world, and had already brought great plunder from +Spain) to the port of Cadiz, where he burnt a hundred vessels full of +stores. This great loss obliged the Spaniards to put off the invasion +for a year; but it was none the less formidable for that, amounting to +one hundred and thirty ships, nineteen thousand soldiers, eight +thousand sailors, two thousand slaves, and between two and three +thousand great guns. England was not idle in making ready to resist +this great force. All the men between sixteen years old and sixty, were +trained and drilled; the national fleet of ships (in number only +thirty-four at first) was enlarged by public contributions and by +private ships, fitted out by noblemen; the city of London, of its own +accord, furnished double the number of ships and men that it was +required to provide; and, if ever the national spirit was up in +England, it was up all through the country to resist the Spaniards. +Some of the Queen’s advisers were for seizing the principal English +Catholics, and putting them to death; but the Queen—who, to her honour, +used to say, that she would never believe any ill of her subjects, +which a parent would not believe of her own children—rejected the +advice, and only confined a few of those who were the most suspected, +in the fens in Lincolnshire. The great body of Catholics deserved this +confidence; for they behaved most loyally, nobly, and bravely. + +So, with all England firing up like one strong, angry man, and with +both sides of the Thames fortified, and with the soldiers under arms, +and with the sailors in their ships, the country waited for the coming +of the proud Spanish fleet, which was called The Invincible Armada. The +Queen herself, riding in armour on a white horse, and the Earl of Essex +and the Earl of Leicester holding her bridal rein, made a brave speech +to the troops at Tilbury Fort opposite Gravesend, which was received +with such enthusiasm as is seldom known. Then came the Spanish Armada +into the English Channel, sailing along in the form of a half moon, of +such great size that it was seven miles broad. But the English were +quickly upon it, and woe then to all the Spanish ships that dropped a +little out of the half moon, for the English took them instantly! And +it soon appeared that the great Armada was anything but invincible, for +on a summer night, bold Drake sent eight blazing fire-ships right into +the midst of it. In terrible consternation the Spaniards tried to get +out to sea, and so became dispersed; the English pursued them at a +great advantage; a storm came on, and drove the Spaniards among rocks +and shoals; and the swift end of the Invincible fleet was, that it lost +thirty great ships and ten thousand men, and, defeated and disgraced, +sailed home again. Being afraid to go by the English Channel, it sailed +all round Scotland and Ireland; some of the ships getting cast away on +the latter coast in bad weather, the Irish, who were a kind of savages, +plundered those vessels and killed their crews. So ended this great +attempt to invade and conquer England. And I think it will be a long +time before any other invincible fleet coming to England with the same +object, will fare much better than the Spanish Armada. + +Though the Spanish king had had this bitter taste of English bravery, +he was so little the wiser for it, as still to entertain his old +designs, and even to conceive the absurd idea of placing his daughter +on the English throne. But the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir +Thomas Howard, and some other distinguished leaders, put to sea from +Plymouth, entered the port of Cadiz once more, obtained a complete +victory over the shipping assembled there, and got possession of the +town. In obedience to the Queen’s express instructions, they behaved +with great humanity; and the principal loss of the Spaniards was a vast +sum of money which they had to pay for ransom. This was one of many +gallant achievements on the sea, effected in this reign. Sir Walter +Raleigh himself, after marrying a maid of honour and giving offence to +the Maiden Queen thereby, had already sailed to South America in search +of gold. + +The Earl of Leicester was now dead, and so was Sir Thomas Walsingham, +whom Lord Burleigh was soon to follow. The principal favourite was the +Earl of Essex, a spirited and handsome man, a favourite with the people +too as well as with the Queen, and possessed of many admirable +qualities. It was much debated at Court whether there should be peace +with Spain or no, and he was very urgent for war. He also tried hard to +have his own way in the appointment of a deputy to govern in Ireland. +One day, while this question was in dispute, he hastily took offence, +and turned his back upon the Queen; as a gentle reminder of which +impropriety, the Queen gave him a tremendous box on the ear, and told +him to go to the devil. He went home instead, and did not reappear at +Court for half a year or so, when he and the Queen were reconciled, +though never (as some suppose) thoroughly. + +From this time the fate of the Earl of Essex and that of the Queen +seemed to be blended together. The Irish were still perpetually +quarrelling and fighting among themselves, and he went over to Ireland +as Lord Lieutenant, to the great joy of his enemies (Sir Walter Raleigh +among the rest), who were glad to have so dangerous a rival far off. +Not being by any means successful there, and knowing that his enemies +would take advantage of that circumstance to injure him with the Queen, +he came home again, though against her orders. The Queen being taken by +surprise when he appeared before her, gave him her hand to kiss, and he +was overjoyed—though it was not a very lovely hand by this time—but in +the course of the same day she ordered him to confine himself to his +room, and two or three days afterwards had him taken into custody. With +the same sort of caprice—and as capricious an old woman she now was, as +ever wore a crown or a head either—she sent him broth from her own +table on his falling ill from anxiety, and cried about him. + +He was a man who could find comfort and occupation in his books, and he +did so for a time; not the least happy time, I dare say, of his life. +But it happened unfortunately for him, that he held a monopoly in sweet +wines: which means that nobody could sell them without purchasing his +permission. This right, which was only for a term, expiring, he applied +to have it renewed. The Queen refused, with the rather strong +observation—but she _did_ make strong observations—that an unruly beast +must be stinted in his food. Upon this, the angry Earl, who had been +already deprived of many offices, thought himself in danger of complete +ruin, and turned against the Queen, whom he called a vain old woman who +had grown as crooked in her mind as she had in her figure. These +uncomplimentary expressions the ladies of the Court immediately snapped +up and carried to the Queen, whom they did not put in a better tempter, +you may believe. The same Court ladies, when they had beautiful dark +hair of their own, used to wear false red hair, to be like the Queen. +So they were not very high-spirited ladies, however high in rank. + +The worst object of the Earl of Essex, and some friends of his who used +to meet at Lord Southampton’s house, was to obtain possession of the +Queen, and oblige her by force to dismiss her ministers and change her +favourites. On Saturday the seventh of February, one thousand six +hundred and one, the council suspecting this, summoned the Earl to come +before them. He, pretending to be ill, declined; it was then settled +among his friends, that as the next day would be Sunday, when many of +the citizens usually assembled at the Cross by St. Paul’s Cathedral, he +should make one bold effort to induce them to rise and follow him to +the Palace. + +So, on the Sunday morning, he and a small body of adherents started out +of his house—Essex House by the Strand, with steps to the river—having +first shut up in it, as prisoners, some members of the council who came +to examine him—and hurried into the City with the Earl at their head +crying out ‘For the Queen! For the Queen! A plot is laid for my life!’ +No one heeded them, however, and when they came to St. Paul’s there +were no citizens there. In the meantime the prisoners at Essex House +had been released by one of the Earl’s own friends; he had been +promptly proclaimed a traitor in the City itself; and the streets were +barricaded with carts and guarded by soldiers. The Earl got back to his +house by water, with difficulty, and after an attempt to defend his +house against the troops and cannon by which it was soon surrounded, +gave himself up that night. He was brought to trial on the nineteenth, +and found guilty; on the twenty-fifth, he was executed on Tower Hill, +where he died, at thirty-four years old, both courageously and +penitently. His step-father suffered with him. His enemy, Sir Walter +Raleigh, stood near the scaffold all the time—but not so near it as we +shall see him stand, before we finish his history. + +In this case, as in the cases of the Duke of Norfolk and Mary Queen of +Scots, the Queen had commanded, and countermanded, and again commanded, +the execution. It is probable that the death of her young and gallant +favourite in the prime of his good qualities, was never off her mind +afterwards, but she held out, the same vain, obstinate and capricious +woman, for another year. Then she danced before her Court on a state +occasion—and cut, I should think, a mighty ridiculous figure, doing so +in an immense ruff, stomacher and wig, at seventy years old. For +another year still, she held out, but, without any more dancing, and as +a moody, sorrowful, broken creature. At last, on the tenth of March, +one thousand six hundred and three, having been ill of a very bad cold, +and made worse by the death of the Countess of Nottingham who was her +intimate friend, she fell into a stupor and was supposed to be dead. +She recovered her consciousness, however, and then nothing would induce +her to go to bed; for she said that she knew that if she did, she +should never get up again. There she lay for ten days, on cushions on +the floor, without any food, until the Lord Admiral got her into bed at +last, partly by persuasions and partly by main force. When they asked +her who should succeed her, she replied that her seat had been the seat +of Kings, and that she would have for her successor, ‘No rascal’s son, +but a King’s.’ Upon this, the lords present stared at one another, and +took the liberty of asking whom she meant; to which she replied, ‘Whom +should I mean, but our cousin of Scotland!’ This was on the +twenty-third of March. They asked her once again that day, after she +was speechless, whether she was still in the same mind? She struggled +up in bed, and joined her hands over her head in the form of a crown, +as the only reply she could make. At three o’clock next morning, she +very quietly died, in the forty-fifth year of her reign. + +That reign had been a glorious one, and is made for ever memorable by +the distinguished men who flourished in it. Apart from the great +voyagers, statesmen, and scholars, whom it produced, the names of +Bacon, Spenser, and Shakespeare, will always be remembered with pride +and veneration by the civilised world, and will always impart (though +with no great reason, perhaps) some portion of their lustre to the name +of Elizabeth herself. It was a great reign for discovery, for commerce, +and for English enterprise and spirit in general. It was a great reign +for the Protestant religion and for the Reformation which made England +free. The Queen was very popular, and in her progresses, or journeys +about her dominions, was everywhere received with the liveliest joy. I +think the truth is, that she was not half so good as she has been made +out, and not half so bad as she has been made out. She had her fine +qualities, but she was coarse, capricious, and treacherous, and had all +the faults of an excessively vain young woman long after she was an old +one. On the whole, she had a great deal too much of her father in her, +to please me. + +Many improvements and luxuries were introduced in the course of these +five-and-forty years in the general manner of living; but +cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and bear-baiting, were still the national +amusements; and a coach was so rarely seen, and was such an ugly and +cumbersome affair when it was seen, that even the Queen herself, on +many high occasions, rode on horseback on a pillion behind the Lord +Chancellor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII +ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST + + +‘Our cousin of Scotland’ was ugly, awkward, and shuffling both in mind +and person. His tongue was much too large for his mouth, his legs were +much too weak for his body, and his dull goggle-eyes stared and rolled +like an idiot’s. He was cunning, covetous, wasteful, idle, drunken, +greedy, dirty, cowardly, a great swearer, and the most conceited man on +earth. His figure—what is commonly called rickety from his +birth—presented a most ridiculous appearance, dressed in thick padded +clothes, as a safeguard against being stabbed (of which he lived in +continual fear), of a grass-green colour from head to foot, with a +hunting-horn dangling at his side instead of a sword, and his hat and +feather sticking over one eye, or hanging on the back of his head, as +he happened to toss it on. He used to loll on the necks of his +favourite courtiers, and slobber their faces, and kiss and pinch their +cheeks; and the greatest favourite he ever had, used to sign himself in +his letters to his royal master, His Majesty’s ‘dog and slave,’ and +used to address his majesty as ‘his Sowship.’ His majesty was the worst +rider ever seen, and thought himself the best. He was one of the most +impertinent talkers (in the broadest Scotch) ever heard, and boasted of +being unanswerable in all manner of argument. He wrote some of the most +wearisome treatises ever read—among others, a book upon witchcraft, in +which he was a devout believer—and thought himself a prodigy of +authorship. He thought, and wrote, and said, that a king had a right to +make and unmake what laws he pleased, and ought to be accountable to +nobody on earth. This is the plain, true character of the personage +whom the greatest men about the court praised and flattered to that +degree, that I doubt if there be anything much more shameful in the +annals of human nature. + +He came to the English throne with great ease. The miseries of a +disputed succession had been felt so long, and so dreadfully, that he +was proclaimed within a few hours of Elizabeth’s death, and was +accepted by the nation, even without being asked to give any pledge +that he would govern well, or that he would redress crying grievances. +He took a month to come from Edinburgh to London; and, by way of +exercising his new power, hanged a pickpocket on the journey without +any trial, and knighted everybody he could lay hold of. He made two +hundred knights before he got to his palace in London, and seven +hundred before he had been in it three months. He also shovelled +sixty-two new peers into the House of Lords—and there was a pretty +large sprinkling of Scotchmen among them, you may believe. + +His Sowship’s prime Minister, Cecil (for I cannot do better than call +his majesty what his favourite called him), was the enemy of Sir Walter +Raleigh, and also of Sir Walter’s political friend, Lord Cobham; and +his Sowship’s first trouble was a plot originated by these two, and +entered into by some others, with the old object of seizing the King +and keeping him in imprisonment until he should change his ministers. +There were Catholic priests in the plot, and there were Puritan +noblemen too; for, although the Catholics and Puritans were strongly +opposed to each other, they united at this time against his Sowship, +because they knew that he had a design against both, after pretending +to be friendly to each; this design being to have only one high and +convenient form of the Protestant religion, which everybody should be +bound to belong to, whether they liked it or not. This plot was mixed +up with another, which may or may not have had some reference to +placing on the throne, at some time, the Lady Arabella Stuart; whose +misfortune it was, to be the daughter of the younger brother of his +Sowship’s father, but who was quite innocent of any part in the scheme. +Sir Walter Raleigh was accused on the confession of Lord Cobham—a +miserable creature, who said one thing at one time, and another thing +at another time, and could be relied upon in nothing. The trial of Sir +Walter Raleigh lasted from eight in the morning until nearly midnight; +he defended himself with such eloquence, genius, and spirit against all +accusations, and against the insults of Coke, the Attorney-General—who, +according to the custom of the time, foully abused him—that those who +went there detesting the prisoner, came away admiring him, and +declaring that anything so wonderful and so captivating was never +heard. He was found guilty, nevertheless, and sentenced to death. +Execution was deferred, and he was taken to the Tower. The two Catholic +priests, less fortunate, were executed with the usual atrocity; and +Lord Cobham and two others were pardoned on the scaffold. His Sowship +thought it wonderfully knowing in him to surprise the people by +pardoning these three at the very block; but, blundering, and bungling, +as usual, he had very nearly overreached himself. For, the messenger on +horseback who brought the pardon, came so late, that he was pushed to +the outside of the crowd, and was obliged to shout and roar out what he +came for. The miserable Cobham did not gain much by being spared that +day. He lived, both as a prisoner and a beggar, utterly despised, and +miserably poor, for thirteen years, and then died in an old outhouse +belonging to one of his former servants. + +This plot got rid of, and Sir Walter Raleigh safely shut up in the +Tower, his Sowship held a great dispute with the Puritans on their +presenting a petition to him, and had it all his own way—not so very +wonderful, as he would talk continually, and would not hear anybody +else—and filled the Bishops with admiration. It was comfortably settled +that there was to be only one form of religion, and that all men were +to think exactly alike. But, although this was arranged two centuries +and a half ago, and although the arrangement was supported by much +fining and imprisonment, I do not find that it is quite successful, +even yet. + +His Sowship, having that uncommonly high opinion of himself as a king, +had a very low opinion of Parliament as a power that audaciously wanted +to control him. When he called his first Parliament after he had been +king a year, he accordingly thought he would take pretty high ground +with them, and told them that he commanded them ‘as an absolute king.’ +The Parliament thought those strong words, and saw the necessity of +upholding their authority. His Sowship had three children: Prince +Henry, Prince Charles, and the Princess Elizabeth. It would have been +well for one of these, and we shall too soon see which, if he had +learnt a little wisdom concerning Parliaments from his father’s +obstinacy. + +Now, the people still labouring under their old dread of the Catholic +religion, this Parliament revived and strengthened the severe laws +against it. And this so angered Robert Catesby, a restless Catholic +gentleman of an old family, that he formed one of the most desperate +and terrible designs ever conceived in the mind of man; no less a +scheme than the Gunpowder Plot. + +His object was, when the King, lords, and commons, should be assembled +at the next opening of Parliament, to blow them up, one and all, with a +great mine of gunpowder. The first person to whom he confided this +horrible idea was Thomas Winter, a Worcestershire gentleman who had +served in the army abroad, and had been secretly employed in Catholic +projects. While Winter was yet undecided, and when he had gone over to +the Netherlands, to learn from the Spanish Ambassador there whether +there was any hope of Catholics being relieved through the intercession +of the King of Spain with his Sowship, he found at Ostend a tall, dark, +daring man, whom he had known when they were both soldiers abroad, and +whose name was Guido—or Guy—Fawkes. Resolved to join the plot, he +proposed it to this man, knowing him to be the man for any desperate +deed, and they two came back to England together. Here, they admitted +two other conspirators; Thomas Percy, related to the Earl of +Northumberland, and John Wright, his brother-in-law. All these met +together in a solitary house in the open fields which were then near +Clement’s Inn, now a closely blocked-up part of London; and when they +had all taken a great oath of secrecy, Catesby told the rest what his +plan was. They then went up-stairs into a garret, and received the +Sacrament from Father Gerard, a Jesuit, who is said not to have known +actually of the Gunpowder Plot, but who, I think, must have had his +suspicions that there was something desperate afoot. + +Percy was a Gentleman Pensioner, and as he had occasional duties to +perform about the Court, then kept at Whitehall, there would be nothing +suspicious in his living at Westminster. So, having looked well about +him, and having found a house to let, the back of which joined the +Parliament House, he hired it of a person named Ferris, for the purpose +of undermining the wall. Having got possession of this house, the +conspirators hired another on the Lambeth side of the Thames, which +they used as a storehouse for wood, gunpowder, and other combustible +matters. These were to be removed at night (and afterwards were +removed), bit by bit, to the house at Westminster; and, that there +might be some trusty person to keep watch over the Lambeth stores, they +admitted another conspirator, by name Robert Kay, a very poor Catholic +gentleman. + +All these arrangements had been made some months, and it was a dark, +wintry, December night, when the conspirators, who had been in the +meantime dispersed to avoid observation, met in the house at +Westminster, and began to dig. They had laid in a good stock of +eatables, to avoid going in and out, and they dug and dug with great +ardour. But, the wall being tremendously thick, and the work very +severe, they took into their plot Christopher Wright, a younger brother +of John Wright, that they might have a new pair of hands to help. And +Christopher Wright fell to like a fresh man, and they dug and dug by +night and by day, and Fawkes stood sentinel all the time. And if any +man’s heart seemed to fail him at all, Fawkes said, ‘Gentlemen, we have +abundance of powder and shot here, and there is no fear of our being +taken alive, even if discovered.’ The same Fawkes, who, in the capacity +of sentinel, was always prowling about, soon picked up the intelligence +that the King had prorogued the Parliament again, from the seventh of +February, the day first fixed upon, until the third of October. When +the conspirators knew this, they agreed to separate until after the +Christmas holidays, and to take no notice of each other in the +meanwhile, and never to write letters to one another on any account. +So, the house in Westminster was shut up again, and I suppose the +neighbours thought that those strange-looking men who lived there so +gloomily, and went out so seldom, were gone away to have a merry +Christmas somewhere. + +It was the beginning of February, sixteen hundred and five, when +Catesby met his fellow-conspirators again at this Westminster house. He +had now admitted three more; John Grant, a Warwickshire gentleman of a +melancholy temper, who lived in a doleful house near +Stratford-upon-Avon, with a frowning wall all round it, and a deep +moat; Robert Winter, eldest brother of Thomas; and Catesby’s own +servant, Thomas Bates, who, Catesby thought, had had some suspicion of +what his master was about. These three had all suffered more or less +for their religion in Elizabeth’s time. And now, they all began to dig +again, and they dug and dug by night and by day. + +They found it dismal work alone there, underground, with such a fearful +secret on their minds, and so many murders before them. They were +filled with wild fancies. Sometimes, they thought they heard a great +bell tolling, deep down in the earth under the Parliament House; +sometimes, they thought they heard low voices muttering about the +Gunpowder Plot; once in the morning, they really did hear a great +rumbling noise over their heads, as they dug and sweated in their mine. +Every man stopped and looked aghast at his neighbour, wondering what +had happened, when that bold prowler, Fawkes, who had been out to look, +came in and told them that it was only a dealer in coals who had +occupied a cellar under the Parliament House, removing his stock in +trade to some other place. Upon this, the conspirators, who with all +their digging and digging had not yet dug through the tremendously +thick wall, changed their plan; hired that cellar, which was directly +under the House of Lords; put six-and-thirty barrels of gunpowder in +it, and covered them over with fagots and coals. Then they all +dispersed again till September, when the following new conspirators +were admitted; Sir Edward Baynham, of Gloucestershire; Sir Everard +Digby, of Rutlandshire; Ambrose Rookwood, of Suffolk; Francis Tresham, +of Northamptonshire. Most of these were rich, and were to assist the +plot, some with money and some with horses on which the conspirators +were to ride through the country and rouse the Catholics after the +Parliament should be blown into air. + +Parliament being again prorogued from the third of October to the fifth +of November, and the conspirators being uneasy lest their design should +have been found out, Thomas Winter said he would go up into the House +of Lords on the day of the prorogation, and see how matters looked. +Nothing could be better. The unconscious Commissioners were walking +about and talking to one another, just over the six-and-thirty barrels +of gunpowder. He came back and told the rest so, and they went on with +their preparations. They hired a ship, and kept it ready in the Thames, +in which Fawkes was to sail for Flanders after firing with a slow match +the train that was to explode the powder. A number of Catholic +gentlemen not in the secret, were invited, on pretence of a hunting +party, to meet Sir Everard Digby at Dunchurch on the fatal day, that +they might be ready to act together. And now all was ready. + +But, now, the great wickedness and danger which had been all along at +the bottom of this wicked plot, began to show itself. As the fifth of +November drew near, most of the conspirators, remembering that they had +friends and relations who would be in the House of Lords that day, felt +some natural relenting, and a wish to warn them to keep away. They were +not much comforted by Catesby’s declaring that in such a cause he would +blow up his own son. Lord Mounteagle, Tresham’s brother-in-law, was +certain to be in the house; and when Tresham found that he could not +prevail upon the rest to devise any means of sparing their friends, he +wrote a mysterious letter to this lord and left it at his lodging in +the dusk, urging him to keep away from the opening of Parliament, +‘since God and man had concurred to punish the wickedness of the +times.’ It contained the words ‘that the Parliament should receive a +terrible blow, and yet should not see who hurt them.’ And it added, +‘the danger is past, as soon as you have burnt the letter.’ + +The ministers and courtiers made out that his Sowship, by a direct +miracle from Heaven, found out what this letter meant. The truth is, +that they were not long (as few men would be) in finding out for +themselves; and it was decided to let the conspirators alone, until the +very day before the opening of Parliament. That the conspirators had +their fears, is certain; for, Tresham himself said before them all, +that they were every one dead men; and, although even he did not take +flight, there is reason to suppose that he had warned other persons +besides Lord Mounteagle. However, they were all firm; and Fawkes, who +was a man of iron, went down every day and night to keep watch in the +cellar as usual. He was there about two in the afternoon of the fourth, +when the Lord Chamberlain and Lord Mounteagle threw open the door and +looked in. ‘Who are you, friend?’ said they. ‘Why,’ said Fawkes, ‘I am +Mr. Percy’s servant, and am looking after his store of fuel here.’ +‘Your master has laid in a pretty good store,’ they returned, and shut +the door, and went away. Fawkes, upon this, posted off to the other +conspirators to tell them all was quiet, and went back and shut himself +up in the dark, black cellar again, where he heard the bell go twelve +o’clock and usher in the fifth of November. About two hours afterwards, +he slowly opened the door, and came out to look about him, in his old +prowling way. He was instantly seized and bound, by a party of soldiers +under Sir Thomas Knevett. He had a watch upon him, some touchwood, some +tinder, some slow matches; and there was a dark lantern with a candle +in it, lighted, behind the door. He had his boots and spurs on—to ride +to the ship, I suppose—and it was well for the soldiers that they took +him so suddenly. If they had left him but a moment’s time to light a +match, he certainly would have tossed it in among the powder, and blown +up himself and them. + +They took him to the King’s bed-chamber first of all, and there the +King (causing him to be held very tight, and keeping a good way off), +asked him how he could have the heart to intend to destroy so many +innocent people? ‘Because,’ said Guy Fawkes, ‘desperate diseases need +desperate remedies.’ To a little Scotch favourite, with a face like a +terrier, who asked him (with no particular wisdom) why he had collected +so much gunpowder, he replied, because he had meant to blow Scotchmen +back to Scotland, and it would take a deal of powder to do that. Next +day he was carried to the Tower, but would make no confession. Even +after being horribly tortured, he confessed nothing that the Government +did not already know; though he must have been in a fearful state—as +his signature, still preserved, in contrast with his natural +hand-writing before he was put upon the dreadful rack, most frightfully +shows. Bates, a very different man, soon said the Jesuits had had to do +with the plot, and probably, under the torture, would as readily have +said anything. Tresham, taken and put in the Tower too, made +confessions and unmade them, and died of an illness that was heavy upon +him. Rookwood, who had stationed relays of his own horses all the way +to Dunchurch, did not mount to escape until the middle of the day, when +the news of the plot was all over London. On the road, he came up with +the two Wrights, Catesby, and Percy; and they all galloped together +into Northamptonshire. Thence to Dunchurch, where they found the +proposed party assembled. Finding, however, that there had been a plot, +and that it had been discovered, the party disappeared in the course of +the night, and left them alone with Sir Everard Digby. Away they all +rode again, through Warwickshire and Worcestershire, to a house called +Holbeach, on the borders of Staffordshire. They tried to raise the +Catholics on their way, but were indignantly driven off by them. All +this time they were hotly pursued by the sheriff of Worcester, and a +fast increasing concourse of riders. At last, resolving to defend +themselves at Holbeach, they shut themselves up in the house, and put +some wet powder before the fire to dry. But it blew up, and Catesby was +singed and blackened, and almost killed, and some of the others were +sadly hurt. Still, knowing that they must die, they resolved to die +there, and with only their swords in their hands appeared at the +windows to be shot at by the sheriff and his assistants. Catesby said +to Thomas Winter, after Thomas had been hit in the right arm which +dropped powerless by his side, ‘Stand by me, Tom, and we will die +together!’—which they did, being shot through the body by two bullets +from one gun. John Wright, and Christopher Wright, and Percy, were also +shot. Rookwood and Digby were taken: the former with a broken arm and a +wound in his body too. + +It was the fifteenth of January, before the trial of Guy Fawkes, and +such of the other conspirators as were left alive, came on. They were +all found guilty, all hanged, drawn, and quartered: some, in St. Paul’s +Churchyard, on the top of Ludgate-hill; some, before the Parliament +House. A Jesuit priest, named Henry Garnet, to whom the dreadful design +was said to have been communicated, was taken and tried; and two of his +servants, as well as a poor priest who was taken with him, were +tortured without mercy. He himself was not tortured, but was surrounded +in the Tower by tamperers and traitors, and so was made unfairly to +convict himself out of his own mouth. He said, upon his trial, that he +had done all he could to prevent the deed, and that he could not make +public what had been told him in confession—though I am afraid he knew +of the plot in other ways. He was found guilty and executed, after a +manful defence, and the Catholic Church made a saint of him; some rich +and powerful persons, who had had nothing to do with the project, were +fined and imprisoned for it by the Star Chamber; the Catholics, in +general, who had recoiled with horror from the idea of the infernal +contrivance, were unjustly put under more severe laws than before; and +this was the end of the Gunpowder Plot. + +SECOND PART + +His Sowship would pretty willingly, I think, have blown the House of +Commons into the air himself; for, his dread and jealousy of it knew no +bounds all through his reign. When he was hard pressed for money he was +obliged to order it to meet, as he could get no money without it; and +when it asked him first to abolish some of the monopolies in +necessaries of life which were a great grievance to the people, and to +redress other public wrongs, he flew into a rage and got rid of it +again. At one time he wanted it to consent to the Union of England with +Scotland, and quarrelled about that. At another time it wanted him to +put down a most infamous Church abuse, called the High Commission +Court, and he quarrelled with it about that. At another time it +entreated him not to be quite so fond of his archbishops and bishops +who made speeches in his praise too awful to be related, but to have +some little consideration for the poor Puritan clergy who were +persecuted for preaching in their own way, and not according to the +archbishops and bishops; and they quarrelled about that. In short, what +with hating the House of Commons, and pretending not to hate it; and +what with now sending some of its members who opposed him, to Newgate +or to the Tower, and now telling the rest that they must not presume to +make speeches about the public affairs which could not possibly concern +them; and what with cajoling, and bullying, and fighting, and being +frightened; the House of Commons was the plague of his Sowship’s +existence. It was pretty firm, however, in maintaining its rights, and +insisting that the Parliament should make the laws, and not the King by +his own single proclamations (which he tried hard to do); and his +Sowship was so often distressed for money, in consequence, that he sold +every sort of title and public office as if they were merchandise, and +even invented a new dignity called a Baronetcy, which anybody could buy +for a thousand pounds. + +These disputes with his Parliaments, and his hunting, and his drinking, +and his lying in bed—for he was a great sluggard—occupied his Sowship +pretty well. The rest of his time he chiefly passed in hugging and +slobbering his favourites. The first of these was Sir Philip Herbert, +who had no knowledge whatever, except of dogs, and horses, and hunting, +but whom he soon made Earl of Montgomery. The next, and a much more +famous one, was Robert Carr, or Ker (for it is not certain which was +his right name), who came from the Border country, and whom he soon +made Viscount Rochester, and afterwards, Earl of Somerset. The way in +which his Sowship doted on this handsome young man, is even more odious +to think of, than the way in which the really great men of England +condescended to bow down before him. The favourite’s great friend was a +certain Sir Thomas Overbury, who wrote his love-letters for him, and +assisted him in the duties of his many high places, which his own +ignorance prevented him from discharging. But this same Sir Thomas +having just manhood enough to dissuade the favourite from a wicked +marriage with the beautiful Countess of Essex, who was to get a divorce +from her husband for the purpose, the said Countess, in her rage, got +Sir Thomas put into the Tower, and there poisoned him. Then the +favourite and this bad woman were publicly married by the King’s pet +bishop, with as much to-do and rejoicing, as if he had been the best +man, and she the best woman, upon the face of the earth. + +But, after a longer sunshine than might have been expected—of seven +years or so, that is to say—another handsome young man started up and +eclipsed the Earl of Somerset. This was George Villiers, the youngest +son of a Leicestershire gentleman: who came to Court with all the Paris +fashions on him, and could dance as well as the best mountebank that +ever was seen. He soon danced himself into the good graces of his +Sowship, and danced the other favourite out of favour. Then, it was all +at once discovered that the Earl and Countess of Somerset had not +deserved all those great promotions and mighty rejoicings, and they +were separately tried for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and for +other crimes. But, the King was so afraid of his late favourite’s +publicly telling some disgraceful things he knew of him—which he darkly +threatened to do—that he was even examined with two men standing, one +on either side of him, each with a cloak in his hand, ready to throw it +over his head and stop his mouth if he should break out with what he +had it in his power to tell. So, a very lame affair was purposely made +of the trial, and his punishment was an allowance of four thousand +pounds a year in retirement, while the Countess was pardoned, and +allowed to pass into retirement too. They hated one another by this +time, and lived to revile and torment each other some years. + +While these events were in progress, and while his Sowship was making +such an exhibition of himself, from day to day and from year to year, +as is not often seen in any sty, three remarkable deaths took place in +England. The first was that of the Minister, Robert Cecil, Earl of +Salisbury, who was past sixty, and had never been strong, being +deformed from his birth. He said at last that he had no wish to live; +and no Minister need have had, with his experience of the meanness and +wickedness of those disgraceful times. The second was that of the Lady +Arabella Stuart, who alarmed his Sowship mightily, by privately +marrying William Seymour, son of Lord Beauchamp, who was a descendant +of King Henry the Seventh, and who, his Sowship thought, might +consequently increase and strengthen any claim she might one day set up +to the throne. She was separated from her husband (who was put in the +Tower) and thrust into a boat to be confined at Durham. She escaped in +a man’s dress to get away in a French ship from Gravesend to France, +but unhappily missed her husband, who had escaped too, and was soon +taken. She went raving mad in the miserable Tower, and died there after +four years. The last, and the most important of these three deaths, was +that of Prince Henry, the heir to the throne, in the nineteenth year of +his age. He was a promising young prince, and greatly liked; a quiet, +well-conducted youth, of whom two very good things are known: first, +that his father was jealous of him; secondly, that he was the friend of +Sir Walter Raleigh, languishing through all those years in the Tower, +and often said that no man but his father would keep such a bird in +such a cage. On the occasion of the preparations for the marriage of +his sister the Princess Elizabeth with a foreign prince (and an unhappy +marriage it turned out), he came from Richmond, where he had been very +ill, to greet his new brother-in-law, at the palace at Whitehall. There +he played a great game at tennis, in his shirt, though it was very cold +weather, and was seized with an alarming illness, and died within a +fortnight of a putrid fever. For this young prince Sir Walter Raleigh +wrote, in his prison in the Tower, the beginning of a History of the +World: a wonderful instance how little his Sowship could do to confine +a great man’s mind, however long he might imprison his body. + +And this mention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had many faults, but who +never showed so many merits as in trouble and adversity, may bring me +at once to the end of his sad story. After an imprisonment in the Tower +of twelve long years, he proposed to resume those old sea voyages of +his, and to go to South America in search of gold. His Sowship, divided +between his wish to be on good terms with the Spaniards through whose +territory Sir Walter must pass (he had long had an idea of marrying +Prince Henry to a Spanish Princess), and his avaricious eagerness to +get hold of the gold, did not know what to do. But, in the end, he set +Sir Walter free, taking securities for his return; and Sir Walter +fitted out an expedition at his own coast and, on the twenty-eighth of +March, one thousand six hundred and seventeen, sailed away in command +of one of its ships, which he ominously called the Destiny. The +expedition failed; the common men, not finding the gold they had +expected, mutinied; a quarrel broke out between Sir Walter and the +Spaniards, who hated him for old successes of his against them; and he +took and burnt a little town called Saint Thomas. For this he was +denounced to his Sowship by the Spanish Ambassador as a pirate; and +returning almost broken-hearted, with his hopes and fortunes shattered, +his company of friends dispersed, and his brave son (who had been one +of them) killed, he was taken—through the treachery of Sir Lewis +Stukely, his near relation, a scoundrel and a Vice-Admiral—and was once +again immured in his prison-home of so many years. + +His Sowship being mightily disappointed in not getting any gold, Sir +Walter Raleigh was tried as unfairly, and with as many lies and +evasions as the judges and law officers and every other authority in +Church and State habitually practised under such a King. After a great +deal of prevarication on all parts but his own, it was declared that he +must die under his former sentence, now fifteen years old. So, on the +twenty-eighth of October, one thousand six hundred and eighteen, he was +shut up in the Gate House at Westminster to pass his late night on +earth, and there he took leave of his good and faithful lady who was +worthy to have lived in better days. At eight o’clock next morning, +after a cheerful breakfast, and a pipe, and a cup of good wine, he was +taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster, where the scaffold was set up, +and where so many people of high degree were assembled to see him die, +that it was a matter of some difficulty to get him through the crowd. +He behaved most nobly, but if anything lay heavy on his mind, it was +that Earl of Essex, whose head he had seen roll off; and he solemnly +said that he had had no hand in bringing him to the block, and that he +had shed tears for him when he died. As the morning was very cold, the +Sheriff said, would he come down to a fire for a little space, and warm +himself? But Sir Walter thanked him, and said no, he would rather it +were done at once, for he was ill of fever and ague, and in another +quarter of an hour his shaking fit would come upon him if he were still +alive, and his enemies might then suppose that he trembled for fear. +With that, he kneeled and made a very beautiful and Christian prayer. +Before he laid his head upon the block he felt the edge of the axe, and +said, with a smile upon his face, that it was a sharp medicine, but +would cure the worst disease. When he was bent down ready for death, he +said to the executioner, finding that he hesitated, ‘What dost thou +fear? Strike, man!’ So, the axe came down and struck his head off, in +the sixty-sixth year of his age. + +The new favourite got on fast. He was made a viscount, he was made Duke +of Buckingham, he was made a marquis, he was made Master of the Horse, +he was made Lord High Admiral—and the Chief Commander of the gallant +English forces that had dispersed the Spanish Armada, was displaced to +make room for him. He had the whole kingdom at his disposal, and his +mother sold all the profits and honours of the State, as if she had +kept a shop. He blazed all over with diamonds and other precious +stones, from his hatband and his earrings to his shoes. Yet he was an +ignorant presumptuous, swaggering compound of knave and fool, with +nothing but his beauty and his dancing to recommend him. This is the +gentleman who called himself his Majesty’s dog and slave, and called +his Majesty Your Sowship. His Sowship called him Steenie; it is +supposed, because that was a nickname for Stephen, and because St. +Stephen was generally represented in pictures as a handsome saint. + +His Sowship was driven sometimes to his wits’-end by his trimming +between the general dislike of the Catholic religion at home, and his +desire to wheedle and flatter it abroad, as his only means of getting a +rich princess for his son’s wife: a part of whose fortune he might cram +into his greasy pockets. Prince Charles—or as his Sowship called him, +Baby Charles—being now Prince of Wales, the old project of a marriage +with the Spanish King’s daughter had been revived for him; and as she +could not marry a Protestant without leave from the Pope, his Sowship +himself secretly and meanly wrote to his Infallibility, asking for it. +The negotiation for this Spanish marriage takes up a larger space in +great books, than you can imagine, but the upshot of it all is, that +when it had been held off by the Spanish Court for a long time, Baby +Charles and Steenie set off in disguise as Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. +John Smith, to see the Spanish Princess; that Baby Charles pretended to +be desperately in love with her, and jumped off walls to look at her, +and made a considerable fool of himself in a good many ways; that she +was called Princess of Wales and that the whole Spanish Court believed +Baby Charles to be all but dying for her sake, as he expressly told +them he was; that Baby Charles and Steenie came back to England, and +were received with as much rapture as if they had been a blessing to +it; that Baby Charles had actually fallen in love with Henrietta Maria, +the French King’s sister, whom he had seen in Paris; that he thought it +a wonderfully fine and princely thing to have deceived the Spaniards, +all through; and that he openly said, with a chuckle, as soon as he was +safe and sound at home again, that the Spaniards were great fools to +have believed him. + +Like most dishonest men, the Prince and the favourite complained that +the people whom they had deluded were dishonest. They made such +misrepresentations of the treachery of the Spaniards in this business +of the Spanish match, that the English nation became eager for a war +with them. Although the gravest Spaniards laughed at the idea of his +Sowship in a warlike attitude, the Parliament granted money for the +beginning of hostilities, and the treaties with Spain were publicly +declared to be at an end. The Spanish ambassador in London—probably +with the help of the fallen favourite, the Earl of Somerset—being +unable to obtain speech with his Sowship, slipped a paper into his +hand, declaring that he was a prisoner in his own house, and was +entirely governed by Buckingham and his creatures. The first effect of +this letter was that his Sowship began to cry and whine, and took Baby +Charles away from Steenie, and went down to Windsor, gabbling all sorts +of nonsense. The end of it was that his Sowship hugged his dog and +slave, and said he was quite satisfied. + +He had given the Prince and the favourite almost unlimited power to +settle anything with the Pope as to the Spanish marriage; and he now, +with a view to the French one, signed a treaty that all Roman Catholics +in England should exercise their religion freely, and should never be +required to take any oath contrary thereto. In return for this, and for +other concessions much less to be defended, Henrietta Maria was to +become the Prince’s wife, and was to bring him a fortune of eight +hundred thousand crowns. + +His Sowship’s eyes were getting red with eagerly looking for the money, +when the end of a gluttonous life came upon him; and, after a +fortnight’s illness, on Sunday the twenty-seventh of March, one +thousand six hundred and twenty-five, he died. He had reigned +twenty-two years, and was fifty-nine years old. I know of nothing more +abominable in history than the adulation that was lavished on this +King, and the vice and corruption that such a barefaced habit of lying +produced in his court. It is much to be doubted whether one man of +honour, and not utterly self-disgraced, kept his place near James the +First. Lord Bacon, that able and wise philosopher, as the First Judge +in the Kingdom in this reign, became a public spectacle of dishonesty +and corruption; and in his base flattery of his Sowship, and in his +crawling servility to his dog and slave, disgraced himself even more. +But, a creature like his Sowship set upon a throne is like the Plague, +and everybody receives infection from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII +ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST + + +Baby Charles became King Charles the First, in the twenty-fifth year of +his age. Unlike his father, he was usually amiable in his private +character, and grave and dignified in his bearing; but, like his +father, he had monstrously exaggerated notions of the rights of a king, +and was evasive, and not to be trusted. If his word could have been +relied upon, his history might have had a different end. + +His first care was to send over that insolent upstart, Buckingham, to +bring Henrietta Maria from Paris to be his Queen; upon which occasion +Buckingham—with his usual audacity—made love to the young Queen of +Austria, and was very indignant indeed with Cardinal Richelieu, the +French Minister, for thwarting his intentions. The English people were +very well disposed to like their new Queen, and to receive her with +great favour when she came among them as a stranger. But, she held the +Protestant religion in great dislike, and brought over a crowd of +unpleasant priests, who made her do some very ridiculous things, and +forced themselves upon the public notice in many disagreeable ways. +Hence, the people soon came to dislike her, and she soon came to +dislike them; and she did so much all through this reign in setting the +King (who was dotingly fond of her) against his subjects, that it would +have been better for him if she had never been born. + +Now, you are to understand that King Charles the First—of his own +determination to be a high and mighty King not to be called to account +by anybody, and urged on by his Queen besides—deliberately set himself +to put his Parliament down and to put himself up. You are also to +understand, that even in pursuit of this wrong idea (enough in itself +to have ruined any king) he never took a straight course, but always +took a crooked one. + +He was bent upon war with Spain, though neither the House of Commons +nor the people were quite clear as to the justice of that war, now that +they began to think a little more about the story of the Spanish match. +But the King rushed into it hotly, raised money by illegal means to +meet its expenses, and encountered a miserable failure at Cadiz, in the +very first year of his reign. An expedition to Cadiz had been made in +the hope of plunder, but as it was not successful, it was necessary to +get a grant of money from the Parliament; and when they met, in no very +complying humour, the King told them, ‘to make haste to let him have +it, or it would be the worse for themselves.’ Not put in a more +complying humour by this, they impeached the King’s favourite, the Duke +of Buckingham, as the cause (which he undoubtedly was) of many great +public grievances and wrongs. The King, to save him, dissolved the +Parliament without getting the money he wanted; and when the Lords +implored him to consider and grant a little delay, he replied, ‘No, not +one minute.’ He then began to raise money for himself by the following +means among others. + +He levied certain duties called tonnage and poundage which had not been +granted by the Parliament, and could lawfully be levied by no other +power; he called upon the seaport towns to furnish, and to pay all the +cost for three months of, a fleet of armed ships; and he required the +people to unite in lending him large sums of money, the repayment of +which was very doubtful. If the poor people refused, they were pressed +as soldiers or sailors; if the gentry refused, they were sent to +prison. Five gentlemen, named Sir Thomas Darnel, John Corbet, Walter +Earl, John Heveningham, and Everard Hampden, for refusing were taken up +by a warrant of the King’s privy council, and were sent to prison +without any cause but the King’s pleasure being stated for their +imprisonment. Then the question came to be solemnly tried, whether this +was not a violation of Magna Charta, and an encroachment by the King on +the highest rights of the English people. His lawyers contended No, +because to encroach upon the rights of the English people would be to +do wrong, and the King could do no wrong. The accommodating judges +decided in favour of this wicked nonsense; and here was a fatal +division between the King and the people. + +For all this, it became necessary to call another Parliament. The +people, sensible of the danger in which their liberties were, chose for +it those who were best known for their determined opposition to the +King; but still the King, quite blinded by his determination to carry +everything before him, addressed them when they met, in a contemptuous +manner, and just told them in so many words that he had only called +them together because he wanted money. The Parliament, strong enough +and resolute enough to know that they would lower his tone, cared +little for what he said, and laid before him one of the great documents +of history, which is called the Petition of Right, requiring that the +free men of England should no longer be called upon to lend the King +money, and should no longer be pressed or imprisoned for refusing to do +so; further, that the free men of England should no longer be seized by +the King’s special mandate or warrant, it being contrary to their +rights and liberties and the laws of their country. At first the King +returned an answer to this petition, in which he tried to shirk it +altogether; but, the House of Commons then showing their determination +to go on with the impeachment of Buckingham, the King in alarm returned +an answer, giving his consent to all that was required of him. He not +only afterwards departed from his word and honour on these points, over +and over again, but, at this very time, he did the mean and dissembling +act of publishing his first answer and not his second—merely that the +people might suppose that the Parliament had not got the better of him. + +That pestilent Buckingham, to gratify his own wounded vanity, had by +this time involved the country in war with France, as well as with +Spain. For such miserable causes and such miserable creatures are wars +sometimes made! But he was destined to do little more mischief in this +world. One morning, as he was going out of his house to his carriage, +he turned to speak to a certain Colonel Fryer who was with him; and he +was violently stabbed with a knife, which the murderer left sticking in +his heart. This happened in his hall. He had had angry words up-stairs, +just before, with some French gentlemen, who were immediately suspected +by his servants, and had a close escape from being set upon and killed. +In the midst of the noise, the real murderer, who had gone to the +kitchen and might easily have got away, drew his sword and cried out, +‘I am the man!’ His name was John Felton, a Protestant and a retired +officer in the army. He said he had had no personal ill-will to the +Duke, but had killed him as a curse to the country. He had aimed his +blow well, for Buckingham had only had time to cry out, ‘Villain!’ and +then he drew out the knife, fell against a table, and died. + +The council made a mighty business of examining John Felton about this +murder, though it was a plain case enough, one would think. He had come +seventy miles to do it, he told them, and he did it for the reason he +had declared; if they put him upon the rack, as that noble Marquis of +Dorset whom he saw before him, had the goodness to threaten, he gave +that marquis warning, that he would accuse _him_ as his accomplice! The +King was unpleasantly anxious to have him racked, nevertheless; but as +the judges now found out that torture was contrary to the law of +England—it is a pity they did not make the discovery a little +sooner—John Felton was simply executed for the murder he had done. A +murder it undoubtedly was, and not in the least to be defended: though +he had freed England from one of the most profligate, contemptible, and +base court favourites to whom it has ever yielded. + +A very different man now arose. This was Sir Thomas Wentworth, a +Yorkshire gentleman, who had sat in Parliament for a long time, and who +had favoured arbitrary and haughty principles, but who had gone over to +the people’s side on receiving offence from Buckingham. The King, much +wanting such a man—for, besides being naturally favourable to the +King’s cause, he had great abilities—made him first a Baron, and then a +Viscount, and gave him high employment, and won him most completely. + +A Parliament, however, was still in existence, and was _not_ to be won. +On the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and twenty-nine, +Sir John Eliot, a great man who had been active in the Petition of +Right, brought forward other strong resolutions against the King’s +chief instruments, and called upon the Speaker to put them to the vote. +To this the Speaker answered, ‘he was commanded otherwise by the King,’ +and got up to leave the chair—which, according to the rules of the +House of Commons would have obliged it to adjourn without doing +anything more—when two members, named Mr. Hollis and Mr. Valentine, +held him down. A scene of great confusion arose among the members; and +while many swords were drawn and flashing about, the King, who was kept +informed of all that was going on, told the captain of his guard to go +down to the House and force the doors. The resolutions were by that +time, however, voted, and the House adjourned. Sir John Eliot and those +two members who had held the Speaker down, were quickly summoned before +the council. As they claimed it to be their privilege not to answer out +of Parliament for anything they had said in it, they were committed to +the Tower. The King then went down and dissolved the Parliament, in a +speech wherein he made mention of these gentlemen as ‘Vipers’—which did +not do him much good that ever I have heard of. + +As they refused to gain their liberty by saying they were sorry for +what they had done, the King, always remarkably unforgiving, never +overlooked their offence. When they demanded to be brought up before +the court of King’s Bench, he even resorted to the meanness of having +them moved about from prison to prison, so that the writs issued for +that purpose should not legally find them. At last they came before the +court and were sentenced to heavy fines, and to be imprisoned during +the King’s pleasure. When Sir John Eliot’s health had quite given way, +and he so longed for change of air and scene as to petition for his +release, the King sent back the answer (worthy of his Sowship himself) +that the petition was not humble enough. When he sent another petition +by his young son, in which he pathetically offered to go back to prison +when his health was restored, if he might be released for its recovery, +the King still disregarded it. When he died in the Tower, and his +children petitioned to be allowed to take his body down to Cornwall, +there to lay it among the ashes of his forefathers, the King returned +for answer, ‘Let Sir John Eliot’s body be buried in the church of that +parish where he died.’ All this was like a very little King indeed, I +think. + +And now, for twelve long years, steadily pursuing his design of setting +himself up and putting the people down, the King called no Parliament; +but ruled without one. If twelve thousand volumes were written in his +praise (as a good many have been) it would still remain a fact, +impossible to be denied, that for twelve years King Charles the First +reigned in England unlawfully and despotically, seized upon his +subjects’ goods and money at his pleasure, and punished according to +his unbridled will all who ventured to oppose him. It is a fashion with +some people to think that this King’s career was cut short; but I must +say myself that I think he ran a pretty long one. + +William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the King’s right-hand man +in the religious part of the putting down of the people’s liberties. +Laud, who was a sincere man, of large learning but small sense—for the +two things sometimes go together in very different quantities—though a +Protestant, held opinions so near those of the Catholics, that the Pope +wanted to make a Cardinal of him, if he would have accepted that +favour. He looked upon vows, robes, lighted candles, images, and so +forth, as amazingly important in religious ceremonies; and he brought +in an immensity of bowing and candle-snuffing. He also regarded +archbishops and bishops as a sort of miraculous persons, and was +inveterate in the last degree against any who thought otherwise. +Accordingly, he offered up thanks to Heaven, and was in a state of much +pious pleasure, when a Scotch clergyman, named Leighton, was pilloried, +whipped, branded in the cheek, and had one of his ears cut off and one +of his nostrils slit, for calling bishops trumpery and the inventions +of men. He originated on a Sunday morning the prosecution of William +Prynne, a barrister who was of similar opinions, and who was fined a +thousand pounds; who was pilloried; who had his ears cut off on two +occasions—one ear at a time—and who was imprisoned for life. He highly +approved of the punishment of Doctor Bastwick, a physician; who was +also fined a thousand pounds; and who afterwards had _his_ ears cut +off, and was imprisoned for life. These were gentle methods of +persuasion, some will tell you: I think, they were rather calculated to +be alarming to the people. + +In the money part of the putting down of the people’s liberties, the +King was equally gentle, as some will tell you: as I think, equally +alarming. He levied those duties of tonnage and poundage, and increased +them as he thought fit. He granted monopolies to companies of merchants +on their paying him for them, notwithstanding the great complaints that +had, for years and years, been made on the subject of monopolies. He +fined the people for disobeying proclamations issued by his Sowship in +direct violation of law. He revived the detested Forest laws, and took +private property to himself as his forest right. Above all, he +determined to have what was called Ship Money; that is to say, money +for the support of the fleet—not only from the seaports, but from all +the counties of England: having found out that, in some ancient time or +other, all the counties paid it. The grievance of this ship money being +somewhat too strong, John Chambers, a citizen of London, refused to pay +his part of it. For this the Lord Mayor ordered John Chambers to +prison, and for that John Chambers brought a suit against the Lord +Mayor. Lord Say, also, behaved like a real nobleman, and declared he +would not pay. But, the sturdiest and best opponent of the ship money +was John Hampden, a gentleman of Buckinghamshire, who had sat among the +‘vipers’ in the House of Commons when there was such a thing, and who +had been the bosom friend of Sir John Eliot. This case was tried before +the twelve judges in the Court of Exchequer, and again the King’s +lawyers said it was impossible that ship money could be wrong, because +the King could do no wrong, however hard he tried—and he really did try +very hard during these twelve years. Seven of the judges said that was +quite true, and Mr. Hampden was bound to pay: five of the judges said +that was quite false, and Mr. Hampden was not bound to pay. So, the +King triumphed (as he thought), by making Hampden the most popular man +in England; where matters were getting to that height now, that many +honest Englishmen could not endure their country, and sailed away +across the seas to found a colony in Massachusetts Bay in America. It +is said that Hampden himself and his relation Oliver Cromwell were +going with a company of such voyagers, and were actually on board ship, +when they were stopped by a proclamation, prohibiting sea captains to +carry out such passengers without the royal license. But O! it would +have been well for the King if he had let them go! This was the state +of England. If Laud had been a madman just broke loose, he could not +have done more mischief than he did in Scotland. In his endeavours (in +which he was seconded by the King, then in person in that part of his +dominions) to force his own ideas of bishops, and his own religious +forms and ceremonies upon the Scotch, he roused that nation to a +perfect frenzy. They formed a solemn league, which they called The +Covenant, for the preservation of their own religious forms; they rose +in arms throughout the whole country; they summoned all their men to +prayers and sermons twice a day by beat of drum; they sang psalms, in +which they compared their enemies to all the evil spirits that ever +were heard of; and they solemnly vowed to smite them with the sword. At +first the King tried force, then treaty, then a Scottish Parliament +which did not answer at all. Then he tried the Earl of Strafford, +formerly Sir Thomas Wentworth; who, as Lord Wentworth, had been +governing Ireland. He, too, had carried it with a very high hand there, +though to the benefit and prosperity of that country. + +Strafford and Laud were for conquering the Scottish people by force of +arms. Other lords who were taken into council, recommended that a +Parliament should at last be called; to which the King unwillingly +consented. So, on the thirteenth of April, one thousand six hundred and +forty, that then strange sight, a Parliament, was seen at Westminster. +It is called the Short Parliament, for it lasted a very little while. +While the members were all looking at one another, doubtful who would +dare to speak, Mr. Pym arose and set forth all that the King had done +unlawfully during the past twelve years, and what was the position to +which England was reduced. This great example set, other members took +courage and spoke the truth freely, though with great patience and +moderation. The King, a little frightened, sent to say that if they +would grant him a certain sum on certain terms, no more ship money +should be raised. They debated the matter for two days; and then, as +they would not give him all he asked without promise or inquiry, he +dissolved them. + +But they knew very well that he must have a Parliament now; and he +began to make that discovery too, though rather late in the day. +Wherefore, on the twenty-fourth of September, being then at York with +an army collected against the Scottish people, but his own men sullen +and discontented like the rest of the nation, the King told the great +council of the Lords, whom he had called to meet him there, that he +would summon another Parliament to assemble on the third of November. +The soldiers of the Covenant had now forced their way into England and +had taken possession of the northern counties, where the coals are got. +As it would never do to be without coals, and as the King’s troops +could make no head against the Covenanters so full of gloomy zeal, a +truce was made, and a treaty with Scotland was taken into +consideration. Meanwhile the northern counties paid the Covenanters to +leave the coals alone, and keep quiet. + +We have now disposed of the Short Parliament. We have next to see what +memorable things were done by the Long one. + +SECOND PART + +The Long Parliament assembled on the third of November, one thousand +six hundred and forty-one. That day week the Earl of Strafford arrived +from York, very sensible that the spirited and determined men who +formed that Parliament were no friends towards him, who had not only +deserted the cause of the people, but who had on all occasions opposed +himself to their liberties. The King told him, for his comfort, that +the Parliament ‘should not hurt one hair of his head.’ But, on the very +next day Mr. Pym, in the House of Commons, and with great solemnity, +impeached the Earl of Strafford as a traitor. He was immediately taken +into custody and fell from his proud height. + +It was the twenty-second of March before he was brought to trial in +Westminster Hall; where, although he was very ill and suffered great +pain, he defended himself with such ability and majesty, that it was +doubtful whether he would not get the best of it. But on the thirteenth +day of the trial, Pym produced in the House of Commons a copy of some +notes of a council, found by young Sir Harry Vane in a red velvet +cabinet belonging to his father (Secretary Vane, who sat at the +council-table with the Earl), in which Strafford had distinctly told +the King that he was free from all rules and obligations of government, +and might do with his people whatever he liked; and in which he had +added—‘You have an army in Ireland that you may employ to reduce this +kingdom to obedience.’ It was not clear whether by the words ‘this +kingdom,’ he had really meant England or Scotland; but the Parliament +contended that he meant England, and this was treason. At the same +sitting of the House of Commons it was resolved to bring in a bill of +attainder declaring the treason to have been committed: in preference +to proceeding with the trial by impeachment, which would have required +the treason to be proved. + +So, a bill was brought in at once, was carried through the House of +Commons by a large majority, and was sent up to the House of Lords. +While it was still uncertain whether the House of Lords would pass it +and the King consent to it, Pym disclosed to the House of Commons that +the King and Queen had both been plotting with the officers of the army +to bring up the soldiers and control the Parliament, and also to +introduce two hundred soldiers into the Tower of London to effect the +Earl’s escape. The plotting with the army was revealed by one George +Goring, the son of a lord of that name: a bad fellow who was one of the +original plotters, and turned traitor. The King had actually given his +warrant for the admission of the two hundred men into the Tower, and +they would have got in too, but for the refusal of the governor—a +sturdy Scotchman of the name of Balfour—to admit them. These matters +being made public, great numbers of people began to riot outside the +Houses of Parliament, and to cry out for the execution of the Earl of +Strafford, as one of the King’s chief instruments against them. The +bill passed the House of Lords while the people were in this state of +agitation, and was laid before the King for his assent, together with +another bill declaring that the Parliament then assembled should not be +dissolved or adjourned without their own consent. The King—not +unwilling to save a faithful servant, though he had no great attachment +for him—was in some doubt what to do; but he gave his consent to both +bills, although he in his heart believed that the bill against the Earl +of Strafford was unlawful and unjust. The Earl had written to him, +telling him that he was willing to die for his sake. But he had not +expected that his royal master would take him at his word quite so +readily; for, when he heard his doom, he laid his hand upon his heart, +and said, ‘Put not your trust in Princes!’ + +The King, who never could be straightforward and plain, through one +single day or through one single sheet of paper, wrote a letter to the +Lords, and sent it by the young Prince of Wales, entreating them to +prevail with the Commons that ‘that unfortunate man should fulfil the +natural course of his life in a close imprisonment.’ In a postscript to +the very same letter, he added, ‘If he must die, it were charity to +reprieve him till Saturday.’ If there had been any doubt of his fate, +this weakness and meanness would have settled it. The very next day, +which was the twelfth of May, he was brought out to be beheaded on +Tower Hill. + +Archbishop Laud, who had been so fond of having people’s ears cropped +off and their noses slit, was now confined in the Tower too; and when +the Earl went by his window to his death, he was there, at his request, +to give him his blessing. They had been great friends in the King’s +cause, and the Earl had written to him in the days of their power that +he thought it would be an admirable thing to have Mr. Hampden publicly +whipped for refusing to pay the ship money. However, those high and +mighty doings were over now, and the Earl went his way to death with +dignity and heroism. The governor wished him to get into a coach at the +Tower gate, for fear the people should tear him to pieces; but he said +it was all one to him whether he died by the axe or by the people’s +hands. So, he walked, with a firm tread and a stately look, and +sometimes pulled off his hat to them as he passed along. They were +profoundly quiet. He made a speech on the scaffold from some notes he +had prepared (the paper was found lying there after his head was struck +off), and one blow of the axe killed him, in the forty-ninth year of +his age. + +This bold and daring act, the Parliament accompanied by other famous +measures, all originating (as even this did) in the King’s having so +grossly and so long abused his power. The name of Delinquents was +applied to all sheriffs and other officers who had been concerned in +raising the ship money, or any other money, from the people, in an +unlawful manner; the Hampden judgment was reversed; the judges who had +decided against Hampden were called upon to give large securities that +they would take such consequences as Parliament might impose upon them; +and one was arrested as he sat in High Court, and carried off to +prison. Laud was impeached; the unfortunate victims whose ears had been +cropped and whose noses had been slit, were brought out of prison in +triumph; and a bill was passed declaring that a Parliament should be +called every third year, and that if the King and the King’s officers +did not call it, the people should assemble of themselves and summon +it, as of their own right and power. Great illuminations and rejoicings +took place over all these things, and the country was wildly excited. +That the Parliament took advantage of this excitement and stirred them +up by every means, there is no doubt; but you are always to remember +those twelve long years, during which the King had tried so hard +whether he really could do any wrong or not. + +All this time there was a great religious outcry against the right of +the Bishops to sit in Parliament; to which the Scottish people +particularly objected. The English were divided on this subject, and, +partly on this account and partly because they had had foolish +expectations that the Parliament would be able to take off nearly all +the taxes, numbers of them sometimes wavered and inclined towards the +King. + +I believe myself, that if, at this or almost any other period of his +life, the King could have been trusted by any man not out of his +senses, he might have saved himself and kept his throne. But, on the +English army being disbanded, he plotted with the officers again, as he +had done before, and established the fact beyond all doubt by putting +his signature of approval to a petition against the Parliamentary +leaders, which was drawn up by certain officers. When the Scottish army +was disbanded, he went to Edinburgh in four days—which was going very +fast at that time—to plot again, and so darkly too, that it is +difficult to decide what his whole object was. Some suppose that he +wanted to gain over the Scottish Parliament, as he did in fact gain +over, by presents and favours, many Scottish lords and men of power. +Some think that he went to get proofs against the Parliamentary leaders +in England of their having treasonably invited the Scottish people to +come and help them. With whatever object he went to Scotland, he did +little good by going. At the instigation of the Earl of Montrose, a +desperate man who was then in prison for plotting, he tried to kidnap +three Scottish lords who escaped. A committee of the Parliament at +home, who had followed to watch him, writing an account of this +Incident, as it was called, to the Parliament, the Parliament made a +fresh stir about it; were, or feigned to be, much alarmed for +themselves; and wrote to the Earl of Essex, the commander-in-chief, for +a guard to protect them. + +It is not absolutely proved that the King plotted in Ireland besides, +but it is very probable that he did, and that the Queen did, and that +he had some wild hope of gaining the Irish people over to his side by +favouring a rise among them. Whether or no, they did rise in a most +brutal and savage rebellion; in which, encouraged by their priests, +they committed such atrocities upon numbers of the English, of both +sexes and of all ages, as nobody could believe, but for their being +related on oath by eye-witnesses. Whether one hundred thousand or two +hundred thousand Protestants were murdered in this outbreak, is +uncertain; but, that it was as ruthless and barbarous an outbreak as +ever was known among any savage people, is certain. + +The King came home from Scotland, determined to make a great struggle +for his lost power. He believed that, through his presents and favours, +Scotland would take no part against him; and the Lord Mayor of London +received him with such a magnificent dinner that he thought he must +have become popular again in England. It would take a good many Lord +Mayors, however, to make a people, and the King soon found himself +mistaken. + +Not so soon, though, but that there was a great opposition in the +Parliament to a celebrated paper put forth by Pym and Hampden and the +rest, called ‘The Remonstrance,’ which set forth all the illegal acts +that the King had ever done, but politely laid the blame of them on his +bad advisers. Even when it was passed and presented to him, the King +still thought himself strong enough to discharge Balfour from his +command in the Tower, and to put in his place a man of bad character; +to whom the Commons instantly objected, and whom he was obliged to +abandon. At this time, the old outcry about the Bishops became louder +than ever, and the old Archbishop of York was so near being murdered as +he went down to the House of Lords—being laid hold of by the mob and +violently knocked about, in return for very foolishly scolding a shrill +boy who was yelping out ‘No Bishops!’—that he sent for all the Bishops +who were in town, and proposed to them to sign a declaration that, as +they could no longer without danger to their lives attend their duty in +Parliament, they protested against the lawfulness of everything done in +their absence. This they asked the King to send to the House of Lords, +which he did. Then the House of Commons impeached the whole party of +Bishops and sent them off to the Tower: + +Taking no warning from this; but encouraged by there being a moderate +party in the Parliament who objected to these strong measures, the +King, on the third of January, one thousand six hundred and forty-two, +took the rashest step that ever was taken by mortal man. + +Of his own accord and without advice, he sent the Attorney-General to +the House of Lords, to accuse of treason certain members of Parliament +who as popular leaders were the most obnoxious to him; Lord Kimbolton, +Sir Arthur Haselrig, Denzil Hollis, John Pym (they used to call him +King Pym, he possessed such power and looked so big), John Hampden, and +William Strode. The houses of those members he caused to be entered, +and their papers to be sealed up. At the same time, he sent a messenger +to the House of Commons demanding to have the five gentlemen who were +members of that House immediately produced. To this the House replied +that they should appear as soon as there was any legal charge against +them, and immediately adjourned. + +Next day, the House of Commons send into the City to let the Lord Mayor +know that their privileges are invaded by the King, and that there is +no safety for anybody or anything. Then, when the five members are gone +out of the way, down comes the King himself, with all his guard and +from two to three hundred gentlemen and soldiers, of whom the greater +part were armed. These he leaves in the hall; and then, with his nephew +at his side, goes into the House, takes off his hat, and walks up to +the Speaker’s chair. The Speaker leaves it, the King stands in front of +it, looks about him steadily for a little while, and says he has come +for those five members. No one speaks, and then he calls John Pym by +name. No one speaks, and then he calls Denzil Hollis by name. No one +speaks, and then he asks the Speaker of the House where those five +members are? The Speaker, answering on his knee, nobly replies that he +is the servant of that House, and that he has neither eyes to see, nor +tongue to speak, anything but what the House commands him. Upon this, +the King, beaten from that time evermore, replies that he will seek +them himself, for they have committed treason; and goes out, with his +hat in his hand, amid some audible murmurs from the members. + +No words can describe the hurry that arose out of doors when all this +was known. The five members had gone for safety to a house in +Coleman-street, in the City, where they were guarded all night; and +indeed the whole city watched in arms like an army. At ten o’clock in +the morning, the King, already frightened at what he had done, came to +the Guildhall, with only half a dozen lords, and made a speech to the +people, hoping they would not shelter those whom he accused of treason. +Next day, he issued a proclamation for the apprehension of the five +members; but the Parliament minded it so little that they made great +arrangements for having them brought down to Westminster in great +state, five days afterwards. The King was so alarmed now at his own +imprudence, if not for his own safety, that he left his palace at +Whitehall, and went away with his Queen and children to Hampton Court. + +It was the eleventh of May, when the five members were carried in state +and triumph to Westminster. They were taken by water. The river could +not be seen for the boats on it; and the five members were hemmed in by +barges full of men and great guns, ready to protect them, at any cost. +Along the Strand a large body of the train-bands of London, under their +commander, Skippon, marched to be ready to assist the little fleet. +Beyond them, came a crowd who choked the streets, roaring incessantly +about the Bishops and the Papists, and crying out contemptuously as +they passed Whitehall, ‘What has become of the King?’ With this great +noise outside the House of Commons, and with great silence within, Mr. +Pym rose and informed the House of the great kindness with which they +had been received in the City. Upon that, the House called the sheriffs +in and thanked them, and requested the train-bands, under their +commander Skippon, to guard the House of Commons every day. Then, came +four thousand men on horseback out of Buckinghamshire, offering their +services as a guard too, and bearing a petition to the King, +complaining of the injury that had been done to Mr. Hampden, who was +their county man and much beloved and honoured. + +When the King set off for Hampton Court, the gentlemen and soldiers who +had been with him followed him out of town as far as +Kingston-upon-Thames; next day, Lord Digby came to them from the King +at Hampton Court, in his coach and six, to inform them that the King +accepted their protection. This, the Parliament said, was making war +against the kingdom, and Lord Digby fled abroad. The Parliament then +immediately applied themselves to getting hold of the military power of +the country, well knowing that the King was already trying hard to use +it against them, and that he had secretly sent the Earl of Newcastle to +Hull, to secure a valuable magazine of arms and gunpowder that was +there. In those times, every county had its own magazines of arms and +powder, for its own train-bands or militia; so, the Parliament brought +in a bill claiming the right (which up to this time had belonged to the +King) of appointing the Lord Lieutenants of counties, who commanded +these train-bands; also, of having all the forts, castles, and +garrisons in the kingdom, put into the hands of such governors as they, +the Parliament, could confide in. It also passed a law depriving the +Bishops of their votes. The King gave his assent to that bill, but +would not abandon the right of appointing the Lord Lieutenants, though +he said he was willing to appoint such as might be suggested to him by +the Parliament. When the Earl of Pembroke asked him whether he would +not give way on that question for a time, he said, ‘By God! not for one +hour!’ and upon this he and the Parliament went to war. + +His young daughter was betrothed to the Prince of Orange. On pretence +of taking her to the country of her future husband, the Queen was +already got safely away to Holland, there to pawn the Crown jewels for +money to raise an army on the King’s side. The Lord Admiral being sick, +the House of Commons now named the Earl of Warwick to hold his place +for a year. The King named another gentleman; the House of Commons took +its own way, and the Earl of Warwick became Lord Admiral without the +King’s consent. The Parliament sent orders down to Hull to have that +magazine removed to London; the King went down to Hull to take it +himself. The citizens would not admit him into the town, and the +governor would not admit him into the castle. The Parliament resolved +that whatever the two Houses passed, and the King would not consent to, +should be called an Ordinance, and should be as much a law as if he did +consent to it. The King protested against this, and gave notice that +these ordinances were not to be obeyed. The King, attended by the +majority of the House of Peers, and by many members of the House of +Commons, established himself at York. The Chancellor went to him with +the Great Seal, and the Parliament made a new Great Seal. The Queen +sent over a ship full of arms and ammunition, and the King issued +letters to borrow money at high interest. The Parliament raised twenty +regiments of foot and seventy-five troops of horse; and the people +willingly aided them with their money, plate, jewellery, and +trinkets—the married women even with their wedding-rings. Every member +of Parliament who could raise a troop or a regiment in his own part of +the country, dressed it according to his taste and in his own colours, +and commanded it. Foremost among them all, Oliver Cromwell raised a +troop of horse—thoroughly in earnest and thoroughly well armed—who +were, perhaps, the best soldiers that ever were seen. + +In some of their proceedings, this famous Parliament passed the bounds +of previous law and custom, yielded to and favoured riotous assemblages +of the people, and acted tyrannically in imprisoning some who differed +from the popular leaders. But again, you are always to remember that +the twelve years during which the King had had his own wilful way, had +gone before; and that nothing could make the times what they might, +could, would, or should have been, if those twelve years had never +rolled away. + +THIRD PART + +I shall not try to relate the particulars of the great civil war +between King Charles the First and the Long Parliament, which lasted +nearly four years, and a full account of which would fill many large +books. It was a sad thing that Englishmen should once more be fighting +against Englishmen on English ground; but, it is some consolation to +know that on both sides there was great humanity, forbearance, and +honour. The soldiers of the Parliament were far more remarkable for +these good qualities than the soldiers of the King (many of whom fought +for mere pay without much caring for the cause); but those of the +nobility and gentry who were on the King’s side were so brave, and so +faithful to him, that their conduct cannot but command our highest +admiration. Among them were great numbers of Catholics, who took the +royal side because the Queen was so strongly of their persuasion. + +The King might have distinguished some of these gallant spirits, if he +had been as generous a spirit himself, by giving them the command of +his army. Instead of that, however, true to his old high notions of +royalty, he entrusted it to his two nephews, Prince Rupert and Prince +Maurice, who were of royal blood and came over from abroad to help him. +It might have been better for him if they had stayed away; since Prince +Rupert was an impetuous, hot-headed fellow, whose only idea was to dash +into battle at all times and seasons, and lay about him. + +The general-in-chief of the Parliamentary army was the Earl of Essex, a +gentleman of honour and an excellent soldier. A little while before the +war broke out, there had been some rioting at Westminster between +certain officious law students and noisy soldiers, and the shopkeepers +and their apprentices, and the general people in the streets. At that +time the King’s friends called the crowd, Roundheads, because the +apprentices wore short hair; the crowd, in return, called their +opponents Cavaliers, meaning that they were a blustering set, who +pretended to be very military. These two words now began to be used to +distinguish the two sides in the civil war. The Royalists also called +the Parliamentary men Rebels and Rogues, while the Parliamentary men +called _them_ Malignants, and spoke of themselves as the Godly, the +Honest, and so forth. + +The war broke out at Portsmouth, where that double traitor Goring had +again gone over to the King and was besieged by the Parliamentary +troops. Upon this, the King proclaimed the Earl of Essex and the +officers serving under him, traitors, and called upon his loyal +subjects to meet him in arms at Nottingham on the twenty-fifth of +August. But his loyal subjects came about him in scanty numbers, and it +was a windy, gloomy day, and the Royal Standard got blown down, and the +whole affair was very melancholy. The chief engagements after this, +took place in the vale of the Red Horse near Banbury, at Brentford, at +Devizes, at Chalgrave Field (where Mr. Hampden was so sorely wounded +while fighting at the head of his men, that he died within a week), at +Newbury (in which battle Lord Falkland, one of the best noblemen on the +King’s side, was killed), at Leicester, at Naseby, at Winchester, at +Marston Moor near York, at Newcastle, and in many other parts of +England and Scotland. These battles were attended with various +successes. At one time, the King was victorious; at another time, the +Parliament. But almost all the great and busy towns were against the +King; and when it was considered necessary to fortify London, all ranks +of people, from labouring men and women, up to lords and ladies, worked +hard together with heartiness and good will. The most distinguished +leaders on the Parliamentary side were Hampden, Sir Thomas Fairfax, +and, above all, Oliver Cromwell, and his son-in-law Ireton. + +During the whole of this war, the people, to whom it was very expensive +and irksome, and to whom it was made the more distressing by almost +every family being divided—some of its members attaching themselves to +one side and some to the other—were over and over again most anxious +for peace. So were some of the best men in each cause. Accordingly, +treaties of peace were discussed between commissioners from the +Parliament and the King; at York, at Oxford (where the King held a +little Parliament of his own), and at Uxbridge. But they came to +nothing. In all these negotiations, and in all his difficulties, the +King showed himself at his best. He was courageous, cool, +self-possessed, and clever; but, the old taint of his character was +always in him, and he was never for one single moment to be trusted. +Lord Clarendon, the historian, one of his highest admirers, supposes +that he had unhappily promised the Queen never to make peace without +her consent, and that this must often be taken as his excuse. He never +kept his word from night to morning. He signed a cessation of +hostilities with the blood-stained Irish rebels for a sum of money, and +invited the Irish regiments over, to help him against the Parliament. +In the battle of Naseby, his cabinet was seized and was found to +contain a correspondence with the Queen, in which he expressly told her +that he had deceived the Parliament—a mongrel Parliament, he called it +now, as an improvement on his old term of vipers—in pretending to +recognise it and to treat with it; and from which it further appeared +that he had long been in secret treaty with the Duke of Lorraine for a +foreign army of ten thousand men. Disappointed in this, he sent a most +devoted friend of his, the Earl of Glamorgan, to Ireland, to conclude a +secret treaty with the Catholic powers, to send him an Irish army of +ten thousand men; in return for which he was to bestow great favours on +the Catholic religion. And, when this treaty was discovered in the +carriage of a fighting Irish Archbishop who was killed in one of the +many skirmishes of those days, he basely denied and deserted his +attached friend, the Earl, on his being charged with high treason; +and—even worse than this—had left blanks in the secret instructions he +gave him with his own kingly hand, expressly that he might thus save +himself. + +At last, on the twenty-seventh day of April, one thousand six hundred +and forty-six, the King found himself in the city of Oxford, so +surrounded by the Parliamentary army who were closing in upon him on +all sides that he felt that if he would escape he must delay no longer. +So, that night, having altered the cut of his hair and beard, he was +dressed up as a servant and put upon a horse with a cloak strapped +behind him, and rode out of the town behind one of his own faithful +followers, with a clergyman of that country who knew the road well, for +a guide. He rode towards London as far as Harrow, and then altered his +plans and resolved, it would seem, to go to the Scottish camp. The +Scottish men had been invited over to help the Parliamentary army, and +had a large force then in England. The King was so desperately +intriguing in everything he did, that it is doubtful what he exactly +meant by this step. He took it, anyhow, and delivered himself up to the +Earl of Leven, the Scottish general-in-chief, who treated him as an +honourable prisoner. Negotiations between the Parliament on the one +hand and the Scottish authorities on the other, as to what should be +done with him, lasted until the following February. Then, when the King +had refused to the Parliament the concession of that old militia point +for twenty years, and had refused to Scotland the recognition of its +Solemn League and Covenant, Scotland got a handsome sum for its army +and its help, and the King into the bargain. He was taken, by certain +Parliamentary commissioners appointed to receive him, to one of his own +houses, called Holmby House, near Althorpe, in Northamptonshire. + +While the Civil War was still in progress, John Pym died, and was +buried with great honour in Westminster Abbey—not with greater honour +than he deserved, for the liberties of Englishmen owe a mighty debt to +Pym and Hampden. The war was but newly over when the Earl of Essex +died, of an illness brought on by his having overheated himself in a +stag hunt in Windsor Forest. He, too, was buried in Westminster Abbey, +with great state. I wish it were not necessary to add that Archbishop +Laud died upon the scaffold when the war was not yet done. His trial +lasted in all nearly a year, and, it being doubtful even then whether +the charges brought against him amounted to treason, the odious old +contrivance of the worst kings was resorted to, and a bill of attainder +was brought in against him. He was a violently prejudiced and +mischievous person; had had strong ear-cropping and nose-splitting +propensities, as you know; and had done a world of harm. But he died +peaceably, and like a brave old man. + +FOURTH PART + +When the Parliament had got the King into their hands, they became very +anxious to get rid of their army, in which Oliver Cromwell had begun to +acquire great power; not only because of his courage and high +abilities, but because he professed to be very sincere in the Scottish +sort of Puritan religion that was then exceedingly popular among the +soldiers. They were as much opposed to the Bishops as to the Pope +himself; and the very privates, drummers, and trumpeters, had such an +inconvenient habit of starting up and preaching long-winded discourses, +that I would not have belonged to that army on any account. + +So, the Parliament, being far from sure but that the army might begin +to preach and fight against them now it had nothing else to do, +proposed to disband the greater part of it, to send another part to +serve in Ireland against the rebels, and to keep only a small force in +England. But, the army would not consent to be broken up, except upon +its own conditions; and, when the Parliament showed an intention of +compelling it, it acted for itself in an unexpected manner. A certain +cornet, of the name of Joice, arrived at Holmby House one night, +attended by four hundred horsemen, went into the King’s room with his +hat in one hand and a pistol in the other, and told the King that he +had come to take him away. The King was willing enough to go, and only +stipulated that he should be publicly required to do so next morning. +Next morning, accordingly, he appeared on the top of the steps of the +house, and asked Comet Joice before his men and the guard set there by +the Parliament, what authority he had for taking him away? To this +Cornet Joice replied, ‘The authority of the army.’ ‘Have you a written +commission?’ said the King. Joice, pointing to his four hundred men on +horseback, replied, ‘That is my commission.’ ‘Well,’ said the King, +smiling, as if he were pleased, ‘I never before read such a commission; +but it is written in fair and legible characters. This is a company of +as handsome proper gentlemen as I have seen a long while.’ He was asked +where he would like to live, and he said at Newmarket. So, to Newmarket +he and Cornet Joice and the four hundred horsemen rode; the King +remarking, in the same smiling way, that he could ride as far at a +spell as Cornet Joice, or any man there. + +The King quite believed, I think, that the army were his friends. He +said as much to Fairfax when that general, Oliver Cromwell, and Ireton, +went to persuade him to return to the custody of the Parliament. He +preferred to remain as he was, and resolved to remain as he was. And +when the army moved nearer and nearer London to frighten the Parliament +into yielding to their demands, they took the King with them. It was a +deplorable thing that England should be at the mercy of a great body of +soldiers with arms in their hands; but the King certainly favoured them +at this important time of his life, as compared with the more lawful +power that tried to control him. It must be added, however, that they +treated him, as yet, more respectfully and kindly than the Parliament +had done. They allowed him to be attended by his own servants, to be +splendidly entertained at various houses, and to see his children—at +Cavesham House, near Reading—for two days. Whereas, the Parliament had +been rather hard with him, and had only allowed him to ride out and +play at bowls. + +It is much to be believed that if the King could have been trusted, +even at this time, he might have been saved. Even Oliver Cromwell +expressly said that he did believe that no man could enjoy his +possessions in peace, unless the King had his rights. He was not +unfriendly towards the King; he had been present when he received his +children, and had been much affected by the pitiable nature of the +scene; he saw the King often; he frequently walked and talked with him +in the long galleries and pleasant gardens of the Palace at Hampton +Court, whither he was now removed; and in all this risked something of +his influence with the army. But, the King was in secret hopes of help +from the Scottish people; and the moment he was encouraged to join them +he began to be cool to his new friends, the army, and to tell the +officers that they could not possibly do without him. At the very time, +too, when he was promising to make Cromwell and Ireton noblemen, if +they would help him up to his old height, he was writing to the Queen +that he meant to hang them. They both afterwards declared that they had +been privately informed that such a letter would be found, on a certain +evening, sewed up in a saddle which would be taken to the Blue Boar in +Holborn to be sent to Dover; and that they went there, disguised as +common soldiers, and sat drinking in the inn-yard until a man came with +the saddle, which they ripped up with their knives, and therein found +the letter. I see little reason to doubt the story. It is certain that +Oliver Cromwell told one of the King’s most faithful followers that the +King could not be trusted, and that he would not be answerable if +anything amiss were to happen to him. Still, even after that, he kept a +promise he had made to the King, by letting him know that there was a +plot with a certain portion of the army to seize him. I believe that, +in fact, he sincerely wanted the King to escape abroad, and so to be +got rid of without more trouble or danger. That Oliver himself had work +enough with the army is pretty plain; for some of the troops were so +mutinous against him, and against those who acted with him at this +time, that he found it necessary to have one man shot at the head of +his regiment to overawe the rest. + +The King, when he received Oliver’s warning, made his escape from +Hampton Court; after some indecision and uncertainty, he went to +Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight. At first, he was pretty free +there; but, even there, he carried on a pretended treaty with the +Parliament, while he was really treating with commissioners from +Scotland to send an army into England to take his part. When he broke +off this treaty with the Parliament (having settled with Scotland) and +was treated as a prisoner, his treatment was not changed too soon, for +he had plotted to escape that very night to a ship sent by the Queen, +which was lying off the island. + +He was doomed to be disappointed in his hopes from Scotland. The +agreement he had made with the Scottish Commissioners was not +favourable enough to the religion of that country to please the +Scottish clergy; and they preached against it. The consequence was, +that the army raised in Scotland and sent over, was too small to do +much; and that, although it was helped by a rising of the Royalists in +England and by good soldiers from Ireland, it could make no head +against the Parliamentary army under such men as Cromwell and Fairfax. +The King’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, came over from Holland with +nineteen ships (a part of the English fleet having gone over to him) to +help his father; but nothing came of his voyage, and he was fain to +return. The most remarkable event of this second civil war was the +cruel execution by the Parliamentary General, of Sir Charles Lucas and +Sir George Lisle, two grand Royalist generals, who had bravely defended +Colchester under every disadvantage of famine and distress for nearly +three months. When Sir Charles Lucas was shot, Sir George Lisle kissed +his body, and said to the soldiers who were to shoot him, ‘Come nearer, +and make sure of me.’ ‘I warrant you, Sir George,’ said one of the +soldiers, ‘we shall hit you.’ ‘Ay?’ he returned with a smile, ‘but I +have been nearer to you, my friends, many a time, and you have missed +me.’ + +The Parliament, after being fearfully bullied by the army—who demanded +to have seven members whom they disliked given up to them—had voted +that they would have nothing more to do with the King. On the +conclusion, however, of this second civil war (which did not last more +than six months), they appointed commissioners to treat with him. The +King, then so far released again as to be allowed to live in a private +house at Newport in the Isle of Wight, managed his own part of the +negotiation with a sense that was admired by all who saw him, and gave +up, in the end, all that was asked of him—even yielding (which he had +steadily refused, so far) to the temporary abolition of the bishops, +and the transfer of their church land to the Crown. Still, with his old +fatal vice upon him, when his best friends joined the commissioners in +beseeching him to yield all those points as the only means of saving +himself from the army, he was plotting to escape from the island; he +was holding correspondence with his friends and the Catholics in +Ireland, though declaring that he was not; and he was writing, with his +own hand, that in what he yielded he meant nothing but to get time to +escape. + +Matters were at this pass when the army, resolved to defy the +Parliament, marched up to London. The Parliament, not afraid of them +now, and boldly led by Hollis, voted that the King’s concessions were +sufficient ground for settling the peace of the kingdom. Upon that, +Colonel Rich and Colonel Pride went down to the House of Commons with a +regiment of horse soldiers and a regiment of foot; and Colonel Pride, +standing in the lobby with a list of the members who were obnoxious to +the army in his hand, had them pointed out to him as they came through, +and took them all into custody. This proceeding was afterwards called +by the people, for a joke, Pride’s Purge. Cromwell was in the North, at +the head of his men, at the time, but when he came home, approved of +what had been done. + +What with imprisoning some members and causing others to stay away, the +army had now reduced the House of Commons to some fifty or so. These +soon voted that it was treason in a king to make war against his +parliament and his people, and sent an ordinance up to the House of +Lords for the King’s being tried as a traitor. The House of Lords, then +sixteen in number, to a man rejected it. Thereupon, the Commons made an +ordinance of their own, that they were the supreme government of the +country, and would bring the King to trial. + +The King had been taken for security to a place called Hurst Castle: a +lonely house on a rock in the sea, connected with the coast of +Hampshire by a rough road two miles long at low water. Thence, he was +ordered to be removed to Windsor; thence, after being but rudely used +there, and having none but soldiers to wait upon him at table, he was +brought up to St. James’s Palace in London, and told that his trial was +appointed for next day. + +On Saturday, the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and +forty-nine, this memorable trial began. The House of Commons had +settled that one hundred and thirty-five persons should form the Court, +and these were taken from the House itself, from among the officers of +the army, and from among the lawyers and citizens. John Bradshaw, +serjeant-at-law, was appointed president. The place was Westminster +Hall. At the upper end, in a red velvet chair, sat the president, with +his hat (lined with plates of iron for his protection) on his head. The +rest of the Court sat on side benches, also wearing their hats. The +King’s seat was covered with velvet, like that of the president, and +was opposite to it. He was brought from St. James’s to Whitehall, and +from Whitehall he came by water to his trial. + +When he came in, he looked round very steadily on the Court, and on the +great number of spectators, and then sat down: presently he got up and +looked round again. On the indictment ‘against Charles Stuart, for high +treason,’ being read, he smiled several times, and he denied the +authority of the Court, saying that there could be no parliament +without a House of Lords, and that he saw no House of Lords there. +Also, that the King ought to be there, and that he saw no King in the +King’s right place. Bradshaw replied, that the Court was satisfied with +its authority, and that its authority was God’s authority and the +kingdom’s. He then adjourned the Court to the following Monday. On that +day, the trial was resumed, and went on all the week. When the Saturday +came, as the King passed forward to his place in the Hall, some +soldiers and others cried for ‘justice!’ and execution on him. That +day, too, Bradshaw, like an angry Sultan, wore a red robe, instead of +the black robe he had worn before. The King was sentenced to death that +day. As he went out, one solitary soldier said, ‘God bless you, Sir!’ +For this, his officer struck him. The King said he thought the +punishment exceeded the offence. The silver head of his walking-stick +had fallen off while he leaned upon it, at one time of the trial. The +accident seemed to disturb him, as if he thought it ominous of the +falling of his own head; and he admitted as much, now it was all over. + +Being taken back to Whitehall, he sent to the House of Commons, saying +that as the time of his execution might be nigh, he wished he might be +allowed to see his darling children. It was granted. On the Monday he +was taken back to St. James’s; and his two children then in England, +the Princess Elizabeth thirteen years old, and the Duke Of Gloucester +nine years old, were brought to take leave of him, from Sion House, +near Brentford. It was a sad and touching scene, when he kissed and +fondled those poor children, and made a little present of two diamond +seals to the Princess, and gave them tender messages to their mother +(who little deserved them, for she had a lover of her own whom she +married soon afterwards), and told them that he died ‘for the laws and +liberties of the land.’ I am bound to say that I don’t think he did, +but I dare say he believed so. + +There were ambassadors from Holland that day, to intercede for the +unhappy King, whom you and I both wish the Parliament had spared; but +they got no answer. The Scottish Commissioners interceded too; so did +the Prince of Wales, by a letter in which he offered as the next heir +to the throne, to accept any conditions from the Parliament; so did the +Queen, by letter likewise. + +Notwithstanding all, the warrant for the execution was this day signed. +There is a story that as Oliver Cromwell went to the table with the pen +in his hand to put his signature to it, he drew his pen across the face +of one of the commissioners, who was standing near, and marked it with +ink. That commissioner had not signed his own name yet, and the story +adds that when he came to do it he marked Cromwell’s face with ink in +the same way. + +The King slept well, untroubled by the knowledge that it was his last +night on earth, and rose on the thirtieth of January, two hours before +day, and dressed himself carefully. He put on two shirts lest he should +tremble with the cold, and had his hair very carefully combed. The +warrant had been directed to three officers of the army, Colonel +Hacker, Colonel Hunks, and Colonel Phayer. At ten o’clock, the first of +these came to the door and said it was time to go to Whitehall. The +King, who had always been a quick walker, walked at his usual speed +through the Park, and called out to the guard, with his accustomed +voice of command, ‘March on apace!’ When he came to Whitehall, he was +taken to his own bedroom, where a breakfast was set forth. As he had +taken the Sacrament, he would eat nothing more; but, at about the time +when the church bells struck twelve at noon (for he had to wait, +through the scaffold not being ready), he took the advice of the good +Bishop Juxon who was with him, and ate a little bread and drank a glass +of claret. Soon after he had taken this refreshment, Colonel Hacker +came to the chamber with the warrant in his hand, and called for +Charles Stuart. + +And then, through the long gallery of Whitehall Palace, which he had +often seen light and gay and merry and crowded, in very different +times, the fallen King passed along, until he came to the centre window +of the Banqueting House, through which he emerged upon the scaffold, +which was hung with black. He looked at the two executioners, who were +dressed in black and masked; he looked at the troops of soldiers on +horseback and on foot, and all looked up at him in silence; he looked +at the vast array of spectators, filling up the view beyond, and +turning all their faces upon him; he looked at his old Palace of St. +James’s; and he looked at the block. He seemed a little troubled to +find that it was so low, and asked, ‘if there were no place higher?’ +Then, to those upon the scaffold, he said, ‘that it was the Parliament +who had begun the war, and not he; but he hoped they might be guiltless +too, as ill instruments had gone between them. In one respect,’ he +said, ‘he suffered justly; and that was because he had permitted an +unjust sentence to be executed on another.’ In this he referred to the +Earl of Strafford. + +He was not at all afraid to die; but he was anxious to die easily. When +some one touched the axe while he was speaking, he broke off and called +out, ‘Take heed of the axe! take heed of the axe!’ He also said to +Colonel Hacker, ‘Take care that they do not put me to pain.’ He told +the executioner, ‘I shall say but very short prayers, and then thrust +out my hands’—as the sign to strike. + +He put his hair up, under a white satin cap which the bishop had +carried, and said, ‘I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side.’ +The bishop told him that he had but one stage more to travel in this +weary world, and that, though it was a turbulent and troublesome stage, +it was a short one, and would carry him a great way—all the way from +earth to Heaven. The King’s last word, as he gave his cloak and the +George—the decoration from his breast—to the bishop, was, ‘Remember!’ +He then kneeled down, laid his head on the block, spread out his hands, +and was instantly killed. One universal groan broke from the crowd; and +the soldiers, who had sat on their horses and stood in their ranks +immovable as statues, were of a sudden all in motion, clearing the +streets. + +Thus, in the forty-ninth year of his age, falling at the same time of +his career as Strafford had fallen in his, perished Charles the First. +With all my sorrow for him, I cannot agree with him that he died ‘the +martyr of the people;’ for the people had been martyrs to him, and to +his ideas of a King’s rights, long before. Indeed, I am afraid that he +was but a bad judge of martyrs; for he had called that infamous Duke of +Buckingham ‘the Martyr of his Sovereign.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV +ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL + + +Before sunset on the memorable day on which King Charles the First was +executed, the House of Commons passed an act declaring it treason in +any one to proclaim the Prince of Wales—or anybody else—King of +England. Soon afterwards, it declared that the House of Lords was +useless and dangerous, and ought to be abolished; and directed that the +late King’s statue should be taken down from the Royal Exchange in the +City and other public places. Having laid hold of some famous Royalists +who had escaped from prison, and having beheaded the Duke Of Hamilton, +Lord Holland, and Lord Capel, in Palace Yard (all of whom died very +courageously), they then appointed a Council of State to govern the +country. It consisted of forty-one members, of whom five were peers. +Bradshaw was made president. The House of Commons also re-admitted +members who had opposed the King’s death, and made up its numbers to +about a hundred and fifty. + +But, it still had an army of more than forty thousand men to deal with, +and a very hard task it was to manage them. Before the King’s +execution, the army had appointed some of its officers to remonstrate +between them and the Parliament; and now the common soldiers began to +take that office upon themselves. The regiments under orders for +Ireland mutinied; one troop of horse in the city of London seized their +own flag, and refused to obey orders. For this, the ringleader was +shot: which did not mend the matter, for, both his comrades and the +people made a public funeral for him, and accompanied the body to the +grave with sound of trumpets and with a gloomy procession of persons +carrying bundles of rosemary steeped in blood. Oliver was the only man +to deal with such difficulties as these, and he soon cut them short by +bursting at midnight into the town of Burford, near Salisbury, where +the mutineers were sheltered, taking four hundred of them prisoners, +and shooting a number of them by sentence of court-martial. The +soldiers soon found, as all men did, that Oliver was not a man to be +trifled with. And there was an end of the mutiny. + +The Scottish Parliament did not know Oliver yet; so, on hearing of the +King’s execution, it proclaimed the Prince of Wales King Charles the +Second, on condition of his respecting the Solemn League and Covenant. +Charles was abroad at that time, and so was Montrose, from whose help +he had hopes enough to keep him holding on and off with commissioners +from Scotland, just as his father might have done. These hopes were +soon at an end; for, Montrose, having raised a few hundred exiles in +Germany, and landed with them in Scotland, found that the people there, +instead of joining him, deserted the country at his approach. He was +soon taken prisoner and carried to Edinburgh. There he was received +with every possible insult, and carried to prison in a cart, his +officers going two and two before him. He was sentenced by the +Parliament to be hanged on a gallows thirty feet high, to have his head +set on a spike in Edinburgh, and his limbs distributed in other places, +according to the old barbarous manner. He said he had always acted +under the Royal orders, and only wished he had limbs enough to be +distributed through Christendom, that it might be the more widely known +how loyal he had been. He went to the scaffold in a bright and +brilliant dress, and made a bold end at thirty-eight years of age. The +breath was scarcely out of his body when Charles abandoned his memory, +and denied that he had ever given him orders to rise in his behalf. O +the family failing was strong in that Charles then! + +Oliver had been appointed by the Parliament to command the army in +Ireland, where he took a terrible vengeance for the sanguinary +rebellion, and made tremendous havoc, particularly in the siege of +Drogheda, where no quarter was given, and where he found at least a +thousand of the inhabitants shut up together in the great church: every +one of whom was killed by his soldiers, usually known as Oliver’s +Ironsides. There were numbers of friars and priests among them, and +Oliver gruffly wrote home in his despatch that these were ‘knocked on +the head’ like the rest. + +But, Charles having got over to Scotland where the men of the Solemn +League and Covenant led him a prodigiously dull life and made him very +weary with long sermons and grim Sundays, the Parliament called the +redoubtable Oliver home to knock the Scottish men on the head for +setting up that Prince. Oliver left his son-in-law, Ireton, as general +in Ireland in his stead (he died there afterwards), and he imitated the +example of his father-in-law with such good will that he brought the +country to subjection, and laid it at the feet of the Parliament. In +the end, they passed an act for the settlement of Ireland, generally +pardoning all the common people, but exempting from this grace such of +the wealthier sort as had been concerned in the rebellion, or in any +killing of Protestants, or who refused to lay down their arms. Great +numbers of Irish were got out of the country to serve under Catholic +powers abroad, and a quantity of land was declared to have been +forfeited by past offences, and was given to people who had lent money +to the Parliament early in the war. These were sweeping measures; but, +if Oliver Cromwell had had his own way fully, and had stayed in +Ireland, he would have done more yet. + +However, as I have said, the Parliament wanted Oliver for Scotland; so, +home Oliver came, and was made Commander of all the Forces of the +Commonwealth of England, and in three days away he went with sixteen +thousand soldiers to fight the Scottish men. Now, the Scottish men, +being then—as you will generally find them now—mighty cautious, +reflected that the troops they had were not used to war like the +Ironsides, and would be beaten in an open fight. Therefore they said, +‘If we live quiet in our trenches in Edinburgh here, and if all the +farmers come into the town and desert the country, the Ironsides will +be driven out by iron hunger and be forced to go away.’ This was, no +doubt, the wisest plan; but as the Scottish clergy _would_ interfere +with what they knew nothing about, and would perpetually preach long +sermons exhorting the soldiers to come out and fight, the soldiers got +it in their heads that they absolutely must come out and fight. +Accordingly, in an evil hour for themselves, they came out of their +safe position. Oliver fell upon them instantly, and killed three +thousand, and took ten thousand prisoners. + +To gratify the Scottish Parliament, and preserve their favour, Charles +had signed a declaration they laid before him, reproaching the memory +of his father and mother, and representing himself as a most religious +Prince, to whom the Solemn League and Covenant was as dear as life. He +meant no sort of truth in this, and soon afterwards galloped away on +horseback to join some tiresome Highland friends, who were always +flourishing dirks and broadswords. He was overtaken and induced to +return; but this attempt, which was called ‘The Start,’ did him just so +much service, that they did not preach quite such long sermons at him +afterwards as they had done before. + +On the first of January, one thousand six hundred and fifty-one, the +Scottish people crowned him at Scone. He immediately took the chief +command of an army of twenty thousand men, and marched to Stirling. His +hopes were heightened, I dare say, by the redoubtable Oliver being ill +of an ague; but Oliver scrambled out of bed in no time, and went to +work with such energy that he got behind the Royalist army and cut it +off from all communication with Scotland. There was nothing for it +then, but to go on to England; so it went on as far as Worcester, where +the mayor and some of the gentry proclaimed King Charles the Second +straightway. His proclamation, however, was of little use to him, for +very few Royalists appeared; and, on the very same day, two people were +publicly beheaded on Tower Hill for espousing his cause. Up came Oliver +to Worcester too, at double quick speed, and he and his Ironsides so +laid about them in the great battle which was fought there, that they +completely beat the Scottish men, and destroyed the Royalist army; +though the Scottish men fought so gallantly that it took five hours to +do. + +The escape of Charles after this battle of Worcester did him good +service long afterwards, for it induced many of the generous English +people to take a romantic interest in him, and to think much better of +him than he ever deserved. He fled in the night, with not more than +sixty followers, to the house of a Catholic lady in Staffordshire. +There, for his greater safety, the whole sixty left him. He cropped his +hair, stained his face and hands brown as if they were sunburnt, put on +the clothes of a labouring countryman, and went out in the morning with +his axe in his hand, accompanied by four wood-cutters who were +brothers, and another man who was their brother-in-law. These good +fellows made a bed for him under a tree, as the weather was very bad; +and the wife of one of them brought him food to eat; and the old mother +of the four brothers came and fell down on her knees before him in the +wood, and thanked God that her sons were engaged in saving his life. At +night, he came out of the forest and went on to another house which was +near the river Severn, with the intention of passing into Wales; but +the place swarmed with soldiers, and the bridges were guarded, and all +the boats were made fast. So, after lying in a hayloft covered over +with hay, for some time, he came out of his place, attended by Colonel +Careless, a Catholic gentleman who had met him there, and with whom he +lay hid, all next day, up in the shady branches of a fine old oak. It +was lucky for the King that it was September-time, and that the leaves +had not begun to fall, since he and the Colonel, perched up in this +tree, could catch glimpses of the soldiers riding about below, and +could hear the crash in the wood as they went about beating the boughs. + +After this, he walked and walked until his feet were all blistered; +and, having been concealed all one day in a house which was searched by +the troopers while he was there, went with Lord Wilmot, another of his +good friends, to a place called Bentley, where one Miss Lane, a +Protestant lady, had obtained a pass to be allowed to ride through the +guards to see a relation of hers near Bristol. Disguised as a servant, +he rode in the saddle before this young lady to the house of Sir John +Winter, while Lord Wilmot rode there boldly, like a plain country +gentleman, with dogs at his heels. It happened that Sir John Winter’s +butler had been servant in Richmond Palace, and knew Charles the moment +he set eyes upon him; but, the butler was faithful and kept the secret. +As no ship could be found to carry him abroad, it was planned that he +should go—still travelling with Miss Lane as her servant—to another +house, at Trent near Sherborne in Dorsetshire; and then Miss Lane and +her cousin, Mr. Lascelles, who had gone on horseback beside her all the +way, went home. I hope Miss Lane was going to marry that cousin, for I +am sure she must have been a brave, kind girl. If I had been that +cousin, I should certainly have loved Miss Lane. + +When Charles, lonely for the loss of Miss Lane, was safe at Trent, a +ship was hired at Lyme, the master of which engaged to take two +gentlemen to France. In the evening of the same day, the King—now +riding as servant before another young lady—set off for a public-house +at a place called Charmouth, where the captain of the vessel was to +take him on board. But, the captain’s wife, being afraid of her husband +getting into trouble, locked him up and would not let him sail. Then +they went away to Bridport; and, coming to the inn there, found the +stable-yard full of soldiers who were on the look-out for Charles, and +who talked about him while they drank. He had such presence of mind, +that he led the horses of his party through the yard as any other +servant might have done, and said, ‘Come out of the way, you soldiers; +let us have room to pass here!’ As he went along, he met a half-tipsy +ostler, who rubbed his eyes and said to him, ‘Why, I was formerly +servant to Mr. Potter at Exeter, and surely I have sometimes seen you +there, young man?’ He certainly had, for Charles had lodged there. His +ready answer was, ‘Ah, I did live with him once; but I have no time to +talk now. We’ll have a pot of beer together when I come back.’ + +From this dangerous place he returned to Trent, and lay there concealed +several days. Then he escaped to Heale, near Salisbury; where, in the +house of a widow lady, he was hidden five days, until the master of a +collier lying off Shoreham in Sussex, undertook to convey a ‘gentleman’ +to France. On the night of the fifteenth of October, accompanied by two +colonels and a merchant, the King rode to Brighton, then a little +fishing village, to give the captain of the ship a supper before going +on board; but, so many people knew him, that this captain knew him too, +and not only he, but the landlord and landlady also. Before he went +away, the landlord came behind his chair, kissed his hand, and said he +hoped to live to be a lord and to see his wife a lady; at which Charles +laughed. They had had a good supper by this time, and plenty of smoking +and drinking, at which the King was a first-rate hand; so, the captain +assured him that he would stand by him, and he did. It was agreed that +the captain should pretend to sail to Deal, and that Charles should +address the sailors and say he was a gentleman in debt who was running +away from his creditors, and that he hoped they would join him in +persuading the captain to put him ashore in France. As the King acted +his part very well indeed, and gave the sailors twenty shillings to +drink, they begged the captain to do what such a worthy gentleman +asked. He pretended to yield to their entreaties, and the King got safe +to Normandy. + +Ireland being now subdued, and Scotland kept quiet by plenty of forts +and soldiers put there by Oliver, the Parliament would have gone on +quietly enough, as far as fighting with any foreign enemy went, but for +getting into trouble with the Dutch, who in the spring of the year one +thousand six hundred and fifty-one sent a fleet into the Downs under +their Admiral Van Tromp, to call upon the bold English Admiral Blake +(who was there with half as many ships as the Dutch) to strike his +flag. Blake fired a raging broadside instead, and beat off Van Tromp; +who, in the autumn, came back again with seventy ships, and challenged +the bold Blake—who still was only half as strong—to fight him. Blake +fought him all day; but, finding that the Dutch were too many for him, +got quietly off at night. What does Van Tromp upon this, but goes +cruising and boasting about the Channel, between the North Foreland and +the Isle of Wight, with a great Dutch broom tied to his masthead, as a +sign that he could and would sweep the English of the sea! Within three +months, Blake lowered his tone though, and his broom too; for, he and +two other bold commanders, Dean and Monk, fought him three whole days, +took twenty-three of his ships, shivered his broom to pieces, and +settled his business. + +Things were no sooner quiet again, than the army began to complain to +the Parliament that they were not governing the nation properly, and to +hint that they thought they could do it better themselves. Oliver, who +had now made up his mind to be the head of the state, or nothing at +all, supported them in this, and called a meeting of officers and his +own Parliamentary friends, at his lodgings in Whitehall, to consider +the best way of getting rid of the Parliament. It had now lasted just +as many years as the King’s unbridled power had lasted, before it came +into existence. The end of the deliberation was, that Oliver went down +to the House in his usual plain black dress, with his usual grey +worsted stockings, but with an unusual party of soldiers behind him. +These last he left in the lobby, and then went in and sat down. +Presently he got up, made the Parliament a speech, told them that the +Lord had done with them, stamped his foot and said, ‘You are no +Parliament. Bring them in! Bring them in!’ At this signal the door flew +open, and the soldiers appeared. ‘This is not honest,’ said Sir Harry +Vane, one of the members. ‘Sir Harry Vane!’ cried Cromwell; ‘O, Sir +Harry Vane! The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane!’ Then he pointed +out members one by one, and said this man was a drunkard, and that man +a dissipated fellow, and that man a liar, and so on. Then he caused the +Speaker to be walked out of his chair, told the guard to clear the +House, called the mace upon the table—which is a sign that the House is +sitting—‘a fool’s bauble,’ and said, ‘here, carry it away!’ Being +obeyed in all these orders, he quietly locked the door, put the key in +his pocket, walked back to Whitehall again, and told his friends, who +were still assembled there, what he had done. + +They formed a new Council of State after this extraordinary proceeding, +and got a new Parliament together in their own way: which Oliver +himself opened in a sort of sermon, and which he said was the beginning +of a perfect heaven upon earth. In this Parliament there sat a +well-known leather-seller, who had taken the singular name of Praise +God Barebones, and from whom it was called, for a joke, Barebones’s +Parliament, though its general name was the Little Parliament. As it +soon appeared that it was not going to put Oliver in the first place, +it turned out to be not at all like the beginning of heaven upon earth, +and Oliver said it really was not to be borne with. So he cleared off +that Parliament in much the same way as he had disposed of the other; +and then the council of officers decided that he must be made the +supreme authority of the kingdom, under the title of the Lord Protector +of the Commonwealth. + +So, on the sixteenth of December, one thousand six hundred and +fifty-three, a great procession was formed at Oliver’s door, and he +came out in a black velvet suit and a big pair of boots, and got into +his coach and went down to Westminster, attended by the judges, and the +lord mayor, and the aldermen, and all the other great and wonderful +personages of the country. There, in the Court of Chancery, he publicly +accepted the office of Lord Protector. Then he was sworn, and the City +sword was handed to him, and the seal was handed to him, and all the +other things were handed to him which are usually handed to Kings and +Queens on state occasions. When Oliver had handed them all back, he was +quite made and completely finished off as Lord Protector; and several +of the Ironsides preached about it at great length, all the evening. + +SECOND PART + +Oliver Cromwell—whom the people long called Old Noll—in accepting the +office of Protector, had bound himself by a certain paper which was +handed to him, called ‘the Instrument,’ to summon a Parliament, +consisting of between four and five hundred members, in the election of +which neither the Royalists nor the Catholics were to have any share. +He had also pledged himself that this Parliament should not be +dissolved without its own consent until it had sat five months. + +When this Parliament met, Oliver made a speech to them of three hours +long, very wisely advising them what to do for the credit and happiness +of the country. To keep down the more violent members, he required them +to sign a recognition of what they were forbidden by ‘the Instrument’ +to do; which was, chiefly, to take the power from one single person at +the head of the state or to command the army. Then he dismissed them to +go to work. With his usual vigour and resolution he went to work +himself with some frantic preachers—who were rather overdoing their +sermons in calling him a villain and a tyrant—by shutting up their +chapels, and sending a few of them off to prison. + +There was not at that time, in England or anywhere else, a man so able +to govern the country as Oliver Cromwell. Although he ruled with a +strong hand, and levied a very heavy tax on the Royalists (but not +until they had plotted against his life), he ruled wisely, and as the +times required. He caused England to be so respected abroad, that I +wish some lords and gentlemen who have governed it under kings and +queens in later days would have taken a leaf out of Oliver Cromwell’s +book. He sent bold Admiral Blake to the Mediterranean Sea, to make the +Duke of Tuscany pay sixty thousand pounds for injuries he had done to +British subjects, and spoliation he had committed on English merchants. +He further despatched him and his fleet to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, +to have every English ship and every English man delivered up to him +that had been taken by pirates in those parts. All this was gloriously +done; and it began to be thoroughly well known, all over the world, +that England was governed by a man in earnest, who would not allow the +English name to be insulted or slighted anywhere. + +These were not all his foreign triumphs. He sent a fleet to sea against +the Dutch; and the two powers, each with one hundred ships upon its +side, met in the English Channel off the North Foreland, where the +fight lasted all day long. Dean was killed in this fight; but Monk, who +commanded in the same ship with him, threw his cloak over his body, +that the sailors might not know of his death, and be disheartened. Nor +were they. The English broadsides so exceedingly astonished the Dutch +that they sheered off at last, though the redoubtable Van Tromp fired +upon them with his own guns for deserting their flag. Soon afterwards, +the two fleets engaged again, off the coast of Holland. There, the +valiant Van Tromp was shot through the heart, and the Dutch gave in, +and peace was made. + +Further than this, Oliver resolved not to bear the domineering and +bigoted conduct of Spain, which country not only claimed a right to all +the gold and silver that could be found in South America, and treated +the ships of all other countries who visited those regions, as pirates, +but put English subjects into the horrible Spanish prisons of the +Inquisition. So, Oliver told the Spanish ambassador that English ships +must be free to go wherever they would, and that English merchants must +not be thrown into those same dungeons, no, not for the pleasure of all +the priests in Spain. To this, the Spanish ambassador replied that the +gold and silver country, and the Holy Inquisition, were his King’s two +eyes, neither of which he could submit to have put out. Very well, said +Oliver, then he was afraid he (Oliver) must damage those two eyes +directly. + +So, another fleet was despatched under two commanders, Penn and +Venables, for Hispaniola; where, however, the Spaniards got the better +of the fight. Consequently, the fleet came home again, after taking +Jamaica on the way. Oliver, indignant with the two commanders who had +not done what bold Admiral Blake would have done, clapped them both +into prison, declared war against Spain, and made a treaty with France, +in virtue of which it was to shelter the King and his brother the Duke +of York no longer. Then, he sent a fleet abroad under bold Admiral +Blake, which brought the King of Portugal to his senses—just to keep +its hand in—and then engaged a Spanish fleet, sunk four great ships, +and took two more, laden with silver to the value of two millions of +pounds: which dazzling prize was brought from Portsmouth to London in +waggons, with the populace of all the towns and villages through which +the waggons passed, shouting with all their might. After this victory, +bold Admiral Blake sailed away to the port of Santa Cruz to cut off the +Spanish treasure-ships coming from Mexico. There, he found them, ten in +number, with seven others to take care of them, and a big castle, and +seven batteries, all roaring and blazing away at him with great guns. +Blake cared no more for great guns than for pop-guns—no more for their +hot iron balls than for snow-balls. He dashed into the harbour, +captured and burnt every one of the ships, and came sailing out again +triumphantly, with the victorious English flag flying at his masthead. +This was the last triumph of this great commander, who had sailed and +fought until he was quite worn out. He died, as his successful ship was +coming into Plymouth Harbour amidst the joyful acclamations of the +people, and was buried in state in Westminster Abbey. Not to lie there, +long. + +Over and above all this, Oliver found that the Vaudois, or Protestant +people of the valleys of Lucerne, were insolently treated by the +Catholic powers, and were even put to death for their religion, in an +audacious and bloody manner. Instantly, he informed those powers that +this was a thing which Protestant England would not allow; and he +speedily carried his point, through the might of his great name, and +established their right to worship God in peace after their own +harmless manner. + +Lastly, his English army won such admiration in fighting with the +French against the Spaniards, that, after they had assaulted the town +of Dunkirk together, the French King in person gave it up to the +English, that it might be a token to them of their might and valour. + +There were plots enough against Oliver among the frantic religionists +(who called themselves Fifth Monarchy Men), and among the disappointed +Republicans. He had a difficult game to play, for the Royalists were +always ready to side with either party against him. The ‘King over the +water,’ too, as Charles was called, had no scruples about plotting with +any one against his life; although there is reason to suppose that he +would willingly have married one of his daughters, if Oliver would have +had such a son-in-law. There was a certain Colonel Saxby of the army, +once a great supporter of Oliver’s but now turned against him, who was +a grievous trouble to him through all this part of his career; and who +came and went between the discontented in England and Spain, and +Charles who put himself in alliance with Spain on being thrown off by +France. This man died in prison at last; but not until there had been +very serious plots between the Royalists and Republicans, and an actual +rising of them in England, when they burst into the city of Salisbury, +on a Sunday night, seized the judges who were going to hold the assizes +there next day, and would have hanged them but for the merciful +objections of the more temperate of their number. Oliver was so +vigorous and shrewd that he soon put this revolt down, as he did most +other conspiracies; and it was well for one of its chief managers—that +same Lord Wilmot who had assisted in Charles’s flight, and was now Earl +of Rochester—that he made his escape. Oliver seemed to have eyes and +ears everywhere, and secured such sources of information as his enemies +little dreamed of. There was a chosen body of six persons, called the +Sealed Knot, who were in the closest and most secret confidence of +Charles. One of the foremost of these very men, a Sir Richard Willis, +reported to Oliver everything that passed among them, and had two +hundred a year for it. + +Miles Syndarcomb, also of the old army, was another conspirator against +the Protector. He and a man named Cecil, bribed one of his Life Guards +to let them have good notice when he was going out—intending to shoot +him from a window. But, owing either to his caution or his good +fortune, they could never get an aim at him. Disappointed in this +design, they got into the chapel in Whitehall, with a basketful of +combustibles, which were to explode by means of a slow match in six +hours; then, in the noise and confusion of the fire, they hoped to kill +Oliver. But, the Life Guardsman himself disclosed this plot; and they +were seized, and Miles died (or killed himself in prison) a little +while before he was ordered for execution. A few such plotters Oliver +caused to be beheaded, a few more to be hanged, and many more, +including those who rose in arms against him, to be sent as slaves to +the West Indies. If he were rigid, he was impartial too, in asserting +the laws of England. When a Portuguese nobleman, the brother of the +Portuguese ambassador, killed a London citizen in mistake for another +man with whom he had had a quarrel, Oliver caused him to be tried +before a jury of Englishmen and foreigners, and had him executed in +spite of the entreaties of all the ambassadors in London. + +One of Oliver’s own friends, the Duke of Oldenburgh, in sending him a +present of six fine coach-horses, was very near doing more to please +the Royalists than all the plotters put together. One day, Oliver went +with his coach, drawn by these six horses, into Hyde Park, to dine with +his secretary and some of his other gentlemen under the trees there. +After dinner, being merry, he took it into his head to put his friends +inside and to drive them home: a postillion riding one of the foremost +horses, as the custom was. On account of Oliver’s being too free with +the whip, the six fine horses went off at a gallop, the postillion got +thrown, and Oliver fell upon the coach-pole and narrowly escaped being +shot by his own pistol, which got entangled with his clothes in the +harness, and went off. He was dragged some distance by the foot, until +his foot came out of the shoe, and then he came safely to the ground +under the broad body of the coach, and was very little the worse. The +gentlemen inside were only bruised, and the discontented people of all +parties were much disappointed. + +The rest of the history of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell is a +history of his Parliaments. His first one not pleasing him at all, he +waited until the five months were out, and then dissolved it. The next +was better suited to his views; and from that he desired to get—if he +could with safety to himself—the title of King. He had had this in his +mind some time: whether because he thought that the English people, +being more used to the title, were more likely to obey it; or whether +because he really wished to be a king himself, and to leave the +succession to that title in his family, is far from clear. He was +already as high, in England and in all the world, as he would ever be, +and I doubt if he cared for the mere name. However, a paper, called the +‘Humble Petition and Advice,’ was presented to him by the House of +Commons, praying him to take a high title and to appoint his successor. +That he would have taken the title of King there is no doubt, but for +the strong opposition of the army. This induced him to forbear, and to +assent only to the other points of the petition. Upon which occasion +there was another grand show in Westminster Hall, when the Speaker of +the House of Commons formally invested him with a purple robe lined +with ermine, and presented him with a splendidly bound Bible, and put a +golden sceptre in his hand. The next time the Parliament met, he called +a House of Lords of sixty members, as the petition gave him power to +do; but as that Parliament did not please him either, and would not +proceed to the business of the country, he jumped into a coach one +morning, took six Guards with him, and sent them to the right-about. I +wish this had been a warning to Parliaments to avoid long speeches, and +do more work. + +It was the month of August, one thousand six hundred and fifty-eight, +when Oliver Cromwell’s favourite daughter, Elizabeth Claypole (who had +lately lost her youngest son), lay very ill, and his mind was greatly +troubled, because he loved her dearly. Another of his daughters was +married to Lord Falconberg, another to the grandson of the Earl of +Warwick, and he had made his son Richard one of the Members of the +Upper House. He was very kind and loving to them all, being a good +father and a good husband; but he loved this daughter the best of the +family, and went down to Hampton Court to see her, and could hardly be +induced to stir from her sick room until she died. Although his +religion had been of a gloomy kind, his disposition had been always +cheerful. He had been fond of music in his home, and had kept open +table once a week for all officers of the army not below the rank of +captain, and had always preserved in his house a quiet, sensible +dignity. He encouraged men of genius and learning, and loved to have +them about him. Milton was one of his great friends. He was good +humoured too, with the nobility, whose dresses and manners were very +different from his; and to show them what good information he had, he +would sometimes jokingly tell them when they were his guests, where +they had last drunk the health of the ‘King over the water,’ and would +recommend them to be more private (if they could) another time. But he +had lived in busy times, had borne the weight of heavy State affairs, +and had often gone in fear of his life. He was ill of the gout and +ague; and when the death of his beloved child came upon him in +addition, he sank, never to raise his head again. He told his +physicians on the twenty-fourth of August that the Lord had assured him +that he was not to die in that illness, and that he would certainly get +better. This was only his sick fancy, for on the third of September, +which was the anniversary of the great battle of Worcester, and the day +of the year which he called his fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth +year of his age. He had been delirious, and had lain insensible some +hours, but he had been overheard to murmur a very good prayer the day +before. The whole country lamented his death. If you want to know the +real worth of Oliver Cromwell, and his real services to his country, +you can hardly do better than compare England under him, with England +under Charles the Second. + +He had appointed his son Richard to succeed him, and after there had +been, at Somerset House in the Strand, a lying in state more splendid +than sensible—as all such vanities after death are, I think—Richard +became Lord Protector. He was an amiable country gentleman, but had +none of his father’s great genius, and was quite unfit for such a post +in such a storm of parties. Richard’s Protectorate, which only lasted a +year and a half, is a history of quarrels between the officers of the +army and the Parliament, and between the officers among themselves; and +of a growing discontent among the people, who had far too many long +sermons and far too few amusements, and wanted a change. At last, +General Monk got the army well into his own hands, and then in +pursuance of a secret plan he seems to have entertained from the time +of Oliver’s death, declared for the King’s cause. He did not do this +openly; but, in his place in the House of Commons, as one of the +members for Devonshire, strongly advocated the proposals of one Sir +John Greenville, who came to the House with a letter from Charles, +dated from Breda, and with whom he had previously been in secret +communication. There had been plots and counterplots, and a recall of +the last members of the Long Parliament, and an end of the Long +Parliament, and risings of the Royalists that were made too soon; and +most men being tired out, and there being no one to head the country +now great Oliver was dead, it was readily agreed to welcome Charles +Stuart. Some of the wiser and better members said—what was most +true—that in the letter from Breda, he gave no real promise to govern +well, and that it would be best to make him pledge himself beforehand +as to what he should be bound to do for the benefit of the kingdom. +Monk said, however, it would be all right when he came, and he could +not come too soon. + +So, everybody found out all in a moment that the country _must_ be +prosperous and happy, having another Stuart to condescend to reign over +it; and there was a prodigious firing off of guns, lighting of +bonfires, ringing of bells, and throwing up of caps. The people drank +the King’s health by thousands in the open streets, and everybody +rejoiced. Down came the Arms of the Commonwealth, up went the Royal +Arms instead, and out came the public money. Fifty thousand pounds for +the King, ten thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of York, five +thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of Gloucester. Prayers for +these gracious Stuarts were put up in all the churches; commissioners +were sent to Holland (which suddenly found out that Charles was a great +man, and that it loved him) to invite the King home; Monk and the +Kentish grandees went to Dover, to kneel down before him as he landed. +He kissed and embraced Monk, made him ride in the coach with himself +and his brothers, came on to London amid wonderful shoutings, and +passed through the army at Blackheath on the twenty-ninth of May (his +birthday), in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty. Greeted by +splendid dinners under tents, by flags and tapestry streaming from all +the houses, by delighted crowds in all the streets, by troops of +noblemen and gentlemen in rich dresses, by City companies, train-bands, +drummers, trumpeters, the great Lord Mayor, and the majestic Aldermen, +the King went on to Whitehall. On entering it, he commemorated his +Restoration with the joke that it really would seem to have been his +own fault that he had not come long ago, since everybody told him that +he had always wished for him with all his heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV +ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH + + +There never were such profligate times in England as under Charles the +Second. Whenever you see his portrait, with his swarthy, ill-looking +face and great nose, you may fancy him in his Court at Whitehall, +surrounded by some of the very worst vagabonds in the kingdom (though +they were lords and ladies), drinking, gambling, indulging in vicious +conversation, and committing every kind of profligate excess. It has +been a fashion to call Charles the Second ‘The Merry Monarch.’ Let me +try to give you a general idea of some of the merry things that were +done, in the merry days when this merry gentleman sat upon his merry +throne, in merry England. + +The first merry proceeding was—of course—to declare that he was one of +the greatest, the wisest, and the noblest kings that ever shone, like +the blessed sun itself, on this benighted earth. The next merry and +pleasant piece of business was, for the Parliament, in the humblest +manner, to give him one million two hundred thousand pounds a year, and +to settle upon him for life that old disputed tonnage and poundage +which had been so bravely fought for. Then, General Monk being made +Earl of Albemarle, and a few other Royalists similarly rewarded, the +law went to work to see what was to be done to those persons (they were +called Regicides) who had been concerned in making a martyr of the late +King. Ten of these were merrily executed; that is to say, six of the +judges, one of the council, Colonel Hacker and another officer who had +commanded the Guards, and Hugh Peters, a preacher who had preached +against the martyr with all his heart. These executions were so +extremely merry, that every horrible circumstance which Cromwell had +abandoned was revived with appalling cruelty. The hearts of the +sufferers were torn out of their living bodies; their bowels were +burned before their faces; the executioner cut jokes to the next +victim, as he rubbed his filthy hands together, that were reeking with +the blood of the last; and the heads of the dead were drawn on sledges +with the living to the place of suffering. Still, even so merry a +monarch could not force one of these dying men to say that he was sorry +for what he had done. Nay, the most memorable thing said among them +was, that if the thing were to do again they would do it. + +Sir Harry Vane, who had furnished the evidence against Strafford, and +was one of the most staunch of the Republicans, was also tried, found +guilty, and ordered for execution. When he came upon the scaffold on +Tower Hill, after conducting his own defence with great power, his +notes of what he had meant to say to the people were torn away from +him, and the drums and trumpets were ordered to sound lustily and drown +his voice; for, the people had been so much impressed by what the +Regicides had calmly said with their last breath, that it was the +custom now, to have the drums and trumpets always under the scaffold, +ready to strike up. Vane said no more than this: ‘It is a bad cause +which cannot bear the words of a dying man:’ and bravely died. + +These merry scenes were succeeded by another, perhaps even merrier. On +the anniversary of the late King’s death, the bodies of Oliver +Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw, were torn out of their graves in +Westminster Abbey, dragged to Tyburn, hanged there on a gallows all day +long, and then beheaded. Imagine the head of Oliver Cromwell set upon a +pole to be stared at by a brutal crowd, not one of whom would have +dared to look the living Oliver in the face for half a moment! Think, +after you have read this reign, what England was under Oliver Cromwell +who was torn out of his grave, and what it was under this merry monarch +who sold it, like a merry Judas, over and over again. + +Of course, the remains of Oliver’s wife and daughter were not to be +spared either, though they had been most excellent women. The base +clergy of that time gave up their bodies, which had been buried in the +Abbey, and—to the eternal disgrace of England—they were thrown into a +pit, together with the mouldering bones of Pym and of the brave and +bold old Admiral Blake. + +The clergy acted this disgraceful part because they hoped to get the +nonconformists, or dissenters, thoroughly put down in this reign, and +to have but one prayer-book and one service for all kinds of people, no +matter what their private opinions were. This was pretty well, I think, +for a Protestant Church, which had displaced the Romish Church because +people had a right to their own opinions in religious matters. However, +they carried it with a high hand, and a prayer-book was agreed upon, in +which the extremest opinions of Archbishop Laud were not forgotten. An +Act was passed, too, preventing any dissenter from holding any office +under any corporation. So, the regular clergy in their triumph were +soon as merry as the King. The army being by this time disbanded, and +the King crowned, everything was to go on easily for evermore. + +I must say a word here about the King’s family. He had not been long +upon the throne when his brother the Duke of Gloucester, and his sister +the Princess of Orange, died within a few months of each other, of +small-pox. His remaining sister, the Princess Henrietta, married the +Duke of Orleans, the brother of Louis the Fourteenth, King of France. +His brother James, Duke of York, was made High Admiral, and by-and-by +became a Catholic. He was a gloomy, sullen, bilious sort of man, with a +remarkable partiality for the ugliest women in the country. He married, +under very discreditable circumstances, Anne Hyde, the daughter of Lord +Clarendon, then the King’s principal Minister—not at all a delicate +minister either, but doing much of the dirty work of a very dirty +palace. It became important now that the King himself should be +married; and divers foreign Monarchs, not very particular about the +character of their son-in-law, proposed their daughters to him. The +King of Portugal offered his daughter, Catherine of Braganza, and fifty +thousand pounds: in addition to which, the French King, who was +favourable to that match, offered a loan of another fifty thousand. The +King of Spain, on the other hand, offered any one out of a dozen of +Princesses, and other hopes of gain. But the ready money carried the +day, and Catherine came over in state to her merry marriage. + +The whole Court was a great flaunting crowd of debauched men and +shameless women; and Catherine’s merry husband insulted and outraged +her in every possible way, until she consented to receive those +worthless creatures as her very good friends, and to degrade herself by +their companionship. A Mrs. Palmer, whom the King made Lady +Castlemaine, and afterwards Duchess of Cleveland, was one of the most +powerful of the bad women about the Court, and had great influence with +the King nearly all through his reign. Another merry lady named Moll +Davies, a dancer at the theatre, was afterwards her rival. So was Nell +Gwyn, first an orange girl and then an actress, who really had good in +her, and of whom one of the worst things I know is, that actually she +does seem to have been fond of the King. The first Duke of St. Albans +was this orange girl’s child. In like manner the son of a merry +waiting-lady, whom the King created Duchess Of Portsmouth, became the +Duke of Richmond. Upon the whole it is not so bad a thing to be a +commoner. + +The Merry Monarch was so exceedingly merry among these merry ladies, +and some equally merry (and equally infamous) lords and gentlemen, that +he soon got through his hundred thousand pounds, and then, by way of +raising a little pocket-money, made a merry bargain. He sold Dunkirk to +the French King for five millions of livres. When I think of the +dignity to which Oliver Cromwell raised England in the eyes of foreign +powers, and when I think of the manner in which he gained for England +this very Dunkirk, I am much inclined to consider that if the Merry +Monarch had been made to follow his father for this action, he would +have received his just deserts. + +Though he was like his father in none of that father’s greater +qualities, he was like him in being worthy of no trust. When he sent +that letter to the Parliament, from Breda, he did expressly promise +that all sincere religious opinions should be respected. Yet he was no +sooner firm in his power than he consented to one of the worst Acts of +Parliament ever passed. Under this law, every minister who should not +give his solemn assent to the Prayer-Book by a certain day, was +declared to be a minister no longer, and to be deprived of his church. +The consequence of this was that some two thousand honest men were +taken from their congregations, and reduced to dire poverty and +distress. It was followed by another outrageous law, called the +Conventicle Act, by which any person above the age of sixteen who was +present at any religious service not according to the Prayer-Book, was +to be imprisoned three months for the first offence, six for the +second, and to be transported for the third. This Act alone filled the +prisons, which were then most dreadful dungeons, to overflowing. + +The Covenanters in Scotland had already fared no better. A base +Parliament, usually known as the Drunken Parliament, in consequence of +its principal members being seldom sober, had been got together to make +laws against the Covenanters, and to force all men to be of one mind in +religious matters. The Marquis of Argyle, relying on the King’s honour, +had given himself up to him; but, he was wealthy, and his enemies +wanted his wealth. He was tried for treason, on the evidence of some +private letters in which he had expressed opinions—as well he +might—more favourable to the government of the late Lord Protector than +of the present merry and religious King. He was executed, as were two +men of mark among the Covenanters; and Sharp, a traitor who had once +been the friend of the Presbyterians and betrayed them, was made +Archbishop of St. Andrew’s, to teach the Scotch how to like bishops. + +Things being in this merry state at home, the Merry Monarch undertook a +war with the Dutch; principally because they interfered with an African +company, established with the two objects of buying gold-dust and +slaves, of which the Duke of York was a leading member. After some +preliminary hostilities, the said Duke sailed to the coast of Holland +with a fleet of ninety-eight vessels of war, and four fire-ships. This +engaged with the Dutch fleet, of no fewer than one hundred and thirteen +ships. In the great battle between the two forces, the Dutch lost +eighteen ships, four admirals, and seven thousand men. But, the English +on shore were in no mood of exultation when they heard the news. + +For, this was the year and the time of the Great Plague in London. +During the winter of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four it had +been whispered about, that some few people had died here and there of +the disease called the Plague, in some of the unwholesome suburbs +around London. News was not published at that time as it is now, and +some people believed these rumours, and some disbelieved them, and they +were soon forgotten. But, in the month of May, one thousand six hundred +and sixty-five, it began to be said all over the town that the disease +had burst out with great violence in St. Giles’s, and that the people +were dying in great numbers. This soon turned out to be awfully true. +The roads out of London were choked up by people endeavouring to escape +from the infected city, and large sums were paid for any kind of +conveyance. The disease soon spread so fast, that it was necessary to +shut up the houses in which sick people were, and to cut them off from +communication with the living. Every one of these houses was marked on +the outside of the door with a red cross, and the words, Lord, have +mercy upon us! The streets were all deserted, grass grew in the public +ways, and there was a dreadful silence in the air. When night came on, +dismal rumblings used to be heard, and these were the wheels of the +death-carts, attended by men with veiled faces and holding cloths to +their mouths, who rang doleful bells and cried in a loud and solemn +voice, ‘Bring out your dead!’ The corpses put into these carts were +buried by torchlight in great pits; no service being performed over +them; all men being afraid to stay for a moment on the brink of the +ghastly graves. In the general fear, children ran away from their +parents, and parents from their children. Some who were taken ill, died +alone, and without any help. Some were stabbed or strangled by hired +nurses who robbed them of all their money, and stole the very beds on +which they lay. Some went mad, dropped from the windows, ran through +the streets, and in their pain and frenzy flung themselves into the +river. + +These were not all the horrors of the time. The wicked and dissolute, +in wild desperation, sat in the taverns singing roaring songs, and were +stricken as they drank, and went out and died. The fearful and +superstitious persuaded themselves that they saw supernatural +sights—burning swords in the sky, gigantic arms and darts. Others +pretended that at nights vast crowds of ghosts walked round and round +the dismal pits. One madman, naked, and carrying a brazier full of +burning coals upon his head, stalked through the streets, crying out +that he was a Prophet, commissioned to denounce the vengeance of the +Lord on wicked London. Another always went to and fro, exclaiming, ‘Yet +forty days, and London shall be destroyed!’ A third awoke the echoes in +the dismal streets, by night and by day, and made the blood of the sick +run cold, by calling out incessantly, in a deep hoarse voice, ‘O, the +great and dreadful God!’ + +Through the months of July and August and September, the Great Plague +raged more and more. Great fires were lighted in the streets, in the +hope of stopping the infection; but there was a plague of rain too, and +it beat the fires out. At last, the winds which usually arise at that +time of the year which is called the equinox, when day and night are of +equal length all over the world, began to blow, and to purify the +wretched town. The deaths began to decrease, the red crosses slowly to +disappear, the fugitives to return, the shops to open, pale frightened +faces to be seen in the streets. The Plague had been in every part of +England, but in close and unwholesome London it had killed one hundred +thousand people. + +All this time, the Merry Monarch was as merry as ever, and as worthless +as ever. All this time, the debauched lords and gentlemen and the +shameless ladies danced and gamed and drank, and loved and hated one +another, according to their merry ways. + +So little humanity did the government learn from the late affliction, +that one of the first things the Parliament did when it met at Oxford +(being as yet afraid to come to London), was to make a law, called the +Five Mile Act, expressly directed against those poor ministers who, in +the time of the Plague, had manfully come back to comfort the unhappy +people. This infamous law, by forbidding them to teach in any school, +or to come within five miles of any city, town, or village, doomed them +to starvation and death. + +The fleet had been at sea, and healthy. The King of France was now in +alliance with the Dutch, though his navy was chiefly employed in +looking on while the English and Dutch fought. The Dutch gained one +victory; and the English gained another and a greater; and Prince +Rupert, one of the English admirals, was out in the Channel one windy +night, looking for the French Admiral, with the intention of giving him +something more to do than he had had yet, when the gale increased to a +storm, and blew him into Saint Helen’s. That night was the third of +September, one thousand six hundred and sixty-six, and that wind fanned +the Great Fire of London. + +It broke out at a baker’s shop near London Bridge, on the spot on which +the Monument now stands as a remembrance of those raging flames. It +spread and spread, and burned and burned, for three days. The nights +were lighter than the days; in the daytime there was an immense cloud +of smoke, and in the night-time there was a great tower of fire +mounting up into the sky, which lighted the whole country landscape for +ten miles round. Showers of hot ashes rose into the air and fell on +distant places; flying sparks carried the conflagration to great +distances, and kindled it in twenty new spots at a time; church +steeples fell down with tremendous crashes; houses crumbled into +cinders by the hundred and the thousand. The summer had been intensely +hot and dry, the streets were very narrow, and the houses mostly built +of wood and plaster. Nothing could stop the tremendous fire, but the +want of more houses to burn; nor did it stop until the whole way from +the Tower to Temple Bar was a desert, composed of the ashes of thirteen +thousand houses and eighty-nine churches. + +This was a terrible visitation at the time, and occasioned great loss +and suffering to the two hundred thousand burnt-out people, who were +obliged to lie in the fields under the open night sky, or in +hastily-made huts of mud and straw, while the lanes and roads were +rendered impassable by carts which had broken down as they tried to +save their goods. But the Fire was a great blessing to the City +afterwards, for it arose from its ruins very much improved—built more +regularly, more widely, more cleanly and carefully, and therefore much +more healthily. It might be far more healthy than it is, but there are +some people in it still—even now, at this time, nearly two hundred +years later—so selfish, so pig-headed, and so ignorant, that I doubt if +even another Great Fire would warm them up to do their duty. + +The Catholics were accused of having wilfully set London in flames; one +poor Frenchman, who had been mad for years, even accused himself of +having with his own hand fired the first house. There is no reasonable +doubt, however, that the fire was accidental. An inscription on the +Monument long attributed it to the Catholics; but it is removed now, +and was always a malicious and stupid untruth. + +SECOND PART + +That the Merry Monarch might be very merry indeed, in the merry times +when his people were suffering under pestilence and fire, he drank and +gambled and flung away among his favourites the money which the +Parliament had voted for the war. The consequence of this was that the +stout-hearted English sailors were merrily starving of want, and dying +in the streets; while the Dutch, under their admirals De Witt and De +Ruyter, came into the River Thames, and up the River Medway as far as +Upnor, burned the guard-ships, silenced the weak batteries, and did +what they would to the English coast for six whole weeks. Most of the +English ships that could have prevented them had neither powder nor +shot on board; in this merry reign, public officers made themselves as +merry as the King did with the public money; and when it was entrusted +to them to spend in national defences or preparations, they put it into +their own pockets with the merriest grace in the world. + +Lord Clarendon had, by this time, run as long a course as is usually +allotted to the unscrupulous ministers of bad kings. He was impeached +by his political opponents, but unsuccessfully. The King then commanded +him to withdraw from England and retire to France, which he did, after +defending himself in writing. He was no great loss at home, and died +abroad some seven years afterwards. + +There then came into power a ministry called the Cabal Ministry, +because it was composed of Lord Clifford, the Earl of Arlington, the +Duke of Buckingham (a great rascal, and the King’s most powerful +favourite), Lord Ashley, and the Duke of Lauderdale, c. a. b. a. l. As +the French were making conquests in Flanders, the first Cabal +proceeding was to make a treaty with the Dutch, for uniting with Spain +to oppose the French. It was no sooner made than the Merry Monarch, who +always wanted to get money without being accountable to a Parliament +for his expenditure, apologised to the King of France for having had +anything to do with it, and concluded a secret treaty with him, making +himself his infamous pensioner to the amount of two millions of livres +down, and three millions more a year; and engaging to desert that very +Spain, to make war against those very Dutch, and to declare himself a +Catholic when a convenient time should arrive. This religious king had +lately been crying to his Catholic brother on the subject of his strong +desire to be a Catholic; and now he merrily concluded this treasonable +conspiracy against the country he governed, by undertaking to become +one as soon as he safely could. For all of which, though he had had ten +merry heads instead of one, he richly deserved to lose them by the +headsman’s axe. + +As his one merry head might have been far from safe, if these things +had been known, they were kept very quiet, and war was declared by +France and England against the Dutch. But, a very uncommon man, +afterwards most important to English history and to the religion and +liberty of this land, arose among them, and for many long years +defeated the whole projects of France. This was William of Nassau, +Prince of Orange, son of the last Prince of Orange of the same name, +who married the daughter of Charles the First of England. He was a +young man at this time, only just of age; but he was brave, cool, +intrepid, and wise. His father had been so detested that, upon his +death, the Dutch had abolished the authority to which this son would +have otherwise succeeded (Stadtholder it was called), and placed the +chief power in the hands of John de Witt, who educated this young +prince. Now, the Prince became very popular, and John de Witt’s brother +Cornelius was sentenced to banishment on a false accusation of +conspiring to kill him. John went to the prison where he was, to take +him away to exile, in his coach; and a great mob who collected on the +occasion, then and there cruelly murdered both the brothers. This left +the government in the hands of the Prince, who was really the choice of +the nation; and from this time he exercised it with the greatest +vigour, against the whole power of France, under its famous generals +Condé and Turenne, and in support of the Protestant religion. It was +full seven years before this war ended in a treaty of peace made at +Nimeguen, and its details would occupy a very considerable space. It is +enough to say that William of Orange established a famous character +with the whole world; and that the Merry Monarch, adding to and +improving on his former baseness, bound himself to do everything the +King of France liked, and nothing the King of France did not like, for +a pension of one hundred thousand pounds a year, which was afterwards +doubled. Besides this, the King of France, by means of his corrupt +ambassador—who wrote accounts of his proceedings in England, which are +not always to be believed, I think—bought our English members of +Parliament, as he wanted them. So, in point of fact, during a +considerable portion of this merry reign, the King of France was the +real King of this country. + +But there was a better time to come, and it was to come (though his +royal uncle little thought so) through that very William, Prince of +Orange. He came over to England, saw Mary, the elder daughter of the +Duke of York, and married her. We shall see by-and-by what came of that +marriage, and why it is never to be forgotten. + +This daughter was a Protestant, but her mother died a Catholic. She and +her sister Anne, also a Protestant, were the only survivors of eight +children. Anne afterwards married George, Prince of Denmark, brother to +the King of that country. + +Lest you should do the Merry Monarch the injustice of supposing that he +was even good humoured (except when he had everything his own way), or +that he was high spirited and honourable, I will mention here what was +done to a member of the House of Commons, Sir John Coventry. He made a +remark in a debate about taxing the theatres, which gave the King +offence. The King agreed with his illegitimate son, who had been born +abroad, and whom he had made Duke of Monmouth, to take the following +merry vengeance. To waylay him at night, fifteen armed men to one, and +to slit his nose with a penknife. Like master, like man. The King’s +favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, was strongly suspected of setting on +an assassin to murder the Duke of Ormond as he was returning home from +a dinner; and that Duke’s spirited son, Lord Ossory, was so persuaded +of his guilt, that he said to him at Court, even as he stood beside the +King, ‘My lord, I know very well that you are at the bottom of this +late attempt upon my father. But I give you warning, if he ever come to +a violent end, his blood shall be upon you, and wherever I meet you I +will pistol you! I will do so, though I find you standing behind the +King’s chair; and I tell you this in his Majesty’s presence, that you +may be quite sure of my doing what I threaten.’ Those were merry times +indeed. + +There was a fellow named Blood, who was seized for making, with two +companions, an audacious attempt to steal the crown, the globe, and +sceptre, from the place where the jewels were kept in the Tower. This +robber, who was a swaggering ruffian, being taken, declared that he was +the man who had endeavoured to kill the Duke of Ormond, and that he had +meant to kill the King too, but was overawed by the majesty of his +appearance, when he might otherwise have done it, as he was bathing at +Battersea. The King being but an ill-looking fellow, I don’t believe a +word of this. Whether he was flattered, or whether he knew that +Buckingham had really set Blood on to murder the Duke, is uncertain. +But it is quite certain that he pardoned this thief, gave him an estate +of five hundred a year in Ireland (which had had the honour of giving +him birth), and presented him at Court to the debauched lords and the +shameless ladies, who made a great deal of him—as I have no doubt they +would have made of the Devil himself, if the King had introduced him. + +Infamously pensioned as he was, the King still wanted money, and +consequently was obliged to call Parliaments. In these, the great +object of the Protestants was to thwart the Catholic Duke of York, who +married a second time; his new wife being a young lady only fifteen +years old, the Catholic sister of the Duke of Modena. In this they were +seconded by the Protestant Dissenters, though to their own +disadvantage: since, to exclude Catholics from power, they were even +willing to exclude themselves. The King’s object was to pretend to be a +Protestant, while he was really a Catholic; to swear to the bishops +that he was devoutly attached to the English Church, while he knew he +had bargained it away to the King of France; and by cheating and +deceiving them, and all who were attached to royalty, to become +despotic and be powerful enough to confess what a rascal he was. +Meantime, the King of France, knowing his merry pensioner well, +intrigued with the King’s opponents in Parliament, as well as with the +King and his friends. + +The fears that the country had of the Catholic religion being restored, +if the Duke of York should come to the throne, and the low cunning of +the King in pretending to share their alarms, led to some very terrible +results. A certain Dr. Tonge, a dull clergyman in the City, fell into +the hands of a certain Titus Oates, a most infamous character, who +pretended to have acquired among the Jesuits abroad a knowledge of a +great plot for the murder of the King, and the re-establishment of the +Catholic religion. Titus Oates, being produced by this unlucky Dr. +Tonge and solemnly examined before the council, contradicted himself in +a thousand ways, told the most ridiculous and improbable stories, and +implicated Coleman, the Secretary of the Duchess of York. Now, although +what he charged against Coleman was not true, and although you and I +know very well that the real dangerous Catholic plot was that one with +the King of France of which the Merry Monarch was himself the head, +there happened to be found among Coleman’s papers, some letters, in +which he did praise the days of Bloody Queen Mary, and abuse the +Protestant religion. This was great good fortune for Titus, as it +seemed to confirm him; but better still was in store. Sir Edmundbury +Godfrey, the magistrate who had first examined him, being unexpectedly +found dead near Primrose Hill, was confidently believed to have been +killed by the Catholics. I think there is no doubt that he had been +melancholy mad, and that he killed himself; but he had a great +Protestant funeral, and Titus was called the Saver of the Nation, and +received a pension of twelve hundred pounds a year. + +As soon as Oates’s wickedness had met with this success, up started +another villain, named William Bedloe, who, attracted by a reward of +five hundred pounds offered for the apprehension of the murderers of +Godfrey, came forward and charged two Jesuits and some other persons +with having committed it at the Queen’s desire. Oates, going into +partnership with this new informer, had the audacity to accuse the poor +Queen herself of high treason. Then appeared a third informer, as bad +as either of the two, and accused a Catholic banker named Stayley of +having said that the King was the greatest rogue in the world (which +would not have been far from the truth), and that he would kill him +with his own hand. This banker, being at once tried and executed, +Coleman and two others were tried and executed. Then, a miserable +wretch named Prance, a Catholic silversmith, being accused by Bedloe, +was tortured into confessing that he had taken part in Godfrey’s +murder, and into accusing three other men of having committed it. Then, +five Jesuits were accused by Oates, Bedloe, and Prance together, and +were all found guilty, and executed on the same kind of contradictory +and absurd evidence. The Queen’s physician and three monks were next +put on their trial; but Oates and Bedloe had for the time gone far +enough and these four were acquitted. The public mind, however, was so +full of a Catholic plot, and so strong against the Duke of York, that +James consented to obey a written order from his brother, and to go +with his family to Brussels, provided that his rights should never be +sacrificed in his absence to the Duke of Monmouth. The House of +Commons, not satisfied with this as the King hoped, passed a bill to +exclude the Duke from ever succeeding to the throne. In return, the +King dissolved the Parliament. He had deserted his old favourite, the +Duke of Buckingham, who was now in the opposition. + +To give any sufficient idea of the miseries of Scotland in this merry +reign, would occupy a hundred pages. Because the people would not have +bishops, and were resolved to stand by their solemn League and +Covenant, such cruelties were inflicted upon them as make the blood run +cold. Ferocious dragoons galloped through the country to punish the +peasants for deserting the churches; sons were hanged up at their +fathers’ doors for refusing to disclose where their fathers were +concealed; wives were tortured to death for not betraying their +husbands; people were taken out of their fields and gardens, and shot +on the public roads without trial; lighted matches were tied to the +fingers of prisoners, and a most horrible torment called the Boot was +invented, and constantly applied, which ground and mashed the victims’ +legs with iron wedges. Witnesses were tortured as well as prisoners. +All the prisons were full; all the gibbets were heavy with bodies; +murder and plunder devastated the whole country. In spite of all, the +Covenanters were by no means to be dragged into the churches, and +persisted in worshipping God as they thought right. A body of ferocious +Highlanders, turned upon them from the mountains of their own country, +had no greater effect than the English dragoons under Grahame of +Claverhouse, the most cruel and rapacious of all their enemies, whose +name will ever be cursed through the length and breadth of Scotland. +Archbishop Sharp had ever aided and abetted all these outrages. But he +fell at last; for, when the injuries of the Scottish people were at +their height, he was seen, in his coach-and-six coming across a moor, +by a body of men, headed by one John Balfour, who were waiting for +another of their oppressors. Upon this they cried out that Heaven had +delivered him into their hands, and killed him with many wounds. If +ever a man deserved such a death, I think Archbishop Sharp did. + +It made a great noise directly, and the Merry Monarch—strongly +suspected of having goaded the Scottish people on, that he might have +an excuse for a greater army than the Parliament were willing to give +him—sent down his son, the Duke of Monmouth, as commander-in-chief, +with instructions to attack the Scottish rebels, or Whigs as they were +called, whenever he came up with them. Marching with ten thousand men +from Edinburgh, he found them, in number four or five thousand, drawn +up at Bothwell Bridge, by the Clyde. They were soon dispersed; and +Monmouth showed a more humane character towards them, than he had shown +towards that Member of Parliament whose nose he had caused to be slit +with a penknife. But the Duke of Lauderdale was their bitter foe, and +sent Claverhouse to finish them. + +As the Duke of York became more and more unpopular, the Duke of +Monmouth became more and more popular. It would have been decent in the +latter not to have voted in favour of the renewed bill for the +exclusion of James from the throne; but he did so, much to the King’s +amusement, who used to sit in the House of Lords by the fire, hearing +the debates, which he said were as good as a play. The House of Commons +passed the bill by a large majority, and it was carried up to the House +of Lords by Lord Russell, one of the best of the leaders on the +Protestant side. It was rejected there, chiefly because the bishops +helped the King to get rid of it; and the fear of Catholic plots +revived again. There had been another got up, by a fellow out of +Newgate, named Dangerfield, which is more famous than it deserves to +be, under the name of the Meal-Tub Plot. This jail-bird having been got +out of Newgate by a Mrs. Cellier, a Catholic nurse, had turned Catholic +himself, and pretended that he knew of a plot among the Presbyterians +against the King’s life. This was very pleasant to the Duke of York, +who hated the Presbyterians, who returned the compliment. He gave +Dangerfield twenty guineas, and sent him to the King his brother. But +Dangerfield, breaking down altogether in his charge, and being sent +back to Newgate, almost astonished the Duke out of his five senses by +suddenly swearing that the Catholic nurse had put that false design +into his head, and that what he really knew about, was, a Catholic plot +against the King; the evidence of which would be found in some papers, +concealed in a meal-tub in Mrs. Cellier’s house. There they were, of +course—for he had put them there himself—and so the tub gave the name +to the plot. But, the nurse was acquitted on her trial, and it came to +nothing. + +Lord Ashley, of the Cabal, was now Lord Shaftesbury, and was strong +against the succession of the Duke of York. The House of Commons, +aggravated to the utmost extent, as we may well suppose, by suspicions +of the King’s conspiracy with the King of France, made a desperate +point of the exclusion, still, and were bitter against the Catholics +generally. So unjustly bitter were they, I grieve to say, that they +impeached the venerable Lord Stafford, a Catholic nobleman seventy +years old, of a design to kill the King. The witnesses were that +atrocious Oates and two other birds of the same feather. He was found +guilty, on evidence quite as foolish as it was false, and was beheaded +on Tower Hill. The people were opposed to him when he first appeared +upon the scaffold; but, when he had addressed them and shown them how +innocent he was and how wickedly he was sent there, their better nature +was aroused, and they said, ‘We believe you, my Lord. God bless you, my +Lord!’ + +The House of Commons refused to let the King have any money until he +should consent to the Exclusion Bill; but, as he could get it and did +get it from his master the King of France, he could afford to hold them +very cheap. He called a Parliament at Oxford, to which he went down +with a great show of being armed and protected as if he were in danger +of his life, and to which the opposition members also went armed and +protected, alleging that they were in fear of the Papists, who were +numerous among the King’s guards. However, they went on with the +Exclusion Bill, and were so earnest upon it that they would have +carried it again, if the King had not popped his crown and state robes +into a sedan-chair, bundled himself into it along with them, hurried +down to the chamber where the House of Lords met, and dissolved the +Parliament. After which he scampered home, and the members of +Parliament scampered home too, as fast as their legs could carry them. + +The Duke of York, then residing in Scotland, had, under the law which +excluded Catholics from public trust, no right whatever to public +employment. Nevertheless, he was openly employed as the King’s +representative in Scotland, and there gratified his sullen and cruel +nature to his heart’s content by directing the dreadful cruelties +against the Covenanters. There were two ministers named Cargill and +Cameron who had escaped from the battle of Bothwell Bridge, and who +returned to Scotland, and raised the miserable but still brave and +unsubdued Covenanters afresh, under the name of Cameronians. As Cameron +publicly posted a declaration that the King was a forsworn tyrant, no +mercy was shown to his unhappy followers after he was slain in battle. +The Duke of York, who was particularly fond of the Boot and derived +great pleasure from having it applied, offered their lives to some of +these people, if they would cry on the scaffold ‘God save the King!’ +But their relations, friends, and countrymen, had been so barbarously +tortured and murdered in this merry reign, that they preferred to die, +and did die. The Duke then obtained his merry brother’s permission to +hold a Parliament in Scotland, which first, with most shameless deceit, +confirmed the laws for securing the Protestant religion against Popery, +and then declared that nothing must or should prevent the succession of +the Popish Duke. After this double-faced beginning, it established an +oath which no human being could understand, but which everybody was to +take, as a proof that his religion was the lawful religion. The Earl of +Argyle, taking it with the explanation that he did not consider it to +prevent him from favouring any alteration either in the Church or State +which was not inconsistent with the Protestant religion or with his +loyalty, was tried for high treason before a Scottish jury of which the +Marquis of Montrose was foreman, and was found guilty. He escaped the +scaffold, for that time, by getting away, in the disguise of a page, in +the train of his daughter, Lady Sophia Lindsay. It was absolutely +proposed, by certain members of the Scottish Council, that this lady +should be whipped through the streets of Edinburgh. But this was too +much even for the Duke, who had the manliness then (he had very little +at most times) to remark that Englishmen were not accustomed to treat +ladies in that manner. In those merry times nothing could equal the +brutal servility of the Scottish fawners, but the conduct of similar +degraded beings in England. + +After the settlement of these little affairs, the Duke returned to +England, and soon resumed his place at the Council, and his office of +High Admiral—all this by his brother’s favour, and in open defiance of +the law. It would have been no loss to the country, if he had been +drowned when his ship, in going to Scotland to fetch his family, struck +on a sand-bank, and was lost with two hundred souls on board. But he +escaped in a boat with some friends; and the sailors were so brave and +unselfish, that, when they saw him rowing away, they gave three cheers, +while they themselves were going down for ever. + +The Merry Monarch, having got rid of his Parliament, went to work to +make himself despotic, with all speed. Having had the villainy to order +the execution of Oliver Plunket, Bishop of Armagh, falsely accused of a +plot to establish Popery in that country by means of a French army—the +very thing this royal traitor was himself trying to do at home—and +having tried to ruin Lord Shaftesbury, and failed—he turned his hand to +controlling the corporations all over the country; because, if he could +only do that, he could get what juries he chose, to bring in perjured +verdicts, and could get what members he chose returned to Parliament. +These merry times produced, and made Chief Justice of the Court of +King’s Bench, a drunken ruffian of the name of Jeffreys; a red-faced, +swollen, bloated, horrible creature, with a bullying, roaring voice, +and a more savage nature perhaps than was ever lodged in any human +breast. This monster was the Merry Monarch’s especial favourite, and he +testified his admiration of him by giving him a ring from his own +finger, which the people used to call Judge Jeffreys’s Bloodstone. Him +the King employed to go about and bully the corporations, beginning +with London; or, as Jeffreys himself elegantly called it, ‘to give them +a lick with the rough side of his tongue.’ And he did it so thoroughly, +that they soon became the basest and most sycophantic bodies in the +kingdom—except the University of Oxford, which, in that respect, was +quite pre-eminent and unapproachable. + +Lord Shaftesbury (who died soon after the King’s failure against him), +Lord William Russell, the Duke of Monmouth, Lord Howard, Lord Jersey, +Algernon Sidney, John Hampden (grandson of the great Hampden), and some +others, used to hold a council together after the dissolution of the +Parliament, arranging what it might be necessary to do, if the King +carried his Popish plot to the utmost height. Lord Shaftesbury having +been much the most violent of this party, brought two violent men into +their secrets—Rumsey, who had been a soldier in the Republican army; +and West, a lawyer. These two knew an old officer of Cromwell’s, called +Rumbold, who had married a maltster’s widow, and so had come into +possession of a solitary dwelling called the Rye House, near Hoddesdon, +in Hertfordshire. Rumbold said to them what a capital place this house +of his would be from which to shoot at the King, who often passed there +going to and fro from Newmarket. They liked the idea, and entertained +it. But, one of their body gave information; and they, together with +Shepherd a wine merchant, Lord Russell, Algernon Sidney, Lord Essex, +Lord Howard, and Hampden, were all arrested. + +Lord Russell might have easily escaped, but scorned to do so, being +innocent of any wrong; Lord Essex might have easily escaped, but +scorned to do so, lest his flight should prejudice Lord Russell. But it +weighed upon his mind that he had brought into their council, Lord +Howard—who now turned a miserable traitor—against a great dislike Lord +Russell had always had of him. He could not bear the reflection, and +destroyed himself before Lord Russell was brought to trial at the Old +Bailey. + +He knew very well that he had nothing to hope, having always been +manful in the Protestant cause against the two false brothers, the one +on the throne, and the other standing next to it. He had a wife, one of +the noblest and best of women, who acted as his secretary on his trial, +who comforted him in his prison, who supped with him on the night +before he died, and whose love and virtue and devotion have made her +name imperishable. Of course, he was found guilty, and was sentenced to +be beheaded in Lincoln’s Inn-fields, not many yards from his own house. +When he had parted from his children on the evening before his death, +his wife still stayed with him until ten o’clock at night; and when +their final separation in this world was over, and he had kissed her +many times, he still sat for a long while in his prison, talking of her +goodness. Hearing the rain fall fast at that time, he calmly said, +‘Such a rain to-morrow will spoil a great show, which is a dull thing +on a rainy day.’ At midnight he went to bed, and slept till four; even +when his servant called him, he fell asleep again while his clothes +were being made ready. He rode to the scaffold in his own carriage, +attended by two famous clergymen, Tillotson and Burnet, and sang a +psalm to himself very softly, as he went along. He was as quiet and as +steady as if he had been going out for an ordinary ride. After saying +that he was surprised to see so great a crowd, he laid down his head +upon the block, as if upon the pillow of his bed, and had it struck off +at the second blow. His noble wife was busy for him even then; for that +true-hearted lady printed and widely circulated his last words, of +which he had given her a copy. They made the blood of all the honest +men in England boil. + +The University of Oxford distinguished itself on the very same day by +pretending to believe that the accusation against Lord Russell was +true, and by calling the King, in a written paper, the Breath of their +Nostrils and the Anointed of the Lord. This paper the Parliament +afterwards caused to be burned by the common hangman; which I am sorry +for, as I wish it had been framed and glazed and hung up in some public +place, as a monument of baseness for the scorn of mankind. + +Next, came the trial of Algernon Sidney, at which Jeffreys presided, +like a great crimson toad, sweltering and swelling with rage. ‘I pray +God, Mr. Sidney,’ said this Chief Justice of a merry reign, after +passing sentence, ‘to work in you a temper fit to go to the other +world, for I see you are not fit for this.’ ‘My lord,’ said the +prisoner, composedly holding out his arm, ‘feel my pulse, and see if I +be disordered. I thank Heaven I never was in better temper than I am +now.’ Algernon Sidney was executed on Tower Hill, on the seventh of +December, one thousand six hundred and eighty-three. He died a hero, +and died, in his own words, ‘For that good old cause in which he had +been engaged from his youth, and for which God had so often and so +wonderfully declared himself.’ + +The Duke of Monmouth had been making his uncle, the Duke of York, very +jealous, by going about the country in a royal sort of way, playing at +the people’s games, becoming godfather to their children, and even +touching for the King’s evil, or stroking the faces of the sick to cure +them—though, for the matter of that, I should say he did them about as +much good as any crowned king could have done. His father had got him +to write a letter, confessing his having had a part in the conspiracy, +for which Lord Russell had been beheaded; but he was ever a weak man, +and as soon as he had written it, he was ashamed of it and got it back +again. For this, he was banished to the Netherlands; but he soon +returned and had an interview with his father, unknown to his uncle. It +would seem that he was coming into the Merry Monarch’s favour again, +and that the Duke of York was sliding out of it, when Death appeared to +the merry galleries at Whitehall, and astonished the debauched lords +and gentlemen, and the shameless ladies, very considerably. + +On Monday, the second of February, one thousand six hundred and +eighty-five, the merry pensioner and servant of the King of France fell +down in a fit of apoplexy. By the Wednesday his case was hopeless, and +on the Thursday he was told so. As he made a difficulty about taking +the sacrament from the Protestant Bishop of Bath, the Duke of York got +all who were present away from the bed, and asked his brother, in a +whisper, if he should send for a Catholic priest? The King replied, +‘For God’s sake, brother, do!’ The Duke smuggled in, up the back +stairs, disguised in a wig and gown, a priest named Huddleston, who had +saved the King’s life after the battle of Worcester: telling him that +this worthy man in the wig had once saved his body, and was now come to +save his soul. + +The Merry Monarch lived through that night, and died before noon on the +next day, which was Friday, the sixth. Two of the last things he said +were of a human sort, and your remembrance will give him the full +benefit of them. When the Queen sent to say she was too unwell to +attend him and to ask his pardon, he said, ‘Alas! poor woman, _she_ beg +_my_ pardon! I beg hers with all my heart. Take back that answer to +her.’ And he also said, in reference to Nell Gwyn, ‘Do not let poor +Nelly starve.’ + +He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his +reign. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI +ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND + + +King James the Second was a man so very disagreeable, that even the +best of historians has favoured his brother Charles, as becoming, by +comparison, quite a pleasant character. The one object of his short +reign was to re-establish the Catholic religion in England; and this he +doggedly pursued with such a stupid obstinacy, that his career very +soon came to a close. + +The first thing he did, was, to assure his council that he would make +it his endeavour to preserve the Government, both in Church and State, +as it was by law established; and that he would always take care to +defend and support the Church. Great public acclamations were raised +over this fair speech, and a great deal was said, from the pulpits and +elsewhere, about the word of a King which was never broken, by +credulous people who little supposed that he had formed a secret +council for Catholic affairs, of which a mischievous Jesuit, called +Father Petre, was one of the chief members. With tears of joy in his +eyes, he received, as the beginning of _his_ pension from the King of +France, five hundred thousand livres; yet, with a mixture of meanness +and arrogance that belonged to his contemptible character, he was +always jealous of making some show of being independent of the King of +France, while he pocketed his money. As—notwithstanding his publishing +two papers in favour of Popery (and not likely to do it much service, I +should think) written by the King, his brother, and found in his +strong-box; and his open display of himself attending mass—the +Parliament was very obsequious, and granted him a large sum of money, +he began his reign with a belief that he could do what he pleased, and +with a determination to do it. + +Before we proceed to its principal events, let us dispose of Titus +Oates. He was tried for perjury, a fortnight after the coronation, and +besides being very heavily fined, was sentenced to stand twice in the +pillory, to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate one day, and from +Newgate to Tyburn two days afterwards, and to stand in the pillory five +times a year as long as he lived. This fearful sentence was actually +inflicted on the rascal. Being unable to stand after his first +flogging, he was dragged on a sledge from Newgate to Tyburn, and +flogged as he was drawn along. He was so strong a villain that he did +not die under the torture, but lived to be afterwards pardoned and +rewarded, though not to be ever believed in any more. Dangerfield, the +only other one of that crew left alive, was not so fortunate. He was +almost killed by a whipping from Newgate to Tyburn, and, as if that +were not punishment enough, a ferocious barrister of Gray’s Inn gave +him a poke in the eye with his cane, which caused his death; for which +the ferocious barrister was deservedly tried and executed. + +As soon as James was on the throne, Argyle and Monmouth went from +Brussels to Rotterdam, and attended a meeting of Scottish exiles held +there, to concert measures for a rising in England. It was agreed that +Argyle should effect a landing in Scotland, and Monmouth in England; +and that two Englishmen should be sent with Argyle to be in his +confidence, and two Scotchmen with the Duke of Monmouth. + +Argyle was the first to act upon this contract. But, two of his men +being taken prisoners at the Orkney Islands, the Government became +aware of his intention, and was able to act against him with such +vigour as to prevent his raising more than two or three thousand +Highlanders, although he sent a fiery cross, by trusty messengers, from +clan to clan and from glen to glen, as the custom then was when those +wild people were to be excited by their chiefs. As he was moving +towards Glasgow with his small force, he was betrayed by some of his +followers, taken, and carried, with his hands tied behind his back, to +his old prison in Edinburgh Castle. James ordered him to be executed, +on his old shamefully unjust sentence, within three days; and he +appears to have been anxious that his legs should have been pounded +with his old favourite the boot. However, the boot was not applied; he +was simply beheaded, and his head was set upon the top of Edinburgh +Jail. One of those Englishmen who had been assigned to him was that old +soldier Rumbold, the master of the Rye House. He was sorely wounded, +and within a week after Argyle had suffered with great courage, was +brought up for trial, lest he should die and disappoint the King. He, +too, was executed, after defending himself with great spirit, and +saying that he did not believe that God had made the greater part of +mankind to carry saddles on their backs and bridles in their mouths, +and to be ridden by a few, booted and spurred for the purpose—in which +I thoroughly agree with Rumbold. + +The Duke of Monmouth, partly through being detained and partly through +idling his time away, was five or six weeks behind his friend when he +landed at Lyme, in Dorset: having at his right hand an unlucky nobleman +called Lord Grey of Werk, who of himself would have ruined a far more +promising expedition. He immediately set up his standard in the +market-place, and proclaimed the King a tyrant, and a Popish usurper, +and I know not what else; charging him, not only with what he had done, +which was bad enough, but with what neither he nor anybody else had +done, such as setting fire to London, and poisoning the late King. +Raising some four thousand men by these means, he marched on to +Taunton, where there were many Protestant dissenters who were strongly +opposed to the Catholics. Here, both the rich and poor turned out to +receive him, ladies waved a welcome to him from all the windows as he +passed along the streets, flowers were strewn in his way, and every +compliment and honour that could be devised was showered upon him. +Among the rest, twenty young ladies came forward, in their best +clothes, and in their brightest beauty, and gave him a Bible ornamented +with their own fair hands, together with other presents. + +Encouraged by this homage, he proclaimed himself King, and went on to +Bridgewater. But, here the Government troops, under the Earl of +Feversham, were close at hand; and he was so dispirited at finding that +he made but few powerful friends after all, that it was a question +whether he should disband his army and endeavour to escape. It was +resolved, at the instance of that unlucky Lord Grey, to make a night +attack on the King’s army, as it lay encamped on the edge of a morass +called Sedgemoor. The horsemen were commanded by the same unlucky lord, +who was not a brave man. He gave up the battle almost at the first +obstacle—which was a deep drain; and although the poor countrymen, who +had turned out for Monmouth, fought bravely with scythes, poles, +pitchforks, and such poor weapons as they had, they were soon dispersed +by the trained soldiers, and fled in all directions. When the Duke of +Monmouth himself fled, was not known in the confusion; but the unlucky +Lord Grey was taken early next day, and then another of the party was +taken, who confessed that he had parted from the Duke only four hours +before. Strict search being made, he was found disguised as a peasant, +hidden in a ditch under fern and nettles, with a few peas in his pocket +which he had gathered in the fields to eat. The only other articles he +had upon him were a few papers and little books: one of the latter +being a strange jumble, in his own writing, of charms, songs, recipes, +and prayers. He was completely broken. He wrote a miserable letter to +the King, beseeching and entreating to be allowed to see him. When he +was taken to London, and conveyed bound into the King’s presence, he +crawled to him on his knees, and made a most degrading exhibition. As +James never forgave or relented towards anybody, he was not likely to +soften towards the issuer of the Lyme proclamation, so he told the +suppliant to prepare for death. + +On the fifteenth of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, +this unfortunate favourite of the people was brought out to die on +Tower Hill. The crowd was immense, and the tops of all the houses were +covered with gazers. He had seen his wife, the daughter of the Duke of +Buccleuch, in the Tower, and had talked much of a lady whom he loved +far better—the Lady Harriet Wentworth—who was one of the last persons +he remembered in this life. Before laying down his head upon the block +he felt the edge of the axe, and told the executioner that he feared it +was not sharp enough, and that the axe was not heavy enough. On the +executioner replying that it was of the proper kind, the Duke said, ‘I +pray you have a care, and do not use me so awkwardly as you used my +Lord Russell.’ The executioner, made nervous by this, and trembling, +struck once and merely gashed him in the neck. Upon this, the Duke of +Monmouth raised his head and looked the man reproachfully in the face. +Then he struck twice, and then thrice, and then threw down the axe, and +cried out in a voice of horror that he could not finish that work. The +sheriffs, however, threatening him with what should be done to himself +if he did not, he took it up again and struck a fourth time and a fifth +time. Then the wretched head at last fell off, and James, Duke of +Monmouth, was dead, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. He was a +showy, graceful man, with many popular qualities, and had found much +favour in the open hearts of the English. + +The atrocities, committed by the Government, which followed this +Monmouth rebellion, form the blackest and most lamentable page in +English history. The poor peasants, having been dispersed with great +loss, and their leaders having been taken, one would think that the +implacable King might have been satisfied. But no; he let loose upon +them, among other intolerable monsters, a Colonel Kirk, who had served +against the Moors, and whose soldiers—called by the people Kirk’s +lambs, because they bore a lamb upon their flag, as the emblem of +Christianity—were worthy of their leader. The atrocities committed by +these demons in human shape are far too horrible to be related here. It +is enough to say, that besides most ruthlessly murdering and robbing +them, and ruining them by making them buy their pardons at the price of +all they possessed, it was one of Kirk’s favourite amusements, as he +and his officers sat drinking after dinner, and toasting the King, to +have batches of prisoners hanged outside the windows for the company’s +diversion; and that when their feet quivered in the convulsions of +death, he used to swear that they should have music to their dancing, +and would order the drums to beat and the trumpets to play. The +detestable King informed him, as an acknowledgment of these services, +that he was ‘very well satisfied with his proceedings.’ But the King’s +great delight was in the proceedings of Jeffreys, now a peer, who went +down into the west, with four other judges, to try persons accused of +having had any share in the rebellion. The King pleasantly called this +‘Jeffreys’s campaign.’ The people down in that part of the country +remember it to this day as The Bloody Assize. + +It began at Winchester, where a poor deaf old lady, Mrs. Alicia Lisle, +the widow of one of the judges of Charles the First (who had been +murdered abroad by some Royalist assassins), was charged with having +given shelter in her house to two fugitives from Sedgemoor. Three times +the jury refused to find her guilty, until Jeffreys bullied and +frightened them into that false verdict. When he had extorted it from +them, he said, ‘Gentlemen, if I had been one of you, and she had been +my own mother, I would have found her guilty;’—as I dare say he would. +He sentenced her to be burned alive, that very afternoon. The clergy of +the cathedral and some others interfered in her favour, and she was +beheaded within a week. As a high mark of his approbation, the King +made Jeffreys Lord Chancellor; and he then went on to Dorchester, to +Exeter, to Taunton, and to Wells. It is astonishing, when we read of +the enormous injustice and barbarity of this beast, to know that no one +struck him dead on the judgment-seat. It was enough for any man or +woman to be accused by an enemy, before Jeffreys, to be found guilty of +high treason. One man who pleaded not guilty, he ordered to be taken +out of court upon the instant, and hanged; and this so terrified the +prisoners in general that they mostly pleaded guilty at once. At +Dorchester alone, in the course of a few days, Jeffreys hanged eighty +people; besides whipping, transporting, imprisoning, and selling as +slaves, great numbers. He executed, in all, two hundred and fifty, or +three hundred. + +These executions took place, among the neighbours and friends of the +sentenced, in thirty-six towns and villages. Their bodies were mangled, +steeped in caldrons of boiling pitch and tar, and hung up by the +roadsides, in the streets, over the very churches. The sight and smell +of heads and limbs, the hissing and bubbling of the infernal caldrons, +and the tears and terrors of the people, were dreadful beyond all +description. One rustic, who was forced to steep the remains in the +black pot, was ever afterwards called ‘Tom Boilman.’ The hangman has +ever since been called Jack Ketch, because a man of that name went +hanging and hanging, all day long, in the train of Jeffreys. You will +hear much of the horrors of the great French Revolution. Many and +terrible they were, there is no doubt; but I know of nothing worse, +done by the maddened people of France in that awful time, than was done +by the highest judge in England, with the express approval of the King +of England, in The Bloody Assize. + +Nor was even this all. Jeffreys was as fond of money for himself as of +misery for others, and he sold pardons wholesale to fill his pockets. +The King ordered, at one time, a thousand prisoners to be given to +certain of his favourites, in order that they might bargain with them +for their pardons. The young ladies of Taunton who had presented the +Bible, were bestowed upon the maids of honour at court; and those +precious ladies made very hard bargains with them indeed. When The +Bloody Assize was at its most dismal height, the King was diverting +himself with horse-races in the very place where Mrs. Lisle had been +executed. When Jeffreys had done his worst, and came home again, he was +particularly complimented in the Royal Gazette; and when the King heard +that through drunkenness and raging he was very ill, his odious Majesty +remarked that such another man could not easily be found in England. +Besides all this, a former sheriff of London, named Cornish, was hanged +within sight of his own house, after an abominably conducted trial, for +having had a share in the Rye House Plot, on evidence given by Rumsey, +which that villain was obliged to confess was directly opposed to the +evidence he had given on the trial of Lord Russell. And on the very +same day, a worthy widow, named Elizabeth Gaunt, was burned alive at +Tyburn, for having sheltered a wretch who himself gave evidence against +her. She settled the fuel about herself with her own hands, so that the +flames should reach her quickly: and nobly said, with her last breath, +that she had obeyed the sacred command of God, to give refuge to the +outcast, and not to betray the wanderer. + +After all this hanging, beheading, burning, boiling, mutilating, +exposing, robbing, transporting, and selling into slavery, of his +unhappy subjects, the King not unnaturally thought that he could do +whatever he would. So, he went to work to change the religion of the +country with all possible speed; and what he did was this. + +He first of all tried to get rid of what was called the Test Act—which +prevented the Catholics from holding public employments—by his own +power of dispensing with the penalties. He tried it in one case, and, +eleven of the twelve judges deciding in his favour, he exercised it in +three others, being those of three dignitaries of University College, +Oxford, who had become Papists, and whom he kept in their places and +sanctioned. He revived the hated Ecclesiastical Commission, to get rid +of Compton, Bishop of London, who manfully opposed him. He solicited +the Pope to favour England with an ambassador, which the Pope (who was +a sensible man then) rather unwillingly did. He flourished Father Petre +before the eyes of the people on all possible occasions. He favoured +the establishment of convents in several parts of London. He was +delighted to have the streets, and even the court itself, filled with +Monks and Friars in the habits of their orders. He constantly +endeavoured to make Catholics of the Protestants about him. He held +private interviews, which he called ‘closetings,’ with those Members of +Parliament who held offices, to persuade them to consent to the design +he had in view. When they did not consent, they were removed, or +resigned of themselves, and their places were given to Catholics. He +displaced Protestant officers from the army, by every means in his +power, and got Catholics into their places too. He tried the same thing +with the corporations, and also (though not so successfully) with the +Lord Lieutenants of counties. To terrify the people into the endurance +of all these measures, he kept an army of fifteen thousand men encamped +on Hounslow Heath, where mass was openly performed in the General’s +tent, and where priests went among the soldiers endeavouring to +persuade them to become Catholics. For circulating a paper among those +men advising them to be true to their religion, a Protestant clergyman, +named Johnson, the chaplain of the late Lord Russell, was actually +sentenced to stand three times in the pillory, and was actually whipped +from Newgate to Tyburn. He dismissed his own brother-in-law from his +Council because he was a Protestant, and made a Privy Councillor of the +before-mentioned Father Petre. He handed Ireland over to Richard +Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, a worthless, dissolute knave, who played +the same game there for his master, and who played the deeper game for +himself of one day putting it under the protection of the French King. +In going to these extremities, every man of sense and judgment among +the Catholics, from the Pope to a porter, knew that the King was a mere +bigoted fool, who would undo himself and the cause he sought to +advance; but he was deaf to all reason, and, happily for England ever +afterwards, went tumbling off his throne in his own blind way. + +A spirit began to arise in the country, which the besotted blunderer +little expected. He first found it out in the University of Cambridge. +Having made a Catholic a dean at Oxford without any opposition, he +tried to make a monk a master of arts at Cambridge: which attempt the +University resisted, and defeated him. He then went back to his +favourite Oxford. On the death of the President of Magdalen College, he +commanded that there should be elected to succeed him, one Mr. Anthony +Farmer, whose only recommendation was, that he was of the King’s +religion. The University plucked up courage at last, and refused. The +King substituted another man, and it still refused, resolving to stand +by its own election of a Mr. Hough. The dull tyrant, upon this, +punished Mr. Hough, and five-and-twenty more, by causing them to be +expelled and declared incapable of holding any church preferment; then +he proceeded to what he supposed to be his highest step, but to what +was, in fact, his last plunge head-foremost in his tumble off his +throne. + +He had issued a declaration that there should be no religious tests or +penal laws, in order to let in the Catholics more easily; but the +Protestant dissenters, unmindful of themselves, had gallantly joined +the regular church in opposing it tooth and nail. The King and Father +Petre now resolved to have this read, on a certain Sunday, in all the +churches, and to order it to be circulated for that purpose by the +bishops. The latter took counsel with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who +was in disgrace; and they resolved that the declaration should not be +read, and that they would petition the King against it. The Archbishop +himself wrote out the petition, and six bishops went into the King’s +bedchamber the same night to present it, to his infinite astonishment. +Next day was the Sunday fixed for the reading, and it was only read by +two hundred clergymen out of ten thousand. The King resolved against +all advice to prosecute the bishops in the Court of King’s Bench, and +within three weeks they were summoned before the Privy Council, and +committed to the Tower. As the six bishops were taken to that dismal +place, by water, the people who were assembled in immense numbers fell +upon their knees, and wept for them, and prayed for them. When they got +to the Tower, the officers and soldiers on guard besought them for +their blessing. While they were confined there, the soldiers every day +drank to their release with loud shouts. When they were brought up to +the Court of King’s Bench for their trial, which the Attorney-General +said was for the high offence of censuring the Government, and giving +their opinion about affairs of state, they were attended by similar +multitudes, and surrounded by a throng of noblemen and gentlemen. When +the jury went out at seven o’clock at night to consider of their +verdict, everybody (except the King) knew that they would rather starve +than yield to the King’s brewer, who was one of them, and wanted a +verdict for his customer. When they came into court next morning, after +resisting the brewer all night, and gave a verdict of not guilty, such +a shout rose up in Westminster Hall as it had never heard before; and +it was passed on among the people away to Temple Bar, and away again to +the Tower. It did not pass only to the east, but passed to the west +too, until it reached the camp at Hounslow, where the fifteen thousand +soldiers took it up and echoed it. And still, when the dull King, who +was then with Lord Feversham, heard the mighty roar, asked in alarm +what it was, and was told that it was ‘nothing but the acquittal of the +bishops,’ he said, in his dogged way, ‘Call you that nothing? It is so +much the worse for them.’ + +Between the petition and the trial, the Queen had given birth to a son, +which Father Petre rather thought was owing to Saint Winifred. But I +doubt if Saint Winifred had much to do with it as the King’s friend, +inasmuch as the entirely new prospect of a Catholic successor (for both +the King’s daughters were Protestants) determined the Earls of +Shrewsbury, Danby, and Devonshire, Lord Lumley, the Bishop of London, +Admiral Russell, and Colonel Sidney, to invite the Prince of Orange +over to England. The Royal Mole, seeing his danger at last, made, in +his fright, many great concessions, besides raising an army of forty +thousand men; but the Prince of Orange was not a man for James the +Second to cope with. His preparations were extraordinarily vigorous, +and his mind was resolved. + +For a fortnight after the Prince was ready to sail for England, a great +wind from the west prevented the departure of his fleet. Even when the +wind lulled, and it did sail, it was dispersed by a storm, and was +obliged to put back to refit. At last, on the first of November, one +thousand six hundred and eighty-eight, the Protestant east wind, as it +was long called, began to blow; and on the third, the people of Dover +and the people of Calais saw a fleet twenty miles long sailing +gallantly by, between the two places. On Monday, the fifth, it anchored +at Torbay in Devonshire, and the Prince, with a splendid retinue of +officers and men, marched into Exeter. But the people in that western +part of the country had suffered so much in The Bloody Assize, that +they had lost heart. Few people joined him; and he began to think of +returning, and publishing the invitation he had received from those +lords, as his justification for having come at all. At this crisis, +some of the gentry joined him; the Royal army began to falter; an +engagement was signed, by which all who set their hand to it declared +that they would support one another in defence of the laws and +liberties of the three Kingdoms, of the Protestant religion, and of the +Prince of Orange. From that time, the cause received no check; the +greatest towns in England began, one after another, to declare for the +Prince; and he knew that it was all safe with him when the University +of Oxford offered to melt down its plate, if he wanted any money. + +By this time the King was running about in a pitiable way, touching +people for the King’s evil in one place, reviewing his troops in +another, and bleeding from the nose in a third. The young Prince was +sent to Portsmouth, Father Petre went off like a shot to France, and +there was a general and swift dispersal of all the priests and friars. +One after another, the King’s most important officers and friends +deserted him and went over to the Prince. In the night, his daughter +Anne fled from Whitehall Palace; and the Bishop of London, who had once +been a soldier, rode before her with a drawn sword in his hand, and +pistols at his saddle. ‘God help me,’ cried the miserable King: ‘my +very children have forsaken me!’ In his wildness, after debating with +such lords as were in London, whether he should or should not call a +Parliament, and after naming three of them to negotiate with the +Prince, he resolved to fly to France. He had the little Prince of Wales +brought back from Portsmouth; and the child and the Queen crossed the +river to Lambeth in an open boat, on a miserable wet night, and got +safely away. This was on the night of the ninth of December. + +At one o’clock on the morning of the eleventh, the King, who had, in +the meantime, received a letter from the Prince of Orange, stating his +objects, got out of bed, told Lord Northumberland who lay in his room +not to open the door until the usual hour in the morning, and went down +the back stairs (the same, I suppose, by which the priest in the wig +and gown had come up to his brother) and crossed the river in a small +boat: sinking the great seal of England by the way. Horses having been +provided, he rode, accompanied by Sir Edward Hales, to Feversham, where +he embarked in a Custom House Hoy. The master of this Hoy, wanting more +ballast, ran into the Isle of Sheppy to get it, where the fishermen and +smugglers crowded about the boat, and informed the King of their +suspicions that he was a ‘hatchet-faced Jesuit.’ As they took his money +and would not let him go, he told them who he was, and that the Prince +of Orange wanted to take his life; and he began to scream for a +boat—and then to cry, because he had lost a piece of wood on his ride +which he called a fragment of Our Saviour’s cross. He put himself into +the hands of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, and his detention was +made known to the Prince of Orange at Windsor—who, only wanting to get +rid of him, and not caring where he went, so that he went away, was +very much disconcerted that they did not let him go. However, there was +nothing for it but to have him brought back, with some state in the way +of Life Guards, to Whitehall. And as soon as he got there, in his +infatuation, he heard mass, and set a Jesuit to say grace at his public +dinner. + +The people had been thrown into the strangest state of confusion by his +flight, and had taken it into their heads that the Irish part of the +army were going to murder the Protestants. Therefore, they set the +bells a ringing, and lighted watch-fires, and burned Catholic Chapels, +and looked about in all directions for Father Petre and the Jesuits, +while the Pope’s ambassador was running away in the dress of a footman. +They found no Jesuits; but a man, who had once been a frightened +witness before Jeffreys in court, saw a swollen, drunken face looking +through a window down at Wapping, which he well remembered. The face +was in a sailor’s dress, but he knew it to be the face of that accursed +judge, and he seized him. The people, to their lasting honour, did not +tear him to pieces. After knocking him about a little, they took him, +in the basest agonies of terror, to the Lord Mayor, who sent him, at +his own shrieking petition, to the Tower for safety. There, he died. + +Their bewilderment continuing, the people now lighted bonfires and made +rejoicings, as if they had any reason to be glad to have the King back +again. But, his stay was very short, for the English guards were +removed from Whitehall, Dutch guards were marched up to it, and he was +told by one of his late ministers that the Prince would enter London, +next day, and he had better go to Ham. He said, Ham was a cold, damp +place, and he would rather go to Rochester. He thought himself very +cunning in this, as he meant to escape from Rochester to France. The +Prince of Orange and his friends knew that, perfectly well, and desired +nothing more. So, he went to Gravesend, in his royal barge, attended by +certain lords, and watched by Dutch troops, and pitied by the generous +people, who were far more forgiving than he had ever been, when they +saw him in his humiliation. On the night of the twenty-third of +December, not even then understanding that everybody wanted to get rid +of him, he went out, absurdly, through his Rochester garden, down to +the Medway, and got away to France, where he rejoined the Queen. + +There had been a council in his absence, of the lords, and the +authorities of London. When the Prince came, on the day after the +King’s departure, he summoned the Lords to meet him, and soon +afterwards, all those who had served in any of the Parliaments of King +Charles the Second. It was finally resolved by these authorities that +the throne was vacant by the conduct of King James the Second; that it +was inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant +kingdom, to be governed by a Popish prince; that the Prince and +Princess of Orange should be King and Queen during their lives and the +life of the survivor of them; and that their children should succeed +them, if they had any. That if they had none, the Princess Anne and her +children should succeed; that if she had none, the heirs of the Prince +of Orange should succeed. + +On the thirteenth of January, one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine, +the Prince and Princess, sitting on a throne in Whitehall, bound +themselves to these conditions. The Protestant religion was established +in England, and England’s great and glorious Revolution was complete. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + +I have now arrived at the close of my little history. The events which +succeeded the famous Revolution of one thousand six hundred and +eighty-eight, would neither be easily related nor easily understood in +such a book as this. + +William and Mary reigned together, five years. After the death of his +good wife, William occupied the throne, alone, for seven years longer. +During his reign, on the sixteenth of September, one thousand seven +hundred and one, the poor weak creature who had once been James the +Second of England, died in France. In the meantime he had done his +utmost (which was not much) to cause William to be assassinated, and to +regain his lost dominions. James’s son was declared, by the French +King, the rightful King of England; and was called in France The +Chevalier Saint George, and in England The Pretender. Some infatuated +people in England, and particularly in Scotland, took up the +Pretender’s cause from time to time—as if the country had not had +Stuarts enough!—and many lives were sacrificed, and much misery was +occasioned. King William died on Sunday, the seventh of March, one +thousand seven hundred and two, of the consequences of an accident +occasioned by his horse stumbling with him. He was always a brave, +patriotic Prince, and a man of remarkable abilities. His manner was +cold, and he made but few friends; but he had truly loved his queen. +When he was dead, a lock of her hair, in a ring, was found tied with a +black ribbon round his left arm. + +He was succeeded by the Princess Anne, a popular Queen, who reigned +twelve years. In her reign, in the month of May, one thousand seven +hundred and seven, the Union between England and Scotland was effected, +and the two countries were incorporated under the name of Great +Britain. Then, from the year one thousand seven hundred and fourteen to +the year one thousand, eight hundred and thirty, reigned the four +Georges. + +It was in the reign of George the Second, one thousand seven hundred +and forty-five, that the Pretender did his last mischief, and made his +last appearance. Being an old man by that time, he and the Jacobites—as +his friends were called—put forward his son, Charles Edward, known as +the young Chevalier. The Highlanders of Scotland, an extremely +troublesome and wrong-headed race on the subject of the Stuarts, +espoused his cause, and he joined them, and there was a Scottish +rebellion to make him king, in which many gallant and devoted gentlemen +lost their lives. It was a hard matter for Charles Edward to escape +abroad again, with a high price on his head; but the Scottish people +were extraordinarily faithful to him, and, after undergoing many +romantic adventures, not unlike those of Charles the Second, he escaped +to France. A number of charming stories and delightful songs arose out +of the Jacobite feelings, and belong to the Jacobite times. Otherwise I +think the Stuarts were a public nuisance altogether. + +It was in the reign of George the Third that England lost North +America, by persisting in taxing her without her own consent. That +immense country, made independent under Washington, and left to itself, +became the United States; one of the greatest nations of the earth. In +these times in which I write, it is honourably remarkable for +protecting its subjects, wherever they may travel, with a dignity and a +determination which is a model for England. Between you and me, England +has rather lost ground in this respect since the days of Oliver +Cromwell. + +The Union of Great Britain with Ireland—which had been getting on very +ill by itself—took place in the reign of George the Third, on the +second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. + +William the Fourth succeeded George the Fourth, in the year one +thousand eight hundred and thirty, and reigned seven years. Queen +Victoria, his niece, the only child of the Duke of Kent, the fourth son +of George the Third, came to the throne on the twentieth of June, one +thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven. She was married to Prince +Albert of Saxe Gotha on the tenth of February, one thousand eight +hundred and forty. She is very good, and much beloved. So I end, like +the crier, with + +God Save the Queen! + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A Child’s History of England</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Charles Dickens</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October, 1996 [eBook #699]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 30, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Price</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND ***</div> + +<h1>A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">By CHARLES DICKENS</h2> + +<p class="center"> +With Illustrations by F. H. Townsend and others +</p> + +<p class="center"> +LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, <span class="smcap">ld.</span><br/> +NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS<br/> +1905 +</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE NORMANS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">CHAPTER XXV ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap26">CHAPTER XXVI ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap27">CHAPTER XXVII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY KING HARRY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap28">CHAPTER XXVIII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap29">CHAPTER XXIX ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap30">CHAPTER XXX ENGLAND UNDER MARY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap31">CHAPTER XXXI ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap32">CHAPTER XXXII ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap33">CHAPTER XXXIII ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap34">CHAPTER XXXIV ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap35">CHAPTER XXXV ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap36">CHAPTER XXXVI ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap37">CHAPTER XXXVII</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> +ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS</h2> + +<p> +If you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper corner +of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the sea. They are England and +Scotland, and Ireland. England and Scotland form the greater part of these +Islands. Ireland is the next in size. The little neighbouring islands, which +are so small upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of +Scotland,—broken off, I dare say, in the course of a great length of +time, by the power of the restless water. +</p> + +<p> +In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was born on earth +and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the same place, and the +stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars now. But the sea was not alive, +then, with great ships and brave sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the +world. It was very lonely. The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of +water. The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs, and the bleak winds blew +over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no adventurers to land upon +the Islands, and the savage Islanders knew nothing of the rest of the world, +and the rest of the world knew nothing of them. +</p> + +<p> +It is supposed that the Phœnicians, who were an ancient people, famous +for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and found that they +produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as you know, and both produced +to this very hour upon the sea-coast. The most celebrated tin mines in Cornwall +are, still, close to the sea. One of them, which I have seen, is so close to it +that it is hollowed out underneath the ocean; and the miners say, that in +stormy weather, when they are at work down in that deep place, they can hear +the noise of the waves thundering above their heads. So, the Phœnicians, +coasting about the Islands, would come, without much difficulty, to where the +tin and lead were. +</p> + +<p> +The Phœnicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and gave the +Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The Islanders were, at first, +poor savages, going almost naked, or only dressed in the rough skins of beasts, +and staining their bodies, as other savages do, with coloured earths and the +juices of plants. But the Phœnicians, sailing over to the opposite coasts +of France and Belgium, and saying to the people there, ‘We have been to +those white cliffs across the water, which you can see in fine weather, and +from that country, which is called <span class="smcap">Britain</span>, we bring +this tin and lead,’ tempted some of the French and Belgians to come over +also. These people settled themselves on the south coast of England, which is +now called Kent; and, although they were a rough people too, they taught the +savage Britons some useful arts, and improved that part of the Islands. It is +probable that other people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the Islanders, and the +savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; almost savage, still, especially +in the interior of the country away from the sea where the foreign settlers +seldom went; but hardy, brave, and strong. +</p> + +<p> +The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The greater part of it +was very misty and cold. There were no roads, no bridges, no streets, no houses +that you would think deserving of the name. A town was nothing but a collection +of straw-covered huts, hidden in a thick wood, with a ditch all round, and a +low wall, made of mud, or the trunks of trees placed one upon another. The +people planted little or no corn, but lived upon the flesh of their flocks and +cattle. They made no coins, but used metal rings for money. They were clever in +basket-work, as savage people often are; and they could make a coarse kind of +cloth, and some very bad earthenware. But in building fortresses they were much +more clever. +</p> + +<p> +They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, but seldom, +if ever, ventured far from the shore. They made swords, of copper mixed with +tin; but, these swords were of an awkward shape, and so soft that a heavy blow +would bend one. They made light shields, short pointed daggers, and +spears—which they jerked back after they had thrown them at an enemy, by +a long strip of leather fastened to the stem. The butt-end was a rattle, to +frighten an enemy’s horse. The ancient Britons, being divided into as +many as thirty or forty tribes, each commanded by its own little king, were +constantly fighting with one another, as savage people usually do; and they +always fought with these weapons. +</p> + +<p> +They were very fond of horses. The standard of Kent was the picture of a white +horse. They could break them in and manage them wonderfully well. Indeed, the +horses (of which they had an abundance, though they were rather small) were so +well taught in those days, that they can scarcely be said to have improved +since; though the men are so much wiser. They understood, and obeyed, every +word of command; and would stand still by themselves, in all the din and noise +of battle, while their masters went to fight on foot. The Britons could not +have succeeded in their most remarkable art, without the aid of these sensible +and trusty animals. The art I mean, is the construction and management of +war-chariots or cars, for which they have ever been celebrated in history. Each +of the best sort of these chariots, not quite breast high in front, and open at +the back, contained one man to drive, and two or three others to +fight—all standing up. The horses who drew them were so well trained, +that they would tear, at full gallop, over the most stony ways, and even +through the woods; dashing down their masters’ enemies beneath their +hoofs, and cutting them to pieces with the blades of swords, or scythes, which +were fastened to the wheels, and stretched out beyond the car on each side, for +that cruel purpose. In a moment, while at full speed, the horses would stop, at +the driver’s command. The men within would leap out, deal blows about +them with their swords like hail, leap on the horses, on the pole, spring back +into the chariots anyhow; and, as soon as they were safe, the horses tore away +again. +</p> + +<p> +The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the Religion of the +Druids. It seems to have been brought over, in very early times indeed, from +the opposite country of France, anciently called Gaul, and to have mixed up the +worship of the Serpent, and of the Sun and Moon, with the worship of some of +the Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Most of its ceremonies were kept secret by the +priests, the Druids, who pretended to be enchanters, and who carried +magicians’ wands, and wore, each of them, about his neck, what he told +the ignorant people was a Serpent’s egg in a golden case. But it is +certain that the Druidical ceremonies included the sacrifice of human victims, +the torture of some suspected criminals, and, on particular occasions, even the +burning alive, in immense wicker cages, of a number of men and animals +together. The Druid Priests had some kind of veneration for the Oak, and for +the mistletoe—the same plant that we hang up in houses at Christmas Time +now—when its white berries grew upon the Oak. They met together in dark +woods, which they called Sacred Groves; and there they instructed, in their +mysterious arts, young men who came to them as pupils, and who sometimes stayed +with them as long as twenty years. +</p> + +<p> +These Druids built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, fragments of some +of which are yet remaining. Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, is +the most extraordinary of these. Three curious stones, called Kits Coty House, +on Bluebell Hill, near Maidstone, in Kent, form another. We know, from +examination of the great blocks of which such buildings are made, that they +could not have been raised without the aid of some ingenious machines, which +are common now, but which the ancient Britons certainly did not use in making +their own uncomfortable houses. I should not wonder if the Druids, and their +pupils who stayed with them twenty years, knowing more than the rest of the +Britons, kept the people out of sight while they made these buildings, and then +pretended that they built them by magic. Perhaps they had a hand in the +fortresses too; at all events, as they were very powerful, and very much +believed in, and as they made and executed the laws, and paid no taxes, I +don’t wonder that they liked their trade. And, as they persuaded the +people the more Druids there were, the better off the people would be, I +don’t wonder that there were a good many of them. But it is pleasant to +think that there are no Druids, <i>now</i>, who go on in that way, and pretend +to carry Enchanters’ Wands and Serpents’ Eggs—and of course +there is nothing of the kind, anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the improved condition of the ancient Britons, fifty-five years before +the birth of Our Saviour, when the Romans, under their great General, Julius +Cæsar, were masters of all the rest of the known world. Julius +Cæsar had then just conquered Gaul; and hearing, in Gaul, a good deal +about the opposite Island with the white cliffs, and about the bravery of the +Britons who inhabited it—some of whom had been fetched over to help the +Gauls in the war against him—he resolved, as he was so near, to come and +conquer Britain next. +</p> + +<p> +So, Julius Cæsar came sailing over to this Island of ours, with eighty +vessels and twelve thousand men. And he came from the French coast between +Calais and Boulogne, ‘because thence was the shortest passage into +Britain;’ just for the same reason as our steam-boats now take the same +track, every day. He expected to conquer Britain easily: but it was not such +easy work as he supposed—for the bold Britons fought most bravely; and, +what with not having his horse-soldiers with him (for they had been driven back +by a storm), and what with having some of his vessels dashed to pieces by a +high tide after they were drawn ashore, he ran great risk of being totally +defeated. However, for once that the bold Britons beat him, he beat them twice; +though not so soundly but that he was very glad to accept their proposals of +peace, and go away. +</p> + +<p> +But, in the spring of the next year, he came back; this time, with eight +hundred vessels and thirty thousand men. The British tribes chose, as their +general-in-chief, a Briton, whom the Romans in their Latin language called +<span class="smcap">Cassivellaunus</span>, but whose British name is supposed +to have been <span class="smcap">Caswallon</span>. A brave general he was, and +well he and his soldiers fought the Roman army! So well, that whenever in that +war the Roman soldiers saw a great cloud of dust, and heard the rattle of the +rapid British chariots, they trembled in their hearts. Besides a number of +smaller battles, there was a battle fought near Canterbury, in Kent; there was +a battle fought near Chertsey, in Surrey; there was a battle fought near a +marshy little town in a wood, the capital of that part of Britain which +belonged to <span class="smcap">Cassivellaunus</span>, and which was probably +near what is now Saint Albans, in Hertfordshire. However, brave <span +class="smcap">Cassivellaunus</span> had the worst of it, on the whole; though +he and his men always fought like lions. As the other British chiefs were +jealous of him, and were always quarrelling with him, and with one another, he +gave up, and proposed peace. Julius Cæsar was very glad to grant peace +easily, and to go away again with all his remaining ships and men. He had +expected to find pearls in Britain, and he may have found a few for anything I +know; but, at all events, he found delicious oysters, and I am sure he found +tough Britons—of whom, I dare say, he made the same complaint as Napoleon +Bonaparte the great French General did, eighteen hundred years afterwards, when +he said they were such unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they were +beaten. They never <i>did</i> know, I believe, and never will. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly a hundred years passed on, and all that time, there was peace in +Britain. The Britons improved their towns and mode of life: became more +civilised, travelled, and learnt a great deal from the Gauls and Romans. At +last, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, sent <span class="smcap">Aulus +Plautius</span>, a skilful general, with a mighty force, to subdue the Island, +and shortly afterwards arrived himself. They did little; and <span +class="smcap">Ostorius Scapula</span>, another general, came. Some of the +British Chiefs of Tribes submitted. Others resolved to fight to the death. Of +these brave men, the bravest was <span class="smcap">Caractacus</span>, or +<span class="smcap">Caradoc</span>, who gave battle to the Romans, with his +army, among the mountains of North Wales. ‘This day,’ said he to +his soldiers, ‘decides the fate of Britain! Your liberty, or your eternal +slavery, dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who drove the +great Cæsar himself across the sea!’ On hearing these words, his +men, with a great shout, rushed upon the Romans. But the strong Roman swords +and armour were too much for the weaker British weapons in close conflict. The +Britons lost the day. The wife and daughter of the brave <span +class="smcap">Caractacus</span> were taken prisoners; his brothers delivered +themselves up; he himself was betrayed into the hands of the Romans by his +false and base stepmother: and they carried him, and all his family, in triumph +to Rome. +</p> + +<p> +But a great man will be great in misfortune, great in prison, great in chains. +His noble air, and dignified endurance of distress, so touched the Roman people +who thronged the streets to see him, that he and his family were restored to +freedom. No one knows whether his great heart broke, and he died in Rome, or +whether he ever returned to his own dear country. English oaks have grown up +from acorns, and withered away, when they were hundreds of years old—and +other oaks have sprung up in their places, and died too, very aged—since +the rest of the history of the brave <span class="smcap">Caractacus</span> was +forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +Still, the Britons <i>would not</i> yield. They rose again and again, and died +by thousands, sword in hand. They rose, on every possible occasion. <span +class="smcap">Suetonius</span>, another Roman general, came, and stormed the +Island of Anglesey (then called <span class="smcap">Mona</span>), which was +supposed to be sacred, and he burnt the Druids in their own wicker cages, by +their own fires. But, even while he was in Britain, with his victorious troops, +the <span class="smcap">Britons</span> rose. Because <span +class="smcap">Boadicea</span>, a British queen, the widow of the King of the +Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted the plundering of her property by the +Romans who were settled in England, she was scourged, by order of <span +class="smcap">Catus</span> a Roman officer; and her two daughters were +shamefully insulted in her presence, and her husband’s relations were +made slaves. To avenge this injury, the Britons rose, with all their might and +rage. They drove <span class="smcap">Catus</span> into Gaul; they laid the +Roman possessions waste; they forced the Romans out of London, then a poor +little town, but a trading place; they hanged, burnt, crucified, and slew by +the sword, seventy thousand Romans in a few days. <span +class="smcap">Suetonius</span> strengthened his army, and advanced to give them +battle. They strengthened their army, and desperately attacked his, on the +field where it was strongly posted. Before the first charge of the Britons was +made, <span class="smcap">Boadicea</span>, in a war-chariot, with her fair hair +streaming in the wind, and her injured daughters lying at her feet, drove among +the troops, and cried to them for vengeance on their oppressors, the licentious +Romans. The Britons fought to the last; but they were vanquished with great +slaughter, and the unhappy queen took poison. +</p> + +<p> +Still, the spirit of the Britons was not broken. When <span +class="smcap">Suetonius</span> left the country, they fell upon his troops, and +retook the Island of Anglesey. <span class="smcap">Agricola</span> came, +fifteen or twenty years afterwards, and retook it once more, and devoted seven +years to subduing the country, especially that part of it which is now called +<span class="smcap">Scotland</span>; but, its people, the Caledonians, resisted +him at every inch of ground. They fought the bloodiest battles with him; they +killed their very wives and children, to prevent his making prisoners of them; +they fell, fighting, in such great numbers that certain hills in Scotland are +yet supposed to be vast heaps of stones piled up above their graves. <span +class="smcap">Hadrian</span> came, thirty years afterwards, and still they +resisted him. <span class="smcap">Severus</span> came, nearly a hundred years +afterwards, and they worried his great army like dogs, and rejoiced to see them +die, by thousands, in the bogs and swamps. <span +class="smcap">Caracalla</span>, the son and successor of <span +class="smcap">Severus</span>, did the most to conquer them, for a time; but not +by force of arms. He knew how little that would do. He yielded up a quantity of +land to the Caledonians, and gave the Britons the same privileges as the Romans +possessed. There was peace, after this, for seventy years. +</p> + +<p> +Then new enemies arose. They were the Saxons, a fierce, sea-faring people from +the countries to the North of the Rhine, the great river of Germany on the +banks of which the best grapes grow to make the German wine. They began to +come, in pirate ships, to the sea-coast of Gaul and Britain, and to plunder +them. They were repulsed by <span class="smcap">Carausius</span>, a native +either of Belgium or of Britain, who was appointed by the Romans to the +command, and under whom the Britons first began to fight upon the sea. But, +after this time, they renewed their ravages. A few years more, and the Scots +(which was then the name for the people of Ireland), and the Picts, a northern +people, began to make frequent plundering incursions into the South of Britain. +All these attacks were repeated, at intervals, during two hundred years, and +through a long succession of Roman Emperors and chiefs; during all which length +of time, the Britons rose against the Romans, over and over again. At last, in +the days of the Roman <span class="smcap">Honorius</span>, when the Roman power +all over the world was fast declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at +home, the Romans abandoned all hope of conquering Britain, and went away. And +still, at last, as at first, the Britons rose against them, in their old brave +manner; for, a very little while before, they had turned away the Roman +magistrates, and declared themselves an independent people. +</p> + +<p> +Five hundred years had passed, since Julius Cæsar’s first invasion +of the Island, when the Romans departed from it for ever. In the course of that +time, although they had been the cause of terrible fighting and bloodshed, they +had done much to improve the condition of the Britons. They had made great +military roads; they had built forts; they had taught them how to dress, and +arm themselves, much better than they had ever known how to do before; they had +refined the whole British way of living. <span class="smcap">Agricola</span> +had built a great wall of earth, more than seventy miles long, extending from +Newcastle to beyond Carlisle, for the purpose of keeping out the Picts and +Scots; <span class="smcap">Hadrian</span> had strengthened it; <span +class="smcap">Severus</span>, finding it much in want of repair, had built it +afresh of stone. +</p> + +<p> +Above all, it was in the Roman time, and by means of Roman ships, that the +Christian Religion was first brought into Britain, and its people first taught +the great lesson that, to be good in the sight of <span +class="smcap">God</span>, they must love their neighbours as themselves, and do +unto others as they would be done by. The Druids declared that it was very +wicked to believe in any such thing, and cursed all the people who did believe +it, very heartily. But, when the people found that they were none the better +for the blessings of the Druids, and none the worse for the curses of the +Druids, but, that the sun shone and the rain fell without consulting the Druids +at all, they just began to think that the Druids were mere men, and that it +signified very little whether they cursed or blessed. After which, the pupils +of the Druids fell off greatly in numbers, and the Druids took to other trades. +</p> + +<p> +Thus I have come to the end of the Roman time in England. It is but little that +is known of those five hundred years; but some remains of them are still found. +Often, when labourers are digging up the ground, to make foundations for houses +or churches, they light on rusty money that once belonged to the Romans. +Fragments of plates from which they ate, of goblets from which they drank, and +of pavement on which they trod, are discovered among the earth that is broken +by the plough, or the dust that is crumbled by the gardener’s spade. +Wells that the Romans sunk, still yield water; roads that the Romans made, form +part of our highways. In some old battle-fields, British spear-heads and Roman +armour have been found, mingled together in decay, as they fell in the thick +pressure of the fight. Traces of Roman camps overgrown with grass, and of +mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of Britons, are to be seen in almost +all parts of the country. Across the bleak moors of Northumberland, the wall of +<span class="smcap">Severus</span>, overrun with moss and weeds, still +stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their dogs lie sleeping on it +in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge yet stands: a monument of +the earlier time when the Roman name was unknown in Britain, and when the +Druids, with their best magic wands, could not have written it in the sands of +the wild sea-shore. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> +ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS</h2> + +<p> +The Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons began to wish +they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone, and the Britons being much +reduced in numbers by their long wars, the Picts and Scots came pouring in, +over the broken and unguarded wall of <span class="smcap">Severus</span>, in +swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and killed the people; and came back +so often for more booty and more slaughter, that the unfortunate Britons lived +a life of terror. As if the Picts and Scots were not bad enough on land, the +Saxons attacked the islanders by sea; and, as if something more were still +wanting to make them miserable, they quarrelled bitterly among themselves as to +what prayers they ought to say, and how they ought to say them. The priests, +being very angry with one another on these questions, cursed one another in the +heartiest manner; and (uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the people +whom they could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were very badly off, +you may believe. +</p> + +<p> +They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to Rome +entreating help—which they called the Groans of the Britons; and in which +they said, ‘The barbarians chase us into the sea, the sea throws us back +upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard choice left us of perishing by +the sword, or perishing by the waves.’ But, the Romans could not help +them, even if they were so inclined; for they had enough to do to defend +themselves against their own enemies, who were then very fierce and strong. At +last, the Britons, unable to bear their hard condition any longer, resolved to +make peace with the Saxons, and to invite the Saxons to come into their +country, and help them to keep out the Picts and Scots. +</p> + +<p> +It was a British Prince named <span class="smcap">Vortigern</span> who took +this resolution, and who made a treaty of friendship with <span +class="smcap">Hengist</span> and <span class="smcap">Horsa</span>, two Saxon +chiefs. Both of these names, in the old Saxon language, signify Horse; for the +Saxons, like many other nations in a rough state, were fond of giving men the +names of animals, as Horse, Wolf, Bear, Hound. The Indians of North +America,—a very inferior people to the Saxons, though—do the same +to this day. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Hengist</span> and <span class="smcap">Horsa</span> drove +out the Picts and Scots; and <span class="smcap">Vortigern</span>, being +grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to their settling +themselves in that part of England which is called the Isle of Thanet, or to +their inviting over more of their countrymen to join them. But <span +class="smcap">Hengist</span> had a beautiful daughter named <span +class="smcap">Rowena</span>; and when, at a feast, she filled a golden goblet +to the brim with wine, and gave it to <span class="smcap">Vortigern</span>, +saying in a sweet voice, ‘Dear King, thy health!’ the King fell in +love with her. My opinion is, that the cunning <span +class="smcap">Hengist</span> meant him to do so, in order that the Saxons might +have greater influence with him; and that the fair <span +class="smcap">Rowena</span> came to that feast, golden goblet and all, on +purpose. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the King was +angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments, <span +class="smcap">Rowena</span> would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and +softly say, ‘Dear King, they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you +loved that Saxon girl who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the +feast!’ And, really, I don’t see how the King could help himself. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, <span +class="smcap">Vortigern</span> died—he was dethroned, and put in prison, +first, I am afraid; and <span class="smcap">Rowena</span> died; and generations +of Saxons and Britons died; and events that happened during a long, long time, +would have been quite forgotten but for the tales and songs of the old Bards, +who used to go about from feast to feast, with their white beards, recounting +the deeds of their forefathers. Among the histories of which they sang and +talked, there was a famous one, concerning the bravery and virtues of <span +class="smcap">King Arthur</span>, supposed to have been a British Prince in +those old times. But, whether such a person really lived, or whether there were +several persons whose histories came to be confused together under that one +name, or whether all about him was invention, no one knows. +</p> + +<p> +I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early Saxon times, as +they are described in these songs and stories of the Bards. +</p> + +<p> +In, and long after, the days of <span class="smcap">Vortigern</span>, fresh +bodies of Saxons, under various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body, +conquering the Britons in the East, and settling there, called their kingdom +Essex; another body settled in the West, and called their kingdom Wessex; the +Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established themselves in one place; the +Southfolk, or Suffolk people, established themselves in another; and gradually +seven kingdoms or states arose in England, which were called the Saxon +Heptarchy. The poor Britons, falling back before these crowds of fighting men +whom they had innocently invited over as friends, retired into Wales and the +adjacent country; into Devonshire, and into Cornwall. Those parts of England +long remained unconquered. And in Cornwall now—where the sea-coast is +very gloomy, steep, and rugged—where, in the dark winter-time, ships have +often been wrecked close to the land, and every soul on board has +perished—where the winds and waves howl drearily and split the solid +rocks into arches and caverns—there are very ancient ruins, which the +people call the ruins of <span class="smcap">King Arthur’s</span> Castle. +</p> + +<p> +Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the Christian +religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered over the Britons too +much, to care for what <i>they</i> said about their religion, or anything else) +by <span class="smcap">Augustine</span>, a monk from Rome. <span +class="smcap">King Ethelbert</span>, of Kent, was soon converted; and the +moment he said he was a Christian, his courtiers all said <i>they</i> were +Christians; after which, ten thousand of his subjects said they were Christians +too. <span class="smcap">Augustine</span> built a little church, close to this +King’s palace, on the ground now occupied by the beautiful cathedral of +Canterbury. <span class="smcap">Sebert</span>, the King’s nephew, built +on a muddy marshy place near London, where there had been a temple to Apollo, a +church dedicated to Saint Peter, which is now Westminster Abbey. And, in London +itself, on the foundation of a temple to Diana, he built another little church +which has risen up, since that old time, to be Saint Paul’s. +</p> + +<p> +After the death of <span class="smcap">Ethelbert</span>, <span +class="smcap">Edwin</span>, King of Northumbria, who was such a good king that +it was said a woman or child might openly carry a purse of gold, in his reign, +without fear, allowed his child to be baptised, and held a great council to +consider whether he and his people should all be Christians or not. It was +decided that they should be. <span class="smcap">Coifi</span>, the chief priest +of the old religion, made a great speech on the occasion. In this discourse, he +told the people that he had found out the old gods to be impostors. ‘I am +quite satisfied of it,’ he said. ‘Look at me! I have been serving +them all my life, and they have done nothing for me; whereas, if they had been +really powerful, they could not have decently done less, in return for all I +have done for them, than make my fortune. As they have never made my fortune, I +am quite convinced they are impostors!’ When this singular priest had +finished speaking, he hastily armed himself with sword and lance, mounted a +war-horse, rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the people to the temple, +and flung his lance against it as an insult. From that time, the Christian +religion spread itself among the Saxons, and became their faith. +</p> + +<p> +The next very famous prince was <span class="smcap">Egbert</span>. He lived +about a hundred and fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right +to the throne of Wessex than <span class="smcap">Beortric</span>, another Saxon +prince who was at the head of that kingdom, and who married <span +class="smcap">Edburga</span>, the daughter of <span class="smcap">Offa</span>, +king of another of the seven kingdoms. This <span class="smcap">Queen +Edburga</span> was a handsome murderess, who poisoned people when they offended +her. One day, she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble belonging to the +court; but her husband drank of it too, by mistake, and died. Upon this, the +people revolted, in great crowds; and running to the palace, and thundering at +the gates, cried, ‘Down with the wicked queen, who poisons men!’ +They drove her out of the country, and abolished the title she had disgraced. +When years had passed away, some travellers came home from Italy, and said that +in the town of Pavia they had seen a ragged beggar-woman, who had once been +handsome, but was then shrivelled, bent, and yellow, wandering about the +streets, crying for bread; and that this beggar-woman was the poisoning English +queen. It was, indeed, <span class="smcap">Edburga</span>; and so she died, +without a shelter for her wretched head. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Egbert</span>, not considering himself safe in England, in +consequence of his having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival +might take him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the court of +<span class="smcap">Charlemagne</span>, King of France. On the death of <span +class="smcap">Beortric</span>, so unhappily poisoned by mistake, <span +class="smcap">Egbert</span> came back to Britain; succeeded to the throne of +Wessex; conquered some of the other monarchs of the seven kingdoms; added their +territories to his own; and, for the first time, called the country over which +he ruled, <span class="smcap">England</span>. +</p> + +<p> +And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England sorely. +These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway, whom the English +called the Danes. They were a warlike people, quite at home upon the sea; not +Christians; very daring and cruel. They came over in ships, and plundered and +burned wheresoever they landed. Once, they beat <span +class="smcap">Egbert</span> in battle. Once, <span class="smcap">Egbert</span> +beat them. But, they cared no more for being beaten than the English +themselves. In the four following short reigns, of <span +class="smcap">Ethelwulf</span>, and his sons, <span +class="smcap">Ethelbald</span>, <span class="smcap">Ethelbert</span>, and <span +class="smcap">Ethelred</span>, they came back, over and over again, burning and +plundering, and laying England waste. In the last-mentioned reign, they seized +<span class="smcap">Edmund</span>, King of East England, and bound him to a +tree. Then, they proposed to him that he should change his religion; but he, +being a good Christian, steadily refused. Upon that, they beat him, made +cowardly jests upon him, all defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, and, +finally, struck off his head. It is impossible to say whose head they might +have struck off next, but for the death of <span class="smcap">King +Ethelred</span> from a wound he had received in fighting against them, and the +succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever lived in +England. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED</h2> + +<p> +Alfred the Great was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age, when he became +king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to Rome, where the Saxon nobles +were in the habit of going on journeys which they supposed to be religious; +and, once, he had stayed for some time in Paris. Learning, however, was so +little cared for, then, that at twelve years old he had not been taught to +read; although, of the sons of <span class="smcap">King Ethelwulf</span>, he, +the youngest, was the favourite. But he had—as most men who grow up to be +great and good are generally found to have had—an excellent mother; and, +one day, this lady, whose name was <span class="smcap">Osburga</span>, +happened, as she was sitting among her sons, to read a book of Saxon poetry. +The art of printing was not known until long and long after that period, and +the book, which was written, was what is called ‘illuminated,’ with +beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The brothers admiring it very much, +their mother said, ‘I will give it to that one of you four princes who +first learns to read.’ <span class="smcap">Alfred</span> sought out a +tutor that very day, applied himself to learn with great diligence, and soon +won the book. He was proud of it, all his life. +</p> + +<p> +This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine battles with the +Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by which the false Danes swore they +would quit the country. They pretended to consider that they had taken a very +solemn oath, in swearing this upon the holy bracelets that they wore, and which +were always buried with them when they died; but they cared little for it, for +they thought nothing of breaking oaths and treaties too, as soon as it suited +their purpose, and coming back again to fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One +fatal winter, in the fourth year of <span class="smcap">King +Alfred’s</span> reign, they spread themselves in great numbers over the +whole of England; and so dispersed and routed the King’s soldiers that +the King was left alone, and was obliged to disguise himself as a common +peasant, and to take refuge in the cottage of one of his cowherds who did not +know his face. +</p> + +<p> +Here, <span class="smcap">King Alfred</span>, while the Danes sought him far +and near, was left alone one day, by the cowherd’s wife, to watch some +cakes which she put to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his bow +and arrows, with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when a brighter time +should come, and thinking deeply of his poor unhappy subjects whom the Danes +chased through the land, his noble mind forgot the cakes, and they were burnt. +‘What!’ said the cowherd’s wife, who scolded him well when +she came back, and little thought she was scolding the King, ‘you will be +ready enough to eat them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch them, idle +dog?’ +</p> + +<p> +At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes who landed +on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their flag; on which was +represented the likeness of a Raven—a very fit bird for a thievish army +like that, I think. The loss of their standard troubled the Danes greatly, for +they believed it to be enchanted—woven by the three daughters of one +father in a single afternoon—and they had a story among themselves that +when they were victorious in battle, the Raven stretched his wings and seemed +to fly; and that when they were defeated, he would droop. He had good reason to +droop, now, if he could have done anything half so sensible; for, <span +class="smcap">King Alfred</span> joined the Devonshire men; made a camp with +them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a bog in Somersetshire; and +prepared for a great attempt for vengeance on the Danes, and the deliverance of +his oppressed people. +</p> + +<p> +But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those pestilent Danes +were, and how they were fortified, <span class="smcap">King Alfred</span>, +being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, and went, +with his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in the very tent of <span +class="smcap">Guthrum</span> the Danish leader, and entertained the Danes as +they caroused. While he seemed to think of nothing but his music, he was +watchful of their tents, their arms, their discipline, everything that he +desired to know. And right soon did this great king entertain them to a +different tune; for, summoning all his true followers to meet him at an +appointed place, where they received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the +monarch whom many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at +their head, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with great +slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent their escape. But, +being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then, instead of killing them, +proposed peace: on condition that they should altogether depart from that +Western part of England, and settle in the East; and that <span +class="smcap">Guthrum</span> should become a Christian, in remembrance of the +Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, the noble <span +class="smcap">Alfred</span>, to forgive the enemy who had so often injured him. +This, <span class="smcap">Guthrum</span> did. At his baptism, <span +class="smcap">King Alfred</span> was his godfather. And <span +class="smcap">Guthrum</span> was an honourable chief who well deserved that +clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to the king. The Danes +under him were faithful too. They plundered and burned no more, but worked like +honest men. They ploughed, and sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English +lives. And I hope the children of those Danes played, many a time, with Saxon +children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in love with Saxon +girls, and married them; and that English travellers, benighted at the doors of +Danish cottages, often went in for shelter until morning; and that Danes and +Saxons sat by the red fire, friends, talking of <span class="smcap">King Alfred +the Great</span>. +</p> + +<p> +All the Danes were not like these under <span class="smcap">Guthrum</span>; +for, after some years, more of them came over, in the old plundering and +burning way—among them a fierce pirate of the name of <span +class="smcap">Hastings</span>, who had the boldness to sail up the Thames to +Gravesend, with eighty ships. For three years, there was a war with these +Danes; and there was a famine in the country, too, and a plague, both upon +human creatures and beasts. But <span class="smcap">King Alfred</span>, whose +mighty heart never failed him, built large ships nevertheless, with which to +pursue the pirates on the sea; and he encouraged his soldiers, by his brave +example, to fight valiantly against them on the shore. At last, he drove them +all away; and then there was repose in England. +</p> + +<p> +As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, <span +class="smcap">King Alfred</span> never rested from his labours to improve his +people. He loved to talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreign +countries, and to write down what they told him, for his people to read. He had +studied Latin after learning to read English, and now another of his labours +was, to translate Latin books into the English-Saxon tongue, that his people +might be interested, and improved by their contents. He made just laws, that +they might live more happily and freely; he turned away all partial judges, +that no wrong might be done them; he was so careful of their property, and +punished robbers so severely, that it was a common thing to say that under the +great <span class="smcap">King Alfred</span>, garlands of golden chains and +jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man would have touched one. +He founded schools; he patiently heard causes himself in his Court of Justice; +the great desires of his heart were, to do right to all his subjects, and to +leave England better, wiser, happier in all ways, than he found it. His +industry in these efforts was quite astonishing. Every day he divided into +certain portions, and in each portion devoted himself to a certain pursuit. +That he might divide his time exactly, he had wax torches or candles made, +which were all of the same size, were notched across at regular distances, and +were always kept burning. Thus, as the candles burnt down, he divided the day +into notches, almost as accurately as we now divide it into hours upon the +clock. But when the candles were first invented, it was found that the wind and +draughts of air, blowing into the palace through the doors and windows, and +through the chinks in the walls, caused them to gutter and burn unequally. To +prevent this, the King had them put into cases formed of wood and white horn. +And these were the first lanthorns ever made in England. +</p> + +<p> +All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, which caused +him violent and frequent pain that nothing could relieve. He bore it, as he had +borne all the troubles of his life, like a brave good man, until he was +fifty-three years old; and then, having reigned thirty years, he died. He died +in the year nine hundred and one; but, long ago as that is, his fame, and the +love and gratitude with which his subjects regarded him, are freshly remembered +to the present hour. +</p> + +<p> +In the next reign, which was the reign of <span class="smcap">Edward</span>, +surnamed <span class="smcap">The Elder</span>, who was chosen in council to +succeed, a nephew of <span class="smcap">King Alfred</span> troubled the +country by trying to obtain the throne. The Danes in the East of England took +part with this usurper (perhaps because they had honoured his uncle so much, +and honoured him for his uncle’s sake), and there was hard fighting; but, +the King, with the assistance of his sister, gained the day, and reigned in +peace for four and twenty years. He gradually extended his power over the whole +of England, and so the Seven Kingdoms were united into one. +</p> + +<p> +When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king, the Saxons +had been settled in the country more than four hundred and fifty years. Great +changes had taken place in its customs during that time. The Saxons were still +greedy eaters and great drinkers, and their feasts were often of a noisy and +drunken kind; but many new comforts and even elegances had become known, and +were fast increasing. Hangings for the walls of rooms, where, in these modern +days, we paste up paper, are known to have been sometimes made of silk, +ornamented with birds and flowers in needlework. Tables and chairs were +curiously carved in different woods; were sometimes decorated with gold or +silver; sometimes even made of those precious metals. Knives and spoons were +used at table; golden ornaments were worn—with silk and cloth, and golden +tissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, brass and bone. +There were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads, musical instruments. A harp +was passed round, at a feast, like the drinking-bowl, from guest to guest; and +each one usually sang or played when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons +were stoutly made, and among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly +blows, and was long remembered. The Saxons themselves were a handsome people. +The men were proud of their long fair hair, parted on the forehead; their ample +beards, their fresh complexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the Saxon women +filled all England with a new delight and grace. +</p> + +<p> +I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now, because +under the <span class="smcap">Great Alfred</span>, all the best points of the +English-Saxon character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. It has +been the greatest character among the nations of the earth. Wherever the +descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, or otherwise made their +way, even to the remotest regions of the world, they have been patient, +persevering, never to be broken in spirit, never to be turned aside from +enterprises on which they have resolved. In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the +whole world over; in the desert, in the forest, on the sea; scorched by a +burning sun, or frozen by ice that never melts; the Saxon blood remains +unchanged. Wheresoever that race goes, there, law, and industry, and safety for +life and property, and all the great results of steady perseverance, are +certain to arise. +</p> + +<p> +I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in his single person, +possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortune could not subdue, whom +prosperity could not spoil, whose perseverance nothing could shake. Who was +hopeful in defeat, and generous in success. Who loved justice, freedom, truth, +and knowledge. Who, in his care to instruct his people, probably did more to +preserve the beautiful old Saxon language, than I can imagine. Without whom, +the English tongue in which I tell this story might have wanted half its +meaning. As it is said that his spirit still inspires some of our best English +laws, so, let you and I pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least +to this—to resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in +ignorance, that we will do our best, while life is in us, to have them taught; +and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to teach them, and who neglect their +duty, that they have profited very little by all the years that have rolled +away since the year nine hundred and one, and that they are far behind the +bright example of <span class="smcap">King Alfred the Great</span>. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS</h2> + +<p> +Athelstan, the son of Edward the Elder, succeeded that king. He reigned only +fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his grandfather, the great +Alfred, and governed England well. He reduced the turbulent people of Wales, +and obliged them to pay him a tribute in money, and in cattle, and to send him +their best hawks and hounds. He was victorious over the Cornish men, who were +not yet quite under the Saxon government. He restored such of the old laws as +were good, and had fallen into disuse; made some wise new laws, and took care +of the poor and weak. A strong alliance, made against him by <span +class="smcap">Anlaf</span> a Danish prince, <span +class="smcap">Constantine</span> King of the Scots, and the people of North +Wales, he broke and defeated in one great battle, long famous for the vast +numbers slain in it. After that, he had a quiet reign; the lords and ladies +about him had leisure to become polite and agreeable; and foreign princes were +glad (as they have sometimes been since) to come to England on visits to the +English court. +</p> + +<p> +When Athelstan died, at forty-seven years old, his brother <span +class="smcap">Edmund</span>, who was only eighteen, became king. He was the +first of six boy-kings, as you will presently know. +</p> + +<p> +They called him the Magnificent, because he showed a taste for improvement and +refinement. But he was beset by the Danes, and had a short and troubled reign, +which came to a troubled end. One night, when he was feasting in his hall, and +had eaten much and drunk deep, he saw, among the company, a noted robber named +<span class="smcap">Leof</span>, who had been banished from England. Made very +angry by the boldness of this man, the King turned to his cup-bearer, and said, +‘There is a robber sitting at the table yonder, who, for his crimes, is +an outlaw in the land—a hunted wolf, whose life any man may take, at any +time. Command that robber to depart!’ ‘I will not depart!’ +said Leof. ‘No?’ cried the King. ‘No, by the Lord!’ +said Leof. Upon that the King rose from his seat, and, making passionately at +the robber, and seizing him by his long hair, tried to throw him down. But the +robber had a dagger underneath his cloak, and, in the scuffle, stabbed the King +to death. That done, he set his back against the wall, and fought so +desperately, that although he was soon cut to pieces by the King’s armed +men, and the wall and pavement were splashed with his blood, yet it was not +before he had killed and wounded many of them. You may imagine what rough lives +the kings of those times led, when one of them could struggle, half drunk, with +a public robber in his own dining-hall, and be stabbed in presence of the +company who ate and drank with him. +</p> + +<p> +Then succeeded the boy-king <span class="smcap">Edred</span>, who was weak and +sickly in body, but of a strong mind. And his armies fought the Northmen, the +Danes, and Norwegians, or the Sea-Kings, as they were called, and beat them for +the time. And, in nine years, Edred died, and passed away. +</p> + +<p> +Then came the boy-king <span class="smcap">Edwy</span>, fifteen years of age; +but the real king, who had the real power, was a monk named <span +class="smcap">Dunstan</span>—a clever priest, a little mad, and not a +little proud and cruel. +</p> + +<p> +Dunstan was then Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, whither the body of King Edmund +the Magnificent was carried, to be buried. While yet a boy, he had got out of +his bed one night (being then in a fever), and walked about Glastonbury Church +when it was under repair; and, because he did not tumble off some scaffolds +that were there, and break his neck, it was reported that he had been shown +over the building by an angel. He had also made a harp that was said to play of +itself—which it very likely did, as Æolian Harps, which are played +by the wind, and are understood now, always do. For these wonders he had been +once denounced by his enemies, who were jealous of his favour with the late +King Athelstan, as a magician; and he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, +and thrown into a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal +of trouble yet. +</p> + +<p> +The priests of those days were, generally, the only scholars. They were learned +in many things. Having to make their own convents and monasteries on +uncultivated grounds that were granted to them by the Crown, it was necessary +that they should be good farmers and good gardeners, or their lands would have +been too poor to support them. For the decoration of the chapels where they +prayed, and for the comfort of the refectories where they ate and drank, it was +necessary that there should be good carpenters, good smiths, good painters, +among them. For their greater safety in sickness and accident, living alone by +themselves in solitary places, it was necessary that they should study the +virtues of plants and herbs, and should know how to dress cuts, burns, scalds, +and bruises, and how to set broken limbs. Accordingly, they taught themselves, +and one another, a great variety of useful arts; and became skilful in +agriculture, medicine, surgery, and handicraft. And when they wanted the aid of +any little piece of machinery, which would be simple enough now, but was +marvellous then, to impose a trick upon the poor peasants, they knew very well +how to make it; and <i>did</i> make it many a time and often, I have no doubt. +</p> + +<p> +Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was one of the most sagacious of these +monks. He was an ingenious smith, and worked at a forge in a little cell. This +cell was made too short to admit of his lying at full length when he went to +sleep—as if <i>that</i> did any good to anybody!—and he used to +tell the most extraordinary lies about demons and spirits, who, he said, came +there to persecute him. For instance, he related that one day when he was at +work, the devil looked in at the little window, and tried to tempt him to lead +a life of idle pleasure; whereupon, having his pincers in the fire, red hot, he +seized the devil by the nose, and put him to such pain, that his bellowings +were heard for miles and miles. Some people are inclined to think this nonsense +a part of Dunstan’s madness (for his head never quite recovered the +fever), but I think not. I observe that it induced the ignorant people to +consider him a holy man, and that it made him very powerful. Which was exactly +what he always wanted. +</p> + +<p> +On the day of the coronation of the handsome boy-king Edwy, it was remarked by +<span class="smcap">Odo</span>, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was a Dane by +birth), that the King quietly left the coronation feast, while all the company +were there. Odo, much displeased, sent his friend Dunstan to seek him. Dunstan +finding him in the company of his beautiful young wife <span +class="smcap">Elgiva</span>, and her mother <span +class="smcap">Ethelgiva</span>, a good and virtuous lady, not only grossly +abused them, but dragged the young King back into the feasting-hall by force. +Some, again, think Dunstan did this because the young King’s fair wife +was his own cousin, and the monks objected to people marrying their own +cousins; but I believe he did it, because he was an imperious, audacious, +ill-conditioned priest, who, having loved a young lady himself before he became +a sour monk, hated all love now, and everything belonging to it. +</p> + +<p> +The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. Dunstan had been +Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan with having taken some +of the last king’s money. The Glastonbury Abbot fled to Belgium (very +narrowly escaping some pursuers who were sent to put out his eyes, as you will +wish they had, when you read what follows), and his abbey was given to priests +who were married; whom he always, both before and afterwards, opposed. But he +quickly conspired with his friend, Odo the Dane, to set up the King’s +young brother, <span class="smcap">Edgar</span>, as his rival for the throne; +and, not content with this revenge, he caused the beautiful queen Elgiva, +though a lovely girl of only seventeen or eighteen, to be stolen from one of +the Royal Palaces, branded in the cheek with a red-hot iron, and sold into +slavery in Ireland. But the Irish people pitied and befriended her; and they +said, ‘Let us restore the girl-queen to the boy-king, and make the young +lovers happy!’ and they cured her of her cruel wound, and sent her home +as beautiful as before. But the villain Dunstan, and that other villain, Odo, +caused her to be waylaid at Gloucester as she was joyfully hurrying to join her +husband, and to be hacked and hewn with swords, and to be barbarously maimed +and lamed, and left to die. When Edwy the Fair (his people called him so, +because he was so young and handsome) heard of her dreadful fate, he died of a +broken heart; and so the pitiful story of the poor young wife and husband ends! +Ah! Better to be two cottagers in these better times, than king and queen of +England in those bad days, though never so fair! +</p> + +<p> +Then came the boy-king, <span class="smcap">Edgar</span>, called the Peaceful, +fifteen years old. Dunstan, being still the real king, drove all married +priests out of the monasteries and abbeys, and replaced them by solitary monks +like himself, of the rigid order called the Benedictines. He made himself +Archbishop of Canterbury, for his greater glory; and exercised such power over +the neighbouring British princes, and so collected them about the King, that +once, when the King held his court at Chester, and went on the river Dee to +visit the monastery of St. John, the eight oars of his boat were pulled (as the +people used to delight in relating in stories and songs) by eight crowned +kings, and steered by the King of England. As Edgar was very obedient to +Dunstan and the monks, they took great pains to represent him as the best of +kings. But he was really profligate, debauched, and vicious. He once forcibly +carried off a young lady from the convent at Wilton; and Dunstan, pretending to +be very much shocked, condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head for +seven years—no great punishment, I dare say, as it can hardly have been a +more comfortable ornament to wear, than a stewpan without a handle. His +marriage with his second wife, <span class="smcap">Elfrida</span>, is one of +the worst events of his reign. Hearing of the beauty of this lady, he +despatched his favourite courtier, <span class="smcap">Athelwold</span>, to her +father’s castle in Devonshire, to see if she were really as charming as +fame reported. Now, she was so exceedingly beautiful that Athelwold fell in +love with her himself, and married her; but he told the King that she was only +rich—not handsome. The King, suspecting the truth when they came home, +resolved to pay the newly-married couple a visit; and, suddenly, told Athelwold +to prepare for his immediate coming. Athelwold, terrified, confessed to his +young wife what he had said and done, and implored her to disguise her beauty +by some ugly dress or silly manner, that he might be safe from the King’s +anger. She promised that she would; but she was a proud woman, who would far +rather have been a queen than the wife of a courtier. She dressed herself in +her best dress, and adorned herself with her richest jewels; and when the King +came, presently, he discovered the cheat. So, he caused his false friend, +Athelwold, to be murdered in a wood, and married his widow, this bad Elfrida. +Six or seven years afterwards, he died; and was buried, as if he had been all +that the monks said he was, in the abbey of Glastonbury, which he—or +Dunstan for him—had much enriched. +</p> + +<p> +England, in one part of this reign, was so troubled by wolves, which, driven +out of the open country, hid themselves in the mountains of Wales when they +were not attacking travellers and animals, that the tribute payable by the +Welsh people was forgiven them, on condition of their producing, every year, +three hundred wolves’ heads. And the Welshmen were so sharp upon the +wolves, to save their money, that in four years there was not a wolf left. +</p> + +<p> +Then came the boy-king, <span class="smcap">Edward</span>, called the Martyr, +from the manner of his death. Elfrida had a son, named <span +class="smcap">Ethelred</span>, for whom she claimed the throne; but Dunstan did +not choose to favour him, and he made Edward king. The boy was hunting, one +day, down in Dorsetshire, when he rode near to Corfe Castle, where Elfrida and +Ethelred lived. Wishing to see them kindly, he rode away from his attendants +and galloped to the castle gate, where he arrived at twilight, and blew his +hunting-horn. ‘You are welcome, dear King,’ said Elfrida, coming +out, with her brightest smiles. ‘Pray you dismount and enter.’ +‘Not so, dear madam,’ said the King. ‘My company will miss +me, and fear that I have met with some harm. Please you to give me a cup of +wine, that I may drink here, in the saddle, to you and to my little brother, +and so ride away with the good speed I have made in riding here.’ +Elfrida, going in to bring the wine, whispered to an armed servant, one of her +attendants, who stole out of the darkening gateway, and crept round behind the +King’s horse. As the King raised the cup to his lips, saying, +‘Health!’ to the wicked woman who was smiling on him, and to his +innocent brother whose hand she held in hers, and who was only ten years old, +this armed man made a spring and stabbed him in the back. He dropped the cup +and spurred his horse away; but, soon fainting with loss of blood, dropped from +the saddle, and, in his fall, entangled one of his feet in the stirrup. The +frightened horse dashed on; trailing his rider’s curls upon the ground; +dragging his smooth young face through ruts, and stones, and briers, and fallen +leaves, and mud; until the hunters, tracking the animal’s course by the +King’s blood, caught his bridle, and released the disfigured body. +</p> + +<p> +Then came the sixth and last of the boy-kings, <span +class="smcap">Ethelred</span>, whom Elfrida, when he cried out at the sight of +his murdered brother riding away from the castle gate, unmercifully beat with a +torch which she snatched from one of the attendants. The people so disliked +this boy, on account of his cruel mother and the murder she had done to promote +him, that Dunstan would not have had him for king, but would have made <span +class="smcap">Edgitha</span>, the daughter of the dead King Edgar, and of the +lady whom he stole out of the convent at Wilton, Queen of England, if she would +have consented. But she knew the stories of the youthful kings too well, and +would not be persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so, Dunstan +put Ethelred on the throne, having no one else to put there, and gave him the +nickname of <span class="smcap">The Unready</span>—knowing that he wanted +resolution and firmness. +</p> + +<p> +At first, Elfrida possessed great influence over the young King, but, as he +grew older and came of age, her influence declined. The infamous woman, not +having it in her power to do any more evil, then retired from court, and, +according, to the fashion of the time, built churches and monasteries, to +expiate her guilt. As if a church, with a steeple reaching to the very stars, +would have been any sign of true repentance for the blood of the poor boy, +whose murdered form was trailed at his horse’s heels! As if she could +have buried her wickedness beneath the senseless stones of the whole world, +piled up one upon another, for the monks to live in! +</p> + +<p> +About the ninth or tenth year of this reign, Dunstan died. He was growing old +then, but was as stern and artful as ever. Two circumstances that happened in +connexion with him, in this reign of Ethelred, made a great noise. Once, he was +present at a meeting of the Church, when the question was discussed whether +priests should have permission to marry; and, as he sat with his head hung +down, apparently thinking about it, a voice seemed to come out of a crucifix in +the room, and warn the meeting to be of his opinion. This was some juggling of +Dunstan’s, and was probably his own voice disguised. But he played off a +worse juggle than that, soon afterwards; for, another meeting being held on the +same subject, and he and his supporters being seated on one side of a great +room, and their opponents on the other, he rose and said, ‘To Christ +himself, as judge, do I commit this cause!’ Immediately on these words +being spoken, the floor where the opposite party sat gave way, and some were +killed and many wounded. You may be pretty sure that it had been weakened under +Dunstan’s direction, and that it fell at Dunstan’s signal. +<i>His</i> part of the floor did not go down. No, no. He was too good a workman +for that. +</p> + +<p> +When he died, the monks settled that he was a Saint, and called him Saint +Dunstan ever afterwards. They might just as well have settled that he was a +coach-horse, and could just as easily have called him one. +</p> + +<p> +Ethelred the Unready was glad enough, I dare say, to be rid of this holy saint; +but, left to himself, he was a poor weak king, and his reign was a reign of +defeat and shame. The restless Danes, led by <span class="smcap">Sweyn</span>, +a son of the King of Denmark who had quarrelled with his father and had been +banished from home, again came into England, and, year after year, attacked and +despoiled large towns. To coax these sea-kings away, the weak Ethelred paid +them money; but, the more money he paid, the more money the Danes wanted. At +first, he gave them ten thousand pounds; on their next invasion, sixteen +thousand pounds; on their next invasion, four and twenty thousand pounds: to +pay which large sums, the unfortunate English people were heavily taxed. But, +as the Danes still came back and wanted more, he thought it would be a good +plan to marry into some powerful foreign family that would help him with +soldiers. So, in the year one thousand and two, he courted and married Emma, +the sister of Richard Duke of Normandy; a lady who was called the Flower of +Normandy. +</p> + +<p> +And now, a terrible deed was done in England, the like of which was never done +on English ground before or since. On the thirteenth of November, in pursuance +of secret instructions sent by the King over the whole country, the inhabitants +of every town and city armed, and murdered all the Danes who were their +neighbours. +</p> + +<p> +Young and old, babies and soldiers, men and women, every Dane was killed. No +doubt there were among them many ferocious men who had done the English great +wrong, and whose pride and insolence, in swaggering in the houses of the +English and insulting their wives and daughters, had become unbearable; but no +doubt there were also among them many peaceful Christian Danes who had married +English women and become like English men. They were all slain, even to <span +class="smcap">Gunhilda</span>, the sister of the King of Denmark, married to an +English lord; who was first obliged to see the murder of her husband and her +child, and then was killed herself. +</p> + +<p> +When the King of the sea-kings heard of this deed of blood, he swore that he +would have a great revenge. He raised an army, and a mightier fleet of ships +than ever yet had sailed to England; and in all his army there was not a slave +or an old man, but every soldier was a free man, and the son of a free man, and +in the prime of life, and sworn to be revenged upon the English nation, for the +massacre of that dread thirteenth of November, when his countrymen and +countrywomen, and the little children whom they loved, were killed with fire +and sword. And so, the sea-kings came to England in many great ships, each +bearing the flag of its own commander. Golden eagles, ravens, dragons, +dolphins, beasts of prey, threatened England from the prows of those ships, as +they came onward through the water; and were reflected in the shining shields +that hung upon their sides. The ship that bore the standard of the King of the +sea-kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent; and the King in his +anger prayed that the Gods in whom he trusted might all desert him, if his +serpent did not strike its fangs into England’s heart. +</p> + +<p> +And indeed it did. For, the great army landing from the great fleet, near +Exeter, went forward, laying England waste, and striking their lances in the +earth as they advanced, or throwing them into rivers, in token of their making +all the island theirs. In remembrance of the black November night when the +Danes were murdered, wheresoever the invaders came, they made the Saxons +prepare and spread for them great feasts; and when they had eaten those feasts, +and had drunk a curse to England with wild rejoicings, they drew their swords, +and killed their Saxon entertainers, and marched on. For six long years they +carried on this war: burning the crops, farmhouses, barns, mills, granaries; +killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being sown in the +ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only heaps of ruin and smoking +ashes, where they had found rich towns. To crown this misery, English officers +and men deserted, and even the favourites of Ethelred the Unready, becoming +traitors, seized many of the English ships, turned pirates against their own +country, and aided by a storm occasioned the loss of nearly the whole English +navy. +</p> + +<p> +There was but one man of note, at this miserable pass, who was true to his +country and the feeble King. He was a priest, and a brave one. For twenty days, +the Archbishop of Canterbury defended that city against its Danish besiegers; +and when a traitor in the town threw the gates open and admitted them, he said, +in chains, ‘I will not buy my life with money that must be extorted from +the suffering people. Do with me what you please!’ Again and again, he +steadily refused to purchase his release with gold wrung from the poor. +</p> + +<p> +At last, the Danes being tired of this, and being assembled at a drunken +merry-making, had him brought into the feasting-hall. +</p> + +<p> +‘Now, bishop,’ they said, ‘we want gold!’ +</p> + +<p> +He looked round on the crowd of angry faces; from the shaggy beards close to +him, to the shaggy beards against the walls, where men were mounted on tables +and forms to see him over the heads of others: and he knew that his time was +come. +</p> + +<p> +‘I have no gold,’ he said. +</p> + +<p> +‘Get it, bishop!’ they all thundered. +</p> + +<p> +‘That, I have often told you I will not,’ said he. +</p> + +<p> +They gathered closer round him, threatening, but he stood unmoved. Then, one +man struck him; then, another; then a cursing soldier picked up from a heap in +a corner of the hall, where fragments had been rudely thrown at dinner, a great +ox-bone, and cast it at his face, from which the blood came spurting forth; +then, others ran to the same heap, and knocked him down with other bones, and +bruised and battered him; until one soldier whom he had baptised (willing, as I +hope for the sake of that soldier’s soul, to shorten the sufferings of +the good man) struck him dead with his battle-axe. +</p> + +<p> +If Ethelred had had the heart to emulate the courage of this noble archbishop, +he might have done something yet. But he paid the Danes forty-eight thousand +pounds, instead, and gained so little by the cowardly act, that Sweyn soon +afterwards came over to subdue all England. So broken was the attachment of the +English people, by this time, to their incapable King and their forlorn country +which could not protect them, that they welcomed Sweyn on all sides, as a +deliverer. London faithfully stood out, as long as the King was within its +walls; but, when he sneaked away, it also welcomed the Dane. Then, all was +over; and the King took refuge abroad with the Duke of Normandy, who had +already given shelter to the King’s wife, once the Flower of that +country, and to her children. +</p> + +<p> +Still, the English people, in spite of their sad sufferings, could not quite +forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. When Sweyn died suddenly, in +little more than a month after he had been proclaimed King of England, they +generously sent to Ethelred, to say that they would have him for their King +again, ‘if he would only govern them better than he had governed them +before.’ The Unready, instead of coming himself, sent Edward, one of his +sons, to make promises for him. At last, he followed, and the English declared +him King. The Danes declared <span class="smcap">Canute</span>, the son of +Sweyn, King. Thus, direful war began again, and lasted for three years, when +the Unready died. And I know of nothing better that he did, in all his reign of +eight and thirty years. +</p> + +<p> +Was Canute to be King now? Not over the Saxons, they said; they must have <span +class="smcap">Edmund</span>, one of the sons of the Unready, who was surnamed +<span class="smcap">Ironside</span>, because of his strength and stature. +Edmund and Canute thereupon fell to, and fought five battles—O unhappy +England, what a fighting-ground it was!—and then Ironside, who was a big +man, proposed to Canute, who was a little man, that they two should fight it +out in single combat. If Canute had been the big man, he would probably have +said yes, but, being the little man, he decidedly said no. However, he declared +that he was willing to divide the kingdom—to take all that lay north of +Watling Street, as the old Roman military road from Dover to Chester was +called, and to give Ironside all that lay south of it. Most men being weary of +so much bloodshed, this was done. But Canute soon became sole King of England; +for Ironside died suddenly within two months. Some think that he was killed, +and killed by Canute’s orders. No one knows. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE</h2> + +<p> +Canute reigned eighteen years. He was a merciless King at first. After he had +clasped the hands of the Saxon chiefs, in token of the sincerity with which he +swore to be just and good to them in return for their acknowledging him, he +denounced and slew many of them, as well as many relations of the late King. +‘He who brings me the head of one of my enemies,’ he used to say, +‘shall be dearer to me than a brother.’ And he was so severe in +hunting down his enemies, that he must have got together a pretty large family +of these dear brothers. He was strongly inclined to kill <span +class="smcap">Edmund</span> and <span class="smcap">Edward</span>, two +children, sons of poor Ironside; but, being afraid to do so in England, he sent +them over to the King of Sweden, with a request that the King would be so good +as ‘dispose of them.’ If the King of Sweden had been like many, +many other men of that day, he would have had their innocent throats cut; but +he was a kind man, and brought them up tenderly. +</p> + +<p> +Normandy ran much in Canute’s mind. In Normandy were the two children of +the late king—<span class="smcap">Edward</span> and <span +class="smcap">Alfred</span> by name; and their uncle the Duke might one day +claim the crown for them. But the Duke showed so little inclination to do so +now, that he proposed to Canute to marry his sister, the widow of The Unready; +who, being but a showy flower, and caring for nothing so much as becoming a +queen again, left her children and was wedded to him. +</p> + +<p> +Successful and triumphant, assisted by the valour of the English in his foreign +wars, and with little strife to trouble him at home, Canute had a prosperous +reign, and made many improvements. He was a poet and a musician. He grew sorry, +as he grew older, for the blood he had shed at first; and went to Rome in a +Pilgrim’s dress, by way of washing it out. He gave a great deal of money +to foreigners on his journey; but he took it from the English before he +started. On the whole, however, he certainly became a far better man when he +had no opposition to contend with, and was as great a King as England had known +for some time. +</p> + +<p> +The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day disgusted with +his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused his chair to be set on the +sea-shore, and feigned to command the tide as it came up not to wet the edge of +his robe, for the land was his; how the tide came up, of course, without +regarding him; and how he then turned to his flatterers, and rebuked them, +saying, what was the might of any earthly king, to the might of the Creator, +who could say unto the sea, ‘Thus far shalt thou go, and no +farther!’ We may learn from this, I think, that a little sense will go a +long way in a king; and that courtiers are not easily cured of flattery, nor +kings of a liking for it. If the courtiers of Canute had not known, long +before, that the King was fond of flattery, they would have known better than +to offer it in such large doses. And if they had not known that he was vain of +this speech (anything but a wonderful speech it seems to me, if a good child +had made it), they would not have been at such great pains to repeat it. I +fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the King’s chair sinking +in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour with his own wisdom; and the +courtiers pretending to be quite stunned by it! +</p> + +<p> +It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go ‘thus far, and no +farther.’ The great command goes forth to all the kings upon the earth, +and went to Canute in the year one thousand and thirty-five, and stretched him +dead upon his bed. Beside it, stood his Norman wife. Perhaps, as the King +looked his last upon her, he, who had so often thought distrustfully of +Normandy, long ago, thought once more of the two exiled Princes in their +uncle’s court, and of the little favour they could feel for either Danes +or Saxons, and of a rising cloud in Normandy that slowly moved towards England. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR</h2> + +<p> +Canute left three sons, by name <span class="smcap">Sweyn</span>, <span +class="smcap">Harold</span>, and <span class="smcap">Hardicanute</span>; but +his Queen, Emma, once the Flower of Normandy, was the mother of only +Hardicanute. Canute had wished his dominions to be divided between the three, +and had wished Harold to have England; but the Saxon people in the South of +England, headed by a nobleman with great possessions, called the powerful <span +class="smcap">Earl Godwin</span> (who is said to have been originally a poor +cow-boy), opposed this, and desired to have, instead, either Hardicanute, or +one of the two exiled Princes who were over in Normandy. It seemed so certain +that there would be more bloodshed to settle this dispute, that many people +left their homes, and took refuge in the woods and swamps. Happily, however, it +was agreed to refer the whole question to a great meeting at Oxford, which +decided that Harold should have all the country north of the Thames, with +London for his capital city, and that Hardicanute should have all the south. +The quarrel was so arranged; and, as Hardicanute was in Denmark troubling +himself very little about anything but eating and getting drunk, his mother and +Earl Godwin governed the south for him. +</p> + +<p> +They had hardly begun to do so, and the trembling people who had hidden +themselves were scarcely at home again, when Edward, the elder of the two +exiled Princes, came over from Normandy with a few followers, to claim the +English Crown. His mother Emma, however, who only cared for her last son +Hardicanute, instead of assisting him, as he expected, opposed him so strongly +with all her influence that he was very soon glad to get safely back. His +brother Alfred was not so fortunate. Believing in an affectionate letter, +written some time afterwards to him and his brother, in his mother’s name +(but whether really with or without his mother’s knowledge is now +uncertain), he allowed himself to be tempted over to England, with a good force +of soldiers, and landing on the Kentish coast, and being met and welcomed by +Earl Godwin, proceeded into Surrey, as far as the town of Guildford. Here, he +and his men halted in the evening to rest, having still the Earl in their +company; who had ordered lodgings and good cheer for them. But, in the dead of +the night, when they were off their guard, being divided into small parties +sleeping soundly after a long march and a plentiful supper in different houses, +they were set upon by the King’s troops, and taken prisoners. Next +morning they were drawn out in a line, to the number of six hundred men, and +were barbarously tortured and killed; with the exception of every tenth man, +who was sold into slavery. As to the wretched Prince Alfred, he was stripped +naked, tied to a horse and sent away into the Isle of Ely, where his eyes were +torn out of his head, and where in a few days he miserably died. I am not sure +that the Earl had wilfully entrapped him, but I suspect it strongly. +</p> + +<p> +Harold was now King all over England, though it is doubtful whether the +Archbishop of Canterbury (the greater part of the priests were Saxons, and not +friendly to the Danes) ever consented to crown him. Crowned or uncrowned, with +the Archbishop’s leave or without it, he was King for four years: after +which short reign he died, and was buried; having never done much in life but +go a hunting. He was such a fast runner at this, his favourite sport, that the +people called him Harold Harefoot. +</p> + +<p> +Hardicanute was then at Bruges, in Flanders, plotting, with his mother (who had +gone over there after the cruel murder of Prince Alfred), for the invasion of +England. The Danes and Saxons, finding themselves without a King, and dreading +new disputes, made common cause, and joined in inviting him to occupy the +Throne. He consented, and soon troubled them enough; for he brought over +numbers of Danes, and taxed the people so insupportably to enrich those greedy +favourites that there were many insurrections, especially one at Worcester, +where the citizens rose and killed his tax-collectors; in revenge for which he +burned their city. He was a brutal King, whose first public act was to order +the dead body of poor Harold Harefoot to be dug up, beheaded, and thrown into +the river. His end was worthy of such a beginning. He fell down drunk, with a +goblet of wine in his hand, at a wedding-feast at Lambeth, given in honour of +the marriage of his standard-bearer, a Dane named <span class="smcap">Towed the +Proud</span>. And he never spoke again. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Edward</span>, afterwards called by the monks <span +class="smcap">The Confessor</span>, succeeded; and his first act was to oblige +his mother Emma, who had favoured him so little, to retire into the country; +where she died some ten years afterwards. He was the exiled prince whose +brother Alfred had been so foully killed. He had been invited over from +Normandy by Hardicanute, in the course of his short reign of two years, and had +been handsomely treated at court. His cause was now favoured by the powerful +Earl Godwin, and he was soon made King. This Earl had been suspected by the +people, ever since Prince Alfred’s cruel death; he had even been tried in +the last reign for the Prince’s murder, but had been pronounced not +guilty; chiefly, as it was supposed, because of a present he had made to the +swinish King, of a gilded ship with a figure-head of solid gold, and a crew of +eighty splendidly armed men. It was his interest to help the new King with his +power, if the new King would help him against the popular distrust and hatred. +So they made a bargain. Edward the Confessor got the Throne. The Earl got more +power and more land, and his daughter Editha was made queen; for it was a part +of their compact that the King should take her for his wife. +</p> + +<p> +But, although she was a gentle lady, in all things worthy to be +beloved—good, beautiful, sensible, and kind—the King from the first +neglected her. Her father and her six proud brothers, resenting this cold +treatment, harassed the King greatly by exerting all their power to make him +unpopular. Having lived so long in Normandy, he preferred the Normans to the +English. He made a Norman Archbishop, and Norman Bishops; his great officers +and favourites were all Normans; he introduced the Norman fashions and the +Norman language; in imitation of the state custom of Normandy, he attached a +great seal to his state documents, instead of merely marking them, as the Saxon +Kings had done, with the sign of the cross—just as poor people who have +never been taught to write, now make the same mark for their names. All this, +the powerful Earl Godwin and his six proud sons represented to the people as +disfavour shown towards the English; and thus they daily increased their own +power, and daily diminished the power of the King. +</p> + +<p> +They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned eight +years. Eustace, Earl of Bologne, who had married the King’s sister, came +to England on a visit. After staying at the court some time, he set forth, with +his numerous train of attendants, to return home. They were to embark at Dover. +Entering that peaceful town in armour, they took possession of the best houses, +and noisily demanded to be lodged and entertained without payment. One of the +bold men of Dover, who would not endure to have these domineering strangers +jingling their heavy swords and iron corselets up and down his house, eating +his meat and drinking his strong liquor, stood in his doorway and refused +admission to the first armed man who came there. The armed man drew, and +wounded him. The man of Dover struck the armed man dead. Intelligence of what +he had done, spreading through the streets to where the Count Eustace and his +men were standing by their horses, bridle in hand, they passionately mounted, +galloped to the house, surrounded it, forced their way in (the doors and +windows being closed when they came up), and killed the man of Dover at his own +fireside. They then clattered through the streets, cutting down and riding over +men, women, and children. This did not last long, you may believe. The men of +Dover set upon them with great fury, killed nineteen of the foreigners, wounded +many more, and, blockading the road to the port so that they should not embark, +beat them out of the town by the way they had come. Hereupon, Count Eustace +rides as hard as man can ride to Gloucester, where Edward is, surrounded by +Norman monks and Norman lords. ‘Justice!’ cries the Count, +‘upon the men of Dover, who have set upon and slain my people!’ The +King sends immediately for the powerful Earl Godwin, who happens to be near; +reminds him that Dover is under his government; and orders him to repair to +Dover and do military execution on the inhabitants. ‘It does not become +you,’ says the proud Earl in reply, ‘to condemn without a hearing +those whom you have sworn to protect. I will not do it.’ +</p> + +<p> +The King, therefore, summoned the Earl, on pain of banishment and loss of his +titles and property, to appear before the court to answer this disobedience. +The Earl refused to appear. He, his eldest son Harold, and his second son +Sweyn, hastily raised as many fighting men as their utmost power could collect, +and demanded to have Count Eustace and his followers surrendered to the justice +of the country. The King, in his turn, refused to give them up, and raised a +strong force. After some treaty and delay, the troops of the great Earl and his +sons began to fall off. The Earl, with a part of his family and abundance of +treasure, sailed to Flanders; Harold escaped to Ireland; and the power of the +great family was for that time gone in England. But, the people did not forget +them. +</p> + +<p> +Then, Edward the Confessor, with the true meanness of a mean spirit, visited +his dislike of the once powerful father and sons upon the helpless daughter and +sister, his unoffending wife, whom all who saw her (her husband and his monks +excepted) loved. He seized rapaciously upon her fortune and her jewels, and +allowing her only one attendant, confined her in a gloomy convent, of which a +sister of his—no doubt an unpleasant lady after his own heart—was +abbess or jailer. +</p> + +<p> +Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way, the King favoured +the Normans more than ever. He invited over <span class="smcap">William</span>, +<span class="smcap">Duke Of Normandy</span>, the son of that Duke who had +received him and his murdered brother long ago, and of a peasant girl, a +tanner’s daughter, with whom that Duke had fallen in love for her beauty +as he saw her washing clothes in a brook. William, who was a great warrior, +with a passion for fine horses, dogs, and arms, accepted the invitation; and +the Normans in England, finding themselves more numerous than ever when he +arrived with his retinue, and held in still greater honour at court than +before, became more and more haughty towards the people, and were more and more +disliked by them. +</p> + +<p> +The old Earl Godwin, though he was abroad, knew well how the people felt; for, +with part of the treasure he had carried away with him, he kept spies and +agents in his pay all over England. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, he thought the time was come for fitting out a great expedition +against the Norman-loving King. With it, he sailed to the Isle of Wight, where +he was joined by his son Harold, the most gallant and brave of all his family. +And so the father and son came sailing up the Thames to Southwark; great +numbers of the people declaring for them, and shouting for the English Earl and +the English Harold, against the Norman favourites! +</p> + +<p> +The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have been +whensoever they have been in the hands of monks. But the people rallied so +thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the old Earl was so steady in +demanding without bloodshed the restoration of himself and his family to their +rights, that at last the court took the alarm. The Norman Archbishop of +Canterbury, and the Norman Bishop of London, surrounded by their retainers, +fought their way out of London, and escaped from Essex to France in a +fishing-boat. The other Norman favourites dispersed in all directions. The old +Earl and his sons (except Sweyn, who had committed crimes against the law) were +restored to their possessions and dignities. Editha, the virtuous and lovely +Queen of the insensible King, was triumphantly released from her prison, the +convent, and once more sat in her chair of state, arrayed in the jewels of +which, when she had no champion to support her rights, her cold-blooded husband +had deprived her. +</p> + +<p> +The old Earl Godwin did not long enjoy his restored fortune. He fell down in a +fit at the King’s table, and died upon the third day afterwards. Harold +succeeded to his power, and to a far higher place in the attachment of the +people than his father had ever held. By his valour he subdued the King’s +enemies in many bloody fights. He was vigorous against rebels in +Scotland—this was the time when Macbeth slew Duncan, upon which event our +English Shakespeare, hundreds of years afterwards, wrote his great tragedy; and +he killed the restless Welsh King <span class="smcap">Griffith</span>, and +brought his head to England. +</p> + +<p> +What Harold was doing at sea, when he was driven on the French coast by a +tempest, is not at all certain; nor does it at all matter. That his ship was +forced by a storm on that shore, and that he was taken prisoner, there is no +doubt. In those barbarous days, all shipwrecked strangers were taken prisoners, +and obliged to pay ransom. So, a certain Count Guy, who was the Lord of +Ponthieu where Harold’s disaster happened, seized him, instead of +relieving him like a hospitable and Christian lord as he ought to have done, +and expected to make a very good thing of it. +</p> + +<p> +But Harold sent off immediately to Duke William of Normandy, complaining of +this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than he ordered Harold to be +escorted to the ancient town of Rouen, where he then was, and where he received +him as an honoured guest. Now, some writers tell us that Edward the Confessor, +who was by this time old and had no children, had made a will, appointing Duke +William of Normandy his successor, and had informed the Duke of his having done +so. There is no doubt that he was anxious about his successor; because he had +even invited over, from abroad, <span class="smcap">Edward the Outlaw</span>, a +son of Ironside, who had come to England with his wife and three children, but +whom the King had strangely refused to see when he did come, and who had died +in London suddenly (princes were terribly liable to sudden death in those +days), and had been buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The King might +possibly have made such a will; or, having always been fond of the Normans, he +might have encouraged Norman William to aspire to the English crown, by +something that he said to him when he was staying at the English court. But, +certainly William did now aspire to it; and knowing that Harold would be a +powerful rival, he called together a great assembly of his nobles, offered +Harold his daughter <span class="smcap">Adele</span> in marriage, informed him +that he meant on King Edward’s death to claim the English crown as his +own inheritance, and required Harold then and there to swear to aid him. +Harold, being in the Duke’s power, took this oath upon the Missal, or +Prayer-book. It is a good example of the superstitions of the monks, that this +Missal, instead of being placed upon a table, was placed upon a tub; which, +when Harold had sworn, was uncovered, and shown to be full of dead men’s +bones—bones, as the monks pretended, of saints. This was supposed to make +Harold’s oath a great deal more impressive and binding. As if the great +name of the Creator of Heaven and earth could be made more solemn by a +knuckle-bone, or a double-tooth, or a finger-nail, of Dunstan! +</p> + +<p> +Within a week or two after Harold’s return to England, the dreary old +Confessor was found to be dying. After wandering in his mind like a very weak +old man, he died. As he had put himself entirely in the hands of the monks when +he was alive, they praised him lustily when he was dead. They had gone so far, +already, as to persuade him that he could work miracles; and had brought people +afflicted with a bad disorder of the skin, to him, to be touched and cured. +This was called ‘touching for the King’s Evil,’ which +afterwards became a royal custom. You know, however, Who really touched the +sick, and healed them; and you know His sacred name is not among the dusty line +of human kings. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE NORMANS</h2> + +<p> +Harold was crowned King of England on the very day of the maudlin +Confessor’s funeral. He had good need to be quick about it. When the news +reached Norman William, hunting in his park at Rouen, he dropped his bow, +returned to his palace, called his nobles to council, and presently sent +ambassadors to Harold, calling on him to keep his oath and resign the Crown. +Harold would do no such thing. The barons of France leagued together round Duke +William for the invasion of England. Duke William promised freely to distribute +English wealth and English lands among them. The Pope sent to Normandy a +consecrated banner, and a ring containing a hair which he warranted to have +grown on the head of Saint Peter. He blessed the enterprise; and cursed Harold; +and requested that the Normans would pay ‘Peter’s +Pence’—or a tax to himself of a penny a year on every house—a +little more regularly in future, if they could make it convenient. +</p> + +<p> +King Harold had a rebel brother in Flanders, who was a vassal of <span +class="smcap">Harold Hardrada</span>, King of Norway. This brother, and this +Norwegian King, joining their forces against England, with Duke William’s +help, won a fight in which the English were commanded by two nobles; and then +besieged York. Harold, who was waiting for the Normans on the coast at +Hastings, with his army, marched to Stamford Bridge upon the river Derwent to +give them instant battle. +</p> + +<p> +He found them drawn up in a hollow circle, marked out by their shining spears. +Riding round this circle at a distance, to survey it, he saw a brave figure on +horseback, in a blue mantle and a bright helmet, whose horse suddenly stumbled +and threw him. +</p> + +<p> +‘Who is that man who has fallen?’ Harold asked of one of his +captains. +</p> + +<p> +‘The King of Norway,’ he replied. +</p> + +<p> +‘He is a tall and stately king,’ said Harold, ‘but his end is +near.’ +</p> + +<p> +He added, in a little while, ‘Go yonder to my brother, and tell him, if +he withdraw his troops, he shall be Earl of Northumberland, and rich and +powerful in England.’ +</p> + +<p> +The captain rode away and gave the message. +</p> + +<p> +‘What will he give to my friend the King of Norway?’ asked the +brother. +</p> + +<p> +‘Seven feet of earth for a grave,’ replied the captain. +</p> + +<p> +‘No more?’ returned the brother, with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +‘The King of Norway being a tall man, perhaps a little more,’ +replied the captain. +</p> + +<p> +‘Ride back!’ said the brother, ‘and tell King Harold to make +ready for the fight!’ +</p> + +<p> +He did so, very soon. And such a fight King Harold led against that force, that +his brother, and the Norwegian King, and every chief of note in all their host, +except the Norwegian King’s son, Olave, to whom he gave honourable +dismissal, were left dead upon the field. The victorious army marched to York. +As King Harold sat there at the feast, in the midst of all his company, a stir +was heard at the doors; and messengers all covered with mire from riding far +and fast through broken ground came hurrying in, to report that the Normans had +landed in England. +</p> + +<p> +The intelligence was true. They had been tossed about by contrary winds, and +some of their ships had been wrecked. A part of their own shore, to which they +had been driven back, was strewn with Norman bodies. But they had once more +made sail, led by the Duke’s own galley, a present from his wife, upon +the prow whereof the figure of a golden boy stood pointing towards England. By +day, the banner of the three Lions of Normandy, the diverse coloured sails, the +gilded vanes, the many decorations of this gorgeous ship, had glittered in the +sun and sunny water; by night, a light had sparkled like a star at her +mast-head. And now, encamped near Hastings, with their leader lying in the old +Roman castle of Pevensey, the English retiring in all directions, the land for +miles around scorched and smoking, fired and pillaged, was the whole Norman +power, hopeful and strong on English ground. +</p> + +<p> +Harold broke up the feast and hurried to London. Within a week, his army was +ready. He sent out spies to ascertain the Norman strength. William took them, +caused them to be led through his whole camp, and then dismissed. ‘The +Normans,’ said these spies to Harold, ‘are not bearded on the upper +lip as we English are, but are shorn. They are priests.’ ‘My +men,’ replied Harold, with a laugh, ‘will find those priests good +soldiers!’ +</p> + +<p> +‘The Saxons,’ reported Duke William’s outposts of Norman +soldiers, who were instructed to retire as King Harold’s army advanced, +‘rush on us through their pillaged country with the fury of +madmen.’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Let them come, and come soon!’ said Duke William. +</p> + +<p> +Some proposals for a reconciliation were made, but were soon abandoned. In the +middle of the month of October, in the year one thousand and sixty-six, the +Normans and the English came front to front. All night the armies lay encamped +before each other, in a part of the country then called Senlac, now called (in +remembrance of them) Battle. With the first dawn of day, they arose. There, in +the faint light, were the English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their +midst, the Royal banner, representing a fighting warrior, woven in gold thread, +adorned with precious stones; beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, +stood King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his side; +around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole English +army—every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his hand his +dreaded English battle-axe. +</p> + +<p> +On an opposite hill, in three lines, archers, foot-soldiers, horsemen, was the +Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle-cry, ‘God help us!’ burst +from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own battle-cry, +‘God’s Rood! Holy Rood!’ The Normans then came sweeping down +the hill to attack the English. +</p> + +<p> +There was one tall Norman Knight who rode before the Norman army on a prancing +horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and singing of the bravery +of his countrymen. An English Knight, who rode out from the English force to +meet him, fell by this Knight’s hand. Another English Knight rode out, +and he fell too. But then a third rode out, and killed the Norman. This was in +the first beginning of the fight. It soon raged everywhere. +</p> + +<p> +The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for the +showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman rain. When the +Norman horsemen rode against them, with their battle-axes they cut men and +horses down. The Normans gave way. The English pressed forward. A cry went +forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was killed. Duke William took +off his helmet, in order that his face might be distinctly seen, and rode along +the line before his men. This gave them courage. As they turned again to face +the English, some of their Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the +English from the rest, and thus all that foremost portion of the English army +fell, fighting bravely. The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the +Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down the crowds of horsemen +when they rode up, like forests of young trees,—Duke William pretended to +retreat. The eager English followed. The Norman army closed again, and fell +upon them with great slaughter. +</p> + +<p> +‘Still,’ said Duke William, ‘there are thousands of the +English, firm as rocks around their King. Shoot upward, Norman archers, that +your arrows may fall down upon their faces!’ +</p> + +<p> +The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through all the wild +October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. In the red sunset, and in +the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men lay strewn, a dreadful +spectacle, all over the ground. +</p> + +<p> +King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His brothers +were already killed. Twenty Norman Knights, whose battered armour had flashed +fiery and golden in the sunshine all day long, and now looked silvery in the +moonlight, dashed forward to seize the Royal banner from the English Knights +and soldiers, still faithfully collected round their blinded King. The King +received a mortal wound, and dropped. The English broke and fled. The Normans +rallied, and the day was lost. +</p> + +<p> +O what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining in the tent +of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the spot where Harold +fell—and he and his knights were carousing, within—and soldiers +with torches, going slowly to and fro, without, sought for the corpse of Harold +among piles of dead—and the Warrior, worked in golden thread and precious +stones, lay low, all torn and soiled with blood—and the three Norman +Lions kept watch over the field! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR</h2> + +<p> +Upon the ground where the brave Harold fell, William the Norman afterwards +founded an abbey, which, under the name of Battle Abbey, was a rich and +splendid place through many a troubled year, though now it is a grey ruin +overgrown with ivy. But the first work he had to do, was to conquer the English +thoroughly; and that, as you know by this time, was hard work for any man. +</p> + +<p> +He ravaged several counties; he burned and plundered many towns; he laid waste +scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country; he destroyed innumerable +lives. At length <span class="smcap">Stigand</span>, Archbishop of Canterbury, +with other representatives of the clergy and the people, went to his camp, and +submitted to him. <span class="smcap">Edgar</span>, the insignificant son of +Edmund Ironside, was proclaimed King by others, but nothing came of it. He fled +to Scotland afterwards, where his sister, who was young and beautiful, married +the Scottish King. Edgar himself was not important enough for anybody to care +much about him. +</p> + +<p> +On Christmas Day, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, under the title of +<span class="smcap">William the First</span>; but he is best known as <span +class="smcap">William the Conqueror</span>. It was a strange coronation. One of +the bishops who performed the ceremony asked the Normans, in French, if they +would have Duke William for their king? They answered Yes. Another of the +bishops put the same question to the Saxons, in English. They too answered Yes, +with a loud shout. The noise being heard by a guard of Norman horse-soldiers +outside, was mistaken for resistance on the part of the English. The guard +instantly set fire to the neighbouring houses, and a tumult ensued; in the +midst of which the King, being left alone in the Abbey, with a few priests (and +they all being in a terrible fright together), was hurriedly crowned. When the +crown was placed upon his head, he swore to govern the English as well as the +best of their own monarchs. I dare say you think, as I do, that if we except +the Great Alfred, he might pretty easily have done that. +</p> + +<p> +Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last disastrous battle. +Their estates, and the estates of all the nobles who had fought against him +there, King William seized upon, and gave to his own Norman knights and nobles. +Many great English families of the present time acquired their English lands in +this way, and are very proud of it. +</p> + +<p> +But what is got by force must be maintained by force. These nobles were obliged +to build castles all over England, to defend their new property; and, do what +he would, the King could neither soothe nor quell the nation as he wished. He +gradually introduced the Norman language and the Norman customs; yet, for a +long time the great body of the English remained sullen and revengeful. On his +going over to Normandy, to visit his subjects there, the oppressions of his +half-brother <span class="smcap">Odo</span>, whom he left in charge of his +English kingdom, drove the people mad. The men of Kent even invited over, to +take possession of Dover, their old enemy Count Eustace of Boulogne, who had +led the fray when the Dover man was slain at his own fireside. The men of +Hereford, aided by the Welsh, and commanded by a chief named <span +class="smcap">Edric the Wild</span>, drove the Normans out of their country. +Some of those who had been dispossessed of their lands, banded together in the +North of England; some, in Scotland; some, in the thick woods and marshes; and +whensoever they could fall upon the Normans, or upon the English who had +submitted to the Normans, they fought, despoiled, and murdered, like the +desperate outlaws that they were. Conspiracies were set on foot for a general +massacre of the Normans, like the old massacre of the Danes. In short, the +English were in a murderous mood all through the kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +King William, fearing he might lose his conquest, came back, and tried to +pacify the London people by soft words. He then set forth to repress the +country people by stern deeds. Among the towns which he besieged, and where he +killed and maimed the inhabitants without any distinction, sparing none, young +or old, armed or unarmed, were Oxford, Warwick, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, +Lincoln, York. In all these places, and in many others, fire and sword worked +their utmost horrors, and made the land dreadful to behold. The streams and +rivers were discoloured with blood; the sky was blackened with smoke; the +fields were wastes of ashes; the waysides were heaped up with dead. Such are +the fatal results of conquest and ambition! Although William was a harsh and +angry man, I do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this shocking +ruin, when he invaded England. But what he had got by the strong hand, he could +only keep by the strong hand, and in so doing he made England a great grave. +</p> + +<p> +Two sons of Harold, by name <span class="smcap">Edmund</span> and <span +class="smcap">Godwin</span>, came over from Ireland, with some ships, against +the Normans, but were defeated. This was scarcely done, when the outlaws in the +woods so harassed York, that the Governor sent to the King for help. The King +despatched a general and a large force to occupy the town of Durham. The Bishop +of that place met the general outside the town, and warned him not to enter, as +he would be in danger there. The general cared nothing for the warning, and +went in with all his men. That night, on every hill within sight of Durham, +signal fires were seen to blaze. When the morning dawned, the English, who had +assembled in great strength, forced the gates, rushed into the town, and slew +the Normans every one. The English afterwards besought the Danes to come and +help them. The Danes came, with two hundred and forty ships. The outlawed +nobles joined them; they captured York, and drove the Normans out of that city. +Then, William bribed the Danes to go away; and took such vengeance on the +English, that all the former fire and sword, smoke and ashes, death and ruin, +were nothing compared with it. In melancholy songs, and doleful stories, it was +still sung and told by cottage fires on winter evenings, a hundred years +afterwards, how, in those dreadful days of the Normans, there was not, from the +River Humber to the River Tyne, one inhabited village left, nor one cultivated +field—how there was nothing but a dismal ruin, where the human creatures +and the beasts lay dead together. +</p> + +<p> +The outlaws had, at this time, what they called a Camp of Refuge, in the midst +of the fens of Cambridgeshire. Protected by those marshy grounds which were +difficult of approach, they lay among the reeds and rushes, and were hidden by +the mists that rose up from the watery earth. Now, there also was, at that +time, over the sea in Flanders, an Englishman named <span +class="smcap">Hereward</span>, whose father had died in his absence, and whose +property had been given to a Norman. When he heard of this wrong that had been +done him (from such of the exiled English as chanced to wander into that +country), he longed for revenge; and joining the outlaws in their camp of +refuge, became their commander. He was so good a soldier, that the Normans +supposed him to be aided by enchantment. William, even after he had made a road +three miles in length across the Cambridgeshire marshes, on purpose to attack +this supposed enchanter, thought it necessary to engage an old lady, who +pretended to be a sorceress, to come and do a little enchantment in the royal +cause. For this purpose she was pushed on before the troops in a wooden tower; +but Hereward very soon disposed of this unfortunate sorceress, by burning her, +tower and all. The monks of the convent of Ely near at hand, however, who were +fond of good living, and who found it very uncomfortable to have the country +blockaded and their supplies of meat and drink cut off, showed the King a +secret way of surprising the camp. So Hereward was soon defeated. Whether he +afterwards died quietly, or whether he was killed after killing sixteen of the +men who attacked him (as some old rhymes relate that he did), I cannot say. His +defeat put an end to the Camp of Refuge; and, very soon afterwards, the King, +victorious both in Scotland and in England, quelled the last rebellious English +noble. He then surrounded himself with Norman lords, enriched by the property +of English nobles; had a great survey made of all the land in England, which +was entered as the property of its new owners, on a roll called Doomsday Book; +obliged the people to put out their fires and candles at a certain hour every +night, on the ringing of a bell which was called The Curfew; introduced the +Norman dresses and manners; made the Normans masters everywhere, and the +English, servants; turned out the English bishops, and put Normans in their +places; and showed himself to be the Conqueror indeed. +</p> + +<p> +But, even with his own Normans, he had a restless life. They were always +hungering and thirsting for the riches of the English; and the more he gave, +the more they wanted. His priests were as greedy as his soldiers. We know of +only one Norman who plainly told his master, the King, that he had come with +him to England to do his duty as a faithful servant, and that property taken by +force from other men had no charms for him. His name was <span +class="smcap">Guilbert</span>. We should not forget his name, for it is good to +remember and to honour honest men. +</p> + +<p> +Besides all these troubles, William the Conqueror was troubled by quarrels +among his sons. He had three living. <span class="smcap">Robert</span>, called +<span class="smcap">Curthose</span>, because of his short legs; <span +class="smcap">William</span>, called <span class="smcap">Rufus</span> or the +Red, from the colour of his hair; and <span class="smcap">Henry</span>, fond of +learning, and called, in the Norman language, <span +class="smcap">Beauclerc</span>, or Fine-Scholar. When Robert grew up, he asked +of his father the government of Normandy, which he had nominally possessed, as +a child, under his mother, <span class="smcap">Matilda</span>. The King +refusing to grant it, Robert became jealous and discontented; and happening one +day, while in this temper, to be ridiculed by his brothers, who threw water on +him from a balcony as he was walking before the door, he drew his sword, rushed +up-stairs, and was only prevented by the King himself from putting them to +death. That same night, he hotly departed with some followers from his +father’s court, and endeavoured to take the Castle of Rouen by surprise. +Failing in this, he shut himself up in another Castle in Normandy, which the +King besieged, and where Robert one day unhorsed and nearly killed him without +knowing who he was. His submission when he discovered his father, and the +intercession of the queen and others, reconciled them; but not soundly; for +Robert soon strayed abroad, and went from court to court with his complaints. +He was a gay, careless, thoughtless fellow, spending all he got on musicians +and dancers; but his mother loved him, and often, against the King’s +command, supplied him with money through a messenger named <span +class="smcap">Samson</span>. At length the incensed King swore he would tear +out Samson’s eyes; and Samson, thinking that his only hope of safety was +in becoming a monk, became one, went on such errands no more, and kept his eyes +in his head. +</p> + +<p> +All this time, from the turbulent day of his strange coronation, the Conqueror +had been struggling, you see, at any cost of cruelty and bloodshed, to maintain +what he had seized. All his reign, he struggled still, with the same object +ever before him. He was a stern, bold man, and he succeeded in it. +</p> + +<p> +He loved money, and was particular in his eating, but he had only leisure to +indulge one other passion, and that was his love of hunting. He carried it to +such a height that he ordered whole villages and towns to be swept away to make +forests for the deer. Not satisfied with sixty-eight Royal Forests, he laid +waste an immense district, to form another in Hampshire, called the New Forest. +The many thousands of miserable peasants who saw their little houses pulled +down, and themselves and children turned into the open country without a +shelter, detested him for his merciless addition to their many sufferings; and +when, in the twenty-first year of his reign (which proved to be the last), he +went over to Rouen, England was as full of hatred against him, as if every leaf +on every tree in all his Royal Forests had been a curse upon his head. In the +New Forest, his son Richard (for he had four sons) had been gored to death by a +Stag; and the people said that this so cruelly-made Forest would yet be fatal +to others of the Conqueror’s race. +</p> + +<p> +He was engaged in a dispute with the King of France about some territory. While +he stayed at Rouen, negotiating with that King, he kept his bed and took +medicines: being advised by his physicians to do so, on account of having grown +to an unwieldy size. Word being brought to him that the King of France made +light of this, and joked about it, he swore in a great rage that he should rue +his jests. He assembled his army, marched into the disputed territory, +burnt—his old way!—the vines, the crops, and fruit, and set the +town of Mantes on fire. But, in an evil hour; for, as he rode over the hot +ruins, his horse, setting his hoofs upon some burning embers, started, threw +him forward against the pommel of the saddle, and gave him a mortal hurt. For +six weeks he lay dying in a monastery near Rouen, and then made his will, +giving England to William, Normandy to Robert, and five thousand pounds to +Henry. And now, his violent deeds lay heavy on his mind. He ordered money to be +given to many English churches and monasteries, and—which was much better +repentance—released his prisoners of state, some of whom had been +confined in his dungeons twenty years. +</p> + +<p> +It was a September morning, and the sun was rising, when the King was awakened +from slumber by the sound of a church bell. ‘What bell is that?’ he +faintly asked. They told him it was the bell of the chapel of Saint Mary. +‘I commend my soul,’ said he, ‘to Mary!’ and died. +</p> + +<p> +Think of his name, The Conqueror, and then consider how he lay in death! The +moment he was dead, his physicians, priests, and nobles, not knowing what +contest for the throne might now take place, or what might happen in it, +hastened away, each man for himself and his own property; the mercenary +servants of the court began to rob and plunder; the body of the King, in the +indecent strife, was rolled from the bed, and lay alone, for hours, upon the +ground. O Conqueror, of whom so many great names are proud now, of whom so many +great names thought nothing then, it were better to have conquered one true +heart, than England! +</p> + +<p> +By-and-by, the priests came creeping in with prayers and candles; and a good +knight, named <span class="smcap">Herluin</span>, undertook (which no one else +would do) to convey the body to Caen, in Normandy, in order that it might be +buried in St. Stephen’s church there, which the Conqueror had founded. +But fire, of which he had made such bad use in his life, seemed to follow him +of itself in death. A great conflagration broke out in the town when the body +was placed in the church; and those present running out to extinguish the +flames, it was once again left alone. +</p> + +<p> +It was not even buried in peace. It was about to be let down, in its Royal +robes, into a tomb near the high altar, in presence of a great concourse of +people, when a loud voice in the crowd cried out, ‘This ground is mine! +Upon it, stood my father’s house. This King despoiled me of both ground +and house to build this church. In the great name of <span +class="smcap">God</span>, I here forbid his body to be covered with the earth +that is my right!’ The priests and bishops present, knowing the +speaker’s right, and knowing that the King had often denied him justice, +paid him down sixty shillings for the grave. Even then, the corpse was not at +rest. The tomb was too small, and they tried to force it in. It broke, a +dreadful smell arose, the people hurried out into the air, and, for the third +time, it was left alone. +</p> + +<p> +Where were the Conqueror’s three sons, that they were not at their +father’s burial? Robert was lounging among minstrels, dancers, and +gamesters, in France or Germany. Henry was carrying his five thousand pounds +safely away in a convenient chest he had got made. William the Red was hurrying +to England, to lay hands upon the Royal treasure and the crown. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS</h2> + +<p> +William the Red, in breathless haste, secured the three great forts of Dover, +Pevensey, and Hastings, and made with hot speed for Winchester, where the Royal +treasure was kept. The treasurer delivering him the keys, he found that it +amounted to sixty thousand pounds in silver, besides gold and jewels. Possessed +of this wealth, he soon persuaded the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown him, +and became William the Second, King of England. +</p> + +<p> +Rufus was no sooner on the throne, than he ordered into prison again the +unhappy state captives whom his father had set free, and directed a goldsmith +to ornament his father’s tomb profusely with gold and silver. It would +have been more dutiful in him to have attended the sick Conqueror when he was +dying; but England itself, like this Red King, who once governed it, has +sometimes made expensive tombs for dead men whom it treated shabbily when they +were alive. +</p> + +<p> +The King’s brother, Robert of Normandy, seeming quite content to be only +Duke of that country; and the King’s other brother, Fine-Scholar, being +quiet enough with his five thousand pounds in a chest; the King flattered +himself, we may suppose, with the hope of an easy reign. But easy reigns were +difficult to have in those days. The turbulent Bishop <span +class="smcap">Odo</span> (who had blessed the Norman army at the Battle of +Hastings, and who, I dare say, took all the credit of the victory to himself) +soon began, in concert with some powerful Norman nobles, to trouble the Red +King. +</p> + +<p> +The truth seems to be that this bishop and his friends, who had lands in +England and lands in Normandy, wished to hold both under one Sovereign; and +greatly preferred a thoughtless good-natured person, such as Robert was, to +Rufus; who, though far from being an amiable man in any respect, was keen, and +not to be imposed upon. They declared in Robert’s favour, and retired to +their castles (those castles were very troublesome to kings) in a sullen +humour. The Red King, seeing the Normans thus falling from him, revenged +himself upon them by appealing to the English; to whom he made a variety of +promises, which he never meant to perform—in particular, promises to +soften the cruelty of the Forest Laws; and who, in return, so aided him with +their valour, that <span class="smcap">Odo</span> was besieged in the Castle of +Rochester, and forced to abandon it, and to depart from England for ever: +whereupon the other rebellious Norman nobles were soon reduced and scattered. +</p> + +<p> +Then, the Red King went over to Normandy, where the people suffered greatly +under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The King’s object was to seize upon +the Duke’s dominions. This, the Duke, of course, prepared to resist; and +miserable war between the two brothers seemed inevitable, when the powerful +nobles on both sides, who had seen so much of war, interfered to prevent it. A +treaty was made. Each of the two brothers agreed to give up something of his +claims, and that the longer-liver of the two should inherit all the dominions +of the other. When they had come to this loving understanding, they embraced +and joined their forces against Fine-Scholar; who had bought some territory of +Robert with a part of his five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous +individual in consequence. +</p> + +<p> +St. Michael’s Mount, in Normandy (there is another St. Michael’s +Mount, in Cornwall, wonderfully like it), was then, as it is now, a strong +place perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide is in, +the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland. In this place, Fine-Scholar +shut himself up with his soldiers, and here he was closely besieged by his two +brothers. At one time, when he was reduced to great distress for want of water, +the generous Robert not only permitted his men to get water, but sent +Fine-Scholar wine from his own table; and, on being remonstrated with by the +Red King, said ‘What! shall we let our own brother die of thirst? Where +shall we get another, when he is gone?’ At another time, the Red King +riding alone on the shore of the bay, looking up at the Castle, was taken by +two of Fine-Scholar’s men, one of whom was about to kill him, when he +cried out, ‘Hold, knave! I am the King of England!’ The story says +that the soldier raised him from the ground respectfully and humbly, and that +the King took him into his service. The story may or may not be true; but at +any rate it is true that Fine-Scholar could not hold out against his united +brothers, and that he abandoned Mount St. Michael, and wandered about—as +poor and forlorn as other scholars have been sometimes known to be. +</p> + +<p> +The Scotch became unquiet in the Red King’s time, and were twice +defeated—the second time, with the loss of their King, Malcolm, and his +son. The Welsh became unquiet too. Against them, Rufus was less successful; for +they fought among their native mountains, and did great execution on the +King’s troops. Robert of Normandy became unquiet too; and, complaining +that his brother the King did not faithfully perform his part of their +agreement, took up arms, and obtained assistance from the King of France, whom +Rufus, in the end, bought off with vast sums of money. England became unquiet +too. Lord Mowbray, the powerful Earl of Northumberland, headed a great +conspiracy to depose the King, and to place upon the throne, <span +class="smcap">Stephen</span>, the Conqueror’s near relative. The plot was +discovered; all the chief conspirators were seized; some were fined, some were +put in prison, some were put to death. The Earl of Northumberland himself was +shut up in a dungeon beneath Windsor Castle, where he died, an old man, thirty +long years afterwards. The Priests in England were more unquiet than any other +class or power; for the Red King treated them with such small ceremony that he +refused to appoint new bishops or archbishops when the old ones died, but kept +all the wealth belonging to those offices in his own hands. In return for this, +the Priests wrote his life when he was dead, and abused him well. I am inclined +to think, myself, that there was little to choose between the Priests and the +Red King; that both sides were greedy and designing; and that they were fairly +matched. +</p> + +<p> +The Red King was false of heart, selfish, covetous, and mean. He had a worthy +minister in his favourite, Ralph, nicknamed—for almost every famous +person had a nickname in those rough days—Flambard, or the Firebrand. +Once, the King being ill, became penitent, and made <span +class="smcap">Anselm</span>, a foreign priest and a good man, Archbishop of +Canterbury. But he no sooner got well again than he repented of his repentance, +and persisted in wrongfully keeping to himself some of the wealth belonging to +the archbishopric. This led to violent disputes, which were aggravated by there +being in Rome at that time two rival Popes; each of whom declared he was the +only real original infallible Pope, who couldn’t make a mistake. At last, +Anselm, knowing the Red King’s character, and not feeling himself safe in +England, asked leave to return abroad. The Red King gladly gave it; for he knew +that as soon as Anselm was gone, he could begin to store up all the Canterbury +money again, for his own use. +</p> + +<p> +By such means, and by taxing and oppressing the English people in every +possible way, the Red King became very rich. When he wanted money for any +purpose, he raised it by some means or other, and cared nothing for the +injustice he did, or the misery he caused. Having the opportunity of buying +from Robert the whole duchy of Normandy for five years, he taxed the English +people more than ever, and made the very convents sell their plate and +valuables to supply him with the means to make the purchase. But he was as +quick and eager in putting down revolt as he was in raising money; for, a part +of the Norman people objecting—very naturally, I think—to being +sold in this way, he headed an army against them with all the speed and energy +of his father. He was so impatient, that he embarked for Normandy in a great +gale of wind. And when the sailors told him it was dangerous to go to sea in +such angry weather, he replied, ‘Hoist sail and away! Did you ever hear +of a king who was drowned?’ +</p> + +<p> +You will wonder how it was that even the careless Robert came to sell his +dominions. It happened thus. It had long been the custom for many English +people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were called pilgrimages, in order +that they might pray beside the tomb of Our Saviour there. Jerusalem belonging +to the Turks, and the Turks hating Christianity, these Christian travellers +were often insulted and ill used. The Pilgrims bore it patiently for some time, +but at length a remarkable man, of great earnestness and eloquence, called +<span class="smcap">Peter the Hermit</span>, began to preach in various places +against the Turks, and to declare that it was the duty of good Christians to +drive away those unbelievers from the tomb of Our Saviour, and to take +possession of it, and protect it. An excitement such as the world had never +known before was created. Thousands and thousands of men of all ranks and +conditions departed for Jerusalem to make war against the Turks. The war is +called in history the first Crusade, and every Crusader wore a cross marked on +his right shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +All the Crusaders were not zealous Christians. Among them were vast numbers of +the restless, idle, profligate, and adventurous spirit of the time. Some became +Crusaders for the love of change; some, in the hope of plunder; some, because +they had nothing to do at home; some, because they did what the priests told +them; some, because they liked to see foreign countries; some, because they +were fond of knocking men about, and would as soon knock a Turk about as a +Christian. Robert of Normandy may have been influenced by all these motives; +and by a kind desire, besides, to save the Christian Pilgrims from bad +treatment in future. He wanted to raise a number of armed men, and to go to the +Crusade. He could not do so without money. He had no money; and he sold his +dominions to his brother, the Red King, for five years. With the large sum he +thus obtained, he fitted out his Crusaders gallantly, and went away to +Jerusalem in martial state. The Red King, who made money out of everything, +stayed at home, busily squeezing more money out of Normans and English. +</p> + +<p> +After three years of great hardship and suffering—from shipwreck at sea; +from travel in strange lands; from hunger, thirst, and fever, upon the burning +sands of the desert; and from the fury of the Turks—the valiant Crusaders +got possession of Our Saviour’s tomb. The Turks were still resisting and +fighting bravely, but this success increased the general desire in Europe to +join the Crusade. Another great French Duke was proposing to sell his dominions +for a term to the rich Red King, when the Red King’s reign came to a +sudden and violent end. +</p> + +<p> +You have not forgotten the New Forest which the Conqueror made, and which the +miserable people whose homes he had laid waste, so hated. The cruelty of the +Forest Laws, and the torture and death they brought upon the peasantry, +increased this hatred. The poor persecuted country people believed that the New +Forest was enchanted. They said that in thunder-storms, and on dark nights, +demons appeared, moving beneath the branches of the gloomy trees. They said +that a terrible spectre had foretold to Norman hunters that the Red King should +be punished there. And now, in the pleasant season of May, when the Red King +had reigned almost thirteen years; and a second Prince of the Conqueror’s +blood—another Richard, the son of Duke Robert—was killed by an +arrow in this dreaded Forest; the people said that the second time was not the +last, and that there was another death to come. +</p> + +<p> +It was a lonely forest, accursed in the people’s hearts for the wicked +deeds that had been done to make it; and no man save the King and his Courtiers +and Huntsmen, liked to stray there. But, in reality, it was like any other +forest. In the spring, the green leaves broke out of the buds; in the summer, +flourished heartily, and made deep shades; in the winter, shrivelled and blew +down, and lay in brown heaps on the moss. Some trees were stately, and grew +high and strong; some had fallen of themselves; some were felled by the +forester’s axe; some were hollow, and the rabbits burrowed at their +roots; some few were struck by lightning, and stood white and bare. There were +hill-sides covered with rich fern, on which the morning dew so beautifully +sparkled; there were brooks, where the deer went down to drink, or over which +the whole herd bounded, flying from the arrows of the huntsmen; there were +sunny glades, and solemn places where but little light came through the +rustling leaves. The songs of the birds in the New Forest were pleasanter to +hear than the shouts of fighting men outside; and even when the Red King and +his Court came hunting through its solitudes, cursing loud and riding hard, +with a jingling of stirrups and bridles and knives and daggers, they did much +less harm there than among the English or Normans, and the stags died (as they +lived) far easier than the people. +</p> + +<p> +Upon a day in August, the Red King, now reconciled to his brother, +Fine-Scholar, came with a great train to hunt in the New Forest. Fine-Scholar +was of the party. They were a merry party, and had lain all night at +Malwood-Keep, a hunting-lodge in the forest, where they had made good cheer, +both at supper and breakfast, and had drunk a deal of wine. The party dispersed +in various directions, as the custom of hunters then was. The King took with +him only <span class="smcap">Sir Walter Tyrrel</span>, who was a famous +sportsman, and to whom he had given, before they mounted horse that morning, +two fine arrows. +</p> + +<p> +The last time the King was ever seen alive, he was riding with Sir Walter +Tyrrel, and their dogs were hunting together. +</p> + +<p> +It was almost night, when a poor charcoal-burner, passing through the forest +with his cart, came upon the solitary body of a dead man, shot with an arrow in +the breast, and still bleeding. He got it into his cart. It was the body of the +King. Shaken and tumbled, with its red beard all whitened with lime and clotted +with blood, it was driven in the cart by the charcoal-burner next day to +Winchester Cathedral, where it was received and buried. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Walter Tyrrel, who escaped to Normandy, and claimed the protection of the +King of France, swore in France that the Red King was suddenly shot dead by an +arrow from an unseen hand, while they were hunting together; that he was +fearful of being suspected as the King’s murderer; and that he instantly +set spurs to his horse, and fled to the sea-shore. Others declared that the +King and Sir Walter Tyrrel were hunting in company, a little before sunset, +standing in bushes opposite one another, when a stag came between them. That +the King drew his bow and took aim, but the string broke. That the King then +cried, ‘Shoot, Walter, in the Devil’s name!’ That Sir Walter +shot. That the arrow glanced against a tree, was turned aside from the stag, +and struck the King from his horse, dead. +</p> + +<p> +By whose hand the Red King really fell, and whether that hand despatched the +arrow to his breast by accident or by design, is only known to <span +class="smcap">God</span>. Some think his brother may have caused him to be +killed; but the Red King had made so many enemies, both among priests and +people, that suspicion may reasonably rest upon a less unnatural murderer. Men +know no more than that he was found dead in the New Forest, which the suffering +people had regarded as a doomed ground for his race. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR</h2> + +<p> +Fine-scholar, on hearing of the Red King’s death, hurried to Winchester +with as much speed as Rufus himself had made, to seize the Royal treasure. But +the keeper of the treasure who had been one of the hunting-party in the Forest, +made haste to Winchester too, and, arriving there at about the same time, +refused to yield it up. Upon this, Fine-Scholar drew his sword, and threatened +to kill the treasurer; who might have paid for his fidelity with his life, but +that he knew longer resistance to be useless when he found the Prince supported +by a company of powerful barons, who declared they were determined to make him +King. The treasurer, therefore, gave up the money and jewels of the Crown: and +on the third day after the death of the Red King, being a Sunday, Fine-Scholar +stood before the high altar in Westminster Abbey, and made a solemn declaration +that he would resign the Church property which his brother had seized; that he +would do no wrong to the nobles; and that he would restore to the people the +laws of Edward the Confessor, with all the improvements of William the +Conqueror. So began the reign of <span class="smcap">King Henry the +First</span>. +</p> + +<p> +The people were attached to their new King, both because he had known +distresses, and because he was an Englishman by birth and not a Norman. To +strengthen this last hold upon them, the King wished to marry an English lady; +and could think of no other wife than <span class="smcap">Maud the Good</span>, +the daughter of the King of Scotland. Although this good Princess did not love +the King, she was so affected by the representations the nobles made to her of +the great charity it would be in her to unite the Norman and Saxon races, and +prevent hatred and bloodshed between them for the future, that she consented to +become his wife. After some disputing among the priests, who said that as she +had been in a convent in her youth, and had worn the veil of a nun, she could +not lawfully be married—against which the Princess stated that her aunt, +with whom she had lived in her youth, had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of +black stuff over her, but for no other reason than because the nun’s veil +was the only dress the conquering Normans respected in girl or woman, and not +because she had taken the vows of a nun, which she never had—she was +declared free to marry, and was made King Henry’s Queen. A good Queen she +was; beautiful, kind-hearted, and worthy of a better husband than the King. +</p> + +<p> +For he was a cunning and unscrupulous man, though firm and clever. He cared +very little for his word, and took any means to gain his ends. All this is +shown in his treatment of his brother Robert—Robert, who had suffered him +to be refreshed with water, and who had sent him the wine from his own table, +when he was shut up, with the crows flying below him, parched with thirst, in +the castle on the top of St. Michael’s Mount, where his Red brother would +have let him die. +</p> + +<p> +Before the King began to deal with Robert, he removed and disgraced all the +favourites of the late King; who were for the most part base characters, much +detested by the people. Flambard, or Firebrand, whom the late King had made +Bishop of Durham, of all things in the world, Henry imprisoned in the Tower; +but Firebrand was a great joker and a jolly companion, and made himself so +popular with his guards that they pretended to know nothing about a long rope +that was sent into his prison at the bottom of a deep flagon of wine. The +guards took the wine, and Firebrand took the rope; with which, when they were +fast asleep, he let himself down from a window in the night, and so got +cleverly aboard ship and away to Normandy. +</p> + +<p> +Now Robert, when his brother Fine-Scholar came to the throne, was still absent +in the Holy Land. Henry pretended that Robert had been made Sovereign of that +country; and he had been away so long, that the ignorant people believed it. +But, behold, when Henry had been some time King of England, Robert came home to +Normandy; having leisurely returned from Jerusalem through Italy, in which +beautiful country he had enjoyed himself very much, and had married a lady as +beautiful as itself! In Normandy, he found Firebrand waiting to urge him to +assert his claim to the English crown, and declare war against King Henry. +This, after great loss of time in feasting and dancing with his beautiful +Italian wife among his Norman friends, he at last did. +</p> + +<p> +The English in general were on King Henry’s side, though many of the +Normans were on Robert’s. But the English sailors deserted the King, and +took a great part of the English fleet over to Normandy; so that Robert came to +invade this country in no foreign vessels, but in English ships. The virtuous +Anselm, however, whom Henry had invited back from abroad, and made Archbishop +of Canterbury, was steadfast in the King’s cause; and it was so well +supported that the two armies, instead of fighting, made a peace. Poor Robert, +who trusted anybody and everybody, readily trusted his brother, the King; and +agreed to go home and receive a pension from England, on condition that all his +followers were fully pardoned. This the King very faithfully promised, but +Robert was no sooner gone than he began to punish them. +</p> + +<p> +Among them was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, on being summoned by the King to +answer to five-and-forty accusations, rode away to one of his strong castles, +shut himself up therein, called around him his tenants and vassals, and fought +for his liberty, but was defeated and banished. Robert, with all his faults, +was so true to his word, that when he first heard of this nobleman having risen +against his brother, he laid waste the Earl of Shrewsbury’s estates in +Normandy, to show the King that he would favour no breach of their treaty. +Finding, on better information, afterwards, that the Earl’s only crime +was having been his friend, he came over to England, in his old thoughtless, +warm-hearted way, to intercede with the King, and remind him of the solemn +promise to pardon all his followers. +</p> + +<p> +This confidence might have put the false King to the blush, but it did not. +Pretending to be very friendly, he so surrounded his brother with spies and +traps, that Robert, who was quite in his power, had nothing for it but to +renounce his pension and escape while he could. Getting home to Normandy, and +understanding the King better now, he naturally allied himself with his old +friend the Earl of Shrewsbury, who had still thirty castles in that country. +This was exactly what Henry wanted. He immediately declared that Robert had +broken the treaty, and next year invaded Normandy. +</p> + +<p> +He pretended that he came to deliver the Normans, at their own request, from +his brother’s misrule. There is reason to fear that his misrule was bad +enough; for his beautiful wife had died, leaving him with an infant son, and +his court was again so careless, dissipated, and ill-regulated, that it was +said he sometimes lay in bed of a day for want of clothes to put on—his +attendants having stolen all his dresses. But he headed his army like a brave +prince and a gallant soldier, though he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner +by King Henry, with four hundred of his Knights. Among them was poor harmless +Edgar Atheling, who loved Robert well. Edgar was not important enough to be +severe with. The King afterwards gave him a small pension, which he lived upon +and died upon, in peace, among the quiet woods and fields of England. +</p> + +<p> +And Robert—poor, kind, generous, wasteful, heedless Robert, with so many +faults, and yet with virtues that might have made a better and a happier +man—what was the end of him? If the King had had the magnanimity to say +with a kind air, ‘Brother, tell me, before these noblemen, that from this +time you will be my faithful follower and friend, and never raise your hand +against me or my forces more!’ he might have trusted Robert to the death. +But the King was not a magnanimous man. He sentenced his brother to be confined +for life in one of the Royal Castles. In the beginning of his imprisonment, he +was allowed to ride out, guarded; but he one day broke away from his guard and +galloped off. He had the evil fortune to ride into a swamp, where his horse +stuck fast and he was taken. When the King heard of it he ordered him to be +blinded, which was done by putting a red-hot metal basin on his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +And so, in darkness and in prison, many years, he thought of all his past life, +of the time he had wasted, of the treasure he had squandered, of the +opportunities he had lost, of the youth he had thrown away, of the talents he +had neglected. Sometimes, on fine autumn mornings, he would sit and think of +the old hunting parties in the free Forest, where he had been the foremost and +the gayest. Sometimes, in the still nights, he would wake, and mourn for the +many nights that had stolen past him at the gaming-table; sometimes, would seem +to hear, upon the melancholy wind, the old songs of the minstrels; sometimes, +would dream, in his blindness, of the light and glitter of the Norman Court. +Many and many a time, he groped back, in his fancy, to Jerusalem, where he had +fought so well; or, at the head of his brave companions, bowed his feathered +helmet to the shouts of welcome greeting him in Italy, and seemed again to walk +among the sunny vineyards, or on the shore of the blue sea, with his lovely +wife. And then, thinking of her grave, and of his fatherless boy, he would +stretch out his solitary arms and weep. +</p> + +<p> +At length, one day, there lay in prison, dead, with cruel and disfiguring scars +upon his eyelids, bandaged from his jailer’s sight, but on which the +eternal Heavens looked down, a worn old man of eighty. He had once been Robert +of Normandy. Pity him! +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a href="images/p52b.jpg"> +<img alt="Duke Robert of Normandy" src="images/p52s.jpg" /></a> +</div> + +<p> +At the time when Robert of Normandy was taken prisoner by his brother, +Robert’s little son was only five years old. This child was taken, too, +and carried before the King, sobbing and crying; for, young as he was, he knew +he had good reason to be afraid of his Royal uncle. The King was not much +accustomed to pity those who were in his power, but his cold heart seemed for +the moment to soften towards the boy. He was observed to make a great effort, +as if to prevent himself from being cruel, and ordered the child to be taken +away; whereupon a certain Baron, who had married a daughter of Duke +Robert’s (by name, Helie of Saint Saen), took charge of him, tenderly. +The King’s gentleness did not last long. Before two years were over, he +sent messengers to this lord’s Castle to seize the child and bring him +away. The Baron was not there at the time, but his servants were faithful, and +carried the boy off in his sleep and hid him. When the Baron came home, and was +told what the King had done, he took the child abroad, and, leading him by the +hand, went from King to King and from Court to Court, relating how the child +had a claim to the throne of England, and how his uncle the King, knowing that +he had that claim, would have murdered him, perhaps, but for his escape. +</p> + +<p> +The youth and innocence of the pretty little <span class="smcap">William +Fitz-Robert</span> (for that was his name) made him many friends at that time. +When he became a young man, the King of France, uniting with the French Counts +of Anjou and Flanders, supported his cause against the King of England, and +took many of the King’s towns and castles in Normandy. But, King Henry, +artful and cunning always, bribed some of William’s friends with money, +some with promises, some with power. He bought off the Count of Anjou, by +promising to marry his eldest son, also named <span +class="smcap">William</span>, to the Count’s daughter; and indeed the +whole trust of this King’s life was in such bargains, and he believed (as +many another King has done since, and as one King did in France a very little +time ago) that every man’s truth and honour can be bought at some price. +For all this, he was so afraid of William Fitz-Robert and his friends, that, +for a long time, he believed his life to be in danger; and never lay down to +sleep, even in his palace surrounded by his guards, without having a sword and +buckler at his bedside. +</p> + +<p> +To strengthen his power, the King with great ceremony betrothed his eldest +daughter <span class="smcap">Matilda</span>, then a child only eight years old, +to be the wife of Henry the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany. To raise her +marriage-portion, he taxed the English people in a most oppressive manner; then +treated them to a great procession, to restore their good humour; and sent +Matilda away, in fine state, with the German ambassadors, to be educated in the +country of her future husband. +</p> + +<p> +And now his Queen, Maud the Good, unhappily died. It was a sad thought for that +gentle lady, that the only hope with which she had married a man whom she had +never loved—the hope of reconciling the Norman and English +races—had failed. At the very time of her death, Normandy and all France +was in arms against England; for, so soon as his last danger was over, King +Henry had been false to all the French powers he had promised, bribed, and +bought, and they had naturally united against him. After some fighting, +however, in which few suffered but the unhappy common people (who always +suffered, whatsoever was the matter), he began to promise, bribe, and buy +again; and by those means, and by the help of the Pope, who exerted himself to +save more bloodshed, and by solemnly declaring, over and over again, that he +really was in earnest this time, and would keep his word, the King made peace. +</p> + +<p> +One of the first consequences of this peace was, that the King went over to +Normandy with his son Prince William and a great retinue, to have the Prince +acknowledged as his successor by the Norman Nobles, and to contract the +promised marriage (this was one of the many promises the King had broken) +between him and the daughter of the Count of Anjou. Both these things were +triumphantly done, with great show and rejoicing; and on the twenty-fifth of +November, in the year one thousand one hundred and twenty, the whole retinue +prepared to embark at the Port of Barfleur, for the voyage home. +</p> + +<p> +On that day, and at that place, there came to the King, Fitz-Stephen, a +sea-captain, and said: +</p> + +<p> +‘My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. He +steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which your father sailed +to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me the same office. I have a fair +vessel in the harbour here, called The White Ship, manned by fifty sailors of +renown. I pray you, Sire, to let your servant have the honour of steering you +in The White Ship to England!’ +</p> + +<p> +‘I am sorry, friend,’ replied the King, ‘that my vessel is +already chosen, and that I cannot (therefore) sail with the son of the man who +served my father. But the Prince and all his company shall go along with you, +in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors of renown.’ +</p> + +<p> +An hour or two afterwards, the King set sail in the vessel he had chosen, +accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a fair and gentle +wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. While it was yet night, +the people in some of those ships heard a faint wild cry come over the sea, and +wondered what it was. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the Prince was a dissolute, debauched young man of eighteen, who bore no +love to the English, and had declared that when he came to the throne he would +yoke them to the plough like oxen. He went aboard The White Ship, with one +hundred and forty youthful Nobles like himself, among whom were eighteen noble +ladies of the highest rank. All this gay company, with their servants and the +fifty sailors, made three hundred souls aboard the fair White Ship. +</p> + +<p> +‘Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen,’ said the Prince, +‘to the fifty sailors of renown! My father the King has sailed out of the +harbour. What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach England with the +rest?’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Prince!’ said Fitz-Stephen, ‘before morning, my fifty and +The White Ship shall overtake the swiftest vessel in attendance on your father +the King, if we sail at midnight!’ +</p> + +<p> +Then the Prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out the three +casks of wine; and the Prince and all the noble company danced in the moonlight +on the deck of The White Ship. +</p> + +<p> +When, at last, she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur, there was not a sober +seaman on board. But the sails were all set, and the oars all going merrily. +Fitz-Stephen had the helm. The gay young nobles and the beautiful ladies, +wrapped in mantles of various bright colours to protect them from the cold, +talked, laughed, and sang. The Prince encouraged the fifty sailors to row +harder yet, for the honour of The White Ship. +</p> + +<p> +Crash! A terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the cry the +people in the distant vessels of the King heard faintly on the water. The White +Ship had struck upon a rock—was filling—going down! +</p> + +<p> +Fitz-Stephen hurried the Prince into a boat, with some few Nobles. ‘Push +off,’ he whispered; ‘and row to land. It is not far, and the sea is +smooth. The rest of us must die.’ +</p> + +<p> +But, as they rowed away, fast, from the sinking ship, the Prince heard the +voice of his sister <span class="smcap">Marie</span>, the Countess of Perche, +calling for help. He never in his life had been so good as he was then. He +cried in an agony, ‘Row back at any risk! I cannot bear to leave +her!’ +</p> + +<p> +They rowed back. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his sister, such +numbers leaped in, that the boat was overset. And in the same instant The White +Ship went down. +</p> + +<p> +Only two men floated. They both clung to the main yard of the ship, which had +broken from the mast, and now supported them. One asked the other who he was? +He said, ‘I am a nobleman, <span class="smcap">Godfrey</span> by name, +the son of <span class="smcap">Gilbert de l’Aigle</span>. And you?’ +said he. ‘I am <span class="smcap">Berold</span>, a poor butcher of +Rouen,’ was the answer. Then, they said together, ‘Lord be merciful +to us both!’ and tried to encourage one another, as they drifted in the +cold benumbing sea on that unfortunate November night. +</p> + +<p> +By-and-by, another man came swimming towards them, whom they knew, when he +pushed aside his long wet hair, to be Fitz-Stephen. ‘Where is the +Prince?’ said he. ‘Gone! Gone!’ the two cried together. +‘Neither he, nor his brother, nor his sister, nor the King’s niece, +nor her brother, nor any one of all the brave three hundred, noble or commoner, +except we three, has risen above the water!’ Fitz-Stephen, with a ghastly +face, cried, ‘Woe! woe, to me!’ and sunk to the bottom. +</p> + +<p> +The other two clung to the yard for some hours. At length the young noble said +faintly, ‘I am exhausted, and chilled with the cold, and can hold no +longer. Farewell, good friend! God preserve you!’ So, he dropped and +sunk; and of all the brilliant crowd, the poor Butcher of Rouen alone was +saved. In the morning, some fishermen saw him floating in his sheep-skin coat, +and got him into their boat—the sole relater of the dismal tale. +</p> + +<p> +For three days, no one dared to carry the intelligence to the King. At length, +they sent into his presence a little boy, who, weeping bitterly, and kneeling +at his feet, told him that The White Ship was lost with all on board. The King +fell to the ground like a dead man, and never, never afterwards, was seen to +smile. +</p> + +<p> +But he plotted again, and promised again, and bribed and bought again, in his +old deceitful way. Having no son to succeed him, after all his pains +(‘The Prince will never yoke us to the plough, now!’ said the +English people), he took a second wife—<span class="smcap">Adelais</span> +or <span class="smcap">Alice</span>, a duke’s daughter, and the +Pope’s niece. Having no more children, however, he proposed to the Barons +to swear that they would recognise as his successor, his daughter Matilda, +whom, as she was now a widow, he married to the eldest son of the Count of +Anjou, <span class="smcap">Geoffrey</span>, surnamed <span +class="smcap">Plantagenet</span>, from a custom he had of wearing a sprig of +flowering broom (called Genêt in French) in his cap for a feather. As one +false man usually makes many, and as a false King, in particular, is pretty +certain to make a false Court, the Barons took the oath about the succession of +Matilda (and her children after her), twice over, without in the least +intending to keep it. The King was now relieved from any remaining fears of +William Fitz-Robert, by his death in the Monastery of St. Omer, in France, at +twenty-six years old, of a pike-wound in the hand. And as Matilda gave birth to +three sons, he thought the succession to the throne secure. +</p> + +<p> +He spent most of the latter part of his life, which was troubled by family +quarrels, in Normandy, to be near Matilda. When he had reigned upward of +thirty-five years, and was sixty-seven years old, he died of an indigestion and +fever, brought on by eating, when he was far from well, of a fish called +Lamprey, against which he had often been cautioned by his physicians. His +remains were brought over to Reading Abbey to be buried. +</p> + +<p> +You may perhaps hear the cunning and promise-breaking of King Henry the First, +called ‘policy’ by some people, and ‘diplomacy’ by +others. Neither of these fine words will in the least mean that it was true; +and nothing that is not true can possibly be good. +</p> + +<p> +His greatest merit, that I know of, was his love of learning—I should +have given him greater credit even for that, if it had been strong enough to +induce him to spare the eyes of a certain poet he once took prisoner, who was a +knight besides. But he ordered the poet’s eyes to be torn from his head, +because he had laughed at him in his verses; and the poet, in the pain of that +torture, dashed out his own brains against his prison wall. King Henry the +First was avaricious, revengeful, and so false, that I suppose a man never +lived whose word was less to be relied upon. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN</h2> + +<p> +The King was no sooner dead than all the plans and schemes he had laboured at +so long, and lied so much for, crumbled away like a hollow heap of sand. <span +class="smcap">Stephen</span>, whom he had never mistrusted or suspected, +started up to claim the throne. +</p> + +<p> +Stephen was the son of <span class="smcap">Adela</span>, the Conqueror’s +daughter, married to the Count of Blois. To Stephen, and to his brother <span +class="smcap">Henry</span>, the late King had been liberal; making Henry Bishop +of Winchester, and finding a good marriage for Stephen, and much enriching him. +This did not prevent Stephen from hastily producing a false witness, a servant +of the late King, to swear that the King had named him for his heir upon his +death-bed. On this evidence the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him. The new +King, so suddenly made, lost not a moment in seizing the Royal treasure, and +hiring foreign soldiers with some of it to protect his throne. +</p> + +<p> +If the dead King had even done as the false witness said, he would have had +small right to will away the English people, like so many sheep or oxen, +without their consent. But he had, in fact, bequeathed all his territory to +Matilda; who, supported by <span class="smcap">Robert</span>, Earl of +Gloucester, soon began to dispute the crown. Some of the powerful barons and +priests took her side; some took Stephen’s; all fortified their castles; +and again the miserable English people were involved in war, from which they +could never derive advantage whosoever was victorious, and in which all parties +plundered, tortured, starved, and ruined them. +</p> + +<p> +Five years had passed since the death of Henry the First—and during those +five years there had been two terrible invasions by the people of Scotland +under their King, David, who was at last defeated with all his army—when +Matilda, attended by her brother Robert and a large force, appeared in England +to maintain her claim. A battle was fought between her troops and King +Stephen’s at Lincoln; in which the King himself was taken prisoner, after +bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword were broken, and was carried +into strict confinement at Gloucester. Matilda then submitted herself to the +Priests, and the Priests crowned her Queen of England. +</p> + +<p> +She did not long enjoy this dignity. The people of London had a great affection +for Stephen; many of the Barons considered it degrading to be ruled by a woman; +and the Queen’s temper was so haughty that she made innumerable enemies. +The people of London revolted; and, in alliance with the troops of Stephen, +besieged her at Winchester, where they took her brother Robert prisoner, whom, +as her best soldier and chief general, she was glad to exchange for Stephen +himself, who thus regained his liberty. Then, the long war went on afresh. +Once, she was pressed so hard in the Castle of Oxford, in the winter weather +when the snow lay thick upon the ground, that her only chance of escape was to +dress herself all in white, and, accompanied by no more than three faithful +Knights, dressed in like manner that their figures might not be seen from +Stephen’s camp as they passed over the snow, to steal away on foot, cross +the frozen Thames, walk a long distance, and at last gallop away on horseback. +All this she did, but to no great purpose then; for her brother dying while the +struggle was yet going on, she at last withdrew to Normandy. +</p> + +<p> +In two or three years after her withdrawal her cause appeared in England, +afresh, in the person of her son Henry, young Plantagenet, who, at only +eighteen years of age, was very powerful: not only on account of his mother +having resigned all Normandy to him, but also from his having married <span +class="smcap">Eleanor</span>, the divorced wife of the French King, a bad +woman, who had great possessions in France. Louis, the French King, not +relishing this arrangement, helped <span class="smcap">Eustace</span>, King +Stephen’s son, to invade Normandy: but Henry drove their united forces +out of that country, and then returned here, to assist his partisans, whom the +King was then besieging at Wallingford upon the Thames. Here, for two days, +divided only by the river, the two armies lay encamped opposite to one +another—on the eve, as it seemed to all men, of another desperate fight, +when the <span class="smcap">Earl of Arundel</span> took heart and said +‘that it was not reasonable to prolong the unspeakable miseries of two +kingdoms to minister to the ambition of two princes.’ +</p> + +<p> +Many other noblemen repeating and supporting this when it was once uttered, +Stephen and young Plantagenet went down, each to his own bank of the river, and +held a conversation across it, in which they arranged a truce; very much to the +dissatisfaction of Eustace, who swaggered away with some followers, and laid +violent hands on the Abbey of St. Edmund’s-Bury, where he presently died +mad. The truce led to a solemn council at Winchester, in which it was agreed +that Stephen should retain the crown, on condition of his declaring Henry his +successor; that <span class="smcap">William</span>, another son of the +King’s, should inherit his father’s rightful possessions; and that +all the Crown lands which Stephen had given away should be recalled, and all +the Castles he had permitted to be built demolished. Thus terminated the bitter +war, which had now lasted fifteen years, and had again laid England waste. In +the next year <span class="smcap">Stephen</span> died, after a troubled reign +of nineteen years. +</p> + +<p> +Although King Stephen was, for the time in which he lived, a humane and +moderate man, with many excellent qualities; and although nothing worse is +known of him than his usurpation of the Crown, which he probably excused to +himself by the consideration that King Henry the First was a usurper +too—which was no excuse at all; the people of England suffered more in +these dread nineteen years, than at any former period even of their suffering +history. In the division of the nobility between the two rival claimants of the +Crown, and in the growth of what is called the Feudal System (which made the +peasants the born vassals and mere slaves of the Barons), every Noble had his +strong Castle, where he reigned the cruel king of all the neighbouring people. +Accordingly, he perpetrated whatever cruelties he chose. And never were worse +cruelties committed upon earth than in wretched England in those nineteen +years. +</p> + +<p> +The writers who were living then describe them fearfully. They say that the +castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that the peasants, men +and women, were put into dungeons for their gold and silver, were tortured with +fire and smoke, were hung up by the thumbs, were hung up by the heels with +great weights to their heads, were torn with jagged irons, killed with hunger, +broken to death in narrow chests filled with sharp-pointed stones, murdered in +countless fiendish ways. In England there was no corn, no meat, no cheese, no +butter, there were no tilled lands, no harvests. Ashes of burnt towns, and +dreary wastes, were all that the traveller, fearful of the robbers who prowled +abroad at all hours, would see in a long day’s journey; and from sunrise +until night, he would not come upon a home. +</p> + +<p> +The clergy sometimes suffered, and heavily too, from pillage, but many of them +had castles of their own, and fought in helmet and armour like the barons, and +drew lots with other fighting men for their share of booty. The Pope (or Bishop +of Rome), on King Stephen’s resisting his ambition, laid England under an +Interdict at one period of this reign; which means that he allowed no service +to be performed in the churches, no couples to be married, no bells to be rung, +no dead bodies to be buried. Any man having the power to refuse these things, +no matter whether he were called a Pope or a Poulterer, would, of course, have +the power of afflicting numbers of innocent people. That nothing might be +wanting to the miseries of King Stephen’s time, the Pope threw in this +contribution to the public store—not very like the widow’s +contribution, as I think, when Our Saviour sat in Jerusalem over-against the +Treasury, ‘and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.’ +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND</h2> + +<h3>PART THE FIRST</h3> + +<p> +Henry Plantagenet, when he was but twenty-one years old, quietly succeeded to +the throne of England, according to his agreement made with the late King at +Winchester. Six weeks after Stephen’s death, he and his Queen, Eleanor, +were crowned in that city; into which they rode on horseback in great state, +side by side, amidst much shouting and rejoicing, and clashing of music, and +strewing of flowers. +</p> + +<p> +The reign of King Henry the Second began well. The King had great possessions, +and (what with his own rights, and what with those of his wife) was lord of +one-third part of France. He was a young man of vigour, ability, and +resolution, and immediately applied himself to remove some of the evils which +had arisen in the last unhappy reign. He revoked all the grants of land that +had been hastily made, on either side, during the late struggles; he obliged +numbers of disorderly soldiers to depart from England; he reclaimed all the +castles belonging to the Crown; and he forced the wicked nobles to pull down +their own castles, to the number of eleven hundred, in which such dismal +cruelties had been inflicted on the people. The King’s brother, <span +class="smcap">Geoffrey</span>, rose against him in France, while he was so well +employed, and rendered it necessary for him to repair to that country; where, +after he had subdued and made a friendly arrangement with his brother (who did +not live long), his ambition to increase his possessions involved him in a war +with the French King, Louis, with whom he had been on such friendly terms just +before, that to the French King’s infant daughter, then a baby in the +cradle, he had promised one of his little sons in marriage, who was a child of +five years old. However, the war came to nothing at last, and the Pope made the +two Kings friends again. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the clergy, in the troubles of the last reign, had gone on very ill +indeed. There were all kinds of criminals among them—murderers, thieves, +and vagabonds; and the worst of the matter was, that the good priests would not +give up the bad priests to justice, when they committed crimes, but persisted +in sheltering and defending them. The King, well knowing that there could be no +peace or rest in England while such things lasted, resolved to reduce the power +of the clergy; and, when he had reigned seven years, found (as he considered) a +good opportunity for doing so, in the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury. +‘I will have for the new Archbishop,’ thought the King, ‘a +friend in whom I can trust, who will help me to humble these rebellious +priests, and to have them dealt with, when they do wrong, as other men who do +wrong are dealt with.’ So, he resolved to make his favourite, the new +Archbishop; and this favourite was so extraordinary a man, and his story is so +curious, that I must tell you all about him. +</p> + +<p> +Once upon a time, a worthy merchant of London, named <span +class="smcap">Gilbert à Becket</span>, made a pilgrimage to the Holy +Land, and was taken prisoner by a Saracen lord. This lord, who treated him +kindly and not like a slave, had one fair daughter, who fell in love with the +merchant; and who told him that she wanted to become a Christian, and was +willing to marry him if they could fly to a Christian country. The merchant +returned her love, until he found an opportunity to escape, when he did not +trouble himself about the Saracen lady, but escaped with his servant Richard, +who had been taken prisoner along with him, and arrived in England and forgot +her. The Saracen lady, who was more loving than the merchant, left her +father’s house in disguise to follow him, and made her way, under many +hardships, to the sea-shore. The merchant had taught her only two English words +(for I suppose he must have learnt the Saracen tongue himself, and made love in +that language), of which <span class="smcap">London</span> was one, and his own +name, <span class="smcap">Gilbert</span>, the other. She went among the ships, +saying, ‘London! London!’ over and over again, until the sailors +understood that she wanted to find an English vessel that would carry her +there; so they showed her such a ship, and she paid for her passage with some +of her jewels, and sailed away. Well! The merchant was sitting in his +counting-house in London one day, when he heard a great noise in the street; +and presently Richard came running in from the warehouse, with his eyes wide +open and his breath almost gone, saying, ‘Master, master, here is the +Saracen lady!’ The merchant thought Richard was mad; but Richard said, +‘No, master! As I live, the Saracen lady is going up and down the city, +calling Gilbert! Gilbert!’ Then, he took the merchant by the sleeve, and +pointed out of window; and there they saw her among the gables and water-spouts +of the dark, dirty street, in her foreign dress, so forlorn, surrounded by a +wondering crowd, and passing slowly along, calling Gilbert, Gilbert! When the +merchant saw her, and thought of the tenderness she had shown him in his +captivity, and of her constancy, his heart was moved, and he ran down into the +street; and she saw him coming, and with a great cry fainted in his arms. They +were married without loss of time, and Richard (who was an excellent man) +danced with joy the whole day of the wedding; and they all lived happy ever +afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +This merchant and this Saracen lady had one son, <span class="smcap">Thomas +à Becket</span>. He it was who became the Favourite of King Henry the +Second. +</p> + +<p> +He had become Chancellor, when the King thought of making him Archbishop. He +was clever, gay, well educated, brave; had fought in several battles in France; +had defeated a French knight in single combat, and brought his horse away as a +token of the victory. He lived in a noble palace, he was the tutor of the young +Prince Henry, he was served by one hundred and forty knights, his riches were +immense. The King once sent him as his ambassador to France; and the French +people, beholding in what state he travelled, cried out in the streets, +‘How splendid must the King of England be, when this is only the +Chancellor!’ They had good reason to wonder at the magnificence of Thomas +à Becket, for, when he entered a French town, his procession was headed +by two hundred and fifty singing boys; then, came his hounds in couples; then, +eight waggons, each drawn by five horses driven by five drivers: two of the +waggons filled with strong ale to be given away to the people; four, with his +gold and silver plate and stately clothes; two, with the dresses of his +numerous servants. Then, came twelve horses, each with a monkey on his back; +then, a train of people bearing shields and leading fine war-horses splendidly +equipped; then, falconers with hawks upon their wrists; then, a host of +knights, and gentlemen and priests; then, the Chancellor with his brilliant +garments flashing in the sun, and all the people capering and shouting with +delight. +</p> + +<p> +The King was well pleased with all this, thinking that it only made himself the +more magnificent to have so magnificent a favourite; but he sometimes jested +with the Chancellor upon his splendour too. Once, when they were riding +together through the streets of London in hard winter weather, they saw a +shivering old man in rags. ‘Look at the poor object!’ said the +King. ‘Would it not be a charitable act to give that aged man a +comfortable warm cloak?’ ‘Undoubtedly it would,’ said Thomas +à Becket, ‘and you do well, Sir, to think of such Christian +duties.’ ‘Come!’ cried the King, ‘then give him your +cloak!’ It was made of rich crimson trimmed with ermine. The King tried +to pull it off, the Chancellor tried to keep it on, both were near rolling from +their saddles in the mud, when the Chancellor submitted, and the King gave the +cloak to the old beggar: much to the beggar’s astonishment, and much to +the merriment of all the courtiers in attendance. For, courtiers are not only +eager to laugh when the King laughs, but they really do enjoy a laugh against a +Favourite. +</p> + +<p> +‘I will make,’ thought King Henry the second, ‘this +Chancellor of mine, Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will +then be the head of the Church, and, being devoted to me, will help me to +correct the Church. He has always upheld my power against the power of the +clergy, and once publicly told some bishops (I remember), that men of the +Church were equally bound to me, with men of the sword. Thomas à Becket +is the man, of all other men in England, to help me in my great design.’ +So the King, regardless of all objection, either that he was a fighting man, or +a lavish man, or a courtly man, or a man of pleasure, or anything but a likely +man for the office, made him Archbishop accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +Now, Thomas à Becket was proud and loved to be famous. He was already +famous for the pomp of his life, for his riches, his gold and silver plate, his +waggons, horses, and attendants. He could do no more in that way than he had +done; and being tired of that kind of fame (which is a very poor one), he +longed to have his name celebrated for something else. Nothing, he knew, would +render him so famous in the world, as the setting of his utmost power and +ability against the utmost power and ability of the King. He resolved with the +whole strength of his mind to do it. +</p> + +<p> +He may have had some secret grudge against the King besides. The King may have +offended his proud humour at some time or other, for anything I know. I think +it likely, because it is a common thing for Kings, Princes, and other great +people, to try the tempers of their favourites rather severely. Even the little +affair of the crimson cloak must have been anything but a pleasant one to a +haughty man. Thomas à Becket knew better than any one in England what +the King expected of him. In all his sumptuous life, he had never yet been in a +position to disappoint the King. He could take up that proud stand now, as head +of the Church; and he determined that it should be written in history, either +that he subdued the King, or that the King subdued him. +</p> + +<p> +So, of a sudden, he completely altered the whole manner of his life. He turned +off all his brilliant followers, ate coarse food, drank bitter water, wore next +his skin sackcloth covered with dirt and vermin (for it was then thought very +religious to be very dirty), flogged his back to punish himself, lived chiefly +in a little cell, washed the feet of thirteen poor people every day, and looked +as miserable as he possibly could. If he had put twelve hundred monkeys on +horseback instead of twelve, and had gone in procession with eight thousand +waggons instead of eight, he could not have half astonished the people so much +as by this great change. It soon caused him to be more talked about as an +Archbishop than he had been as a Chancellor. +</p> + +<p> +The King was very angry; and was made still more so, when the new Archbishop, +claiming various estates from the nobles as being rightfully Church property, +required the King himself, for the same reason, to give up Rochester Castle, +and Rochester City too. Not satisfied with this, he declared that no power but +himself should appoint a priest to any Church in the part of England over which +he was Archbishop; and when a certain gentleman of Kent made such an +appointment, as he claimed to have the right to do, Thomas à Becket +excommunicated him. +</p> + +<p> +Excommunication was, next to the Interdict I told you of at the close of the +last chapter, the great weapon of the clergy. It consisted in declaring the +person who was excommunicated, an outcast from the Church and from all +religious offices; and in cursing him all over, from the top of his head to the +sole of his foot, whether he was standing up, lying down, sitting, kneeling, +walking, running, hopping, jumping, gaping, coughing, sneezing, or whatever +else he was doing. This unchristian nonsense would of course have made no sort +of difference to the person cursed—who could say his prayers at home if +he were shut out of church, and whom none but <span class="smcap">God</span> +could judge—but for the fears and superstitions of the people, who +avoided excommunicated persons, and made their lives unhappy. So, the King said +to the New Archbishop, ‘Take off this Excommunication from this gentleman +of Kent.’ To which the Archbishop replied, ‘I shall do no such +thing.’ +</p> + +<p> +The quarrel went on. A priest in Worcestershire committed a most dreadful +murder, that aroused the horror of the whole nation. The King demanded to have +this wretch delivered up, to be tried in the same court and in the same way as +any other murderer. The Archbishop refused, and kept him in the Bishop’s +prison. The King, holding a solemn assembly in Westminster Hall, demanded that +in future all priests found guilty before their Bishops of crimes against the +law of the land should be considered priests no longer, and should be delivered +over to the law of the land for punishment. The Archbishop again refused. The +King required to know whether the clergy would obey the ancient customs of the +country? Every priest there, but one, said, after Thomas à Becket, +‘Saving my order.’ This really meant that they would only obey +those customs when they did not interfere with their own claims; and the King +went out of the Hall in great wrath. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the clergy began to be afraid, now, that they were going too far. +Though Thomas à Becket was otherwise as unmoved as Westminster Hall, +they prevailed upon him, for the sake of their fears, to go to the King at +Woodstock, and promise to observe the ancient customs of the country, without +saying anything about his order. The King received this submission favourably, +and summoned a great council of the clergy to meet at the Castle of Clarendon, +by Salisbury. But when the council met, the Archbishop again insisted on the +words ‘saying my order;’ and he still insisted, though lords +entreated him, and priests wept before him and knelt to him, and an adjoining +room was thrown open, filled with armed soldiers of the King, to threaten him. +At length he gave way, for that time, and the ancient customs (which included +what the King had demanded in vain) were stated in writing, and were signed and +sealed by the chief of the clergy, and were called the Constitutions of +Clarendon. +</p> + +<p> +The quarrel went on, for all that. The Archbishop tried to see the King. The +King would not see him. The Archbishop tried to escape from England. The +sailors on the coast would launch no boat to take him away. Then, he again +resolved to do his worst in opposition to the King, and began openly to set the +ancient customs at defiance. +</p> + +<p> +The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton, where he accused +him of high treason, and made a claim against him, which was not a just one, +for an enormous sum of money. Thomas à Becket was alone against the +whole assembly, and the very Bishops advised him to resign his office and +abandon his contest with the King. His great anxiety and agitation stretched +him on a sick-bed for two days, but he was still undaunted. He went to the +adjourned council, carrying a great cross in his right hand, and sat down +holding it erect before him. The King angrily retired into an inner room. The +whole assembly angrily retired and left him there. But there he sat. The +Bishops came out again in a body, and renounced him as a traitor. He only said, +‘I hear!’ and sat there still. They retired again into the inner +room, and his trial proceeded without him. By-and-by, the Earl of Leicester, +heading the barons, came out to read his sentence. He refused to hear it, +denied the power of the court, and said he would refer his cause to the Pope. +As he walked out of the hall, with the cross in his hand, some of those present +picked up rushes—rushes were strewn upon the floors in those days by way +of carpet—and threw them at him. He proudly turned his head, and said +that were he not Archbishop, he would chastise those cowards with the sword he +had known how to use in bygone days. He then mounted his horse, and rode away, +cheered and surrounded by the common people, to whom he threw open his house +that night and gave a supper, supping with them himself. That same night he +secretly departed from the town; and so, travelling by night and hiding by day, +and calling himself ‘Brother Dearman,’ got away, not without +difficulty, to Flanders. +</p> + +<p> +The struggle still went on. The angry King took possession of the revenues of +the archbishopric, and banished all the relations and servants of Thomas +à Becket, to the number of four hundred. The Pope and the French King +both protected him, and an abbey was assigned for his residence. Stimulated by +this support, Thomas à Becket, on a great festival day, formally +proceeded to a great church crowded with people, and going up into the pulpit +publicly cursed and excommunicated all who had supported the Constitutions of +Clarendon: mentioning many English noblemen by name, and not distantly hinting +at the King of England himself. +</p> + +<p> +When intelligence of this new affront was carried to the King in his chamber, +his passion was so furious that he tore his clothes, and rolled like a madman +on his bed of straw and rushes. But he was soon up and doing. He ordered all +the ports and coasts of England to be narrowly watched, that no letters of +Interdict might be brought into the kingdom; and sent messengers and bribes to +the Pope’s palace at Rome. Meanwhile, Thomas à Becket, for his +part, was not idle at Rome, but constantly employed his utmost arts in his own +behalf. Thus the contest stood, until there was peace between France and +England (which had been for some time at war), and until the two children of +the two Kings were married in celebration of it. Then, the French King brought +about a meeting between Henry and his old favourite, so long his enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Even then, though Thomas à Becket knelt before the King, he was +obstinate and immovable as to those words about his order. King Louis of France +was weak enough in his veneration for Thomas à Becket and such men, but +this was a little too much for him. He said that à Becket ‘wanted +to be greater than the saints and better than St. Peter,’ and rode away +from him with the King of England. His poor French Majesty asked à +Becket’s pardon for so doing, however, soon afterwards, and cut a very +pitiful figure. +</p> + +<p> +At last, and after a world of trouble, it came to this. There was another +meeting on French ground between King Henry and Thomas à Becket, and it +was agreed that Thomas à Becket should be Archbishop of Canterbury, +according to the customs of former Archbishops, and that the King should put +him in possession of the revenues of that post. And now, indeed, you might +suppose the struggle at an end, and Thomas à Becket at rest. <span +class="smcap">No</span>, not even yet. For Thomas à Becket hearing, by +some means, that King Henry, when he was in dread of his kingdom being placed +under an interdict, had had his eldest son Prince Henry secretly crowned, not +only persuaded the Pope to suspend the Archbishop of York who had performed +that ceremony, and to excommunicate the Bishops who had assisted at it, but +sent a messenger of his own into England, in spite of all the King’s +precautions along the coast, who delivered the letters of excommunication into +the Bishops’ own hands. Thomas à Becket then came over to England +himself, after an absence of seven years. He was privately warned that it was +dangerous to come, and that an ireful knight, named <span class="smcap">Ranulf +de Broc</span>, had threatened that he should not live to eat a loaf of bread +in England; but he came. +</p> + +<p> +The common people received him well, and marched about with him in a soldierly +way, armed with such rustic weapons as they could get. He tried to see the +young prince who had once been his pupil, but was prevented. He hoped for some +little support among the nobles and priests, but found none. He made the most +of the peasants who attended him, and feasted them, and went from Canterbury to +Harrow-on-the-Hill, and from Harrow-on-the-Hill back to Canterbury, and on +Christmas Day preached in the Cathedral there, and told the people in his +sermon that he had come to die among them, and that it was likely he would be +murdered. He had no fear, however—or, if he had any, he had much more +obstinacy—for he, then and there, excommunicated three of his enemies, of +whom Ranulf de Broc, the ireful knight, was one. +</p> + +<p> +As men in general had no fancy for being cursed, in their sitting and walking, +and gaping and sneezing, and all the rest of it, it was very natural in the +persons so freely excommunicated to complain to the King. It was equally +natural in the King, who had hoped that this troublesome opponent was at last +quieted, to fall into a mighty rage when he heard of these new affronts; and, +on the Archbishop of York telling him that he never could hope for rest while +Thomas à Becket lived, to cry out hastily before his court, ‘Have +I no one here who will deliver me from this man?’ There were four knights +present, who, hearing the King’s words, looked at one another, and went +out. +</p> + +<p> +The names of these knights were <span class="smcap">Reginald Fitzurse</span>, +<span class="smcap">William Tracy</span>, <span class="smcap">Hugh de +Morville</span>, and <span class="smcap">Richard Brito</span>; three of whom +had been in the train of Thomas à Becket in the old days of his +splendour. They rode away on horseback, in a very secret manner, and on the +third day after Christmas Day arrived at Saltwood House, not far from +Canterbury, which belonged to the family of Ranulf de Broc. They quietly +collected some followers here, in case they should need any; and proceeding to +Canterbury, suddenly appeared (the four knights and twelve men) before the +Archbishop, in his own house, at two o’clock in the afternoon. They +neither bowed nor spoke, but sat down on the floor in silence, staring at the +Archbishop. +</p> + +<p> +Thomas à Becket said, at length, ‘What do you want?’ +</p> + +<p> +‘We want,’ said Reginald Fitzurse, ‘the excommunication taken +from the Bishops, and you to answer for your offences to the King.’ +Thomas à Becket defiantly replied, that the power of the clergy was +above the power of the King. That it was not for such men as they were, to +threaten him. That if he were threatened by all the swords in England, he would +never yield. +</p> + +<p> +‘Then we will do more than threaten!’ said the knights. And they +went out with the twelve men, and put on their armour, and drew their shining +swords, and came back. +</p> + +<p> +His servants, in the meantime, had shut up and barred the great gate of the +palace. At first, the knights tried to shatter it with their battle-axes; but, +being shown a window by which they could enter, they let the gate alone, and +climbed in that way. While they were battering at the door, the attendants of +Thomas à Becket had implored him to take refuge in the Cathedral; in +which, as a sanctuary or sacred place, they thought the knights would dare to +do no violent deed. He told them, again and again, that he would not stir. +Hearing the distant voices of the monks singing the evening service, however, +he said it was now his duty to attend, and therefore, and for no other reason, +he would go. +</p> + +<p> +There was a near way between his Palace and the Cathedral, by some beautiful +old cloisters which you may yet see. He went into the Cathedral, without any +hurry, and having the Cross carried before him as usual. When he was safely +there, his servants would have fastened the door, but he said <span +class="smcap">No</span>! it was the house of God and not a fortress. +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke, the shadow of Reginald Fitzurse appeared in the Cathedral doorway, +darkening the little light there was outside, on the dark winter evening. This +knight said, in a strong voice, ‘Follow me, loyal servants of the +King!’ The rattle of the armour of the other knights echoed through the +Cathedral, as they came clashing in. +</p> + +<p> +It was so dark, in the lofty aisles and among the stately pillars of the +church, and there were so many hiding-places in the crypt below and in the +narrow passages above, that Thomas à Becket might even at that pass have +saved himself if he would. But he would not. He told the monks resolutely that +he would not. And though they all dispersed and left him there with no other +follower than <span class="smcap">Edward Gryme</span>, his faithful +cross-bearer, he was as firm then, as ever he had been in his life. +</p> + +<p> +The knights came on, through the darkness, making a terrible noise with their +armed tread upon the stone pavement of the church. ‘Where is the +traitor?’ they cried out. He made no answer. But when they cried, +‘Where is the Archbishop?’ he said proudly, ‘I am +here!’ and came out of the shade and stood before them. +</p> + +<p> +The knights had no desire to kill him, if they could rid the King and +themselves of him by any other means. They told him he must either fly or go +with them. He said he would do neither; and he threw William Tracy off with +such force when he took hold of his sleeve, that Tracy reeled again. By his +reproaches and his steadiness, he so incensed them, and exasperated their +fierce humour, that Reginald Fitzurse, whom he called by an ill name, said, +‘Then die!’ and struck at his head. But the faithful Edward Gryme +put out his arm, and there received the main force of the blow, so that it only +made his master bleed. Another voice from among the knights again called to +Thomas à Becket to fly; but, with his blood running down his face, and +his hands clasped, and his head bent, he commanded himself to God, and stood +firm. Then they cruelly killed him close to the altar of St. Bennet; and his +body fell upon the pavement, which was dirtied with his blood and brains. +</p> + +<p> +It is an awful thing to think of the murdered mortal, who had so showered his +curses about, lying, all disfigured, in the church, where a few lamps here and +there were but red specks on a pall of darkness; and to think of the guilty +knights riding away on horseback, looking over their shoulders at the dim +Cathedral, and remembering what they had left inside. +</p> + +<h3>PART THE SECOND</h3> + +<p> +When the King heard how Thomas à Becket had lost his life in Canterbury +Cathedral, through the ferocity of the four Knights, he was filled with dismay. +Some have supposed that when the King spoke those hasty words, ‘Have I no +one here who will deliver me from this man?’ he wished, and meant +à Becket to be slain. But few things are more unlikely; for, besides +that the King was not naturally cruel (though very passionate), he was wise, +and must have known full well what any stupid man in his dominions must have +known, namely, that such a murder would rouse the Pope and the whole Church +against him. +</p> + +<p> +He sent respectful messengers to the Pope, to represent his innocence (except +in having uttered the hasty words); and he swore solemnly and publicly to his +innocence, and contrived in time to make his peace. As to the four guilty +Knights, who fled into Yorkshire, and never again dared to show themselves at +Court, the Pope excommunicated them; and they lived miserably for some time, +shunned by all their countrymen. At last, they went humbly to Jerusalem as a +penance, and there died and were buried. +</p> + +<p> +It happened, fortunately for the pacifying of the Pope, that an opportunity +arose very soon after the murder of à Becket, for the King to declare +his power in Ireland—which was an acceptable undertaking to the Pope, as +the Irish, who had been converted to Christianity by one Patricius (otherwise +Saint Patrick) long ago, before any Pope existed, considered that the Pope had +nothing at all to do with them, or they with the Pope, and accordingly refused +to pay him Peter’s Pence, or that tax of a penny a house which I have +elsewhere mentioned. The King’s opportunity arose in this way. +</p> + +<p> +The Irish were, at that time, as barbarous a people as you can well imagine. +They were continually quarrelling and fighting, cutting one another’s +throats, slicing one another’s noses, burning one another’s houses, +carrying away one another’s wives, and committing all sorts of violence. +The country was divided into five kingdoms—<span class="smcap">Desmond, +Thomond</span>, <span class="smcap">Connaught</span>, <span +class="smcap">Ulster</span>, and <span class="smcap">Leinster</span>—each +governed by a separate King, of whom one claimed to be the chief of the rest. +Now, one of these Kings, named <span class="smcap">Dermond Mac Murrough</span> +(a wild kind of name, spelt in more than one wild kind of way), had carried off +the wife of a friend of his, and concealed her on an island in a bog. The +friend resenting this (though it was quite the custom of the country), +complained to the chief King, and, with the chief King’s help, drove +Dermond Mac Murrough out of his dominions. Dermond came over to England for +revenge; and offered to hold his realm as a vassal of King Henry, if King Henry +would help him to regain it. The King consented to these terms; but only +assisted him, then, with what were called Letters Patent, authorising any +English subjects who were so disposed, to enter into his service, and aid his +cause. +</p> + +<p> +There was, at Bristol, a certain <span class="smcap">Earl Richard de +Clare</span>, called <span class="smcap">Strongbow</span>; of no very good +character; needy and desperate, and ready for anything that offered him a +chance of improving his fortunes. There were, in South Wales, two other broken +knights of the same good-for-nothing sort, called <span class="smcap">Robert +Fitz-Stephen</span>, and <span class="smcap">Maurice Fitz-Gerald</span>. These +three, each with a small band of followers, took up Dermond’s cause; and +it was agreed that if it proved successful, Strongbow should marry +Dermond’s daughter <span class="smcap">Eva</span>, and be declared his +heir. +</p> + +<p> +The trained English followers of these knights were so superior in all the +discipline of battle to the Irish, that they beat them against immense +superiority of numbers. In one fight, early in the war, they cut off three +hundred heads, and laid them before Mac Murrough; who turned them every one up +with his hands, rejoicing, and, coming to one which was the head of a man whom +he had much disliked, grasped it by the hair and ears, and tore off the nose +and lips with his teeth. You may judge from this, what kind of a gentleman an +Irish King in those times was. The captives, all through this war, were +horribly treated; the victorious party making nothing of breaking their limbs, +and casting them into the sea from the tops of high rocks. It was in the midst +of the miseries and cruelties attendant on the taking of Waterford, where the +dead lay piled in the streets, and the filthy gutters ran with blood, that +Strongbow married Eva. An odious marriage-company those mounds of +corpses must have made, I think, and one quite worthy of the young lady’s +father. +</p> + +<p> +He died, after Waterford and Dublin had been taken, and various successes +achieved; and Strongbow became King of Leinster. Now came King Henry’s +opportunity. To restrain the growing power of Strongbow, he himself repaired to +Dublin, as Strongbow’s Royal Master, and deprived him of his kingdom, but +confirmed him in the enjoyment of great possessions. The King, then, holding +state in Dublin, received the homage of nearly all the Irish Kings and Chiefs, +and so came home again with a great addition to his reputation as Lord of +Ireland, and with a new claim on the favour of the Pope. And now, their +reconciliation was completed—more easily and mildly by the Pope, than the +King might have expected, I think. +</p> + +<p> +At this period of his reign, when his troubles seemed so few and his prospects +so bright, those domestic miseries began which gradually made the King the most +unhappy of men, reduced his great spirit, wore away his health, and broke his +heart. +</p> + +<p> +He had four sons. <span class="smcap">Henry</span>, now aged eighteen—his +secret crowning of whom had given such offence to Thomas à Becket. <span +class="smcap">Richard</span>, aged sixteen; <span +class="smcap">Geoffrey</span>, fifteen; and <span class="smcap">John</span>, +his favourite, a young boy whom the courtiers named <span +class="smcap">Lackland</span>, because he had no inheritance, but to whom the +King meant to give the Lordship of Ireland. All these misguided boys, in their +turn, were unnatural sons to him, and unnatural brothers to each other. Prince +Henry, stimulated by the French King, and by his bad mother, Queen Eleanor, +began the undutiful history. +</p> + +<p> +First, he demanded that his young wife, <span class="smcap">Margaret</span>, +the French King’s daughter, should be crowned as well as he. His father, +the King, consented, and it was done. It was no sooner done, than he demanded +to have a part of his father’s dominions, during his father’s life. +This being refused, he made off from his father in the night, with his bad +heart full of bitterness, and took refuge at the French King’s Court. +Within a day or two, his brothers Richard and Geoffrey followed. Their mother +tried to join them—escaping in man’s clothes—but she was +seized by King Henry’s men, and immured in prison, where she lay, +deservedly, for sixteen years. Every day, however, some grasping English +noblemen, to whom the King’s protection of his people from their avarice +and oppression had given offence, deserted him and joined the Princes. Every +day he heard some fresh intelligence of the Princes levying armies against him; +of Prince Henry’s wearing a crown before his own ambassadors at the +French Court, and being called the Junior King of England; of all the Princes +swearing never to make peace with him, their father, without the consent and +approval of the Barons of France. But, with his fortitude and energy unshaken, +King Henry met the shock of these disasters with a resolved and cheerful face. +He called upon all Royal fathers who had sons, to help him, for his cause was +theirs; he hired, out of his riches, twenty thousand men to fight the false +French King, who stirred his own blood against him; and he carried on the war +with such vigour, that Louis soon proposed a conference to treat for peace. +</p> + +<p> +The conference was held beneath an old wide-spreading green elm-tree, upon a +plain in France. It led to nothing. The war recommenced. Prince Richard began +his fighting career, by leading an army against his father; but his father beat +him and his army back; and thousands of his men would have rued the day in +which they fought in such a wicked cause, had not the King received news of an +invasion of England by the Scots, and promptly come home through a great storm +to repress it. And whether he really began to fear that he suffered these +troubles because à Becket had been murdered; or whether he wished to +rise in the favour of the Pope, who had now declared à Becket to be a +saint, or in the favour of his own people, of whom many believed that even +à Becket’s senseless tomb could work miracles, I don’t know: +but the King no sooner landed in England than he went straight to Canterbury; +and when he came within sight of the distant Cathedral, he dismounted from his +horse, took off his shoes, and walked with bare and bleeding feet to à +Becket’s grave. There, he lay down on the ground, lamenting, in the +presence of many people; and by-and-by he went into the Chapter House, and, +removing his clothes from his back and shoulders, submitted himself to be +beaten with knotted cords (not beaten very hard, I dare say though) by eighty +Priests, one after another. It chanced that on the very day when the King made +this curious exhibition of himself, a complete victory was obtained over the +Scots; which very much delighted the Priests, who said that it was won because +of his great example of repentance. For the Priests in general had found out, +since à Becket’s death, that they admired him of all +things—though they had hated him very cordially when he was alive. +</p> + +<p> +The Earl of Flanders, who was at the head of the base conspiracy of the +King’s undutiful sons and their foreign friends, took the opportunity of +the King being thus employed at home, to lay siege to Rouen, the capital of +Normandy. But the King, who was extraordinarily quick and active in all his +movements, was at Rouen, too, before it was supposed possible that he could +have left England; and there he so defeated the said Earl of Flanders, that the +conspirators proposed peace, and his bad sons Henry and Geoffrey submitted. +Richard resisted for six weeks; but, being beaten out of castle after castle, +he at last submitted too, and his father forgave him. +</p> + +<p> +To forgive these unworthy princes was only to afford them breathing-time for +new faithlessness. They were so false, disloyal, and dishonourable, that they +were no more to be trusted than common thieves. In the very next year, Prince +Henry rebelled again, and was again forgiven. In eight years more, Prince +Richard rebelled against his elder brother; and Prince Geoffrey infamously said +that the brothers could never agree well together, unless they were united +against their father. In the very next year after their reconciliation by the +King, Prince Henry again rebelled against his father; and again submitted, +swearing to be true; and was again forgiven; and again rebelled with Geoffrey. +</p> + +<p> +But the end of this perfidious Prince was come. He fell sick at a French town; +and his conscience terribly reproaching him with his baseness, he sent +messengers to the King his father, imploring him to come and see him, and to +forgive him for the last time on his bed of death. The generous King, who had a +royal and forgiving mind towards his children always, would have gone; but this +Prince had been so unnatural, that the noblemen about the King suspected +treachery, and represented to him that he could not safely trust his life with +such a traitor, though his own eldest son. Therefore the King sent him a ring +from off his finger as a token of forgiveness; and when the Prince had kissed +it, with much grief and many tears, and had confessed to those around him how +bad, and wicked, and undutiful a son he had been; he said to the attendant +Priests: ‘O, tie a rope about my body, and draw me out of bed, and lay me +down upon a bed of ashes, that I may die with prayers to God in a repentant +manner!’ And so he died, at twenty-seven years old. +</p> + +<p> +Three years afterwards, Prince Geoffrey, being unhorsed at a tournament, had +his brains trampled out by a crowd of horses passing over him. So, there only +remained Prince Richard, and Prince John—who had grown to be a young man +now, and had solemnly sworn to be faithful to his father. Richard soon rebelled +again, encouraged by his friend the French King, <span class="smcap">Philip the +Second</span> (son of Louis, who was dead); and soon submitted and was again +forgiven, swearing on the New Testament never to rebel again; and in another +year or so, rebelled again; and, in the presence of his father, knelt down on +his knee before the King of France; and did the French King homage: and +declared that with his aid he would possess himself, by force, of all his +father’s French dominions. +</p> + +<p> +And yet this Richard called himself a soldier of Our Saviour! And yet this +Richard wore the Cross, which the Kings of France and England had both taken, +in the previous year, at a brotherly meeting underneath the old wide-spreading +elm-tree on the plain, when they had sworn (like him) to devote themselves to a +new Crusade, for the love and honour of the Truth! +</p> + +<p> +Sick at heart, wearied out by the falsehood of his sons, and almost ready to +lie down and die, the unhappy King who had so long stood firm, began to fail. +But the Pope, to his honour, supported him; and obliged the French King and +Richard, though successful in fight, to treat for peace. Richard wanted to be +Crowned King of England, and pretended that he wanted to be married (which he +really did not) to the French King’s sister, his promised wife, whom King +Henry detained in England. King Henry wanted, on the other hand, that the +French King’s sister should be married to his favourite son, John: the +only one of his sons (he said) who had never rebelled against him. At last King +Henry, deserted by his nobles one by one, distressed, exhausted, +broken-hearted, consented to establish peace. +</p> + +<p> +One final heavy sorrow was reserved for him, even yet. When they brought him +the proposed treaty of peace, in writing, as he lay very ill in bed, they +brought him also the list of the deserters from their allegiance, whom he was +required to pardon. The first name upon this list was John, his favourite son, +in whom he had trusted to the last. +</p> + +<p> +‘O John! child of my heart!’ exclaimed the King, in a great agony +of mind. ‘O John, whom I have loved the best! O John, for whom I have +contended through these many troubles! Have you betrayed me too!’ And +then he lay down with a heavy groan, and said, ‘Now let the world go as +it will. I care for nothing more!’ +</p> + +<p> +After a time, he told his attendants to take him to the French town of +Chinon—a town he had been fond of, during many years. But he was fond of +no place now; it was too true that he could care for nothing more upon this +earth. He wildly cursed the hour when he was born, and cursed the children whom +he left behind him; and expired. +</p> + +<p> +As, one hundred years before, the servile followers of the Court had abandoned +the Conqueror in the hour of his death, so they now abandoned his descendant. +The very body was stripped, in the plunder of the Royal chamber; and it was not +easy to find the means of carrying it for burial to the abbey church of +Fontevraud. +</p> + +<p> +Richard was said in after years, by way of flattery, to have the heart of a +Lion. It would have been far better, I think, to have had the heart of a Man. +His heart, whatever it was, had cause to beat remorsefully within his breast, +when he came—as he did—into the solemn abbey, and looked on his +dead father’s uncovered face. His heart, whatever it was, had been a +black and perjured heart, in all its dealings with the deceased King, and more +deficient in a single touch of tenderness than any wild beast’s in the +forest. +</p> + +<p> +There is a pretty story told of this Reign, called the story of <span +class="smcap">Fair Rosamond</span>. It relates how the King doted on Fair +Rosamond, who was the loveliest girl in all the world; and how he had a +beautiful Bower built for her in a Park at Woodstock; and how it was erected in +a labyrinth, and could only be found by a clue of silk. How the bad Queen +Eleanor, becoming jealous of Fair Rosamond, found out the secret of the clue, +and one day, appeared before her, with a dagger and a cup of poison, and left +her to the choice between those deaths. How Fair Rosamond, after shedding many +piteous tears and offering many useless prayers to the cruel Queen, took the +poison, and fell dead in the midst of the beautiful bower, while the +unconscious birds sang gaily all around her. +</p> + +<p> +Now, there <i>was</i> a fair Rosamond, and she was (I dare say) the loveliest +girl in all the world, and the King was certainly very fond of her, and the bad +Queen Eleanor was certainly made jealous. But I am afraid—I say afraid, +because I like the story so much—that there was no bower, no labyrinth, +no silken clue, no dagger, no poison. I am afraid fair Rosamond retired to a +nunnery near Oxford, and died there, peaceably; her sister-nuns hanging a +silken drapery over her tomb, and often dressing it with flowers, in +remembrance of the youth and beauty that had enchanted the King when he too was +young, and when his life lay fair before him. +</p> + +<p> +It was dark and ended now; faded and gone. Henry Plantagenet lay quiet in the +abbey church of Fontevraud, in the fifty-seventh year of his age—never to +be completed—after governing England well, for nearly thirty-five years. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART</h2> + +<p> +In the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, Richard of +the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the Second, whose paternal +heart he had done so much to break. He had been, as we have seen, a rebel from +his boyhood; but, the moment he became a king against whom others might rebel, +he found out that rebellion was a great wickedness. In the heat of this pious +discovery, he punished all the leading people who had befriended him against +his father. He could scarcely have done anything that would have been a better +instance of his real nature, or a better warning to fawners and parasites not +to trust in lion-hearted princes. +</p> + +<p> +He likewise put his late father’s treasurer in chains, and locked him up +in a dungeon from which he was not set free until he had relinquished, not only +all the Crown treasure, but all his own money too. So, Richard certainly got +the Lion’s share of the wealth of this wretched treasurer, whether he had +a Lion’s heart or not. +</p> + +<p> +He was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster: walking to the +Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the tops of four lances, each +carried by a great lord. On the day of his coronation, a dreadful murdering of +the Jews took place, which seems to have given great delight to numbers of +savage persons calling themselves Christians. The King had issued a +proclamation forbidding the Jews (who were generally hated, though they were +the most useful merchants in England) to appear at the ceremony; but as they +had assembled in London from all parts, bringing presents to show their respect +for the new Sovereign, some of them ventured down to Westminster Hall with +their gifts; which were very readily accepted. It is supposed, now, that some +noisy fellow in the crowd, pretending to be a very delicate Christian, set up a +howl at this, and struck a Jew who was trying to get in at the Hall door with +his present. A riot arose. The Jews who had got into the Hall, were driven +forth; and some of the rabble cried out that the new King had commanded the +unbelieving race to be put to death. Thereupon the crowd rushed through the +narrow streets of the city, slaughtering all the Jews they met; and when they +could find no more out of doors (on account of their having fled to their +houses, and fastened themselves in), they ran madly about, breaking open all +the houses where the Jews lived, rushing in and stabbing or spearing them, +sometimes even flinging old people and children out of window into blazing +fires they had lighted up below. This great cruelty lasted four-and-twenty +hours, and only three men were punished for it. Even they forfeited their lives +not for murdering and robbing the Jews, but for burning the houses of some +Christians. +</p> + +<p> +King Richard, who was a strong, restless, burly man, with one idea always in +his head, and that the very troublesome idea of breaking the heads of other +men, was mightily impatient to go on a Crusade to the Holy Land, with a great +army. As great armies could not be raised to go, even to the Holy Land, without +a great deal of money, he sold the Crown domains, and even the high offices of +State; recklessly appointing noblemen to rule over his English subjects, not +because they were fit to govern, but because they could pay high for the +privilege. In this way, and by selling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties +of avarice and oppression, he scraped together a large treasure. He then +appointed two Bishops to take care of his kingdom in his absence, and gave +great powers and possessions to his brother John, to secure his friendship. +John would rather have been made Regent of England; but he was a sly man, and +friendly to the expedition; saying to himself, no doubt, ‘The more +fighting, the more chance of my brother being killed; and when he <i>is</i> +killed, then I become King John!’ +</p> + +<p> +Before the newly levied army departed from England, the recruits and the +general populace distinguished themselves by astonishing cruelties on the +unfortunate Jews: whom, in many large towns, they murdered by hundreds in the +most horrible manner. +</p> + +<p> +At York, a large body of Jews took refuge in the Castle, in the absence of its +Governor, after the wives and children of many of them had been slain before +their eyes. Presently came the Governor, and demanded admission. ‘How can +we give it thee, O Governor!’ said the Jews upon the walls, ‘when, +if we open the gate by so much as the width of a foot, the roaring crowd behind +thee will press in and kill us?’ +</p> + +<p> +Upon this, the unjust Governor became angry, and told the people that he +approved of their killing those Jews; and a mischievous maniac of a friar, +dressed all in white, put himself at the head of the assault, and they +assaulted the Castle for three days. +</p> + +<p> +Then said <span class="smcap">Jocen</span>, the head-Jew (who was a Rabbi or +Priest), to the rest, ‘Brethren, there is no hope for us with the +Christians who are hammering at the gates and walls, and who must soon break +in. As we and our wives and children must die, either by Christian hands, or by +our own, let it be by our own. Let us destroy by fire what jewels and other +treasure we have here, then fire the castle, and then perish!’ +</p> + +<p> +A few could not resolve to do this, but the greater part complied. They made a +blazing heap of all their valuables, and, when those were consumed, set the +castle in flames. While the flames roared and crackled around them, and +shooting up into the sky, turned it blood-red, Jocen cut the throat of his +beloved wife, and stabbed himself. All the others who had wives or children, +did the like dreadful deed. When the populace broke in, they found (except the +trembling few, cowering in corners, whom they soon killed) only heaps of greasy +cinders, with here and there something like part of the blackened trunk of a +burnt tree, but which had lately been a human creature, formed by the +beneficent hand of the Creator as they were. +</p> + +<p> +After this bad beginning, Richard and his troops went on, in no very good +manner, with the Holy Crusade. It was undertaken jointly by the King of England +and his old friend Philip of France. They commenced the business by reviewing +their forces, to the number of one hundred thousand men. Afterwards, they +severally embarked their troops for Messina, in Sicily, which was appointed as +the next place of meeting. +</p> + +<p> +King Richard’s sister had married the King of this place, but he was +dead: and his uncle <span class="smcap">Tancred</span> had usurped the crown, +cast the Royal Widow into prison, and possessed himself of her estates. Richard +fiercely demanded his sister’s release, the restoration of her lands, and +(according to the Royal custom of the Island) that she should have a golden +chair, a golden table, four-and-twenty silver cups, and four-and-twenty silver +dishes. As he was too powerful to be successfully resisted, Tancred yielded to +his demands; and then the French King grew jealous, and complained that the +English King wanted to be absolute in the Island of Messina and everywhere +else. Richard, however, cared little or nothing for this complaint; and in +consideration of a present of twenty thousand pieces of gold, promised his +pretty little nephew <span class="smcap">Arthur</span>, then a child of two +years old, in marriage to Tancred’s daughter. We shall hear again of +pretty little Arthur by-and-by. +</p> + +<p> +This Sicilian affair arranged without anybody’s brains being knocked out +(which must have rather disappointed him), King Richard took his sister away, +and also a fair lady named <span class="smcap">Berengaria</span>, with whom he +had fallen in love in France, and whom his mother, Queen Eleanor (so long in +prison, you remember, but released by Richard on his coming to the Throne), had +brought out there to be his wife; and sailed with them for Cyprus. +</p> + +<p> +He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of Cyprus, for +allowing his subjects to pillage some of the English troops who were +shipwrecked on the shore; and easily conquering this poor monarch, he seized +his only daughter, to be a companion to the lady Berengaria, and put the King +himself into silver fetters. He then sailed away again with his mother, sister, +wife, and the captive princess; and soon arrived before the town of Acre, which +the French King with his fleet was besieging from the sea. But the French King +was in no triumphant condition, for his army had been thinned by the swords of +the Saracens, and wasted by the plague; and <span class="smcap">Saladin</span>, +the brave Sultan of the Turks, at the head of a numerous army, was at that time +gallantly defending the place from the hills that rise above it. +</p> + +<p> +Wherever the united army of Crusaders went, they agreed in few points except in +gaming, drinking, and quarrelling, in a most unholy manner; in debauching the +people among whom they tarried, whether they were friends or foes; and in +carrying disturbance and ruin into quiet places. The French King was jealous of +the English King, and the English King was jealous of the French King, and the +disorderly and violent soldiers of the two nations were jealous of one another; +consequently, the two Kings could not at first agree, even upon a joint assault +on Acre; but when they did make up their quarrel for that purpose, the Saracens +promised to yield the town, to give up to the Christians the wood of the Holy +Cross, to set at liberty all their Christian captives, and to pay two hundred +thousand pieces of gold. All this was to be done within forty days; but, not +being done, King Richard ordered some three thousand Saracen prisoners to be +brought out in the front of his camp, and there, in full view of their own +countrymen, to be butchered. +</p> + +<p> +The French King had no part in this crime; for he was by that time travelling +homeward with the greater part of his men; being offended by the overbearing +conduct of the English King; being anxious to look after his own dominions; and +being ill, besides, from the unwholesome air of that hot and sandy country. +King Richard carried on the war without him; and remained in the East, meeting +with a variety of adventures, nearly a year and a half. Every night when his +army was on the march, and came to a halt, the heralds cried out three times, +to remind all the soldiers of the cause in which they were engaged, ‘Save +the Holy Sepulchre!’ and then all the soldiers knelt and said +‘Amen!’ Marching or encamping, the army had continually to strive +with the hot air of the glaring desert, or with the Saracen soldiers animated +and directed by the brave Saladin, or with both together. Sickness and death, +battle and wounds, were always among them; but through every difficulty King +Richard fought like a giant, and worked like a common labourer. Long and long +after he was quiet in his grave, his terrible battle-axe, with twenty English +pounds of English steel in its mighty head, was a legend among the Saracens; +and when all the Saracen and Christian hosts had been dust for many a year, if +a Saracen horse started at any object by the wayside, his rider would exclaim, +‘What dost thou fear, Fool? Dost thou think King Richard is behind +it?’ +</p> + +<p> +No one admired this King’s renown for bravery more than Saladin himself, +who was a generous and gallant enemy. When Richard lay ill of a fever, Saladin +sent him fresh fruits from Damascus, and snow from the mountain-tops. Courtly +messages and compliments were frequently exchanged between them—and then +King Richard would mount his horse and kill as many Saracens as he could; and +Saladin would mount his, and kill as many Christians as he could. In this way +King Richard fought to his heart’s content at Arsoof and at Jaffa; and +finding himself with nothing exciting to do at Ascalon, except to rebuild, for +his own defence, some fortifications there which the Saracens had destroyed, he +kicked his ally the Duke of Austria, for being too proud to work at them. +</p> + +<p> +The army at last came within sight of the Holy City of Jerusalem; but, being +then a mere nest of jealousy, and quarrelling and fighting, soon retired, and +agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years, three months, three +days, and three hours. Then, the English Christians, protected by the noble +Saladin from Saracen revenge, visited Our Saviour’s tomb; and then King +Richard embarked with a small force at Acre to return home. +</p> + +<p> +But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea, and was fain to pass through +Germany, under an assumed name. Now, there were many people in Germany who had +served in the Holy Land under that proud Duke of Austria who had been kicked; +and some of them, easily recognising a man so remarkable as King Richard, +carried their intelligence to the kicked Duke, who straightway took him +prisoner at a little inn near Vienna. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke’s master the Emperor of Germany, and the King of France, were +equally delighted to have so troublesome a monarch in safe keeping. Friendships +which are founded on a partnership in doing wrong, are never true; and the King +of France was now quite as heartily King Richard’s foe, as he had ever +been his friend in his unnatural conduct to his father. He monstrously +pretended that King Richard had designed to poison him in the East; he charged +him with having murdered, there, a man whom he had in truth befriended; he +bribed the Emperor of Germany to keep him close prisoner; and, finally, through +the plotting of these two princes, Richard was brought before the German +legislature, charged with the foregoing crimes, and many others. But he +defended himself so well, that many of the assembly were moved to tears by his +eloquence and earnestness. It was decided that he should be treated, during the +rest of his captivity, in a manner more becoming his dignity than he had been, +and that he should be set free on the payment of a heavy ransom. This ransom +the English people willingly raised. When Queen Eleanor took it over to +Germany, it was at first evaded and refused. But she appealed to the honour of +all the princes of the German Empire in behalf of her son, and appealed so well +that it was accepted, and the King released. Thereupon, the King of France +wrote to Prince John—‘Take care of thyself. The devil is +unchained!’ +</p> + +<p> +Prince John had reason to fear his brother, for he had been a traitor to him in +his captivity. He had secretly joined the French King; had vowed to the English +nobles and people that his brother was dead; and had vainly tried to seize the +crown. He was now in France, at a place called Evreux. Being the meanest and +basest of men, he contrived a mean and base expedient for making himself +acceptable to his brother. He invited the French officers of the garrison in +that town to dinner, murdered them all, and then took the fortress. With this +recommendation to the good will of a lion-hearted monarch, he hastened to King +Richard, fell on his knees before him, and obtained the intercession of Queen +Eleanor. ‘I forgive him,’ said the King, ‘and I hope I may +forget the injury he has done me, as easily as I know he will forget my +pardon.’ +</p> + +<p> +While King Richard was in Sicily, there had been trouble in his dominions at +home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge thereof, arresting the +other; and making, in his pride and ambition, as great a show as if he were +King himself. But the King hearing of it at Messina, and appointing a new +Regency, this <span class="smcap">Longchamp</span> (for that was his name) had +fled to France in a woman’s dress, and had there been encouraged and +supported by the French King. With all these causes of offence against Philip +in his mind, King Richard had no sooner been welcomed home by his enthusiastic +subjects with great display and splendour, and had no sooner been crowned +afresh at Winchester, than he resolved to show the French King that the Devil +was unchained indeed, and made war against him with great fury. +</p> + +<p> +There was fresh trouble at home about this time, arising out of the discontents +of the poor people, who complained that they were far more heavily taxed than +the rich, and who found a spirited champion in <span class="smcap">William +Fitz-Osbert</span>, called <span class="smcap">Longbeard</span>. He became the +leader of a secret society, comprising fifty thousand men; he was seized by +surprise; he stabbed the citizen who first laid hands upon him; and retreated, +bravely fighting, to a church, which he maintained four days, until he was +dislodged by fire, and run through the body as he came out. He was not killed, +though; for he was dragged, half dead, at the tail of a horse to Smithfield, +and there hanged. Death was long a favourite remedy for silencing the +people’s advocates; but as we go on with this history, I fancy we shall +find them difficult to make an end of, for all that. +</p> + +<p> +The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in progress when a +certain Lord named <span class="smcap">Vidomar</span>, Viscount of Limoges, +chanced to find in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the King’s +vassal, he sent the King half of it; but the King claimed the whole. The lord +refused to yield the whole. The King besieged the lord in his castle, swore +that he would take the castle by storm, and hang every man of its defenders on +the battlements. +</p> + +<p> +There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the effect that in +Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard would die. It may be that +<span class="smcap">Bertrand de Gourdon</span>, a young man who was one of the +defenders of the castle, had often sung it or heard it sung of a winter night, +and remembered it when he saw, from his post upon the ramparts, the King +attended only by his chief officer riding below the walls surveying the place. +He drew an arrow to the head, took steady aim, said between his teeth, +‘Now I pray God speed thee well, arrow!’ discharged it, and struck +the King in the left shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +Although the wound was not at first considered dangerous, it was severe enough +to cause the King to retire to his tent, and direct the assault to be made +without him. The castle was taken; and every man of its defenders was hanged, +as the King had sworn all should be, except Bertrand de Gourdon, who was +reserved until the royal pleasure respecting him should be known. +</p> + +<p> +By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the King knew +that he was dying. He directed Bertrand to be brought into his tent. The young +man was brought there, heavily chained, King Richard looked at him steadily. He +looked, as steadily, at the King. +</p> + +<p> +‘Knave!’ said King Richard. ‘What have I done to thee that +thou shouldest take my life?’ +</p> + +<p> +‘What hast thou done to me?’ replied the young man. ‘With +thine own hands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. Myself thou +wouldest have hanged. Let me die now, by any torture that thou wilt. My comfort +is, that no torture can save Thee. Thou too must die; and, through me, the +world is quit of thee!’ +</p> + +<p> +Again the King looked at the young man steadily. Again the young man looked +steadily at him. Perhaps some remembrance of his generous enemy Saladin, who +was not a Christian, came into the mind of the dying King. +</p> + +<p> +‘Youth!’ he said, ‘I forgive thee. Go unhurt!’ Then, +turning to the chief officer who had been riding in his company when he +received the wound, King Richard said: +</p> + +<p> +‘Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him +depart.’ +</p> + +<p> +He sunk down on his couch, and a dark mist seemed in his weakened eyes to fill +the tent wherein he had so often rested, and he died. His age was forty-two; he +had reigned ten years. His last command was not obeyed; for the chief officer +flayed Bertrand de Gourdon alive, and hanged him. +</p> + +<p> +There is an old tune yet known—a sorrowful air will sometimes outlive +many generations of strong men, and even last longer than battle-axes with +twenty pounds of steel in the head—by which this King is said to have +been discovered in his captivity. <span class="smcap">Blondel</span>, a +favourite Minstrel of King Richard, as the story relates, faithfully seeking +his Royal master, went singing it outside the gloomy walls of many foreign +fortresses and prisons; until at last he heard it echoed from within a dungeon, +and knew the voice, and cried out in ecstasy, ‘O Richard, O my +King!’ You may believe it, if you like; it would be easy to believe worse +things. Richard was himself a Minstrel and a Poet. If he had not been a Prince +too, he might have been a better man perhaps, and might have gone out of the +world with less bloodshed and waste of life to answer for. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND</h2> + +<p> +At two-and-thirty years of age, <span class="smcap">John</span> became King of +England. His pretty little nephew <span class="smcap">Arthur</span> had the +best claim to the throne; but John seized the treasure, and made fine promises +to the nobility, and got himself crowned at Westminster within a few weeks +after his brother Richard’s death. I doubt whether the crown could +possibly have been put upon the head of a meaner coward, or a more detestable +villain, if England had been searched from end to end to find him out. +</p> + +<p> +The French King, Philip, refused to acknowledge the right of John to his new +dignity, and declared in favour of Arthur. You must not suppose that he had any +generosity of feeling for the fatherless boy; it merely suited his ambitious +schemes to oppose the King of England. So John and the French King went to war +about Arthur. +</p> + +<p> +He was a handsome boy, at that time only twelve years old. He was not born when +his father, Geoffrey, had his brains trampled out at the tournament; and, +besides the misfortune of never having known a father’s guidance and +protection, he had the additional misfortune to have a foolish mother (<span +class="smcap">Constance</span> by name), lately married to her third husband. +She took Arthur, upon John’s accession, to the French King, who pretended +to be very much his friend, and who made him a Knight, and promised him his +daughter in marriage; but, who cared so little about him in reality, that +finding it his interest to make peace with King John for a time, he did so +without the least consideration for the poor little Prince, and heartlessly +sacrificed all his interests. +</p> + +<p> +Young Arthur, for two years afterwards, lived quietly; and in the course of +that time his mother died. But, the French King then finding it his interest to +quarrel with King John again, again made Arthur his pretence, and invited the +orphan boy to court. ‘You know your rights, Prince,’ said the +French King, ‘and you would like to be a King. Is it not so?’ +‘Truly,’ said Prince Arthur, ‘I should greatly like to be a +King!’ ‘Then,’ said Philip, ‘you shall have two hundred +gentlemen who are Knights of mine, and with them you shall go to win back the +provinces belonging to you, of which your uncle, the usurping King of England, +has taken possession. I myself, meanwhile, will head a force against him in +Normandy.’ Poor Arthur was so flattered and so grateful that he signed a +treaty with the crafty French King, agreeing to consider him his superior Lord, +and that the French King should keep for himself whatever he could take from +King John. +</p> + +<p> +Now, King John was so bad in all ways, and King Philip was so perfidious, that +Arthur, between the two, might as well have been a lamb between a fox and a +wolf. But, being so young, he was ardent and flushed with hope; and, when the +people of Brittany (which was his inheritance) sent him five hundred more +knights and five thousand foot soldiers, he believed his fortune was made. The +people of Brittany had been fond of him from his birth, and had requested that +he might be called Arthur, in remembrance of that dimly-famous English Arthur, +of whom I told you early in this book, whom they believed to have been the +brave friend and companion of an old King of their own. They had tales among +them about a prophet called <span class="smcap">Merlin</span> (of the same old +time), who had foretold that their own King should be restored to them after +hundreds of years; and they believed that the prophecy would be fulfilled in +Arthur; that the time would come when he would rule them with a crown of +Brittany upon his head; and when neither King of France nor King of England +would have any power over them. When Arthur found himself riding in a +glittering suit of armour on a richly caparisoned horse, at the head of his +train of knights and soldiers, he began to believe this too, and to consider +old Merlin a very superior prophet. +</p> + +<p> +He did not know—how could he, being so innocent and +inexperienced?—that his little army was a mere nothing against the power +of the King of England. The French King knew it; but the poor boy’s fate +was little to him, so that the King of England was worried and distressed. +Therefore, King Philip went his way into Normandy and Prince Arthur went his +way towards Mirebeau, a French town near Poictiers, both very well pleased. +</p> + +<p> +Prince Arthur went to attack the town of Mirebeau, because his grandmother +Eleanor, who has so often made her appearance in this history (and who had +always been his mother’s enemy), was living there, and because his +Knights said, ‘Prince, if you can take her prisoner, you will be able to +bring the King your uncle to terms!’ But she was not to be easily taken. +She was old enough by this time—eighty—but she was as full of +stratagem as she was full of years and wickedness. Receiving intelligence of +young Arthur’s approach, she shut herself up in a high tower, and +encouraged her soldiers to defend it like men. Prince Arthur with his little +army besieged the high tower. King John, hearing how matters stood, came up to +the rescue, with <i>his</i> army. So here was a strange family-party! The +boy-Prince besieging his grandmother, and his uncle besieging him! +</p> + +<p> +This position of affairs did not last long. One summer night King John, by +treachery, got his men into the town, surprised Prince Arthur’s force, +took two hundred of his knights, and seized the Prince himself in his bed. The +Knights were put in heavy irons, and driven away in open carts drawn by +bullocks, to various dungeons where they were most inhumanly treated, and where +some of them were starved to death. Prince Arthur was sent to the castle of +Falaise. +</p> + +<p> +One day, while he was in prison at that castle, mournfully thinking it strange +that one so young should be in so much trouble, and looking out of the small +window in the deep dark wall, at the summer sky and the birds, the door was +softly opened, and he saw his uncle the King standing in the shadow of the +archway, looking very grim. +</p> + +<p> +‘Arthur,’ said the King, with his wicked eyes more on the stone +floor than on his nephew, ‘will you not trust to the gentleness, the +friendship, and the truthfulness of your loving uncle?’ +</p> + +<p> +‘I will tell my loving uncle that,’ replied the boy, ‘when he +does me right. Let him restore to me my kingdom of England, and then come to me +and ask the question.’ +</p> + +<p> +The King looked at him and went out. ‘Keep that boy close +prisoner,’ said he to the warden of the castle. +</p> + +<p> +Then, the King took secret counsel with the worst of his nobles how the Prince +was to be got rid of. Some said, ‘Put out his eyes and keep him in +prison, as Robort of Normandy was kept.’ Others said, ‘Have him +stabbed.’ Others, ‘Have him hanged.’ Others, ‘Have him +poisoned.’ +</p> + +<p> +King John, feeling that in any case, whatever was done afterwards, it would be +a satisfaction to his mind to have those handsome eyes burnt out that had +looked at him so proudly while his own royal eyes were blinking at the stone +floor, sent certain ruffians to Falaise to blind the boy with red-hot irons. +But Arthur so pathetically entreated them, and shed such piteous tears, and so +appealed to <span class="smcap">Hubert de Bourg</span> (or <span +class="smcap">Burgh</span>), the warden of the castle, who had a love for him, +and was an honourable, tender man, that Hubert could not bear it. To his +eternal honour he prevented the torture from being performed, and, at his own +risk, sent the savages away. +</p> + +<p> +The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing suggestion +next, and, with his shuffling manner and his cruel face, proposed it to one +William de Bray. ‘I am a gentleman and not an executioner,’ said +William de Bray, and left the presence with disdain. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not difficult for a King to hire a murderer in those days. King John +found one for his money, and sent him down to the castle of Falaise. ‘On +what errand dost thou come?’ said Hubert to this fellow. ‘To +despatch young Arthur,’ he returned. ‘Go back to him who sent +thee,’ answered Hubert, ‘and say that I will do it!’ +</p> + +<p> +King John very well knowing that Hubert would never do it, but that he +courageously sent this reply to save the Prince or gain time, despatched +messengers to convey the young prisoner to the castle of Rouen. +</p> + +<p> +Arthur was soon forced from the good Hubert—of whom he had never stood in +greater need than then—carried away by night, and lodged in his new +prison: where, through his grated window, he could hear the deep waters of the +river Seine, rippling against the stone wall below. +</p> + +<p> +One dark night, as he lay sleeping, dreaming perhaps of rescue by those +unfortunate gentlemen who were obscurely suffering and dying in his cause, he +was roused, and bidden by his jailer to come down the staircase to the foot of +the tower. He hurriedly dressed himself and obeyed. When they came to the +bottom of the winding stairs, and the night air from the river blew upon their +faces, the jailer trod upon his torch and put it out. Then, Arthur, in the +darkness, was hurriedly drawn into a solitary boat. And in that boat, he found +his uncle and one other man. +</p> + +<p> +He knelt to them, and prayed them not to murder him. Deaf to his entreaties, +they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with heavy stones. When the +spring-morning broke, the tower-door was closed, the boat was gone, the river +sparkled on its way, and never more was any trace of the poor boy beheld by +mortal eyes. +</p> + +<p> +The news of this atrocious murder being spread in England, awakened a hatred of +the King (already odious for his many vices, and for his having stolen away and +married a noble lady while his own wife was living) that never slept again +through his whole reign. In Brittany, the indignation was intense. +Arthur’s own sister <span class="smcap">Eleanor</span> was in the power +of John and shut up in a convent at Bristol, but his half-sister <span +class="smcap">Alice</span> was in Brittany. The people chose her, and the +murdered prince’s father-in-law, the last husband of Constance, to +represent them; and carried their fiery complaints to King Philip. King Philip +summoned King John (as the holder of territory in France) to come before him +and defend himself. King John refusing to appear, King Philip declared him +false, perjured, and guilty; and again made war. In a little time, by +conquering the greater part of his French territory, King Philip deprived him +of one-third of his dominions. And, through all the fighting that took place, +King John was always found, either to be eating and drinking, like a gluttonous +fool, when the danger was at a distance, or to be running away, like a beaten +cur, when it was near. +</p> + +<p> +You might suppose that when he was losing his dominions at this rate, and when +his own nobles cared so little for him or his cause that they plainly refused +to follow his banner out of England, he had enemies enough. But he made another +enemy of the Pope, which he did in this way. +</p> + +<p> +The Archbishop of Canterbury dying, and the junior monks of that place wishing +to get the start of the senior monks in the appointment of his successor, met +together at midnight, secretly elected a certain <span +class="smcap">Reginald</span>, and sent him off to Rome to get the Pope’s +approval. The senior monks and the King soon finding this out, and being very +angry about it, the junior monks gave way, and all the monks together elected +the Bishop of Norwich, who was the King’s favourite. The Pope, hearing +the whole story, declared that neither election would do for him, and that +<i>he</i> elected <span class="smcap">Stephen Langton</span>. The monks +submitting to the Pope, the King turned them all out bodily, and banished them +as traitors. The Pope sent three bishops to the King, to threaten him with an +Interdict. The King told the bishops that if any Interdict were laid upon his +kingdom, he would tear out the eyes and cut off the noses of all the monks he +could lay hold of, and send them over to Rome in that undecorated state as a +present for their master. The bishops, nevertheless, soon published the +Interdict, and fled. +</p> + +<p> +After it had lasted a year, the Pope proceeded to his next step; which was +Excommunication. King John was declared excommunicated, with all the usual +ceremonies. The King was so incensed at this, and was made so desperate by the +disaffection of his Barons and the hatred of his people, that it is said he +even privately sent ambassadors to the Turks in Spain, offering to renounce his +religion and hold his kingdom of them if they would help him. It is related +that the ambassadors were admitted to the presence of the Turkish Emir through +long lines of Moorish guards, and that they found the Emir with his eyes +seriously fixed on the pages of a large book, from which he never once looked +up. That they gave him a letter from the King containing his proposals, and +were gravely dismissed. That presently the Emir sent for one of them, and +conjured him, by his faith in his religion, to say what kind of man the King of +England truly was? That the ambassador, thus pressed, replied that the King of +England was a false tyrant, against whom his own subjects would soon rise. And +that this was quite enough for the Emir. +</p> + +<p> +Money being, in his position, the next best thing to men, King John spared no +means of getting it. He set on foot another oppressing and torturing of the +unhappy Jews (which was quite in his way), and invented a new punishment for +one wealthy Jew of Bristol. Until such time as that Jew should produce a +certain large sum of money, the King sentenced him to be imprisoned, and, every +day, to have one tooth violently wrenched out of his head—beginning with +the double teeth. For seven days, the oppressed man bore the daily pain and +lost the daily tooth; but, on the eighth, he paid the money. With the treasure +raised in such ways, the King made an expedition into Ireland, where some +English nobles had revolted. It was one of the very few places from which he +did not run away; because no resistance was shown. He made another expedition +into Wales—whence he <i>did</i> run away in the end: but not before he +had got from the Welsh people, as hostages, twenty-seven young men of the best +families; every one of whom he caused to be slain in the following year. +</p> + +<p> +To Interdict and Excommunication, the Pope now added his last sentence; +Deposition. He proclaimed John no longer King, absolved all his subjects from +their allegiance, and sent Stephen Langton and others to the King of France to +tell him that, if he would invade England, he should be forgiven all his +sins—at least, should be forgiven them by the Pope, if that would do. +</p> + +<p> +As there was nothing that King Philip desired more than to invade England, he +collected a great army at Rouen, and a fleet of seventeen hundred ships to +bring them over. But the English people, however bitterly they hated the King, +were not a people to suffer invasion quietly. They flocked to Dover, where the +English standard was, in such great numbers to enrol themselves as defenders of +their native land, that there were not provisions for them, and the King could +only select and retain sixty thousand. But, at this crisis, the Pope, who had +his own reasons for objecting to either King John or King Philip being too +powerful, interfered. He entrusted a legate, whose name was <span +class="smcap">Pandolf</span>, with the easy task of frightening King John. He +sent him to the English Camp, from France, to terrify him with exaggerations of +King Philip’s power, and his own weakness in the discontent of the +English Barons and people. Pandolf discharged his commission so well, that King +John, in a wretched panic, consented to acknowledge Stephen Langton; to resign +his kingdom ‘to God, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul’—which meant +the Pope; and to hold it, ever afterwards, by the Pope’s leave, on +payment of an annual sum of money. To this shameful contract he publicly bound +himself in the church of the Knights Templars at Dover: where he laid at the +legate’s feet a part of the tribute, which the legate haughtily trampled +upon. But they <i>do</i> say, that this was merely a genteel flourish, and that +he was afterwards seen to pick it up and pocket it. +</p> + +<p> +There was an unfortunate prophet, the name of Peter, who had greatly increased +King John’s terrors by predicting that he would be unknighted (which the +King supposed to signify that he would die) before the Feast of the Ascension +should be past. That was the day after this humiliation. When the next morning +came, and the King, who had been trembling all night, found himself alive and +safe, he ordered the prophet—and his son too—to be dragged through +the streets at the tails of horses, and then hanged, for having frightened him. +</p> + +<p> +As King John had now submitted, the Pope, to King Philip’s great +astonishment, took him under his protection, and informed King Philip that he +found he could not give him leave to invade England. The angry Philip resolved +to do it without his leave but he gained nothing and lost much; for, the +English, commanded by the Earl of Salisbury, went over, in five hundred ships, +to the French coast, before the French fleet had sailed away from it, and +utterly defeated the whole. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope then took off his three sentences, one after another, and empowered +Stephen Langton publicly to receive King John into the favour of the Church +again, and to ask him to dinner. The King, who hated Langton with all his might +and main—and with reason too, for he was a great and a good man, with +whom such a King could have no sympathy—pretended to cry and to be +<i>very</i> grateful. There was a little difficulty about settling how much the +King should pay as a recompense to the clergy for the losses he had caused +them; but, the end of it was, that the superior clergy got a good deal, and the +inferior clergy got little or nothing—which has also happened since King +John’s time, I believe. +</p> + +<p> +When all these matters were arranged, the King in his triumph became more +fierce, and false, and insolent to all around him than he had ever been. An +alliance of sovereigns against King Philip, gave him an opportunity of landing +an army in France; with which he even took a town! But, on the French +King’s gaining a great victory, he ran away, of course, and made a truce +for five years. +</p> + +<p> +And now the time approached when he was to be still further humbled, and made +to feel, if he could feel anything, what a wretched creature he was. Of all men +in the world, Stephen Langton seemed raised up by Heaven to oppose and subdue +him. When he ruthlessly burnt and destroyed the property of his own subjects, +because their Lords, the Barons, would not serve him abroad, Stephen Langton +fearlessly reproved and threatened him. When he swore to restore the laws of +King Edward, or the laws of King Henry the First, Stephen Langton knew his +falsehood, and pursued him through all his evasions. When the Barons met at the +abbey of Saint Edmund’s-Bury, to consider their wrongs and the +King’s oppressions, Stephen Langton roused them by his fervid words to +demand a solemn charter of rights and liberties from their perjured master, and +to swear, one by one, on the High Altar, that they would have it, or would wage +war against him to the death. When the King hid himself in London from the +Barons, and was at last obliged to receive them, they told him roundly they +would not believe him unless Stephen Langton became a surety that he would keep +his word. When he took the Cross to invest himself with some interest, and +belong to something that was received with favour, Stephen Langton was still +immovable. When he appealed to the Pope, and the Pope wrote to Stephen Langton +in behalf of his new favourite, Stephen Langton was deaf, even to the Pope +himself, and saw before him nothing but the welfare of England and the crimes +of the English King. +</p> + +<p> +At Easter-time, the Barons assembled at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, in proud +array, and, marching near to Oxford where the King was, delivered into the +hands of Stephen Langton and two others, a list of grievances. ‘And +these,’ they said, ‘he must redress, or we will do it for +ourselves!’ When Stephen Langton told the King as much, and read the list +to him, he went half mad with rage. But that did him no more good than his +afterwards trying to pacify the Barons with lies. They called themselves and +their followers, ‘The army of God and the Holy Church.’ Marching +through the country, with the people thronging to them everywhere (except at +Northampton, where they failed in an attack upon the castle), they at last +triumphantly set up their banner in London itself, whither the whole land, +tired of the tyrant, seemed to flock to join them. Seven knights alone, of all +the knights in England, remained with the King; who, reduced to this strait, at +last sent the Earl of Pembroke to the Barons to say that he approved of +everything, and would meet them to sign their charter when they would. +‘Then,’ said the Barons, ‘let the day be the fifteenth of +June, and the place, Runny-Mead.’ +</p> + +<p> +On Monday, the fifteenth of June, one thousand two hundred and fourteen, the +King came from Windsor Castle, and the Barons came from the town of Staines, +and they met on Runny-Mead, which is still a pleasant meadow by the Thames, +where rushes grow in the clear water of the winding river, and its banks are +green with grass and trees. On the side of the Barons, came the General of +their army, <span class="smcap">Robert Fitz-Walter</span>, and a great +concourse of the nobility of England. With the King, came, in all, some +four-and-twenty persons of any note, most of whom despised him, and were merely +his advisers in form. On that great day, and in that great company, the King +signed <span class="smcap">Magna Charta</span>—the great charter of +England—by which he pledged himself to maintain the Church in its rights; +to relieve the Barons of oppressive obligations as vassals of the +Crown—of which the Barons, in their turn, pledged themselves to relieve +<i>their</i> vassals, the people; to respect the liberties of London and all +other cities and boroughs; to protect foreign merchants who came to England; to +imprison no man without a fair trial; and to sell, delay, or deny justice to +none. As the Barons knew his falsehood well, they further required, as their +securities, that he should send out of his kingdom all his foreign troops; that +for two months they should hold possession of the city of London, and Stephen +Langton of the Tower; and that five-and-twenty of their body, chosen by +themselves, should be a lawful committee to watch the keeping of the charter, +and to make war upon him if he broke it. +</p> + +<p> +All this he was obliged to yield. He signed the charter with a smile, and, if +he could have looked agreeable, would have done so, as he departed from the +splendid assembly. When he got home to Windsor Castle, he was quite a madman in +his helpless fury. And he broke the charter immediately afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +He sent abroad for foreign soldiers, and sent to the Pope for help, and plotted +to take London by surprise, while the Barons should be holding a great +tournament at Stamford, which they had agreed to hold there as a celebration of +the charter. The Barons, however, found him out and put it off. Then, when the +Barons desired to see him and tax him with his treachery, he made numbers of +appointments with them, and kept none, and shifted from place to place, and was +constantly sneaking and skulking about. At last he appeared at Dover, to join +his foreign soldiers, of whom numbers came into his pay; and with them he +besieged and took Rochester Castle, which was occupied by knights and soldiers +of the Barons. He would have hanged them every one; but the leader of the +foreign soldiers, fearful of what the English people might afterwards do to +him, interfered to save the knights; therefore the King was fain to satisfy his +vengeance with the death of all the common men. Then, he sent the Earl of +Salisbury, with one portion of his army, to ravage the eastern part of his own +dominions, while he carried fire and slaughter into the northern part; +torturing, plundering, killing, and inflicting every possible cruelty upon the +people; and, every morning, setting a worthy example to his men by setting +fire, with his own monster-hands, to the house where he had slept last night. +Nor was this all; for the Pope, coming to the aid of his precious friend, laid +the kingdom under an Interdict again, because the people took part with the +Barons. It did not much matter, for the people had grown so used to it now, +that they had begun to think nothing about it. It occurred to +them—perhaps to Stephen Langton too—that they could keep their +churches open, and ring their bells, without the Pope’s permission as +well as with it. So, they tried the experiment—and found that it +succeeded perfectly. +</p> + +<p> +It being now impossible to bear the country, as a wilderness of cruelty, or +longer to hold any terms with such a forsworn outlaw of a King, the Barons sent +to Louis, son of the French monarch, to offer him the English crown. Caring as +little for the Pope’s excommunication of him if he accepted the offer, as +it is possible his father may have cared for the Pope’s forgiveness of +his sins, he landed at Sandwich (King John immediately running away from Dover, +where he happened to be), and went on to London. The Scottish King, with whom +many of the Northern English Lords had taken refuge, numbers of the foreign +soldiers, numbers of the Barons, and numbers of the people went over to him +every day;—King John, the while, continually running away in all +directions. +</p> + +<p> +The career of Louis was checked however, by the suspicions of the Barons, +founded on the dying declaration of a French Lord, that when the kingdom was +conquered he was sworn to banish them as traitors, and to give their estates to +some of his own Nobles. Rather than suffer this, some of the Barons hesitated: +others even went over to King John. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to be the turning-point of King John’s fortunes, for, in his +savage and murderous course, he had now taken some towns and met with some +successes. But, happily for England and humanity, his death was near. Crossing +a dangerous quicksand, called the Wash, not very far from Wisbeach, the tide +came up and nearly drowned his army. He and his soldiers escaped; but, looking +back from the shore when he was safe, he saw the roaring water sweep down in a +torrent, overturn the waggons, horses, and men, that carried his treasure, and +engulf them in a raging whirlpool from which nothing could be delivered. +</p> + +<p> +Cursing, and swearing, and gnawing his fingers, he went on to Swinestead Abbey, +where the monks set before him quantities of pears, and peaches, and new +cider—some say poison too, but there is very little reason to suppose +so—of which he ate and drank in an immoderate and beastly way. All night +he lay ill of a burning fever, and haunted with horrible fears. Next day, they +put him in a horse-litter, and carried him to Sleaford Castle, where he passed +another night of pain and horror. Next day, they carried him, with greater +difficulty than on the day before, to the castle of Newark upon Trent; and +there, on the eighteenth of October, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and +the seventeenth of his vile reign, was an end of this miserable brute. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER</h2> + +<p> +If any of the English Barons remembered the murdered Arthur’s sister, +Eleanor the fair maid of Brittany, shut up in her convent at Bristol, none +among them spoke of her now, or maintained her right to the Crown. The dead +Usurper’s eldest boy, <span class="smcap">Henry</span> by name, was taken +by the Earl of Pembroke, the Marshal of England, to the city of Gloucester, and +there crowned in great haste when he was only ten years old. As the Crown +itself had been lost with the King’s treasure in the raging water, and as +there was no time to make another, they put a circle of plain gold upon his +head instead. ‘We have been the enemies of this child’s +father,’ said Lord Pembroke, a good and true gentleman, to the few Lords +who were present, ‘and he merited our ill-will; but the child himself is +innocent, and his youth demands our friendship and protection.’ Those +Lords felt tenderly towards the little boy, remembering their own young +children; and they bowed their heads, and said, ‘Long live King Henry the +Third!’ +</p> + +<p> +Next, a great council met at Bristol, revised Magna Charta, and made Lord +Pembroke Regent or Protector of England, as the King was too young to reign +alone. The next thing to be done, was to get rid of Prince Louis of France, and +to win over those English Barons who were still ranged under his banner. He was +strong in many parts of England, and in London itself; and he held, among other +places, a certain Castle called the Castle of Mount Sorel, in Leicestershire. +To this fortress, after some skirmishing and truce-making, Lord Pembroke laid +siege. Louis despatched an army of six hundred knights and twenty thousand +soldiers to relieve it. Lord Pembroke, who was not strong enough for such a +force, retired with all his men. The army of the French Prince, which had +marched there with fire and plunder, marched away with fire and plunder, and +came, in a boastful swaggering manner, to Lincoln. The town submitted; but the +Castle in the town, held by a brave widow lady, named <span +class="smcap">Nichola de Camville</span> (whose property it was), made such a +sturdy resistance, that the French Count in command of the army of the French +Prince found it necessary to besiege this Castle. While he was thus engaged, +word was brought to him that Lord Pembroke, with four hundred knights, two +hundred and fifty men with cross-bows, and a stout force both of horse and +foot, was marching towards him. ‘What care I?’ said the French +Count. ‘The Englishman is not so mad as to attack me and my great army in +a walled town!’ But the Englishman did it for all that, and did +it—not so madly but so wisely, that he decoyed the great army into the +narrow, ill-paved lanes and byways of Lincoln, where its horse-soldiers could +not ride in any strong body; and there he made such havoc with them, that the +whole force surrendered themselves prisoners, except the Count; who said that +he would never yield to any English traitor alive, and accordingly got killed. +The end of this victory, which the English called, for a joke, the Fair of +Lincoln, was the usual one in those times—the common men were slain +without any mercy, and the knights and gentlemen paid ransom and went home. +</p> + +<p> +The wife of Louis, the fair <span class="smcap">Blanche of Castile</span>, +dutifully equipped a fleet of eighty good ships, and sent it over from France +to her husband’s aid. An English fleet of forty ships, some good and some +bad, gallantly met them near the mouth of the Thames, and took or sunk +sixty-five in one fight. This great loss put an end to the French +Prince’s hopes. A treaty was made at Lambeth, in virtue of which the +English Barons who had remained attached to his cause returned to their +allegiance, and it was engaged on both sides that the Prince and all his troops +should retire peacefully to France. It was time to go; for war had made him so +poor that he was obliged to borrow money from the citizens of London to pay his +expenses home. +</p> + +<p> +Lord Pembroke afterwards applied himself to governing the country justly, and +to healing the quarrels and disturbances that had arisen among men in the days +of the bad King John. He caused Magna Charta to be still more improved, and so +amended the Forest Laws that a Peasant was no longer put to death for killing a +stag in a Royal Forest, but was only imprisoned. It would have been well for +England if it could have had so good a Protector many years longer, but that +was not to be. Within three years after the young King’s Coronation, Lord +Pembroke died; and you may see his tomb, at this day, in the old Temple Church +in London. +</p> + +<p> +The Protectorship was now divided. <span class="smcap">Peter de Roches</span>, +whom King John had made Bishop of Winchester, was entrusted with the care of +the person of the young sovereign; and the exercise of the Royal authority was +confided to <span class="smcap">Earl Hubert de Burgh</span>. These two +personages had from the first no liking for each other, and soon became +enemies. When the young King was declared of age, Peter de Roches, finding that +Hubert increased in power and favour, retired discontentedly, and went abroad. +For nearly ten years afterwards Hubert had full sway alone. +</p> + +<p> +But ten years is a long time to hold the favour of a King. This King, too, as +he grew up, showed a strong resemblance to his father, in feebleness, +inconsistency, and irresolution. The best that can be said of him is that he +was not cruel. De Roches coming home again, after ten years, and being a +novelty, the King began to favour him and to look coldly on Hubert. Wanting +money besides, and having made Hubert rich, he began to dislike Hubert. At last +he was made to believe, or pretended to believe, that Hubert had +misappropriated some of the Royal treasure; and ordered him to furnish an +account of all he had done in his administration. Besides which, the foolish +charge was brought against Hubert that he had made himself the King’s +favourite by magic. Hubert very well knowing that he could never defend himself +against such nonsense, and that his old enemy must be determined on his ruin, +instead of answering the charges fled to Merton Abbey. Then the King, in a +violent passion, sent for the Mayor of London, and said to the Mayor, +‘Take twenty thousand citizens, and drag me Hubert de Burgh out of that +abbey, and bring him here.’ The Mayor posted off to do it, but the +Archbishop of Dublin (who was a friend of Hubert’s) warning the King that +an abbey was a sacred place, and that if he committed any violence there, he +must answer for it to the Church, the King changed his mind and called the +Mayor back, and declared that Hubert should have four months to prepare his +defence, and should be safe and free during that time. +</p> + +<p> +Hubert, who relied upon the King’s word, though I think he was old enough +to have known better, came out of Merton Abbey upon these conditions, and +journeyed away to see his wife: a Scottish Princess who was then at St. +Edmund’s-Bury. +</p> + +<p> +Almost as soon as he had departed from the Sanctuary, his enemies persuaded the +weak King to send out one <span class="smcap">Sir Godfrey de Crancumb</span>, +who commanded three hundred vagabonds called the Black Band, with orders to +seize him. They came up with him at a little town in Essex, called Brentwood, +when he was in bed. He leaped out of bed, got out of the house, fled to the +church, ran up to the altar, and laid his hand upon the cross. Sir Godfrey and +the Black Band, caring neither for church, altar, nor cross, dragged him forth +to the church door, with their drawn swords flashing round his head, and sent +for a Smith to rivet a set of chains upon him. When the Smith (I wish I knew +his name!) was brought, all dark and swarthy with the smoke of his forge, and +panting with the speed he had made; and the Black Band, falling aside to show +him the Prisoner, cried with a loud uproar, ‘Make the fetters heavy! make +them strong!’ the Smith dropped upon his knee—but not to the Black +Band—and said, ‘This is the brave Earl Hubert de Burgh, who fought +at Dover Castle, and destroyed the French fleet, and has done his country much +good service. You may kill me, if you like, but I will never make a chain for +Earl Hubert de Burgh!’ +</p> + +<p> +The Black Band never blushed, or they might have blushed at this. They knocked +the Smith about from one to another, and swore at him, and tied the Earl on +horseback, undressed as he was, and carried him off to the Tower of London. The +Bishops, however, were so indignant at the violation of the Sanctuary of the +Church, that the frightened King soon ordered the Black Band to take him back +again; at the same time commanding the Sheriff of Essex to prevent his escaping +out of Brentwood Church. Well! the Sheriff dug a deep trench all round the +church, and erected a high fence, and watched the church night and day; the +Black Band and their Captain watched it too, like three hundred and one black +wolves. For thirty-nine days, Hubert de Burgh remained within. At length, upon +the fortieth day, cold and hunger were too much for him, and he gave himself up +to the Black Band, who carried him off, for the second time, to the Tower. When +his trial came on, he refused to plead; but at last it was arranged that he +should give up all the royal lands which had been bestowed upon him, and should +be kept at the Castle of Devizes, in what was called ‘free prison,’ +in charge of four knights appointed by four lords. There, he remained almost a +year, until, learning that a follower of his old enemy the Bishop was made +Keeper of the Castle, and fearing that he might be killed by treachery, he +climbed the ramparts one dark night, dropped from the top of the high Castle +wall into the moat, and coming safely to the ground, took refuge in another +church. From this place he was delivered by a party of horse despatched to his +help by some nobles, who were by this time in revolt against the King, and +assembled in Wales. He was finally pardoned and restored to his estates, but he +lived privately, and never more aspired to a high post in the realm, or to a +high place in the King’s favour. And thus end—more happily than the +stories of many favourites of Kings—the adventures of Earl Hubert de +Burgh. +</p> + +<p> +The nobles, who had risen in revolt, were stirred up to rebellion by the +overbearing conduct of the Bishop of Winchester, who, finding that the King +secretly hated the Great Charter which had been forced from his father, did his +utmost to confirm him in that dislike, and in the preference he showed to +foreigners over the English. Of this, and of his even publicly declaring that +the Barons of England were inferior to those of France, the English Lords +complained with such bitterness, that the King, finding them well supported by +the clergy, became frightened for his throne, and sent away the Bishop and all +his foreign associates. On his marriage, however, with <span +class="smcap">Eleanor</span>, a French lady, the daughter of the Count of +Provence, he openly favoured the foreigners again; and so many of his +wife’s relations came over, and made such an immense family-party at +court, and got so many good things, and pocketed so much money, and were so +high with the English whose money they pocketed, that the bolder English Barons +murmured openly about a clause there was in the Great Charter, which provided +for the banishment of unreasonable favourites. But, the foreigners only laughed +disdainfully, and said, ‘What are your English laws to us?’ +</p> + +<p> +King Philip of France had died, and had been succeeded by Prince Louis, who had +also died after a short reign of three years, and had been succeeded by his son +of the same name—so moderate and just a man that he was not the least in +the world like a King, as Kings went. <span class="smcap">Isabella</span>, King +Henry’s mother, wished very much (for a certain spite she had) that +England should make war against this King; and, as King Henry was a mere puppet +in anybody’s hands who knew how to manage his feebleness, she easily +carried her point with him. But, the Parliament were determined to give him no +money for such a war. So, to defy the Parliament, he packed up thirty large +casks of silver—I don’t know how he got so much; I dare say he +screwed it out of the miserable Jews—and put them aboard ship, and went +away himself to carry war into France: accompanied by his mother and his +brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who was rich and clever. But he only got +well beaten, and came home. +</p> + +<p> +The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this. They reproached the +King with wasting the public money to make greedy foreigners rich, and were so +stern with him, and so determined not to let him have more of it to waste if +they could help it, that he was at his wit’s end for some, and tried so +shamelessly to get all he could from his subjects, by excuses or by force, that +the people used to say the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. He took +the Cross, thinking to get some money by that means; but, as it was very well +known that he never meant to go on a crusade, he got none. In all this +contention, the Londoners were particularly keen against the King, and the King +hated them warmly in return. Hating or loving, however, made no difference; he +continued in the same condition for nine or ten years, when at last the Barons +said that if he would solemnly confirm their liberties afresh, the Parliament +would vote him a large sum. +</p> + +<p> +As he readily consented, there was a great meeting held in Westminster Hall, +one pleasant day in May, when all the clergy, dressed in their robes and +holding every one of them a burning candle in his hand, stood up (the Barons +being also there) while the Archbishop of Canterbury read the sentence of +excommunication against any man, and all men, who should henceforth, in any +way, infringe the Great Charter of the Kingdom. When he had done, they all put +out their burning candles with a curse upon the soul of any one, and every one, +who should merit that sentence. The King concluded with an oath to keep the +Charter, ‘As I am a man, as I am a Christian, as I am a Knight, as I am a +King!’ +</p> + +<p> +It was easy to make oaths, and easy to break them; and the King did both, as +his father had done before him. He took to his old courses again when he was +supplied with money, and soon cured of their weakness the few who had ever +really trusted him. When his money was gone, and he was once more borrowing and +begging everywhere with a meanness worthy of his nature, he got into a +difficulty with the Pope respecting the Crown of Sicily, which the Pope said he +had a right to give away, and which he offered to King Henry for his second +son, <span class="smcap">Prince Edmund</span>. But, if you or I give away what +we have not got, and what belongs to somebody else, it is likely that the +person to whom we give it, will have some trouble in taking it. It was exactly +so in this case. It was necessary to conquer the Sicilian Crown before it could +be put upon young Edmund’s head. It could not be conquered without money. +The Pope ordered the clergy to raise money. The clergy, however, were not so +obedient to him as usual; they had been disputing with him for some time about +his unjust preference of Italian Priests in England; and they had begun to +doubt whether the King’s chaplain, whom he allowed to be paid for +preaching in seven hundred churches, could possibly be, even by the +Pope’s favour, in seven hundred places at once. ‘The Pope and the +King together,’ said the Bishop of London, ‘may take the mitre off +my head; but, if they do, they will find that I shall put on a soldier’s +helmet. I pay nothing.’ The Bishop of Worcester was as bold as the Bishop +of London, and would pay nothing either. Such sums as the more timid or more +helpless of the clergy did raise were squandered away, without doing any good +to the King, or bringing the Sicilian Crown an inch nearer to Prince +Edmund’s head. The end of the business was, that the Pope gave the Crown +to the brother of the King of France (who conquered it for himself), and sent +the King of England in, a bill of one hundred thousand pounds for the expenses +of not having won it. +</p> + +<p> +The King was now so much distressed that we might almost pity him, if it were +possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. His clever brother, Richard, +had bought the title of King of the Romans from the German people, and was no +longer near him, to help him with advice. The clergy, resisting the very Pope, +were in alliance with the Barons. The Barons were headed by <span +class="smcap">Simon de Montfort</span>, Earl of Leicester, married to King +Henry’s sister, and, though a foreigner himself, the most popular man in +England against the foreign favourites. When the King next met his Parliament, +the Barons, led by this Earl, came before him, armed from head to foot, and +cased in armour. When the Parliament again assembled, in a month’s time, +at Oxford, this Earl was at their head, and the King was obliged to consent, on +oath, to what was called a Committee of Government: consisting of twenty-four +members: twelve chosen by the Barons, and twelve chosen by himself. +</p> + +<p> +But, at a good time for him, his brother Richard came back. Richard’s +first act (the Barons would not admit him into England on other terms) was to +swear to be faithful to the Committee of Government—which he immediately +began to oppose with all his might. Then, the Barons began to quarrel among +themselves; especially the proud Earl of Gloucester with the Earl of Leicester, +who went abroad in disgust. Then, the people began to be dissatisfied with the +Barons, because they did not do enough for them. The King’s chances +seemed so good again at length, that he took heart enough—or caught it +from his brother—to tell the Committee of Government that he abolished +them—as to his oath, never mind that, the Pope said!—and to seize +all the money in the Mint, and to shut himself up in the Tower of London. Here +he was joined by his eldest son, Prince Edward; and, from the Tower, he made +public a letter of the Pope’s to the world in general, informing all men +that he had been an excellent and just King for five-and-forty years. +</p> + +<p> +As everybody knew he had been nothing of the sort, nobody cared much for this +document. It so chanced that the proud Earl of Gloucester dying, was succeeded +by his son; and that his son, instead of being the enemy of the Earl of +Leicester, was (for the time) his friend. It fell out, therefore, that these +two Earls joined their forces, took several of the Royal Castles in the +country, and advanced as hard as they could on London. The London people, +always opposed to the King, declared for them with great joy. The King himself +remained shut up, not at all gloriously, in the Tower. Prince Edward made the +best of his way to Windsor Castle. His mother, the Queen, attempted to follow +him by water; but, the people seeing her barge rowing up the river, and hating +her with all their hearts, ran to London Bridge, got together a quantity of +stones and mud, and pelted the barge as it came through, crying furiously, +‘Drown the Witch! Drown her!’ They were so near doing it, that the +Mayor took the old lady under his protection, and shut her up in St. +Paul’s until the danger was past. +</p> + +<p> +It would require a great deal of writing on my part, and a great deal of +reading on yours, to follow the King through his disputes with the Barons, and +to follow the Barons through their disputes with one another—so I will +make short work of it for both of us, and only relate the chief events that +arose out of these quarrels. The good King of France was asked to decide +between them. He gave it as his opinion that the King must maintain the Great +Charter, and that the Barons must give up the Committee of Government, and all +the rest that had been done by the Parliament at Oxford: which the Royalists, +or King’s party, scornfully called the Mad Parliament. The Barons +declared that these were not fair terms, and they would not accept them. Then +they caused the great bell of St. Paul’s to be tolled, for the purpose of +rousing up the London people, who armed themselves at the dismal sound and +formed quite an army in the streets. I am sorry to say, however, that instead +of falling upon the King’s party with whom their quarrel was, they fell +upon the miserable Jews, and killed at least five hundred of them. They +pretended that some of these Jews were on the King’s side, and that they +kept hidden in their houses, for the destruction of the people, a certain +terrible composition called Greek Fire, which could not be put out with water, +but only burnt the fiercer for it. What they really did keep in their houses +was money; and this their cruel enemies wanted, and this their cruel enemies +took, like robbers and murderers. +</p> + +<p> +The Earl of Leicester put himself at the head of these Londoners and other +forces, and followed the King to Lewes in Sussex, where he lay encamped with +his army. Before giving the King’s forces battle here, the Earl addressed +his soldiers, and said that King Henry the Third had broken so many oaths, that +he had become the enemy of God, and therefore they would wear white crosses on +their breasts, as if they were arrayed, not against a fellow-Christian, but +against a Turk. White-crossed accordingly, they rushed into the fight. They +would have lost the day—the King having on his side all the foreigners in +England: and, from Scotland, <span class="smcap">John Comyn</span>, <span +class="smcap">John Baliol</span>, and <span class="smcap">Robert Bruce</span>, +with all their men—but for the impatience of <span class="smcap">Prince +Edward</span>, who, in his hot desire to have vengeance on the people of +London, threw the whole of his father’s army into confusion. He was taken +Prisoner; so was the King; so was the King’s brother the King of the +Romans; and five thousand Englishmen were left dead upon the bloody grass. +</p> + +<p> +For this success, the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: which neither +the Earl nor the people cared at all about. The people loved him and supported +him, and he became the real King; having all the power of the government in his +own hands, though he was outwardly respectful to King Henry the Third, whom he +took with him wherever he went, like a poor old limp court-card. He summoned a +Parliament (in the year one thousand two hundred and sixty-five) which was the +first Parliament in England that the people had any real share in electing; and +he grew more and more in favour with the people every day, and they stood by +him in whatever he did. +</p> + +<p> +Many of the other Barons, and particularly the Earl of Gloucester, who had +become by this time as proud as his father, grew jealous of this powerful and +popular Earl, who was proud too, and began to conspire against him. Since the +battle of Lewes, Prince Edward had been kept as a hostage, and, though he was +otherwise treated like a Prince, had never been allowed to go out without +attendants appointed by the Earl of Leicester, who watched him. The conspiring +Lords found means to propose to him, in secret, that they should assist him to +escape, and should make him their leader; to which he very heartily consented. +</p> + +<p> +So, on a day that was agreed upon, he said to his attendants after dinner +(being then at Hereford), ‘I should like to ride on horseback, this fine +afternoon, a little way into the country.’ As they, too, thought it would +be very pleasant to have a canter in the sunshine, they all rode out of the +town together in a gay little troop. When they came to a fine level piece of +turf, the Prince fell to comparing their horses one with another, and offering +bets that one was faster than another; and the attendants, suspecting no harm, +rode galloping matches until their horses were quite tired. The Prince rode no +matches himself, but looked on from his saddle, and staked his money. Thus they +passed the whole merry afternoon. Now, the sun was setting, and they were all +going slowly up a hill, the Prince’s horse very fresh and all the other +horses very weary, when a strange rider mounted on a grey steed appeared at the +top of the hill, and waved his hat. ‘What does the fellow mean?’ +said the attendants one to another. The Prince answered on the instant by +setting spurs to his horse, dashing away at his utmost speed, joining the man, +riding into the midst of a little crowd of horsemen who were then seen waiting +under some trees, and who closed around him; and so he departed in a cloud of +dust, leaving the road empty of all but the baffled attendants, who sat looking +at one another, while their horses drooped their ears and panted. +</p> + +<p> +The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. The Earl of Leicester, with +a part of the army and the stupid old King, was at Hereford. One of the Earl of +Leicester’s sons, Simon de Montfort, with another part of the army, was +in Sussex. To prevent these two parts from uniting was the Prince’s first +object. He attacked Simon de Montfort by night, defeated him, seized his +banners and treasure, and forced him into Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, +which belonged to his family. +</p> + +<p> +His father, the Earl of Leicester, in the meanwhile, not knowing what had +happened, marched out of Hereford, with his part of the army and the King, to +meet him. He came, on a bright morning in August, to Evesham, which is watered +by the pleasant river Avon. Looking rather anxiously across the prospect +towards Kenilworth, he saw his own banners advancing; and his face brightened +with joy. But, it clouded darkly when he presently perceived that the banners +were captured, and in the enemy’s hands; and he said, ‘It is over. +The Lord have mercy on our souls, for our bodies are Prince +Edward’s!’ +</p> + +<p> +He fought like a true Knight, nevertheless. When his horse was killed under +him, he fought on foot. It was a fierce battle, and the dead lay in heaps +everywhere. The old King, stuck up in a suit of armour on a big war-horse, +which didn’t mind him at all, and which carried him into all sorts of +places where he didn’t want to go, got into everybody’s way, and +very nearly got knocked on the head by one of his son’s men. But he +managed to pipe out, ‘I am Harry of Winchester!’ and the Prince, +who heard him, seized his bridle, and took him out of peril. The Earl of +Leicester still fought bravely, until his best son Henry was killed, and the +bodies of his best friends choked his path; and then he fell, still fighting, +sword in hand. They mangled his body, and sent it as a present to a noble +lady—but a very unpleasant lady, I should think—who was the wife of +his worst enemy. They could not mangle his memory in the minds of the faithful +people, though. Many years afterwards, they loved him more than ever, and +regarded him as a Saint, and always spoke of him as ‘Sir Simon the +Righteous.’ +</p> + +<p> +And even though he was dead, the cause for which he had fought still lived, and +was strong, and forced itself upon the King in the very hour of victory. Henry +found himself obliged to respect the Great Charter, however much he hated it, +and to make laws similar to the laws of the Great Earl of Leicester, and to be +moderate and forgiving towards the people at last—even towards the people +of London, who had so long opposed him. There were more risings before all this +was done, but they were set at rest by these means, and Prince Edward did his +best in all things to restore peace. One Sir Adam de Gourdon was the last +dissatisfied knight in arms; but, the Prince vanquished him in single combat, +in a wood, and nobly gave him his life, and became his friend, instead of +slaying him. Sir Adam was not ungrateful. He ever afterwards remained devoted +to his generous conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +When the troubles of the Kingdom were thus calmed, Prince Edward and his cousin +Henry took the Cross, and went away to the Holy Land, with many English Lords +and Knights. Four years afterwards the King of the Romans died, and, next year +(one thousand two hundred and seventy-two), his brother the weak King of +England died. He was sixty-eight years old then, and had reigned fifty-six +years. He was as much of a King in death, as he had ever been in life. He was +the mere pale shadow of a King at all times. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS</h2> + +<p> +It was now the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and seventy-two; and +Prince Edward, the heir to the throne, being away in the Holy Land, knew +nothing of his father’s death. The Barons, however, proclaimed him King, +immediately after the Royal funeral; and the people very willingly consented, +since most men knew too well by this time what the horrors of a contest for the +crown were. So King Edward the First, called, in a not very complimentary +manner, <span class="smcap">Longshanks</span>, because of the slenderness of +his legs, was peacefully accepted by the English Nation. +</p> + +<p> +His legs had need to be strong, however long and thin they were; for they had +to support him through many difficulties on the fiery sands of Asia, where his +small force of soldiers fainted, died, deserted, and seemed to melt away. But +his prowess made light of it, and he said, ‘I will go on, if I go on with +no other follower than my groom!’ +</p> + +<p> +A Prince of this spirit gave the Turks a deal of trouble. He stormed Nazareth, +at which place, of all places on earth, I am sorry to relate, he made a +frightful slaughter of innocent people; and then he went to Acre, where he got +a truce of ten years from the Sultan. He had very nearly lost his life in Acre, +through the treachery of a Saracen Noble, called the Emir of Jaffa, who, making +the pretence that he had some idea of turning Christian and wanted to know all +about that religion, sent a trusty messenger to Edward very often—with a +dagger in his sleeve. At last, one Friday in Whitsun week, when it was very +hot, and all the sandy prospect lay beneath the blazing sun, burnt up like a +great overdone biscuit, and Edward was lying on a couch, dressed for coolness +in only a loose robe, the messenger, with his chocolate-coloured face and his +bright dark eyes and white teeth, came creeping in with a letter, and kneeled +down like a tame tiger. But, the moment Edward stretched out his hand to take +the letter, the tiger made a spring at his heart. He was quick, but Edward was +quick too. He seized the traitor by his chocolate throat, threw him to the +ground, and slew him with the very dagger he had drawn. The weapon had struck +Edward in the arm, and although the wound itself was slight, it threatened to +be mortal, for the blade of the dagger had been smeared with poison. Thanks, +however, to a better surgeon than was often to be found in those times, and to +some wholesome herbs, and above all, to his faithful wife, <span +class="smcap">Eleanor</span>, who devotedly nursed him, and is said by some to +have sucked the poison from the wound with her own red lips (which I am very +willing to believe), Edward soon recovered and was sound again. +</p> + +<p> +As the King his father had sent entreaties to him to return home, he now began +the journey. He had got as far as Italy, when he met messengers who brought him +intelligence of the King’s death. Hearing that all was quiet at home, he +made no haste to return to his own dominions, but paid a visit to the Pope, and +went in state through various Italian Towns, where he was welcomed with +acclamations as a mighty champion of the Cross from the Holy Land, and where he +received presents of purple mantles and prancing horses, and went along in +great triumph. The shouting people little knew that he was the last English +monarch who would ever embark in a crusade, or that within twenty years every +conquest which the Christians had made in the Holy Land at the cost of so much +blood, would be won back by the Turks. But all this came to pass. +</p> + +<p> +There was, and there is, an old town standing in a plain in France, called +Châlons. When the King was coming towards this place on his way to +England, a wily French Lord, called the Count of Châlons, sent him a +polite challenge to come with his knights and hold a fair tournament with the +Count and <i>his</i> knights, and make a day of it with sword and lance. It was +represented to the King that the Count of Châlons was not to be trusted, +and that, instead of a holiday fight for mere show and in good humour, he +secretly meant a real battle, in which the English should be defeated by +superior force. +</p> + +<p> +The King, however, nothing afraid, went to the appointed place on the appointed +day with a thousand followers. When the Count came with two thousand and +attacked the English in earnest, the English rushed at them with such valour +that the Count’s men and the Count’s horses soon began to be +tumbled down all over the field. The Count himself seized the King round the +neck, but the King tumbled <i>him</i> out of his saddle in return for the +compliment, and, jumping from his own horse, and standing over him, beat away +at his iron armour like a blacksmith hammering on his anvil. Even when the +Count owned himself defeated and offered his sword, the King would not do him +the honour to take it, but made him yield it up to a common soldier. There had +been such fury shown in this fight, that it was afterwards called the little +Battle of Châlons. +</p> + +<p> +The English were very well disposed to be proud of their King after these +adventures; so, when he landed at Dover in the year one thousand two hundred +and seventy-four (being then thirty-six years old), and went on to Westminster +where he and his good Queen were crowned with great magnificence, splendid +rejoicings took place. For the coronation-feast there were provided, among +other eatables, four hundred oxen, four hundred sheep, four hundred and fifty +pigs, eighteen wild boars, three hundred flitches of bacon, and twenty thousand +fowls. The fountains and conduits in the street flowed with red and white wine +instead of water; the rich citizens hung silks and cloths of the brightest +colours out of their windows to increase the beauty of the show, and threw out +gold and silver by whole handfuls to make scrambles for the crowd. In short, +there was such eating and drinking, such music and capering, such a ringing of +bells and tossing of caps, such a shouting, and singing, and revelling, as the +narrow overhanging streets of old London City had not witnessed for many a long +day. All the people were merry except the poor Jews, who, trembling within +their houses, and scarcely daring to peep out, began to foresee that they would +have to find the money for this joviality sooner or later. +</p> + +<p> +To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present, I am sorry to add that +in this reign they were most unmercifully pillaged. They were hanged in great +numbers, on accusations of having clipped the King’s coin—which all +kinds of people had done. They were heavily taxed; they were disgracefully +badged; they were, on one day, thirteen years after the coronation, taken up +with their wives and children and thrown into beastly prisons, until they +purchased their release by paying to the King twelve thousand pounds. Finally, +every kind of property belonging to them was seized by the King, except so +little as would defray the charge of their taking themselves away into foreign +countries. Many years elapsed before the hope of gain induced any of their race +to return to England, where they had been treated so heartlessly and had +suffered so much. +</p> + +<p> +If King Edward the First had been as bad a king to Christians as he was to +Jews, he would have been bad indeed. But he was, in general, a wise and great +monarch, under whom the country much improved. He had no love for the Great +Charter—few Kings had, through many, many years—but he had high +qualities. The first bold object which he conceived when he came home, was, to +unite under one Sovereign England, Scotland, and Wales; the two last of which +countries had each a little king of its own, about whom the people were always +quarrelling and fighting, and making a prodigious disturbance—a great +deal more than he was worth. In the course of King Edward’s reign he was +engaged, besides, in a war with France. To make these quarrels clearer, we will +separate their histories and take them thus. Wales, first. France, second. +Scotland, third. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Llewellyn</span> was the Prince of Wales. He had been on +the side of the Barons in the reign of the stupid old King, but had afterwards +sworn allegiance to him. When King Edward came to the throne, Llewellyn was +required to swear allegiance to him also; which he refused to do. The King, +being crowned and in his own dominions, three times more required Llewellyn to +come and do homage; and three times more Llewellyn said he would rather not. He +was going to be married to <span class="smcap">Eleanor de Montfort</span>, a +young lady of the family mentioned in the last reign; and it chanced that this +young lady, coming from France with her youngest brother, <span +class="smcap">Emeric</span>, was taken by an English ship, and was ordered by +the English King to be detained. Upon this, the quarrel came to a head. The +King went, with his fleet, to the coast of Wales, where, so encompassing +Llewellyn, that he could only take refuge in the bleak mountain region of +Snowdon in which no provisions could reach him, he was soon starved into an +apology, and into a treaty of peace, and into paying the expenses of the war. +The King, however, forgave him some of the hardest conditions of the treaty, +and consented to his marriage. And he now thought he had reduced Wales to +obedience. +</p> + +<p> +But the Welsh, although they were naturally a gentle, quiet, pleasant people, +who liked to receive strangers in their cottages among the mountains, and to +set before them with free hospitality whatever they had to eat and drink, and +to play to them on their harps, and sing their native ballads to them, were a +people of great spirit when their blood was up. Englishmen, after this affair, +began to be insolent in Wales, and to assume the air of masters; and the Welsh +pride could not bear it. Moreover, they believed in that unlucky old Merlin, +some of whose unlucky old prophecies somebody always seemed doomed to remember +when there was a chance of its doing harm; and just at this time some blind old +gentleman with a harp and a long white beard, who was an excellent person, but +had become of an unknown age and tedious, burst out with a declaration that +Merlin had predicted that when English money had become round, a Prince of +Wales would be crowned in London. Now, King Edward had recently forbidden the +English penny to be cut into halves and quarters for halfpence and farthings, +and had actually introduced a round coin; therefore, the Welsh people said this +was the time Merlin meant, and rose accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +King Edward had bought over <span class="smcap">Prince David</span>, +Llewellyn’s brother, by heaping favours upon him; but he was the first to +revolt, being perhaps troubled in his conscience. One stormy night, he +surprised the Castle of Hawarden, in possession of which an English nobleman +had been left; killed the whole garrison, and carried off the nobleman a +prisoner to Snowdon. Upon this, the Welsh people rose like one man. King +Edward, with his army, marching from Worcester to the Menai Strait, crossed +it—near to where the wonderful tubular iron bridge now, in days so +different, makes a passage for railway trains—by a bridge of boats that +enabled forty men to march abreast. He subdued the Island of Anglesea, and sent +his men forward to observe the enemy. The sudden appearance of the Welsh +created a panic among them, and they fell back to the bridge. The tide had in +the meantime risen and separated the boats; the Welsh pursuing them, they were +driven into the sea, and there they sunk, in their heavy iron armour, by +thousands. After this victory Llewellyn, helped by the severe winter-weather of +Wales, gained another battle; but the King ordering a portion of his English +army to advance through South Wales, and catch him between two foes, and +Llewellyn bravely turning to meet this new enemy, he was surprised and +killed—very meanly, for he was unarmed and defenceless. His head was +struck off and sent to London, where it was fixed upon the Tower, encircled +with a wreath, some say of ivy, some say of willow, some say of silver, to make +it look like a ghastly coin in ridicule of the prediction. +</p> + +<p> +David, however, still held out for six months, though eagerly sought after by +the King, and hunted by his own countrymen. One of them finally betrayed him +with his wife and children. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and +quartered; and from that time this became the established punishment of +Traitors in England—a punishment wholly without excuse, as being +revolting, vile, and cruel, after its object is dead; and which has no sense in +it, as its only real degradation (and that nothing can blot out) is to the +country that permits on any consideration such abominable barbarity. +</p> + +<p> +Wales was now subdued. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in the Castle +of Carnarvon, the King showed him to the Welsh people as their countryman, and +called him Prince of Wales; a title that has ever since been borne by the +heir-apparent to the English throne—which that little Prince soon became, +by the death of his elder brother. The King did better things for the Welsh +than that, by improving their laws and encouraging their trade. Disturbances +still took place, chiefly occasioned by the avarice and pride of the English +Lords, on whom Welsh lands and castles had been bestowed; but they were +subdued, and the country never rose again. There is a legend that to prevent +the people from being incited to rebellion by the songs of their bards and +harpers, Edward had them all put to death. Some of them may have fallen among +other men who held out against the King; but this general slaughter is, I +think, a fancy of the harpers themselves, who, I dare say, made a song about it +many years afterwards, and sang it by the Welsh firesides until it came to be +believed. +</p> + +<p> +The foreign war of the reign of Edward the First arose in this way. The crews +of two vessels, one a Norman ship, and the other an English ship, happened to +go to the same place in their boats to fill their casks with fresh water. Being +rough angry fellows, they began to quarrel, and then to fight—the English +with their fists; the Normans with their knives—and, in the fight, a +Norman was killed. The Norman crew, instead of revenging themselves upon those +English sailors with whom they had quarrelled (who were too strong for them, I +suspect), took to their ship again in a great rage, attacked the first English +ship they met, laid hold of an unoffending merchant who happened to be on +board, and brutally hanged him in the rigging of their own vessel with a dog at +his feet. This so enraged the English sailors that there was no restraining +them; and whenever, and wherever, English sailors met Norman sailors, they fell +upon each other tooth and nail. The Irish and Dutch sailors took part with the +English; the French and Genoese sailors helped the Normans; and thus the +greater part of the mariners sailing over the sea became, in their way, as +violent and raging as the sea itself when it is disturbed. +</p> + +<p> +King Edward’s fame had been so high abroad that he had been chosen to +decide a difference between France and another foreign power, and had lived +upon the Continent three years. At first, neither he nor the French King <span +class="smcap">Philip</span> (the good Louis had been dead some time) interfered +in these quarrels; but when a fleet of eighty English ships engaged and utterly +defeated a Norman fleet of two hundred, in a pitched battle fought round a ship +at anchor, in which no quarter was given, the matter became too serious to be +passed over. King Edward, as Duke of Guienne, was summoned to present himself +before the King of France, at Paris, and answer for the damage done by his +sailor subjects. At first, he sent the Bishop of London as his representative, +and then his brother <span class="smcap">Edmund</span>, who was married to the +French Queen’s mother. I am afraid Edmund was an easy man, and allowed +himself to be talked over by his charming relations, the French court ladies; +at all events, he was induced to give up his brother’s dukedom for forty +days—as a mere form, the French King said, to satisfy his +honour—and he was so very much astonished, when the time was out, to find +that the French King had no idea of giving it up again, that I should not +wonder if it hastened his death: which soon took place. +</p> + +<p> +King Edward was a King to win his foreign dukedom back again, if it could be +won by energy and valour. He raised a large army, renounced his allegiance as +Duke of Guienne, and crossed the sea to carry war into France. Before any +important battle was fought, however, a truce was agreed upon for two years; +and in the course of that time, the Pope effected a reconciliation. King +Edward, who was now a widower, having lost his affectionate and good wife, +Eleanor, married the French King’s sister, <span +class="smcap">Margaret</span>; and the Prince of Wales was contracted to the +French King’s daughter <span class="smcap">Isabella</span>. +</p> + +<p> +Out of bad things, good things sometimes arise. Out of this hanging of the +innocent merchant, and the bloodshed and strife it caused, there came to be +established one of the greatest powers that the English people now possess. The +preparations for the war being very expensive, and King Edward greatly wanting +money, and being very arbitrary in his ways of raising it, some of the Barons +began firmly to oppose him. Two of them, in particular, <span +class="smcap">Humphrey Bohun</span>, Earl of Hereford, and <span +class="smcap">Roger Bigod</span>, Earl of Norfolk, were so stout against him, +that they maintained he had no right to command them to head his forces in +Guienne, and flatly refused to go there. ‘By Heaven, Sir Earl,’ +said the King to the Earl of Hereford, in a great passion, ‘you shall +either go or be hanged!’ ‘By Heaven, Sir King,’ replied the +Earl, ‘I will neither go nor yet will I be hanged!’ and both he and +the other Earl sturdily left the court, attended by many Lords. The King tried +every means of raising money. He taxed the clergy, in spite of all the Pope +said to the contrary; and when they refused to pay, reduced them to submission, +by saying Very well, then they had no claim upon the government for protection, +and any man might plunder them who would—which a good many men were very +ready to do, and very readily did, and which the clergy found too losing a game +to be played at long. He seized all the wool and leather in the hands of the +merchants, promising to pay for it some fine day; and he set a tax upon the +exportation of wool, which was so unpopular among the traders that it was +called ‘The evil toll.’ But all would not do. The Barons, led by +those two great Earls, declared any taxes imposed without the consent of +Parliament, unlawful; and the Parliament refused to impose taxes, until the +King should confirm afresh the two Great Charters, and should solemnly declare +in writing, that there was no power in the country to raise money from the +people, evermore, but the power of Parliament representing all ranks of the +people. The King was very unwilling to diminish his own power by allowing this +great privilege in the Parliament; but there was no help for it, and he at last +complied. We shall come to another King by-and-by, who might have saved his +head from rolling off, if he had profited by this example. +</p> + +<p> +The people gained other benefits in Parliament from the good sense and wisdom +of this King. Many of the laws were much improved; provision was made for the +greater safety of travellers, and the apprehension of thieves and murderers; +the priests were prevented from holding too much land, and so becoming too +powerful; and Justices of the Peace were first appointed (though not at first +under that name) in various parts of the country. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +And now we come to Scotland, which was the great and lasting trouble of the +reign of King Edward the First. +</p> + +<p> +About thirteen years after King Edward’s coronation, Alexander the Third, +the King of Scotland, died of a fall from his horse. He had been married to +Margaret, King Edward’s sister. All their children being dead, the +Scottish crown became the right of a young Princess only eight years old, the +daughter of <span class="smcap">Eric</span>, King of Norway, who had married a +daughter of the deceased sovereign. King Edward proposed, that the Maiden of +Norway, as this Princess was called, should be engaged to be married to his +eldest son; but, unfortunately, as she was coming over to England she fell +sick, and landing on one of the Orkney Islands, died there. A great commotion +immediately began in Scotland, where as many as thirteen noisy claimants to the +vacant throne started up and made a general confusion. +</p> + +<p> +King Edward being much renowned for his sagacity and justice, it seems to have +been agreed to refer the dispute to him. He accepted the trust, and went, with +an army, to the Border-land where England and Scotland joined. There, he called +upon the Scottish gentlemen to meet him at the Castle of Norham, on the English +side of the river Tweed; and to that Castle they came. But, before he would +take any step in the business, he required those Scottish gentlemen, one and +all, to do homage to him as their superior Lord; and when they hesitated, he +said, ‘By holy Edward, whose crown I wear, I will have my rights, or I +will die in maintaining them!’ The Scottish gentlemen, who had not +expected this, were disconcerted, and asked for three weeks to think about it. +</p> + +<p> +At the end of the three weeks, another meeting took place, on a green plain on +the Scottish side of the river. Of all the competitors for the Scottish throne, +there were only two who had any real claim, in right of their near kindred to +the Royal Family. These were <span class="smcap">John Baliol</span> and <span +class="smcap">Robert Bruce</span>: and the right was, I have no doubt, on the +side of John Baliol. At this particular meeting John Baliol was not present, +but Robert Bruce was; and on Robert Bruce being formally asked whether he +acknowledged the King of England for his superior lord, he answered, plainly +and distinctly, Yes, he did. Next day, John Baliol appeared, and said the same. +This point settled, some arrangements were made for inquiring into their +titles. +</p> + +<p> +The inquiry occupied a pretty long time—more than a year. While it was +going on, King Edward took the opportunity of making a journey through +Scotland, and calling upon the Scottish people of all degrees to acknowledge +themselves his vassals, or be imprisoned until they did. In the meanwhile, +Commissioners were appointed to conduct the inquiry, a Parliament was held at +Berwick about it, the two claimants were heard at full length, and there was a +vast amount of talking. At last, in the great hall of the Castle of Berwick, +the King gave judgment in favour of John Baliol: who, consenting to receive his +crown by the King of England’s favour and permission, was crowned at +Scone, in an old stone chair which had been used for ages in the abbey there, +at the coronations of Scottish Kings. Then, King Edward caused the great seal +of Scotland, used since the late King’s death, to be broken in four +pieces, and placed in the English Treasury; and considered that he now had +Scotland (according to the common saying) under his thumb. +</p> + +<p> +Scotland had a strong will of its own yet, however. King Edward, determined +that the Scottish King should not forget he was his vassal, summoned him +repeatedly to come and defend himself and his judges before the English +Parliament when appeals from the decisions of Scottish courts of justice were +being heard. At length, John Baliol, who had no great heart of his own, had so +much heart put into him by the brave spirit of the Scottish people, who took +this as a national insult, that he refused to come any more. Thereupon, the +King further required him to help him in his war abroad (which was then in +progress), and to give up, as security for his good behaviour in future, the +three strong Scottish Castles of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick. Nothing of +this being done; on the contrary, the Scottish people concealing their King +among their mountains in the Highlands and showing a determination to resist; +Edward marched to Berwick with an army of thirty thousand foot, and four +thousand horse; took the Castle, and slew its whole garrison, and the +inhabitants of the town as well—men, women, and children. <span +class="smcap">Lord Warrenne</span>, Earl of Surrey, then went on to the Castle +of Dunbar, before which a battle was fought, and the whole Scottish army +defeated with great slaughter. The victory being complete, the Earl of Surrey +was left as guardian of Scotland; the principal offices in that kingdom were +given to Englishmen; the more powerful Scottish Nobles were obliged to come and +live in England; the Scottish crown and sceptre were brought away; and even the +old stone chair was carried off and placed in Westminster Abbey, where you may +see it now. Baliol had the Tower of London lent him for a residence, with +permission to range about within a circle of twenty miles. Three years +afterwards he was allowed to go to Normandy, where he had estates, and where he +passed the remaining six years of his life: far more happily, I dare say, than +he had lived for a long while in angry Scotland. +</p> + +<p> +Now, there was, in the West of Scotland, a gentleman of small fortune, named +<span class="smcap">William Wallace</span>, the second son of a Scottish +knight. He was a man of great size and great strength; he was very brave and +daring; when he spoke to a body of his countrymen, he could rouse them in a +wonderful manner by the power of his burning words; he loved Scotland dearly, +and he hated England with his utmost might. The domineering conduct of the +English who now held the places of trust in Scotland made them as intolerable +to the proud Scottish people as they had been, under similar circumstances, to +the Welsh; and no man in all Scotland regarded them with so much smothered rage +as William Wallace. One day, an Englishman in office, little knowing what he +was, affronted <i>him</i>. Wallace instantly struck him dead, and taking refuge +among the rocks and hills, and there joining with his countryman, <span +class="smcap">Sir William Douglas</span>, who was also in arms against King +Edward, became the most resolute and undaunted champion of a people struggling +for their independence that ever lived upon the earth. +</p> + +<p> +The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled before him, and, thus encouraged, the +Scottish people revolted everywhere, and fell upon the English without mercy. +The Earl of Surrey, by the King’s commands, raised all the power of the +Border-counties, and two English armies poured into Scotland. Only one Chief, +in the face of those armies, stood by Wallace, who, with a force of forty +thousand men, awaited the invaders at a place on the river Forth, within two +miles of Stirling. Across the river there was only one poor wooden bridge, +called the bridge of Kildean—so narrow, that but two men could cross it +abreast. With his eyes upon this bridge, Wallace posted the greater part of his +men among some rising grounds, and waited calmly. When the English army came up +on the opposite bank of the river, messengers were sent forward to offer terms. +Wallace sent them back with a defiance, in the name of the freedom of Scotland. +Some of the officers of the Earl of Surrey in command of the English, with +<i>their</i> eyes also on the bridge, advised him to be discreet and not hasty. +He, however, urged to immediate battle by some other officers, and particularly +by <span class="smcap">Cressingham</span>, King Edward’s treasurer, and a +rash man, gave the word of command to advance. One thousand English crossed the +bridge, two abreast; the Scottish troops were as motionless as stone images. +Two thousand English crossed; three thousand, four thousand, five. Not a +feather, all this time, had been seen to stir among the Scottish bonnets. Now, +they all fluttered. ‘Forward, one party, to the foot of the +Bridge!’ cried Wallace, ‘and let no more English cross! The rest, +down with me on the five thousand who have come over, and cut them all to +pieces!’ It was done, in the sight of the whole remainder of the English +army, who could give no help. Cressingham himself was killed, and the Scotch +made whips for their horses of his skin. +</p> + +<p> +King Edward was abroad at this time, and during the successes on the Scottish +side which followed, and which enabled bold Wallace to win the whole country +back again, and even to ravage the English borders. But, after a few winter +months, the King returned, and took the field with more than his usual energy. +One night, when a kick from his horse as they both lay on the ground together +broke two of his ribs, and a cry arose that he was killed, he leaped into his +saddle, regardless of the pain he suffered, and rode through the camp. Day then +appearing, he gave the word (still, of course, in that bruised and aching +state) Forward! and led his army on to near Falkirk, where the Scottish forces +were seen drawn up on some stony ground, behind a morass. Here, he defeated +Wallace, and killed fifteen thousand of his men. With the shattered remainder, +Wallace drew back to Stirling; but, being pursued, set fire to the town that it +might give no help to the English, and escaped. The inhabitants of Perth +afterwards set fire to their houses for the same reason, and the King, unable +to find provisions, was forced to withdraw his army. +</p> + +<p> +Another <span class="smcap">Robert Bruce</span>, the grandson of him who had +disputed the Scottish crown with Baliol, was now in arms against the King (that +elder Bruce being dead), and also <span class="smcap">John Comyn</span>, +Baliol’s nephew. These two young men might agree in opposing Edward, but +could agree in nothing else, as they were rivals for the throne of Scotland. +Probably it was because they knew this, and knew what troubles must arise even +if they could hope to get the better of the great English King, that the +principal Scottish people applied to the Pope for his interference. The Pope, +on the principle of losing nothing for want of trying to get it, very coolly +claimed that Scotland belonged to him; but this was a little too much, and the +Parliament in a friendly manner told him so. +</p> + +<p> +In the spring time of the year one thousand three hundred and three, the King +sent <span class="smcap">Sir John Segrave</span>, whom he made Governor of +Scotland, with twenty thousand men, to reduce the rebels. Sir John was not as +careful as he should have been, but encamped at Rosslyn, near Edinburgh, with +his army divided into three parts. The Scottish forces saw their advantage; +fell on each part separately; defeated each; and killed all the prisoners. +Then, came the King himself once more, as soon as a great army could be raised; +he passed through the whole north of Scotland, laying waste whatsoever came in +his way; and he took up his winter quarters at Dunfermline. The Scottish cause +now looked so hopeless, that Comyn and the other nobles made submission and +received their pardons. Wallace alone stood out. He was invited to surrender, +though on no distinct pledge that his life should be spared; but he still +defied the ireful King, and lived among the steep crags of the Highland glens, +where the eagles made their nests, and where the mountain torrents roared, and +the white snow was deep, and the bitter winds blew round his unsheltered head, +as he lay through many a pitch-dark night wrapped up in his plaid. Nothing +could break his spirit; nothing could lower his courage; nothing could induce +him to forget or to forgive his country’s wrongs. Even when the Castle of +Stirling, which had long held out, was besieged by the King with every kind of +military engine then in use; even when the lead upon cathedral roofs was taken +down to help to make them; even when the King, though an old man, commanded in +the siege as if he were a youth, being so resolved to conquer; even when the +brave garrison (then found with amazement to be not two hundred people, +including several ladies) were starved and beaten out and were made to submit +on their knees, and with every form of disgrace that could aggravate their +sufferings; even then, when there was not a ray of hope in Scotland, William +Wallace was as proud and firm as if he had beheld the powerful and relentless +Edward lying dead at his feet. +</p> + +<p> +Who betrayed William Wallace in the end, is not quite certain. That he was +betrayed—probably by an attendant—is too true. He was taken to the +Castle of Dumbarton, under <span class="smcap">Sir John Menteith</span>, and +thence to London, where the great fame of his bravery and resolution attracted +immense concourses of people to behold him. He was tried in Westminster Hall, +with a crown of laurel on his head—it is supposed because he was reported +to have said that he ought to wear, or that he would wear, a crown there and +was found guilty as a robber, a murderer, and a traitor. What they called a +robber (he said to those who tried him) he was, because he had taken spoil from +the King’s men. What they called a murderer, he was, because he had slain +an insolent Englishman. What they called a traitor, he was not, for he had +never sworn allegiance to the King, and had ever scorned to do it. He was +dragged at the tails of horses to West Smithfield, and there hanged on a high +gallows, torn open before he was dead, beheaded, and quartered. His head was +set upon a pole on London Bridge, his right arm was sent to Newcastle, his left +arm to Berwick, his legs to Perth and Aberdeen. But, if King Edward had had his +body cut into inches, and had sent every separate inch into a separate town, he +could not have dispersed it half so far and wide as his fame. Wallace will be +remembered in songs and stories, while there are songs and stories in the +English tongue, and Scotland will hold him dear while her lakes and mountains +last. +</p> + +<p> +Released from this dreaded enemy, the King made a fairer plan of Government for +Scotland, divided the offices of honour among Scottish gentlemen and English +gentlemen, forgave past offences, and thought, in his old age, that his work +was done. +</p> + +<p> +But he deceived himself. Comyn and Bruce conspired, and made an appointment to +meet at Dumfries, in the church of the Minorites. There is a story that Comyn +was false to Bruce, and had informed against him to the King; that Bruce was +warned of his danger and the necessity of flight, by receiving, one night as he +sat at supper, from his friend the Earl of Gloucester, twelve pennies and a +pair of spurs; that as he was riding angrily to keep his appointment (through a +snow-storm, with his horse’s shoes reversed that he might not be +tracked), he met an evil-looking serving man, a messenger of Comyn, whom he +killed, and concealed in whose dress he found letters that proved Comyn’s +treachery. However this may be, they were likely enough to quarrel in any case, +being hot-headed rivals; and, whatever they quarrelled about, they certainly +did quarrel in the church where they met, and Bruce drew his dagger and stabbed +Comyn, who fell upon the pavement. When Bruce came out, pale and disturbed, the +friends who were waiting for him asked what was the matter? ‘I think I +have killed Comyn,’ said he. ‘You only think so?’ returned +one of them; ‘I will make sure!’ and going into the church, and +finding him alive, stabbed him again and again. Knowing that the King would +never forgive this new deed of violence, the party then declared Bruce King of +Scotland: got him crowned at Scone—without the chair; and set up the +rebellious standard once again. +</p> + +<p> +When the King heard of it he kindled with fiercer anger than he had ever shown +yet. He caused the Prince of Wales and two hundred and seventy of the young +nobility to be knighted—the trees in the Temple Gardens were cut down to +make room for their tents, and they watched their armour all night, according +to the old usage: some in the Temple Church: some in Westminster +Abbey—and at the public Feast which then took place, he swore, by Heaven, +and by two swans covered with gold network which his minstrels placed upon the +table, that he would avenge the death of Comyn, and would punish the false +Bruce. And before all the company, he charged the Prince his son, in case that +he should die before accomplishing his vow, not to bury him until it was +fulfilled. Next morning the Prince and the rest of the young Knights rode away +to the Border-country to join the English army; and the King, now weak and +sick, followed in a horse-litter. +</p> + +<p> +Bruce, after losing a battle and undergoing many dangers and much misery, fled +to Ireland, where he lay concealed through the winter. That winter, Edward +passed in hunting down and executing Bruce’s relations and adherents, +sparing neither youth nor age, and showing no touch of pity or sign of mercy. +In the following spring, Bruce reappeared and gained some victories. In these +frays, both sides were grievously cruel. For instance—Bruce’s two +brothers, being taken captives desperately wounded, were ordered by the King to +instant execution. Bruce’s friend Sir John Douglas, taking his own Castle +of Douglas out of the hands of an English Lord, roasted the dead bodies of the +slaughtered garrison in a great fire made of every movable within it; which +dreadful cookery his men called the Douglas Larder. Bruce, still successful, +however, drove the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Gloucester into the Castle +of Ayr and laid siege to it. +</p> + +<p> +The King, who had been laid up all the winter, but had directed the army from +his sick-bed, now advanced to Carlisle, and there, causing the litter in which +he had travelled to be placed in the Cathedral as an offering to Heaven, +mounted his horse once more, and for the last time. He was now sixty-nine years +old, and had reigned thirty-five years. He was so ill, that in four days he +could go no more than six miles; still, even at that pace, he went on and +resolutely kept his face towards the Border. At length, he lay down at the +village of Burgh-upon-Sands; and there, telling those around him to impress +upon the Prince that he was to remember his father’s vow, and was never +to rest until he had thoroughly subdued Scotland, he yielded up his last +breath. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND</h2> + +<p> +King Edward the Second, the first Prince of Wales, was twenty-three years old +when his father died. There was a certain favourite of his, a young man from +Gascony, named <span class="smcap">Piers Gaveston</span>, of whom his father +had so much disapproved that he had ordered him out of England, and had made +his son swear by the side of his sick-bed, never to bring him back. But, the +Prince no sooner found himself King, than he broke his oath, as so many other +Princes and Kings did (they were far too ready to take oaths), and sent for his +dear friend immediately. +</p> + +<p> +Now, this same Gaveston was handsome enough, but was a reckless, insolent, +audacious fellow. He was detested by the proud English Lords: not only because +he had such power over the King, and made the Court such a dissipated place, +but, also, because he could ride better than they at tournaments, and was used, +in his impudence, to cut very bad jokes on them; calling one, the old hog; +another, the stage-player; another, the Jew; another, the black dog of Ardenne. +This was as poor wit as need be, but it made those Lords very wroth; and the +surly Earl of Warwick, who was the black dog, swore that the time should come +when Piers Gaveston should feel the black dog’s teeth. +</p> + +<p> +It was not come yet, however, nor did it seem to be coming. The King made him +Earl of Cornwall, and gave him vast riches; and, when the King went over to +France to marry the French Princess, <span class="smcap">Isabella</span>, +daughter of <span class="smcap">Philip le Bel</span>: who was said to be the +most beautiful woman in the world: he made Gaveston, Regent of the Kingdom. His +splendid marriage-ceremony in the Church of Our Lady at Boulogne, where there +were four Kings and three Queens present (quite a pack of Court Cards, for I +dare say the Knaves were not wanting), being over, he seemed to care little or +nothing for his beautiful wife; but was wild with impatience to meet Gaveston +again. +</p> + +<p> +When he landed at home, he paid no attention to anybody else, but ran into the +favourite’s arms before a great concourse of people, and hugged him, and +kissed him, and called him his brother. At the coronation which soon followed, +Gaveston was the richest and brightest of all the glittering company there, and +had the honour of carrying the crown. This made the proud Lords fiercer than +ever; the people, too, despised the favourite, and would never call him Earl of +Cornwall, however much he complained to the King and asked him to punish them +for not doing so, but persisted in styling him plain Piers Gaveston. +</p> + +<p> +The Barons were so unceremonious with the King in giving him to understand that +they would not bear this favourite, that the King was obliged to send him out +of the country. The favourite himself was made to take an oath (more oaths!) +that he would never come back, and the Barons supposed him to be banished in +disgrace, until they heard that he was appointed Governor of Ireland. Even this +was not enough for the besotted King, who brought him home again in a +year’s time, and not only disgusted the Court and the people by his +doting folly, but offended his beautiful wife too, who never liked him +afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +He had now the old Royal want—of money—and the Barons had the new +power of positively refusing to let him raise any. He summoned a Parliament at +York; the Barons refused to make one, while the favourite was near him. He +summoned another Parliament at Westminster, and sent Gaveston away. Then, the +Barons came, completely armed, and appointed a committee of themselves to +correct abuses in the state and in the King’s household. He got some +money on these conditions, and directly set off with Gaveston to the +Border-country, where they spent it in idling away the time, and feasting, +while Bruce made ready to drive the English out of Scotland. For, though the +old King had even made this poor weak son of his swear (as some say) that he +would not bury his bones, but would have them boiled clean in a caldron, and +carried before the English army until Scotland was entirely subdued, the second +Edward was so unlike the first that Bruce gained strength and power every day. +</p> + +<p> +The committee of Nobles, after some months of deliberation, ordained that the +King should henceforth call a Parliament together, once every year, and even +twice if necessary, instead of summoning it only when he chose. Further, that +Gaveston should once more be banished, and, this time, on pain of death if he +ever came back. The King’s tears were of no avail; he was obliged to send +his favourite to Flanders. As soon as he had done so, however, he dissolved the +Parliament, with the low cunning of a mere fool, and set off to the North of +England, thinking to get an army about him to oppose the Nobles. And once again +he brought Gaveston home, and heaped upon him all the riches and titles of +which the Barons had deprived him. +</p> + +<p> +The Lords saw, now, that there was nothing for it but to put the favourite to +death. They could have done so, legally, according to the terms of his +banishment; but they did so, I am sorry to say, in a shabby manner. Led by the +Earl of Lancaster, the King’s cousin, they first of all attacked the King +and Gaveston at Newcastle. They had time to escape by sea, and the mean King, +having his precious Gaveston with him, was quite content to leave his lovely +wife behind. When they were comparatively safe, they separated; the King went +to York to collect a force of soldiers; and the favourite shut himself up, in +the meantime, in Scarborough Castle overlooking the sea. This was what the +Barons wanted. They knew that the Castle could not hold out; they attacked it, +and made Gaveston surrender. He delivered himself up to the Earl of +Pembroke—that Lord whom he had called the Jew—on the Earl’s +pledging his faith and knightly word, that no harm should happen to him and no +violence be done him. +</p> + +<p> +Now, it was agreed with Gaveston that he should be taken to the Castle of +Wallingford, and there kept in honourable custody. They travelled as far as +Dedington, near Banbury, where, in the Castle of that place, they stopped for a +night to rest. Whether the Earl of Pembroke left his prisoner there, knowing +what would happen, or really left him thinking no harm, and only going (as he +pretended) to visit his wife, the Countess, who was in the neighbourhood, is no +great matter now; in any case, he was bound as an honourable gentleman to +protect his prisoner, and he did not do it. In the morning, while the favourite +was yet in bed, he was required to dress himself and come down into the +court-yard. He did so without any mistrust, but started and turned pale when he +found it full of strange armed men. ‘I think you know me?’ said +their leader, also armed from head to foot. ‘I am the black dog of +Ardenne!’ The time was come when Piers Gaveston was to feel the black +dog’s teeth indeed. They set him on a mule, and carried him, in mock +state and with military music, to the black dog’s kennel—Warwick +Castle—where a hasty council, composed of some great noblemen, considered +what should be done with him. Some were for sparing him, but one loud +voice—it was the black dog’s bark, I dare say—sounded through +the Castle Hall, uttering these words: ‘You have the fox in your power. +Let him go now, and you must hunt him again.’ +</p> + +<p> +They sentenced him to death. He threw himself at the feet of the Earl of +Lancaster—the old hog—but the old hog was as savage as the dog. He +was taken out upon the pleasant road, leading from Warwick to Coventry, where +the beautiful river Avon, by which, long afterwards, <span +class="smcap">William Shakespeare</span> was born and now lies buried, sparkled +in the bright landscape of the beautiful May-day; and there they struck off his +wretched head, and stained the dust with his blood. +</p> + +<p> +When the King heard of this black deed, in his grief and rage he denounced +relentless war against his Barons, and both sides were in arms for half a year. +But, it then became necessary for them to join their forces against Bruce, who +had used the time well while they were divided, and had now a great power in +Scotland. +</p> + +<p> +Intelligence was brought that Bruce was then besieging Stirling Castle, and +that the Governor had been obliged to pledge himself to surrender it, unless he +should be relieved before a certain day. Hereupon, the King ordered the nobles +and their fighting-men to meet him at Berwick; but, the nobles cared so little +for the King, and so neglected the summons, and lost time, that only on the day +before that appointed for the surrender, did the King find himself at Stirling, +and even then with a smaller force than he had expected. However, he had, +altogether, a hundred thousand men, and Bruce had not more than forty thousand; +but, Bruce’s army was strongly posted in three square columns, on the +ground lying between the Burn or Brook of Bannock and the walls of Stirling +Castle. +</p> + +<p> +On the very evening, when the King came up, Bruce did a brave act that +encouraged his men. He was seen by a certain <span class="smcap">Henry de +Bohun</span>, an English Knight, riding about before his army on a little +horse, with a light battle-axe in his hand, and a crown of gold on his head. +This English Knight, who was mounted on a strong war-horse, cased in steel, +strongly armed, and able (as he thought) to overthrow Bruce by crushing him +with his mere weight, set spurs to his great charger, rode on him, and made a +thrust at him with his heavy spear. Bruce parried the thrust, and with one blow +of his battle-axe split his skull. +</p> + +<p> +The Scottish men did not forget this, next day when the battle raged. <span +class="smcap">Randolph</span>, Bruce’s valiant Nephew, rode, with the +small body of men he commanded, into such a host of the English, all shining in +polished armour in the sunlight, that they seemed to be swallowed up and lost, +as if they had plunged into the sea. But, they fought so well, and did such +dreadful execution, that the English staggered. Then came Bruce himself upon +them, with all the rest of his army. While they were thus hard pressed and +amazed, there appeared upon the hills what they supposed to be a new Scottish +army, but what were really only the camp followers, in number fifteen thousand: +whom Bruce had taught to show themselves at that place and time. The Earl of +Gloucester, commanding the English horse, made a last rush to change the +fortune of the day; but Bruce (like Jack the Giant-killer in the story) had had +pits dug in the ground, and covered over with turfs and stakes. Into these, as +they gave way beneath the weight of the horses, riders and horses rolled by +hundreds. The English were completely routed; all their treasure, stores, and +engines, were taken by the Scottish men; so many waggons and other wheeled +vehicles were seized, that it is related that they would have reached, if they +had been drawn out in a line, one hundred and eighty miles. The fortunes of +Scotland were, for the time, completely changed; and never was a battle won, +more famous upon Scottish ground, than this great battle of <span +class="smcap">Bannockburn</span>. +</p> + +<p> +Plague and famine succeeded in England; and still the powerless King and his +disdainful Lords were always in contention. Some of the turbulent chiefs of +Ireland made proposals to Bruce, to accept the rule of that country. He sent +his brother Edward to them, who was crowned King of Ireland. He afterwards went +himself to help his brother in his Irish wars, but his brother was defeated in +the end and killed. Robert Bruce, returning to Scotland, still increased his +strength there. +</p> + +<p> +As the King’s ruin had begun in a favourite, so it seemed likely to end +in one. He was too poor a creature to rely at all upon himself; and his new +favourite was one <span class="smcap">Hugh le Despenser</span>, the son of a +gentleman of ancient family. Hugh was handsome and brave, but he was the +favourite of a weak King, whom no man cared a rush for, and that was a +dangerous place to hold. The Nobles leagued against him, because the King liked +him; and they lay in wait, both for his ruin and his father’s. Now, the +King had married him to the daughter of the late Earl of Gloucester, and had +given both him and his father great possessions in Wales. In their endeavours +to extend these, they gave violent offence to an angry Welsh gentleman, named +<span class="smcap">John de Mowbray</span>, and to divers other angry Welsh +gentlemen, who resorted to arms, took their castles, and seized their estates. +The Earl of Lancaster had first placed the favourite (who was a poor relation +of his own) at Court, and he considered his own dignity offended by the +preference he received and the honours he acquired; so he, and the Barons who +were his friends, joined the Welshmen, marched on London, and sent a message to +the King demanding to have the favourite and his father banished. At first, the +King unaccountably took it into his head to be spirited, and to send them a +bold reply; but when they quartered themselves around Holborn and Clerkenwell, +and went down, armed, to the Parliament at Westminster, he gave way, and +complied with their demands. +</p> + +<p> +His turn of triumph came sooner than he expected. It arose out of an accidental +circumstance. The beautiful Queen happening to be travelling, came one night to +one of the royal castles, and demanded to be lodged and entertained there until +morning. The governor of this castle, who was one of the enraged lords, was +away, and in his absence, his wife refused admission to the Queen; a scuffle +took place among the common men on either side, and some of the royal +attendants were killed. The people, who cared nothing for the King, were very +angry that their beautiful Queen should be thus rudely treated in her own +dominions; and the King, taking advantage of this feeling, besieged the castle, +took it, and then called the two Despensers home. Upon this, the confederate +lords and the Welshmen went over to Bruce. The King encountered them at +Boroughbridge, gained the victory, and took a number of distinguished +prisoners; among them, the Earl of Lancaster, now an old man, upon whose +destruction he was resolved. This Earl was taken to his own castle of +Pontefract, and there tried and found guilty by an unfair court appointed for +the purpose; he was not even allowed to speak in his own defence. He was +insulted, pelted, mounted on a starved pony without saddle or bridle, carried +out, and beheaded. Eight-and-twenty knights were hanged, drawn, and quartered. +When the King had despatched this bloody work, and had made a fresh and a long +truce with Bruce, he took the Despensers into greater favour than ever, and +made the father Earl of Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +One prisoner, and an important one, who was taken at Boroughbridge, made his +escape, however, and turned the tide against the King. This was <span +class="smcap">Roger Mortimer</span>, always resolutely opposed to him, who was +sentenced to death, and placed for safe custody in the Tower of London. He +treated his guards to a quantity of wine into which he had put a sleeping +potion; and, when they were insensible, broke out of his dungeon, got into a +kitchen, climbed up the chimney, let himself down from the roof of the building +with a rope-ladder, passed the sentries, got down to the river, and made away +in a boat to where servants and horses were waiting for him. He finally escaped +to France, where <span class="smcap">Charles le Bel</span>, the brother of the +beautiful Queen, was King. Charles sought to quarrel with the King of England, +on pretence of his not having come to do him homage at his coronation. It was +proposed that the beautiful Queen should go over to arrange the dispute; she +went, and wrote home to the King, that as he was sick and could not come to +France himself, perhaps it would be better to send over the young Prince, their +son, who was only twelve years old, who could do homage to her brother in his +stead, and in whose company she would immediately return. The King sent him: +but, both he and the Queen remained at the French Court, and Roger Mortimer +became the Queen’s lover. +</p> + +<p> +When the King wrote, again and again, to the Queen to come home, she did not +reply that she despised him too much to live with him any more (which was the +truth), but said she was afraid of the two Despensers. In short, her design was +to overthrow the favourites’ power, and the King’s power, such as +it was, and invade England. Having obtained a French force of two thousand men, +and being joined by all the English exiles then in France, she landed, within a +year, at Orewell, in Suffolk, where she was immediately joined by the Earls of +Kent and Norfolk, the King’s two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; +and lastly, by the first English general who was despatched to check her: who +went over to her with all his men. The people of London, receiving these +tidings, would do nothing for the King, but broke open the Tower, let out all +his prisoners, and threw up their caps and hurrahed for the beautiful Queen. +</p> + +<p> +The King, with his two favourites, fled to Bristol, where he left old Despenser +in charge of the town and castle, while he went on with the son to Wales. The +Bristol men being opposed to the King, and it being impossible to hold the town +with enemies everywhere within the walls, Despenser yielded it up on the third +day, and was instantly brought to trial for having traitorously influenced what +was called ‘the King’s mind’—though I doubt if the King +ever had any. He was a venerable old man, upwards of ninety years of age, but +his age gained no respect or mercy. He was hanged, torn open while he was yet +alive, cut up into pieces, and thrown to the dogs. His son was soon taken, +tried at Hereford before the same judge on a long series of foolish charges, +found guilty, and hanged upon a gallows fifty feet high, with a chaplet of +nettles round his head. His poor old father and he were innocent enough of any +worse crimes than the crime of having been friends of a King, on whom, as a +mere man, they would never have deigned to cast a favourable look. It is a bad +crime, I know, and leads to worse; but, many lords and gentlemen—I even +think some ladies, too, if I recollect right—have committed it in +England, who have neither been given to the dogs, nor hanged up fifty feet +high. +</p> + +<p> +The wretched King was running here and there, all this time, and never getting +anywhere in particular, until he gave himself up, and was taken off to +Kenilworth Castle. When he was safely lodged there, the Queen went to London +and met the Parliament. And the Bishop of Hereford, who was the most skilful of +her friends, said, What was to be done now? Here was an imbecile, indolent, +miserable King upon the throne; wouldn’t it be better to take him off, +and put his son there instead? I don’t know whether the Queen really +pitied him at this pass, but she began to cry; so, the Bishop said, Well, my +Lords and Gentlemen, what do you think, upon the whole, of sending down to +Kenilworth, and seeing if His Majesty (God bless him, and forbid we should +depose him!) won’t resign? +</p> + +<p> +My Lords and Gentlemen thought it a good notion, so a deputation of them went +down to Kenilworth; and there the King came into the great hall of the Castle, +commonly dressed in a poor black gown; and when he saw a certain bishop among +them, fell down, poor feeble-headed man, and made a wretched spectacle of +himself. Somebody lifted him up, and then <span class="smcap">Sir William +Trussel</span>, the Speaker of the House of Commons, almost frightened him to +death by making him a tremendous speech to the effect that he was no longer a +King, and that everybody renounced allegiance to him. After which, <span +class="smcap">Sir Thomas Blount</span>, the Steward of the Household, nearly +finished him, by coming forward and breaking his white wand—which was a +ceremony only performed at a King’s death. Being asked in this pressing +manner what he thought of resigning, the King said he thought it was the best +thing he could do. So, he did it, and they proclaimed his son next day. +</p> + +<p> +I wish I could close his history by saying that he lived a harmless life in the +Castle and the Castle gardens at Kenilworth, many years—that he had a +favourite, and plenty to eat and drink—and, having that, wanted nothing. +But he was shamefully humiliated. He was outraged, and slighted, and had dirty +water from ditches given him to shave with, and wept and said he would have +clean warm water, and was altogether very miserable. He was moved from this +castle to that castle, and from that castle to the other castle, because this +lord or that lord, or the other lord, was too kind to him: until at last he +came to Berkeley Castle, near the River Severn, where (the Lord Berkeley being +then ill and absent) he fell into the hands of two black ruffians, called <span +class="smcap">Thomas Gournay</span> and <span class="smcap">William +Ogle</span>. +</p> + +<p> +One night—it was the night of September the twenty-first, one thousand +three hundred and twenty-seven—dreadful screams were heard, by the +startled people in the neighbouring town, ringing through the thick walls of +the Castle, and the dark, deep night; and they said, as they were thus horribly +awakened from their sleep, ‘May Heaven be merciful to the King; for those +cries forbode that no good is being done to him in his dismal prison!’ +Next morning he was dead—not bruised, or stabbed, or marked upon the +body, but much distorted in the face; and it was whispered afterwards, that +those two villains, Gournay and Ogle, had burnt up his inside with a red-hot +iron. +</p> + +<p> +If you ever come near Gloucester, and see the centre tower of its beautiful +Cathedral, with its four rich pinnacles, rising lightly in the air; you may +remember that the wretched Edward the Second was buried in the old abbey of +that ancient city, at forty-three years old, after being for nineteen years and +a half a perfectly incapable King. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD</h2> + +<p> +Roger Mortimer, the Queen’s lover (who escaped to France in the last +chapter), was far from profiting by the examples he had had of the fate of +favourites. Having, through the Queen’s influence, come into possession +of the estates of the two Despensers, he became extremely proud and ambitious, +and sought to be the real ruler of England. The young King, who was crowned at +fourteen years of age with all the usual solemnities, resolved not to bear +this, and soon pursued Mortimer to his ruin. +</p> + +<p> +The people themselves were not fond of Mortimer—first, because he was a +Royal favourite; secondly, because he was supposed to have helped to make a +peace with Scotland which now took place, and in virtue of which the young +King’s sister Joan, only seven years old, was promised in marriage to +David, the son and heir of Robert Bruce, who was only five years old. The +nobles hated Mortimer because of his pride, riches, and power. They went so far +as to take up arms against him; but were obliged to submit. The Earl of Kent, +one of those who did so, but who afterwards went over to Mortimer and the +Queen, was made an example of in the following cruel manner: +</p> + +<p> +He seems to have been anything but a wise old earl; and he was persuaded by the +agents of the favourite and the Queen, that poor King Edward the Second was not +really dead; and thus was betrayed into writing letters favouring his rightful +claim to the throne. This was made out to be high treason, and he was tried, +found guilty, and sentenced to be executed. They took the poor old lord outside +the town of Winchester, and there kept him waiting some three or four hours +until they could find somebody to cut off his head. At last, a convict said he +would do it, if the government would pardon him in return; and they gave him +the pardon; and at one blow he put the Earl of Kent out of his last suspense. +</p> + +<p> +While the Queen was in France, she had found a lovely and good young lady, +named Philippa, who she thought would make an excellent wife for her son. The +young King married this lady, soon after he came to the throne; and her first +child, Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards became celebrated, as we shall +presently see, under the famous title of <span class="smcap">Edward the Black +Prince</span>. +</p> + +<p> +The young King, thinking the time ripe for the downfall of Mortimer, took +counsel with Lord Montacute how he should proceed. A Parliament was going to be +held at Nottingham, and that lord recommended that the favourite should be +seized by night in Nottingham Castle, where he was sure to be. Now, this, like +many other things, was more easily said than done; because, to guard against +treachery, the great gates of the Castle were locked every night, and the great +keys were carried up-stairs to the Queen, who laid them under her own pillow. +But the Castle had a governor, and the governor being Lord Montacute’s +friend, confided to him how he knew of a secret passage underground, hidden +from observation by the weeds and brambles with which it was overgrown; and +how, through that passage, the conspirators might enter in the dead of the +night, and go straight to Mortimer’s room. Accordingly, upon a certain +dark night, at midnight, they made their way through this dismal place: +startling the rats, and frightening the owls and bats: and came safely to the +bottom of the main tower of the Castle, where the King met them, and took them +up a profoundly-dark staircase in a deep silence. They soon heard the voice of +Mortimer in council with some friends; and bursting into the room with a sudden +noise, took him prisoner. The Queen cried out from her bed-chamber, ‘Oh, +my sweet son, my dear son, spare my gentle Mortimer!’ They carried him +off, however; and, before the next Parliament, accused him of having made +differences between the young King and his mother, and of having brought about +the death of the Earl of Kent, and even of the late King; for, as you know by +this time, when they wanted to get rid of a man in those old days, they were +not very particular of what they accused him. Mortimer was found guilty of all +this, and was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn. The King shut his mother up in +genteel confinement, where she passed the rest of her life; and now he became +King in earnest. +</p> + +<p> +The first effort he made was to conquer Scotland. The English lords who had +lands in Scotland, finding that their rights were not respected under the late +peace, made war on their own account: choosing for their general, Edward, the +son of John Baliol, who made such a vigorous fight, that in less than two +months he won the whole Scottish Kingdom. He was joined, when thus triumphant, +by the King and Parliament; and he and the King in person besieged the Scottish +forces in Berwick. The whole Scottish army coming to the assistance of their +countrymen, such a furious battle ensued, that thirty thousand men are said to +have been killed in it. Baliol was then crowned King of Scotland, doing homage +to the King of England; but little came of his successes after all, for the +Scottish men rose against him, within no very long time, and David Bruce came +back within ten years and took his kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +France was a far richer country than Scotland, and the King had a much greater +mind to conquer it. So, he let Scotland alone, and pretended that he had a +claim to the French throne in right of his mother. He had, in reality, no claim +at all; but that mattered little in those times. He brought over to his cause +many little princes and sovereigns, and even courted the alliance of the people +of Flanders—a busy, working community, who had very small respect for +kings, and whose head man was a brewer. With such forces as he raised by these +means, Edward invaded France; but he did little by that, except run into debt +in carrying on the war to the extent of three hundred thousand pounds. The next +year he did better; gaining a great sea-fight in the harbour of Sluys. This +success, however, was very shortlived, for the Flemings took fright at the +siege of Saint Omer and ran away, leaving their weapons and baggage behind +them. Philip, the French King, coming up with his army, and Edward being very +anxious to decide the war, proposed to settle the difference by single combat +with him, or by a fight of one hundred knights on each side. The French King +said, he thanked him; but being very well as he was, he would rather not. So, +after some skirmishing and talking, a short peace was made. +</p> + +<p> +It was soon broken by King Edward’s favouring the cause of John, Earl of +Montford; a French nobleman, who asserted a claim of his own against the French +King, and offered to do homage to England for the Crown of France, if he could +obtain it through England’s help. This French lord, himself, was soon +defeated by the French King’s son, and shut up in a tower in Paris; but +his wife, a courageous and beautiful woman, who is said to have had the courage +of a man, and the heart of a lion, assembled the people of Brittany, where she +then was; and, showing them her infant son, made many pathetic entreaties to +them not to desert her and their young Lord. They took fire at this appeal, and +rallied round her in the strong castle of Hennebon. Here she was not only +besieged without by the French under Charles de Blois, but was endangered +within by a dreary old bishop, who was always representing to the people what +horrors they must undergo if they were faithful—first from famine, and +afterwards from fire and sword. But this noble lady, whose heart never failed +her, encouraged her soldiers by her own example; went from post to post like a +great general; even mounted on horseback fully armed, and, issuing from the +castle by a by-path, fell upon the French camp, set fire to the tents, and +threw the whole force into disorder. This done, she got safely back to Hennebon +again, and was received with loud shouts of joy by the defenders of the castle, +who had given her up for lost. As they were now very short of provisions, +however, and as they could not dine off enthusiasm, and as the old bishop was +always saying, ‘I told you what it would come to!’ they began to +lose heart, and to talk of yielding the castle up. The brave Countess retiring +to an upper room and looking with great grief out to sea, where she expected +relief from England, saw, at this very time, the English ships in the distance, +and was relieved and rescued! Sir Walter Manning, the English commander, so +admired her courage, that, being come into the castle with the English knights, +and having made a feast there, he assaulted the French by way of dessert, and +beat them off triumphantly. Then he and the knights came back to the castle +with great joy; and the Countess who had watched them from a high tower, +thanked them with all her heart, and kissed them every one. +</p> + +<p> +This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight with the French +off Guernsey, when she was on her way to England to ask for more troops. Her +great spirit roused another lady, the wife of another French lord (whom the +French King very barbarously murdered), to distinguish herself scarcely less. +The time was fast coming, however, when Edward, Prince of Wales, was to be the +great star of this French and English war. +</p> + +<p> +It was in the month of July, in the year one thousand three hundred and +forty-six, when the King embarked at Southampton for France, with an army of +about thirty thousand men in all, attended by the Prince of Wales and by +several of the chief nobles. He landed at La Hogue in Normandy; and, burning +and destroying as he went, according to custom, advanced up the left bank of +the River Seine, and fired the small towns even close to Paris; but, being +watched from the right bank of the river by the French King and all his army, +it came to this at last, that Edward found himself, on Saturday the +twenty-sixth of August, one thousand three hundred and forty-six, on a rising +ground behind the little French village of Crecy, face to face with the French +King’s force. And, although the French King had an enormous army—in +number more than eight times his—he there resolved to beat him or be +beaten. +</p> + +<p> +The young Prince, assisted by the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Warwick, led +the first division of the English army; two other great Earls led the second; +and the King, the third. When the morning dawned, the King received the +sacrament, and heard prayers, and then, mounted on horseback with a white wand +in his hand, rode from company to company, and rank to rank, cheering and +encouraging both officers and men. Then the whole army breakfasted, each man +sitting on the ground where he had stood; and then they remained quietly on the +ground with their weapons ready. +</p> + +<p> +Up came the French King with all his great force. It was dark and angry +weather; there was an eclipse of the sun; there was a thunder-storm, +accompanied with tremendous rain; the frightened birds flew screaming above the +soldiers’ heads. A certain captain in the French army advised the French +King, who was by no means cheerful, not to begin the battle until the morrow. +The King, taking this advice, gave the word to halt. But, those behind not +understanding it, or desiring to be foremost with the rest, came pressing on. +The roads for a great distance were covered with this immense army, and with +the common people from the villages, who were flourishing their rude weapons, +and making a great noise. Owing to these circumstances, the French army +advanced in the greatest confusion; every French lord doing what he liked with +his own men, and putting out the men of every other French lord. +</p> + +<p> +Now, their King relied strongly upon a great body of cross-bowmen from Genoa; +and these he ordered to the front to begin the battle, on finding that he could +not stop it. They shouted once, they shouted twice, they shouted three times, +to alarm the English archers; but, the English would have heard them shout +three thousand times and would have never moved. At last the cross-bowmen went +forward a little, and began to discharge their bolts; upon which, the English +let fly such a hail of arrows, that the Genoese speedily made off—for +their cross-bows, besides being heavy to carry, required to be wound up with a +handle, and consequently took time to re-load; the English, on the other hand, +could discharge their arrows almost as fast as the arrows could fly. +</p> + +<p> +When the French King saw the Genoese turning, he cried out to his men to kill +those scoundrels, who were doing harm instead of service. This increased the +confusion. Meanwhile the English archers, continuing to shoot as fast as ever, +shot down great numbers of the French soldiers and knights; whom certain sly +Cornish-men and Welshmen, from the English army, creeping along the ground, +despatched with great knives. +</p> + +<p> +The Prince and his division were at this time so hard-pressed, that the Earl of +Warwick sent a message to the King, who was overlooking the battle from a +windmill, beseeching him to send more aid. +</p> + +<p> +‘Is my son killed?’ said the King. +</p> + +<p> +‘No, sire, please God,’ returned the messenger. +</p> + +<p> +‘Is he wounded?’ said the King. +</p> + +<p> +‘No, sire.’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Is he thrown to the ground?’ said the King. +</p> + +<p> +‘No, sire, not so; but, he is very hard-pressed.’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Then,’ said the King, ‘go back to those who sent you, and +tell them I shall send no aid; because I set my heart upon my son proving +himself this day a brave knight, and because I am resolved, please God, that +the honour of a great victory shall be his!’ +</p> + +<p> +These bold words, being reported to the Prince and his division, so raised +their spirits, that they fought better than ever. The King of France charged +gallantly with his men many times; but it was of no use. Night closing in, his +horse was killed under him by an English arrow, and the knights and nobles who +had clustered thick about him early in the day, were now completely scattered. +At last, some of his few remaining followers led him off the field by force +since he would not retire of himself, and they journeyed away to Amiens. The +victorious English, lighting their watch-fires, made merry on the field, and +the King, riding to meet his gallant son, took him in his arms, kissed him, and +told him that he had acted nobly, and proved himself worthy of the day and of +the crown. While it was yet night, King Edward was hardly aware of the great +victory he had gained; but, next day, it was discovered that eleven princes, +twelve hundred knights, and thirty thousand common men lay dead upon the French +side. Among these was the King of Bohemia, an old blind man; who, having been +told that his son was wounded in the battle, and that no force could stand +against the Black Prince, called to him two knights, put himself on horse-back +between them, fastened the three bridles together, and dashed in among the +English, where he was presently slain. He bore as his crest three white ostrich +feathers, with the motto <i>Ich dien</i>, signifying in English ‘I +serve.’ This crest and motto were taken by the Prince of Wales in +remembrance of that famous day, and have been borne by the Prince of Wales ever +since. +</p> + +<p> +Five days after this great battle, the King laid siege to Calais. This +siege—ever afterwards memorable—lasted nearly a year. In order to +starve the inhabitants out, King Edward built so many wooden houses for the +lodgings of his troops, that it is said their quarters looked like a second +Calais suddenly sprung around the first. Early in the siege, the governor of +the town drove out what he called the useless mouths, to the number of +seventeen hundred persons, men and women, young and old. King Edward allowed +them to pass through his lines, and even fed them, and dismissed them with +money; but, later in the siege, he was not so merciful—five hundred more, +who were afterwards driven out, dying of starvation and misery. The garrison +were so hard-pressed at last, that they sent a letter to King Philip, telling +him that they had eaten all the horses, all the dogs, and all the rats and mice +that could be found in the place; and, that if he did not relieve them, they +must either surrender to the English, or eat one another. Philip made one +effort to give them relief; but they were so hemmed in by the English power, +that he could not succeed, and was fain to leave the place. Upon this they +hoisted the English flag, and surrendered to King Edward. ‘Tell your +general,’ said he to the humble messengers who came out of the town, +‘that I require to have sent here, six of the most distinguished +citizens, bare-legged, and in their shirts, with ropes about their necks; and +let those six men bring with them the keys of the castle and the town.’ +</p> + +<p> +When the Governor of Calais related this to the people in the Market-place, +there was great weeping and distress; in the midst of which, one worthy +citizen, named Eustace de Saint Pierre, rose up and said, that if the six men +required were not sacrificed, the whole population would be; therefore, he +offered himself as the first. Encouraged by this bright example, five other +worthy citizens rose up one after another, and offered themselves to save the +rest. The Governor, who was too badly wounded to be able to walk, mounted a +poor old horse that had not been eaten, and conducted these good men to the +gate, while all the people cried and mourned. +</p> + +<p> +Edward received them wrathfully, and ordered the heads of the whole six to be +struck off. However, the good Queen fell upon her knees, and besought the King +to give them up to her. The King replied, ‘I wish you had been somewhere +else; but I cannot refuse you.’ So she had them properly dressed, made a +feast for them, and sent them back with a handsome present, to the great +rejoicing of the whole camp. I hope the people of Calais loved the daughter to +whom she gave birth soon afterwards, for her gentle mother’s sake. +</p> + +<p> +Now came that terrible disease, the Plague, into Europe, hurrying from the +heart of China; and killed the wretched people—especially the +poor—in such enormous numbers, that one-half of the inhabitants of +England are related to have died of it. It killed the cattle, in great numbers, +too; and so few working men remained alive, that there were not enough left to +till the ground. +</p> + +<p> +After eight years of differing and quarrelling, the Prince of Wales again +invaded France with an army of sixty thousand men. He went through the south of +the country, burning and plundering wheresoever he went; while his father, who +had still the Scottish war upon his hands, did the like in Scotland, but was +harassed and worried in his retreat from that country by the Scottish men, who +repaid his cruelties with interest. +</p> + +<p> +The French King, Philip, was now dead, and was succeeded by his son John. The +Black Prince, called by that name from the colour of the armour he wore to set +off his fair complexion, continuing to burn and destroy in France, roused John +into determined opposition; and so cruel had the Black Prince been in his +campaign, and so severely had the French peasants suffered, that he could not +find one who, for love, or money, or the fear of death, would tell him what the +French King was doing, or where he was. Thus it happened that he came upon the +French King’s forces, all of a sudden, near the town of Poitiers, and +found that the whole neighbouring country was occupied by a vast French army. +‘God help us!’ said the Black Prince, ‘we must make the best +of it.’ +</p> + +<p> +So, on a Sunday morning, the eighteenth of September, the Prince whose army was +now reduced to ten thousand men in all—prepared to give battle to the +French King, who had sixty thousand horse alone. While he was so engaged, there +came riding from the French camp, a Cardinal, who had persuaded John to let him +offer terms, and try to save the shedding of Christian blood. ‘Save my +honour,’ said the Prince to this good priest, ‘and save the honour +of my army, and I will make any reasonable terms.’ He offered to give up +all the towns, castles, and prisoners, he had taken, and to swear to make no +war in France for seven years; but, as John would hear of nothing but his +surrender, with a hundred of his chief knights, the treaty was broken off, and +the Prince said quietly—‘God defend the right; we shall fight +to-morrow.’ +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, on the Monday morning, at break of day, the two armies prepared for +battle. The English were posted in a strong place, which could only be +approached by one narrow lane, skirted by hedges on both sides. The French +attacked them by this lane; but were so galled and slain by English arrows from +behind the hedges, that they were forced to retreat. Then went six hundred +English bowmen round about, and, coming upon the rear of the French army, +rained arrows on them thick and fast. The French knights, thrown into +confusion, quitted their banners and dispersed in all directions. Said Sir John +Chandos to the Prince, ‘Ride forward, noble Prince, and the day is yours. +The King of France is so valiant a gentleman, that I know he will never fly, +and may be taken prisoner.’ Said the Prince to this, ‘Advance, +English banners, in the name of God and St. George!’ and on they pressed +until they came up with the French King, fighting fiercely with his battle-axe, +and, when all his nobles had forsaken him, attended faithfully to the last by +his youngest son Philip, only sixteen years of age. Father and son fought well, +and the King had already two wounds in his face, and had been beaten down, when +he at last delivered himself to a banished French knight, and gave him his +right-hand glove in token that he had done so. +</p> + +<p> +The Black Prince was generous as well as brave, and he invited his royal +prisoner to supper in his tent, and waited upon him at table, and, when they +afterwards rode into London in a gorgeous procession, mounted the French King +on a fine cream-coloured horse, and rode at his side on a little pony. This was +all very kind, but I think it was, perhaps, a little theatrical too, and has +been made more meritorious than it deserved to be; especially as I am inclined +to think that the greatest kindness to the King of France would have been not +to have shown him to the people at all. However, it must be said, for these +acts of politeness, that, in course of time, they did much to soften the +horrors of war and the passions of conquerors. It was a long, long time before +the common soldiers began to have the benefit of such courtly deeds; but they +did at last; and thus it is possible that a poor soldier who asked for quarter +at the battle of Waterloo, or any other such great fight, may have owed his +life indirectly to Edward the Black Prince. +</p> + +<p> +At this time there stood in the Strand, in London, a palace called the Savoy, +which was given up to the captive King of France and his son for their +residence. As the King of Scotland had now been King Edward’s captive for +eleven years too, his success was, at this time, tolerably complete. The +Scottish business was settled by the prisoner being released under the title of +Sir David, King of Scotland, and by his engaging to pay a large ransom. The +state of France encouraged England to propose harder terms to that country, +where the people rose against the unspeakable cruelty and barbarity of its +nobles; where the nobles rose in turn against the people; where the most +frightful outrages were committed on all sides; and where the insurrection of +the peasants, called the insurrection of the Jacquerie, from Jacques, a common +Christian name among the country people of France, awakened terrors and hatreds +that have scarcely yet passed away. A treaty called the Great Peace, was at +last signed, under which King Edward agreed to give up the greater part of his +conquests, and King John to pay, within six years, a ransom of three million +crowns of gold. He was so beset by his own nobles and courtiers for having +yielded to these conditions—though they could help him to no +better—that he came back of his own will to his old palace-prison of the +Savoy, and there died. +</p> + +<p> +There was a Sovereign of Castile at that time, called <span class="smcap">Pedro +the Cruel</span>, who deserved the name remarkably well: having committed, +among other cruelties, a variety of murders. This amiable monarch being driven +from his throne for his crimes, went to the province of Bordeaux, where the +Black Prince—now married to his cousin <span class="smcap">Joan</span>, a +pretty widow—was residing, and besought his help. The Prince, who took to +him much more kindly than a prince of such fame ought to have taken to such a +ruffian, readily listened to his fair promises, and agreeing to help him, sent +secret orders to some troublesome disbanded soldiers of his and his +father’s, who called themselves the Free Companions, and who had been a +pest to the French people, for some time, to aid this Pedro. The Prince, +himself, going into Spain to head the army of relief, soon set Pedro on his +throne again—where he no sooner found himself, than, of course, he +behaved like the villain he was, broke his word without the least shame, and +abandoned all the promises he had made to the Black Prince. +</p> + +<p> +Now, it had cost the Prince a good deal of money to pay soldiers to support +this murderous King; and finding himself, when he came back disgusted to +Bordeaux, not only in bad health, but deeply in debt, he began to tax his +French subjects to pay his creditors. They appealed to the French King, <span +class="smcap">Charles</span>; war again broke out; and the French town of +Limoges, which the Prince had greatly benefited, went over to the French King. +Upon this he ravaged the province of which it was the capital; burnt, and +plundered, and killed in the old sickening way; and refused mercy to the +prisoners, men, women, and children taken in the offending town, though he was +so ill and so much in need of pity himself from Heaven, that he was carried in +a litter. He lived to come home and make himself popular with the people and +Parliament, and he died on Trinity Sunday, the eighth of June, one thousand +three hundred and seventy-six, at forty-six years old. +</p> + +<p> +The whole nation mourned for him as one of the most renowned and beloved +princes it had ever had; and he was buried with great lamentations in +Canterbury Cathedral. Near to the tomb of Edward the Confessor, his monument, +with his figure, carved in stone, and represented in the old black armour, +lying on its back, may be seen at this day, with an ancient coat of mail, a +helmet, and a pair of gauntlets hanging from a beam above it, which most people +like to believe were once worn by the Black Prince. +</p> + +<p> +King Edward did not outlive his renowned son, long. He was old, and one Alice +Perrers, a beautiful lady, had contrived to make him so fond of her in his old +age, that he could refuse her nothing, and made himself ridiculous. She little +deserved his love, or—what I dare say she valued a great deal +more—the jewels of the late Queen, which he gave her among other rich +presents. She took the very ring from his finger on the morning of the day when +he died, and left him to be pillaged by his faithless servants. Only one good +priest was true to him, and attended him to the last. +</p> + +<p> +Besides being famous for the great victories I have related, the reign of King +Edward the Third was rendered memorable in better ways, by the growth of +architecture and the erection of Windsor Castle. In better ways still, by the +rising up of <span class="smcap">Wickliffe</span>, originally a poor parish +priest: who devoted himself to exposing, with wonderful power and success, the +ambition and corruption of the Pope, and of the whole church of which he was +the head. +</p> + +<p> +Some of those Flemings were induced to come to England in this reign too, and +to settle in Norfolk, where they made better woollen cloths than the English +had ever had before. The Order of the Garter (a very fine thing in its way, but +hardly so important as good clothes for the nation) also dates from this +period. The King is said to have picked ‘up a lady’s garter at a +ball, and to have said, <i>Honi soit qui mal y pense</i>—in English, +‘Evil be to him who evil thinks of it.’ The courtiers were usually +glad to imitate what the King said or did, and hence from a slight incident the +Order of the Garter was instituted, and became a great dignity. So the story +goes. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND</h2> + +<p> +Richard, son of the Black Prince, a boy eleven years of age, succeeded to the +Crown under the title of King Richard the Second. The whole English nation were +ready to admire him for the sake of his brave father. As to the lords and +ladies about the Court, they declared him to be the most beautiful, the wisest, +and the best—even of princes—whom the lords and ladies about the +Court, generally declare to be the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best of +mankind. To flatter a poor boy in this base manner was not a very likely way to +develop whatever good was in him; and it brought him to anything but a good or +happy end. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Lancaster, the young King’s uncle—commonly called John +of Gaunt, from having been born at Ghent, which the common people so +pronounced—was supposed to have some thoughts of the throne himself; but, +as he was not popular, and the memory of the Black Prince was, he submitted to +his nephew. +</p> + +<p> +The war with France being still unsettled, the Government of England wanted +money to provide for the expenses that might arise out of it; accordingly a +certain tax, called the Poll-tax, which had originated in the last reign, was +ordered to be levied on the people. This was a tax on every person in the +kingdom, male and female, above the age of fourteen, of three groats (or three +four-penny pieces) a year; clergymen were charged more, and only beggars were +exempt. +</p> + +<p> +I have no need to repeat that the common people of England had long been +suffering under great oppression. They were still the mere slaves of the lords +of the land on which they lived, and were on most occasions harshly and +unjustly treated. But, they had begun by this time to think very seriously of +not bearing quite so much; and, probably, were emboldened by that French +insurrection I mentioned in the last chapter. +</p> + +<p> +The people of Essex rose against the Poll-tax, and being severely handled by +the government officers, killed some of them. At this very time one of the +tax-collectors, going his rounds from house to house, at Dartford in Kent came +to the cottage of one <span class="smcap">Wat</span>, a tiler by trade, and +claimed the tax upon his daughter. Her mother, who was at home, declared that +she was under the age of fourteen; upon that, the collector (as other +collectors had already done in different parts of England) behaved in a savage +way, and brutally insulted Wat Tyler’s daughter. The daughter screamed, +the mother screamed. Wat the Tiler, who was at work not far off, ran to the +spot, and did what any honest father under such provocation might have +done—struck the collector dead at a blow. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly the people of that town uprose as one man. They made Wat Tyler their +leader; they joined with the people of Essex, who were in arms under a priest +called <span class="smcap">Jack Straw</span>; they took out of prison another +priest named <span class="smcap">John Ball</span>; and gathering in numbers as +they went along, advanced, in a great confused army of poor men, to Blackheath. +It is said that they wanted to abolish all property, and to declare all men +equal. I do not think this very likely; because they stopped the travellers on +the roads and made them swear to be true to King Richard and the people. Nor +were they at all disposed to injure those who had done them no harm, merely +because they were of high station; for, the King’s mother, who had to +pass through their camp at Blackheath, on her way to her young son, lying for +safety in the Tower of London, had merely to kiss a few dirty-faced +rough-bearded men who were noisily fond of royalty, and so got away in perfect +safety. Next day the whole mass marched on to London Bridge. +</p> + +<p> +There was a drawbridge in the middle, which <span class="smcap">William +Walworth</span> the Mayor caused to be raised to prevent their coming into the +city; but they soon terrified the citizens into lowering it again, and spread +themselves, with great uproar, over the streets. They broke open the prisons; +they burned the papers in Lambeth Palace; they destroyed the <span +class="smcap">Duke of Lancaster’s</span> Palace, the Savoy, in the +Strand, said to be the most beautiful and splendid in England; they set fire to +the books and documents in the Temple; and made a great riot. Many of these +outrages were committed in drunkenness; since those citizens, who had +well-filled cellars, were only too glad to throw them open to save the rest of +their property; but even the drunken rioters were very careful to steal +nothing. They were so angry with one man, who was seen to take a silver cup at +the Savoy Palace, and put it in his breast, that they drowned him in the river, +cup and all. +</p> + +<p> +The young King had been taken out to treat with them before they committed +these excesses; but, he and the people about him were so frightened by the +riotous shouts, that they got back to the Tower in the best way they could. +This made the insurgents bolder; so they went on rioting away, striking off the +heads of those who did not, at a moment’s notice, declare for King +Richard and the people; and killing as many of the unpopular persons whom they +supposed to be their enemies as they could by any means lay hold of. In this +manner they passed one very violent day, and then proclamation was made that +the King would meet them at Mile-end, and grant their requests. +</p> + +<p> +The rioters went to Mile-end to the number of sixty thousand, and the King met +them there, and to the King the rioters peaceably proposed four conditions. +First, that neither they, nor their children, nor any coming after them, should +be made slaves any more. Secondly, that the rent of land should be fixed at a +certain price in money, instead of being paid in service. Thirdly, that they +should have liberty to buy and sell in all markets and public places, like +other free men. Fourthly, that they should be pardoned for past offences. +Heaven knows, there was nothing very unreasonable in these proposals! The young +King deceitfully pretended to think so, and kept thirty clerks up, all night, +writing out a charter accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +Now, Wat Tyler himself wanted more than this. He wanted the entire abolition of +the forest laws. He was not at Mile-end with the rest, but, while that meeting +was being held, broke into the Tower of London and slew the archbishop and the +treasurer, for whose heads the people had cried out loudly the day before. He +and his men even thrust their swords into the bed of the Princess of Wales +while the Princess was in it, to make certain that none of their enemies were +concealed there. +</p> + +<p> +So, Wat and his men still continued armed, and rode about the city. Next +morning, the King with a small train of some sixty gentlemen—among whom +was <span class="smcap">Walworth</span> the Mayor—rode into Smithfield, +and saw Wat and his people at a little distance. Says Wat to his men, +‘There is the King. I will go speak with him, and tell him what we +want.’ +</p> + +<p> +Straightway Wat rode up to him, and began to talk. ‘King,’ says +Wat, ‘dost thou see all my men there?’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Ah,’ says the King. ‘Why?’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Because,’ says Wat, ‘they are all at my command, and have +sworn to do whatever I bid them.’ +</p> + +<p> +Some declared afterwards that as Wat said this, he laid his hand on the +King’s bridle. Others declared that he was seen to play with his own +dagger. I think, myself, that he just spoke to the King like a rough, angry man +as he was, and did nothing more. At any rate he was expecting no attack, and +preparing for no resistance, when Walworth the Mayor did the not very valiant +deed of drawing a short sword and stabbing him in the throat. He dropped from +his horse, and one of the King’s people speedily finished him. So fell +Wat Tyler. Fawners and flatterers made a mighty triumph of it, and set up a cry +which will occasionally find an echo to this day. But Wat was a hard-working +man, who had suffered much, and had been foully outraged; and it is probable +that he was a man of a much higher nature and a much braver spirit than any of +the parasites who exulted then, or have exulted since, over his defeat. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing Wat down, his men immediately bent their bows to avenge his fall. If the +young King had not had presence of mind at that dangerous moment, both he and +the Mayor to boot, might have followed Tyler pretty fast. But the King riding +up to the crowd, cried out that Tyler was a traitor, and that he would be their +leader. They were so taken by surprise, that they set up a great shouting, and +followed the boy until he was met at Islington by a large body of soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +The end of this rising was the then usual end. As soon as the King found +himself safe, he unsaid all he had said, and undid all he had done; some +fifteen hundred of the rioters were tried (mostly in Essex) with great rigour, +and executed with great cruelty. Many of them were hanged on gibbets, and left +there as a terror to the country people; and, because their miserable friends +took some of the bodies down to bury, the King ordered the rest to be chained +up—which was the beginning of the barbarous custom of hanging in chains. +The King’s falsehood in this business makes such a pitiful figure, that I +think Wat Tyler appears in history as beyond comparison the truer and more +respectable man of the two. +</p> + +<p> +Richard was now sixteen years of age, and married Anne of Bohemia, an excellent +princess, who was called ‘the good Queen Anne.’ She deserved a +better husband; for the King had been fawned and flattered into a treacherous, +wasteful, dissolute, bad young man. +</p> + +<p> +There were two Popes at this time (as if one were not enough!), and their +quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. Scotland was still +troublesome too; and at home there was much jealousy and distrust, and plotting +and counter-plotting, because the King feared the ambition of his relations, +and particularly of his uncle, the Duke of Lancaster, and the duke had his +party against the King, and the King had his party against the duke. Nor were +these home troubles lessened when the duke went to Castile to urge his claim to +the crown of that kingdom; for then the Duke of Gloucester, another of +Richard’s uncles, opposed him, and influenced the Parliament to demand +the dismissal of the King’s favourite ministers. The King said in reply, +that he would not for such men dismiss the meanest servant in his kitchen. But, +it had begun to signify little what a King said when a Parliament was +determined; so Richard was at last obliged to give way, and to agree to another +Government of the kingdom, under a commission of fourteen nobles, for a year. +His uncle of Gloucester was at the head of this commission, and, in fact, +appointed everybody composing it. +</p> + +<p> +Having done all this, the King declared as soon as he saw an opportunity that +he had never meant to do it, and that it was all illegal; and he got the judges +secretly to sign a declaration to that effect. The secret oozed out directly, +and was carried to the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Gloucester, at the head +of forty thousand men, met the King on his entering into London to enforce his +authority; the King was helpless against him; his favourites and ministers were +impeached and were mercilessly executed. Among them were two men whom the +people regarded with very different feelings; one, Robert Tresilian, Chief +Justice, who was hated for having made what was called ‘the bloody +circuit’ to try the rioters; the other, Sir Simon Burley, an honourable +knight, who had been the dear friend of the Black Prince, and the governor and +guardian of the King. For this gentleman’s life the good Queen even +begged of Gloucester on her knees; but Gloucester (with or without reason) +feared and hated him, and replied, that if she valued her husband’s +crown, she had better beg no more. All this was done under what was called by +some the wonderful—and by others, with better reason, the +merciless—Parliament. +</p> + +<p> +But Gloucester’s power was not to last for ever. He held it for only a +year longer; in which year the famous battle of Otterbourne, sung in the old +ballad of Chevy Chase, was fought. When the year was out, the King, turning +suddenly to Gloucester, in the midst of a great council said, ‘Uncle, how +old am I?’ ‘Your highness,’ returned the Duke, ‘is in +your twenty-second year.’ ‘Am I so much?’ said the King; +‘then I will manage my own affairs! I am much obliged to you, my good +lords, for your past services, but I need them no more.’ He followed this +up, by appointing a new Chancellor and a new Treasurer, and announced to the +people that he had resumed the Government. He held it for eight years without +opposition. Through all that time, he kept his determination to revenge himself +some day upon his uncle Gloucester, in his own breast. +</p> + +<p> +At last the good Queen died, and then the King, desiring to take a second wife, +proposed to his council that he should marry Isabella, of France, the daughter +of Charles the Sixth: who, the French courtiers said (as the English courtiers +had said of Richard), was a marvel of beauty and wit, and quite a +phenomenon—of seven years old. The council were divided about this +marriage, but it took place. It secured peace between England and France for a +quarter of a century; but it was strongly opposed to the prejudices of the +English people. The Duke of Gloucester, who was anxious to take the occasion of +making himself popular, declaimed against it loudly, and this at length decided +the King to execute the vengeance he had been nursing so long. +</p> + +<p> +He went with a gay company to the Duke of Gloucester’s house, Pleshey +Castle, in Essex, where the Duke, suspecting nothing, came out into the +court-yard to receive his royal visitor. While the King conversed in a friendly +manner with the Duchess, the Duke was quietly seized, hurried away, shipped for +Calais, and lodged in the castle there. His friends, the Earls of Arundel and +Warwick, were taken in the same treacherous manner, and confined to their +castles. A few days after, at Nottingham, they were impeached of high treason. +The Earl of Arundel was condemned and beheaded, and the Earl of Warwick was +banished. Then, a writ was sent by a messenger to the Governor of Calais, +requiring him to send the Duke of Gloucester over to be tried. In three days he +returned an answer that he could not do that, because the Duke of Gloucester +had died in prison. The Duke was declared a traitor, his property was +confiscated to the King, a real or pretended confession he had made in prison +to one of the Justices of the Common Pleas was produced against him, and there +was an end of the matter. How the unfortunate duke died, very few cared to +know. Whether he really died naturally; whether he killed himself; whether, by +the King’s order, he was strangled, or smothered between two beds (as a +serving-man of the Governor’s named Hall, did afterwards declare), cannot +be discovered. There is not much doubt that he was killed, somehow or other, by +his nephew’s orders. Among the most active nobles in these proceedings +were the King’s cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, whom the King had made Duke of +Hereford to smooth down the old family quarrels, and some others: who had in +the family-plotting times done just such acts themselves as they now condemned +in the duke. They seem to have been a corrupt set of men; but such men were +easily found about the court in such days. +</p> + +<p> +The people murmured at all this, and were still very sore about the French +marriage. The nobles saw how little the King cared for law, and how crafty he +was, and began to be somewhat afraid for themselves. The King’s life was +a life of continued feasting and excess; his retinue, down to the meanest +servants, were dressed in the most costly manner, and caroused at his tables, +it is related, to the number of ten thousand persons every day. He himself, +surrounded by a body of ten thousand archers, and enriched by a duty on wool +which the Commons had granted him for life, saw no danger of ever being +otherwise than powerful and absolute, and was as fierce and haughty as a King +could be. +</p> + +<p> +He had two of his old enemies left, in the persons of the Dukes of Hereford and +Norfolk. Sparing these no more than the others, he tampered with the Duke of +Hereford until he got him to declare before the Council that the Duke of +Norfolk had lately held some treasonable talk with him, as he was riding near +Brentford; and that he had told him, among other things, that he could not +believe the King’s oath—which nobody could, I should think. For +this treachery he obtained a pardon, and the Duke of Norfolk was summoned to +appear and defend himself. As he denied the charge and said his accuser was a +liar and a traitor, both noblemen, according to the manner of those times, were +held in custody, and the truth was ordered to be decided by wager of battle at +Coventry. This wager of battle meant that whosoever won the combat was to be +considered in the right; which nonsense meant in effect, that no strong man +could ever be wrong. A great holiday was made; a great crowd assembled, with +much parade and show; and the two combatants were about to rush at each other +with their lances, when the King, sitting in a pavilion to see fair, threw down +the truncheon he carried in his hand, and forbade the battle. The Duke of +Hereford was to be banished for ten years, and the Duke of Norfolk was to be +banished for life. So said the King. The Duke of Hereford went to France, and +went no farther. The Duke of Norfolk made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and +afterwards died at Venice of a broken heart. +</p> + +<p> +Faster and fiercer, after this, the King went on in his career. The Duke of +Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of Hereford, died soon after the +departure of his son; and, the King, although he had solemnly granted to that +son leave to inherit his father’s property, if it should come to him +during his banishment, immediately seized it all, like a robber. The judges +were so afraid of him, that they disgraced themselves by declaring this theft +to be just and lawful. His avarice knew no bounds. He outlawed seventeen +counties at once, on a frivolous pretence, merely to raise money by way of +fines for misconduct. In short, he did as many dishonest things as he could; +and cared so little for the discontent of his subjects—though even the +spaniel favourites began to whisper to him that there was such a thing as +discontent afloat—that he took that time, of all others, for leaving +England and making an expedition against the Irish. +</p> + +<p> +He was scarcely gone, leaving the <span class="smcap">Duke of York</span> +Regent in his absence, when his cousin, Henry of Hereford, came over from +France to claim the rights of which he had been so monstrously deprived. He was +immediately joined by the two great Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland; +and his uncle, the Regent, finding the King’s cause unpopular, and the +disinclination of the army to act against Henry, very strong, withdrew with the +Royal forces towards Bristol. Henry, at the head of an army, came from +Yorkshire (where he had landed) to London and followed him. They joined their +forces—how they brought that about, is not distinctly +understood—and proceeded to Bristol Castle, whither three noblemen had +taken the young Queen. The castle surrendering, they presently put those three +noblemen to death. The Regent then remained there, and Henry went on to +Chester. +</p> + +<p> +All this time, the boisterous weather had prevented the King from receiving +intelligence of what had occurred. At length it was conveyed to him in Ireland, +and he sent over the <span class="smcap">Earl of Salisbury</span>, who, landing +at Conway, rallied the Welshmen, and waited for the King a whole fortnight; at +the end of that time the Welshmen, who were perhaps not very warm for him in +the beginning, quite cooled down and went home. When the King did land on the +coast at last, he came with a pretty good power, but his men cared nothing for +him, and quickly deserted. Supposing the Welshmen to be still at Conway, he +disguised himself as a priest, and made for that place in company with his two +brothers and some few of their adherents. But, there were no Welshmen +left—only Salisbury and a hundred soldiers. In this distress, the +King’s two brothers, Exeter and Surrey, offered to go to Henry to learn +what his intentions were. Surrey, who was true to Richard, was put into prison. +Exeter, who was false, took the royal badge, which was a hart, off his shield, +and assumed the rose, the badge of Henry. After this, it was pretty plain to +the King what Henry’s intentions were, without sending any more +messengers to ask. +</p> + +<p> +The fallen King, thus deserted—hemmed in on all sides, and pressed with +hunger—rode here and rode there, and went to this castle, and went to +that castle, endeavouring to obtain some provisions, but could find none. He +rode wretchedly back to Conway, and there surrendered himself to the Earl of +Northumberland, who came from Henry, in reality to take him prisoner, but in +appearance to offer terms; and whose men were hidden not far off. By this earl +he was conducted to the castle of Flint, where his cousin Henry met him, and +dropped on his knee as if he were still respectful to his sovereign. +</p> + +<p> +‘Fair cousin of Lancaster,’ said the King, ‘you are very +welcome’ (very welcome, no doubt; but he would have been more so, in +chains or without a head). +</p> + +<p> +‘My lord,’ replied Henry, ‘I am come a little before my time; +but, with your good pleasure, I will show you the reason. Your people complain +with some bitterness, that you have ruled them rigorously for two-and-twenty +years. Now, if it please God, I will help you to govern them better in +future.’ +</p> + +<p> +‘Fair cousin,’ replied the abject King, ‘since it pleaseth +you, it pleaseth me mightily.’ +</p> + +<p> +After this, the trumpets sounded, and the King was stuck on a wretched horse, +and carried prisoner to Chester, where he was made to issue a proclamation, +calling a Parliament. From Chester he was taken on towards London. At Lichfield +he tried to escape by getting out of a window and letting himself down into a +garden; it was all in vain, however, and he was carried on and shut up in the +Tower, where no one pitied him, and where the whole people, whose patience he +had quite tired out, reproached him without mercy. Before he got there, it is +related, that his very dog left him and departed from his side to lick the hand +of Henry. +</p> + +<p> +The day before the Parliament met, a deputation went to this wrecked King, and +told him that he had promised the Earl of Northumberland at Conway Castle to +resign the crown. He said he was quite ready to do it, and signed a paper in +which he renounced his authority and absolved his people from their allegiance +to him. He had so little spirit left that he gave his royal ring to his +triumphant cousin Henry with his own hand, and said, that if he could have had +leave to appoint a successor, that same Henry was the man of all others whom he +would have named. Next day, the Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall, where +Henry sat at the side of the throne, which was empty and covered with a cloth +of gold. The paper just signed by the King was read to the multitude amid +shouts of joy, which were echoed through all the streets; when some of the +noise had died away, the King was formally deposed. Then Henry arose, and, +making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast, challenged the realm +of England as his right; the archbishops of Canterbury and York seated him on +the throne. +</p> + +<p> +The multitude shouted again, and the shouts re-echoed throughout all the +streets. No one remembered, now, that Richard the Second had ever been the most +beautiful, the wisest, and the best of princes; and he now made living (to my +thinking) a far more sorry spectacle in the Tower of London, than Wat Tyler had +made, lying dead, among the hoofs of the royal horses in Smithfield. +</p> + +<p> +The Poll-tax died with Wat. The Smiths to the King and Royal Family, could make +no chains in which the King could hang the people’s recollection of him; +so the Poll-tax was never collected. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE</h2> + +<p> +During the last reign, the preaching of Wickliffe against the pride and cunning +of the Pope and all his men, had made a great noise in England. Whether the new +King wished to be in favour with the priests, or whether he hoped, by +pretending to be very religious, to cheat Heaven itself into the belief that he +was not a usurper, I don’t know. Both suppositions are likely enough. It +is certain that he began his reign by making a strong show against the +followers of Wickliffe, who were called Lollards, or heretics—although +his father, John of Gaunt, had been of that way of thinking, as he himself had +been more than suspected of being. It is no less certain that he first +established in England the detestable and atrocious custom, brought from +abroad, of burning those people as a punishment for their opinions. It was the +importation into England of one of the practices of what was called the Holy +Inquisition: which was the most <i>un</i>holy and the most infamous tribunal +that ever disgraced mankind, and made men more like demons than followers of +Our Saviour. +</p> + +<p> +No real right to the crown, as you know, was in this King. Edward Mortimer, the +young Earl of March—who was only eight or nine years old, and who was +descended from the Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of Henry’s +father—was, by succession, the real heir to the throne. However, the King +got his son declared Prince of Wales; and, obtaining possession of the young +Earl of March and his little brother, kept them in confinement (but not +severely) in Windsor Castle. He then required the Parliament to decide what was +to be done with the deposed King, who was quiet enough, and who only said that +he hoped his cousin Henry would be ‘a good lord’ to him. The +Parliament replied that they would recommend his being kept in some secret +place where the people could not resort, and where his friends could not be +admitted to see him. Henry accordingly passed this sentence upon him, and it +now began to be pretty clear to the nation that Richard the Second would not +live very long. +</p> + +<p> +It was a noisy Parliament, as it was an unprincipled one, and the Lords +quarrelled so violently among themselves as to which of them had been loyal and +which disloyal, and which consistent and which inconsistent, that forty +gauntlets are said to have been thrown upon the floor at one time as challenges +to as many battles: the truth being that they were all false and base together, +and had been, at one time with the old King, and at another time with the new +one, and seldom true for any length of time to any one. They soon began to plot +again. A conspiracy was formed to invite the King to a tournament at Oxford, +and then to take him by surprise and kill him. This murderous enterprise, which +was agreed upon at secret meetings in the house of the Abbot of Westminster, +was betrayed by the Earl of Rutland—one of the conspirators. The King, +instead of going to the tournament or staying at Windsor (where the +conspirators suddenly went, on finding themselves discovered, with the hope of +seizing him), retired to London, proclaimed them all traitors, and advanced +upon them with a great force. They retired into the west of England, +proclaiming Richard King; but, the people rose against them, and they were all +slain. Their treason hastened the death of the deposed monarch. Whether he was +killed by hired assassins, or whether he was starved to death, or whether he +refused food on hearing of his brothers being killed (who were in that plot), +is very doubtful. He met his death somehow; and his body was publicly shown at +St. Paul’s Cathedral with only the lower part of the face uncovered. I +can scarcely doubt that he was killed by the King’s orders. +</p> + +<p> +The French wife of the miserable Richard was now only ten years old; and, when +her father, Charles of France, heard of her misfortunes and of her lonely +condition in England, he went mad: as he had several times done before, during +the last five or six years. The French Dukes of Burgundy and Bourbon took up +the poor girl’s cause, without caring much about it, but on the chance of +getting something out of England. The people of Bordeaux, who had a sort of +superstitious attachment to the memory of Richard, because he was born there, +swore by the Lord that he had been the best man in all his kingdom—which +was going rather far—and promised to do great things against the English. +Nevertheless, when they came to consider that they, and the whole people of +France, were ruined by their own nobles, and that the English rule was much the +better of the two, they cooled down again; and the two dukes, although they +were very great men, could do nothing without them. Then, began negotiations +between France and England for the sending home to Paris of the poor little +Queen with all her jewels and her fortune of two hundred thousand francs in +gold. The King was quite willing to restore the young lady, and even the +jewels; but he said he really could not part with the money. So, at last she +was safely deposited at Paris without her fortune, and then the Duke of +Burgundy (who was cousin to the French King) began to quarrel with the Duke of +Orleans (who was brother to the French King) about the whole matter; and those +two dukes made France even more wretched than ever. +</p> + +<p> +As the idea of conquering Scotland was still popular at home, the King marched +to the river Tyne and demanded homage of the King of that country. This being +refused, he advanced to Edinburgh, but did little there; for, his army being in +want of provisions, and the Scotch being very careful to hold him in check +without giving battle, he was obliged to retire. It is to his immortal honour +that in this sally he burnt no villages and slaughtered no people, but was +particularly careful that his army should be merciful and harmless. It was a +great example in those ruthless times. +</p> + +<p> +A war among the border people of England and Scotland went on for twelve +months, and then the Earl of Northumberland, the nobleman who had helped Henry +to the crown, began to rebel against him—probably because nothing that +Henry could do for him would satisfy his extravagant expectations. There was a +certain Welsh gentleman, named <span class="smcap">Owen Glendower</span>, who +had been a student in one of the Inns of Court, and had afterwards been in the +service of the late King, whose Welsh property was taken from him by a powerful +lord related to the present King, who was his neighbour. Appealing for redress, +and getting none, he took up arms, was made an outlaw, and declared himself +sovereign of Wales. He pretended to be a magician; and not only were the Welsh +people stupid enough to believe him, but, even Henry believed him too; for, +making three expeditions into Wales, and being three times driven back by the +wildness of the country, the bad weather, and the skill of Glendower, he +thought he was defeated by the Welshman’s magic arts. However, he took +Lord Grey and Sir Edmund Mortimer, prisoners, and allowed the relatives of Lord +Grey to ransom him, but would not extend such favour to Sir Edmund Mortimer. +Now, Henry Percy, called <span class="smcap">Hotspur</span>, son of the Earl of +Northumberland, who was married to Mortimer’s sister, is supposed to have +taken offence at this; and, therefore, in conjunction with his father and some +others, to have joined Owen Glendower, and risen against Henry. It is by no +means clear that this was the real cause of the conspiracy; but perhaps it was +made the pretext. It was formed, and was very powerful; including <span +class="smcap">Scroop</span>, Archbishop of York, and the <span +class="smcap">Earl of Douglas</span>, a powerful and brave Scottish nobleman. +The King was prompt and active, and the two armies met at Shrewsbury. +</p> + +<p> +There were about fourteen thousand men in each. The old Earl of Northumberland +being sick, the rebel forces were led by his son. The King wore plain armour to +deceive the enemy; and four noblemen, with the same object, wore the royal +arms. The rebel charge was so furious, that every one of those gentlemen was +killed, the royal standard was beaten down, and the young Prince of Wales was +severely wounded in the face. But he was one of the bravest and best soldiers +that ever lived, and he fought so well, and the King’s troops were so +encouraged by his bold example, that they rallied immediately, and cut the +enemy’s forces all to pieces. Hotspur was killed by an arrow in the +brain, and the rout was so complete that the whole rebellion was struck down by +this one blow. The Earl of Northumberland surrendered himself soon after +hearing of the death of his son, and received a pardon for all his offences. +</p> + +<p> +There were some lingerings of rebellion yet: Owen Glendower being retired to +Wales, and a preposterous story being spread among the ignorant people that +King Richard was still alive. How they could have believed such nonsense it is +difficult to imagine; but they certainly did suppose that the Court fool of the +late King, who was something like him, was he, himself; so that it seemed as +if, after giving so much trouble to the country in his life, he was still to +trouble it after his death. This was not the worst. The young Earl of March and +his brother were stolen out of Windsor Castle. Being retaken, and being found +to have been spirited away by one Lady Spencer, she accused her own brother, +that Earl of Rutland who was in the former conspiracy and was now Duke of York, +of being in the plot. For this he was ruined in fortune, though not put to +death; and then another plot arose among the old Earl of Northumberland, some +other lords, and that same Scroop, Archbishop of York, who was with the rebels +before. These conspirators caused a writing to be posted on the church doors, +accusing the King of a variety of crimes; but, the King being eager and +vigilant to oppose them, they were all taken, and the Archbishop was executed. +This was the first time that a great churchman had been slain by the law in +England; but the King was resolved that it should be done, and done it was. +</p> + +<p> +The next most remarkable event of this time was the seizure, by Henry, of the +heir to the Scottish throne—James, a boy of nine years old. He had been +put aboard-ship by his father, the Scottish King Robert, to save him from the +designs of his uncle, when, on his way to France, he was accidentally taken by +some English cruisers. He remained a prisoner in England for nineteen years, +and became in his prison a student and a famous poet. +</p> + +<p> +With the exception of occasional troubles with the Welsh and with the French, +the rest of King Henry’s reign was quiet enough. But, the King was far +from happy, and probably was troubled in his conscience by knowing that he had +usurped the crown, and had occasioned the death of his miserable cousin. The +Prince of Wales, though brave and generous, is said to have been wild and +dissipated, and even to have drawn his sword on <span +class="smcap">Gascoigne</span>, the Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, +because he was firm in dealing impartially with one of his dissolute +companions. Upon this the Chief Justice is said to have ordered him immediately +to prison; the Prince of Wales is said to have submitted with a good grace; and +the King is said to have exclaimed, ‘Happy is the monarch who has so just +a judge, and a son so willing to obey the laws.’ This is all very +doubtful, and so is another story (of which Shakespeare has made beautiful +use), that the Prince once took the crown out of his father’s chamber as +he was sleeping, and tried it on his own head. +</p> + +<p> +The King’s health sank more and more, and he became subject to violent +eruptions on the face and to bad epileptic fits, and his spirits sank every +day. At last, as he was praying before the shrine of St. Edward at Westminster +Abbey, he was seized with a terrible fit, and was carried into the +Abbot’s chamber, where he presently died. It had been foretold that he +would die at Jerusalem, which certainly is not, and never was, Westminster. +But, as the Abbot’s room had long been called the Jerusalem chamber, +people said it was all the same thing, and were quite satisfied with the +prediction. +</p> + +<p> +The King died on the 20th of March, 1413, in the forty-seventh year of his age, +and the fourteenth of his reign. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. He had +been twice married, and had, by his first wife, a family of four sons and two +daughters. Considering his duplicity before he came to the throne, his unjust +seizure of it, and above all, his making that monstrous law for the burning of +what the priests called heretics, he was a reasonably good king, as kings went. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH</h2> + +<h3>FIRST PART</h3> + +<p> +The Prince of Wales began his reign like a generous and honest man. He set the +young Earl of March free; he restored their estates and their honours to the +Percy family, who had lost them by their rebellion against his father; he +ordered the imbecile and unfortunate Richard to be honourably buried among the +Kings of England; and he dismissed all his wild companions, with assurances +that they should not want, if they would resolve to be steady, faithful, and +true. +</p> + +<p> +It is much easier to burn men than to burn their opinions; and those of the +Lollards were spreading every day. The Lollards were represented by the +priests—probably falsely for the most part—to entertain treasonable +designs against the new King; and Henry, suffering himself to be worked upon by +these representations, sacrificed his friend Sir John Oldcastle, the Lord +Cobham, to them, after trying in vain to convert him by arguments. He was +declared guilty, as the head of the sect, and sentenced to the flames; but he +escaped from the Tower before the day of execution (postponed for fifty days by +the King himself), and summoned the Lollards to meet him near London on a +certain day. So the priests told the King, at least. I doubt whether there was +any conspiracy beyond such as was got up by their agents. On the day appointed, +instead of five-and-twenty thousand men, under the command of Sir John +Oldcastle, in the meadows of St. Giles, the King found only eighty men, and no +Sir John at all. There was, in another place, an addle-headed brewer, who had +gold trappings to his horses, and a pair of gilt spurs in his +breast—expecting to be made a knight next day by Sir John, and so to gain +the right to wear them—but there was no Sir John, nor did anybody give +information respecting him, though the King offered great rewards for such +intelligence. Thirty of these unfortunate Lollards were hanged and drawn +immediately, and were then burnt, gallows and all; and the various prisons in +and around London were crammed full of others. Some of these unfortunate men +made various confessions of treasonable designs; but, such confessions were +easily got, under torture and the fear of fire, and are very little to be +trusted. To finish the sad story of Sir John Oldcastle at once, I may mention +that he escaped into Wales, and remained there safely, for four years. When +discovered by Lord Powis, it is very doubtful if he would have been taken +alive—so great was the old soldier’s bravery—if a miserable +old woman had not come behind him and broken his legs with a stool. He was +carried to London in a horse-litter, was fastened by an iron chain to a gibbet, +and so roasted to death. +</p> + +<p> +To make the state of France as plain as I can in a few words, I should tell you +that the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Burgundy, commonly called ‘John +without fear,’ had had a grand reconciliation of their quarrel in the +last reign, and had appeared to be quite in a heavenly state of mind. +Immediately after which, on a Sunday, in the public streets of Paris, the Duke +of Orleans was murdered by a party of twenty men, set on by the Duke of +Burgundy—according to his own deliberate confession. The widow of King +Richard had been married in France to the eldest son of the Duke of Orleans. +The poor mad King was quite powerless to help her, and the Duke of Burgundy +became the real master of France. Isabella dying, her husband (Duke of Orleans +since the death of his father) married the daughter of the Count of Armagnac, +who, being a much abler man than his young son-in-law, headed his party; thence +called after him Armagnacs. Thus, France was now in this terrible condition, +that it had in it the party of the King’s son, the Dauphin Louis; the +party of the Duke of Burgundy, who was the father of the Dauphin’s +ill-used wife; and the party of the Armagnacs; all hating each other; all +fighting together; all composed of the most depraved nobles that the earth has +ever known; and all tearing unhappy France to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +The late King had watched these dissensions from England, sensible (like the +French people) that no enemy of France could injure her more than her own +nobility. The present King now advanced a claim to the French throne. His +demand being, of course, refused, he reduced his proposal to a certain large +amount of French territory, and to demanding the French princess, Catherine, in +marriage, with a fortune of two millions of golden crowns. He was offered less +territory and fewer crowns, and no princess; but he called his ambassadors home +and prepared for war. Then, he proposed to take the princess with one million +of crowns. The French Court replied that he should have the princess with two +hundred thousand crowns less; he said this would not do (he had never seen the +princess in his life), and assembled his army at Southampton. There was a short +plot at home just at that time, for deposing him, and making the Earl of March +king; but the conspirators were all speedily condemned and executed, and the +King embarked for France. +</p> + +<p> +It is dreadful to observe how long a bad example will be followed; but, it is +encouraging to know that a good example is never thrown away. The King’s +first act on disembarking at the mouth of the river Seine, three miles from +Harfleur, was to imitate his father, and to proclaim his solemn orders that the +lives and property of the peaceable inhabitants should be respected on pain of +death. It is agreed by French writers, to his lasting renown, that even while +his soldiers were suffering the greatest distress from want of food, these +commands were rigidly obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +With an army in all of thirty thousand men, he besieged the town of Harfleur +both by sea and land for five weeks; at the end of which time the town +surrendered, and the inhabitants were allowed to depart with only fivepence +each, and a part of their clothes. All the rest of their possessions was +divided amongst the English army. But, that army suffered so much, in spite of +its successes, from disease and privation, that it was already reduced one +half. Still, the King was determined not to retire until he had struck a +greater blow. Therefore, against the advice of all his counsellors, he moved on +with his little force towards Calais. When he came up to the river Somme he was +unable to cross, in consequence of the fort being fortified; and, as the +English moved up the left bank of the river looking for a crossing, the French, +who had broken all the bridges, moved up the right bank, watching them, and +waiting to attack them when they should try to pass it. At last the English +found a crossing and got safely over. The French held a council of war at +Rouen, resolved to give the English battle, and sent heralds to King Henry to +know by which road he was going. ‘By the road that will take me straight +to Calais!’ said the King, and sent them away with a present of a hundred +crowns. +</p> + +<p> +The English moved on, until they beheld the French, and then the King gave +orders to form in line of battle. The French not coming on, the army broke up +after remaining in battle array till night, and got good rest and refreshment +at a neighbouring village. The French were now all lying in another village, +through which they knew the English must pass. They were resolved that the +English should begin the battle. The English had no means of retreat, if their +King had any such intention; and so the two armies passed the night, close +together. +</p> + +<p> +To understand these armies well, you must bear in mind that the immense French +army had, among its notable persons, almost the whole of that wicked nobility, +whose debauchery had made France a desert; and so besotted were they by pride, +and by contempt for the common people, that they had scarcely any bowmen (if +indeed they had any at all) in their whole enormous number: which, compared +with the English army, was at least as six to one. For these proud fools had +said that the bow was not a fit weapon for knightly hands, and that France must +be defended by gentlemen only. We shall see, presently, what hand the gentlemen +made of it. +</p> + +<p> +Now, on the English side, among the little force, there was a good proportion +of men who were not gentlemen by any means, but who were good stout archers for +all that. Among them, in the morning—having slept little at night, while +the French were carousing and making sure of victory—the King rode, on a +grey horse; wearing on his head a helmet of shining steel, surmounted by a +crown of gold, sparkling with precious stones; and bearing over his armour, +embroidered together, the arms of England and the arms of France. The archers +looked at the shining helmet and the crown of gold and the sparkling jewels, +and admired them all; but, what they admired most was the King’s cheerful +face, and his bright blue eye, as he told them that, for himself, he had made +up his mind to conquer there or to die there, and that England should never +have a ransom to pay for <i>him</i>. There was one brave knight who chanced to +say that he wished some of the many gallant gentlemen and good soldiers, who +were then idle at home in England, were there to increase their numbers. But +the King told him that, for his part, he did not wish for one more man. +‘The fewer we have,’ said he, ‘the greater will be the honour +we shall win!’ His men, being now all in good heart, were refreshed with +bread and wine, and heard prayers, and waited quietly for the French. The King +waited for the French, because they were drawn up thirty deep (the little +English force was only three deep), on very difficult and heavy ground; and he +knew that when they moved, there must be confusion among them. +</p> + +<p> +As they did not move, he sent off two parties:—one to lie concealed in a +wood on the left of the French: the other, to set fire to some houses behind +the French after the battle should be begun. This was scarcely done, when three +of the proud French gentlemen, who were to defend their country without any +help from the base peasants, came riding out, calling upon the English to +surrender. The King warned those gentlemen himself to retire with all speed if +they cared for their lives, and ordered the English banners to advance. Upon +that, Sir Thomas Erpingham, a great English general, who commanded the archers, +threw his truncheon into the air, joyfully, and all the English men, kneeling +down upon the ground and biting it as if they took possession of the country, +rose up with a great shout and fell upon the French. +</p> + +<p> +Every archer was furnished with a great stake tipped with iron; and his orders +were, to thrust this stake into the ground, to discharge his arrow, and then to +fall back, when the French horsemen came on. As the haughty French gentlemen, +who were to break the English archers and utterly destroy them with their +knightly lances, came riding up, they were received with such a blinding storm +of arrows, that they broke and turned. Horses and men rolled over one another, +and the confusion was terrific. Those who rallied and charged the archers got +among the stakes on slippery and boggy ground, and were so bewildered that the +English archers—who wore no armour, and even took off their leathern +coats to be more active—cut them to pieces, root and branch. Only three +French horsemen got within the stakes, and those were instantly despatched. All +this time the dense French army, being in armour, were sinking knee-deep into +the mire; while the light English archers, half-naked, were as fresh and active +as if they were fighting on a marble floor. +</p> + +<p> +But now, the second division of the French coming to the relief of the first, +closed up in a firm mass; the English, headed by the King, attacked them; and +the deadliest part of the battle began. The King’s brother, the Duke of +Clarence, was struck down, and numbers of the French surrounded him; but, King +Henry, standing over the body, fought like a lion until they were beaten off. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, came up a band of eighteen French knights, bearing the banner of a +certain French lord, who had sworn to kill or take the English King. One of +them struck him such a blow with a battle-axe that he reeled and fell upon his +knees; but, his faithful men, immediately closing round him, killed every one +of those eighteen knights, and so that French lord never kept his oath. +</p> + +<p> +The French Duke of Alençon, seeing this, made a desperate charge, and +cut his way close up to the Royal Standard of England. He beat down the Duke of +York, who was standing near it; and, when the King came to his rescue, struck +off a piece of the crown he wore. But, he never struck another blow in this +world; for, even as he was in the act of saying who he was, and that he +surrendered to the King; and even as the King stretched out his hand to give +him a safe and honourable acceptance of the offer; he fell dead, pierced by +innumerable wounds. +</p> + +<p> +The death of this nobleman decided the battle. The third division of the French +army, which had never struck a blow yet, and which was, in itself, more than +double the whole English power, broke and fled. At this time of the fight, the +English, who as yet had made no prisoners, began to take them in immense +numbers, and were still occupied in doing so, or in killing those who would not +surrender, when a great noise arose in the rear of the French—their +flying banners were seen to stop—and King Henry, supposing a great +reinforcement to have arrived, gave orders that all the prisoners should be put +to death. As soon, however, as it was found that the noise was only occasioned +by a body of plundering peasants, the terrible massacre was stopped. +</p> + +<p> +Then King Henry called to him the French herald, and asked him to whom the +victory belonged. +</p> + +<p> +The herald replied, ‘To the King of England.’ +</p> + +<p> +‘<i>We</i> have not made this havoc and slaughter,’ said the King. +‘It is the wrath of Heaven on the sins of France. What is the name of +that castle yonder?’ +</p> + +<p> +The herald answered him, ‘My lord, it is the castle of Azincourt.’ +Said the King, ‘From henceforth this battle shall be known to posterity, +by the name of the battle of Azincourt.’ +</p> + +<p> +Our English historians have made it Agincourt; but, under that name, it will +ever be famous in English annals. +</p> + +<p> +The loss upon the French side was enormous. Three Dukes were killed, two more +were taken prisoners, seven Counts were killed, three more were taken +prisoners, and ten thousand knights and gentlemen were slain upon the field. +The English loss amounted to sixteen hundred men, among whom were the Duke of +York and the Earl of Suffolk. +</p> + +<p> +War is a dreadful thing; and it is appalling to know how the English were +obliged, next morning, to kill those prisoners mortally wounded, who yet +writhed in agony upon the ground; how the dead upon the French side were +stripped by their own countrymen and countrywomen, and afterwards buried in +great pits; how the dead upon the English side were piled up in a great barn, +and how their bodies and the barn were all burned together. It is in such +things, and in many more much too horrible to relate, that the real desolation +and wickedness of war consist. Nothing can make war otherwise than horrible. +But the dark side of it was little thought of and soon forgotten; and it cast +no shade of trouble on the English people, except on those who had lost friends +or relations in the fight. They welcomed their King home with shouts of +rejoicing, and plunged into the water to bear him ashore on their shoulders, +and flocked out in crowds to welcome him in every town through which he passed, +and hung rich carpets and tapestries out of the windows, and strewed the +streets with flowers, and made the fountains run with wine, as the great field +of Agincourt had run with blood. +</p> + +<h3>SECOND PART</h3> + +<p> +That proud and wicked French nobility who dragged their country to destruction, +and who were every day and every year regarded with deeper hatred and +detestation in the hearts of the French people, learnt nothing, even from the +defeat of Agincourt. So far from uniting against the common enemy, they became, +among themselves, more violent, more bloody, and more false—if that were +possible—than they had been before. The Count of Armagnac persuaded the +French king to plunder of her treasures Queen Isabella of Bavaria, and to make +her a prisoner. She, who had hitherto been the bitter enemy of the Duke of +Burgundy, proposed to join him, in revenge. He carried her off to Troyes, where +she proclaimed herself Regent of France, and made him her lieutenant. The +Armagnac party were at that time possessed of Paris; but, one of the gates of +the city being secretly opened on a certain night to a party of the +duke’s men, they got into Paris, threw into the prisons all the Armagnacs +upon whom they could lay their hands, and, a few nights afterwards, with the +aid of a furious mob of sixty thousand people, broke the prisons open, and +killed them all. The former Dauphin was now dead, and the King’s third +son bore the title. Him, in the height of this murderous scene, a French knight +hurried out of bed, wrapped in a sheet, and bore away to Poitiers. So, when the +revengeful Isabella and the Duke of Burgundy entered Paris in triumph after the +slaughter of their enemies, the Dauphin was proclaimed at Poitiers as the real +Regent. +</p> + +<p> +King Henry had not been idle since his victory of Agincourt, but had repulsed a +brave attempt of the French to recover Harfleur; had gradually conquered a +great part of Normandy; and, at this crisis of affairs, took the important town +of Rouen, after a siege of half a year. This great loss so alarmed the French, +that the Duke of Burgundy proposed that a meeting to treat of peace should be +held between the French and the English kings in a plain by the river Seine. On +the appointed day, King Henry appeared there, with his two brothers, Clarence +and Gloucester, and a thousand men. The unfortunate French King, being more mad +than usual that day, could not come; but the Queen came, and with her the +Princess Catherine: who was a very lovely creature, and who made a real +impression on King Henry, now that he saw her for the first time. This was the +most important circumstance that arose out of the meeting. +</p> + +<p> +As if it were impossible for a French nobleman of that time to be true to his +word of honour in anything, Henry discovered that the Duke of Burgundy was, at +that very moment, in secret treaty with the Dauphin; and he therefore abandoned +the negotiation. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, each of whom with the best reason +distrusted the other as a noble ruffian surrounded by a party of noble +ruffians, were rather at a loss how to proceed after this; but, at length they +agreed to meet, on a bridge over the river Yonne, where it was arranged that +there should be two strong gates put up, with an empty space between them; and +that the Duke of Burgundy should come into that space by one gate, with ten men +only; and that the Dauphin should come into that space by the other gate, also +with ten men, and no more. +</p> + +<p> +So far the Dauphin kept his word, but no farther. When the Duke of Burgundy was +on his knee before him in the act of speaking, one of the Dauphin’s noble +ruffians cut the said duke down with a small axe, and others speedily finished +him. +</p> + +<p> +It was in vain for the Dauphin to pretend that this base murder was not done +with his consent; it was too bad, even for France, and caused a general horror. +The duke’s heir hastened to make a treaty with King Henry, and the French +Queen engaged that her husband should consent to it, whatever it was. Henry +made peace, on condition of receiving the Princess Catherine in marriage, and +being made Regent of France during the rest of the King’s lifetime, and +succeeding to the French crown at his death. He was soon married to the +beautiful Princess, and took her proudly home to England, where she was crowned +with great honour and glory. +</p> + +<p> +This peace was called the Perpetual Peace; we shall soon see how long it +lasted. It gave great satisfaction to the French people, although they were so +poor and miserable, that, at the time of the celebration of the Royal marriage, +numbers of them were dying with starvation, on the dunghills in the streets of +Paris. There was some resistance on the part of the Dauphin in some few parts +of France, but King Henry beat it all down. +</p> + +<p> +And now, with his great possessions in France secured, and his beautiful wife +to cheer him, and a son born to give him greater happiness, all appeared bright +before him. But, in the fulness of his triumph and the height of his power, +Death came upon him, and his day was done. When he fell ill at Vincennes, and +found that he could not recover, he was very calm and quiet, and spoke serenely +to those who wept around his bed. His wife and child, he said, he left to the +loving care of his brother the Duke of Bedford, and his other faithful nobles. +He gave them his advice that England should establish a friendship with the new +Duke of Burgundy, and offer him the regency of France; that it should not set +free the royal princes who had been taken at Agincourt; and that, whatever +quarrel might arise with France, England should never make peace without +holding Normandy. Then, he laid down his head, and asked the attendant priests +to chant the penitential psalms. Amid which solemn sounds, on the thirty-first +of August, one thousand four hundred and twenty-two, in only the thirty-fourth +year of his age and the tenth of his reign, King Henry the Fifth passed away. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly and mournfully they carried his embalmed body in a procession of great +state to Paris, and thence to Rouen where his Queen was: from whom the sad +intelligence of his death was concealed until he had been dead some days. +Thence, lying on a bed of crimson and gold, with a golden crown upon the head, +and a golden ball and sceptre lying in the nerveless hands, they carried it to +Calais, with such a great retinue as seemed to dye the road black. The King of +Scotland acted as chief mourner, all the Royal Household followed, the knights +wore black armour and black plumes of feathers, crowds of men bore torches, +making the night as light as day; and the widowed Princess followed last of +all. At Calais there was a fleet of ships to bring the funeral host to Dover. +And so, by way of London Bridge, where the service for the dead was chanted as +it passed along, they brought the body to Westminster Abbey, and there buried +it with great respect. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH</h2> + +<h3>PART THE FIRST</h3> + +<p> +It had been the wish of the late King, that while his infant son <span +class="smcap">King Henry the Sixth</span>, at this time only nine months old, +was under age, the Duke of Gloucester should be appointed Regent. The English +Parliament, however, preferred to appoint a Council of Regency, with the Duke +of Bedford at its head: to be represented, in his absence only, by the Duke of +Gloucester. The Parliament would seem to have been wise in this, for Gloucester +soon showed himself to be ambitious and troublesome, and, in the gratification +of his own personal schemes, gave dangerous offence to the Duke of Burgundy, +which was with difficulty adjusted. +</p> + +<p> +As that duke declined the Regency of France, it was bestowed by the poor French +King upon the Duke of Bedford. But, the French King dying within two months, +the Dauphin instantly asserted his claim to the French throne, and was actually +crowned under the title of <span class="smcap">Charles the Seventh</span>. The +Duke of Bedford, to be a match for him, entered into a friendly league with the +Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, and gave them his two sisters in marriage. War +with France was immediately renewed, and the Perpetual Peace came to an +untimely end. +</p> + +<p> +In the first campaign, the English, aided by this alliance, were speedily +successful. As Scotland, however, had sent the French five thousand men, and +might send more, or attack the North of England while England was busy with +France, it was considered that it would be a good thing to offer the Scottish +King, James, who had been so long imprisoned, his liberty, on his paying forty +thousand pounds for his board and lodging during nineteen years, and engaging +to forbid his subjects from serving under the flag of France. It is pleasant to +know, not only that the amiable captive at last regained his freedom upon these +terms, but, that he married a noble English lady, with whom he had been long in +love, and became an excellent King. I am afraid we have met with some Kings in +this history, and shall meet with some more, who would have been very much the +better, and would have left the world much happier, if they had been imprisoned +nineteen years too. +</p> + +<p> +In the second campaign, the English gained a considerable victory at Verneuil, +in a battle which was chiefly remarkable, otherwise, for their resorting to the +odd expedient of tying their baggage-horses together by the heads and tails, +and jumbling them up with the baggage, so as to convert them into a sort of +live fortification—which was found useful to the troops, but which I +should think was not agreeable to the horses. For three years afterwards very +little was done, owing to both sides being too poor for war, which is a very +expensive entertainment; but, a council was then held in Paris, in which it was +decided to lay siege to the town of Orleans, which was a place of great +importance to the Dauphin’s cause. An English army of ten thousand men +was despatched on this service, under the command of the Earl of Salisbury, a +general of fame. He being unfortunately killed early in the siege, the Earl of +Suffolk took his place; under whom (reinforced by <span class="smcap">Sir John +Falstaff</span>, who brought up four hundred waggons laden with salt herrings +and other provisions for the troops, and, beating off the French who tried to +intercept him, came victorious out of a hot skirmish, which was afterwards +called in jest the Battle of the Herrings) the town of Orleans was so +completely hemmed in, that the besieged proposed to yield it up to their +countryman the Duke of Burgundy. The English general, however, replied that his +English men had won it, so far, by their blood and valour, and that his English +men must have it. There seemed to be no hope for the town, or for the Dauphin, +who was so dismayed that he even thought of flying to Scotland or to +Spain—when a peasant girl rose up and changed the whole state of affairs. +</p> + +<p> +The story of this peasant girl I have now to tell. +</p> + +<h3>PART THE SECOND: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC</h3> + +<p> +In a remote village among some wild hills in the province of Lorraine, there +lived a countryman whose name was <span class="smcap">Jacques +d’Arc</span>. He had a daughter, <span class="smcap">Joan of Arc</span>, +who was at this time in her twentieth year. She had been a solitary girl from +her childhood; she had often tended sheep and cattle for whole days where no +human figure was seen or human voice heard; and she had often knelt, for hours +together, in the gloomy, empty, little village chapel, looking up at the altar +and at the dim lamp burning before it, until she fancied that she saw shadowy +figures standing there, and even that she heard them speak to her. The people +in that part of France were very ignorant and superstitious, and they had many +ghostly tales to tell about what they had dreamed, and what they saw among the +lonely hills when the clouds and the mists were resting on them. So, they +easily believed that Joan saw strange sights, and they whispered among +themselves that angels and spirits talked to her. +</p> + +<p> +At last, Joan told her father that she had one day been surprised by a great +unearthly light, and had afterwards heard a solemn voice, which said it was +Saint Michael’s voice, telling her that she was to go and help the +Dauphin. Soon after this (she said), Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret had +appeared to her with sparkling crowns upon their heads, and had encouraged her +to be virtuous and resolute. These visions had returned sometimes; but the +Voices very often; and the voices always said, ‘Joan, thou art appointed +by Heaven to go and help the Dauphin!’ She almost always heard them while +the chapel bells were ringing. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt, now, that Joan believed she saw and heard these things. It +is very well known that such delusions are a disease which is not by any means +uncommon. It is probable enough that there were figures of Saint Michael, and +Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, in the little chapel (where they would be +very likely to have shining crowns upon their heads), and that they first gave +Joan the idea of those three personages. She had long been a moping, fanciful +girl, and, though she was a very good girl, I dare say she was a little vain, +and wishful for notoriety. +</p> + +<p> +Her father, something wiser than his neighbours, said, ‘I tell thee, +Joan, it is thy fancy. Thou hadst better have a kind husband to take care of +thee, girl, and work to employ thy mind!’ But Joan told him in reply, +that she had taken a vow never to have a husband, and that she must go as +Heaven directed her, to help the Dauphin. +</p> + +<p> +It happened, unfortunately for her father’s persuasions, and most +unfortunately for the poor girl, too, that a party of the Dauphin’s +enemies found their way into the village while Joan’s disorder was at +this point, and burnt the chapel, and drove out the inhabitants. The cruelties +she saw committed, touched Joan’s heart and made her worse. She said that +the voices and the figures were now continually with her; that they told her +she was the girl who, according to an old prophecy, was to deliver France; and +she must go and help the Dauphin, and must remain with him until he should be +crowned at Rheims: and that she must travel a long way to a certain lord named +<span class="smcap">Baudricourt</span>, who could and would, bring her into the +Dauphin’s presence. +</p> + +<p> +As her father still said, ‘I tell thee, Joan, it is thy fancy,’ she +set off to find out this lord, accompanied by an uncle, a poor village +wheelwright and cart-maker, who believed in the reality of her visions. They +travelled a long way and went on and on, over a rough country, full of the Duke +of Burgundy’s men, and of all kinds of robbers and marauders, until they +came to where this lord was. +</p> + +<p> +When his servants told him that there was a poor peasant girl named Joan of +Arc, accompanied by nobody but an old village wheelwright and cart-maker, who +wished to see him because she was commanded to help the Dauphin and save +France, Baudricourt burst out a-laughing, and bade them send the girl away. +But, he soon heard so much about her lingering in the town, and praying in the +churches, and seeing visions, and doing harm to no one, that he sent for her, +and questioned her. As she said the same things after she had been well +sprinkled with holy water as she had said before the sprinkling, Baudricourt +began to think there might be something in it. At all events, he thought it +worth while to send her on to the town of Chinon, where the Dauphin was. So, he +bought her a horse, and a sword, and gave her two squires to conduct her. As +the Voices had told Joan that she was to wear a man’s dress, now, she put +one on, and girded her sword to her side, and bound spurs to her heels, and +mounted her horse and rode away with her two squires. As to her uncle the +wheelwright, he stood staring at his niece in wonder until she was out of +sight—as well he might—and then went home again. The best place, +too. +</p> + +<p> +Joan and her two squires rode on and on, until they came to Chinon, where she +was, after some doubt, admitted into the Dauphin’s presence. Picking him +out immediately from all his court, she told him that she came commanded by +Heaven to subdue his enemies and conduct him to his coronation at Rheims. She +also told him (or he pretended so afterwards, to make the greater impression +upon his soldiers) a number of his secrets known only to himself, and, +furthermore, she said there was an old, old sword in the cathedral of Saint +Catherine at Fierbois, marked with five old crosses on the blade, which Saint +Catherine had ordered her to wear. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a href="images/p158b.jpg"> +<img alt="Joan of Arc" src="images/p158s.jpg" /></a> +</div> + +<p> +Now, nobody knew anything about this old, old sword, but when the cathedral +came to be examined—which was immediately done—there, sure enough, +the sword was found! The Dauphin then required a number of grave priests and +bishops to give him their opinion whether the girl derived her power from good +spirits or from evil spirits, which they held prodigiously long debates about, +in the course of which several learned men fell fast asleep and snored loudly. +At last, when one gruff old gentleman had said to Joan, ‘What language do +your Voices speak?’ and when Joan had replied to the gruff old gentleman, +‘A pleasanter language than yours,’ they agreed that it was all +correct, and that Joan of Arc was inspired from Heaven. This wonderful +circumstance put new heart into the Dauphin’s soldiers when they heard of +it, and dispirited the English army, who took Joan for a witch. +</p> + +<p> +So Joan mounted horse again, and again rode on and on, until she came to +Orleans. But she rode now, as never peasant girl had ridden yet. She rode upon +a white war-horse, in a suit of glittering armour; with the old, old sword from +the cathedral, newly burnished, in her belt; with a white flag carried before +her, upon which were a picture of God, and the words <span class="smcap">Jesus +Maria</span>. In this splendid state, at the head of a great body of troops +escorting provisions of all kinds for the starving inhabitants of Orleans, she +appeared before that beleaguered city. +</p> + +<p> +When the people on the walls beheld her, they cried out ‘The Maid is +come! The Maid of the Prophecy is come to deliver us!’ And this, and the +sight of the Maid fighting at the head of their men, made the French so bold, +and made the English so fearful, that the English line of forts was soon +broken, the troops and provisions were got into the town, and Orleans was +saved. +</p> + +<p> +Joan, henceforth called <span class="smcap">The Maid of Orleans</span>, +remained within the walls for a few days, and caused letters to be thrown over, +ordering Lord Suffolk and his Englishmen to depart from before the town +according to the will of Heaven. As the English general very positively +declined to believe that Joan knew anything about the will of Heaven (which did +not mend the matter with his soldiers, for they stupidly said if she were not +inspired she was a witch, and it was of no use to fight against a witch), she +mounted her white war-horse again, and ordered her white banner to advance. +</p> + +<p> +The besiegers held the bridge, and some strong towers upon the bridge; and here +the Maid of Orleans attacked them. The fight was fourteen hours long. She +planted a scaling ladder with her own hands, and mounted a tower wall, but was +struck by an English arrow in the neck, and fell into the trench. She was +carried away and the arrow was taken out, during which operation she screamed +and cried with the pain, as any other girl might have done; but presently she +said that the Voices were speaking to her and soothing her to rest. After a +while, she got up, and was again foremost in the fight. When the English who +had seen her fall and supposed her dead, saw this, they were troubled with the +strangest fears, and some of them cried out that they beheld Saint Michael on a +white horse (probably Joan herself) fighting for the French. They lost the +bridge, and lost the towers, and next day set their chain of forts on fire, and +left the place. +</p> + +<p> +But as Lord Suffolk himself retired no farther than the town of Jargeau, which +was only a few miles off, the Maid of Orleans besieged him there, and he was +taken prisoner. As the white banner scaled the wall, she was struck upon the +head with a stone, and was again tumbled down into the ditch; but, she only +cried all the more, as she lay there, ‘On, on, my countrymen! And fear +nothing, for the Lord hath delivered them into our hands!’ After this new +success of the Maid’s, several other fortresses and places which had +previously held out against the Dauphin were delivered up without a battle; and +at Patay she defeated the remainder of the English army, and set up her +victorious white banner on a field where twelve hundred Englishmen lay dead. +</p> + +<p> +She now urged the Dauphin (who always kept out of the way when there was any +fighting) to proceed to Rheims, as the first part of her mission was +accomplished; and to complete the whole by being crowned there. The Dauphin was +in no particular hurry to do this, as Rheims was a long way off, and the +English and the Duke of Burgundy were still strong in the country through which +the road lay. However, they set forth, with ten thousand men, and again the +Maid of Orleans rode on and on, upon her white war-horse, and in her shining +armour. Whenever they came to a town which yielded readily, the soldiers +believed in her; but, whenever they came to a town which gave them any trouble, +they began to murmur that she was an impostor. The latter was particularly the +case at Troyes, which finally yielded, however, through the persuasion of one +Richard, a friar of the place. Friar Richard was in the old doubt about the +Maid of Orleans, until he had sprinkled her well with holy water, and had also +well sprinkled the threshold of the gate by which she came into the city. +Finding that it made no change in her or the gate, he said, as the other grave +old gentlemen had said, that it was all right, and became her great ally. +</p> + +<p> +So, at last, by dint of riding on and on, the Maid of Orleans, and the Dauphin, +and the ten thousand sometimes believing and sometimes unbelieving men, came to +Rheims. And in the great cathedral of Rheims, the Dauphin actually was crowned +Charles the Seventh in a great assembly of the people. Then, the Maid, who with +her white banner stood beside the King in that hour of his triumph, kneeled +down upon the pavement at his feet, and said, with tears, that what she had +been inspired to do, was done, and that the only recompense she asked for, was, +that she should now have leave to go back to her distant home, and her sturdily +incredulous father, and her first simple escort the village wheelwright and +cart-maker. But the King said ‘No!’ and made her and her family as +noble as a King could, and settled upon her the income of a Count. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! happy had it been for the Maid of Orleans, if she had resumed her rustic +dress that day, and had gone home to the little chapel and the wild hills, and +had forgotten all these things, and had been a good man’s wife, and had +heard no stranger voices than the voices of little children! +</p> + +<p> +It was not to be, and she continued helping the King (she did a world for him, +in alliance with Friar Richard), and trying to improve the lives of the coarse +soldiers, and leading a religious, an unselfish, and a modest life, herself, +beyond any doubt. Still, many times she prayed the King to let her go home; and +once she even took off her bright armour and hung it up in a church, meaning +never to wear it more. But, the King always won her back again—while she +was of any use to him—and so she went on and on and on, to her doom. +</p> + +<p> +When the Duke of Bedford, who was a very able man, began to be active for +England, and, by bringing the war back into France and by holding the Duke of +Burgundy to his faith, to distress and disturb Charles very much, Charles +sometimes asked the Maid of Orleans what the Voices said about it? But, the +Voices had become (very like ordinary voices in perplexed times) contradictory +and confused, so that now they said one thing, and now said another, and the +Maid lost credit every day. Charles marched on Paris, which was opposed to him, +and attacked the suburb of Saint Honoré. In this fight, being again +struck down into the ditch, she was abandoned by the whole army. She lay +unaided among a heap of dead, and crawled out how she could. Then, some of her +believers went over to an opposition Maid, Catherine of La Rochelle, who said +she was inspired to tell where there were treasures of buried +money—though she never did—and then Joan accidentally broke the +old, old sword, and others said that her power was broken with it. Finally, at +the siege of Compiègne, held by the Duke of Burgundy, where she did +valiant service, she was basely left alone in a retreat, though facing about +and fighting to the last; and an archer pulled her off her horse. +</p> + +<p> +O the uproar that was made, and the thanksgivings that were sung, about the +capture of this one poor country-girl! O the way in which she was demanded to +be tried for sorcery and heresy, and anything else you like, by the +Inquisitor-General of France, and by this great man, and by that great man, +until it is wearisome to think of! She was bought at last by the Bishop of +Beauvais for ten thousand francs, and was shut up in her narrow prison: plain +Joan of Arc again, and Maid of Orleans no more. +</p> + +<p> +I should never have done if I were to tell you how they had Joan out to examine +her, and cross-examine her, and re-examine her, and worry her into saying +anything and everything; and how all sorts of scholars and doctors bestowed +their utmost tediousness upon her. Sixteen times she was brought out and shut +up again, and worried, and entrapped, and argued with, until she was heart-sick +of the dreary business. On the last occasion of this kind she was brought into +a burial-place at Rouen, dismally decorated with a scaffold, and a stake and +faggots, and the executioner, and a pulpit with a friar therein, and an awful +sermon ready. It is very affecting to know that even at that pass the poor girl +honoured the mean vermin of a King, who had so used her for his purposes and so +abandoned her; and, that while she had been regardless of reproaches heaped +upon herself, she spoke out courageously for him. +</p> + +<p> +It was natural in one so young to hold to life. To save her life, she signed a +declaration prepared for her—signed it with a cross, for she +couldn’t write—that all her visions and Voices had come from the +Devil. Upon her recanting the past, and protesting that she would never wear a +man’s dress in future, she was condemned to imprisonment for life, +‘on the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction.’ +</p> + +<p> +But, on the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction, the visions and the +Voices soon returned. It was quite natural that they should do so, for that +kind of disease is much aggravated by fasting, loneliness, and anxiety of mind. +It was not only got out of Joan that she considered herself inspired again, +but, she was taken in a man’s dress, which had been left—to entrap +her—in her prison, and which she put on, in her solitude; perhaps, in +remembrance of her past glories, perhaps, because the imaginary Voices told +her. For this relapse into the sorcery and heresy and anything else you like, +she was sentenced to be burnt to death. And, in the market-place of Rouen, in +the hideous dress which the monks had invented for such spectacles; with +priests and bishops sitting in a gallery looking on, though some had the +Christian grace to go away, unable to endure the infamous scene; this shrieking +girl—last seen amidst the smoke and fire, holding a crucifix between her +hands; last heard, calling upon Christ—was burnt to ashes. They threw her +ashes into the river Seine; but they will rise against her murderers on the +last day. +</p> + +<p> +From the moment of her capture, neither the French King nor one single man in +all his court raised a finger to save her. It is no defence of them that they +may have never really believed in her, or that they may have won her victories +by their skill and bravery. The more they pretended to believe in her, the more +they had caused her to believe in herself; and she had ever been true to them, +ever brave, ever nobly devoted. But, it is no wonder, that they, who were in +all things false to themselves, false to one another, false to their country, +false to Heaven, false to Earth, should be monsters of ingratitude and +treachery to a helpless peasant girl. +</p> + +<p> +In the picturesque old town of Rouen, where weeds and grass grow high on the +cathedral towers, and the venerable Norman streets are still warm in the +blessed sunlight though the monkish fires that once gleamed horribly upon them +have long grown cold, there is a statue of Joan of Arc, in the scene of her +last agony, the square to which she has given its present name. I know some +statues of modern times—even in the World’s metropolis, I +think—which commemorate less constancy, less earnestness, smaller claims +upon the world’s attention, and much greater impostors. +</p> + +<h3>PART THE THIRD</h3> + +<p> +Bad deeds seldom prosper, happily for mankind; and the English cause gained no +advantage from the cruel death of Joan of Arc. For a long time, the war went +heavily on. The Duke of Bedford died; the alliance with the Duke of Burgundy +was broken; and Lord Talbot became a great general on the English side in +France. But, two of the consequences of wars are, Famine—because the +people cannot peacefully cultivate the ground—and Pestilence, which comes +of want, misery, and suffering. Both these horrors broke out in both countries, +and lasted for two wretched years. Then, the war went on again, and came by +slow degrees to be so badly conducted by the English government, that, within +twenty years from the execution of the Maid of Orleans, of all the great French +conquests, the town of Calais alone remained in English hands. +</p> + +<p> +While these victories and defeats were taking place in the course of time, many +strange things happened at home. The young King, as he grew up, proved to be +very unlike his great father, and showed himself a miserable puny creature. +There was no harm in him—he had a great aversion to shedding blood: which +was something—but, he was a weak, silly, helpless young man, and a mere +shuttlecock to the great lordly battledores about the Court. +</p> + +<p> +Of these battledores, Cardinal Beaufort, a relation of the King, and the Duke +of Gloucester, were at first the most powerful. The Duke of Gloucester had a +wife, who was nonsensically accused of practising witchcraft to cause the +King’s death and lead to her husband’s coming to the throne, he +being the next heir. She was charged with having, by the help of a ridiculous +old woman named Margery (who was called a witch), made a little waxen doll in +the King’s likeness, and put it before a slow fire that it might +gradually melt away. It was supposed, in such cases, that the death of the +person whom the doll was made to represent, was sure to happen. Whether the +duchess was as ignorant as the rest of them, and really did make such a doll +with such an intention, I don’t know; but, you and I know very well that +she might have made a thousand dolls, if she had been stupid enough, and might +have melted them all, without hurting the King or anybody else. However, she +was tried for it, and so was old Margery, and so was one of the duke’s +chaplains, who was charged with having assisted them. Both he and Margery were +put to death, and the duchess, after being taken on foot and bearing a lighted +candle, three times round the City, as a penance, was imprisoned for life. The +duke, himself, took all this pretty quietly, and made as little stir about the +matter as if he were rather glad to be rid of the duchess. +</p> + +<p> +But, he was not destined to keep himself out of trouble long. The royal +shuttlecock being three-and-twenty, the battledores were very anxious to get +him married. The Duke of Gloucester wanted him to marry a daughter of the Count +of Armagnac; but, the Cardinal and the Earl of Suffolk were all for <span +class="smcap">Margaret</span>, the daughter of the King of Sicily, who they +knew was a resolute, ambitious woman and would govern the King as she chose. To +make friends with this lady, the Earl of Suffolk, who went over to arrange the +match, consented to accept her for the King’s wife without any fortune, +and even to give up the two most valuable possessions England then had in +France. So, the marriage was arranged, on terms very advantageous to the lady; +and Lord Suffolk brought her to England, and she was married at Westminster. On +what pretence this queen and her party charged the Duke of Gloucester with high +treason within a couple of years, it is impossible to make out, the matter is +so confused; but, they pretended that the King’s life was in danger, and +they took the duke prisoner. A fortnight afterwards, he was found dead in bed +(they said), and his body was shown to the people, and Lord Suffolk came in for +the best part of his estates. You know by this time how strangely liable state +prisoners were to sudden death. +</p> + +<p> +If Cardinal Beaufort had any hand in this matter, it did him no good, for he +died within six weeks; thinking it very hard and curious—at eighty years +old!—that he could not live to be Pope. +</p> + +<p> +This was the time when England had completed her loss of all her great French +conquests. The people charged the loss principally upon the Earl of Suffolk, +now a duke, who had made those easy terms about the Royal Marriage, and who, +they believed, had even been bought by France. So he was impeached as a +traitor, on a great number of charges, but chiefly on accusations of having +aided the French King, and of designing to make his own son King of England. +The Commons and the people being violent against him, the King was made (by his +friends) to interpose to save him, by banishing him for five years, and +proroguing the Parliament. The duke had much ado to escape from a London mob, +two thousand strong, who lay in wait for him in St. Giles’s fields; but, +he got down to his own estates in Suffolk, and sailed away from Ipswich. +Sailing across the Channel, he sent into Calais to know if he might land there; +but, they kept his boat and men in the harbour, until an English ship, carrying +a hundred and fifty men and called the Nicholas of the Tower, came alongside +his little vessel, and ordered him on board. ‘Welcome, traitor, as men +say,’ was the captain’s grim and not very respectful salutation. He +was kept on board, a prisoner, for eight-and-forty hours, and then a small boat +appeared rowing toward the ship. As this boat came nearer, it was seen to have +in it a block, a rusty sword, and an executioner in a black mask. The duke was +handed down into it, and there his head was cut off with six strokes of the +rusty sword. Then, the little boat rowed away to Dover beach, where the body +was cast out, and left until the duchess claimed it. By whom, high in +authority, this murder was committed, has never appeared. No one was ever +punished for it. +</p> + +<p> +There now arose in Kent an Irishman, who gave himself the name of Mortimer, but +whose real name was <span class="smcap">Jack Cade</span>. Jack, in imitation of +Wat Tyler, though he was a very different and inferior sort of man, addressed +the Kentish men upon their wrongs, occasioned by the bad government of England, +among so many battledores and such a poor shuttlecock; and the Kentish men rose +up to the number of twenty thousand. Their place of assembly was Blackheath, +where, headed by Jack, they put forth two papers, which they called ‘The +Complaint of the Commons of Kent,’ and ‘The Requests of the Captain +of the Great Assembly in Kent.’ They then retired to Sevenoaks. The royal +army coming up with them here, they beat it and killed their general. Then, +Jack dressed himself in the dead general’s armour, and led his men to +London. +</p> + +<p> +Jack passed into the City from Southwark, over the bridge, and entered it in +triumph, giving the strictest orders to his men not to plunder. Having made a +show of his forces there, while the citizens looked on quietly, he went back +into Southwark in good order, and passed the night. Next day, he came back +again, having got hold in the meantime of Lord Say, an unpopular nobleman. Says +Jack to the Lord Mayor and judges: ‘Will you be so good as to make a +tribunal in Guildhall, and try me this nobleman?’ The court being hastily +made, he was found guilty, and Jack and his men cut his head off on Cornhill. +They also cut off the head of his son-in-law, and then went back in good order +to Southwark again. +</p> + +<p> +But, although the citizens could bear the beheading of an unpopular lord, they +could not bear to have their houses pillaged. And it did so happen that Jack, +after dinner—perhaps he had drunk a little too much—began to +plunder the house where he lodged; upon which, of course, his men began to +imitate him. Wherefore, the Londoners took counsel with Lord Scales, who had a +thousand soldiers in the Tower; and defended London Bridge, and kept Jack and +his people out. This advantage gained, it was resolved by divers great men to +divide Jack’s army in the old way, by making a great many promises on +behalf of the state, that were never intended to be performed. This <i>did</i> +divide them; some of Jack’s men saying that they ought to take the +conditions which were offered, and others saying that they ought not, for they +were only a snare; some going home at once; others staying where they were; and +all doubting and quarrelling among themselves. +</p> + +<p> +Jack, who was in two minds about fighting or accepting a pardon, and who indeed +did both, saw at last that there was nothing to expect from his men, and that +it was very likely some of them would deliver him up and get a reward of a +thousand marks, which was offered for his apprehension. So, after they had +travelled and quarrelled all the way from Southwark to Blackheath, and from +Blackheath to Rochester, he mounted a good horse and galloped away into Sussex. +But, there galloped after him, on a better horse, one Alexander Iden, who came +up with him, had a hard fight with him, and killed him. Jack’s head was +set aloft on London Bridge, with the face looking towards Blackheath, where he +had raised his flag; and Alexander Iden got the thousand marks. +</p> + +<p> +It is supposed by some, that the Duke of York, who had been removed from a high +post abroad through the Queen’s influence, and sent out of the way, to +govern Ireland, was at the bottom of this rising of Jack and his men, because +he wanted to trouble the government. He claimed (though not yet publicly) to +have a better right to the throne than Henry of Lancaster, as one of the family +of the Earl of March, whom Henry the Fourth had set aside. Touching this claim, +which, being through female relationship, was not according to the usual +descent, it is enough to say that Henry the Fourth was the free choice of the +people and the Parliament, and that his family had now reigned undisputed for +sixty years. The memory of Henry the Fifth was so famous, and the English +people loved it so much, that the Duke of York’s claim would, perhaps, +never have been thought of (it would have been so hopeless) but for the +unfortunate circumstance of the present King’s being by this time quite +an idiot, and the country very ill governed. These two circumstances gave the +Duke of York a power he could not otherwise have had. +</p> + +<p> +Whether the Duke knew anything of Jack Cade, or not, he came over from Ireland +while Jack’s head was on London Bridge; being secretly advised that the +Queen was setting up his enemy, the Duke of Somerset, against him. He went to +Westminster, at the head of four thousand men, and on his knees before the +King, represented to him the bad state of the country, and petitioned him to +summon a Parliament to consider it. This the King promised. When the Parliament +was summoned, the Duke of York accused the Duke of Somerset, and the Duke of +Somerset accused the Duke of York; and, both in and out of Parliament, the +followers of each party were full of violence and hatred towards the other. At +length the Duke of York put himself at the head of a large force of his +tenants, and, in arms, demanded the reformation of the Government. Being shut +out of London, he encamped at Dartford, and the royal army encamped at +Blackheath. According as either side triumphed, the Duke of York was arrested, +or the Duke of Somerset was arrested. The trouble ended, for the moment, in the +Duke of York renewing his oath of allegiance, and going in peace to one of his +own castles. +</p> + +<p> +Half a year afterwards the Queen gave birth to a son, who was very ill received +by the people, and not believed to be the son of the King. It shows the Duke of +York to have been a moderate man, unwilling to involve England in new troubles, +that he did not take advantage of the general discontent at this time, but +really acted for the public good. He was made a member of the cabinet, and the +King being now so much worse that he could not be carried about and shown to +the people with any decency, the duke was made Lord Protector of the kingdom, +until the King should recover, or the Prince should come of age. At the same +time the Duke of Somerset was committed to the Tower. So, now the Duke of +Somerset was down, and the Duke of York was up. By the end of the year, +however, the King recovered his memory and some spark of sense; upon which the +Queen used her power—which recovered with him—to get the Protector +disgraced, and her favourite released. So now the Duke of York was down, and +the Duke of Somerset was up. +</p> + +<p> +These ducal ups and downs gradually separated the whole nation into the two +parties of York and Lancaster, and led to those terrible civil wars long known +as the Wars of the Red and White Roses, because the red rose was the badge of +the House of Lancaster, and the white rose was the badge of the House of York. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of York, joined by some other powerful noblemen of the White Rose +party, and leading a small army, met the King with another small army at St. +Alban’s, and demanded that the Duke of Somerset should be given up. The +poor King, being made to say in answer that he would sooner die, was instantly +attacked. The Duke of Somerset was killed, and the King himself was wounded in +the neck, and took refuge in the house of a poor tanner. Whereupon, the Duke of +York went to him, led him with great submission to the Abbey, and said he was +very sorry for what had happened. Having now the King in his possession, he got +a Parliament summoned and himself once more made Protector, but, only for a few +months; for, on the King getting a little better again, the Queen and her party +got him into their possession, and disgraced the Duke once more. So, now the +Duke of York was down again. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the best men in power, seeing the danger of these constant changes, +tried even then to prevent the Red and the White Rose Wars. They brought about +a great council in London between the two parties. The White Roses assembled in +Blackfriars, the Red Roses in Whitefriars; and some good priests communicated +between them, and made the proceedings known at evening to the King and the +judges. They ended in a peaceful agreement that there should be no more +quarrelling; and there was a great royal procession to St. Paul’s, in +which the Queen walked arm-in-arm with her old enemy, the Duke of York, to show +the people how comfortable they all were. This state of peace lasted half a +year, when a dispute between the Earl of Warwick (one of the Duke’s +powerful friends) and some of the King’s servants at Court, led to an +attack upon that Earl—who was a White Rose—and to a sudden breaking +out of all old animosities. So, here were greater ups and downs than ever. +</p> + +<p> +There were even greater ups and downs than these, soon after. After various +battles, the Duke of York fled to Ireland, and his son the Earl of March to +Calais, with their friends the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick; and a Parliament +was held declaring them all traitors. Little the worse for this, the Earl of +Warwick presently came back, landed in Kent, was joined by the Archbishop of +Canterbury and other powerful noblemen and gentlemen, engaged the King’s +forces at Northampton, signally defeated them, and took the King himself +prisoner, who was found in his tent. Warwick would have been glad, I dare say, +to have taken the Queen and Prince too, but they escaped into Wales and thence +into Scotland. +</p> + +<p> +The King was carried by the victorious force straight to London, and made to +call a new Parliament, which immediately declared that the Duke of York and +those other noblemen were not traitors, but excellent subjects. Then, back +comes the Duke from Ireland at the head of five hundred horsemen, rides from +London to Westminster, and enters the House of Lords. There, he laid his hand +upon the cloth of gold which covered the empty throne, as if he had half a mind +to sit down in it—but he did not. On the Archbishop of Canterbury, asking +him if he would visit the King, who was in his palace close by, he replied, +‘I know no one in this country, my lord, who ought not to visit +<i>me</i>.’ None of the lords present spoke a single word; so, the duke +went out as he had come in, established himself royally in the King’s +palace, and, six days afterwards, sent in to the Lords a formal statement of +his claim to the throne. The lords went to the King on this momentous subject, +and after a great deal of discussion, in which the judges and the other law +officers were afraid to give an opinion on either side, the question was +compromised. It was agreed that the present King should retain the crown for +his life, and that it should then pass to the Duke of York and his heirs. +</p> + +<p> +But, the resolute Queen, determined on asserting her son’s right, would +hear of no such thing. She came from Scotland to the north of England, where +several powerful lords armed in her cause. The Duke of York, for his part, set +off with some five thousand men, a little time before Christmas Day, one +thousand four hundred and sixty, to give her battle. He lodged at Sandal +Castle, near Wakefield, and the Red Roses defied him to come out on Wakefield +Green, and fight them then and there. His generals said, he had best wait until +his gallant son, the Earl of March, came up with his power; but, he was +determined to accept the challenge. He did so, in an evil hour. He was hotly +pressed on all sides, two thousand of his men lay dead on Wakefield Green, and +he himself was taken prisoner. They set him down in mock state on an ant-hill, +and twisted grass about his head, and pretended to pay court to him on their +knees, saying, ‘O King, without a kingdom, and Prince without a people, +we hope your gracious Majesty is very well and happy!’ They did worse +than this; they cut his head off, and handed it on a pole to the Queen, who +laughed with delight when she saw it (you recollect their walking so +religiously and comfortably to St. Paul’s!), and had it fixed, with a +paper crown upon its head, on the walls of York. The Earl of Salisbury lost his +head, too; and the Duke of York’s second son, a handsome boy who was +flying with his tutor over Wakefield Bridge, was stabbed in the heart by a +murderous, lord—Lord Clifford by name—whose father had been killed +by the White Roses in the fight at St. Alban’s. There was awful sacrifice +of life in this battle, for no quarter was given, and the Queen was wild for +revenge. When men unnaturally fight against their own countrymen, they are +always observed to be more unnaturally cruel and filled with rage than they are +against any other enemy. +</p> + +<p> +But, Lord Clifford had stabbed the second son of the Duke of York—not the +first. The eldest son, Edward Earl of March, was at Gloucester; and, vowing +vengeance for the death of his father, his brother, and their faithful friends, +he began to march against the Queen. He had to turn and fight a great body of +Welsh and Irish first, who worried his advance. These he defeated in a great +fight at Mortimer’s Cross, near Hereford, where he beheaded a number of +the Red Roses taken in battle, in retaliation for the beheading of the White +Roses at Wakefield. The Queen had the next turn of beheading. Having moved +towards London, and falling in, between St. Alban’s and Barnet, with the +Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Norfolk, White Roses both, who were there with +an army to oppose her, and had got the King with them; she defeated them with +great loss, and struck off the heads of two prisoners of note, who were in the +King’s tent with him, and to whom the King had promised his protection. +Her triumph, however, was very short. She had no treasure, and her army +subsisted by plunder. This caused them to be hated and dreaded by the people, +and particularly by the London people, who were wealthy. As soon as the +Londoners heard that Edward, Earl of March, united with the Earl of Warwick, +was advancing towards the city, they refused to send the Queen supplies, and +made a great rejoicing. +</p> + +<p> +The Queen and her men retreated with all speed, and Edward and Warwick came on, +greeted with loud acclamations on every side. The courage, beauty, and virtues +of young Edward could not be sufficiently praised by the whole people. He rode +into London like a conqueror, and met with an enthusiastic welcome. A few days +afterwards, Lord Falconbridge and the Bishop of Exeter assembled the citizens +in St. John’s Field, Clerkenwell, and asked them if they would have Henry +of Lancaster for their King? To this they all roared, ‘No, no, no!’ +and ‘King Edward! King Edward!’ Then, said those noblemen, would +they love and serve young Edward? To this they all cried, ‘Yes, +yes!’ and threw up their caps and clapped their hands, and cheered +tremendously. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, it was declared that by joining the Queen and not protecting those +two prisoners of note, Henry of Lancaster had forfeited the crown; and Edward +of York was proclaimed King. He made a great speech to the applauding people at +Westminster, and sat down as sovereign of England on that throne, on the golden +covering of which his father—worthy of a better fate than the bloody axe +which cut the thread of so many lives in England, through so many +years—had laid his hand. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH</h2> + +<p> +King Edward the Fourth was not quite twenty-one years of age when he took that +unquiet seat upon the throne of England. The Lancaster party, the Red Roses, +were then assembling in great numbers near York, and it was necessary to give +them battle instantly. But, the stout Earl of Warwick leading for the young +King, and the young King himself closely following him, and the English people +crowding round the Royal standard, the White and the Red Roses met, on a wild +March day when the snow was falling heavily, at Towton; and there such a +furious battle raged between them, that the total loss amounted to forty +thousand men—all Englishmen, fighting, upon English ground, against one +another. The young King gained the day, took down the heads of his father and +brother from the walls of York, and put up the heads of some of the most famous +noblemen engaged in the battle on the other side. Then, he went to London and +was crowned with great splendour. +</p> + +<p> +A new Parliament met. No fewer than one hundred and fifty of the principal +noblemen and gentlemen on the Lancaster side were declared traitors, and the +King—who had very little humanity, though he was handsome in person and +agreeable in manners—resolved to do all he could, to pluck up the Red +Rose root and branch. +</p> + +<p> +Queen Margaret, however, was still active for her young son. She obtained help +from Scotland and from Normandy, and took several important English castles. +But, Warwick soon retook them; the Queen lost all her treasure on board ship in +a great storm; and both she and her son suffered great misfortunes. Once, in +the winter weather, as they were riding through a forest, they were attacked +and plundered by a party of robbers; and, when they had escaped from these men +and were passing alone and on foot through a thick dark part of the wood, they +came, all at once, upon another robber. So the Queen, with a stout heart, took +the little Prince by the hand, and going straight up to that robber, said to +him, ‘My friend, this is the young son of your lawful King! I confide him +to your care.’ The robber was surprised, but took the boy in his arms, +and faithfully restored him and his mother to their friends. In the end, the +Queen’s soldiers being beaten and dispersed, she went abroad again, and +kept quiet for the present. +</p> + +<p> +Now, all this time, the deposed King Henry was concealed by a Welsh knight, who +kept him close in his castle. But, next year, the Lancaster party recovering +their spirits, raised a large body of men, and called him out of his +retirement, to put him at their head. They were joined by some powerful +noblemen who had sworn fidelity to the new King, but who were ready, as usual, +to break their oaths, whenever they thought there was anything to be got by it. +One of the worst things in the history of the war of the Red and White Roses, +is the ease with which these noblemen, who should have set an example of honour +to the people, left either side as they took slight offence, or were +disappointed in their greedy expectations, and joined the other. Well! +Warwick’s brother soon beat the Lancastrians, and the false noblemen, +being taken, were beheaded without a moment’s loss of time. The deposed +King had a narrow escape; three of his servants were taken, and one of them +bore his cap of estate, which was set with pearls and embroidered with two +golden crowns. However, the head to which the cap belonged, got safely into +Lancashire, and lay pretty quietly there (the people in the secret being very +true) for more than a year. At length, an old monk gave such intelligence as +led to Henry’s being taken while he was sitting at dinner in a place +called Waddington Hall. He was immediately sent to London, and met at Islington +by the Earl of Warwick, by whose directions he was put upon a horse, with his +legs tied under it, and paraded three times round the pillory. Then, he was +carried off to the Tower, where they treated him well enough. +</p> + +<p> +The White Rose being so triumphant, the young King abandoned himself entirely +to pleasure, and led a jovial life. But, thorns were springing up under his bed +of roses, as he soon found out. For, having been privately married to <span +class="smcap">Elizabeth Woodville</span>, a young widow lady, very beautiful +and very captivating; and at last resolving to make his secret known, and to +declare her his Queen; he gave some offence to the Earl of Warwick, who was +usually called the King-Maker, because of his power and influence, and because +of his having lent such great help to placing Edward on the throne. This +offence was not lessened by the jealousy with which the Nevil family (the Earl +of Warwick’s) regarded the promotion of the Woodville family. For, the +young Queen was so bent on providing for her relations, that she made her +father an earl and a great officer of state; married her five sisters to young +noblemen of the highest rank; and provided for her younger brother, a young man +of twenty, by marrying him to an immensely rich old duchess of eighty. The Earl +of Warwick took all this pretty graciously for a man of his proud temper, until +the question arose to whom the King’s sister, <span +class="smcap">Margaret</span>, should be married. The Earl of Warwick said, +‘To one of the French King’s sons,’ and was allowed to go +over to the French King to make friendly proposals for that purpose, and to +hold all manner of friendly interviews with him. But, while he was so engaged, +the Woodville party married the young lady to the Duke of Burgundy! Upon this +he came back in great rage and scorn, and shut himself up discontented, in his +Castle of Middleham. +</p> + +<p> +A reconciliation, though not a very sincere one, was patched up between the +Earl of Warwick and the King, and lasted until the Earl married his daughter, +against the King’s wishes, to the Duke of Clarence. While the marriage +was being celebrated at Calais, the people in the north of England, where the +influence of the Nevil family was strongest, broke out into rebellion; their +complaint was, that England was oppressed and plundered by the Woodville +family, whom they demanded to have removed from power. As they were joined by +great numbers of people, and as they openly declared that they were supported +by the Earl of Warwick, the King did not know what to do. At last, as he wrote +to the earl beseeching his aid, he and his new son-in-law came over to England, +and began to arrange the business by shutting the King up in Middleham Castle +in the safe keeping of the Archbishop of York; so England was not only in the +strange position of having two kings at once, but they were both prisoners at +the same time. +</p> + +<p> +Even as yet, however, the King-Maker was so far true to the King, that he +dispersed a new rising of the Lancastrians, took their leader prisoner, and +brought him to the King, who ordered him to be immediately executed. He +presently allowed the King to return to London, and there innumerable pledges +of forgiveness and friendship were exchanged between them, and between the +Nevils and the Woodvilles; the King’s eldest daughter was promised in +marriage to the heir of the Nevil family; and more friendly oaths were sworn, +and more friendly promises made, than this book would hold. +</p> + +<p> +They lasted about three months. At the end of that time, the Archbishop of York +made a feast for the King, the Earl of Warwick, and the Duke of Clarence, at +his house, the Moor, in Hertfordshire. The King was washing his hands before +supper, when some one whispered him that a body of a hundred men were lying in +ambush outside the house. Whether this were true or untrue, the King took +fright, mounted his horse, and rode through the dark night to Windsor Castle. +Another reconciliation was patched up between him and the King-Maker, but it +was a short one, and it was the last. A new rising took place in Lincolnshire, +and the King marched to repress it. Having done so, he proclaimed that both the +Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were traitors, who had secretly +assisted it, and who had been prepared publicly to join it on the following +day. In these dangerous circumstances they both took ship and sailed away to +the French court. +</p> + +<p> +And here a meeting took place between the Earl of Warwick and his old enemy, +the Dowager Queen Margaret, through whom his father had had his head struck +off, and to whom he had been a bitter foe. But, now, when he said that he had +done with the ungrateful and perfidious Edward of York, and that henceforth he +devoted himself to the restoration of the House of Lancaster, either in the +person of her husband or of her little son, she embraced him as if he had ever +been her dearest friend. She did more than that; she married her son to his +second daughter, the Lady Anne. However agreeable this marriage was to the new +friends, it was very disagreeable to the Duke of Clarence, who perceived that +his father-in-law, the King-Maker, would never make <i>him</i> King, now. So, +being but a weak-minded young traitor, possessed of very little worth or sense, +he readily listened to an artful court lady sent over for the purpose, and +promised to turn traitor once more, and go over to his brother, King Edward, +when a fitting opportunity should come. +</p> + +<p> +The Earl of Warwick, knowing nothing of this, soon redeemed his promise to the +Dowager Queen Margaret, by invading England and landing at Plymouth, where he +instantly proclaimed King Henry, and summoned all Englishmen between the ages +of sixteen and sixty, to join his banner. Then, with his army increasing as he +marched along, he went northward, and came so near King Edward, who was in that +part of the country, that Edward had to ride hard for it to the coast of +Norfolk, and thence to get away in such ships as he could find, to Holland. +Thereupon, the triumphant King-Maker and his false son-in-law, the Duke of +Clarence, went to London, took the old King out of the Tower, and walked him in +a great procession to Saint Paul’s Cathedral with the crown upon his +head. This did not improve the temper of the Duke of Clarence, who saw himself +farther off from being King than ever; but he kept his secret, and said +nothing. The Nevil family were restored to all their honours and glories, and +the Woodvilles and the rest were disgraced. The King-Maker, less sanguinary +than the King, shed no blood except that of the Earl of Worcester, who had been +so cruel to the people as to have gained the title of the Butcher. Him they +caught hidden in a tree, and him they tried and executed. No other death +stained the King-Maker’s triumph. +</p> + +<p> +To dispute this triumph, back came King Edward again, next year, landing at +Ravenspur, coming on to York, causing all his men to cry ‘Long live King +Henry!’ and swearing on the altar, without a blush, that he came to lay +no claim to the crown. Now was the time for the Duke of Clarence, who ordered +his men to assume the White Rose, and declare for his brother. The Marquis of +Montague, though the Earl of Warwick’s brother, also declining to fight +against King Edward, he went on successfully to London, where the Archbishop of +York let him into the City, and where the people made great demonstrations in +his favour. For this they had four reasons. Firstly, there were great numbers +of the King’s adherents hiding in the City and ready to break out; +secondly, the King owed them a great deal of money, which they could never hope +to get if he were unsuccessful; thirdly, there was a young prince to inherit +the crown; and fourthly, the King was gay and handsome, and more popular than a +better man might have been with the City ladies. After a stay of only two days +with these worthy supporters, the King marched out to Barnet Common, to give +the Earl of Warwick battle. And now it was to be seen, for the last time, +whether the King or the King-Maker was to carry the day. +</p> + +<p> +While the battle was yet pending, the fainthearted Duke of Clarence began to +repent, and sent over secret messages to his father-in-law, offering his +services in mediation with the King. But, the Earl of Warwick disdainfully +rejected them, and replied that Clarence was false and perjured, and that he +would settle the quarrel by the sword. The battle began at four o’clock +in the morning and lasted until ten, and during the greater part of the time it +was fought in a thick mist—absurdly supposed to be raised by a magician. +The loss of life was very great, for the hatred was strong on both sides. The +King-Maker was defeated, and the King triumphed. Both the Earl of Warwick and +his brother were slain, and their bodies lay in St. Paul’s, for some +days, as a spectacle to the people. +</p> + +<p> +Margaret’s spirit was not broken even by this great blow. Within five +days she was in arms again, and raised her standard in Bath, whence she set off +with her army, to try and join Lord Pembroke, who had a force in Wales. But, +the King, coming up with her outside the town of Tewkesbury, and ordering his +brother, the <span class="smcap">Duke of Gloucester</span>, who was a brave +soldier, to attack her men, she sustained an entire defeat, and was taken +prisoner, together with her son, now only eighteen years of age. The conduct of +the King to this poor youth was worthy of his cruel character. He ordered him +to be led into his tent. ‘And what,’ said he, ‘brought +<i>you</i> to England?’ ‘I came to England,’ replied the +prisoner, with a spirit which a man of spirit might have admired in a captive, +‘to recover my father’s kingdom, which descended to him as his +right, and from him descends to me, as mine.’ The King, drawing off his +iron gauntlet, struck him with it in the face; and the Duke of Clarence and +some other lords, who were there, drew their noble swords, and killed him. +</p> + +<p> +His mother survived him, a prisoner, for five years; after her ransom by the +King of France, she survived for six years more. Within three weeks of this +murder, Henry died one of those convenient sudden deaths which were so common +in the Tower; in plainer words, he was murdered by the King’s order. +</p> + +<p> +Having no particular excitement on his hands after this great defeat of the +Lancaster party, and being perhaps desirous to get rid of some of his fat (for +he was now getting too corpulent to be handsome), the King thought of making +war on France. As he wanted more money for this purpose than the Parliament +could give him, though they were usually ready enough for war, he invented a +new way of raising it, by sending for the principal citizens of London, and +telling them, with a grave face, that he was very much in want of cash, and +would take it very kind in them if they would lend him some. It being +impossible for them safely to refuse, they complied, and the moneys thus forced +from them were called—no doubt to the great amusement of the King and the +Court—as if they were free gifts, ‘Benevolences.’ What with +grants from Parliament, and what with Benevolences, the King raised an army and +passed over to Calais. As nobody wanted war, however, the French King made +proposals of peace, which were accepted, and a truce was concluded for seven +long years. The proceedings between the Kings of France and England on this +occasion, were very friendly, very splendid, and very distrustful. They +finished with a meeting between the two Kings, on a temporary bridge over the +river Somme, where they embraced through two holes in a strong wooden grating +like a lion’s cage, and made several bows and fine speeches to one +another. +</p> + +<p> +It was time, now, that the Duke of Clarence should be punished for his +treacheries; and Fate had his punishment in store. He was, probably, not +trusted by the King—for who could trust him who knew him!—and he +had certainly a powerful opponent in his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, +who, being avaricious and ambitious, wanted to marry that widowed daughter of +the Earl of Warwick’s who had been espoused to the deceased young Prince, +at Calais. Clarence, who wanted all the family wealth for himself, secreted +this lady, whom Richard found disguised as a servant in the City of London, and +whom he married; arbitrators appointed by the King, then divided the property +between the brothers. This led to ill-will and mistrust between them. +Clarence’s wife dying, and he wishing to make another marriage, which was +obnoxious to the King, his ruin was hurried by that means, too. At first, the +Court struck at his retainers and dependents, and accused some of them of magic +and witchcraft, and similar nonsense. Successful against this small game, it +then mounted to the Duke himself, who was impeached by his brother the King, in +person, on a variety of such charges. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be +publicly executed. He never was publicly executed, but he met his death +somehow, in the Tower, and, no doubt, through some agency of the King or his +brother Gloucester, or both. It was supposed at the time that he was told to +choose the manner of his death, and that he chose to be drowned in a butt of +Malmsey wine. I hope the story may be true, for it would have been a becoming +death for such a miserable creature. +</p> + +<p> +The King survived him some five years. He died in the forty-second year of his +life, and the twenty-third of his reign. He had a very good capacity and some +good points, but he was selfish, careless, sensual, and cruel. He was a +favourite with the people for his showy manners; and the people were a good +example to him in the constancy of their attachment. He was penitent on his +death-bed for his ‘benevolences,’ and other extortions, and ordered +restitution to be made to the people who had suffered from them. He also called +about his bed the enriched members of the Woodville family, and the proud lords +whose honours were of older date, and endeavoured to reconcile them, for the +sake of the peaceful succession of his son and the tranquillity of England. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH</h2> + +<p> +The late King’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, called <span +class="smcap">Edward</span> after him, was only thirteen years of age at his +father’s death. He was at Ludlow Castle with his uncle, the Earl of +Rivers. The prince’s brother, the Duke of York, only eleven years of age, +was in London with his mother. The boldest, most crafty, and most dreaded +nobleman in England at that time was their uncle <span +class="smcap">Richard</span>, Duke of Gloucester, and everybody wondered how +the two poor boys would fare with such an uncle for a friend or a foe. +</p> + +<p> +The Queen, their mother, being exceedingly uneasy about this, was anxious that +instructions should be sent to Lord Rivers to raise an army to escort the young +King safely to London. But, Lord Hastings, who was of the Court party opposed +to the Woodvilles, and who disliked the thought of giving them that power, +argued against the proposal, and obliged the Queen to be satisfied with an +escort of two thousand horse. The Duke of Gloucester did nothing, at first, to +justify suspicion. He came from Scotland (where he was commanding an army) to +York, and was there the first to swear allegiance to his nephew. He then wrote +a condoling letter to the Queen-Mother, and set off to be present at the +coronation in London. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the young King, journeying towards London too, with Lord Rivers and Lord +Gray, came to Stony Stratford, as his uncle came to Northampton, about ten +miles distant; and when those two lords heard that the Duke of Gloucester was +so near, they proposed to the young King that they should go back and greet him +in his name. The boy being very willing that they should do so, they rode off +and were received with great friendliness, and asked by the Duke of Gloucester +to stay and dine with him. In the evening, while they were merry together, up +came the Duke of Buckingham with three hundred horsemen; and next morning the +two lords and the two dukes, and the three hundred horsemen, rode away together +to rejoin the King. Just as they were entering Stony Stratford, the Duke of +Gloucester, checking his horse, turned suddenly on the two lords, charged them +with alienating from him the affections of his sweet nephew, and caused them to +be arrested by the three hundred horsemen and taken back. Then, he and the Duke +of Buckingham went straight to the King (whom they had now in their power), to +whom they made a show of kneeling down, and offering great love and submission; +and then they ordered his attendants to disperse, and took him, alone with +them, to Northampton. +</p> + +<p> +A few days afterwards they conducted him to London, and lodged him in the +Bishop’s Palace. But, he did not remain there long; for, the Duke of +Buckingham with a tender face made a speech expressing how anxious he was for +the Royal boy’s safety, and how much safer he would be in the Tower until +his coronation, than he could be anywhere else. So, to the Tower he was taken, +very carefully, and the Duke of Gloucester was named Protector of the State. +</p> + +<p> +Although Gloucester had proceeded thus far with a very smooth +countenance—and although he was a clever man, fair of speech, and not +ill-looking, in spite of one of his shoulders being something higher than the +other—and although he had come into the City riding bare-headed at the +King’s side, and looking very fond of him—he had made the +King’s mother more uneasy yet; and when the Royal boy was taken to the +Tower, she became so alarmed that she took sanctuary in Westminster with her +five daughters. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did she do this without reason, for, the Duke of Gloucester, finding that +the lords who were opposed to the Woodville family were faithful to the young +King nevertheless, quickly resolved to strike a blow for himself. Accordingly, +while those lords met in council at the Tower, he and those who were in his +interest met in separate council at his own residence, Crosby Palace, in +Bishopsgate Street. Being at last quite prepared, he one day appeared +unexpectedly at the council in the Tower, and appeared to be very jocular and +merry. He was particularly gay with the Bishop of Ely: praising the +strawberries that grew in his garden on Holborn Hill, and asking him to have +some gathered that he might eat them at dinner. The Bishop, quite proud of the +honour, sent one of his men to fetch some; and the Duke, still very jocular and +gay, went out; and the council all said what a very agreeable duke he was! In a +little time, however, he came back quite altered—not at all +jocular—frowning and fierce—and suddenly said,— +</p> + +<p> +‘What do those persons deserve who have compassed my destruction; I being +the King’s lawful, as well as natural, protector?’ +</p> + +<p> +To this strange question, Lord Hastings replied, that they deserved death, +whosoever they were. +</p> + +<p> +‘Then,’ said the Duke, ‘I tell you that they are that +sorceress my brother’s wife;’ meaning the Queen: ‘and that +other sorceress, Jane Shore. Who, by witchcraft, have withered my body, and +caused my arm to shrink as I now show you.’ +</p> + +<p> +He then pulled up his sleeve and showed them his arm, which was shrunken, it is +true, but which had been so, as they all very well knew, from the hour of his +birth. +</p> + +<p> +Jane Shore, being then the lover of Lord Hastings, as she had formerly been of +the late King, that lord knew that he himself was attacked. So, he said, in +some confusion, ‘Certainly, my Lord, if they have done this, they be +worthy of punishment.’ +</p> + +<p> +‘If?’ said the Duke of Gloucester; ‘do you talk to me of ifs? +I tell you that they <i>have</i> so done, and I will make it good upon thy +body, thou traitor!’ +</p> + +<p> +With that, he struck the table a great blow with his fist. This was a signal to +some of his people outside to cry ‘Treason!’ They immediately did +so, and there was a rush into the chamber of so many armed men that it was +filled in a moment. +</p> + +<p> +‘First,’ said the Duke of Gloucester to Lord Hastings, ‘I +arrest thee, traitor! And let him,’ he added to the armed men who took +him, ‘have a priest at once, for by St. Paul I will not dine until I have +seen his head of!’ +</p> + +<p> +Lord Hastings was hurried to the green by the Tower chapel, and there beheaded +on a log of wood that happened to be lying on the ground. Then, the Duke dined +with a good appetite, and after dinner summoning the principal citizens to +attend him, told them that Lord Hastings and the rest had designed to murder +both himself and the Duke if Buckingham, who stood by his side, if he had not +providentially discovered their design. He requested them to be so obliging as +to inform their fellow-citizens of the truth of what he said, and issued a +proclamation (prepared and neatly copied out beforehand) to the same effect. +</p> + +<p> +On the same day that the Duke did these things in the Tower, Sir Richard +Ratcliffe, the boldest and most undaunted of his men, went down to Pontefract; +arrested Lord Rivers, Lord Gray, and two other gentlemen; and publicly executed +them on the scaffold, without any trial, for having intended the Duke’s +death. Three days afterwards the Duke, not to lose time, went down the river to +Westminster in his barge, attended by divers bishops, lords, and soldiers, and +demanded that the Queen should deliver her second son, the Duke of York, into +his safe keeping. The Queen, being obliged to comply, resigned the child after +she had wept over him; and Richard of Gloucester placed him with his brother in +the Tower. Then, he seized Jane Shore, and, because she had been the lover of +the late King, confiscated her property, and got her sentenced to do public +penance in the streets by walking in a scanty dress, with bare feet, and +carrying a lighted candle, to St. Paul’s Cathedral, through the most +crowded part of the City. +</p> + +<p> +Having now all things ready for his own advancement, he caused a friar to +preach a sermon at the cross which stood in front of St. Paul’s +Cathedral, in which he dwelt upon the profligate manners of the late King, and +upon the late shame of Jane Shore, and hinted that the princes were not his +children. ‘Whereas, good people,’ said the friar, whose name was +<span class="smcap">Shaw</span>, ‘my Lord the Protector, the noble Duke +of Gloucester, that sweet prince, the pattern of all the noblest virtues, is +the perfect image and express likeness of his father.’ There had been a +little plot between the Duke and the friar, that the Duke should appear in the +crowd at this moment, when it was expected that the people would cry +‘Long live King Richard!’ But, either through the friar saying the +words too soon, or through the Duke’s coming too late, the Duke and the +words did not come together, and the people only laughed, and the friar sneaked +off ashamed. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Buckingham was a better hand at such business than the friar, so he +went to the Guildhall the next day, and addressed the citizens in the Lord +Protector’s behalf. A few dirty men, who had been hired and stationed +there for the purpose, crying when he had done, ‘God save King +Richard!’ he made them a great bow, and thanked them with all his heart. +Next day, to make an end of it, he went with the mayor and some lords and +citizens to Bayard Castle, by the river, where Richard then was, and read an +address, humbly entreating him to accept the Crown of England. Richard, who +looked down upon them out of a window and pretended to be in great uneasiness +and alarm, assured them there was nothing he desired less, and that his deep +affection for his nephews forbade him to think of it. To this the Duke of +Buckingham replied, with pretended warmth, that the free people of England +would never submit to his nephew’s rule, and that if Richard, who was the +lawful heir, refused the Crown, why then they must find some one else to wear +it. The Duke of Gloucester returned, that since he used that strong language, +it became his painful duty to think no more of himself, and to accept the +Crown. +</p> + +<p> +Upon that, the people cheered and dispersed; and the Duke of Gloucester and the +Duke of Buckingham passed a pleasant evening, talking over the play they had +just acted with so much success, and every word of which they had prepared +together. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD</h2> + +<p> +King Richard the Third was up betimes in the morning, and went to Westminster +Hall. In the Hall was a marble seat, upon which he sat himself down between two +great noblemen, and told the people that he began the new reign in that place, +because the first duty of a sovereign was to administer the laws equally to +all, and to maintain justice. He then mounted his horse and rode back to the +City, where he was received by the clergy and the crowd as if he really had a +right to the throne, and really were a just man. The clergy and the crowd must +have been rather ashamed of themselves in secret, I think, for being such +poor-spirited knaves. +</p> + +<p> +The new King and his Queen were soon crowned with a great deal of show and +noise, which the people liked very much; and then the King set forth on a royal +progress through his dominions. He was crowned a second time at York, in order +that the people might have show and noise enough; and wherever he went was +received with shouts of rejoicing—from a good many people of strong +lungs, who were paid to strain their throats in crying, ‘God save King +Richard!’ The plan was so successful that I am told it has been imitated +since, by other usurpers, in other progresses through other dominions. +</p> + +<p> +While he was on this journey, King Richard stayed a week at Warwick. And from +Warwick he sent instructions home for one of the wickedest murders that ever +was done—the murder of the two young princes, his nephews, who were shut +up in the Tower of London. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Robert Brackenbury was at that time Governor of the Tower. To him, by the +hands of a messenger named <span class="smcap">John Green</span>, did King +Richard send a letter, ordering him by some means to put the two young princes +to death. But Sir Robert—I hope because he had children of his own, and +loved them—sent John Green back again, riding and spurring along the +dusty roads, with the answer that he could not do so horrible a piece of work. +The King, having frowningly considered a little, called to him <span +class="smcap">Sir James Tyrrel</span>, his master of the horse, and to him gave +authority to take command of the Tower, whenever he would, for twenty-four +hours, and to keep all the keys of the Tower during that space of time. Tyrrel, +well knowing what was wanted, looked about him for two hardened ruffians, and +chose <span class="smcap">John Dighton</span>, one of his own grooms, and <span +class="smcap">Miles Forest</span>, who was a murderer by trade. Having secured +these two assistants, he went, upon a day in August, to the Tower, showed his +authority from the King, took the command for four-and-twenty hours, and +obtained possession of the keys. And when the black night came he went +creeping, creeping, like a guilty villain as he was, up the dark, stone winding +stairs, and along the dark stone passages, until he came to the door of the +room where the two young princes, having said their prayers, lay fast asleep, +clasped in each other’s arms. And while he watched and listened at the +door, he sent in those evil demons, John Dighton and Miles Forest, who +smothered the two princes with the bed and pillows, and carried their bodies +down the stairs, and buried them under a great heap of stones at the staircase +foot. And when the day came, he gave up the command of the Tower, and restored +the keys, and hurried away without once looking behind him; and Sir Robert +Brackenbury went with fear and sadness to the princes’ room, and found +the princes gone for ever. +</p> + +<p> +You know, through all this history, how true it is that traitors are never +true, and you will not be surprised to learn that the Duke of Buckingham soon +turned against King Richard, and joined a great conspiracy that was formed to +dethrone him, and to place the crown upon its rightful owner’s head. +Richard had meant to keep the murder secret; but when he heard through his +spies that this conspiracy existed, and that many lords and gentlemen drank in +secret to the healths of the two young princes in the Tower, he made it known +that they were dead. The conspirators, though thwarted for a moment, soon +resolved to set up for the crown against the murderous Richard, <span +class="smcap">Henry</span> Earl of Richmond, grandson of Catherine: that widow +of Henry the Fifth who married Owen Tudor. And as Henry was of the house of +Lancaster, they proposed that he should marry the Princess Elizabeth, the +eldest daughter of the late King, now the heiress of the house of York, and +thus by uniting the rival families put an end to the fatal wars of the Red and +White Roses. All being settled, a time was appointed for Henry to come over +from Brittany, and for a great rising against Richard to take place in several +parts of England at the same hour. On a certain day, therefore, in October, the +revolt took place; but unsuccessfully. Richard was prepared, Henry was driven +back at sea by a storm, his followers in England were dispersed, and the Duke +of Buckingham was taken, and at once beheaded in the market-place at Salisbury. +</p> + +<p> +The time of his success was a good time, Richard thought, for summoning a +Parliament and getting some money. So, a Parliament was called, and it +flattered and fawned upon him as much as he could possibly desire, and declared +him to be the rightful King of England, and his only son Edward, then eleven +years of age, the next heir to the throne. +</p> + +<p> +Richard knew full well that, let the Parliament say what it would, the Princess +Elizabeth was remembered by people as the heiress of the house of York; and +having accurate information besides, of its being designed by the conspirators +to marry her to Henry of Richmond, he felt that it would much strengthen him +and weaken them, to be beforehand with them, and marry her to his son. With +this view he went to the Sanctuary at Westminster, where the late King’s +widow and her daughter still were, and besought them to come to Court: where +(he swore by anything and everything) they should be safely and honourably +entertained. They came, accordingly, but had scarcely been at Court a month +when his son died suddenly—or was poisoned—and his plan was crushed +to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +In this extremity, King Richard, always active, thought, ‘I must make +another plan.’ And he made the plan of marrying the Princess Elizabeth +himself, although she was his niece. There was one difficulty in the way: his +wife, the Queen Anne, was alive. But, he knew (remembering his nephews) how to +remove that obstacle, and he made love to the Princess Elizabeth, telling her +he felt perfectly confident that the Queen would die in February. The Princess +was not a very scrupulous young lady, for, instead of rejecting the murderer of +her brothers with scorn and hatred, she openly declared she loved him dearly; +and, when February came and the Queen did not die, she expressed her impatient +opinion that she was too long about it. However, King Richard was not so far +out in his prediction, but, that she died in March—he took good care of +that—and then this precious pair hoped to be married. But they were +disappointed, for the idea of such a marriage was so unpopular in the country, +that the King’s chief counsellors, <span class="smcap">Ratcliffe</span> +and <span class="smcap">Catesby</span>, would by no means undertake to propose +it, and the King was even obliged to declare in public that he had never +thought of such a thing. +</p> + +<p> +He was, by this time, dreaded and hated by all classes of his subjects. His +nobles deserted every day to Henry’s side; he dared not call another +Parliament, lest his crimes should be denounced there; and for want of money, +he was obliged to get Benevolences from the citizens, which exasperated them +all against him. It was said too, that, being stricken by his conscience, he +dreamed frightful dreams, and started up in the night-time, wild with terror +and remorse. Active to the last, through all this, he issued vigorous +proclamations against Henry of Richmond and all his followers, when he heard +that they were coming against him with a Fleet from France; and took the field +as fierce and savage as a wild boar—the animal represented on his shield. +</p> + +<p> +Henry of Richmond landed with six thousand men at Milford Haven, and came on +against King Richard, then encamped at Leicester with an army twice as great, +through North Wales. On Bosworth Field the two armies met; and Richard, looking +along Henry’s ranks, and seeing them crowded with the English nobles who +had abandoned him, turned pale when he beheld the powerful Lord Stanley and his +son (whom he had tried hard to retain) among them. But, he was as brave as he +was wicked, and plunged into the thickest of the fight. He was riding hither +and thither, laying about him in all directions, when he observed the Earl of +Northumberland—one of his few great allies—to stand inactive, and +the main body of his troops to hesitate. At the same moment, his desperate +glance caught Henry of Richmond among a little group of his knights. Riding +hard at him, and crying ‘Treason!’ he killed his standard-bearer, +fiercely unhorsed another gentleman, and aimed a powerful stroke at Henry +himself, to cut him down. But, Sir William Stanley parried it as it fell, and +before Richard could raise his arm again, he was borne down in a press of +numbers, unhorsed, and killed. Lord Stanley picked up the crown, all bruised +and trampled, and stained with blood, and put it upon Richmond’s head, +amid loud and rejoicing cries of ‘Long live King Henry!’ +</p> + +<p> +That night, a horse was led up to the church of the Grey Friars at Leicester; +across whose back was tied, like some worthless sack, a naked body brought +there for burial. It was the body of the last of the Plantagenet line, King +Richard the Third, usurper and murderer, slain at the battle of Bosworth Field +in the thirty-second year of his age, after a reign of two years. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap26"></a>CHAPTER XXVI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH</h2> + +<p> +King Henry the Seventh did not turn out to be as fine a fellow as the nobility +and people hoped, in the first joy of their deliverance from Richard the Third. +He was very cold, crafty, and calculating, and would do almost anything for +money. He possessed considerable ability, but his chief merit appears to have +been that he was not cruel when there was nothing to be got by it. +</p> + +<p> +The new King had promised the nobles who had espoused his cause that he would +marry the Princess Elizabeth. The first thing he did, was, to direct her to be +removed from the castle of Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, where Richard had +placed her, and restored to the care of her mother in London. The young Earl of +Warwick, Edward Plantagenet, son and heir of the late Duke of Clarence, had +been kept a prisoner in the same old Yorkshire Castle with her. This boy, who +was now fifteen, the new King placed in the Tower for safety. Then he came to +London in great state, and gratified the people with a fine procession; on +which kind of show he often very much relied for keeping them in good humour. +The sports and feasts which took place were followed by a terrible fever, +called the Sweating Sickness; of which great numbers of people died. Lord +Mayors and Aldermen are thought to have suffered most from it; whether, because +they were in the habit of over-eating themselves, or because they were very +jealous of preserving filth and nuisances in the City (as they have been +since), I don’t know. +</p> + +<p> +The King’s coronation was postponed on account of the general ill-health, +and he afterwards deferred his marriage, as if he were not very anxious that it +should take place: and, even after that, deferred the Queen’s coronation +so long that he gave offence to the York party. However, he set these things +right in the end, by hanging some men and seizing on the rich possessions of +others; by granting more popular pardons to the followers of the late King than +could, at first, be got from him; and, by employing about his Court, some very +scrupulous persons who had been employed in the previous reign. +</p> + +<p> +As this reign was principally remarkable for two very curious impostures which +have become famous in history, we will make those two stories its principal +feature. +</p> + +<p> +There was a priest at Oxford of the name of Simons, who had for a pupil a +handsome boy named Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker. Partly to gratify his +own ambitious ends, and partly to carry out the designs of a secret party +formed against the King, this priest declared that his pupil, the boy, was no +other than the young Earl of Warwick; who (as everybody might have known) was +safely locked up in the Tower of London. The priest and the boy went over to +Ireland; and, at Dublin, enlisted in their cause all ranks of the people: who +seem to have been generous enough, but exceedingly irrational. The Earl of +Kildare, the governor of Ireland, declared that he believed the boy to be what +the priest represented; and the boy, who had been well tutored by the priest, +told them such things of his childhood, and gave them so many descriptions of +the Royal Family, that they were perpetually shouting and hurrahing, and +drinking his health, and making all kinds of noisy and thirsty demonstrations, +to express their belief in him. Nor was this feeling confined to Ireland alone, +for the Earl of Lincoln—whom the late usurper had named as his +successor—went over to the young Pretender; and, after holding a secret +correspondence with the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy—the sister of Edward +the Fourth, who detested the present King and all his race—sailed to +Dublin with two thousand German soldiers of her providing. In this promising +state of the boy’s fortunes, he was crowned there, with a crown taken off +the head of a statue of the Virgin Mary; and was then, according to the Irish +custom of those days, carried home on the shoulders of a big chieftain +possessing a great deal more strength than sense. Father Simons, you may be +sure, was mighty busy at the coronation. +</p> + +<p> +Ten days afterwards, the Germans, and the Irish, and the priest, and the boy, +and the Earl of Lincoln, all landed in Lancashire to invade England. The King, +who had good intelligence of their movements, set up his standard at +Nottingham, where vast numbers resorted to him every day; while the Earl of +Lincoln could gain but very few. With his small force he tried to make for the +town of Newark; but the King’s army getting between him and that place, +he had no choice but to risk a battle at Stoke. It soon ended in the complete +destruction of the Pretender’s forces, one half of whom were killed; +among them, the Earl himself. The priest and the baker’s boy were taken +prisoners. The priest, after confessing the trick, was shut up in prison, where +he afterwards died—suddenly perhaps. The boy was taken into the +King’s kitchen and made a turnspit. He was afterwards raised to the +station of one of the King’s falconers; and so ended this strange +imposition. +</p> + +<p> +There seems reason to suspect that the Dowager Queen—always a restless +and busy woman—had had some share in tutoring the baker’s son. The +King was very angry with her, whether or no. He seized upon her property, and +shut her up in a convent at Bermondsey. +</p> + +<p> +One might suppose that the end of this story would have put the Irish people on +their guard; but they were quite ready to receive a second impostor, as they +had received the first, and that same troublesome Duchess of Burgundy soon gave +them the opportunity. All of a sudden there appeared at Cork, in a vessel +arriving from Portugal, a young man of excellent abilities, of very handsome +appearance and most winning manners, who declared himself to be Richard, Duke +of York, the second son of King Edward the Fourth. ‘O,’ said some, +even of those ready Irish believers, ‘but surely that young Prince was +murdered by his uncle in the Tower!’—‘It <i>is</i> supposed +so,’ said the engaging young man; ‘and my brother <i>was</i> killed +in that gloomy prison; but I escaped—it don’t matter how, at +present—and have been wandering about the world for seven long +years.’ This explanation being quite satisfactory to numbers of the Irish +people, they began again to shout and to hurrah, and to drink his health, and +to make the noisy and thirsty demonstrations all over again. And the big +chieftain in Dublin began to look out for another coronation, and another young +King to be carried home on his back. +</p> + +<p> +Now, King Henry being then on bad terms with France, the French King, Charles +the Eighth, saw that, by pretending to believe in the handsome young man, he +could trouble his enemy sorely. So, he invited him over to the French Court, +and appointed him a body-guard, and treated him in all respects as if he really +were the Duke of York. Peace, however, being soon concluded between the two +Kings, the pretended Duke was turned adrift, and wandered for protection to the +Duchess of Burgundy. She, after feigning to inquire into the reality of his +claims, declared him to be the very picture of her dear departed brother; gave +him a body-guard at her Court, of thirty halberdiers; and called him by the +sounding name of the White Rose of England. +</p> + +<p> +The leading members of the White Rose party in England sent over an agent, +named Sir Robert Clifford, to ascertain whether the White Rose’s claims +were good: the King also sent over his agents to inquire into the Rose’s +history. The White Roses declared the young man to be really the Duke of York; +the King declared him to be <span class="smcap">Perkin Warbeck</span>, the son +of a merchant of the city of Tournay, who had acquired his knowledge of +England, its language and manners, from the English merchants who traded in +Flanders; it was also stated by the Royal agents that he had been in the +service of Lady Brompton, the wife of an exiled English nobleman, and that the +Duchess of Burgundy had caused him to be trained and taught, expressly for this +deception. The King then required the Archduke Philip—who was the +sovereign of Burgundy—to banish this new Pretender, or to deliver him up; +but, as the Archduke replied that he could not control the Duchess in her own +land, the King, in revenge, took the market of English cloth away from Antwerp, +and prevented all commercial intercourse between the two countries. +</p> + +<p> +He also, by arts and bribes, prevailed on Sir Robert Clifford to betray his +employers; and he denouncing several famous English noblemen as being secretly +the friends of Perkin Warbeck, the King had three of the foremost executed at +once. Whether he pardoned the remainder because they were poor, I do not know; +but it is only too probable that he refused to pardon one famous nobleman +against whom the same Clifford soon afterwards informed separately, because he +was rich. This was no other than Sir William Stanley, who had saved the +King’s life at the battle of Bosworth Field. It is very doubtful whether +his treason amounted to much more than his having said, that if he were sure +the young man was the Duke of York, he would not take arms against him. +Whatever he had done he admitted, like an honourable spirit; and he lost his +head for it, and the covetous King gained all his wealth. +</p> + +<p> +Perkin Warbeck kept quiet for three years; but, as the Flemings began to +complain heavily of the loss of their trade by the stoppage of the Antwerp +market on his account, and as it was not unlikely that they might even go so +far as to take his life, or give him up, he found it necessary to do something. +Accordingly he made a desperate sally, and landed, with only a few hundred men, +on the coast of Deal. But he was soon glad to get back to the place from whence +he came; for the country people rose against his followers, killed a great +many, and took a hundred and fifty prisoners: who were all driven to London, +tied together with ropes, like a team of cattle. Every one of them was hanged +on some part or other of the sea-shore; in order, that if any more men should +come over with Perkin Warbeck, they might see the bodies as a warning before +they landed. +</p> + +<p> +Then the wary King, by making a treaty of commerce with the Flemings, drove +Perkin Warbeck out of that country; and, by completely gaining over the Irish +to his side, deprived him of that asylum too. He wandered away to Scotland, and +told his story at that Court. King James the Fourth of Scotland, who was no +friend to King Henry, and had no reason to be (for King Henry had bribed his +Scotch lords to betray him more than once; but had never succeeded in his +plots), gave him a great reception, called him his cousin, and gave him in +marriage the Lady Catherine Gordon, a beautiful and charming creature related +to the royal house of Stuart. +</p> + +<p> +Alarmed by this successful reappearance of the Pretender, the King still +undermined, and bought, and bribed, and kept his doings and Perkin +Warbeck’s story in the dark, when he might, one would imagine, have +rendered the matter clear to all England. But, for all this bribing of the +Scotch lords at the Scotch King’s Court, he could not procure the +Pretender to be delivered up to him. James, though not very particular in many +respects, would not betray him; and the ever-busy Duchess of Burgundy so +provided him with arms, and good soldiers, and with money besides, that he had +soon a little army of fifteen hundred men of various nations. With these, and +aided by the Scottish King in person, he crossed the border into England, and +made a proclamation to the people, in which he called the King ‘Henry +Tudor;’ offered large rewards to any who should take or distress him; and +announced himself as King Richard the Fourth come to receive the homage of his +faithful subjects. His faithful subjects, however, cared nothing for him, and +hated his faithful troops: who, being of different nations, quarrelled also +among themselves. Worse than this, if worse were possible, they began to +plunder the country; upon which the White Rose said, that he would rather lose +his rights, than gain them through the miseries of the English people. The +Scottish King made a jest of his scruples; but they and their whole force went +back again without fighting a battle. +</p> + +<p> +The worst consequence of this attempt was, that a rising took place among the +people of Cornwall, who considered themselves too heavily taxed to meet the +charges of the expected war. Stimulated by Flammock, a lawyer, and Joseph, a +blacksmith, and joined by Lord Audley and some other country gentlemen, they +marched on all the way to Deptford Bridge, where they fought a battle with the +King’s army. They were defeated—though the Cornish men fought with +great bravery—and the lord was beheaded, and the lawyer and the +blacksmith were hanged, drawn, and quartered. The rest were pardoned. The King, +who believed every man to be as avaricious as himself, and thought that money +could settle anything, allowed them to make bargains for their liberty with the +soldiers who had taken them. +</p> + +<p> +Perkin Warbeck, doomed to wander up and down, and never to find rest +anywhere—a sad fate: almost a sufficient punishment for an imposture, +which he seems in time to have half believed himself—lost his Scottish +refuge through a truce being made between the two Kings; and found himself, +once more, without a country before him in which he could lay his head. But +James (always honourable and true to him, alike when he melted down his plate, +and even the great gold chain he had been used to wear, to pay soldiers in his +cause; and now, when that cause was lost and hopeless) did not conclude the +treaty, until he had safely departed out of the Scottish dominions. He, and his +beautiful wife, who was faithful to him under all reverses, and left her state +and home to follow his poor fortunes, were put aboard ship with everything +necessary for their comfort and protection, and sailed for Ireland. +</p> + +<p> +But, the Irish people had had enough of counterfeit Earls of Warwick and Dukes +of York, for one while; and would give the White Rose no aid. So, the White +Rose—encircled by thorns indeed—resolved to go with his beautiful +wife to Cornwall as a forlorn resource, and see what might be made of the +Cornish men, who had risen so valiantly a little while before, and who had +fought so bravely at Deptford Bridge. +</p> + +<p> +To Whitsand Bay, in Cornwall, accordingly, came Perkin Warbeck and his wife; +and the lovely lady he shut up for safety in the Castle of St. Michael’s +Mount, and then marched into Devonshire at the head of three thousand +Cornishmen. These were increased to six thousand by the time of his arrival in +Exeter; but, there the people made a stout resistance, and he went on to +Taunton, where he came in sight of the King’s army. The stout Cornish +men, although they were few in number, and badly armed, were so bold, that they +never thought of retreating; but bravely looked forward to a battle on the +morrow. Unhappily for them, the man who was possessed of so many engaging +qualities, and who attracted so many people to his side when he had nothing +else with which to tempt them, was not as brave as they. In the night, when the +two armies lay opposite to each other, he mounted a swift horse and fled. When +morning dawned, the poor confiding Cornish men, discovering that they had no +leader, surrendered to the King’s power. Some of them were hanged, and +the rest were pardoned and went miserably home. +</p> + +<p> +Before the King pursued Perkin Warbeck to the sanctuary of Beaulieu in the New +Forest, where it was soon known that he had taken refuge, he sent a body of +horsemen to St. Michael’s Mount, to seize his wife. She was soon taken +and brought as a captive before the King. But she was so beautiful, and so +good, and so devoted to the man in whom she believed, that the King regarded +her with compassion, treated her with great respect, and placed her at Court, +near the Queen’s person. And many years after Perkin Warbeck was no more, +and when his strange story had become like a nursery tale, <i>she</i> was +called the White Rose, by the people, in remembrance of her beauty. +</p> + +<p> +The sanctuary at Beaulieu was soon surrounded by the King’s men; and the +King, pursuing his usual dark, artful ways, sent pretended friends to Perkin +Warbeck to persuade him to come out and surrender himself. This he soon did; +the King having taken a good look at the man of whom he had heard so +much—from behind a screen—directed him to be well mounted, and to +ride behind him at a little distance, guarded, but not bound in any way. So +they entered London with the King’s favourite show—a procession; +and some of the people hooted as the Pretender rode slowly through the streets +to the Tower; but the greater part were quiet, and very curious to see him. +From the Tower, he was taken to the Palace at Westminster, and there lodged +like a gentleman, though closely watched. He was examined every now and then as +to his imposture; but the King was so secret in all he did, that even then he +gave it a consequence, which it cannot be supposed to have in itself deserved. +</p> + +<p> +At last Perkin Warbeck ran away, and took refuge in another sanctuary near +Richmond in Surrey. From this he was again persuaded to deliver himself up; +and, being conveyed to London, he stood in the stocks for a whole day, outside +Westminster Hall, and there read a paper purporting to be his full confession, +and relating his history as the King’s agents had originally described +it. He was then shut up in the Tower again, in the company of the Earl of +Warwick, who had now been there for fourteen years: ever since his removal out +of Yorkshire, except when the King had had him at Court, and had shown him to +the people, to prove the imposture of the Baker’s boy. It is but too +probable, when we consider the crafty character of Henry the Seventh, that +these two were brought together for a cruel purpose. A plot was soon discovered +between them and the keepers, to murder the Governor, get possession of the +keys, and proclaim Perkin Warbeck as King Richard the Fourth. That there was +some such plot, is likely; that they were tempted into it, is at least as +likely; that the unfortunate Earl of Warwick—last male of the Plantagenet +line—was too unused to the world, and too ignorant and simple to know +much about it, whatever it was, is perfectly certain; and that it was the +King’s interest to get rid of him, is no less so. He was beheaded on +Tower Hill, and Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the end of the pretended Duke of York, whose shadowy history was made +more shadowy—and ever will be—by the mystery and craft of the King. +If he had turned his great natural advantages to a more honest account, he +might have lived a happy and respected life, even in those days. But he died +upon a gallows at Tyburn, leaving the Scottish lady, who had loved him so well, +kindly protected at the Queen’s Court. After some time she forgot her old +loves and troubles, as many people do with Time’s merciful assistance, +and married a Welsh gentleman. Her second husband, <span class="smcap">Sir +Matthew Cradoc</span>, more honest and more happy than her first, lies beside +her in a tomb in the old church of Swansea. +</p> + +<p> +The ill-blood between France and England in this reign, arose out of the +continued plotting of the Duchess of Burgundy, and disputes respecting the +affairs of Brittany. The King feigned to be very patriotic, indignant, and +warlike; but he always contrived so as never to make war in reality, and always +to make money. His taxation of the people, on pretence of war with France, +involved, at one time, a very dangerous insurrection, headed by Sir John +Egremont, and a common man called John à Chambre. But it was subdued by +the royal forces, under the command of the Earl of Surrey. The knighted John +escaped to the Duchess of Burgundy, who was ever ready to receive any one who +gave the King trouble; and the plain John was hanged at York, in the midst of a +number of his men, but on a much higher gibbet, as being a greater traitor. +Hung high or hung low, however, hanging is much the same to the person hung. +</p> + +<p> +Within a year after her marriage, the Queen had given birth to a son, who was +called Prince Arthur, in remembrance of the old British prince of romance and +story; and who, when all these events had happened, being then in his fifteenth +year, was married to <span class="smcap">Catherine</span>, the daughter of the +Spanish monarch, with great rejoicings and bright prospects; but in a very few +months he sickened and died. As soon as the King had recovered from his grief, +he thought it a pity that the fortune of the Spanish Princess, amounting to two +hundred thousand crowns, should go out of the family; and therefore arranged +that the young widow should marry his second son <span +class="smcap">Henry</span>, then twelve years of age, when he too should be +fifteen. There were objections to this marriage on the part of the clergy; but, +as the infallible Pope was gained over, and, as he <i>must</i> be right, that +settled the business for the time. The King’s eldest daughter was +provided for, and a long course of disturbance was considered to be set at +rest, by her being married to the Scottish King. +</p> + +<p> +And now the Queen died. When the King had got over that grief too, his mind +once more reverted to his darling money for consolation, and he thought of +marrying the Dowager Queen of Naples, who was immensely rich: but, as it turned +out not to be practicable to gain the money however practicable it might have +been to gain the lady, he gave up the idea. He was not so fond of her but that +he soon proposed to marry the Dowager Duchess of Savoy; and, soon afterwards, +the widow of the King of Castile, who was raving mad. But he made a +money-bargain instead, and married neither. +</p> + +<p> +The Duchess of Burgundy, among the other discontented people to whom she had +given refuge, had sheltered <span class="smcap">Edmund de la Pole</span> +(younger brother of that Earl of Lincoln who was killed at Stoke), now Earl of +Suffolk. The King had prevailed upon him to return to the marriage of Prince +Arthur; but, he soon afterwards went away again; and then the King, suspecting +a conspiracy, resorted to his favourite plan of sending him some treacherous +friends, and buying of those scoundrels the secrets they disclosed or invented. +Some arrests and executions took place in consequence. In the end, the King, on +a promise of not taking his life, obtained possession of the person of Edmund +de la Pole, and shut him up in the Tower. +</p> + +<p> +This was his last enemy. If he had lived much longer he would have made many +more among the people, by the grinding exaction to which he constantly exposed +them, and by the tyrannical acts of his two prime favourites in all +money-raising matters, <span class="smcap">Edmund Dudley</span> and <span +class="smcap">Richard Empson</span>. But Death—the enemy who is not to be +bought off or deceived, and on whom no money, and no treachery has any +effect—presented himself at this juncture, and ended the King’s +reign. He died of the gout, on the twenty-second of April, one thousand five +hundred and nine, and in the fifty-third year of his age, after reigning +twenty-four years; he was buried in the beautiful Chapel of Westminster Abbey, +which he had himself founded, and which still bears his name. +</p> + +<p> +It was in this reign that the great <span class="smcap">Christopher +Columbus</span>, on behalf of Spain, discovered what was then called The New +World. Great wonder, interest, and hope of wealth being awakened in England +thereby, the King and the merchants of London and Bristol fitted out an English +expedition for further discoveries in the New World, and entrusted it to <span +class="smcap">Sebastian Cabot</span>, of Bristol, the son of a Venetian pilot +there. He was very successful in his voyage, and gained high reputation, both +for himself and England. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap27"></a>CHAPTER XXVII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY KING HARRY</h2> + +<h3>PART THE FIRST</h3> + +<p> +We now come to King Henry the Eighth, whom it has been too much the fashion to +call ‘Bluff King Hal,’ and ‘Burly King Harry,’ and +other fine names; but whom I shall take the liberty to call, plainly, one of +the most detestable villains that ever drew breath. You will be able to judge, +long before we come to the end of his life, whether he deserves the character. +</p> + +<p> +He was just eighteen years of age when he came to the throne. People said he +was handsome then; but I don’t believe it. He was a big, burly, noisy, +small-eyed, large-faced, double-chinned, swinish-looking fellow in later life +(as we know from the likenesses of him, painted by the famous <span +class="smcap">Hans Holbein</span>), and it is not easy to believe that so bad a +character can ever have been veiled under a prepossessing appearance. +</p> + +<p> +He was anxious to make himself popular; and the people, who had long disliked +the late King, were very willing to believe that he deserved to be so. He was +extremely fond of show and display, and so were they. Therefore there was great +rejoicing when he married the Princess Catherine, and when they were both +crowned. And the King fought at tournaments and always came off +victorious—for the courtiers took care of that—and there was a +general outcry that he was a wonderful man. Empson, Dudley, and their +supporters were accused of a variety of crimes they had never committed, +instead of the offences of which they really had been guilty; and they were +pilloried, and set upon horses with their faces to the tails, and knocked about +and beheaded, to the satisfaction of the people, and the enrichment of the +King. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope, so indefatigable in getting the world into trouble, had mixed himself +up in a war on the continent of Europe, occasioned by the reigning Princes of +little quarrelling states in Italy having at various times married into other +Royal families, and so led to <i>their</i> claiming a share in those petty +Governments. The King, who discovered that he was very fond of the Pope, sent a +herald to the King of France, to say that he must not make war upon that holy +personage, because he was the father of all Christians. As the French King did +not mind this relationship in the least, and also refused to admit a claim King +Henry made to certain lands in France, war was declared between the two +countries. Not to perplex this story with an account of the tricks and designs +of all the sovereigns who were engaged in it, it is enough to say that England +made a blundering alliance with Spain, and got stupidly taken in by that +country; which made its own terms with France when it could and left England in +the lurch. <span class="smcap">Sir Edward Howard</span>, a bold admiral, son of +the Earl of Surrey, distinguished himself by his bravery against the French in +this business; but, unfortunately, he was more brave than wise, for, skimming +into the French harbour of Brest with only a few row-boats, he attempted (in +revenge for the defeat and death of <span class="smcap">Sir Thomas +Knyvett</span>, another bold English admiral) to take some strong French ships, +well defended with batteries of cannon. The upshot was, that he was left on +board of one of them (in consequence of its shooting away from his own boat), +with not more than about a dozen men, and was thrown into the sea and drowned: +though not until he had taken from his breast his gold chain and gold whistle, +which were the signs of his office, and had cast them into the sea to prevent +their being made a boast of by the enemy. After this defeat—which was a +great one, for Sir Edward Howard was a man of valour and fame—the King +took it into his head to invade France in person; first executing that +dangerous Earl of Suffolk whom his father had left in the Tower, and appointing +Queen Catherine to the charge of his kingdom in his absence. He sailed to +Calais, where he was joined by <span class="smcap">Maximilian</span>, Emperor +of Germany, who pretended to be his soldier, and who took pay in his service: +with a good deal of nonsense of that sort, flattering enough to the vanity of a +vain blusterer. The King might be successful enough in sham fights; but his +idea of real battles chiefly consisted in pitching silken tents of bright +colours that were ignominiously blown down by the wind, and in making a vast +display of gaudy flags and golden curtains. Fortune, however, favoured him +better than he deserved; for, after much waste of time in tent pitching, flag +flying, gold curtaining, and other such masquerading, he gave the French battle +at a place called Guinegate: where they took such an unaccountable panic, and +fled with such swiftness, that it was ever afterwards called by the English the +Battle of Spurs. Instead of following up his advantage, the King, finding that +he had had enough of real fighting, came home again. +</p> + +<p> +The Scottish King, though nearly related to Henry by marriage, had taken part +against him in this war. The Earl of Surrey, as the English general, advanced +to meet him when he came out of his own dominions and crossed the river Tweed. +The two armies came up with one another when the Scottish King had also crossed +the river Till, and was encamped upon the last of the Cheviot Hills, called the +Hill of Flodden. Along the plain below it, the English, when the hour of battle +came, advanced. The Scottish army, which had been drawn up in five great +bodies, then came steadily down in perfect silence. So they, in their turn, +advanced to meet the English army, which came on in one long line; and they +attacked it with a body of spearmen, under <span class="smcap">Lord +Home</span>. At first they had the best of it; but the English recovered +themselves so bravely, and fought with such valour, that, when the Scottish +King had almost made his way up to the Royal Standard, he was slain, and the +whole Scottish power routed. Ten thousand Scottish men lay dead that day on +Flodden Field; and among them, numbers of the nobility and gentry. For a long +time afterwards, the Scottish peasantry used to believe that their King had not +been really killed in this battle, because no Englishman had found an iron belt +he wore about his body as a penance for having been an unnatural and undutiful +son. But, whatever became of his belt, the English had his sword and dagger, +and the ring from his finger, and his body too, covered with wounds. There is +no doubt of it; for it was seen and recognised by English gentlemen who had +known the Scottish King well. +</p> + +<p> +When King Henry was making ready to renew the war in France, the French King +was contemplating peace. His queen, dying at this time, he proposed, though he +was upwards of fifty years old, to marry King Henry’s sister, the +Princess Mary, who, besides being only sixteen, was betrothed to the Duke of +Suffolk. As the inclinations of young Princesses were not much considered in +such matters, the marriage was concluded, and the poor girl was escorted to +France, where she was immediately left as the French King’s bride, with +only one of all her English attendants. That one was a pretty young girl named +<span class="smcap">Anne Boleyn</span>, niece of the Earl of Surrey, who had +been made Duke of Norfolk, after the victory of Flodden Field. Anne +Boleyn’s is a name to be remembered, as you will presently find. +</p> + +<p> +And now the French King, who was very proud of his young wife, was preparing +for many years of happiness, and she was looking forward, I dare say, to many +years of misery, when he died within three months, and left her a young widow. +The new French monarch, <span class="smcap">Francis the First</span>, seeing +how important it was to his interests that she should take for her second +husband no one but an Englishman, advised her first lover, the Duke of Suffolk, +when King Henry sent him over to France to fetch her home, to marry her. The +Princess being herself so fond of that Duke, as to tell him that he must either +do so then, or for ever lose her, they were wedded; and Henry afterwards +forgave them. In making interest with the King, the Duke of Suffolk had +addressed his most powerful favourite and adviser, <span class="smcap">Thomas +Wolsey</span>—a name very famous in history for its rise and downfall. +</p> + +<p> +Wolsey was the son of a respectable butcher at Ipswich, in Suffolk and received +so excellent an education that he became a tutor to the family of the Marquis +of Dorset, who afterwards got him appointed one of the late King’s +chaplains. On the accession of Henry the Eighth, he was promoted and taken into +great favour. He was now Archbishop of York; the Pope had made him a Cardinal +besides; and whoever wanted influence in England or favour with the +King—whether he were a foreign monarch or an English nobleman—was +obliged to make a friend of the great Cardinal Wolsey. +</p> + +<p> +He was a gay man, who could dance and jest, and sing and drink; and those were +the roads to so much, or rather so little, of a heart as King Henry had. He was +wonderfully fond of pomp and glitter, and so was the King. He knew a good deal +of the Church learning of that time; much of which consisted in finding artful +excuses and pretences for almost any wrong thing, and in arguing that black was +white, or any other colour. This kind of learning pleased the King too. For +many such reasons, the Cardinal was high in estimation with the King; and, +being a man of far greater ability, knew as well how to manage him, as a clever +keeper may know how to manage a wolf or a tiger, or any other cruel and +uncertain beast, that may turn upon him and tear him any day. Never had there +been seen in England such state as my Lord Cardinal kept. His wealth was +enormous; equal, it was reckoned, to the riches of the Crown. His palaces were +as splendid as the King’s, and his retinue was eight hundred strong. He +held his Court, dressed out from top to toe in flaming scarlet; and his very +shoes were golden, set with precious stones. His followers rode on blood +horses; while he, with a wonderful affectation of humility in the midst of his +great splendour, ambled on a mule with a red velvet saddle and bridle and +golden stirrups. +</p> + +<p> +Through the influence of this stately priest, a grand meeting was arranged to +take place between the French and English Kings in France; but on ground +belonging to England. A prodigious show of friendship and rejoicing was to be +made on the occasion; and heralds were sent to proclaim with brazen trumpets +through all the principal cities of Europe, that, on a certain day, the Kings +of France and England, as companions and brothers in arms, each attended by +eighteen followers, would hold a tournament against all knights who might +choose to come. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Charles</span>, the new Emperor of Germany (the old one +being dead), wanted to prevent too cordial an alliance between these +sovereigns, and came over to England before the King could repair to the place +of meeting; and, besides making an agreeable impression upon him, secured +Wolsey’s interest by promising that his influence should make him Pope +when the next vacancy occurred. On the day when the Emperor left England, the +King and all the Court went over to Calais, and thence to the place of meeting, +between Ardres and Guisnes, commonly called the Field of the Cloth of Gold. +Here, all manner of expense and prodigality was lavished on the decorations of +the show; many of the knights and gentlemen being so superbly dressed that it +was said they carried their whole estates upon their shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +There were sham castles, temporary chapels, fountains running wine, great +cellars full of wine free as water to all comers, silk tents, gold lace and +foil, gilt lions, and such things without end; and, in the midst of all, the +rich Cardinal out-shone and out-glittered all the noblemen and gentlemen +assembled. After a treaty made between the two Kings with as much solemnity as +if they had intended to keep it, the lists—nine hundred feet long, and +three hundred and twenty broad—were opened for the tournament; the Queens +of France and England looking on with great array of lords and ladies. Then, +for ten days, the two sovereigns fought five combats every day, and always beat +their polite adversaries; though they <i>do</i> write that the King of England, +being thrown in a wrestle one day by the King of France, lost his kingly temper +with his brother-in-arms, and wanted to make a quarrel of it. Then, there is a +great story belonging to this Field of the Cloth of Gold, showing how the +English were distrustful of the French, and the French of the English, until +Francis rode alone one morning to Henry’s tent; and, going in before he +was out of bed, told him in joke that he was his prisoner; and how Henry jumped +out of bed and embraced Francis; and how Francis helped Henry to dress, and +warmed his linen for him; and how Henry gave Francis a splendid jewelled +collar, and how Francis gave Henry, in return, a costly bracelet. All this and +a great deal more was so written about, and sung about, and talked about at +that time (and, indeed, since that time too), that the world has had good cause +to be sick of it, for ever. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, nothing came of all these fine doings but a speedy renewal of the +war between England and France, in which the two Royal companions and brothers +in arms longed very earnestly to damage one another. But, before it broke out +again, the Duke of Buckingham was shamefully executed on Tower Hill, on the +evidence of a discharged servant—really for nothing, except the folly of +having believed in a friar of the name of <span class="smcap">Hopkins</span>, +who had pretended to be a prophet, and who had mumbled and jumbled out some +nonsense about the Duke’s son being destined to be very great in the +land. It was believed that the unfortunate Duke had given offence to the great +Cardinal by expressing his mind freely about the expense and absurdity of the +whole business of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At any rate, he was beheaded, +as I have said, for nothing. And the people who saw it done were very angry, +and cried out that it was the work of ‘the butcher’s son!’ +</p> + +<p> +The new war was a short one, though the Earl of Surrey invaded France again, +and did some injury to that country. It ended in another treaty of peace +between the two kingdoms, and in the discovery that the Emperor of Germany was +not such a good friend to England in reality, as he pretended to be. Neither +did he keep his promise to Wolsey to make him Pope, though the King urged him. +Two Popes died in pretty quick succession; but the foreign priests were too +much for the Cardinal, and kept him out of the post. So the Cardinal and King +together found out that the Emperor of Germany was not a man to keep faith +with; broke off a projected marriage between the King’s daughter <span +class="smcap">Mary</span>, Princess of Wales, and that sovereign; and began to +consider whether it might not be well to marry the young lady, either to +Francis himself, or to his eldest son. +</p> + +<p> +There now arose at Wittemberg, in Germany, the great leader of the mighty +change in England which is called The Reformation, and which set the people +free from their slavery to the priests. This was a learned Doctor, named <span +class="smcap">Martin Luther</span>, who knew all about them, for he had been a +priest, and even a monk, himself. The preaching and writing of Wickliffe had +set a number of men thinking on this subject; and Luther, finding one day to +his great surprise, that there really was a book called the New Testament which +the priests did not allow to be read, and which contained truths that they +suppressed, began to be very vigorous against the whole body, from the Pope +downward. It happened, while he was yet only beginning his vast work of +awakening the nation, that an impudent fellow named <span +class="smcap">Tetzel</span>, a friar of very bad character, came into his +neighbourhood selling what were called Indulgences, by wholesale, to raise +money for beautifying the great Cathedral of St. Peter’s, at Rome. +Whoever bought an Indulgence of the Pope was supposed to buy himself off from +the punishment of Heaven for his offences. Luther told the people that these +Indulgences were worthless bits of paper, before God, and that Tetzel and his +masters were a crew of impostors in selling them. +</p> + +<p> +The King and the Cardinal were mightily indignant at this presumption; and the +King (with the help of <span class="smcap">Sir Thomas More</span>, a wise man, +whom he afterwards repaid by striking off his head) even wrote a book about it, +with which the Pope was so well pleased that he gave the King the title of +Defender of the Faith. The King and the Cardinal also issued flaming warnings +to the people not to read Luther’s books, on pain of excommunication. But +they did read them for all that; and the rumour of what was in them spread far +and wide. +</p> + +<p> +When this great change was thus going on, the King began to show himself in his +truest and worst colours. Anne Boleyn, the pretty little girl who had gone +abroad to France with his sister, was by this time grown up to be very +beautiful, and was one of the ladies in attendance on Queen Catherine. Now, +Queen Catherine was no longer young or handsome, and it is likely that she was +not particularly good-tempered; having been always rather melancholy, and +having been made more so by the deaths of four of her children when they were +very young. So, the King fell in love with the fair Anne Boleyn, and said to +himself, ‘How can I be best rid of my own troublesome wife whom I am +tired of, and marry Anne?’ +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a href="images/p0b.jpg"> +<img alt="Catherine was old, so he fell in love with Anne Boleyn" +src="images/p0s.jpg" /></a> +</div> + +<p> +You recollect that Queen Catherine had been the wife of Henry’s brother. +What does the King do, after thinking it over, but calls his favourite priests +about him, and says, O! his mind is in such a dreadful state, and he is so +frightfully uneasy, because he is afraid it was not lawful for him to marry the +Queen! Not one of those priests had the courage to hint that it was rather +curious he had never thought of that before, and that his mind seemed to have +been in a tolerably jolly condition during a great many years, in which he +certainly had not fretted himself thin; but, they all said, Ah! that was very +true, and it was a serious business; and perhaps the best way to make it right, +would be for his Majesty to be divorced! The King replied, Yes, he thought that +would be the best way, certainly; so they all went to work. +</p> + +<p> +If I were to relate to you the intrigues and plots that took place in the +endeavour to get this divorce, you would think the History of England the most +tiresome book in the world. So I shall say no more, than that after a vast deal +of negotiation and evasion, the Pope issued a commission to Cardinal Wolsey and +<span class="smcap">Cardinal Campeggio</span> (whom he sent over from Italy for +the purpose), to try the whole case in England. It is supposed—and I +think with reason—that Wolsey was the Queen’s enemy, because she +had reproved him for his proud and gorgeous manner of life. But, he did not at +first know that the King wanted to marry Anne Boleyn; and when he did know it, +he even went down on his knees, in the endeavour to dissuade him. +</p> + +<p> +The Cardinals opened their court in the Convent of the Black Friars, near to +where the bridge of that name in London now stands; and the King and Queen, +that they might be near it, took up their lodgings at the adjoining palace of +Bridewell, of which nothing now remains but a bad prison. On the opening of the +court, when the King and Queen were called on to appear, that poor ill-used +lady, with a dignity and firmness and yet with a womanly affection worthy to be +always admired, went and kneeled at the King’s feet, and said that she +had come, a stranger, to his dominions; that she had been a good and true wife +to him for twenty years; and that she could acknowledge no power in those +Cardinals to try whether she should be considered his wife after all that time, +or should be put away. With that, she got up and left the court, and would +never afterwards come back to it. +</p> + +<p> +The King pretended to be very much overcome, and said, O! my lords and +gentlemen, what a good woman she was to be sure, and how delighted he would be +to live with her unto death, but for that terrible uneasiness in his mind which +was quite wearing him away! So, the case went on, and there was nothing but +talk for two months. Then Cardinal Campeggio, who, on behalf of the Pope, +wanted nothing so much as delay, adjourned it for two more months; and before +that time was elapsed, the Pope himself adjourned it indefinitely, by requiring +the King and Queen to come to Rome and have it tried there. But by good luck +for the King, word was brought to him by some of his people, that they had +happened to meet at supper, <span class="smcap">Thomas Cranmer</span>, a +learned Doctor of Cambridge, who had proposed to urge the Pope on, by referring +the case to all the learned doctors and bishops, here and there and everywhere, +and getting their opinions that the King’s marriage was unlawful. The +King, who was now in a hurry to marry Anne Boleyn, thought this such a good +idea, that he sent for Cranmer, post haste, and said to <span +class="smcap">Lord Rochfort</span>, Anne Boleyn’s father, ‘Take +this learned Doctor down to your country-house, and there let him have a good +room for a study, and no end of books out of which to prove that I may marry +your daughter.’ Lord Rochfort, not at all reluctant, made the learned +Doctor as comfortable as he could; and the learned Doctor went to work to prove +his case. All this time, the King and Anne Boleyn were writing letters to one +another almost daily, full of impatience to have the case settled; and Anne +Boleyn was showing herself (as I think) very worthy of the fate which +afterwards befel her. +</p> + +<p> +It was bad for Cardinal Wolsey that he had left Cranmer to render this help. It +was worse for him that he had tried to dissuade the King from marrying Anne +Boleyn. Such a servant as he, to such a master as Henry, would probably have +fallen in any case; but, between the hatred of the party of the Queen that was, +and the hatred of the party of the Queen that was to be, he fell suddenly and +heavily. Going down one day to the Court of Chancery, where he now presided, he +was waited upon by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, who told him that they +brought an order to him to resign that office, and to withdraw quietly to a +house he had at Esher, in Surrey. The Cardinal refusing, they rode off to the +King; and next day came back with a letter from him, on reading which, the +Cardinal submitted. An inventory was made out of all the riches in his palace +at York Place (now Whitehall), and he went sorrowfully up the river, in his +barge, to Putney. An abject man he was, in spite of his pride; for being +overtaken, riding out of that place towards Esher, by one of the King’s +chamberlains who brought him a kind message and a ring, he alighted from his +mule, took off his cap, and kneeled down in the dirt. His poor Fool, whom in +his prosperous days he had always kept in his palace to entertain him, cut a +far better figure than he; for, when the Cardinal said to the chamberlain that +he had nothing to send to his lord the King as a present, but that jester who +was a most excellent one, it took six strong yeomen to remove the faithful fool +from his master. +</p> + +<p> +The once proud Cardinal was soon further disgraced, and wrote the most abject +letters to his vile sovereign; who humbled him one day and encouraged him the +next, according to his humour, until he was at last ordered to go and reside in +his diocese of York. He said he was too poor; but I don’t know how he +made that out, for he took a hundred and sixty servants with him, and +seventy-two cart-loads of furniture, food, and wine. He remained in that part +of the country for the best part of a year, and showed himself so improved by +his misfortunes, and was so mild and so conciliating, that he won all hearts. +And indeed, even in his proud days, he had done some magnificent things for +learning and education. At last, he was arrested for high treason; and, coming +slowly on his journey towards London, got as far as Leicester. Arriving at +Leicester Abbey after dark, and very ill, he said—when the monks came out +at the gate with lighted torches to receive him—that he had come to lay +his bones among them. He had indeed; for he was taken to a bed, from which he +never rose again. His last words were, ‘Had I but served God as +diligently as I have served the King, He would not have given me over, in my +grey hairs. Howbeit, this is my just reward for my pains and diligence, not +regarding my service to God, but only my duty to my prince.’ The news of +his death was quickly carried to the King, who was amusing himself with archery +in the garden of the magnificent Palace at Hampton Court, which that very +Wolsey had presented to him. The greatest emotion his royal mind displayed at +the loss of a servant so faithful and so ruined, was a particular desire to lay +hold of fifteen hundred pounds which the Cardinal was reported to have hidden +somewhere. +</p> + +<p> +The opinions concerning the divorce, of the learned doctors and bishops and +others, being at last collected, and being generally in the King’s +favour, were forwarded to the Pope, with an entreaty that he would now grant +it. The unfortunate Pope, who was a timid man, was half distracted between his +fear of his authority being set aside in England if he did not do as he was +asked, and his dread of offending the Emperor of Germany, who was Queen +Catherine’s nephew. In this state of mind he still evaded and did +nothing. Then, <span class="smcap">Thomas Cromwell</span>, who had been one of +Wolsey’s faithful attendants, and had remained so even in his decline, +advised the King to take the matter into his own hands, and make himself the +head of the whole Church. This, the King by various artful means, began to do; +but he recompensed the clergy by allowing them to burn as many people as they +pleased, for holding Luther’s opinions. You must understand that Sir +Thomas More, the wise man who had helped the King with his book, had been made +Chancellor in Wolsey’s place. But, as he was truly attached to the Church +as it was even in its abuses, he, in this state of things, resigned. +</p> + +<p> +Being now quite resolved to get rid of Queen Catherine, and to marry Anne +Boleyn without more ado, the King made Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, and +directed Queen Catherine to leave the Court. She obeyed; but replied that +wherever she went, she was Queen of England still, and would remain so, to the +last. The King then married Anne Boleyn privately; and the new Archbishop of +Canterbury, within half a year, declared his marriage with Queen Catherine +void, and crowned Anne Boleyn Queen. +</p> + +<p> +She might have known that no good could ever come from such wrong, and that the +corpulent brute who had been so faithless and so cruel to his first wife, could +be more faithless and more cruel to his second. She might have known that, even +when he was in love with her, he had been a mean and selfish coward, running +away, like a frightened cur, from her society and her house, when a dangerous +sickness broke out in it, and when she might easily have taken it and died, as +several of the household did. But, Anne Boleyn arrived at all this knowledge +too late, and bought it at a dear price. Her bad marriage with a worse man came +to its natural end. Its natural end was not, as we shall too soon see, a +natural death for her. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap28"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH</h2> + +<h3>PART THE SECOND</h3> + +<p> +The Pope was thrown into a very angry state of mind when he heard of the +King’s marriage, and fumed exceedingly. Many of the English monks and +friars, seeing that their order was in danger, did the same; some even +declaimed against the King in church before his face, and were not to be +stopped until he himself roared out ‘Silence!’ The King, not much +the worse for this, took it pretty quietly; and was very glad when his Queen +gave birth to a daughter, who was christened <span +class="smcap">Elizabeth</span>, and declared Princess of Wales as her sister +Mary had already been. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most atrocious features of this reign was that Henry the Eighth was +always trimming between the reformed religion and the unreformed one; so that +the more he quarrelled with the Pope, the more of his own subjects he roasted +alive for not holding the Pope’s opinions. Thus, an unfortunate student +named John Frith, and a poor simple tailor named Andrew Hewet who loved him +very much, and said that whatever John Frith believed <i>he</i> believed, were +burnt in Smithfield—to show what a capital Christian the King was. +</p> + +<p> +But, these were speedily followed by two much greater victims, Sir Thomas More, +and John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. The latter, who was a good and +amiable old man, had committed no greater offence than believing in Elizabeth +Barton, called the Maid of Kent—another of those ridiculous women who +pretended to be inspired, and to make all sorts of heavenly revelations, though +they indeed uttered nothing but evil nonsense. For this offence—as it was +pretended, but really for denying the King to be the supreme Head of the +Church—he got into trouble, and was put in prison; but, even then, he +might have been suffered to die naturally (short work having been made of +executing the Kentish Maid and her principal followers), but that the Pope, to +spite the King, resolved to make him a cardinal. Upon that the King made a +ferocious joke to the effect that the Pope might send Fisher a red +hat—which is the way they make a cardinal—but he should have no +head on which to wear it; and he was tried with all unfairness and injustice, +and sentenced to death. He died like a noble and virtuous old man, and left a +worthy name behind him. The King supposed, I dare say, that Sir Thomas More +would be frightened by this example; but, as he was not to be easily terrified, +and, thoroughly believing in the Pope, had made up his mind that the King was +not the rightful Head of the Church, he positively refused to say that he was. +For this crime he too was tried and sentenced, after having been in prison a +whole year. When he was doomed to death, and came away from his trial with the +edge of the executioner’s axe turned towards him—as was always done +in those times when a state prisoner came to that hopeless pass—he bore +it quite serenely, and gave his blessing to his son, who pressed through the +crowd in Westminster Hall and kneeled down to receive it. But, when he got to +the Tower Wharf on his way back to his prison, and his favourite daughter, +<span class="smcap">Margaret Roper</span>, a very good woman, rushed through +the guards again and again, to kiss him and to weep upon his neck, he was +overcome at last. He soon recovered, and never more showed any feeling but +cheerfulness and courage. When he was going up the steps of the scaffold to his +death, he said jokingly to the Lieutenant of the Tower, observing that they +were weak and shook beneath his tread, ‘I pray you, master Lieutenant, +see me safe up; and, for my coming down, I can shift for myself.’ Also he +said to the executioner, after he had laid his head upon the block, ‘Let +me put my beard out of the way; for that, at least, has never committed any +treason.’ Then his head was struck off at a blow. These two executions +were worthy of King Henry the Eighth. Sir Thomas More was one of the most +virtuous men in his dominions, and the Bishop was one of his oldest and truest +friends. But to be a friend of that fellow was almost as dangerous as to be his +wife. +</p> + +<p> +When the news of these two murders got to Rome, the Pope raged against the +murderer more than ever Pope raged since the world began, and prepared a Bull, +ordering his subjects to take arms against him and dethrone him. The King took +all possible precautions to keep that document out of his dominions, and set to +work in return to suppress a great number of the English monasteries and +abbeys. +</p> + +<p> +This destruction was begun by a body of commissioners, of whom Cromwell (whom +the King had taken into great favour) was the head; and was carried on through +some few years to its entire completion. There is no doubt that many of these +religious establishments were religious in nothing but in name, and were +crammed with lazy, indolent, and sensual monks. There is no doubt that they +imposed upon the people in every possible way; that they had images moved by +wires, which they pretended were miraculously moved by Heaven; that they had +among them a whole tun measure full of teeth, all purporting to have come out +of the head of one saint, who must indeed have been a very extraordinary person +with that enormous allowance of grinders; that they had bits of coal which they +said had fried Saint Lawrence, and bits of toe-nails which they said belonged +to other famous saints; penknives, and boots, and girdles, which they said +belonged to others; and that all these bits of rubbish were called Relics, and +adored by the ignorant people. But, on the other hand, there is no doubt +either, that the King’s officers and men punished the good monks with the +bad; did great injustice; demolished many beautiful things and many valuable +libraries; destroyed numbers of paintings, stained glass windows, fine +pavements, and carvings; and that the whole court were ravenously greedy and +rapacious for the division of this great spoil among them. The King seems to +have grown almost mad in the ardour of this pursuit; for he declared Thomas +à Becket a traitor, though he had been dead so many years, and had his +body dug up out of his grave. He must have been as miraculous as the monks +pretended, if they had told the truth, for he was found with one head on his +shoulders, and they had shown another as his undoubted and genuine head ever +since his death; it had brought them vast sums of money, too. The gold and +jewels on his shrine filled two great chests, and eight men tottered as they +carried them away. How rich the monasteries were you may infer from the fact +that, when they were all suppressed, one hundred and thirty thousand pounds a +year—in those days an immense sum—came to the Crown. +</p> + +<p> +These things were not done without causing great discontent among the people. +The monks had been good landlords and hospitable entertainers of all +travellers, and had been accustomed to give away a great deal of corn, and +fruit, and meat, and other things. In those days it was difficult to change +goods into money, in consequence of the roads being very few and very bad, and +the carts, and waggons of the worst description; and they must either have +given away some of the good things they possessed in enormous quantities, or +have suffered them to spoil and moulder. So, many of the people missed what it +was more agreeable to get idly than to work for; and the monks who were driven +out of their homes and wandered about encouraged their discontent; and there +were, consequently, great risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. These were put +down by terrific executions, from which the monks themselves did not escape, +and the King went on grunting and growling in his own fat way, like a Royal +pig. +</p> + +<p> +I have told all this story of the religious houses at one time, to make it +plainer, and to get back to the King’s domestic affairs. +</p> + +<p> +The unfortunate Queen Catherine was by this time dead; and the King was by this +time as tired of his second Queen as he had been of his first. As he had fallen +in love with Anne when she was in the service of Catherine, so he now fell in +love with another lady in the service of Anne. See how wicked deeds are +punished, and how bitterly and self-reproachfully the Queen must now have +thought of her own rise to the throne! The new fancy was a <span +class="smcap">Lady Jane Seymour</span>; and the King no sooner set his mind on +her, than he resolved to have Anne Boleyn’s head. So, he brought a number +of charges against Anne, accusing her of dreadful crimes which she had never +committed, and implicating in them her own brother and certain gentlemen in her +service: among whom one Norris, and Mark Smeaton a musician, are best +remembered. As the lords and councillors were as afraid of the King and as +subservient to him as the meanest peasant in England was, they brought in Anne +Boleyn guilty, and the other unfortunate persons accused with her, guilty too. +Those gentlemen died like men, with the exception of Smeaton, who had been +tempted by the King into telling lies, which he called confessions, and who had +expected to be pardoned; but who, I am very glad to say, was not. There was +then only the Queen to dispose of. She had been surrounded in the Tower with +women spies; had been monstrously persecuted and foully slandered; and had +received no justice. But her spirit rose with her afflictions; and, after +having in vain tried to soften the King by writing an affecting letter to him +which still exists, ‘from her doleful prison in the Tower,’ she +resigned herself to death. She said to those about her, very cheerfully, that +she had heard say the executioner was a good one, and that she had a little +neck (she laughed and clasped it with her hands as she said that), and would +soon be out of her pain. And she <i>was</i> soon out of her pain, poor +creature, on the Green inside the Tower, and her body was flung into an old box +and put away in the ground under the chapel. +</p> + +<p> +There is a story that the King sat in his palace listening very anxiously for +the sound of the cannon which was to announce this new murder; and that, when +he heard it come booming on the air, he rose up in great spirits and ordered +out his dogs to go a-hunting. He was bad enough to do it; but whether he did it +or not, it is certain that he married Jane Seymour the very next day. +</p> + +<p> +I have not much pleasure in recording that she lived just long enough to give +birth to a son who was christened <span class="smcap">Edward</span>, and then +to die of a fever: for, I cannot but think that any woman who married such a +ruffian, and knew what innocent blood was on his hands, deserved the axe that +would assuredly have fallen on the neck of Jane Seymour, if she had lived much +longer. +</p> + +<p> +Cranmer had done what he could to save some of the Church property for purposes +of religion and education; but, the great families had been so hungry to get +hold of it, that very little could be rescued for such objects. Even <span +class="smcap">Miles Coverdale</span>, who did the people the inestimable +service of translating the Bible into English (which the unreformed religion +never permitted to be done), was left in poverty while the great families +clutched the Church lands and money. The people had been told that when the +Crown came into possession of these funds, it would not be necessary to tax +them; but they were taxed afresh directly afterwards. It was fortunate for +them, indeed, that so many nobles were so greedy for this wealth; since, if it +had remained with the Crown, there might have been no end to tyranny for +hundreds of years. One of the most active writers on the Church’s side +against the King was a member of his own family—a sort of distant cousin, +<span class="smcap">Reginald Pole</span> by name—who attacked him in the +most violent manner (though he received a pension from him all the time), and +fought for the Church with his pen, day and night. As he was beyond the +King’s reach—being in Italy—the King politely invited him +over to discuss the subject; but he, knowing better than to come, and wisely +staying where he was, the King’s rage fell upon his brother Lord +Montague, the Marquis of Exeter, and some other gentlemen: who were tried for +high treason in corresponding with him and aiding him—which they probably +did—and were all executed. The Pope made Reginald Pole a cardinal; but, +so much against his will, that it is thought he even aspired in his own mind to +the vacant throne of England, and had hopes of marrying the Princess Mary. His +being made a high priest, however, put an end to all that. His mother, the +venerable Countess of Salisbury—who was, unfortunately for herself, +within the tyrant’s reach—was the last of his relatives on whom his +wrath fell. When she was told to lay her grey head upon the block, she answered +the executioner, ‘No! My head never committed treason, and if you want +it, you shall seize it.’ So, she ran round and round the scaffold with +the executioner striking at her, and her grey hair bedabbled with blood; and +even when they held her down upon the block she moved her head about to the +last, resolved to be no party to her own barbarous murder. All this the people +bore, as they had borne everything else. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed they bore much more; for the slow fires of Smithfield were continually +burning, and people were constantly being roasted to death—still to show +what a good Christian the King was. He defied the Pope and his Bull, which was +now issued, and had come into England; but he burned innumerable people whose +only offence was that they differed from the Pope’s religious opinions. +There was a wretched man named <span class="smcap">Lambert</span>, among +others, who was tried for this before the King, and with whom six bishops +argued one after another. When he was quite exhausted (as well he might be, +after six bishops), he threw himself on the King’s mercy; but the King +blustered out that he had no mercy for heretics. So, <i>he</i> too fed the +fire. +</p> + +<p> +All this the people bore, and more than all this yet. The national spirit seems +to have been banished from the kingdom at this time. The very people who were +executed for treason, the very wives and friends of the ‘bluff’ +King, spoke of him on the scaffold as a good prince, and a gentle +prince—just as serfs in similar circumstances have been known to do, +under the Sultan and Bashaws of the East, or under the fierce old tyrants of +Russia, who poured boiling and freezing water on them alternately, until they +died. The Parliament were as bad as the rest, and gave the King whatever he +wanted; among other vile accommodations, they gave him new powers of murdering, +at his will and pleasure, any one whom he might choose to call a traitor. But +the worst measure they passed was an Act of Six Articles, commonly called at +the time ‘the whip with six strings;’ which punished offences +against the Pope’s opinions, without mercy, and enforced the very worst +parts of the monkish religion. Cranmer would have modified it, if he could; +but, being overborne by the Romish party, had not the power. As one of the +articles declared that priests should not marry, and as he was married himself, +he sent his wife and children into Germany, and began to tremble at his danger; +none the less because he was, and had long been, the King’s friend. This +whip of six strings was made under the King’s own eye. It should never be +forgotten of him how cruelly he supported the worst of the Popish doctrines +when there was nothing to be got by opposing them. +</p> + +<p> +This amiable monarch now thought of taking another wife. He proposed to the +French King to have some of the ladies of the French Court exhibited before +him, that he might make his Royal choice; but the French King answered that he +would rather not have his ladies trotted out to be shown like horses at a fair. +He proposed to the Dowager Duchess of Milan, who replied that she might have +thought of such a match if she had had two heads; but, that only owning one, +she must beg to keep it safe. At last Cromwell represented that there was a +Protestant Princess in Germany—those who held the reformed religion were +called Protestants, because their leaders had Protested against the abuses and +impositions of the unreformed Church—named <span class="smcap">Anne of +Cleves</span>, who was beautiful, and would answer the purpose admirably. The +King said was she a large woman, because he must have a fat wife? ‘O +yes,’ said Cromwell; ‘she was very large, just the thing.’ On +hearing this the King sent over his famous painter, Hans Holbein, to take her +portrait. Hans made her out to be so good-looking that the King was satisfied, +and the marriage was arranged. But, whether anybody had paid Hans to touch up +the picture; or whether Hans, like one or two other painters, flattered a +princess in the ordinary way of business, I cannot say: all I know is, that +when Anne came over and the King went to Rochester to meet her, and first saw +her without her seeing him, he swore she was ‘a great Flanders +mare,’ and said he would never marry her. Being obliged to do it now +matters had gone so far, he would not give her the presents he had prepared, +and would never notice her. He never forgave Cromwell his part in the affair. +His downfall dates from that time. +</p> + +<p> +It was quickened by his enemies, in the interests of the unreformed religion, +putting in the King’s way, at a state dinner, a niece of the Duke of +Norfolk, <span class="smcap">Catherine Howard</span>, a young lady of +fascinating manners, though small in stature and not particularly beautiful. +Falling in love with her on the spot, the King soon divorced Anne of Cleves +after making her the subject of much brutal talk, on pretence that she had been +previously betrothed to some one else—which would never do for one of his +dignity—and married Catherine. It is probable that on his wedding day, of +all days in the year, he sent his faithful Cromwell to the scaffold, and had +his head struck off. He further celebrated the occasion by burning at one time, +and causing to be drawn to the fire on the same hurdles, some Protestant +prisoners for denying the Pope’s doctrines, and some Roman Catholic +prisoners for denying his own supremacy. Still the people bore it, and not a +gentleman in England raised his hand. +</p> + +<p> +But, by a just retribution, it soon came out that Catherine Howard, before her +marriage, had been really guilty of such crimes as the King had falsely +attributed to his second wife Anne Boleyn; so, again the dreadful axe made the +King a widower, and this Queen passed away as so many in that reign had passed +away before her. As an appropriate pursuit under the circumstances, Henry then +applied himself to superintending the composition of a religious book called +‘A necessary doctrine for any Christian Man.’ He must have been a +little confused in his mind, I think, at about this period; for he was so false +to himself as to be true to some one: that some one being Cranmer, whom the +Duke of Norfolk and others of his enemies tried to ruin; but to whom the King +was steadfast, and to whom he one night gave his ring, charging him when he +should find himself, next day, accused of treason, to show it to the council +board. This Cranmer did to the confusion of his enemies. I suppose the King +thought he might want him a little longer. +</p> + +<p> +He married yet once more. Yes, strange to say, he found in England another +woman who would become his wife, and she was <span class="smcap">Catherine +Parr</span>, widow of Lord Latimer. She leaned towards the reformed religion; +and it is some comfort to know, that she tormented the King considerably by +arguing a variety of doctrinal points with him on all possible occasions. She +had very nearly done this to her own destruction. After one of these +conversations the King in a very black mood actually instructed <span +class="smcap">Gardiner</span>, one of his Bishops who favoured the Popish +opinions, to draw a bill of accusation against her, which would have inevitably +brought her to the scaffold where her predecessors had died, but that one of +her friends picked up the paper of instructions which had been dropped in the +palace, and gave her timely notice. She fell ill with terror; but managed the +King so well when he came to entrap her into further statements—by saying +that she had only spoken on such points to divert his mind and to get some +information from his extraordinary wisdom—that he gave her a kiss and +called her his sweetheart. And, when the Chancellor came next day actually to +take her to the Tower, the King sent him about his business, and honoured him +with the epithets of a beast, a knave, and a fool. So near was Catherine Parr +to the block, and so narrow was her escape! +</p> + +<p> +There was war with Scotland in this reign, and a short clumsy war with France +for favouring Scotland; but, the events at home were so dreadful, and leave +such an enduring stain on the country, that I need say no more of what happened +abroad. +</p> + +<p> +A few more horrors, and this reign is over. There was a lady, <span +class="smcap">Anne Askew</span>, in Lincolnshire, who inclined to the +Protestant opinions, and whose husband being a fierce Catholic, turned her out +of his house. She came to London, and was considered as offending against the +six articles, and was taken to the Tower, and put upon the rack—probably +because it was hoped that she might, in her agony, criminate some obnoxious +persons; if falsely, so much the better. She was tortured without uttering a +cry, until the Lieutenant of the Tower would suffer his men to torture her no +more; and then two priests who were present actually pulled off their robes, +and turned the wheels of the rack with their own hands, so rending and twisting +and breaking her that she was afterwards carried to the fire in a chair. She +was burned with three others, a gentleman, a clergyman, and a tailor; and so +the world went on. +</p> + +<p> +Either the King became afraid of the power of the Duke of Norfolk, and his son +the Earl of Surrey, or they gave him some offence, but he resolved to pull +<i>them</i> down, to follow all the rest who were gone. The son was tried +first—of course for nothing—and defended himself bravely; but of +course he was found guilty, and of course he was executed. Then his father was +laid hold of, and left for death too. +</p> + +<p> +But the King himself was left for death by a Greater King, and the earth was to +be rid of him at last. He was now a swollen, hideous spectacle, with a great +hole in his leg, and so odious to every sense that it was dreadful to approach +him. When he was found to be dying, Cranmer was sent for from his palace at +Croydon, and came with all speed, but found him speechless. Happily, in that +hour he perished. He was in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the +thirty-eighth of his reign. +</p> + +<p> +Henry the Eighth has been favoured by some Protestant writers, because the +Reformation was achieved in his time. But the mighty merit of it lies with +other men and not with him; and it can be rendered none the worse by this +monster’s crimes, and none the better by any defence of them. The plain +truth is, that he was a most intolerable ruffian, a disgrace to human nature, +and a blot of blood and grease upon the History of England. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap29"></a>CHAPTER XXIX<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH</h2> + +<p> +Henry the Eighth had made a will, appointing a council of sixteen to govern the +kingdom for his son while he was under age (he was now only ten years old), and +another council of twelve to help them. The most powerful of the first council +was the <span class="smcap">Earl of Hertford</span>, the young King’s +uncle, who lost no time in bringing his nephew with great state up to Enfield, +and thence to the Tower. It was considered at the time a striking proof of +virtue in the young King that he was sorry for his father’s death; but, +as common subjects have that virtue too, sometimes, we will say no more about +it. +</p> + +<p> +There was a curious part of the late King’s will, requiring his executors +to fulfil whatever promises he had made. Some of the court wondering what these +might be, the Earl of Hertford and the other noblemen interested, said that +they were promises to advance and enrich <i>them</i>. So, the Earl of Hertford +made himself <span class="smcap">Duke of Somerset</span>, and made his brother +<span class="smcap">Edward Seymour</span> a baron; and there were various +similar promotions, all very agreeable to the parties concerned, and very +dutiful, no doubt, to the late King’s memory. To be more dutiful still, +they made themselves rich out of the Church lands, and were very comfortable. +The new Duke of Somerset caused himself to be declared <span +class="smcap">Protector</span> of the kingdom, and was, indeed, the King. +</p> + +<p> +As young Edward the Sixth had been brought up in the principles of the +Protestant religion, everybody knew that they would be maintained. But Cranmer, +to whom they were chiefly entrusted, advanced them steadily and temperately. +Many superstitious and ridiculous practices were stopped; but practices which +were harmless were not interfered with. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Somerset, the Protector, was anxious to have the young King engaged +in marriage to the young Queen of Scotland, in order to prevent that princess +from making an alliance with any foreign power; but, as a large party in +Scotland were unfavourable to this plan, he invaded that country. His excuse +for doing so was, that the Border men—that is, the Scotch who lived in +that part of the country where England and Scotland joined—troubled the +English very much. But there were two sides to this question; for the English +Border men troubled the Scotch too; and, through many long years, there were +perpetual border quarrels which gave rise to numbers of old tales and songs. +However, the Protector invaded Scotland; and <span class="smcap">Arran</span>, +the Scottish Regent, with an army twice as large as his, advanced to meet him. +They encountered on the banks of the river Esk, within a few miles of +Edinburgh; and there, after a little skirmish, the Protector made such moderate +proposals, in offering to retire if the Scotch would only engage not to marry +their princess to any foreign prince, that the Regent thought the English were +afraid. But in this he made a horrible mistake; for the English soldiers on +land, and the English sailors on the water, so set upon the Scotch, that they +broke and fled, and more than ten thousand of them were killed. It was a +dreadful battle, for the fugitives were slain without mercy. The ground for +four miles, all the way to Edinburgh, was strewn with dead men, and with arms, +and legs, and heads. Some hid themselves in streams and were drowned; some +threw away their armour and were killed running, almost naked; but in this +battle of Pinkey the English lost only two or three hundred men. They were much +better clothed than the Scotch; at the poverty of whose appearance and country +they were exceedingly astonished. +</p> + +<p> +A Parliament was called when Somerset came back, and it repealed the whip with +six strings, and did one or two other good things; though it unhappily retained +the punishment of burning for those people who did not make believe to believe, +in all religious matters, what the Government had declared that they must and +should believe. It also made a foolish law (meant to put down beggars), that +any man who lived idly and loitered about for three days together, should be +burned with a hot iron, made a slave, and wear an iron fetter. But this savage +absurdity soon came to an end, and went the way of a great many other foolish +laws. +</p> + +<p> +The Protector was now so proud that he sat in Parliament before all the nobles, +on the right hand of the throne. Many other noblemen, who only wanted to be as +proud if they could get a chance, became his enemies of course; and it is +supposed that he came back suddenly from Scotland because he had received news +that his brother, <span class="smcap">Lord Seymour</span>, was becoming +dangerous to him. This lord was now High Admiral of England; a very handsome +man, and a great favourite with the Court ladies—even with the young +Princess Elizabeth, who romped with him a little more than young princesses in +these times do with any one. He had married Catherine Parr, the late +King’s widow, who was now dead; and, to strengthen his power, he secretly +supplied the young King with money. He may even have engaged with some of his +brother’s enemies in a plot to carry the boy off. On these and other +accusations, at any rate, he was confined in the Tower, impeached, and found +guilty; his own brother’s name being—unnatural and sad to +tell—the first signed to the warrant of his execution. He was executed on +Tower Hill, and died denying his treason. One of his last proceedings in this +world was to write two letters, one to the Princess Elizabeth, and one to the +Princess Mary, which a servant of his took charge of, and concealed in his +shoe. These letters are supposed to have urged them against his brother, and to +revenge his death. What they truly contained is not known; but there is no +doubt that he had, at one time, obtained great influence over the Princess +Elizabeth. +</p> + +<p> +All this while, the Protestant religion was making progress. The images which +the people had gradually come to worship, were removed from the churches; the +people were informed that they need not confess themselves to priests unless +they chose; a common prayer-book was drawn up in the English language, which +all could understand, and many other improvements were made; still moderately. +For Cranmer was a very moderate man, and even restrained the Protestant clergy +from violently abusing the unreformed religion—as they very often did, +and which was not a good example. But the people were at this time in great +distress. The rapacious nobility who had come into possession of the Church +lands, were very bad landlords. They enclosed great quantities of ground for +the feeding of sheep, which was then more profitable than the growing of crops; +and this increased the general distress. So the people, who still understood +little of what was going on about them, and still readily believed what the +homeless monks told them—many of whom had been their good friends in +their better days—took it into their heads that all this was owing to the +reformed religion, and therefore rose, in many parts of the country. +</p> + +<p> +The most powerful risings were in Devonshire and Norfolk. In Devonshire, the +rebellion was so strong that ten thousand men united within a few days, and +even laid siege to Exeter. But <span class="smcap">Lord Russell</span>, coming +to the assistance of the citizens who defended that town, defeated the rebels; +and, not only hanged the Mayor of one place, but hanged the vicar of another +from his own church steeple. What with hanging and killing by the sword, four +thousand of the rebels are supposed to have fallen in that one county. In +Norfolk (where the rising was more against the enclosure of open lands than +against the reformed religion), the popular leader was a man named <span +class="smcap">Robert Ket</span>, a tanner of Wymondham. The mob were, in the +first instance, excited against the tanner by one <span class="smcap">John +Flowerdew</span>, a gentleman who owed him a grudge: but the tanner was more +than a match for the gentleman, since he soon got the people on his side, and +established himself near Norwich with quite an army. There was a large oak-tree +in that place, on a spot called Moushold Hill, which Ket named the Tree of +Reformation; and under its green boughs, he and his men sat, in the midsummer +weather, holding courts of justice, and debating affairs of state. They were +even impartial enough to allow some rather tiresome public speakers to get up +into this Tree of Reformation, and point out their errors to them, in long +discourses, while they lay listening (not always without some grumbling and +growling) in the shade below. At last, one sunny July day, a herald appeared +below the tree, and proclaimed Ket and all his men traitors, unless from that +moment they dispersed and went home: in which case they were to receive a +pardon. But, Ket and his men made light of the herald and became stronger than +ever, until the Earl of Warwick went after them with a sufficient force, and +cut them all to pieces. A few were hanged, drawn, and quartered, as traitors, +and their limbs were sent into various country places to be a terror to the +people. Nine of them were hanged upon nine green branches of the Oak of +Reformation; and so, for the time, that tree may be said to have withered away. +</p> + +<p> +The Protector, though a haughty man, had compassion for the real distresses of +the common people, and a sincere desire to help them. But he was too proud and +too high in degree to hold even their favour steadily; and many of the nobles +always envied and hated him, because they were as proud and not as high as he. +He was at this time building a great Palace in the Strand: to get the stone for +which he blew up church steeples with gunpowder, and pulled down bishops’ +houses: thus making himself still more disliked. At length, his principal +enemy, the Earl of Warwick—Dudley by name, and the son of that Dudley who +had made himself so odious with Empson, in the reign of Henry the +Seventh—joined with seven other members of the Council against him, +formed a separate Council; and, becoming stronger in a few days, sent him to +the Tower under twenty-nine articles of accusation. After being sentenced by +the Council to the forfeiture of all his offices and lands, he was liberated +and pardoned, on making a very humble submission. He was even taken back into +the Council again, after having suffered this fall, and married his daughter, +<span class="smcap">Lady Anne Seymour</span>, to Warwick’s eldest son. +But such a reconciliation was little likely to last, and did not outlive a +year. Warwick, having got himself made Duke of Northumberland, and having +advanced the more important of his friends, then finished the history by +causing the Duke of Somerset and his friend <span class="smcap">Lord +Grey</span>, and others, to be arrested for treason, in having conspired to +seize and dethrone the King. They were also accused of having intended to seize +the new Duke of Northumberland, with his friends <span class="smcap">Lord +Northampton</span> and <span class="smcap">Lord Pembroke</span>; to murder them +if they found need; and to raise the City to revolt. All this the fallen +Protector positively denied; except that he confessed to having spoken of the +murder of those three noblemen, but having never designed it. He was acquitted +of the charge of treason, and found guilty of the other charges; so when the +people—who remembered his having been their friend, now that he was +disgraced and in danger, saw him come out from his trial with the axe turned +from him—they thought he was altogether acquitted, and sent up a loud +shout of joy. +</p> + +<p> +But the Duke of Somerset was ordered to be beheaded on Tower Hill, at eight +o’clock in the morning, and proclamations were issued bidding the +citizens keep at home until after ten. They filled the streets, however, and +crowded the place of execution as soon as it was light; and, with sad faces and +sad hearts, saw the once powerful Protector ascend the scaffold to lay his head +upon the dreadful block. While he was yet saying his last words to them with +manly courage, and telling them, in particular, how it comforted him, at that +pass, to have assisted in reforming the national religion, a member of the +Council was seen riding up on horseback. They again thought that the Duke was +saved by his bringing a reprieve, and again shouted for joy. But the Duke +himself told them they were mistaken, and laid down his head and had it struck +off at a blow. +</p> + +<p> +Many of the bystanders rushed forward and steeped their handkerchiefs in his +blood, as a mark of their affection. He had, indeed, been capable of many good +acts, and one of them was discovered after he was no more. The Bishop of +Durham, a very good man, had been informed against to the Council, when the +Duke was in power, as having answered a treacherous letter proposing a +rebellion against the reformed religion. As the answer could not be found, he +could not be declared guilty; but it was now discovered, hidden by the Duke +himself among some private papers, in his regard for that good man. The Bishop +lost his office, and was deprived of his possessions. +</p> + +<p> +It is not very pleasant to know that while his uncle lay in prison under +sentence of death, the young King was being vastly entertained by plays, and +dances, and sham fights: but there is no doubt of it, for he kept a journal +himself. It is pleasanter to know that not a single Roman Catholic was burnt in +this reign for holding that religion; though two wretched victims suffered for +heresy. One, a woman named <span class="smcap">Joan Bocher</span>, for +professing some opinions that even she could only explain in unintelligible +jargon. The other, a Dutchman, named <span class="smcap">Von Paris</span>, who +practised as a surgeon in London. Edward was, to his credit, exceedingly +unwilling to sign the warrant for the woman’s execution: shedding tears +before he did so, and telling Cranmer, who urged him to do it (though Cranmer +really would have spared the woman at first, but for her own determined +obstinacy), that the guilt was not his, but that of the man who so strongly +urged the dreadful act. We shall see, too soon, whether the time ever came when +Cranmer is likely to have remembered this with sorrow and remorse. +</p> + +<p> +Cranmer and <span class="smcap">Ridley</span> (at first Bishop of Rochester, +and afterwards Bishop of London) were the most powerful of the clergy of this +reign. Others were imprisoned and deprived of their property for still adhering +to the unreformed religion; the most important among whom were <span +class="smcap">Gardiner</span> Bishop of Winchester, <span +class="smcap">Heath</span> Bishop of Worcester, <span class="smcap">Day</span> +Bishop of Chichester, and <span class="smcap">Bonner</span> that Bishop of +London who was superseded by Ridley. The Princess Mary, who inherited her +mother’s gloomy temper, and hated the reformed religion as connected with +her mother’s wrongs and sorrows—she knew nothing else about it, +always refusing to read a single book in which it was truly +described—held by the unreformed religion too, and was the only person in +the kingdom for whom the old Mass was allowed to be performed; nor would the +young King have made that exception even in her favour, but for the strong +persuasions of Cranmer and Ridley. He always viewed it with horror; and when he +fell into a sickly condition, after having been very ill, first of the measles +and then of the small-pox, he was greatly troubled in mind to think that if he +died, and she, the next heir to the throne, succeeded, the Roman Catholic +religion would be set up again. +</p> + +<p> +This uneasiness, the Duke of Northumberland was not slow to encourage: for, if +the Princess Mary came to the throne, he, who had taken part with the +Protestants, was sure to be disgraced. Now, the Duchess of Suffolk was +descended from King Henry the Seventh; and, if she resigned what little or no +right she had, in favour of her daughter <span class="smcap">Lady Jane +Grey</span>, that would be the succession to promote the Duke’s +greatness; because <span class="smcap">Lord Guilford Dudley</span>, one of his +sons, was, at this very time, newly married to her. So, he worked upon the +King’s fears, and persuaded him to set aside both the Princess Mary and +the Princess Elizabeth, and assert his right to appoint his successor. +Accordingly the young King handed to the Crown lawyers a writing signed half a +dozen times over by himself, appointing Lady Jane Grey to succeed to the Crown, +and requiring them to have his will made out according to law. They were much +against it at first, and told the King so; but the Duke of +Northumberland—being so violent about it that the lawyers even expected +him to beat them, and hotly declaring that, stripped to his shirt, he would +fight any man in such a quarrel—they yielded. Cranmer, also, at first +hesitated; pleading that he had sworn to maintain the succession of the Crown +to the Princess Mary; but, he was a weak man in his resolutions, and afterwards +signed the document with the rest of the council. +</p> + +<p> +It was completed none too soon; for Edward was now sinking in a rapid decline; +and, by way of making him better, they handed him over to a woman-doctor who +pretended to be able to cure it. He speedily got worse. On the sixth of July, +in the year one thousand five hundred and fifty-three, he died, very peaceably +and piously, praying God, with his last breath, to protect the reformed +religion. +</p> + +<p> +This King died in the sixteenth year of his age, and in the seventh of his +reign. It is difficult to judge what the character of one so young might +afterwards have become among so many bad, ambitious, quarrelling nobles. But, +he was an amiable boy, of very good abilities, and had nothing coarse or cruel +or brutal in his disposition—which in the son of such a father is rather +surprising. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap30"></a>CHAPTER XXX<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER MARY</h2> + +<p> +The Duke of Northumberland was very anxious to keep the young King’s +death a secret, in order that he might get the two Princesses into his power. +But, the Princess Mary, being informed of that event as she was on her way to +London to see her sick brother, turned her horse’s head, and rode away +into Norfolk. The Earl of Arundel was her friend, and it was he who sent her +warning of what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +As the secret could not be kept, the Duke of Northumberland and the council +sent for the Lord Mayor of London and some of the aldermen, and made a merit of +telling it to them. Then, they made it known to the people, and set off to +inform Lady Jane Grey that she was to be Queen. +</p> + +<p> +She was a pretty girl of only sixteen, and was amiable, learned, and clever. +When the lords who came to her, fell on their knees before her, and told her +what tidings they brought, she was so astonished that she fainted. On +recovering, she expressed her sorrow for the young King’s death, and said +that she knew she was unfit to govern the kingdom; but that if she must be +Queen, she prayed God to direct her. She was then at Sion House, near +Brentford; and the lords took her down the river in state to the Tower, that +she might remain there (as the custom was) until she was crowned. But the +people were not at all favourable to Lady Jane, considering that the right to +be Queen was Mary’s, and greatly disliking the Duke of Northumberland. +They were not put into a better humour by the Duke’s causing a +vintner’s servant, one Gabriel Pot, to be taken up for expressing his +dissatisfaction among the crowd, and to have his ears nailed to the pillory, +and cut off. Some powerful men among the nobility declared on Mary’s +side. They raised troops to support her cause, had her proclaimed Queen at +Norwich, and gathered around her at the castle of Framlingham, which belonged +to the Duke of Norfolk. For, she was not considered so safe as yet, but that it +was best to keep her in a castle on the sea-coast, from whence she might be +sent abroad, if necessary. +</p> + +<p> +The Council would have despatched Lady Jane’s father, the Duke of +Suffolk, as the general of the army against this force; but, as Lady Jane +implored that her father might remain with her, and as he was known to be but a +weak man, they told the Duke of Northumberland that he must take the command +himself. He was not very ready to do so, as he mistrusted the Council much; but +there was no help for it, and he set forth with a heavy heart, observing to a +lord who rode beside him through Shoreditch at the head of the troops, that, +although the people pressed in great numbers to look at them, they were +terribly silent. +</p> + +<p> +And his fears for himself turned out to be well founded. While he was waiting +at Cambridge for further help from the Council, the Council took it into their +heads to turn their backs on Lady Jane’s cause, and to take up the +Princess Mary’s. This was chiefly owing to the before-mentioned Earl of +Arundel, who represented to the Lord Mayor and aldermen, in a second interview +with those sagacious persons, that, as for himself, he did not perceive the +Reformed religion to be in much danger—which Lord Pembroke backed by +flourishing his sword as another kind of persuasion. The Lord Mayor and +aldermen, thus enlightened, said there could be no doubt that the Princess Mary +ought to be Queen. So, she was proclaimed at the Cross by St. Paul’s, and +barrels of wine were given to the people, and they got very drunk, and danced +round blazing bonfires—little thinking, poor wretches, what other +bonfires would soon be blazing in Queen Mary’s name. +</p> + +<p> +After a ten days’ dream of royalty, Lady Jane Grey resigned the Crown +with great willingness, saying that she had only accepted it in obedience to +her father and mother; and went gladly back to her pleasant house by the river, +and her books. Mary then came on towards London; and at Wanstead in Essex, was +joined by her half-sister, the Princess Elizabeth. They passed through the +streets of London to the Tower, and there the new Queen met some eminent +prisoners then confined in it, kissed them, and gave them their liberty. Among +these was that Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who had been imprisoned in the +last reign for holding to the unreformed religion. Him she soon made +chancellor. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Northumberland had been taken prisoner, and, together with his son +and five others, was quickly brought before the Council. He, not unnaturally, +asked that Council, in his defence, whether it was treason to obey orders that +had been issued under the great seal; and, if it were, whether they, who had +obeyed them too, ought to be his judges? But they made light of these points; +and, being resolved to have him out of the way, soon sentenced him to death. He +had risen into power upon the death of another man, and made but a poor show +(as might be expected) when he himself lay low. He entreated Gardiner to let +him live, if it were only in a mouse’s hole; and, when he ascended the +scaffold to be beheaded on Tower Hill, addressed the people in a miserable way, +saying that he had been incited by others, and exhorting them to return to the +unreformed religion, which he told them was his faith. There seems reason to +suppose that he expected a pardon even then, in return for this confession; but +it matters little whether he did or not. His head was struck off. +</p> + +<p> +Mary was now crowned Queen. She was thirty-seven years of age, short and thin, +wrinkled in the face, and very unhealthy. But she had a great liking for show +and for bright colours, and all the ladies of her Court were magnificently +dressed. She had a great liking too for old customs, without much sense in +them; and she was oiled in the oldest way, and blessed in the oldest way, and +done all manner of things to in the oldest way, at her coronation. I hope they +did her good. +</p> + +<p> +She soon began to show her desire to put down the Reformed religion, and put up +the unreformed one: though it was dangerous work as yet, the people being +something wiser than they used to be. They even cast a shower of +stones—and among them a dagger—at one of the royal chaplains who +attacked the Reformed religion in a public sermon. But the Queen and her +priests went steadily on. Ridley, the powerful bishop of the last reign, was +seized and sent to the Tower. <span class="smcap">Latimer</span>, also +celebrated among the Clergy of the last reign, was likewise sent to the Tower, +and Cranmer speedily followed. Latimer was an aged man; and, as his guards took +him through Smithfield, he looked round it, and said, ‘This is a place +that hath long groaned for me.’ For he knew well, what kind of bonfires +would soon be burning. Nor was the knowledge confined to him. The prisons were +fast filled with the chief Protestants, who were there left rotting in +darkness, hunger, dirt, and separation from their friends; many, who had time +left them for escape, fled from the kingdom; and the dullest of the people +began, now, to see what was coming. +</p> + +<p> +It came on fast. A Parliament was got together; not without strong suspicion of +unfairness; and they annulled the divorce, formerly pronounced by Cranmer +between the Queen’s mother and King Henry the Eighth, and unmade all the +laws on the subject of religion that had been made in the last King +Edward’s reign. They began their proceedings, in violation of the law, by +having the old mass said before them in Latin, and by turning out a bishop who +would not kneel down. They also declared guilty of treason, Lady Jane Grey for +aspiring to the Crown; her husband, for being her husband; and Cranmer, for not +believing in the mass aforesaid. They then prayed the Queen graciously to +choose a husband for herself, as soon as might be. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the question who should be the Queen’s husband had given rise to a +great deal of discussion, and to several contending parties. Some said Cardinal +Pole was the man—but the Queen was of opinion that he was <i>not</i> the +man, he being too old and too much of a student. Others said that the gallant +young <span class="smcap">Courtenay</span>, whom the Queen had made Earl of +Devonshire, was the man—and the Queen thought so too, for a while; but +she changed her mind. At last it appeared that <span +class="smcap">Philip</span>, <span class="smcap">Prince of Spain</span>, was +certainly the man—though certainly not the people’s man; for they +detested the idea of such a marriage from the beginning to the end, and +murmured that the Spaniard would establish in England, by the aid of foreign +soldiers, the worst abuses of the Popish religion, and even the terrible +Inquisition itself. +</p> + +<p> +These discontents gave rise to a conspiracy for marrying young Courtenay to the +Princess Elizabeth, and setting them up, with popular tumults all over the +kingdom, against the Queen. This was discovered in time by Gardiner; but in +Kent, the old bold county, the people rose in their old bold way. <span +class="smcap">Sir Thomas Wyat</span>, a man of great daring, was their leader. +He raised his standard at Maidstone, marched on to Rochester, established +himself in the old castle there, and prepared to hold out against the Duke of +Norfolk, who came against him with a party of the Queen’s guards, and a +body of five hundred London men. The London men, however, were all for +Elizabeth, and not at all for Mary. They declared, under the castle walls, for +Wyat; the Duke retreated; and Wyat came on to Deptford, at the head of fifteen +thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +But these, in their turn, fell away. When he came to Southwark, there were only +two thousand left. Not dismayed by finding the London citizens in arms, and the +guns at the Tower ready to oppose his crossing the river there, Wyat led them +off to Kingston-upon-Thames, intending to cross the bridge that he knew to be +in that place, and so to work his way round to Ludgate, one of the old gates of +the City. He found the bridge broken down, but mended it, came across, and +bravely fought his way up Fleet Street to Ludgate Hill. Finding the gate closed +against him, he fought his way back again, sword in hand, to Temple Bar. Here, +being overpowered, he surrendered himself, and three or four hundred of his men +were taken, besides a hundred killed. Wyat, in a moment of weakness (and +perhaps of torture) was afterwards made to accuse the Princess Elizabeth as his +accomplice to some very small extent. But his manhood soon returned to him, and +he refused to save his life by making any more false confessions. He was +quartered and distributed in the usual brutal way, and from fifty to a hundred +of his followers were hanged. The rest were led out, with halters round their +necks, to be pardoned, and to make a parade of crying out, ‘God save +Queen Mary!’ +</p> + +<p> +In the danger of this rebellion, the Queen showed herself to be a woman of +courage and spirit. She disdained to retreat to any place of safety, and went +down to the Guildhall, sceptre in hand, and made a gallant speech to the Lord +Mayor and citizens. But on the day after Wyat’s defeat, she did the most +cruel act, even of her cruel reign, in signing the warrant for the execution of +Lady Jane Grey. +</p> + +<p> +They tried to persuade Lady Jane to accept the unreformed religion; but she +steadily refused. On the morning when she was to die, she saw from her window +the bleeding and headless body of her husband brought back in a cart from the +scaffold on Tower Hill where he had laid down his life. But, as she had +declined to see him before his execution, lest she should be overpowered and +not make a good end, so, she even now showed a constancy and calmness that will +never be forgotten. She came up to the scaffold with a firm step and a quiet +face, and addressed the bystanders in a steady voice. They were not numerous; +for she was too young, too innocent and fair, to be murdered before the people +on Tower Hill, as her husband had just been; so, the place of her execution was +within the Tower itself. She said that she had done an unlawful act in taking +what was Queen Mary’s right; but that she had done so with no bad intent, +and that she died a humble Christian. She begged the executioner to despatch +her quickly, and she asked him, ‘Will you take my head off before I lay +me down?’ He answered, ‘No, Madam,’ and then she was very +quiet while they bandaged her eyes. Being blinded, and unable to see the block +on which she was to lay her young head, she was seen to feel about for it with +her hands, and was heard to say, confused, ‘O what shall I do! Where is +it?’ Then they guided her to the right place, and the executioner struck +off her head. You know too well, now, what dreadful deeds the executioner did +in England, through many, many years, and how his axe descended on the hateful +block through the necks of some of the bravest, wisest, and best in the land. +But it never struck so cruel and so vile a blow as this. +</p> + +<p> +The father of Lady Jane soon followed, but was little pitied. Queen +Mary’s next object was to lay hold of Elizabeth, and this was pursued +with great eagerness. Five hundred men were sent to her retired house at +Ashridge, by Berkhampstead, with orders to bring her up, alive or dead. They +got there at ten at night, when she was sick in bed. But, their leaders +followed her lady into her bedchamber, whence she was brought out betimes next +morning, and put into a litter to be conveyed to London. She was so weak and +ill, that she was five days on the road; still, she was so resolved to be seen +by the people that she had the curtains of the litter opened; and so, very pale +and sickly, passed through the streets. She wrote to her sister, saying she was +innocent of any crime, and asking why she was made a prisoner; but she got no +answer, and was ordered to the Tower. They took her in by the Traitor’s +Gate, to which she objected, but in vain. One of the lords who conveyed her +offered to cover her with his cloak, as it was raining, but she put it away +from her, proudly and scornfully, and passed into the Tower, and sat down in a +court-yard on a stone. They besought her to come in out of the wet; but she +answered that it was better sitting there, than in a worse place. At length she +went to her apartment, where she was kept a prisoner, though not so close a +prisoner as at Woodstock, whither she was afterwards removed, and where she is +said to have one day envied a milkmaid whom she heard singing in the sunshine +as she went through the green fields. Gardiner, than whom there were not many +worse men among the fierce and sullen priests, cared little to keep secret his +stern desire for her death: being used to say that it was of little service to +shake off the leaves, and lop the branches of the tree of heresy, if its root, +the hope of heretics, were left. He failed, however, in his benevolent design. +Elizabeth was, at length, released; and Hatfield House was assigned to her as a +residence, under the care of one <span class="smcap">Sir Thomas Pope</span>. +</p> + +<p> +It would seem that Philip, the Prince of Spain, was a main cause of this change +in Elizabeth’s fortunes. He was not an amiable man, being, on the +contrary, proud, overbearing, and gloomy; but he and the Spanish lords who came +over with him, assuredly did discountenance the idea of doing any violence to +the Princess. It may have been mere prudence, but we will hope it was manhood +and honour. The Queen had been expecting her husband with great impatience, and +at length he came, to her great joy, though he never cared much for her. They +were married by Gardiner, at Winchester, and there was more holiday-making +among the people; but they had their old distrust of this Spanish marriage, in +which even the Parliament shared. Though the members of that Parliament were +far from honest, and were strongly suspected to have been bought with Spanish +money, they would pass no bill to enable the Queen to set aside the Princess +Elizabeth and appoint her own successor. +</p> + +<p> +Although Gardiner failed in this object, as well as in the darker one of +bringing the Princess to the scaffold, he went on at a great pace in the +revival of the unreformed religion. A new Parliament was packed, in which there +were no Protestants. Preparations were made to receive Cardinal Pole in England +as the Pope’s messenger, bringing his holy declaration that all the +nobility who had acquired Church property, should keep it—which was done +to enlist their selfish interest on the Pope’s side. Then a great scene +was enacted, which was the triumph of the Queen’s plans. Cardinal Pole +arrived in great splendour and dignity, and was received with great pomp. The +Parliament joined in a petition expressive of their sorrow at the change in the +national religion, and praying him to receive the country again into the Popish +Church. With the Queen sitting on her throne, and the King on one side of her, +and the Cardinal on the other, and the Parliament present, Gardiner read the +petition aloud. The Cardinal then made a great speech, and was so obliging as +to say that all was forgotten and forgiven, and that the kingdom was solemnly +made Roman Catholic again. +</p> + +<p> +Everything was now ready for the lighting of the terrible bonfires. The Queen +having declared to the Council, in writing, that she would wish none of her +subjects to be burnt without some of the Council being present, and that she +would particularly wish there to be good sermons at all burnings, the Council +knew pretty well what was to be done next. So, after the Cardinal had blessed +all the bishops as a preface to the burnings, the Chancellor Gardiner opened a +High Court at Saint Mary Overy, on the Southwark side of London Bridge, for the +trial of heretics. Here, two of the late Protestant clergymen, <span +class="smcap">Hooper</span>, Bishop of Gloucester, and <span +class="smcap">Rogers</span>, a Prebendary of St. Paul’s, were brought to +be tried. Hooper was tried first for being married, though a priest, and for +not believing in the mass. He admitted both of these accusations, and said that +the mass was a wicked imposition. Then they tried Rogers, who said the same. +Next morning the two were brought up to be sentenced; and then Rogers said that +his poor wife, being a German woman and a stranger in the land, he hoped might +be allowed to come to speak to him before he died. To this the inhuman Gardiner +replied, that she was not his wife. ‘Yea, but she is, my lord,’ +said Rogers, ‘and she hath been my wife these eighteen years.’ His +request was still refused, and they were both sent to Newgate; all those who +stood in the streets to sell things, being ordered to put out their lights that +the people might not see them. But, the people stood at their doors with +candles in their hands, and prayed for them as they went by. Soon afterwards, +Rogers was taken out of jail to be burnt in Smithfield; and, in the crowd as he +went along, he saw his poor wife and his ten children, of whom the youngest was +a little baby. And so he was burnt to death. +</p> + +<p> +The next day, Hooper, who was to be burnt at Gloucester, was brought out to +take his last journey, and was made to wear a hood over his face that he might +not be known by the people. But, they did know him for all that, down in his +own part of the country; and, when he came near Gloucester, they lined the +road, making prayers and lamentations. His guards took him to a lodging, where +he slept soundly all night. At nine o’clock next morning, he was brought +forth leaning on a staff; for he had taken cold in prison, and was infirm. The +iron stake, and the iron chain which was to bind him to it, were fixed up near +a great elm-tree in a pleasant open place before the cathedral, where, on +peaceful Sundays, he had been accustomed to preach and to pray, when he was +bishop of Gloucester. This tree, which had no leaves then, it being February, +was filled with people; and the priests of Gloucester College were looking +complacently on from a window, and there was a great concourse of spectators in +every spot from which a glimpse of the dreadful sight could be beheld. When the +old man kneeled down on the small platform at the foot of the stake, and prayed +aloud, the nearest people were observed to be so attentive to his prayers that +they were ordered to stand farther back; for it did not suit the Romish Church +to have those Protestant words heard. His prayers concluded, he went up to the +stake and was stripped to his shirt, and chained ready for the fire. One of his +guards had such compassion on him that, to shorten his agonies, he tied some +packets of gunpowder about him. Then they heaped up wood and straw and reeds, +and set them all alight. But, unhappily, the wood was green and damp, and there +was a wind blowing that blew what flame there was, away. Thus, through +three-quarters of an hour, the good old man was scorched and roasted and +smoked, as the fire rose and sank; and all that time they saw him, as he +burned, moving his lips in prayer, and beating his breast with one hand, even +after the other was burnt away and had fallen off. +</p> + +<p> +Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, were taken to Oxford to dispute with a commission +of priests and doctors about the mass. They were shamefully treated; and it is +recorded that the Oxford scholars hissed and howled and groaned, and +misconducted themselves in an anything but a scholarly way. The prisoners were +taken back to jail, and afterwards tried in St. Mary’s Church. They were +all found guilty. On the sixteenth of the month of October, Ridley and Latimer +were brought out, to make another of the dreadful bonfires. +</p> + +<p> +The scene of the suffering of these two good Protestant men was in the City +ditch, near Baliol College. On coming to the dreadful spot, they kissed the +stakes, and then embraced each other. And then a learned doctor got up into a +pulpit which was placed there, and preached a sermon from the text, +‘Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth +me nothing.’ When you think of the charity of burning men alive, you may +imagine that this learned doctor had a rather brazen face. Ridley would have +answered his sermon when it came to an end, but was not allowed. When Latimer +was stripped, it appeared that he had dressed himself under his other clothes, +in a new shroud; and, as he stood in it before all the people, it was noted of +him, and long remembered, that, whereas he had been stooping and feeble but a +few minutes before, he now stood upright and handsome, in the knowledge that he +was dying for a just and a great cause. Ridley’s brother-in-law was there +with bags of gunpowder; and when they were both chained up, he tied them round +their bodies. Then, a light was thrown upon the pile to fire it. ‘Be of +good comfort, Master Ridley,’ said Latimer, at that awful moment, +‘and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s +grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’ And then he was +seen to make motions with his hands as if he were washing them in the flames, +and to stroke his aged face with them, and was heard to cry, ‘Father of +Heaven, receive my soul!’ He died quickly, but the fire, after having +burned the legs of Ridley, sunk. There he lingered, chained to the iron post, +and crying, ‘O! I cannot burn! O! for Christ’s sake let the fire +come unto me!’ And still, when his brother-in-law had heaped on more +wood, he was heard through the blinding smoke, still dismally crying, ‘O! +I cannot burn, I cannot burn!’ At last, the gunpowder caught fire, and +ended his miseries. +</p> + +<p> +Five days after this fearful scene, Gardiner went to his tremendous account +before God, for the cruelties he had so much assisted in committing. +</p> + +<p> +Cranmer remained still alive and in prison. He was brought out again in +February, for more examining and trying, by Bonner, Bishop of London: another +man of blood, who had succeeded to Gardiner’s work, even in his lifetime, +when Gardiner was tired of it. Cranmer was now degraded as a priest, and left +for death; but, if the Queen hated any one on earth, she hated him, and it was +resolved that he should be ruined and disgraced to the utmost. There is no +doubt that the Queen and her husband personally urged on these deeds, because +they wrote to the Council, urging them to be active in the kindling of the +fearful fires. As Cranmer was known not to be a firm man, a plan was laid for +surrounding him with artful people, and inducing him to recant to the +unreformed religion. Deans and friars visited him, played at bowls with him, +showed him various attentions, talked persuasively with him, gave him money for +his prison comforts, and induced him to sign, I fear, as many as six +recantations. But when, after all, he was taken out to be burnt, he was nobly +true to his better self, and made a glorious end. +</p> + +<p> +After prayers and a sermon, Dr. Cole, the preacher of the day (who had been one +of the artful priests about Cranmer in prison), required him to make a public +confession of his faith before the people. This, Cole did, expecting that he +would declare himself a Roman Catholic. ‘I will make a profession of my +faith,’ said Cranmer, ‘and with a good will too.’ +</p> + +<p> +Then, he arose before them all, and took from the sleeve of his robe a written +prayer and read it aloud. That done, he kneeled and said the Lord’s +Prayer, all the people joining; and then he arose again and told them that he +believed in the Bible, and that in what he had lately written, he had written +what was not the truth, and that, because his right hand had signed those +papers, he would burn his right hand first when he came to the fire. As for the +Pope, he did refuse him and denounce him as the enemy of Heaven. Hereupon the +pious Dr. Cole cried out to the guards to stop that heretic’s mouth and +take him away. +</p> + +<p> +So they took him away, and chained him to the stake, where he hastily took off +his own clothes to make ready for the flames. And he stood before the people +with a bald head and a white and flowing beard. He was so firm now when the +worst was come, that he again declared against his recantation, and was so +impressive and so undismayed, that a certain lord, who was one of the directors +of the execution, called out to the men to make haste! When the fire was +lighted, Cranmer, true to his latest word, stretched out his right hand, and +crying out, ‘This hand hath offended!’ held it among the flames, +until it blazed and burned away. His heart was found entire among his ashes, +and he left at last a memorable name in English history. Cardinal Pole +celebrated the day by saying his first mass, and next day he was made +Archbishop of Canterbury in Cranmer’s place. +</p> + +<p> +The Queen’s husband, who was now mostly abroad in his own dominions, and +generally made a coarse jest of her to his more familiar courtiers, was at war +with France, and came over to seek the assistance of England. England was very +unwilling to engage in a French war for his sake; but it happened that the King +of France, at this very time, aided a descent upon the English coast. Hence, +war was declared, greatly to Philip’s satisfaction; and the Queen raised +a sum of money with which to carry it on, by every unjustifiable means in her +power. It met with no profitable return, for the French Duke of Guise surprised +Calais, and the English sustained a complete defeat. The losses they met with +in France greatly mortified the national pride, and the Queen never recovered +the blow. +</p> + +<p> +There was a bad fever raging in England at this time, and I am glad to write +that the Queen took it, and the hour of her death came. ‘When I am dead +and my body is opened,’ she said to those around those around her, +‘ye shall find <span class="smcap">Calais</span> written on my +heart.’ I should have thought, if anything were written on it, they would +have found the words—<span class="smcap">Jane Grey</span>, <span +class="smcap">Hooper</span>, <span class="smcap">Rogers</span>, <span +class="smcap">Ridley</span>, <span class="smcap">Latimer</span>, <span +class="smcap">Cranmer</span>, <span class="smcap">and three hundred people +burnt alive within four years of my wicked reign</span>, <span +class="smcap">including sixty women and forty little children</span>. But it is +enough that their deaths were written in Heaven. +</p> + +<p> +The Queen died on the seventeenth of November, fifteen hundred and fifty-eight, +after reigning not quite five years and a half, and in the forty-fourth year of +her age. Cardinal Pole died of the same fever next day. +</p> + +<p> +As <span class="smcap">Bloody Queen Mary</span>, this woman has become famous, +and as <span class="smcap">Bloody Queen Mary</span>, she will ever be justly +remembered with horror and detestation in Great Britain. Her memory has been +held in such abhorrence that some writers have arisen in later years to take +her part, and to show that she was, upon the whole, quite an amiable and +cheerful sovereign! ‘By their fruits ye shall know them,’ said +<span class="smcap">Our Saviour</span>. The stake and the fire were the fruits +of this reign, and you will judge this Queen by nothing else. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap31"></a>CHAPTER XXXI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH</h2> + +<p> +There was great rejoicing all over the land when the Lords of the Council went +down to Hatfield, to hail the Princess Elizabeth as the new Queen of England. +Weary of the barbarities of Mary’s reign, the people looked with hope and +gladness to the new Sovereign. The nation seemed to wake from a horrible dream; +and Heaven, so long hidden by the smoke of the fires that roasted men and women +to death, appeared to brighten once more. +</p> + +<p> +Queen Elizabeth was five-and-twenty years of age when she rode through the +streets of London, from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, to be crowned. Her +countenance was strongly marked, but on the whole, commanding and dignified; +her hair was red, and her nose something too long and sharp for a +woman’s. She was not the beautiful creature her courtiers made out; but +she was well enough, and no doubt looked all the better for coming after the +dark and gloomy Mary. She was well educated, but a roundabout writer, and +rather a hard swearer and coarse talker. She was clever, but cunning and +deceitful, and inherited much of her father’s violent temper. I mention +this now, because she has been so over-praised by one party, and so over-abused +by another, that it is hardly possible to understand the greater part of her +reign without first understanding what kind of woman she really was. +</p> + +<p> +She began her reign with the great advantage of having a very wise and careful +Minister, <span class="smcap">Sir William Cecil</span>, whom she afterwards +made <span class="smcap">Lord Burleigh</span>. Altogether, the people had +greater reason for rejoicing than they usually had, when there were processions +in the streets; and they were happy with some reason. All kinds of shows and +images were set up; <span class="smcap">Gog</span> and <span +class="smcap">Magog</span> were hoisted to the top of Temple Bar, and (which +was more to the purpose) the Corporation dutifully presented the young Queen +with the sum of a thousand marks in gold—so heavy a present, that she was +obliged to take it into her carriage with both hands. The coronation was a +great success; and, on the next day, one of the courtiers presented a petition +to the new Queen, praying that as it was the custom to release some prisoners +on such occasions, she would have the goodness to release the four Evangelists, +Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and also the Apostle Saint Paul, who had been +for some time shut up in a strange language so that the people could not get at +them. +</p> + +<p> +To this, the Queen replied that it would be better first to inquire of +themselves whether they desired to be released or not; and, as a means of +finding out, a great public discussion—a sort of religious +tournament—was appointed to take place between certain champions of the +two religions, in Westminster Abbey. You may suppose that it was soon made +pretty clear to common sense, that for people to benefit by what they repeat or +read, it is rather necessary they should understand something about it. +Accordingly, a Church Service in plain English was settled, and other laws and +regulations were made, completely establishing the great work of the +Reformation. The Romish bishops and champions were not harshly dealt with, all +things considered; and the Queen’s Ministers were both prudent and +merciful. +</p> + +<p> +The one great trouble of this reign, and the unfortunate cause of the greater +part of such turmoil and bloodshed as occurred in it, was <span +class="smcap">Mary Stuart</span>, <span class="smcap">Queen of Scots</span>. We +will try to understand, in as few words as possible, who Mary was, what she +was, and how she came to be a thorn in the royal pillow of Elizabeth. +</p> + +<p> +She was the daughter of the Queen Regent of Scotland, <span class="smcap">Mary +of Guise</span>. She had been married, when a mere child, to the Dauphin, the +son and heir of the King of France. The Pope, who pretended that no one could +rightfully wear the crown of England without his gracious permission, was +strongly opposed to Elizabeth, who had not asked for the said gracious +permission. And as Mary Queen of Scots would have inherited the English crown +in right of her birth, supposing the English Parliament not to have altered the +succession, the Pope himself, and most of the discontented who were followers +of his, maintained that Mary was the rightful Queen of England, and Elizabeth +the wrongful Queen. Mary being so closely connected with France, and France +being jealous of England, there was far greater danger in this than there would +have been if she had had no alliance with that great power. And when her young +husband, on the death of his father, became <span class="smcap">Francis the +Second</span>, King of France, the matter grew very serious. For, the young +couple styled themselves King and Queen of England, and the Pope was disposed +to help them by doing all the mischief he could. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the reformed religion, under the guidance of a stern and powerful +preacher, named <span class="smcap">John Knox</span>, and other such men, had +been making fierce progress in Scotland. It was still a half savage country, +where there was a great deal of murdering and rioting continually going on; and +the Reformers, instead of reforming those evils as they should have done, went +to work in the ferocious old Scottish spirit, laying churches and chapels +waste, pulling down pictures and altars, and knocking about the Grey Friars, +and the Black Friars, and the White Friars, and the friars of all sorts of +colours, in all directions. This obdurate and harsh spirit of the Scottish +Reformers (the Scotch have always been rather a sullen and frowning people in +religious matters) put up the blood of the Romish French court, and caused +France to send troops over to Scotland, with the hope of setting the friars of +all sorts of colours on their legs again; of conquering that country first, and +England afterwards; and so crushing the Reformation all to pieces. The Scottish +Reformers, who had formed a great league which they called The Congregation of +the Lord, secretly represented to Elizabeth that, if the reformed religion got +the worst of it with them, it would be likely to get the worst of it in England +too; and thus, Elizabeth, though she had a high notion of the rights of Kings +and Queens to do anything they liked, sent an army to Scotland to support the +Reformers, who were in arms against their sovereign. All these proceedings led +to a treaty of peace at Edinburgh, under which the French consented to depart +from the kingdom. By a separate treaty, Mary and her young husband engaged to +renounce their assumed title of King and Queen of England. But this treaty they +never fulfilled. +</p> + +<p> +It happened, soon after matters had got to this state, that the young French +King died, leaving Mary a young widow. She was then invited by her Scottish +subjects to return home and reign over them; and as she was not now happy where +she was, she, after a little time, complied. +</p> + +<p> +Elizabeth had been Queen three years, when Mary Queen of Scots embarked at +Calais for her own rough, quarrelling country. As she came out of the harbour, +a vessel was lost before her eyes, and she said, ‘O! good God! what an +omen this is for such a voyage!’ She was very fond of France, and sat on +the deck, looking back at it and weeping, until it was quite dark. When she +went to bed, she directed to be called at daybreak, if the French coast were +still visible, that she might behold it for the last time. As it proved to be a +clear morning, this was done, and she again wept for the country she was +leaving, and said many times, ‘Farewell, France! Farewell, France! I +shall never see thee again!’ All this was long remembered afterwards, as +sorrowful and interesting in a fair young princess of nineteen. Indeed, I am +afraid it gradually came, together with her other distresses, to surround her +with greater sympathy than she deserved. +</p> + +<p> +When she came to Scotland, and took up her abode at the palace of Holyrood in +Edinburgh, she found herself among uncouth strangers and wild uncomfortable +customs very different from her experiences in the court of France. The very +people who were disposed to love her, made her head ache when she was tired out +by her voyage, with a serenade of discordant music—a fearful concert of +bagpipes, I suppose—and brought her and her train home to her palace on +miserable little Scotch horses that appeared to be half starved. Among the +people who were not disposed to love her, she found the powerful leaders of the +Reformed Church, who were bitter upon her amusements, however innocent, and +denounced music and dancing as works of the devil. John Knox himself often +lectured her, violently and angrily, and did much to make her life unhappy. All +these reasons confirmed her old attachment to the Romish religion, and caused +her, there is no doubt, most imprudently and dangerously both for herself and +for England too, to give a solemn pledge to the heads of the Romish Church that +if she ever succeeded to the English crown, she would set up that religion +again. In reading her unhappy history, you must always remember this; and also +that during her whole life she was constantly put forward against the Queen, in +some form or other, by the Romish party. +</p> + +<p> +That Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not inclined to like her, is pretty +certain. Elizabeth was very vain and jealous, and had an extraordinary dislike +to people being married. She treated Lady Catherine Grey, sister of the +beheaded Lady Jane, with such shameful severity, for no other reason than her +being secretly married, that she died and her husband was ruined; so, when a +second marriage for Mary began to be talked about, probably Elizabeth disliked +her more. Not that Elizabeth wanted suitors of her own, for they started up +from Spain, Austria, Sweden, and England. Her English lover at this time, and +one whom she much favoured too, was <span class="smcap">Lord Robert +Dudley</span>, Earl of Leicester—himself secretly married to <span +class="smcap">Amy Robsart</span>, the daughter of an English gentleman, whom he +was strongly suspected of causing to be murdered, down at his country seat, +Cumnor Hall in Berkshire, that he might be free to marry the Queen. Upon this +story, the great writer, <span class="smcap">Sir Walter Scott</span>, has +founded one of his best romances. But if Elizabeth knew how to lead her +handsome favourite on, for her own vanity and pleasure, she knew how to stop +him for her own pride; and his love, and all the other proposals, came to +nothing. The Queen always declared in good set speeches, that she would never +be married at all, but would live and die a Maiden Queen. It was a very +pleasant and meritorious declaration, I suppose; but it has been puffed and +trumpeted so much, that I am rather tired of it myself. +</p> + +<p> +Divers princes proposed to marry Mary, but the English court had reasons for +being jealous of them all, and even proposed as a matter of policy that she +should marry that very Earl of Leicester who had aspired to be the husband of +Elizabeth. At last, <span class="smcap">Lord Darnley</span>, son of the Earl of +Lennox, and himself descended from the Royal Family of Scotland, went over with +Elizabeth’s consent to try his fortune at Holyrood. He was a tall +simpleton; and could dance and play the guitar; but I know of nothing else he +could do, unless it were to get very drunk, and eat gluttonously, and make a +contemptible spectacle of himself in many mean and vain ways. However, he +gained Mary’s heart, not disdaining in the pursuit of his object to ally +himself with one of her secretaries, <span class="smcap">David Rizzio</span>, +who had great influence with her. He soon married the Queen. This marriage does +not say much for her, but what followed will presently say less. +</p> + +<p> +Mary’s brother, the <span class="smcap">Earl of Murray</span>, and head +of the Protestant party in Scotland, had opposed this marriage, partly on +religious grounds, and partly perhaps from personal dislike of the very +contemptible bridegroom. When it had taken place, through Mary’s gaining +over to it the more powerful of the lords about her, she banished Murray for +his pains; and, when he and some other nobles rose in arms to support the +reformed religion, she herself, within a month of her wedding day, rode against +them in armour with loaded pistols in her saddle. Driven out of Scotland, they +presented themselves before Elizabeth—who called them traitors in public, +and assisted them in private, according to her crafty nature. +</p> + +<p> +Mary had been married but a little while, when she began to hate her husband, +who, in his turn, began to hate that David Rizzio, with whom he had leagued to +gain her favour, and whom he now believed to be her lover. He hated Rizzio to +that extent, that he made a compact with <span class="smcap">Lord +Ruthven</span> and three other lords to get rid of him by murder. This wicked +agreement they made in solemn secrecy upon the first of March, fifteen hundred +and sixty-six, and on the night of Saturday the ninth, the conspirators were +brought by Darnley up a private staircase, dark and steep, into a range of +rooms where they knew that Mary was sitting at supper with her sister, Lady +Argyle, and this doomed man. When they went into the room, Darnley took the +Queen round the waist, and Lord Ruthven, who had risen from a bed of sickness +to do this murder, came in, gaunt and ghastly, leaning on two men. Rizzio ran +behind the Queen for shelter and protection. ‘Let him come out of the +room,’ said Ruthven. ‘He shall not leave the room,’ replied +the Queen; ‘I read his danger in your face, and it is my will that he +remain here.’ They then set upon him, struggled with him, overturned the +table, dragged him out, and killed him with fifty-six stabs. When the Queen +heard that he was dead, she said, ‘No more tears. I will think now of +revenge!’ +</p> + +<p> +Within a day or two, she gained her husband over, and prevailed on the tall +idiot to abandon the conspirators and fly with her to Dunbar. There, he issued +a proclamation, audaciously and falsely denying that he had any knowledge of +the late bloody business; and there they were joined by the <span +class="smcap">Earl Bothwell</span> and some other nobles. With their help, they +raised eight thousand men; returned to Edinburgh, and drove the assassins into +England. Mary soon afterwards gave birth to a son—still thinking of +revenge. +</p> + +<p> +That she should have had a greater scorn for her husband after his late +cowardice and treachery than she had had before, was natural enough. There is +little doubt that she now began to love Bothwell instead, and to plan with him +means of getting rid of Darnley. Bothwell had such power over her that he +induced her even to pardon the assassins of Rizzio. The arrangements for the +Christening of the young Prince were entrusted to him, and he was one of the +most important people at the ceremony, where the child was named <span +class="smcap">James</span>: Elizabeth being his godmother, though not present +on the occasion. A week afterwards, Darnley, who had left Mary and gone to his +father’s house at Glasgow, being taken ill with the small-pox, she sent +her own physician to attend him. But there is reason to apprehend that this was +merely a show and a pretence, and that she knew what was doing, when Bothwell +within another month proposed to one of the late conspirators against Rizzio, +to murder Darnley, ‘for that it was the Queen’s mind that he should +be taken away.’ It is certain that on that very day she wrote to her +ambassador in France, complaining of him, and yet went immediately to Glasgow, +feigning to be very anxious about him, and to love him very much. If she wanted +to get him in her power, she succeeded to her heart’s content; for she +induced him to go back with her to Edinburgh, and to occupy, instead of the +palace, a lone house outside the city called the Kirk of Field. Here, he lived +for about a week. One Sunday night, she remained with him until ten +o’clock, and then left him, to go to Holyrood to be present at an +entertainment given in celebration of the marriage of one of her favourite +servants. At two o’clock in the morning the city was shaken by a great +explosion, and the Kirk of Field was blown to atoms. +</p> + +<p> +Darnley’s body was found next day lying under a tree at some distance. +How it came there, undisfigured and unscorched by gunpowder, and how this crime +came to be so clumsily and strangely committed, it is impossible to discover. +The deceitful character of Mary, and the deceitful character of Elizabeth, have +rendered almost every part of their joint history uncertain and obscure. But, I +fear that Mary was unquestionably a party to her husband’s murder, and +that this was the revenge she had threatened. The Scotch people universally +believed it. Voices cried out in the streets of Edinburgh in the dead of the +night, for justice on the murderess. Placards were posted by unknown hands in +the public places denouncing Bothwell as the murderer, and the Queen as his +accomplice; and, when he afterwards married her (though himself already +married), previously making a show of taking her prisoner by force, the +indignation of the people knew no bounds. The women particularly are described +as having been quite frantic against the Queen, and to have hooted and cried +after her in the streets with terrific vehemence. +</p> + +<p> +Such guilty unions seldom prosper. This husband and wife had lived together but +a month, when they were separated for ever by the successes of a band of Scotch +nobles who associated against them for the protection of the young Prince: whom +Bothwell had vainly endeavoured to lay hold of, and whom he would certainly +have murdered, if the <span class="smcap">Earl of Mar</span>, in whose hands +the boy was, had not been firmly and honourably faithful to his trust. Before +this angry power, Bothwell fled abroad, where he died, a prisoner and mad, nine +miserable years afterwards. Mary being found by the associated lords to deceive +them at every turn, was sent a prisoner to Lochleven Castle; which, as it stood +in the midst of a lake, could only be approached by boat. Here, one <span +class="smcap">Lord Lindsay</span>, who was so much of a brute that the nobles +would have done better if they had chosen a mere gentleman for their messenger, +made her sign her abdication, and appoint Murray, Regent of Scotland. Here, +too, Murray saw her in a sorrowing and humbled state. +</p> + +<p> +She had better have remained in the castle of Lochleven, dull prison as it was, +with the rippling of the lake against it, and the moving shadows of the water +on the room walls; but she could not rest there, and more than once tried to +escape. The first time she had nearly succeeded, dressed in the clothes of her +own washer-woman, but, putting up her hand to prevent one of the boatmen from +lifting her veil, the men suspected her, seeing how white it was, and rowed her +back again. A short time afterwards, her fascinating manners enlisted in her +cause a boy in the Castle, called the little <span +class="smcap">Douglas</span>, who, while the family were at supper, stole the +keys of the great gate, went softly out with the Queen, locked the gate on the +outside, and rowed her away across the lake, sinking the keys as they went +along. On the opposite shore she was met by another Douglas, and some few +lords; and, so accompanied, rode away on horseback to Hamilton, where they +raised three thousand men. Here, she issued a proclamation declaring that the +abdication she had signed in her prison was illegal, and requiring the Regent +to yield to his lawful Queen. Being a steady soldier, and in no way discomposed +although he was without an army, Murray pretended to treat with her, until he +had collected a force about half equal to her own, and then he gave her battle. +In one quarter of an hour he cut down all her hopes. She had another weary ride +on horse-back of sixty long Scotch miles, and took shelter at Dundrennan Abbey, +whence she fled for safety to Elizabeth’s dominions. +</p> + +<p> +Mary Queen of Scots came to England—to her own ruin, the trouble of the +kingdom, and the misery and death of many—in the year one thousand five +hundred and sixty-eight. How she left it and the world, nineteen years +afterwards, we have now to see. +</p> + +<h3>SECOND PART</h3> + +<p> +When Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England, without money and even without any +other clothes than those she wore, she wrote to Elizabeth, representing herself +as an innocent and injured piece of Royalty, and entreating her assistance to +oblige her Scottish subjects to take her back again and obey her. But, as her +character was already known in England to be a very different one from what she +made it out to be, she was told in answer that she must first clear herself. +Made uneasy by this condition, Mary, rather than stay in England, would have +gone to Spain, or to France, or would even have gone back to Scotland. But, as +her doing either would have been likely to trouble England afresh, it was +decided that she should be detained here. She first came to Carlisle, and, +after that, was moved about from castle to castle, as was considered necessary; +but England she never left again. +</p> + +<p> +After trying very hard to get rid of the necessity of clearing herself, Mary, +advised by <span class="smcap">Lord Herries</span>, her best friend in England, +agreed to answer the charges against her, if the Scottish noblemen who made +them would attend to maintain them before such English noblemen as Elizabeth +might appoint for that purpose. Accordingly, such an assembly, under the name +of a conference, met, first at York, and afterwards at Hampton Court. In its +presence Lord Lennox, Darnley’s father, openly charged Mary with the +murder of his son; and whatever Mary’s friends may now say or write in +her behalf, there is no doubt that, when her brother Murray produced against +her a casket containing certain guilty letters and verses which he stated to +have passed between her and Bothwell, she withdrew from the inquiry. +Consequently, it is to be supposed that she was then considered guilty by those +who had the best opportunities of judging of the truth, and that the feeling +which afterwards arose in her behalf was a very generous but not a very +reasonable one. +</p> + +<p> +However, the <span class="smcap">Duke of Norfolk</span>, an honourable but +rather weak nobleman, partly because Mary was captivating, partly because he +was ambitious, partly because he was over-persuaded by artful plotters against +Elizabeth, conceived a strong idea that he would like to marry the Queen of +Scots—though he was a little frightened, too, by the letters in the +casket. This idea being secretly encouraged by some of the noblemen of +Elizabeth’s court, and even by the favourite Earl of Leicester (because +it was objected to by other favourites who were his rivals), Mary expressed her +approval of it, and the King of France and the King of Spain are supposed to +have done the same. It was not so quietly planned, though, but that it came to +Elizabeth’s ears, who warned the Duke ‘to be careful what sort of +pillow he was going to lay his head upon.’ He made a humble reply at the +time; but turned sulky soon afterwards, and, being considered dangerous, was +sent to the Tower. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, from the moment of Mary’s coming to England she began to be the +centre of plots and miseries. +</p> + +<p> +A rise of the Catholics in the north was the next of these, and it was only +checked by many executions and much bloodshed. It was followed by a great +conspiracy of the Pope and some of the Catholic sovereigns of Europe to depose +Elizabeth, place Mary on the throne, and restore the unreformed religion. It is +almost impossible to doubt that Mary knew and approved of this; and the Pope +himself was so hot in the matter that he issued a bull, in which he openly +called Elizabeth the ‘pretended Queen’ of England, excommunicated +her, and excommunicated all her subjects who should continue to obey her. A +copy of this miserable paper got into London, and was found one morning +publicly posted on the Bishop of London’s gate. A great hue and cry being +raised, another copy was found in the chamber of a student of Lincoln’s +Inn, who confessed, being put upon the rack, that he had received it from one +<span class="smcap">John Felton</span>, a rich gentleman who lived across the +Thames, near Southwark. This John Felton, being put upon the rack too, +confessed that he had posted the placard on the Bishop’s gate. For this +offence he was, within four days, taken to St. Paul’s Churchyard, and +there hanged and quartered. As to the Pope’s bull, the people by the +reformation having thrown off the Pope, did not care much, you may suppose, for +the Pope’s throwing off them. It was a mere dirty piece of paper, and not +half so powerful as a street ballad. +</p> + +<p> +On the very day when Felton was brought to his trial, the poor Duke of Norfolk +was released. It would have been well for him if he had kept away from the +Tower evermore, and from the snares that had taken him there. But, even while +he was in that dismal place he corresponded with Mary, and as soon as he was +out of it, he began to plot again. Being discovered in correspondence with the +Pope, with a view to a rising in England which should force Elizabeth to +consent to his marriage with Mary and to repeal the laws against the Catholics, +he was re-committed to the Tower and brought to trial. He was found guilty by +the unanimous verdict of the Lords who tried him, and was sentenced to the +block. +</p> + +<p> +It is very difficult to make out, at this distance of time, and between +opposite accounts, whether Elizabeth really was a humane woman, or desired to +appear so, or was fearful of shedding the blood of people of great name who +were popular in the country. Twice she commanded and countermanded the +execution of this Duke, and it did not take place until five months after his +trial. The scaffold was erected on Tower Hill, and there he died like a brave +man. He refused to have his eyes bandaged, saying that he was not at all afraid +of death; and he admitted the justice of his sentence, and was much regretted +by the people. +</p> + +<p> +Although Mary had shrunk at the most important time from disproving her guilt, +she was very careful never to do anything that would admit it. All such +proposals as were made to her by Elizabeth for her release, required that +admission in some form or other, and therefore came to nothing. Moreover, both +women being artful and treacherous, and neither ever trusting the other, it was +not likely that they could ever make an agreement. So, the Parliament, +aggravated by what the Pope had done, made new and strong laws against the +spreading of the Catholic religion in England, and declared it treason in any +one to say that the Queen and her successors were not the lawful sovereigns of +England. It would have done more than this, but for Elizabeth’s +moderation. +</p> + +<p> +Since the Reformation, there had come to be three great sects of religious +people—or people who called themselves so—in England; that is to +say, those who belonged to the Reformed Church, those who belonged to the +Unreformed Church, and those who were called the Puritans, because they said +that they wanted to have everything very pure and plain in all the Church +service. These last were for the most part an uncomfortable people, who thought +it highly meritorious to dress in a hideous manner, talk through their noses, +and oppose all harmless enjoyments. But they were powerful too, and very much +in earnest, and they were one and all the determined enemies of the Queen of +Scots. The Protestant feeling in England was further strengthened by the +tremendous cruelties to which Protestants were exposed in France and in the +Netherlands. Scores of thousands of them were put to death in those countries +with every cruelty that can be imagined, and at last, in the autumn of the year +one thousand five hundred and seventy-two, one of the greatest barbarities ever +committed in the world took place at Paris. +</p> + +<p> +It is called in history, <span class="smcap">The Massacre of Saint +Bartholomew</span>, because it took place on Saint Bartholomew’s Eve. The +day fell on Saturday the twenty-third of August. On that day all the great +leaders of the Protestants (who were there called <span +class="smcap">Huguenots</span>) were assembled together, for the purpose, as +was represented to them, of doing honour to the marriage of their chief, the +young King of Navarre, with the sister of <span class="smcap">Charles the +Ninth</span>: a miserable young King who then occupied the French throne. This +dull creature was made to believe by his mother and other fierce Catholics +about him that the Huguenots meant to take his life; and he was persuaded to +give secret orders that, on the tolling of a great bell, they should be fallen +upon by an overpowering force of armed men, and slaughtered wherever they could +be found. When the appointed hour was close at hand, the stupid wretch, +trembling from head to foot, was taken into a balcony by his mother to see the +atrocious work begun. The moment the bell tolled, the murderers broke forth. +During all that night and the two next days, they broke into the houses, fired +the houses, shot and stabbed the Protestants, men, women, and children, and +flung their bodies into the streets. They were shot at in the streets as they +passed along, and their blood ran down the gutters. Upwards of ten thousand +Protestants were killed in Paris alone; in all France four or five times that +number. To return thanks to Heaven for these diabolical murders, the Pope and +his train actually went in public procession at Rome, and as if this were not +shame enough for them, they had a medal struck to commemorate the event. But, +however comfortable the wholesale murders were to these high authorities, they +had not that soothing effect upon the doll-King. I am happy to state that he +never knew a moment’s peace afterwards; that he was continually crying +out that he saw the Huguenots covered with blood and wounds falling dead before +him; and that he died within a year, shrieking and yelling and raving to that +degree, that if all the Popes who had ever lived had been rolled into one, they +would not have afforded His guilty Majesty the slightest consolation. +</p> + +<p> +When the terrible news of the massacre arrived in England, it made a powerful +impression indeed upon the people. If they began to run a little wild against +the Catholics at about this time, this fearful reason for it, coming so soon +after the days of bloody Queen Mary, must be remembered in their excuse. The +Court was not quite so honest as the people—but perhaps it sometimes is +not. It received the French ambassador, with all the lords and ladies dressed +in deep mourning, and keeping a profound silence. Nevertheless, a proposal of +marriage which he had made to Elizabeth only two days before the eve of Saint +Bartholomew, on behalf of the Duke of Alençon, the French King’s +brother, a boy of seventeen, still went on; while on the other hand, in her +usual crafty way, the Queen secretly supplied the Huguenots with money and +weapons. +</p> + +<p> +I must say that for a Queen who made all those fine speeches, of which I have +confessed myself to be rather tired, about living and dying a Maiden Queen, +Elizabeth was ‘going’ to be married pretty often. Besides always +having some English favourite or other whom she by turns encouraged and swore +at and knocked about—for the maiden Queen was very free with her +fists—she held this French Duke off and on through several years. When he +at last came over to England, the marriage articles were actually drawn up, and +it was settled that the wedding should take place in six weeks. The Queen was +then so bent upon it, that she prosecuted a poor Puritan named <span +class="smcap">Stubbs</span>, and a poor bookseller named <span +class="smcap">Page</span>, for writing and publishing a pamphlet against it. +Their right hands were chopped off for this crime; and poor Stubbs—more +loyal than I should have been myself under the circumstances—immediately +pulled off his hat with his left hand, and cried, ‘God save the +Queen!’ Stubbs was cruelly treated; for the marriage never took place +after all, though the Queen pledged herself to the Duke with a ring from her +own finger. He went away, no better than he came, when the courtship had lasted +some ten years altogether; and he died a couple of years afterwards, mourned by +Elizabeth, who appears to have been really fond of him. It is not much to her +credit, for he was a bad enough member of a bad family. +</p> + +<p> +To return to the Catholics. There arose two orders of priests, who were very +busy in England, and who were much dreaded. These were the <span +class="smcap">Jesuits</span> (who were everywhere in all sorts of disguises), +and the <span class="smcap">Seminary Priests</span>. The people had a great +horror of the first, because they were known to have taught that murder was +lawful if it were done with an object of which they approved; and they had a +great horror of the second, because they came to teach the old religion, and to +be the successors of ‘Queen Mary’s priests,’ as those yet +lingering in England were called, when they should die out. The severest laws +were made against them, and were most unmercifully executed. Those who +sheltered them in their houses often suffered heavily for what was an act of +humanity; and the rack, that cruel torture which tore men’s limbs +asunder, was constantly kept going. What these unhappy men confessed, or what +was ever confessed by any one under that agony, must always be received with +great doubt, as it is certain that people have frequently owned to the most +absurd and impossible crimes to escape such dreadful suffering. But I cannot +doubt it to have been proved by papers, that there were many plots, both among +the Jesuits, and with France, and with Scotland, and with Spain, for the +destruction of Queen Elizabeth, for the placing of Mary on the throne, and for +the revival of the old religion. +</p> + +<p> +If the English people were too ready to believe in plots, there were, as I have +said, good reasons for it. When the massacre of Saint Bartholomew was yet fresh +in their recollection, a great Protestant Dutch hero, the <span +class="smcap">Prince of Orange</span>, was shot by an assassin, who confessed +that he had been kept and trained for the purpose in a college of Jesuits. The +Dutch, in this surprise and distress, offered to make Elizabeth their +sovereign, but she declined the honour, and sent them a small army instead, +under the command of the Earl of Leicester, who, although a capital Court +favourite, was not much of a general. He did so little in Holland, that his +campaign there would probably have been forgotten, but for its occasioning the +death of one of the best writers, the best knights, and the best gentlemen, of +that or any age. This was <span class="smcap">Sir Philip Sidney</span>, who was +wounded by a musket ball in the thigh as he mounted a fresh horse, after having +had his own killed under him. He had to ride back wounded, a long distance, and +was very faint with fatigue and loss of blood, when some water, for which he +had eagerly asked, was handed to him. But he was so good and gentle even then, +that seeing a poor badly wounded common soldier lying on the ground, looking at +the water with longing eyes, he said, ‘Thy necessity is greater than +mine,’ and gave it up to him. This touching action of a noble heart is +perhaps as well known as any incident in history—is as famous far and +wide as the blood-stained Tower of London, with its axe, and block, and murders +out of number. So delightful is an act of true humanity, and so glad are +mankind to remember it. +</p> + +<p> +At home, intelligence of plots began to thicken every day. I suppose the people +never did live under such continual terrors as those by which they were +possessed now, of Catholic risings, and burnings, and poisonings, and I +don’t know what. Still, we must always remember that they lived near and +close to awful realities of that kind, and that with their experience it was +not difficult to believe in any enormity. The government had the same fear, and +did not take the best means of discovering the truth—for, besides +torturing the suspected, it employed paid spies, who will always lie for their +own profit. It even made some of the conspiracies it brought to light, by +sending false letters to disaffected people, inviting them to join in pretended +plots, which they too readily did. +</p> + +<p> +But, one great real plot was at length discovered, and it ended the career of +Mary, Queen of Scots. A seminary priest named <span +class="smcap">Ballard</span>, and a Spanish soldier named <span +class="smcap">Savage</span>, set on and encouraged by certain French priests, +imparted a design to one <span class="smcap">Antony Babington</span>—a +gentleman of fortune in Derbyshire, who had been for some time a secret agent +of Mary’s—for murdering the Queen. Babington then confided the +scheme to some other Catholic gentlemen who were his friends, and they joined +in it heartily. They were vain, weak-headed young men, ridiculously confident, +and preposterously proud of their plan; for they got a gimcrack painting made, +of the six choice spirits who were to murder Elizabeth, with Babington in an +attitude for the centre figure. Two of their number, however, one of whom was a +priest, kept Elizabeth’s wisest minister, <span class="smcap">Sir Francis +Walsingham</span>, acquainted with the whole project from the first. The +conspirators were completely deceived to the final point, when Babington gave +Savage, because he was shabby, a ring from his finger, and some money from his +purse, wherewith to buy himself new clothes in which to kill the Queen. +Walsingham, having then full evidence against the whole band, and two letters +of Mary’s besides, resolved to seize them. Suspecting something wrong, +they stole out of the city, one by one, and hid themselves in St. John’s +Wood, and other places which really were hiding places then; but they were all +taken, and all executed. When they were seized, a gentleman was sent from Court +to inform Mary of the fact, and of her being involved in the discovery. Her +friends have complained that she was kept in very hard and severe custody. It +does not appear very likely, for she was going out a hunting that very morning. +</p> + +<p> +Queen Elizabeth had been warned long ago, by one in France who had good +information of what was secretly doing, that in holding Mary alive, she held +‘the wolf who would devour her.’ The Bishop of London had, more +lately, given the Queen’s favourite minister the advice in writing, +‘forthwith to cut off the Scottish Queen’s head.’ The +question now was, what to do with her? The Earl of Leicester wrote a little +note home from Holland, recommending that she should be quietly poisoned; that +noble favourite having accustomed his mind, it is possible, to remedies of that +nature. His black advice, however, was disregarded, and she was brought to +trial at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, before a tribunal of forty, +composed of both religions. There, and in the Star Chamber at Westminster, the +trial lasted a fortnight. She defended herself with great ability, but could +only deny the confessions that had been made by Babington and others; could +only call her own letters, produced against her by her own secretaries, +forgeries; and, in short, could only deny everything. She was found guilty, and +declared to have incurred the penalty of death. The Parliament met, approved +the sentence, and prayed the Queen to have it executed. The Queen replied that +she requested them to consider whether no means could be found of saving +Mary’s life without endangering her own. The Parliament rejoined, No; and +the citizens illuminated their houses and lighted bonfires, in token of their +joy that all these plots and troubles were to be ended by the death of the +Queen of Scots. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a href="images/p240b.jpg"> +<img alt="Mary Queen of Scots Reading the death warrant" src="images/p240s.jpg" /></a> +</div> + +<p> +She, feeling sure that her time was now come, wrote a letter to the Queen of +England, making three entreaties; first, that she might be buried in France; +secondly, that she might not be executed in secret, but before her servants and +some others; thirdly, that after her death, her servants should not be +molested, but should be suffered to go home with the legacies she left them. It +was an affecting letter, and Elizabeth shed tears over it, but sent no answer. +Then came a special ambassador from France, and another from Scotland, to +intercede for Mary’s life; and then the nation began to clamour, more and +more, for her death. +</p> + +<p> +What the real feelings or intentions of Elizabeth were, can never be known now; +but I strongly suspect her of only wishing one thing more than Mary’s +death, and that was to keep free of the blame of it. On the first of February, +one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, Lord Burleigh having drawn out the +warrant for the execution, the Queen sent to the secretary <span +class="smcap">Davison</span> to bring it to her, that she might sign it: which +she did. Next day, when Davison told her it was sealed, she angrily asked him +why such haste was necessary? Next day but one, she joked about it, and swore a +little. Again, next day but one, she seemed to complain that it was not yet +done, but still she would not be plain with those about her. So, on the +seventh, the Earls of Kent and Shrewsbury, with the Sheriff of +Northamptonshire, came with the warrant to Fotheringay, to tell the Queen of +Scots to prepare for death. +</p> + +<p> +When those messengers of ill omen were gone, Mary made a frugal supper, drank +to her servants, read over her will, went to bed, slept for some hours, and +then arose and passed the remainder of the night saying prayers. In the morning +she dressed herself in her best clothes; and, at eight o’clock when the +sheriff came for her to her chapel, took leave of her servants who were there +assembled praying with her, and went down-stairs, carrying a Bible in one hand +and a crucifix in the other. Two of her women and four of her men were allowed +to be present in the hall; where a low scaffold, only two feet from the ground, +was erected and covered with black; and where the executioner from the Tower, +and his assistant, stood, dressed in black velvet. The hall was full of people. +While the sentence was being read she sat upon a stool; and, when it was +finished, she again denied her guilt, as she had done before. The Earl of Kent +and the Dean of Peterborough, in their Protestant zeal, made some very +unnecessary speeches to her; to which she replied that she died in the Catholic +religion, and they need not trouble themselves about that matter. When her head +and neck were uncovered by the executioners, she said that she had not been +used to be undressed by such hands, or before so much company. Finally, one of +her women fastened a cloth over her face, and she laid her neck upon the block, +and repeated more than once in Latin, ‘Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend +my spirit!’ Some say her head was struck off in two blows, some say in +three. However that be, when it was held up, streaming with blood, the real +hair beneath the false hair she had long worn was seen to be as grey as that of +a woman of seventy, though she was at that time only in her forty-sixth year. +All her beauty was gone. +</p> + +<p> +But she was beautiful enough to her little dog, who cowered under her dress, +frightened, when she went upon the scaffold, and who lay down beside her +headless body when all her earthly sorrows were over. +</p> + +<h3>THIRD PART</h3> + +<p> +On its being formally made known to Elizabeth that the sentence had been +executed on the Queen of Scots, she showed the utmost grief and rage, drove her +favourites from her with violent indignation, and sent Davison to the Tower; +from which place he was only released in the end by paying an immense fine +which completely ruined him. Elizabeth not only over-acted her part in making +these pretences, but most basely reduced to poverty one of her faithful +servants for no other fault than obeying her commands. +</p> + +<p> +James, King of Scotland, Mary’s son, made a show likewise of being very +angry on the occasion; but he was a pensioner of England to the amount of five +thousand pounds a year, and he had known very little of his mother, and he +possibly regarded her as the murderer of his father, and he soon took it +quietly. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, King of Spain, however, threatened to do greater things than ever had +been done yet, to set up the Catholic religion and punish Protestant England. +Elizabeth, hearing that he and the Prince of Parma were making great +preparations for this purpose, in order to be beforehand with them sent out +<span class="smcap">Admiral Drake</span> (a famous navigator, who had sailed +about the world, and had already brought great plunder from Spain) to the port +of Cadiz, where he burnt a hundred vessels full of stores. This great loss +obliged the Spaniards to put off the invasion for a year; but it was none the +less formidable for that, amounting to one hundred and thirty ships, nineteen +thousand soldiers, eight thousand sailors, two thousand slaves, and between two +and three thousand great guns. England was not idle in making ready to resist +this great force. All the men between sixteen years old and sixty, were trained +and drilled; the national fleet of ships (in number only thirty-four at first) +was enlarged by public contributions and by private ships, fitted out by +noblemen; the city of London, of its own accord, furnished double the number of +ships and men that it was required to provide; and, if ever the national spirit +was up in England, it was up all through the country to resist the Spaniards. +Some of the Queen’s advisers were for seizing the principal English +Catholics, and putting them to death; but the Queen—who, to her honour, +used to say, that she would never believe any ill of her subjects, which a +parent would not believe of her own children—rejected the advice, and +only confined a few of those who were the most suspected, in the fens in +Lincolnshire. The great body of Catholics deserved this confidence; for they +behaved most loyally, nobly, and bravely. +</p> + +<p> +So, with all England firing up like one strong, angry man, and with both sides +of the Thames fortified, and with the soldiers under arms, and with the sailors +in their ships, the country waited for the coming of the proud Spanish fleet, +which was called <span class="smcap">The Invincible Armada</span>. The Queen +herself, riding in armour on a white horse, and the Earl of Essex and the Earl +of Leicester holding her bridal rein, made a brave speech to the troops at +Tilbury Fort opposite Gravesend, which was received with such enthusiasm as is +seldom known. Then came the Spanish Armada into the English Channel, sailing +along in the form of a half moon, of such great size that it was seven miles +broad. But the English were quickly upon it, and woe then to all the Spanish +ships that dropped a little out of the half moon, for the English took them +instantly! And it soon appeared that the great Armada was anything but +invincible, for on a summer night, bold Drake sent eight blazing fire-ships +right into the midst of it. In terrible consternation the Spaniards tried to +get out to sea, and so became dispersed; the English pursued them at a great +advantage; a storm came on, and drove the Spaniards among rocks and shoals; and +the swift end of the Invincible fleet was, that it lost thirty great ships and +ten thousand men, and, defeated and disgraced, sailed home again. Being afraid +to go by the English Channel, it sailed all round Scotland and Ireland; some of +the ships getting cast away on the latter coast in bad weather, the Irish, who +were a kind of savages, plundered those vessels and killed their crews. So +ended this great attempt to invade and conquer England. And I think it will be +a long time before any other invincible fleet coming to England with the same +object, will fare much better than the Spanish Armada. +</p> + +<p> +Though the Spanish king had had this bitter taste of English bravery, he was so +little the wiser for it, as still to entertain his old designs, and even to +conceive the absurd idea of placing his daughter on the English throne. But the +Earl of Essex, <span class="smcap">Sir Walter Raleigh</span>, <span +class="smcap">Sir Thomas Howard</span>, and some other distinguished leaders, +put to sea from Plymouth, entered the port of Cadiz once more, obtained a +complete victory over the shipping assembled there, and got possession of the +town. In obedience to the Queen’s express instructions, they behaved with +great humanity; and the principal loss of the Spaniards was a vast sum of money +which they had to pay for ransom. This was one of many gallant achievements on +the sea, effected in this reign. Sir Walter Raleigh himself, after marrying a +maid of honour and giving offence to the Maiden Queen thereby, had already +sailed to South America in search of gold. +</p> + +<p> +The Earl of Leicester was now dead, and so was Sir Thomas Walsingham, whom Lord +Burleigh was soon to follow. The principal favourite was the <span +class="smcap">Earl of Essex</span>, a spirited and handsome man, a favourite +with the people too as well as with the Queen, and possessed of many admirable +qualities. It was much debated at Court whether there should be peace with +Spain or no, and he was very urgent for war. He also tried hard to have his own +way in the appointment of a deputy to govern in Ireland. One day, while this +question was in dispute, he hastily took offence, and turned his back upon the +Queen; as a gentle reminder of which impropriety, the Queen gave him a +tremendous box on the ear, and told him to go to the devil. He went home +instead, and did not reappear at Court for half a year or so, when he and the +Queen were reconciled, though never (as some suppose) thoroughly. +</p> + +<p> +From this time the fate of the Earl of Essex and that of the Queen seemed to be +blended together. The Irish were still perpetually quarrelling and fighting +among themselves, and he went over to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant, to the great +joy of his enemies (Sir Walter Raleigh among the rest), who were glad to have +so dangerous a rival far off. Not being by any means successful there, and +knowing that his enemies would take advantage of that circumstance to injure +him with the Queen, he came home again, though against her orders. The Queen +being taken by surprise when he appeared before her, gave him her hand to kiss, +and he was overjoyed—though it was not a very lovely hand by this +time—but in the course of the same day she ordered him to confine himself +to his room, and two or three days afterwards had him taken into custody. With +the same sort of caprice—and as capricious an old woman she now was, as +ever wore a crown or a head either—she sent him broth from her own table +on his falling ill from anxiety, and cried about him. +</p> + +<p> +He was a man who could find comfort and occupation in his books, and he did so +for a time; not the least happy time, I dare say, of his life. But it happened +unfortunately for him, that he held a monopoly in sweet wines: which means that +nobody could sell them without purchasing his permission. This right, which was +only for a term, expiring, he applied to have it renewed. The Queen refused, +with the rather strong observation—but she <i>did</i> make strong +observations—that an unruly beast must be stinted in his food. Upon this, +the angry Earl, who had been already deprived of many offices, thought himself +in danger of complete ruin, and turned against the Queen, whom he called a vain +old woman who had grown as crooked in her mind as she had in her figure. These +uncomplimentary expressions the ladies of the Court immediately snapped up and +carried to the Queen, whom they did not put in a better tempter, you may +believe. The same Court ladies, when they had beautiful dark hair of their own, +used to wear false red hair, to be like the Queen. So they were not very +high-spirited ladies, however high in rank. +</p> + +<p> +The worst object of the Earl of Essex, and some friends of his who used to meet +at <span class="smcap">Lord Southampton’s</span> house, was to obtain +possession of the Queen, and oblige her by force to dismiss her ministers and +change her favourites. On Saturday the seventh of February, one thousand six +hundred and one, the council suspecting this, summoned the Earl to come before +them. He, pretending to be ill, declined; it was then settled among his +friends, that as the next day would be Sunday, when many of the citizens +usually assembled at the Cross by St. Paul’s Cathedral, he should make +one bold effort to induce them to rise and follow him to the Palace. +</p> + +<p> +So, on the Sunday morning, he and a small body of adherents started out of his +house—Essex House by the Strand, with steps to the river—having +first shut up in it, as prisoners, some members of the council who came to +examine him—and hurried into the City with the Earl at their head crying +out ‘For the Queen! For the Queen! A plot is laid for my life!’ No +one heeded them, however, and when they came to St. Paul’s there were no +citizens there. In the meantime the prisoners at Essex House had been released +by one of the Earl’s own friends; he had been promptly proclaimed a +traitor in the City itself; and the streets were barricaded with carts and +guarded by soldiers. The Earl got back to his house by water, with difficulty, +and after an attempt to defend his house against the troops and cannon by which +it was soon surrounded, gave himself up that night. He was brought to trial on +the nineteenth, and found guilty; on the twenty-fifth, he was executed on Tower +Hill, where he died, at thirty-four years old, both courageously and +penitently. His step-father suffered with him. His enemy, Sir Walter Raleigh, +stood near the scaffold all the time—but not so near it as we shall see +him stand, before we finish his history. +</p> + +<p> +In this case, as in the cases of the Duke of Norfolk and Mary Queen of Scots, +the Queen had commanded, and countermanded, and again commanded, the execution. +It is probable that the death of her young and gallant favourite in the prime +of his good qualities, was never off her mind afterwards, but she held out, the +same vain, obstinate and capricious woman, for another year. Then she danced +before her Court on a state occasion—and cut, I should think, a mighty +ridiculous figure, doing so in an immense ruff, stomacher and wig, at seventy +years old. For another year still, she held out, but, without any more dancing, +and as a moody, sorrowful, broken creature. At last, on the tenth of March, one +thousand six hundred and three, having been ill of a very bad cold, and made +worse by the death of the Countess of Nottingham who was her intimate friend, +she fell into a stupor and was supposed to be dead. She recovered her +consciousness, however, and then nothing would induce her to go to bed; for she +said that she knew that if she did, she should never get up again. There she +lay for ten days, on cushions on the floor, without any food, until the Lord +Admiral got her into bed at last, partly by persuasions and partly by main +force. When they asked her who should succeed her, she replied that her seat +had been the seat of Kings, and that she would have for her successor, +‘No rascal’s son, but a King’s.’ Upon this, the lords +present stared at one another, and took the liberty of asking whom she meant; +to which she replied, ‘Whom should I mean, but our cousin of +Scotland!’ This was on the twenty-third of March. They asked her once +again that day, after she was speechless, whether she was still in the same +mind? She struggled up in bed, and joined her hands over her head in the form +of a crown, as the only reply she could make. At three o’clock next +morning, she very quietly died, in the forty-fifth year of her reign. +</p> + +<p> +That reign had been a glorious one, and is made for ever memorable by the +distinguished men who flourished in it. Apart from the great voyagers, +statesmen, and scholars, whom it produced, the names of <span +class="smcap">Bacon</span>, <span class="smcap">Spenser</span>, and <span +class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>, will always be remembered with pride and +veneration by the civilised world, and will always impart (though with no great +reason, perhaps) some portion of their lustre to the name of Elizabeth herself. +It was a great reign for discovery, for commerce, and for English enterprise +and spirit in general. It was a great reign for the Protestant religion and for +the Reformation which made England free. The Queen was very popular, and in her +progresses, or journeys about her dominions, was everywhere received with the +liveliest joy. I think the truth is, that she was not half so good as she has +been made out, and not half so bad as she has been made out. She had her fine +qualities, but she was coarse, capricious, and treacherous, and had all the +faults of an excessively vain young woman long after she was an old one. On the +whole, she had a great deal too much of her father in her, to please me. +</p> + +<p> +Many improvements and luxuries were introduced in the course of these +five-and-forty years in the general manner of living; but cock-fighting, +bull-baiting, and bear-baiting, were still the national amusements; and a coach +was so rarely seen, and was such an ugly and cumbersome affair when it was +seen, that even the Queen herself, on many high occasions, rode on horseback on +a pillion behind the Lord Chancellor. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap32"></a>CHAPTER XXXII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST</h2> + +<p> +‘Our cousin of Scotland’ was ugly, awkward, and shuffling both in +mind and person. His tongue was much too large for his mouth, his legs were +much too weak for his body, and his dull goggle-eyes stared and rolled like an +idiot’s. He was cunning, covetous, wasteful, idle, drunken, greedy, +dirty, cowardly, a great swearer, and the most conceited man on earth. His +figure—what is commonly called rickety from his birth—presented a +most ridiculous appearance, dressed in thick padded clothes, as a safeguard +against being stabbed (of which he lived in continual fear), of a grass-green +colour from head to foot, with a hunting-horn dangling at his side instead of a +sword, and his hat and feather sticking over one eye, or hanging on the back of +his head, as he happened to toss it on. He used to loll on the necks of his +favourite courtiers, and slobber their faces, and kiss and pinch their cheeks; +and the greatest favourite he ever had, used to sign himself in his letters to +his royal master, His Majesty’s ‘dog and slave,’ and used to +address his majesty as ‘his Sowship.’ His majesty was the worst +rider ever seen, and thought himself the best. He was one of the most +impertinent talkers (in the broadest Scotch) ever heard, and boasted of being +unanswerable in all manner of argument. He wrote some of the most wearisome +treatises ever read—among others, a book upon witchcraft, in which he was +a devout believer—and thought himself a prodigy of authorship. He +thought, and wrote, and said, that a king had a right to make and unmake what +laws he pleased, and ought to be accountable to nobody on earth. This is the +plain, true character of the personage whom the greatest men about the court +praised and flattered to that degree, that I doubt if there be anything much +more shameful in the annals of human nature. +</p> + +<p> +He came to the English throne with great ease. The miseries of a disputed +succession had been felt so long, and so dreadfully, that he was proclaimed +within a few hours of Elizabeth’s death, and was accepted by the nation, +even without being asked to give any pledge that he would govern well, or that +he would redress crying grievances. He took a month to come from Edinburgh to +London; and, by way of exercising his new power, hanged a pickpocket on the +journey without any trial, and knighted everybody he could lay hold of. He made +two hundred knights before he got to his palace in London, and seven hundred +before he had been in it three months. He also shovelled sixty-two new peers +into the House of Lords—and there was a pretty large sprinkling of +Scotchmen among them, you may believe. +</p> + +<p> +His Sowship’s prime Minister, <span class="smcap">Cecil</span> (for I +cannot do better than call his majesty what his favourite called him), was the +enemy of Sir Walter Raleigh, and also of Sir Walter’s political friend, +<span class="smcap">Lord Cobham</span>; and his Sowship’s first trouble +was a plot originated by these two, and entered into by some others, with the +old object of seizing the King and keeping him in imprisonment until he should +change his ministers. There were Catholic priests in the plot, and there were +Puritan noblemen too; for, although the Catholics and Puritans were strongly +opposed to each other, they united at this time against his Sowship, because +they knew that he had a design against both, after pretending to be friendly to +each; this design being to have only one high and convenient form of the +Protestant religion, which everybody should be bound to belong to, whether they +liked it or not. This plot was mixed up with another, which may or may not have +had some reference to placing on the throne, at some time, the <span +class="smcap">Lady Arabella Stuart</span>; whose misfortune it was, to be the +daughter of the younger brother of his Sowship’s father, but who was +quite innocent of any part in the scheme. Sir Walter Raleigh was accused on the +confession of Lord Cobham—a miserable creature, who said one thing at one +time, and another thing at another time, and could be relied upon in nothing. +The trial of Sir Walter Raleigh lasted from eight in the morning until nearly +midnight; he defended himself with such eloquence, genius, and spirit against +all accusations, and against the insults of <span class="smcap">Coke</span>, +the Attorney-General—who, according to the custom of the time, foully +abused him—that those who went there detesting the prisoner, came away +admiring him, and declaring that anything so wonderful and so captivating was +never heard. He was found guilty, nevertheless, and sentenced to death. +Execution was deferred, and he was taken to the Tower. The two Catholic +priests, less fortunate, were executed with the usual atrocity; and Lord Cobham +and two others were pardoned on the scaffold. His Sowship thought it +wonderfully knowing in him to surprise the people by pardoning these three at +the very block; but, blundering, and bungling, as usual, he had very nearly +overreached himself. For, the messenger on horseback who brought the pardon, +came so late, that he was pushed to the outside of the crowd, and was obliged +to shout and roar out what he came for. The miserable Cobham did not gain much +by being spared that day. He lived, both as a prisoner and a beggar, utterly +despised, and miserably poor, for thirteen years, and then died in an old +outhouse belonging to one of his former servants. +</p> + +<p> +This plot got rid of, and Sir Walter Raleigh safely shut up in the Tower, his +Sowship held a great dispute with the Puritans on their presenting a petition +to him, and had it all his own way—not so very wonderful, as he would +talk continually, and would not hear anybody else—and filled the Bishops +with admiration. It was comfortably settled that there was to be only one form +of religion, and that all men were to think exactly alike. But, although this +was arranged two centuries and a half ago, and although the arrangement was +supported by much fining and imprisonment, I do not find that it is quite +successful, even yet. +</p> + +<p> +His Sowship, having that uncommonly high opinion of himself as a king, had a +very low opinion of Parliament as a power that audaciously wanted to control +him. When he called his first Parliament after he had been king a year, he +accordingly thought he would take pretty high ground with them, and told them +that he commanded them ‘as an absolute king.’ The Parliament +thought those strong words, and saw the necessity of upholding their authority. +His Sowship had three children: Prince Henry, Prince Charles, and the Princess +Elizabeth. It would have been well for one of these, and we shall too soon see +which, if he had learnt a little wisdom concerning Parliaments from his +father’s obstinacy. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the people still labouring under their old dread of the Catholic religion, +this Parliament revived and strengthened the severe laws against it. And this +so angered <span class="smcap">Robert Catesby</span>, a restless Catholic +gentleman of an old family, that he formed one of the most desperate and +terrible designs ever conceived in the mind of man; no less a scheme than the +Gunpowder Plot. +</p> + +<p> +His object was, when the King, lords, and commons, should be assembled at the +next opening of Parliament, to blow them up, one and all, with a great mine of +gunpowder. The first person to whom he confided this horrible idea was <span +class="smcap">Thomas Winter</span>, a Worcestershire gentleman who had served +in the army abroad, and had been secretly employed in Catholic projects. While +Winter was yet undecided, and when he had gone over to the Netherlands, to +learn from the Spanish Ambassador there whether there was any hope of Catholics +being relieved through the intercession of the King of Spain with his Sowship, +he found at Ostend a tall, dark, daring man, whom he had known when they were +both soldiers abroad, and whose name was <span +class="smcap">Guido</span>—or <span class="smcap">Guy</span>—<span +class="smcap">Fawkes</span>. Resolved to join the plot, he proposed it to this +man, knowing him to be the man for any desperate deed, and they two came back +to England together. Here, they admitted two other conspirators; <span +class="smcap">Thomas Percy</span>, related to the Earl of Northumberland, and +<span class="smcap">John Wright</span>, his brother-in-law. All these met +together in a solitary house in the open fields which were then near +Clement’s Inn, now a closely blocked-up part of London; and when they had +all taken a great oath of secrecy, Catesby told the rest what his plan was. +They then went up-stairs into a garret, and received the Sacrament from <span +class="smcap">Father Gerard</span>, a Jesuit, who is said not to have known +actually of the Gunpowder Plot, but who, I think, must have had his suspicions +that there was something desperate afoot. +</p> + +<p> +Percy was a Gentleman Pensioner, and as he had occasional duties to perform +about the Court, then kept at Whitehall, there would be nothing suspicious in +his living at Westminster. So, having looked well about him, and having found a +house to let, the back of which joined the Parliament House, he hired it of a +person named <span class="smcap">Ferris</span>, for the purpose of undermining +the wall. Having got possession of this house, the conspirators hired another +on the Lambeth side of the Thames, which they used as a storehouse for wood, +gunpowder, and other combustible matters. These were to be removed at night +(and afterwards were removed), bit by bit, to the house at Westminster; and, +that there might be some trusty person to keep watch over the Lambeth stores, +they admitted another conspirator, by name <span class="smcap">Robert +Kay</span>, a very poor Catholic gentleman. +</p> + +<p> +All these arrangements had been made some months, and it was a dark, wintry, +December night, when the conspirators, who had been in the meantime dispersed +to avoid observation, met in the house at Westminster, and began to dig. They +had laid in a good stock of eatables, to avoid going in and out, and they dug +and dug with great ardour. But, the wall being tremendously thick, and the work +very severe, they took into their plot <span class="smcap">Christopher +Wright</span>, a younger brother of John Wright, that they might have a new +pair of hands to help. And Christopher Wright fell to like a fresh man, and +they dug and dug by night and by day, and Fawkes stood sentinel all the time. +And if any man’s heart seemed to fail him at all, Fawkes said, +‘Gentlemen, we have abundance of powder and shot here, and there is no +fear of our being taken alive, even if discovered.’ The same Fawkes, who, +in the capacity of sentinel, was always prowling about, soon picked up the +intelligence that the King had prorogued the Parliament again, from the seventh +of February, the day first fixed upon, until the third of October. When the +conspirators knew this, they agreed to separate until after the Christmas +holidays, and to take no notice of each other in the meanwhile, and never to +write letters to one another on any account. So, the house in Westminster was +shut up again, and I suppose the neighbours thought that those strange-looking +men who lived there so gloomily, and went out so seldom, were gone away to have +a merry Christmas somewhere. +</p> + +<p> +It was the beginning of February, sixteen hundred and five, when Catesby met +his fellow-conspirators again at this Westminster house. He had now admitted +three more; <span class="smcap">John Grant</span>, a Warwickshire gentleman of +a melancholy temper, who lived in a doleful house near Stratford-upon-Avon, +with a frowning wall all round it, and a deep moat; <span class="smcap">Robert +Winter</span>, eldest brother of Thomas; and Catesby’s own servant, <span +class="smcap">Thomas Bates</span>, who, Catesby thought, had had some suspicion +of what his master was about. These three had all suffered more or less for +their religion in Elizabeth’s time. And now, they all began to dig again, +and they dug and dug by night and by day. +</p> + +<p> +They found it dismal work alone there, underground, with such a fearful secret +on their minds, and so many murders before them. They were filled with wild +fancies. Sometimes, they thought they heard a great bell tolling, deep down in +the earth under the Parliament House; sometimes, they thought they heard low +voices muttering about the Gunpowder Plot; once in the morning, they really did +hear a great rumbling noise over their heads, as they dug and sweated in their +mine. Every man stopped and looked aghast at his neighbour, wondering what had +happened, when that bold prowler, Fawkes, who had been out to look, came in and +told them that it was only a dealer in coals who had occupied a cellar under +the Parliament House, removing his stock in trade to some other place. Upon +this, the conspirators, who with all their digging and digging had not yet dug +through the tremendously thick wall, changed their plan; hired that cellar, +which was directly under the House of Lords; put six-and-thirty barrels of +gunpowder in it, and covered them over with fagots and coals. Then they all +dispersed again till September, when the following new conspirators were +admitted; <span class="smcap">Sir Edward Baynham</span>, of Gloucestershire; +<span class="smcap">Sir Everard Digby</span>, of Rutlandshire; <span +class="smcap">Ambrose Rookwood</span>, of Suffolk; <span class="smcap">Francis +Tresham</span>, of Northamptonshire. Most of these were rich, and were to +assist the plot, some with money and some with horses on which the conspirators +were to ride through the country and rouse the Catholics after the Parliament +should be blown into air. +</p> + +<p> +Parliament being again prorogued from the third of October to the fifth of +November, and the conspirators being uneasy lest their design should have been +found out, Thomas Winter said he would go up into the House of Lords on the day +of the prorogation, and see how matters looked. Nothing could be better. The +unconscious Commissioners were walking about and talking to one another, just +over the six-and-thirty barrels of gunpowder. He came back and told the rest +so, and they went on with their preparations. They hired a ship, and kept it +ready in the Thames, in which Fawkes was to sail for Flanders after firing with +a slow match the train that was to explode the powder. A number of Catholic +gentlemen not in the secret, were invited, on pretence of a hunting party, to +meet Sir Everard Digby at Dunchurch on the fatal day, that they might be ready +to act together. And now all was ready. +</p> + +<p> +But, now, the great wickedness and danger which had been all along at the +bottom of this wicked plot, began to show itself. As the fifth of November drew +near, most of the conspirators, remembering that they had friends and relations +who would be in the House of Lords that day, felt some natural relenting, and a +wish to warn them to keep away. They were not much comforted by Catesby’s +declaring that in such a cause he would blow up his own son. <span +class="smcap">Lord Mounteagle</span>, Tresham’s brother-in-law, was +certain to be in the house; and when Tresham found that he could not prevail +upon the rest to devise any means of sparing their friends, he wrote a +mysterious letter to this lord and left it at his lodging in the dusk, urging +him to keep away from the opening of Parliament, ‘since God and man had +concurred to punish the wickedness of the times.’ It contained the words +‘that the Parliament should receive a terrible blow, and yet should not +see who hurt them.’ And it added, ‘the danger is past, as soon as +you have burnt the letter.’ +</p> + +<p> +The ministers and courtiers made out that his Sowship, by a direct miracle from +Heaven, found out what this letter meant. The truth is, that they were not long +(as few men would be) in finding out for themselves; and it was decided to let +the conspirators alone, until the very day before the opening of Parliament. +That the conspirators had their fears, is certain; for, Tresham himself said +before them all, that they were every one dead men; and, although even he did +not take flight, there is reason to suppose that he had warned other persons +besides Lord Mounteagle. However, they were all firm; and Fawkes, who was a man +of iron, went down every day and night to keep watch in the cellar as usual. He +was there about two in the afternoon of the fourth, when the Lord Chamberlain +and Lord Mounteagle threw open the door and looked in. ‘Who are you, +friend?’ said they. ‘Why,’ said Fawkes, ‘I am Mr. +Percy’s servant, and am looking after his store of fuel here.’ +‘Your master has laid in a pretty good store,’ they returned, and +shut the door, and went away. Fawkes, upon this, posted off to the other +conspirators to tell them all was quiet, and went back and shut himself up in +the dark, black cellar again, where he heard the bell go twelve o’clock +and usher in the fifth of November. About two hours afterwards, he slowly +opened the door, and came out to look about him, in his old prowling way. He +was instantly seized and bound, by a party of soldiers under <span +class="smcap">Sir Thomas Knevett</span>. He had a watch upon him, some +touchwood, some tinder, some slow matches; and there was a dark lantern with a +candle in it, lighted, behind the door. He had his boots and spurs on—to +ride to the ship, I suppose—and it was well for the soldiers that they +took him so suddenly. If they had left him but a moment’s time to light a +match, he certainly would have tossed it in among the powder, and blown up +himself and them. +</p> + +<p> +They took him to the King’s bed-chamber first of all, and there the King +(causing him to be held very tight, and keeping a good way off), asked him how +he could have the heart to intend to destroy so many innocent people? +‘Because,’ said Guy Fawkes, ‘desperate diseases need +desperate remedies.’ To a little Scotch favourite, with a face like a +terrier, who asked him (with no particular wisdom) why he had collected so much +gunpowder, he replied, because he had meant to blow Scotchmen back to Scotland, +and it would take a deal of powder to do that. Next day he was carried to the +Tower, but would make no confession. Even after being horribly tortured, he +confessed nothing that the Government did not already know; though he must have +been in a fearful state—as his signature, still preserved, in contrast +with his natural hand-writing before he was put upon the dreadful rack, most +frightfully shows. Bates, a very different man, soon said the Jesuits had had +to do with the plot, and probably, under the torture, would as readily have +said anything. Tresham, taken and put in the Tower too, made confessions and +unmade them, and died of an illness that was heavy upon him. Rookwood, who had +stationed relays of his own horses all the way to Dunchurch, did not mount to +escape until the middle of the day, when the news of the plot was all over +London. On the road, he came up with the two Wrights, Catesby, and Percy; and +they all galloped together into Northamptonshire. Thence to Dunchurch, where +they found the proposed party assembled. Finding, however, that there had been +a plot, and that it had been discovered, the party disappeared in the course of +the night, and left them alone with Sir Everard Digby. Away they all rode +again, through Warwickshire and Worcestershire, to a house called Holbeach, on +the borders of Staffordshire. They tried to raise the Catholics on their way, +but were indignantly driven off by them. All this time they were hotly pursued +by the sheriff of Worcester, and a fast increasing concourse of riders. At +last, resolving to defend themselves at Holbeach, they shut themselves up in +the house, and put some wet powder before the fire to dry. But it blew up, and +Catesby was singed and blackened, and almost killed, and some of the others +were sadly hurt. Still, knowing that they must die, they resolved to die there, +and with only their swords in their hands appeared at the windows to be shot at +by the sheriff and his assistants. Catesby said to Thomas Winter, after Thomas +had been hit in the right arm which dropped powerless by his side, ‘Stand +by me, Tom, and we will die together!’—which they did, being shot +through the body by two bullets from one gun. John Wright, and Christopher +Wright, and Percy, were also shot. Rookwood and Digby were taken: the former +with a broken arm and a wound in his body too. +</p> + +<p> +It was the fifteenth of January, before the trial of Guy Fawkes, and such of +the other conspirators as were left alive, came on. They were all found guilty, +all hanged, drawn, and quartered: some, in St. Paul’s Churchyard, on the +top of Ludgate-hill; some, before the Parliament House. A Jesuit priest, named +<span class="smcap">Henry Garnet</span>, to whom the dreadful design was said +to have been communicated, was taken and tried; and two of his servants, as +well as a poor priest who was taken with him, were tortured without mercy. He +himself was not tortured, but was surrounded in the Tower by tamperers and +traitors, and so was made unfairly to convict himself out of his own mouth. He +said, upon his trial, that he had done all he could to prevent the deed, and +that he could not make public what had been told him in confession—though +I am afraid he knew of the plot in other ways. He was found guilty and +executed, after a manful defence, and the Catholic Church made a saint of him; +some rich and powerful persons, who had had nothing to do with the project, +were fined and imprisoned for it by the Star Chamber; the Catholics, in +general, who had recoiled with horror from the idea of the infernal +contrivance, were unjustly put under more severe laws than before; and this was +the end of the Gunpowder Plot. +</p> + +<h3>SECOND PART</h3> + +<p> +His Sowship would pretty willingly, I think, have blown the House of Commons +into the air himself; for, his dread and jealousy of it knew no bounds all +through his reign. When he was hard pressed for money he was obliged to order +it to meet, as he could get no money without it; and when it asked him first to +abolish some of the monopolies in necessaries of life which were a great +grievance to the people, and to redress other public wrongs, he flew into a +rage and got rid of it again. At one time he wanted it to consent to the Union +of England with Scotland, and quarrelled about that. At another time it wanted +him to put down a most infamous Church abuse, called the High Commission Court, +and he quarrelled with it about that. At another time it entreated him not to +be quite so fond of his archbishops and bishops who made speeches in his praise +too awful to be related, but to have some little consideration for the poor +Puritan clergy who were persecuted for preaching in their own way, and not +according to the archbishops and bishops; and they quarrelled about that. In +short, what with hating the House of Commons, and pretending not to hate it; +and what with now sending some of its members who opposed him, to Newgate or to +the Tower, and now telling the rest that they must not presume to make speeches +about the public affairs which could not possibly concern them; and what with +cajoling, and bullying, and fighting, and being frightened; the House of +Commons was the plague of his Sowship’s existence. It was pretty firm, +however, in maintaining its rights, and insisting that the Parliament should +make the laws, and not the King by his own single proclamations (which he tried +hard to do); and his Sowship was so often distressed for money, in consequence, +that he sold every sort of title and public office as if they were merchandise, +and even invented a new dignity called a Baronetcy, which anybody could buy for +a thousand pounds. +</p> + +<p> +These disputes with his Parliaments, and his hunting, and his drinking, and his +lying in bed—for he was a great sluggard—occupied his Sowship +pretty well. The rest of his time he chiefly passed in hugging and slobbering +his favourites. The first of these was <span class="smcap">Sir Philip +Herbert</span>, who had no knowledge whatever, except of dogs, and horses, and +hunting, but whom he soon made <span class="smcap">Earl of Montgomery</span>. +The next, and a much more famous one, was <span class="smcap">Robert +Carr</span>, or <span class="smcap">Ker</span> (for it is not certain which was +his right name), who came from the Border country, and whom he soon made <span +class="smcap">Viscount Rochester</span>, and afterwards, <span +class="smcap">Earl of Somerset</span>. The way in which his Sowship doted on +this handsome young man, is even more odious to think of, than the way in which +the really great men of England condescended to bow down before him. The +favourite’s great friend was a certain <span class="smcap">Sir Thomas +Overbury</span>, who wrote his love-letters for him, and assisted him in the +duties of his many high places, which his own ignorance prevented him from +discharging. But this same Sir Thomas having just manhood enough to dissuade +the favourite from a wicked marriage with the beautiful Countess of Essex, who +was to get a divorce from her husband for the purpose, the said Countess, in +her rage, got Sir Thomas put into the Tower, and there poisoned him. Then the +favourite and this bad woman were publicly married by the King’s pet +bishop, with as much to-do and rejoicing, as if he had been the best man, and +she the best woman, upon the face of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +But, after a longer sunshine than might have been expected—of seven years +or so, that is to say—another handsome young man started up and eclipsed +the <span class="smcap">Earl of Somerset</span>. This was <span +class="smcap">George Villiers</span>, the youngest son of a Leicestershire +gentleman: who came to Court with all the Paris fashions on him, and could +dance as well as the best mountebank that ever was seen. He soon danced himself +into the good graces of his Sowship, and danced the other favourite out of +favour. Then, it was all at once discovered that the Earl and Countess of +Somerset had not deserved all those great promotions and mighty rejoicings, and +they were separately tried for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and for other +crimes. But, the King was so afraid of his late favourite’s publicly +telling some disgraceful things he knew of him—which he darkly threatened +to do—that he was even examined with two men standing, one on either side +of him, each with a cloak in his hand, ready to throw it over his head and stop +his mouth if he should break out with what he had it in his power to tell. So, +a very lame affair was purposely made of the trial, and his punishment was an +allowance of four thousand pounds a year in retirement, while the Countess was +pardoned, and allowed to pass into retirement too. They hated one another by +this time, and lived to revile and torment each other some years. +</p> + +<p> +While these events were in progress, and while his Sowship was making such an +exhibition of himself, from day to day and from year to year, as is not often +seen in any sty, three remarkable deaths took place in England. The first was +that of the Minister, Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, who was past sixty, and +had never been strong, being deformed from his birth. He said at last that he +had no wish to live; and no Minister need have had, with his experience of the +meanness and wickedness of those disgraceful times. The second was that of the +Lady Arabella Stuart, who alarmed his Sowship mightily, by privately marrying +<span class="smcap">William Seymour</span>, son of <span class="smcap">Lord +Beauchamp</span>, who was a descendant of King Henry the Seventh, and who, his +Sowship thought, might consequently increase and strengthen any claim she might +one day set up to the throne. She was separated from her husband (who was put +in the Tower) and thrust into a boat to be confined at Durham. She escaped in a +man’s dress to get away in a French ship from Gravesend to France, but +unhappily missed her husband, who had escaped too, and was soon taken. She went +raving mad in the miserable Tower, and died there after four years. The last, +and the most important of these three deaths, was that of Prince Henry, the +heir to the throne, in the nineteenth year of his age. He was a promising young +prince, and greatly liked; a quiet, well-conducted youth, of whom two very good +things are known: first, that his father was jealous of him; secondly, that he +was the friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, languishing through all those years in +the Tower, and often said that no man but his father would keep such a bird in +such a cage. On the occasion of the preparations for the marriage of his sister +the Princess Elizabeth with a foreign prince (and an unhappy marriage it turned +out), he came from Richmond, where he had been very ill, to greet his new +brother-in-law, at the palace at Whitehall. There he played a great game at +tennis, in his shirt, though it was very cold weather, and was seized with an +alarming illness, and died within a fortnight of a putrid fever. For this young +prince Sir Walter Raleigh wrote, in his prison in the Tower, the beginning of a +History of the World: a wonderful instance how little his Sowship could do to +confine a great man’s mind, however long he might imprison his body. +</p> + +<p> +And this mention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had many faults, but who never +showed so many merits as in trouble and adversity, may bring me at once to the +end of his sad story. After an imprisonment in the Tower of twelve long years, +he proposed to resume those old sea voyages of his, and to go to South America +in search of gold. His Sowship, divided between his wish to be on good terms +with the Spaniards through whose territory Sir Walter must pass (he had long +had an idea of marrying Prince Henry to a Spanish Princess), and his avaricious +eagerness to get hold of the gold, did not know what to do. But, in the end, he +set Sir Walter free, taking securities for his return; and Sir Walter fitted +out an expedition at his own coast and, on the twenty-eighth of March, one +thousand six hundred and seventeen, sailed away in command of one of its ships, +which he ominously called the Destiny. The expedition failed; the common men, +not finding the gold they had expected, mutinied; a quarrel broke out between +Sir Walter and the Spaniards, who hated him for old successes of his against +them; and he took and burnt a little town called <span class="smcap">Saint +Thomas</span>. For this he was denounced to his Sowship by the Spanish +Ambassador as a pirate; and returning almost broken-hearted, with his hopes and +fortunes shattered, his company of friends dispersed, and his brave son (who +had been one of them) killed, he was taken—through the treachery of <span +class="smcap">Sir Lewis Stukely</span>, his near relation, a scoundrel and a +Vice-Admiral—and was once again immured in his prison-home of so many +years. +</p> + +<p> +His Sowship being mightily disappointed in not getting any gold, Sir Walter +Raleigh was tried as unfairly, and with as many lies and evasions as the judges +and law officers and every other authority in Church and State habitually +practised under such a King. After a great deal of prevarication on all parts +but his own, it was declared that he must die under his former sentence, now +fifteen years old. So, on the twenty-eighth of October, one thousand six +hundred and eighteen, he was shut up in the Gate House at Westminster to pass +his late night on earth, and there he took leave of his good and faithful lady +who was worthy to have lived in better days. At eight o’clock next +morning, after a cheerful breakfast, and a pipe, and a cup of good wine, he was +taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster, where the scaffold was set up, and +where so many people of high degree were assembled to see him die, that it was +a matter of some difficulty to get him through the crowd. He behaved most +nobly, but if anything lay heavy on his mind, it was that Earl of Essex, whose +head he had seen roll off; and he solemnly said that he had had no hand in +bringing him to the block, and that he had shed tears for him when he died. As +the morning was very cold, the Sheriff said, would he come down to a fire for a +little space, and warm himself? But Sir Walter thanked him, and said no, he +would rather it were done at once, for he was ill of fever and ague, and in +another quarter of an hour his shaking fit would come upon him if he were still +alive, and his enemies might then suppose that he trembled for fear. With that, +he kneeled and made a very beautiful and Christian prayer. Before he laid his +head upon the block he felt the edge of the axe, and said, with a smile upon +his face, that it was a sharp medicine, but would cure the worst disease. When +he was bent down ready for death, he said to the executioner, finding that he +hesitated, ‘What dost thou fear? Strike, man!’ So, the axe came +down and struck his head off, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. +</p> + +<p> +The new favourite got on fast. He was made a viscount, he was made Duke of +Buckingham, he was made a marquis, he was made Master of the Horse, he was made +Lord High Admiral—and the Chief Commander of the gallant English forces +that had dispersed the Spanish Armada, was displaced to make room for him. He +had the whole kingdom at his disposal, and his mother sold all the profits and +honours of the State, as if she had kept a shop. He blazed all over with +diamonds and other precious stones, from his hatband and his earrings to his +shoes. Yet he was an ignorant presumptuous, swaggering compound of knave and +fool, with nothing but his beauty and his dancing to recommend him. This is the +gentleman who called himself his Majesty’s dog and slave, and called his +Majesty Your Sowship. His Sowship called him <span +class="smcap">Steenie</span>; it is supposed, because that was a nickname for +Stephen, and because St. Stephen was generally represented in pictures as a +handsome saint. +</p> + +<p> +His Sowship was driven sometimes to his wits’-end by his trimming between +the general dislike of the Catholic religion at home, and his desire to wheedle +and flatter it abroad, as his only means of getting a rich princess for his +son’s wife: a part of whose fortune he might cram into his greasy +pockets. Prince Charles—or as his Sowship called him, Baby +Charles—being now <span class="smcap">Prince of Wales</span>, the old +project of a marriage with the Spanish King’s daughter had been revived +for him; and as she could not marry a Protestant without leave from the Pope, +his Sowship himself secretly and meanly wrote to his Infallibility, asking for +it. The negotiation for this Spanish marriage takes up a larger space in great +books, than you can imagine, but the upshot of it all is, that when it had been +held off by the Spanish Court for a long time, Baby Charles and Steenie set off +in disguise as Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. John Smith, to see the Spanish +Princess; that Baby Charles pretended to be desperately in love with her, and +jumped off walls to look at her, and made a considerable fool of himself in a +good many ways; that she was called Princess of Wales and that the whole +Spanish Court believed Baby Charles to be all but dying for her sake, as he +expressly told them he was; that Baby Charles and Steenie came back to England, +and were received with as much rapture as if they had been a blessing to it; +that Baby Charles had actually fallen in love with <span +class="smcap">Henrietta Maria</span>, the French King’s sister, whom he +had seen in Paris; that he thought it a wonderfully fine and princely thing to +have deceived the Spaniards, all through; and that he openly said, with a +chuckle, as soon as he was safe and sound at home again, that the Spaniards +were great fools to have believed him. +</p> + +<p> +Like most dishonest men, the Prince and the favourite complained that the +people whom they had deluded were dishonest. They made such misrepresentations +of the treachery of the Spaniards in this business of the Spanish match, that +the English nation became eager for a war with them. Although the gravest +Spaniards laughed at the idea of his Sowship in a warlike attitude, the +Parliament granted money for the beginning of hostilities, and the treaties +with Spain were publicly declared to be at an end. The Spanish ambassador in +London—probably with the help of the fallen favourite, the Earl of +Somerset—being unable to obtain speech with his Sowship, slipped a paper +into his hand, declaring that he was a prisoner in his own house, and was +entirely governed by Buckingham and his creatures. The first effect of this +letter was that his Sowship began to cry and whine, and took Baby Charles away +from Steenie, and went down to Windsor, gabbling all sorts of nonsense. The end +of it was that his Sowship hugged his dog and slave, and said he was quite +satisfied. +</p> + +<p> +He had given the Prince and the favourite almost unlimited power to settle +anything with the Pope as to the Spanish marriage; and he now, with a view to +the French one, signed a treaty that all Roman Catholics in England should +exercise their religion freely, and should never be required to take any oath +contrary thereto. In return for this, and for other concessions much less to be +defended, Henrietta Maria was to become the Prince’s wife, and was to +bring him a fortune of eight hundred thousand crowns. +</p> + +<p> +His Sowship’s eyes were getting red with eagerly looking for the money, +when the end of a gluttonous life came upon him; and, after a fortnight’s +illness, on Sunday the twenty-seventh of March, one thousand six hundred and +twenty-five, he died. He had reigned twenty-two years, and was fifty-nine years +old. I know of nothing more abominable in history than the adulation that was +lavished on this King, and the vice and corruption that such a barefaced habit +of lying produced in his court. It is much to be doubted whether one man of +honour, and not utterly self-disgraced, kept his place near James the First. +Lord Bacon, that able and wise philosopher, as the First Judge in the Kingdom +in this reign, became a public spectacle of dishonesty and corruption; and in +his base flattery of his Sowship, and in his crawling servility to his dog and +slave, disgraced himself even more. But, a creature like his Sowship set upon a +throne is like the Plague, and everybody receives infection from him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap33"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST</h2> + +<p> +Baby Charles became <span class="smcap">King Charles the First</span>, in the +twenty-fifth year of his age. Unlike his father, he was usually amiable in his +private character, and grave and dignified in his bearing; but, like his +father, he had monstrously exaggerated notions of the rights of a king, and was +evasive, and not to be trusted. If his word could have been relied upon, his +history might have had a different end. +</p> + +<p> +His first care was to send over that insolent upstart, Buckingham, to bring +Henrietta Maria from Paris to be his Queen; upon which occasion +Buckingham—with his usual audacity—made love to the young Queen of +Austria, and was very indignant indeed with <span class="smcap">Cardinal +Richelieu</span>, the French Minister, for thwarting his intentions. The +English people were very well disposed to like their new Queen, and to receive +her with great favour when she came among them as a stranger. But, she held the +Protestant religion in great dislike, and brought over a crowd of unpleasant +priests, who made her do some very ridiculous things, and forced themselves +upon the public notice in many disagreeable ways. Hence, the people soon came +to dislike her, and she soon came to dislike them; and she did so much all +through this reign in setting the King (who was dotingly fond of her) against +his subjects, that it would have been better for him if she had never been +born. +</p> + +<p> +Now, you are to understand that King Charles the First—of his own +determination to be a high and mighty King not to be called to account by +anybody, and urged on by his Queen besides—deliberately set himself to +put his Parliament down and to put himself up. You are also to understand, that +even in pursuit of this wrong idea (enough in itself to have ruined any king) +he never took a straight course, but always took a crooked one. +</p> + +<p> +He was bent upon war with Spain, though neither the House of Commons nor the +people were quite clear as to the justice of that war, now that they began to +think a little more about the story of the Spanish match. But the King rushed +into it hotly, raised money by illegal means to meet its expenses, and +encountered a miserable failure at Cadiz, in the very first year of his reign. +An expedition to Cadiz had been made in the hope of plunder, but as it was not +successful, it was necessary to get a grant of money from the Parliament; and +when they met, in no very complying humour, the King told them, ‘to make +haste to let him have it, or it would be the worse for themselves.’ Not +put in a more complying humour by this, they impeached the King’s +favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, as the cause (which he undoubtedly was) of +many great public grievances and wrongs. The King, to save him, dissolved the +Parliament without getting the money he wanted; and when the Lords implored him +to consider and grant a little delay, he replied, ‘No, not one +minute.’ He then began to raise money for himself by the following means +among others. +</p> + +<p> +He levied certain duties called tonnage and poundage which had not been granted +by the Parliament, and could lawfully be levied by no other power; he called +upon the seaport towns to furnish, and to pay all the cost for three months of, +a fleet of armed ships; and he required the people to unite in lending him +large sums of money, the repayment of which was very doubtful. If the poor +people refused, they were pressed as soldiers or sailors; if the gentry +refused, they were sent to prison. Five gentlemen, named <span +class="smcap">Sir Thomas Darnel</span>, <span class="smcap">John Corbet</span>, +<span class="smcap">Walter Earl</span>, <span class="smcap">John +Heveningham</span>, and <span class="smcap">Everard Hampden</span>, for +refusing were taken up by a warrant of the King’s privy council, and were +sent to prison without any cause but the King’s pleasure being stated for +their imprisonment. Then the question came to be solemnly tried, whether this +was not a violation of Magna Charta, and an encroachment by the King on the +highest rights of the English people. His lawyers contended No, because to +encroach upon the rights of the English people would be to do wrong, and the +King could do no wrong. The accommodating judges decided in favour of this +wicked nonsense; and here was a fatal division between the King and the people. +</p> + +<p> +For all this, it became necessary to call another Parliament. The people, +sensible of the danger in which their liberties were, chose for it those who +were best known for their determined opposition to the King; but still the +King, quite blinded by his determination to carry everything before him, +addressed them when they met, in a contemptuous manner, and just told them in +so many words that he had only called them together because he wanted money. +The Parliament, strong enough and resolute enough to know that they would lower +his tone, cared little for what he said, and laid before him one of the great +documents of history, which is called the <span class="smcap">Petition of +Right</span>, requiring that the free men of England should no longer be called +upon to lend the King money, and should no longer be pressed or imprisoned for +refusing to do so; further, that the free men of England should no longer be +seized by the King’s special mandate or warrant, it being contrary to +their rights and liberties and the laws of their country. At first the King +returned an answer to this petition, in which he tried to shirk it altogether; +but, the House of Commons then showing their determination to go on with the +impeachment of Buckingham, the King in alarm returned an answer, giving his +consent to all that was required of him. He not only afterwards departed from +his word and honour on these points, over and over again, but, at this very +time, he did the mean and dissembling act of publishing his first answer and +not his second—merely that the people might suppose that the Parliament +had not got the better of him. +</p> + +<p> +That pestilent Buckingham, to gratify his own wounded vanity, had by this time +involved the country in war with France, as well as with Spain. For such +miserable causes and such miserable creatures are wars sometimes made! But he +was destined to do little more mischief in this world. One morning, as he was +going out of his house to his carriage, he turned to speak to a certain Colonel +<span class="smcap">Fryer</span> who was with him; and he was violently stabbed +with a knife, which the murderer left sticking in his heart. This happened in +his hall. He had had angry words up-stairs, just before, with some French +gentlemen, who were immediately suspected by his servants, and had a close +escape from being set upon and killed. In the midst of the noise, the real +murderer, who had gone to the kitchen and might easily have got away, drew his +sword and cried out, ‘I am the man!’ His name was <span +class="smcap">John Felton</span>, a Protestant and a retired officer in the +army. He said he had had no personal ill-will to the Duke, but had killed him +as a curse to the country. He had aimed his blow well, for Buckingham had only +had time to cry out, ‘Villain!’ and then he drew out the knife, +fell against a table, and died. +</p> + +<p> +The council made a mighty business of examining John Felton about this murder, +though it was a plain case enough, one would think. He had come seventy miles +to do it, he told them, and he did it for the reason he had declared; if they +put him upon the rack, as that noble <span class="smcap">Marquis of +Dorset</span> whom he saw before him, had the goodness to threaten, he gave +that marquis warning, that he would accuse <i>him</i> as his accomplice! The +King was unpleasantly anxious to have him racked, nevertheless; but as the +judges now found out that torture was contrary to the law of England—it +is a pity they did not make the discovery a little sooner—John Felton was +simply executed for the murder he had done. A murder it undoubtedly was, and +not in the least to be defended: though he had freed England from one of the +most profligate, contemptible, and base court favourites to whom it has ever +yielded. +</p> + +<p> +A very different man now arose. This was <span class="smcap">Sir Thomas +Wentworth</span>, a Yorkshire gentleman, who had sat in Parliament for a long +time, and who had favoured arbitrary and haughty principles, but who had gone +over to the people’s side on receiving offence from Buckingham. The King, +much wanting such a man—for, besides being naturally favourable to the +King’s cause, he had great abilities—made him first a Baron, and +then a Viscount, and gave him high employment, and won him most completely. +</p> + +<p> +A Parliament, however, was still in existence, and was <i>not</i> to be won. On +the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and twenty-nine, <span +class="smcap">Sir John Eliot</span>, a great man who had been active in the +Petition of Right, brought forward other strong resolutions against the +King’s chief instruments, and called upon the Speaker to put them to the +vote. To this the Speaker answered, ‘he was commanded otherwise by the +King,’ and got up to leave the chair—which, according to the rules +of the House of Commons would have obliged it to adjourn without doing anything +more—when two members, named Mr. <span class="smcap">Hollis</span> and +Mr. <span class="smcap">Valentine</span>, held him down. A scene of great +confusion arose among the members; and while many swords were drawn and +flashing about, the King, who was kept informed of all that was going on, told +the captain of his guard to go down to the House and force the doors. The +resolutions were by that time, however, voted, and the House adjourned. Sir +John Eliot and those two members who had held the Speaker down, were quickly +summoned before the council. As they claimed it to be their privilege not to +answer out of Parliament for anything they had said in it, they were committed +to the Tower. The King then went down and dissolved the Parliament, in a speech +wherein he made mention of these gentlemen as ‘Vipers’—which +did not do him much good that ever I have heard of. +</p> + +<p> +As they refused to gain their liberty by saying they were sorry for what they +had done, the King, always remarkably unforgiving, never overlooked their +offence. When they demanded to be brought up before the court of King’s +Bench, he even resorted to the meanness of having them moved about from prison +to prison, so that the writs issued for that purpose should not legally find +them. At last they came before the court and were sentenced to heavy fines, and +to be imprisoned during the King’s pleasure. When Sir John Eliot’s +health had quite given way, and he so longed for change of air and scene as to +petition for his release, the King sent back the answer (worthy of his Sowship +himself) that the petition was not humble enough. When he sent another petition +by his young son, in which he pathetically offered to go back to prison when +his health was restored, if he might be released for its recovery, the King +still disregarded it. When he died in the Tower, and his children petitioned to +be allowed to take his body down to Cornwall, there to lay it among the ashes +of his forefathers, the King returned for answer, ‘Let Sir John +Eliot’s body be buried in the church of that parish where he died.’ +All this was like a very little King indeed, I think. +</p> + +<p> +And now, for twelve long years, steadily pursuing his design of setting himself +up and putting the people down, the King called no Parliament; but ruled +without one. If twelve thousand volumes were written in his praise (as a good +many have been) it would still remain a fact, impossible to be denied, that for +twelve years King Charles the First reigned in England unlawfully and +despotically, seized upon his subjects’ goods and money at his pleasure, +and punished according to his unbridled will all who ventured to oppose him. It +is a fashion with some people to think that this King’s career was cut +short; but I must say myself that I think he ran a pretty long one. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">William Laud</span>, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the +King’s right-hand man in the religious part of the putting down of the +people’s liberties. Laud, who was a sincere man, of large learning but +small sense—for the two things sometimes go together in very different +quantities—though a Protestant, held opinions so near those of the +Catholics, that the Pope wanted to make a Cardinal of him, if he would have +accepted that favour. He looked upon vows, robes, lighted candles, images, and +so forth, as amazingly important in religious ceremonies; and he brought in an +immensity of bowing and candle-snuffing. He also regarded archbishops and +bishops as a sort of miraculous persons, and was inveterate in the last degree +against any who thought otherwise. Accordingly, he offered up thanks to Heaven, +and was in a state of much pious pleasure, when a Scotch clergyman, named <span +class="smcap">Leighton</span>, was pilloried, whipped, branded in the cheek, +and had one of his ears cut off and one of his nostrils slit, for calling +bishops trumpery and the inventions of men. He originated on a Sunday morning +the prosecution of <span class="smcap">William Prynne</span>, a barrister who +was of similar opinions, and who was fined a thousand pounds; who was +pilloried; who had his ears cut off on two occasions—one ear at a +time—and who was imprisoned for life. He highly approved of the +punishment of <span class="smcap">Doctor Bastwick</span>, a physician; who was +also fined a thousand pounds; and who afterwards had <i>his</i> ears cut off, +and was imprisoned for life. These were gentle methods of persuasion, some will +tell you: I think, they were rather calculated to be alarming to the people. +</p> + +<p> +In the money part of the putting down of the people’s liberties, the King +was equally gentle, as some will tell you: as I think, equally alarming. He +levied those duties of tonnage and poundage, and increased them as he thought +fit. He granted monopolies to companies of merchants on their paying him for +them, notwithstanding the great complaints that had, for years and years, been +made on the subject of monopolies. He fined the people for disobeying +proclamations issued by his Sowship in direct violation of law. He revived the +detested Forest laws, and took private property to himself as his forest right. +Above all, he determined to have what was called Ship Money; that is to say, +money for the support of the fleet—not only from the seaports, but from +all the counties of England: having found out that, in some ancient time or +other, all the counties paid it. The grievance of this ship money being +somewhat too strong, <span class="smcap">John Chambers</span>, a citizen of +London, refused to pay his part of it. For this the Lord Mayor ordered John +Chambers to prison, and for that John Chambers brought a suit against the Lord +Mayor. <span class="smcap">Lord Say</span>, also, behaved like a real nobleman, +and declared he would not pay. But, the sturdiest and best opponent of the ship +money was <span class="smcap">John Hampden</span>, a gentleman of +Buckinghamshire, who had sat among the ‘vipers’ in the House of +Commons when there was such a thing, and who had been the bosom friend of Sir +John Eliot. This case was tried before the twelve judges in the Court of +Exchequer, and again the King’s lawyers said it was impossible that ship +money could be wrong, because the King could do no wrong, however hard he +tried—and he really did try very hard during these twelve years. Seven of +the judges said that was quite true, and Mr. Hampden was bound to pay: five of +the judges said that was quite false, and Mr. Hampden was not bound to pay. So, +the King triumphed (as he thought), by making Hampden the most popular man in +England; where matters were getting to that height now, that many honest +Englishmen could not endure their country, and sailed away across the seas to +found a colony in Massachusetts Bay in America. It is said that Hampden himself +and his relation <span class="smcap">Oliver Cromwell</span> were going with a +company of such voyagers, and were actually on board ship, when they were +stopped by a proclamation, prohibiting sea captains to carry out such +passengers without the royal license. But O! it would have been well for the +King if he had let them go! This was the state of England. If Laud had been a +madman just broke loose, he could not have done more mischief than he did in +Scotland. In his endeavours (in which he was seconded by the King, then in +person in that part of his dominions) to force his own ideas of bishops, and +his own religious forms and ceremonies upon the Scotch, he roused that nation +to a perfect frenzy. They formed a solemn league, which they called The +Covenant, for the preservation of their own religious forms; they rose in arms +throughout the whole country; they summoned all their men to prayers and +sermons twice a day by beat of drum; they sang psalms, in which they compared +their enemies to all the evil spirits that ever were heard of; and they +solemnly vowed to smite them with the sword. At first the King tried force, +then treaty, then a Scottish Parliament which did not answer at all. Then he +tried the <span class="smcap">Earl of Strafford</span>, formerly Sir Thomas +Wentworth; who, as <span class="smcap">Lord Wentworth</span>, had been +governing Ireland. He, too, had carried it with a very high hand there, though +to the benefit and prosperity of that country. +</p> + +<p> +Strafford and Laud were for conquering the Scottish people by force of arms. +Other lords who were taken into council, recommended that a Parliament should +at last be called; to which the King unwillingly consented. So, on the +thirteenth of April, one thousand six hundred and forty, that then strange +sight, a Parliament, was seen at Westminster. It is called the Short +Parliament, for it lasted a very little while. While the members were all +looking at one another, doubtful who would dare to speak, <span +class="smcap">Mr. Pym</span> arose and set forth all that the King had done +unlawfully during the past twelve years, and what was the position to which +England was reduced. This great example set, other members took courage and +spoke the truth freely, though with great patience and moderation. The King, a +little frightened, sent to say that if they would grant him a certain sum on +certain terms, no more ship money should be raised. They debated the matter for +two days; and then, as they would not give him all he asked without promise or +inquiry, he dissolved them. +</p> + +<p> +But they knew very well that he must have a Parliament now; and he began to +make that discovery too, though rather late in the day. Wherefore, on the +twenty-fourth of September, being then at York with an army collected against +the Scottish people, but his own men sullen and discontented like the rest of +the nation, the King told the great council of the Lords, whom he had called to +meet him there, that he would summon another Parliament to assemble on the +third of November. The soldiers of the Covenant had now forced their way into +England and had taken possession of the northern counties, where the coals are +got. As it would never do to be without coals, and as the King’s troops +could make no head against the Covenanters so full of gloomy zeal, a truce was +made, and a treaty with Scotland was taken into consideration. Meanwhile the +northern counties paid the Covenanters to leave the coals alone, and keep +quiet. +</p> + +<p> +We have now disposed of the Short Parliament. We have next to see what +memorable things were done by the Long one. +</p> + +<h3>SECOND PART</h3> + +<p> +The Long Parliament assembled on the third of November, one thousand six +hundred and forty-one. That day week the Earl of Strafford arrived from York, +very sensible that the spirited and determined men who formed that Parliament +were no friends towards him, who had not only deserted the cause of the people, +but who had on all occasions opposed himself to their liberties. The King told +him, for his comfort, that the Parliament ‘should not hurt one hair of +his head.’ But, on the very next day Mr. Pym, in the House of Commons, +and with great solemnity, impeached the Earl of Strafford as a traitor. He was +immediately taken into custody and fell from his proud height. +</p> + +<p> +It was the twenty-second of March before he was brought to trial in Westminster +Hall; where, although he was very ill and suffered great pain, he defended +himself with such ability and majesty, that it was doubtful whether he would +not get the best of it. But on the thirteenth day of the trial, Pym produced in +the House of Commons a copy of some notes of a council, found by young <span +class="smcap">Sir Harry Vane</span> in a red velvet cabinet belonging to his +father (Secretary Vane, who sat at the council-table with the Earl), in which +Strafford had distinctly told the King that he was free from all rules and +obligations of government, and might do with his people whatever he liked; and +in which he had added—‘You have an army in Ireland that you may +employ to reduce this kingdom to obedience.’ It was not clear whether by +the words ‘this kingdom,’ he had really meant England or Scotland; +but the Parliament contended that he meant England, and this was treason. At +the same sitting of the House of Commons it was resolved to bring in a bill of +attainder declaring the treason to have been committed: in preference to +proceeding with the trial by impeachment, which would have required the treason +to be proved. +</p> + +<p> +So, a bill was brought in at once, was carried through the House of Commons by +a large majority, and was sent up to the House of Lords. While it was still +uncertain whether the House of Lords would pass it and the King consent to it, +Pym disclosed to the House of Commons that the King and Queen had both been +plotting with the officers of the army to bring up the soldiers and control the +Parliament, and also to introduce two hundred soldiers into the Tower of London +to effect the Earl’s escape. The plotting with the army was revealed by +one <span class="smcap">George Goring</span>, the son of a lord of that name: a +bad fellow who was one of the original plotters, and turned traitor. The King +had actually given his warrant for the admission of the two hundred men into +the Tower, and they would have got in too, but for the refusal of the +governor—a sturdy Scotchman of the name of <span +class="smcap">Balfour</span>—to admit them. These matters being made +public, great numbers of people began to riot outside the Houses of Parliament, +and to cry out for the execution of the Earl of Strafford, as one of the +King’s chief instruments against them. The bill passed the House of Lords +while the people were in this state of agitation, and was laid before the King +for his assent, together with another bill declaring that the Parliament then +assembled should not be dissolved or adjourned without their own consent. The +King—not unwilling to save a faithful servant, though he had no great +attachment for him—was in some doubt what to do; but he gave his consent +to both bills, although he in his heart believed that the bill against the Earl +of Strafford was unlawful and unjust. The Earl had written to him, telling him +that he was willing to die for his sake. But he had not expected that his royal +master would take him at his word quite so readily; for, when he heard his +doom, he laid his hand upon his heart, and said, ‘Put not your trust in +Princes!’ +</p> + +<p> +The King, who never could be straightforward and plain, through one single day +or through one single sheet of paper, wrote a letter to the Lords, and sent it +by the young Prince of Wales, entreating them to prevail with the Commons that +‘that unfortunate man should fulfil the natural course of his life in a +close imprisonment.’ In a postscript to the very same letter, he added, +‘If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till Saturday.’ If +there had been any doubt of his fate, this weakness and meanness would have +settled it. The very next day, which was the twelfth of May, he was brought out +to be beheaded on Tower Hill. +</p> + +<p> +Archbishop Laud, who had been so fond of having people’s ears cropped off +and their noses slit, was now confined in the Tower too; and when the Earl went +by his window to his death, he was there, at his request, to give him his +blessing. They had been great friends in the King’s cause, and the Earl +had written to him in the days of their power that he thought it would be an +admirable thing to have Mr. Hampden publicly whipped for refusing to pay the +ship money. However, those high and mighty doings were over now, and the Earl +went his way to death with dignity and heroism. The governor wished him to get +into a coach at the Tower gate, for fear the people should tear him to pieces; +but he said it was all one to him whether he died by the axe or by the +people’s hands. So, he walked, with a firm tread and a stately look, and +sometimes pulled off his hat to them as he passed along. They were profoundly +quiet. He made a speech on the scaffold from some notes he had prepared (the +paper was found lying there after his head was struck off), and one blow of the +axe killed him, in the forty-ninth year of his age. +</p> + +<p> +This bold and daring act, the Parliament accompanied by other famous measures, +all originating (as even this did) in the King’s having so grossly and so +long abused his power. The name of <span class="smcap">Delinquents</span> was +applied to all sheriffs and other officers who had been concerned in raising +the ship money, or any other money, from the people, in an unlawful manner; the +Hampden judgment was reversed; the judges who had decided against Hampden were +called upon to give large securities that they would take such consequences as +Parliament might impose upon them; and one was arrested as he sat in High +Court, and carried off to prison. Laud was impeached; the unfortunate victims +whose ears had been cropped and whose noses had been slit, were brought out of +prison in triumph; and a bill was passed declaring that a Parliament should be +called every third year, and that if the King and the King’s officers did +not call it, the people should assemble of themselves and summon it, as of +their own right and power. Great illuminations and rejoicings took place over +all these things, and the country was wildly excited. That the Parliament took +advantage of this excitement and stirred them up by every means, there is no +doubt; but you are always to remember those twelve long years, during which the +King had tried so hard whether he really could do any wrong or not. +</p> + +<p> +All this time there was a great religious outcry against the right of the +Bishops to sit in Parliament; to which the Scottish people particularly +objected. The English were divided on this subject, and, partly on this account +and partly because they had had foolish expectations that the Parliament would +be able to take off nearly all the taxes, numbers of them sometimes wavered and +inclined towards the King. +</p> + +<p> +I believe myself, that if, at this or almost any other period of his life, the +King could have been trusted by any man not out of his senses, he might have +saved himself and kept his throne. But, on the English army being disbanded, he +plotted with the officers again, as he had done before, and established the +fact beyond all doubt by putting his signature of approval to a petition +against the Parliamentary leaders, which was drawn up by certain officers. When +the Scottish army was disbanded, he went to Edinburgh in four days—which +was going very fast at that time—to plot again, and so darkly too, that +it is difficult to decide what his whole object was. Some suppose that he +wanted to gain over the Scottish Parliament, as he did in fact gain over, by +presents and favours, many Scottish lords and men of power. Some think that he +went to get proofs against the Parliamentary leaders in England of their having +treasonably invited the Scottish people to come and help them. With whatever +object he went to Scotland, he did little good by going. At the instigation of +the <span class="smcap">Earl of Montrose</span>, a desperate man who was then +in prison for plotting, he tried to kidnap three Scottish lords who escaped. A +committee of the Parliament at home, who had followed to watch him, writing an +account of this <span class="smcap">Incident</span>, as it was called, to the +Parliament, the Parliament made a fresh stir about it; were, or feigned to be, +much alarmed for themselves; and wrote to the <span class="smcap">Earl of +Essex</span>, the commander-in-chief, for a guard to protect them. +</p> + +<p> +It is not absolutely proved that the King plotted in Ireland besides, but it is +very probable that he did, and that the Queen did, and that he had some wild +hope of gaining the Irish people over to his side by favouring a rise among +them. Whether or no, they did rise in a most brutal and savage rebellion; in +which, encouraged by their priests, they committed such atrocities upon numbers +of the English, of both sexes and of all ages, as nobody could believe, but for +their being related on oath by eye-witnesses. Whether one hundred thousand or +two hundred thousand Protestants were murdered in this outbreak, is uncertain; +but, that it was as ruthless and barbarous an outbreak as ever was known among +any savage people, is certain. +</p> + +<p> +The King came home from Scotland, determined to make a great struggle for his +lost power. He believed that, through his presents and favours, Scotland would +take no part against him; and the Lord Mayor of London received him with such a +magnificent dinner that he thought he must have become popular again in +England. It would take a good many Lord Mayors, however, to make a people, and +the King soon found himself mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +Not so soon, though, but that there was a great opposition in the Parliament to +a celebrated paper put forth by Pym and Hampden and the rest, called +‘<span class="smcap">The Remonstrance</span>,’ which set forth all +the illegal acts that the King had ever done, but politely laid the blame of +them on his bad advisers. Even when it was passed and presented to him, the +King still thought himself strong enough to discharge Balfour from his command +in the Tower, and to put in his place a man of bad character; to whom the +Commons instantly objected, and whom he was obliged to abandon. At this time, +the old outcry about the Bishops became louder than ever, and the old +Archbishop of York was so near being murdered as he went down to the House of +Lords—being laid hold of by the mob and violently knocked about, in +return for very foolishly scolding a shrill boy who was yelping out ‘No +Bishops!’—that he sent for all the Bishops who were in town, and +proposed to them to sign a declaration that, as they could no longer without +danger to their lives attend their duty in Parliament, they protested against +the lawfulness of everything done in their absence. This they asked the King to +send to the House of Lords, which he did. Then the House of Commons impeached +the whole party of Bishops and sent them off to the Tower: +</p> + +<p> +Taking no warning from this; but encouraged by there being a moderate party in +the Parliament who objected to these strong measures, the King, on the third of +January, one thousand six hundred and forty-two, took the rashest step that +ever was taken by mortal man. +</p> + +<p> +Of his own accord and without advice, he sent the Attorney-General to the House +of Lords, to accuse of treason certain members of Parliament who as popular +leaders were the most obnoxious to him; <span class="smcap">Lord +Kimbolton</span>, <span class="smcap">Sir Arthur Haselrig</span>, <span +class="smcap">Denzil Hollis</span>, <span class="smcap">John Pym</span> (they +used to call him King Pym, he possessed such power and looked so big), <span +class="smcap">John Hampden</span>, and <span class="smcap">William +Strode</span>. The houses of those members he caused to be entered, and their +papers to be sealed up. At the same time, he sent a messenger to the House of +Commons demanding to have the five gentlemen who were members of that House +immediately produced. To this the House replied that they should appear as soon +as there was any legal charge against them, and immediately adjourned. +</p> + +<p> +Next day, the House of Commons send into the City to let the Lord Mayor know +that their privileges are invaded by the King, and that there is no safety for +anybody or anything. Then, when the five members are gone out of the way, down +comes the King himself, with all his guard and from two to three hundred +gentlemen and soldiers, of whom the greater part were armed. These he leaves in +the hall; and then, with his nephew at his side, goes into the House, takes off +his hat, and walks up to the Speaker’s chair. The Speaker leaves it, the +King stands in front of it, looks about him steadily for a little while, and +says he has come for those five members. No one speaks, and then he calls John +Pym by name. No one speaks, and then he calls Denzil Hollis by name. No one +speaks, and then he asks the Speaker of the House where those five members are? +The Speaker, answering on his knee, nobly replies that he is the servant of +that House, and that he has neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, anything +but what the House commands him. Upon this, the King, beaten from that time +evermore, replies that he will seek them himself, for they have committed +treason; and goes out, with his hat in his hand, amid some audible murmurs from +the members. +</p> + +<p> +No words can describe the hurry that arose out of doors when all this was +known. The five members had gone for safety to a house in Coleman-street, in +the City, where they were guarded all night; and indeed the whole city watched +in arms like an army. At ten o’clock in the morning, the King, already +frightened at what he had done, came to the Guildhall, with only half a dozen +lords, and made a speech to the people, hoping they would not shelter those +whom he accused of treason. Next day, he issued a proclamation for the +apprehension of the five members; but the Parliament minded it so little that +they made great arrangements for having them brought down to Westminster in +great state, five days afterwards. The King was so alarmed now at his own +imprudence, if not for his own safety, that he left his palace at Whitehall, +and went away with his Queen and children to Hampton Court. +</p> + +<p> +It was the eleventh of May, when the five members were carried in state and +triumph to Westminster. They were taken by water. The river could not be seen +for the boats on it; and the five members were hemmed in by barges full of men +and great guns, ready to protect them, at any cost. Along the Strand a large +body of the train-bands of London, under their commander, <span +class="smcap">Skippon</span>, marched to be ready to assist the little fleet. +Beyond them, came a crowd who choked the streets, roaring incessantly about the +Bishops and the Papists, and crying out contemptuously as they passed +Whitehall, ‘What has become of the King?’ With this great noise +outside the House of Commons, and with great silence within, Mr. Pym rose and +informed the House of the great kindness with which they had been received in +the City. Upon that, the House called the sheriffs in and thanked them, and +requested the train-bands, under their commander Skippon, to guard the House of +Commons every day. Then, came four thousand men on horseback out of +Buckinghamshire, offering their services as a guard too, and bearing a petition +to the King, complaining of the injury that had been done to Mr. Hampden, who +was their county man and much beloved and honoured. +</p> + +<p> +When the King set off for Hampton Court, the gentlemen and soldiers who had +been with him followed him out of town as far as Kingston-upon-Thames; next +day, Lord Digby came to them from the King at Hampton Court, in his coach and +six, to inform them that the King accepted their protection. This, the +Parliament said, was making war against the kingdom, and Lord Digby fled +abroad. The Parliament then immediately applied themselves to getting hold of +the military power of the country, well knowing that the King was already +trying hard to use it against them, and that he had secretly sent the Earl of +Newcastle to Hull, to secure a valuable magazine of arms and gunpowder that was +there. In those times, every county had its own magazines of arms and powder, +for its own train-bands or militia; so, the Parliament brought in a bill +claiming the right (which up to this time had belonged to the King) of +appointing the Lord Lieutenants of counties, who commanded these train-bands; +also, of having all the forts, castles, and garrisons in the kingdom, put into +the hands of such governors as they, the Parliament, could confide in. It also +passed a law depriving the Bishops of their votes. The King gave his assent to +that bill, but would not abandon the right of appointing the Lord Lieutenants, +though he said he was willing to appoint such as might be suggested to him by +the Parliament. When the Earl of Pembroke asked him whether he would not give +way on that question for a time, he said, ‘By God! not for one +hour!’ and upon this he and the Parliament went to war. +</p> + +<p> +His young daughter was betrothed to the Prince of Orange. On pretence of taking +her to the country of her future husband, the Queen was already got safely away +to Holland, there to pawn the Crown jewels for money to raise an army on the +King’s side. The Lord Admiral being sick, the House of Commons now named +the Earl of Warwick to hold his place for a year. The King named another +gentleman; the House of Commons took its own way, and the Earl of Warwick +became Lord Admiral without the King’s consent. The Parliament sent +orders down to Hull to have that magazine removed to London; the King went down +to Hull to take it himself. The citizens would not admit him into the town, and +the governor would not admit him into the castle. The Parliament resolved that +whatever the two Houses passed, and the King would not consent to, should be +called an <span class="smcap">Ordinance</span>, and should be as much a law as +if he did consent to it. The King protested against this, and gave notice that +these ordinances were not to be obeyed. The King, attended by the majority of +the House of Peers, and by many members of the House of Commons, established +himself at York. The Chancellor went to him with the Great Seal, and the +Parliament made a new Great Seal. The Queen sent over a ship full of arms and +ammunition, and the King issued letters to borrow money at high interest. The +Parliament raised twenty regiments of foot and seventy-five troops of horse; +and the people willingly aided them with their money, plate, jewellery, and +trinkets—the married women even with their wedding-rings. Every member of +Parliament who could raise a troop or a regiment in his own part of the +country, dressed it according to his taste and in his own colours, and +commanded it. Foremost among them all, <span class="smcap">Oliver +Cromwell</span> raised a troop of horse—thoroughly in earnest and +thoroughly well armed—who were, perhaps, the best soldiers that ever were +seen. +</p> + +<p> +In some of their proceedings, this famous Parliament passed the bounds of +previous law and custom, yielded to and favoured riotous assemblages of the +people, and acted tyrannically in imprisoning some who differed from the +popular leaders. But again, you are always to remember that the twelve years +during which the King had had his own wilful way, had gone before; and that +nothing could make the times what they might, could, would, or should have +been, if those twelve years had never rolled away. +</p> + +<h3>THIRD PART</h3> + +<p> +I shall not try to relate the particulars of the great civil war between King +Charles the First and the Long Parliament, which lasted nearly four years, and +a full account of which would fill many large books. It was a sad thing that +Englishmen should once more be fighting against Englishmen on English ground; +but, it is some consolation to know that on both sides there was great +humanity, forbearance, and honour. The soldiers of the Parliament were far more +remarkable for these good qualities than the soldiers of the King (many of whom +fought for mere pay without much caring for the cause); but those of the +nobility and gentry who were on the King’s side were so brave, and so +faithful to him, that their conduct cannot but command our highest admiration. +Among them were great numbers of Catholics, who took the royal side because the +Queen was so strongly of their persuasion. +</p> + +<p> +The King might have distinguished some of these gallant spirits, if he had been +as generous a spirit himself, by giving them the command of his army. Instead +of that, however, true to his old high notions of royalty, he entrusted it to +his two nephews, <span class="smcap">Prince Rupert</span> and <span +class="smcap">Prince Maurice</span>, who were of royal blood and came over from +abroad to help him. It might have been better for him if they had stayed away; +since Prince Rupert was an impetuous, hot-headed fellow, whose only idea was to +dash into battle at all times and seasons, and lay about him. +</p> + +<p> +The general-in-chief of the Parliamentary army was the Earl of Essex, a +gentleman of honour and an excellent soldier. A little while before the war +broke out, there had been some rioting at Westminster between certain officious +law students and noisy soldiers, and the shopkeepers and their apprentices, and +the general people in the streets. At that time the King’s friends called +the crowd, Roundheads, because the apprentices wore short hair; the crowd, in +return, called their opponents Cavaliers, meaning that they were a blustering +set, who pretended to be very military. These two words now began to be used to +distinguish the two sides in the civil war. The Royalists also called the +Parliamentary men Rebels and Rogues, while the Parliamentary men called +<i>them</i> Malignants, and spoke of themselves as the Godly, the Honest, and +so forth. +</p> + +<p> +The war broke out at Portsmouth, where that double traitor Goring had again +gone over to the King and was besieged by the Parliamentary troops. Upon this, +the King proclaimed the Earl of Essex and the officers serving under him, +traitors, and called upon his loyal subjects to meet him in arms at Nottingham +on the twenty-fifth of August. But his loyal subjects came about him in scanty +numbers, and it was a windy, gloomy day, and the Royal Standard got blown down, +and the whole affair was very melancholy. The chief engagements after this, +took place in the vale of the Red Horse near Banbury, at Brentford, at Devizes, +at Chalgrave Field (where Mr. Hampden was so sorely wounded while fighting at +the head of his men, that he died within a week), at Newbury (in which battle +<span class="smcap">Lord Falkland</span>, one of the best noblemen on the +King’s side, was killed), at Leicester, at Naseby, at Winchester, at +Marston Moor near York, at Newcastle, and in many other parts of England and +Scotland. These battles were attended with various successes. At one time, the +King was victorious; at another time, the Parliament. But almost all the great +and busy towns were against the King; and when it was considered necessary to +fortify London, all ranks of people, from labouring men and women, up to lords +and ladies, worked hard together with heartiness and good will. The most +distinguished leaders on the Parliamentary side were <span +class="smcap">Hampden</span>, <span class="smcap">Sir Thomas Fairfax</span>, +and, above all, <span class="smcap">Oliver Cromwell</span>, and his son-in-law +<span class="smcap">Ireton</span>. +</p> + +<p> +During the whole of this war, the people, to whom it was very expensive and +irksome, and to whom it was made the more distressing by almost every family +being divided—some of its members attaching themselves to one side and +some to the other—were over and over again most anxious for peace. So +were some of the best men in each cause. Accordingly, treaties of peace were +discussed between commissioners from the Parliament and the King; at York, at +Oxford (where the King held a little Parliament of his own), and at Uxbridge. +But they came to nothing. In all these negotiations, and in all his +difficulties, the King showed himself at his best. He was courageous, cool, +self-possessed, and clever; but, the old taint of his character was always in +him, and he was never for one single moment to be trusted. Lord Clarendon, the +historian, one of his highest admirers, supposes that he had unhappily promised +the Queen never to make peace without her consent, and that this must often be +taken as his excuse. He never kept his word from night to morning. He signed a +cessation of hostilities with the blood-stained Irish rebels for a sum of +money, and invited the Irish regiments over, to help him against the +Parliament. In the battle of Naseby, his cabinet was seized and was found to +contain a correspondence with the Queen, in which he expressly told her that he +had deceived the Parliament—a mongrel Parliament, he called it now, as an +improvement on his old term of vipers—in pretending to recognise it and +to treat with it; and from which it further appeared that he had long been in +secret treaty with the Duke of Lorraine for a foreign army of ten thousand men. +Disappointed in this, he sent a most devoted friend of his, the <span +class="smcap">Earl of Glamorgan</span>, to Ireland, to conclude a secret treaty +with the Catholic powers, to send him an Irish army of ten thousand men; in +return for which he was to bestow great favours on the Catholic religion. And, +when this treaty was discovered in the carriage of a fighting Irish Archbishop +who was killed in one of the many skirmishes of those days, he basely denied +and deserted his attached friend, the Earl, on his being charged with high +treason; and—even worse than this—had left blanks in the secret +instructions he gave him with his own kingly hand, expressly that he might thus +save himself. +</p> + +<p> +At last, on the twenty-seventh day of April, one thousand six hundred and +forty-six, the King found himself in the city of Oxford, so surrounded by the +Parliamentary army who were closing in upon him on all sides that he felt that +if he would escape he must delay no longer. So, that night, having altered the +cut of his hair and beard, he was dressed up as a servant and put upon a horse +with a cloak strapped behind him, and rode out of the town behind one of his +own faithful followers, with a clergyman of that country who knew the road +well, for a guide. He rode towards London as far as Harrow, and then altered +his plans and resolved, it would seem, to go to the Scottish camp. The Scottish +men had been invited over to help the Parliamentary army, and had a large force +then in England. The King was so desperately intriguing in everything he did, +that it is doubtful what he exactly meant by this step. He took it, anyhow, and +delivered himself up to the <span class="smcap">Earl of Leven</span>, the +Scottish general-in-chief, who treated him as an honourable prisoner. +Negotiations between the Parliament on the one hand and the Scottish +authorities on the other, as to what should be done with him, lasted until the +following February. Then, when the King had refused to the Parliament the +concession of that old militia point for twenty years, and had refused to +Scotland the recognition of its Solemn League and Covenant, Scotland got a +handsome sum for its army and its help, and the King into the bargain. He was +taken, by certain Parliamentary commissioners appointed to receive him, to one +of his own houses, called Holmby House, near Althorpe, in Northamptonshire. +</p> + +<p> +While the Civil War was still in progress, John Pym died, and was buried with +great honour in Westminster Abbey—not with greater honour than he +deserved, for the liberties of Englishmen owe a mighty debt to Pym and Hampden. +The war was but newly over when the Earl of Essex died, of an illness brought +on by his having overheated himself in a stag hunt in Windsor Forest. He, too, +was buried in Westminster Abbey, with great state. I wish it were not necessary +to add that Archbishop Laud died upon the scaffold when the war was not yet +done. His trial lasted in all nearly a year, and, it being doubtful even then +whether the charges brought against him amounted to treason, the odious old +contrivance of the worst kings was resorted to, and a bill of attainder was +brought in against him. He was a violently prejudiced and mischievous person; +had had strong ear-cropping and nose-splitting propensities, as you know; and +had done a world of harm. But he died peaceably, and like a brave old man. +</p> + +<h3>FOURTH PART</h3> + +<p> +When the Parliament had got the King into their hands, they became very anxious +to get rid of their army, in which Oliver Cromwell had begun to acquire great +power; not only because of his courage and high abilities, but because he +professed to be very sincere in the Scottish sort of Puritan religion that was +then exceedingly popular among the soldiers. They were as much opposed to the +Bishops as to the Pope himself; and the very privates, drummers, and +trumpeters, had such an inconvenient habit of starting up and preaching +long-winded discourses, that I would not have belonged to that army on any +account. +</p> + +<p> +So, the Parliament, being far from sure but that the army might begin to preach +and fight against them now it had nothing else to do, proposed to disband the +greater part of it, to send another part to serve in Ireland against the +rebels, and to keep only a small force in England. But, the army would not +consent to be broken up, except upon its own conditions; and, when the +Parliament showed an intention of compelling it, it acted for itself in an +unexpected manner. A certain cornet, of the name of <span +class="smcap">Joice</span>, arrived at Holmby House one night, attended by four +hundred horsemen, went into the King’s room with his hat in one hand and +a pistol in the other, and told the King that he had come to take him away. The +King was willing enough to go, and only stipulated that he should be publicly +required to do so next morning. Next morning, accordingly, he appeared on the +top of the steps of the house, and asked Comet Joice before his men and the +guard set there by the Parliament, what authority he had for taking him away? +To this Cornet Joice replied, ‘The authority of the army.’ +‘Have you a written commission?’ said the King. Joice, pointing to +his four hundred men on horseback, replied, ‘That is my +commission.’ ‘Well,’ said the King, smiling, as if he were +pleased, ‘I never before read such a commission; but it is written in +fair and legible characters. This is a company of as handsome proper gentlemen +as I have seen a long while.’ He was asked where he would like to live, +and he said at Newmarket. So, to Newmarket he and Cornet Joice and the four +hundred horsemen rode; the King remarking, in the same smiling way, that he +could ride as far at a spell as Cornet Joice, or any man there. +</p> + +<p> +The King quite believed, I think, that the army were his friends. He said as +much to Fairfax when that general, Oliver Cromwell, and Ireton, went to +persuade him to return to the custody of the Parliament. He preferred to remain +as he was, and resolved to remain as he was. And when the army moved nearer and +nearer London to frighten the Parliament into yielding to their demands, they +took the King with them. It was a deplorable thing that England should be at +the mercy of a great body of soldiers with arms in their hands; but the King +certainly favoured them at this important time of his life, as compared with +the more lawful power that tried to control him. It must be added, however, +that they treated him, as yet, more respectfully and kindly than the Parliament +had done. They allowed him to be attended by his own servants, to be splendidly +entertained at various houses, and to see his children—at Cavesham House, +near Reading—for two days. Whereas, the Parliament had been rather hard +with him, and had only allowed him to ride out and play at bowls. +</p> + +<p> +It is much to be believed that if the King could have been trusted, even at +this time, he might have been saved. Even Oliver Cromwell expressly said that +he did believe that no man could enjoy his possessions in peace, unless the +King had his rights. He was not unfriendly towards the King; he had been +present when he received his children, and had been much affected by the +pitiable nature of the scene; he saw the King often; he frequently walked and +talked with him in the long galleries and pleasant gardens of the Palace at +Hampton Court, whither he was now removed; and in all this risked something of +his influence with the army. But, the King was in secret hopes of help from the +Scottish people; and the moment he was encouraged to join them he began to be +cool to his new friends, the army, and to tell the officers that they could not +possibly do without him. At the very time, too, when he was promising to make +Cromwell and Ireton noblemen, if they would help him up to his old height, he +was writing to the Queen that he meant to hang them. They both afterwards +declared that they had been privately informed that such a letter would be +found, on a certain evening, sewed up in a saddle which would be taken to the +Blue Boar in Holborn to be sent to Dover; and that they went there, disguised +as common soldiers, and sat drinking in the inn-yard until a man came with the +saddle, which they ripped up with their knives, and therein found the letter. I +see little reason to doubt the story. It is certain that Oliver Cromwell told +one of the King’s most faithful followers that the King could not be +trusted, and that he would not be answerable if anything amiss were to happen +to him. Still, even after that, he kept a promise he had made to the King, by +letting him know that there was a plot with a certain portion of the army to +seize him. I believe that, in fact, he sincerely wanted the King to escape +abroad, and so to be got rid of without more trouble or danger. That Oliver +himself had work enough with the army is pretty plain; for some of the troops +were so mutinous against him, and against those who acted with him at this +time, that he found it necessary to have one man shot at the head of his +regiment to overawe the rest. +</p> + +<p> +The King, when he received Oliver’s warning, made his escape from Hampton +Court; after some indecision and uncertainty, he went to Carisbrooke Castle in +the Isle of Wight. At first, he was pretty free there; but, even there, he +carried on a pretended treaty with the Parliament, while he was really treating +with commissioners from Scotland to send an army into England to take his part. +When he broke off this treaty with the Parliament (having settled with +Scotland) and was treated as a prisoner, his treatment was not changed too +soon, for he had plotted to escape that very night to a ship sent by the Queen, +which was lying off the island. +</p> + +<p> +He was doomed to be disappointed in his hopes from Scotland. The agreement he +had made with the Scottish Commissioners was not favourable enough to the +religion of that country to please the Scottish clergy; and they preached +against it. The consequence was, that the army raised in Scotland and sent +over, was too small to do much; and that, although it was helped by a rising of +the Royalists in England and by good soldiers from Ireland, it could make no +head against the Parliamentary army under such men as Cromwell and Fairfax. The +King’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, came over from Holland with +nineteen ships (a part of the English fleet having gone over to him) to help +his father; but nothing came of his voyage, and he was fain to return. The most +remarkable event of this second civil war was the cruel execution by the +Parliamentary General, of <span class="smcap">Sir Charles Lucas</span> and +<span class="smcap">Sir George Lisle</span>, two grand Royalist generals, who +had bravely defended Colchester under every disadvantage of famine and distress +for nearly three months. When Sir Charles Lucas was shot, Sir George Lisle +kissed his body, and said to the soldiers who were to shoot him, ‘Come +nearer, and make sure of me.’ ‘I warrant you, Sir George,’ +said one of the soldiers, ‘we shall hit you.’ ‘<span +class="smcap">Ay</span>?’ he returned with a smile, ‘but I have +been nearer to you, my friends, many a time, and you have missed me.’ +</p> + +<p> +The Parliament, after being fearfully bullied by the army—who demanded to +have seven members whom they disliked given up to them—had voted that +they would have nothing more to do with the King. On the conclusion, however, +of this second civil war (which did not last more than six months), they +appointed commissioners to treat with him. The King, then so far released again +as to be allowed to live in a private house at Newport in the Isle of Wight, +managed his own part of the negotiation with a sense that was admired by all +who saw him, and gave up, in the end, all that was asked of him—even +yielding (which he had steadily refused, so far) to the temporary abolition of +the bishops, and the transfer of their church land to the Crown. Still, with +his old fatal vice upon him, when his best friends joined the commissioners in +beseeching him to yield all those points as the only means of saving himself +from the army, he was plotting to escape from the island; he was holding +correspondence with his friends and the Catholics in Ireland, though declaring +that he was not; and he was writing, with his own hand, that in what he yielded +he meant nothing but to get time to escape. +</p> + +<p> +Matters were at this pass when the army, resolved to defy the Parliament, +marched up to London. The Parliament, not afraid of them now, and boldly led by +Hollis, voted that the King’s concessions were sufficient ground for +settling the peace of the kingdom. Upon that, <span class="smcap">Colonel +Rich</span> and <span class="smcap">Colonel Pride</span> went down to the House +of Commons with a regiment of horse soldiers and a regiment of foot; and +Colonel Pride, standing in the lobby with a list of the members who were +obnoxious to the army in his hand, had them pointed out to him as they came +through, and took them all into custody. This proceeding was afterwards called +by the people, for a joke, <span class="smcap">Pride’s Purge</span>. +Cromwell was in the North, at the head of his men, at the time, but when he +came home, approved of what had been done. +</p> + +<p> +What with imprisoning some members and causing others to stay away, the army +had now reduced the House of Commons to some fifty or so. These soon voted that +it was treason in a king to make war against his parliament and his people, and +sent an ordinance up to the House of Lords for the King’s being tried as +a traitor. The House of Lords, then sixteen in number, to a man rejected it. +Thereupon, the Commons made an ordinance of their own, that they were the +supreme government of the country, and would bring the King to trial. +</p> + +<p> +The King had been taken for security to a place called Hurst Castle: a lonely +house on a rock in the sea, connected with the coast of Hampshire by a rough +road two miles long at low water. Thence, he was ordered to be removed to +Windsor; thence, after being but rudely used there, and having none but +soldiers to wait upon him at table, he was brought up to St. James’s +Palace in London, and told that his trial was appointed for next day. +</p> + +<p> +On Saturday, the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and forty-nine, +this memorable trial began. The House of Commons had settled that one hundred +and thirty-five persons should form the Court, and these were taken from the +House itself, from among the officers of the army, and from among the lawyers +and citizens. <span class="smcap">John Bradshaw</span>, serjeant-at-law, was +appointed president. The place was Westminster Hall. At the upper end, in a red +velvet chair, sat the president, with his hat (lined with plates of iron for +his protection) on his head. The rest of the Court sat on side benches, also +wearing their hats. The King’s seat was covered with velvet, like that of +the president, and was opposite to it. He was brought from St. James’s to +Whitehall, and from Whitehall he came by water to his trial. +</p> + +<p> +When he came in, he looked round very steadily on the Court, and on the great +number of spectators, and then sat down: presently he got up and looked round +again. On the indictment ‘against Charles Stuart, for high +treason,’ being read, he smiled several times, and he denied the +authority of the Court, saying that there could be no parliament without a +House of Lords, and that he saw no House of Lords there. Also, that the King +ought to be there, and that he saw no King in the King’s right place. +Bradshaw replied, that the Court was satisfied with its authority, and that its +authority was God’s authority and the kingdom’s. He then adjourned +the Court to the following Monday. On that day, the trial was resumed, and went +on all the week. When the Saturday came, as the King passed forward to his +place in the Hall, some soldiers and others cried for ‘justice!’ +and execution on him. That day, too, Bradshaw, like an angry Sultan, wore a red +robe, instead of the black robe he had worn before. The King was sentenced to +death that day. As he went out, one solitary soldier said, ‘God bless +you, Sir!’ For this, his officer struck him. The King said he thought the +punishment exceeded the offence. The silver head of his walking-stick had +fallen off while he leaned upon it, at one time of the trial. The accident +seemed to disturb him, as if he thought it ominous of the falling of his own +head; and he admitted as much, now it was all over. +</p> + +<p> +Being taken back to Whitehall, he sent to the House of Commons, saying that as +the time of his execution might be nigh, he wished he might be allowed to see +his darling children. It was granted. On the Monday he was taken back to St. +James’s; and his two children then in England, the <span +class="smcap">Princess Elizabeth</span> thirteen years old, and the <span +class="smcap">Duke Of Gloucester</span> nine years old, were brought to take +leave of him, from Sion House, near Brentford. It was a sad and touching scene, +when he kissed and fondled those poor children, and made a little present of +two diamond seals to the Princess, and gave them tender messages to their +mother (who little deserved them, for she had a lover of her own whom she +married soon afterwards), and told them that he died ‘for the laws and +liberties of the land.’ I am bound to say that I don’t think he +did, but I dare say he believed so. +</p> + +<p> +There were ambassadors from Holland that day, to intercede for the unhappy +King, whom you and I both wish the Parliament had spared; but they got no +answer. The Scottish Commissioners interceded too; so did the Prince of Wales, +by a letter in which he offered as the next heir to the throne, to accept any +conditions from the Parliament; so did the Queen, by letter likewise. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding all, the warrant for the execution was this day signed. There +is a story that as Oliver Cromwell went to the table with the pen in his hand +to put his signature to it, he drew his pen across the face of one of the +commissioners, who was standing near, and marked it with ink. That commissioner +had not signed his own name yet, and the story adds that when he came to do it +he marked Cromwell’s face with ink in the same way. +</p> + +<p> +The King slept well, untroubled by the knowledge that it was his last night on +earth, and rose on the thirtieth of January, two hours before day, and dressed +himself carefully. He put on two shirts lest he should tremble with the cold, +and had his hair very carefully combed. The warrant had been directed to three +officers of the army, <span class="smcap">Colonel Hacker</span>, <span +class="smcap">Colonel Hunks</span>, and <span class="smcap">Colonel +Phayer</span>. At ten o’clock, the first of these came to the door and +said it was time to go to Whitehall. The King, who had always been a quick +walker, walked at his usual speed through the Park, and called out to the +guard, with his accustomed voice of command, ‘March on apace!’ When +he came to Whitehall, he was taken to his own bedroom, where a breakfast was +set forth. As he had taken the Sacrament, he would eat nothing more; but, at +about the time when the church bells struck twelve at noon (for he had to wait, +through the scaffold not being ready), he took the advice of the good <span +class="smcap">Bishop Juxon</span> who was with him, and ate a little bread and +drank a glass of claret. Soon after he had taken this refreshment, Colonel +Hacker came to the chamber with the warrant in his hand, and called for Charles +Stuart. +</p> + +<p> +And then, through the long gallery of Whitehall Palace, which he had often seen +light and gay and merry and crowded, in very different times, the fallen King +passed along, until he came to the centre window of the Banqueting House, +through which he emerged upon the scaffold, which was hung with black. He +looked at the two executioners, who were dressed in black and masked; he looked +at the troops of soldiers on horseback and on foot, and all looked up at him in +silence; he looked at the vast array of spectators, filling up the view beyond, +and turning all their faces upon him; he looked at his old Palace of St. +James’s; and he looked at the block. He seemed a little troubled to find +that it was so low, and asked, ‘if there were no place higher?’ +Then, to those upon the scaffold, he said, ‘that it was the Parliament +who had begun the war, and not he; but he hoped they might be guiltless too, as +ill instruments had gone between them. In one respect,’ he said, +‘he suffered justly; and that was because he had permitted an unjust +sentence to be executed on another.’ In this he referred to the Earl of +Strafford. +</p> + +<p> +He was not at all afraid to die; but he was anxious to die easily. When some +one touched the axe while he was speaking, he broke off and called out, +‘Take heed of the axe! take heed of the axe!’ He also said to +Colonel Hacker, ‘Take care that they do not put me to pain.’ He +told the executioner, ‘I shall say but very short prayers, and then +thrust out my hands’—as the sign to strike. +</p> + +<p> +He put his hair up, under a white satin cap which the bishop had carried, and +said, ‘I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side.’ The +bishop told him that he had but one stage more to travel in this weary world, +and that, though it was a turbulent and troublesome stage, it was a short one, +and would carry him a great way—all the way from earth to Heaven. The +King’s last word, as he gave his cloak and the George—the +decoration from his breast—to the bishop, was, ‘Remember!’ He +then kneeled down, laid his head on the block, spread out his hands, and was +instantly killed. One universal groan broke from the crowd; and the soldiers, +who had sat on their horses and stood in their ranks immovable as statues, were +of a sudden all in motion, clearing the streets. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, in the forty-ninth year of his age, falling at the same time of his +career as Strafford had fallen in his, perished Charles the First. With all my +sorrow for him, I cannot agree with him that he died ‘the martyr of the +people;’ for the people had been martyrs to him, and to his ideas of a +King’s rights, long before. Indeed, I am afraid that he was but a bad +judge of martyrs; for he had called that infamous Duke of Buckingham ‘the +Martyr of his Sovereign.’ +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap34"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL</h2> + +<p> +Before sunset on the memorable day on which King Charles the First was +executed, the House of Commons passed an act declaring it treason in any one to +proclaim the Prince of Wales—or anybody else—King of England. Soon +afterwards, it declared that the House of Lords was useless and dangerous, and +ought to be abolished; and directed that the late King’s statue should be +taken down from the Royal Exchange in the City and other public places. Having +laid hold of some famous Royalists who had escaped from prison, and having +beheaded the <span class="smcap">Duke Of Hamilton</span>, <span +class="smcap">Lord Holland</span>, and <span class="smcap">Lord Capel</span>, +in Palace Yard (all of whom died very courageously), they then appointed a +Council of State to govern the country. It consisted of forty-one members, of +whom five were peers. Bradshaw was made president. The House of Commons also +re-admitted members who had opposed the King’s death, and made up its +numbers to about a hundred and fifty. +</p> + +<p> +But, it still had an army of more than forty thousand men to deal with, and a +very hard task it was to manage them. Before the King’s execution, the +army had appointed some of its officers to remonstrate between them and the +Parliament; and now the common soldiers began to take that office upon +themselves. The regiments under orders for Ireland mutinied; one troop of horse +in the city of London seized their own flag, and refused to obey orders. For +this, the ringleader was shot: which did not mend the matter, for, both his +comrades and the people made a public funeral for him, and accompanied the body +to the grave with sound of trumpets and with a gloomy procession of persons +carrying bundles of rosemary steeped in blood. Oliver was the only man to deal +with such difficulties as these, and he soon cut them short by bursting at +midnight into the town of Burford, near Salisbury, where the mutineers were +sheltered, taking four hundred of them prisoners, and shooting a number of them +by sentence of court-martial. The soldiers soon found, as all men did, that +Oliver was not a man to be trifled with. And there was an end of the mutiny. +</p> + +<p> +The Scottish Parliament did not know Oliver yet; so, on hearing of the +King’s execution, it proclaimed the Prince of Wales King Charles the +Second, on condition of his respecting the Solemn League and Covenant. Charles +was abroad at that time, and so was Montrose, from whose help he had hopes +enough to keep him holding on and off with commissioners from Scotland, just as +his father might have done. These hopes were soon at an end; for, Montrose, +having raised a few hundred exiles in Germany, and landed with them in +Scotland, found that the people there, instead of joining him, deserted the +country at his approach. He was soon taken prisoner and carried to Edinburgh. +There he was received with every possible insult, and carried to prison in a +cart, his officers going two and two before him. He was sentenced by the +Parliament to be hanged on a gallows thirty feet high, to have his head set on +a spike in Edinburgh, and his limbs distributed in other places, according to +the old barbarous manner. He said he had always acted under the Royal orders, +and only wished he had limbs enough to be distributed through Christendom, that +it might be the more widely known how loyal he had been. He went to the +scaffold in a bright and brilliant dress, and made a bold end at thirty-eight +years of age. The breath was scarcely out of his body when Charles abandoned +his memory, and denied that he had ever given him orders to rise in his behalf. +O the family failing was strong in that Charles then! +</p> + +<p> +Oliver had been appointed by the Parliament to command the army in Ireland, +where he took a terrible vengeance for the sanguinary rebellion, and made +tremendous havoc, particularly in the siege of Drogheda, where no quarter was +given, and where he found at least a thousand of the inhabitants shut up +together in the great church: every one of whom was killed by his soldiers, +usually known as <span class="smcap">Oliver’s Ironsides</span>. There +were numbers of friars and priests among them, and Oliver gruffly wrote home in +his despatch that these were ‘knocked on the head’ like the rest. +</p> + +<p> +But, Charles having got over to Scotland where the men of the Solemn League and +Covenant led him a prodigiously dull life and made him very weary with long +sermons and grim Sundays, the Parliament called the redoubtable Oliver home to +knock the Scottish men on the head for setting up that Prince. Oliver left his +son-in-law, Ireton, as general in Ireland in his stead (he died there +afterwards), and he imitated the example of his father-in-law with such good +will that he brought the country to subjection, and laid it at the feet of the +Parliament. In the end, they passed an act for the settlement of Ireland, +generally pardoning all the common people, but exempting from this grace such +of the wealthier sort as had been concerned in the rebellion, or in any killing +of Protestants, or who refused to lay down their arms. Great numbers of Irish +were got out of the country to serve under Catholic powers abroad, and a +quantity of land was declared to have been forfeited by past offences, and was +given to people who had lent money to the Parliament early in the war. These +were sweeping measures; but, if Oliver Cromwell had had his own way fully, and +had stayed in Ireland, he would have done more yet. +</p> + +<p> +However, as I have said, the Parliament wanted Oliver for Scotland; so, home +Oliver came, and was made Commander of all the Forces of the Commonwealth of +England, and in three days away he went with sixteen thousand soldiers to fight +the Scottish men. Now, the Scottish men, being then—as you will generally +find them now—mighty cautious, reflected that the troops they had were +not used to war like the Ironsides, and would be beaten in an open fight. +Therefore they said, ‘If we live quiet in our trenches in Edinburgh here, +and if all the farmers come into the town and desert the country, the Ironsides +will be driven out by iron hunger and be forced to go away.’ This was, no +doubt, the wisest plan; but as the Scottish clergy <i>would</i> interfere with +what they knew nothing about, and would perpetually preach long sermons +exhorting the soldiers to come out and fight, the soldiers got it in their +heads that they absolutely must come out and fight. Accordingly, in an evil +hour for themselves, they came out of their safe position. Oliver fell upon +them instantly, and killed three thousand, and took ten thousand prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +To gratify the Scottish Parliament, and preserve their favour, Charles had +signed a declaration they laid before him, reproaching the memory of his father +and mother, and representing himself as a most religious Prince, to whom the +Solemn League and Covenant was as dear as life. He meant no sort of truth in +this, and soon afterwards galloped away on horseback to join some tiresome +Highland friends, who were always flourishing dirks and broadswords. He was +overtaken and induced to return; but this attempt, which was called ‘The +Start,’ did him just so much service, that they did not preach quite such +long sermons at him afterwards as they had done before. +</p> + +<p> +On the first of January, one thousand six hundred and fifty-one, the Scottish +people crowned him at Scone. He immediately took the chief command of an army +of twenty thousand men, and marched to Stirling. His hopes were heightened, I +dare say, by the redoubtable Oliver being ill of an ague; but Oliver scrambled +out of bed in no time, and went to work with such energy that he got behind the +Royalist army and cut it off from all communication with Scotland. There was +nothing for it then, but to go on to England; so it went on as far as +Worcester, where the mayor and some of the gentry proclaimed King Charles the +Second straightway. His proclamation, however, was of little use to him, for +very few Royalists appeared; and, on the very same day, two people were +publicly beheaded on Tower Hill for espousing his cause. Up came Oliver to +Worcester too, at double quick speed, and he and his Ironsides so laid about +them in the great battle which was fought there, that they completely beat the +Scottish men, and destroyed the Royalist army; though the Scottish men fought +so gallantly that it took five hours to do. +</p> + +<p> +The escape of Charles after this battle of Worcester did him good service long +afterwards, for it induced many of the generous English people to take a +romantic interest in him, and to think much better of him than he ever +deserved. He fled in the night, with not more than sixty followers, to the +house of a Catholic lady in Staffordshire. There, for his greater safety, the +whole sixty left him. He cropped his hair, stained his face and hands brown as +if they were sunburnt, put on the clothes of a labouring countryman, and went +out in the morning with his axe in his hand, accompanied by four wood-cutters +who were brothers, and another man who was their brother-in-law. These good +fellows made a bed for him under a tree, as the weather was very bad; and the +wife of one of them brought him food to eat; and the old mother of the four +brothers came and fell down on her knees before him in the wood, and thanked +God that her sons were engaged in saving his life. At night, he came out of the +forest and went on to another house which was near the river Severn, with the +intention of passing into Wales; but the place swarmed with soldiers, and the +bridges were guarded, and all the boats were made fast. So, after lying in a +hayloft covered over with hay, for some time, he came out of his place, +attended by <span class="smcap">Colonel Careless</span>, a Catholic gentleman +who had met him there, and with whom he lay hid, all next day, up in the shady +branches of a fine old oak. It was lucky for the King that it was +September-time, and that the leaves had not begun to fall, since he and the +Colonel, perched up in this tree, could catch glimpses of the soldiers riding +about below, and could hear the crash in the wood as they went about beating +the boughs. +</p> + +<p> +After this, he walked and walked until his feet were all blistered; and, having +been concealed all one day in a house which was searched by the troopers while +he was there, went with <span class="smcap">Lord Wilmot</span>, another of his +good friends, to a place called Bentley, where one <span class="smcap">Miss +Lane</span>, a Protestant lady, had obtained a pass to be allowed to ride +through the guards to see a relation of hers near Bristol. Disguised as a +servant, he rode in the saddle before this young lady to the house of <span +class="smcap">Sir John Winter</span>, while Lord Wilmot rode there boldly, like +a plain country gentleman, with dogs at his heels. It happened that Sir John +Winter’s butler had been servant in Richmond Palace, and knew Charles the +moment he set eyes upon him; but, the butler was faithful and kept the secret. +As no ship could be found to carry him abroad, it was planned that he should +go—still travelling with Miss Lane as her servant—to another house, +at Trent near Sherborne in Dorsetshire; and then Miss Lane and her cousin, +<span class="smcap">Mr. Lascelles</span>, who had gone on horseback beside her +all the way, went home. I hope Miss Lane was going to marry that cousin, for I +am sure she must have been a brave, kind girl. If I had been that cousin, I +should certainly have loved Miss Lane. +</p> + +<p> +When Charles, lonely for the loss of Miss Lane, was safe at Trent, a ship was +hired at Lyme, the master of which engaged to take two gentlemen to France. In +the evening of the same day, the King—now riding as servant before +another young lady—set off for a public-house at a place called +Charmouth, where the captain of the vessel was to take him on board. But, the +captain’s wife, being afraid of her husband getting into trouble, locked +him up and would not let him sail. Then they went away to Bridport; and, coming +to the inn there, found the stable-yard full of soldiers who were on the +look-out for Charles, and who talked about him while they drank. He had such +presence of mind, that he led the horses of his party through the yard as any +other servant might have done, and said, ‘Come out of the way, you +soldiers; let us have room to pass here!’ As he went along, he met a +half-tipsy ostler, who rubbed his eyes and said to him, ‘Why, I was +formerly servant to Mr. Potter at Exeter, and surely I have sometimes seen you +there, young man?’ He certainly had, for Charles had lodged there. His +ready answer was, ‘Ah, I did live with him once; but I have no time to +talk now. We’ll have a pot of beer together when I come back.’ +</p> + +<p> +From this dangerous place he returned to Trent, and lay there concealed several +days. Then he escaped to Heale, near Salisbury; where, in the house of a widow +lady, he was hidden five days, until the master of a collier lying off Shoreham +in Sussex, undertook to convey a ‘gentleman’ to France. On the +night of the fifteenth of October, accompanied by two colonels and a merchant, +the King rode to Brighton, then a little fishing village, to give the captain +of the ship a supper before going on board; but, so many people knew him, that +this captain knew him too, and not only he, but the landlord and landlady also. +Before he went away, the landlord came behind his chair, kissed his hand, and +said he hoped to live to be a lord and to see his wife a lady; at which Charles +laughed. They had had a good supper by this time, and plenty of smoking and +drinking, at which the King was a first-rate hand; so, the captain assured him +that he would stand by him, and he did. It was agreed that the captain should +pretend to sail to Deal, and that Charles should address the sailors and say he +was a gentleman in debt who was running away from his creditors, and that he +hoped they would join him in persuading the captain to put him ashore in +France. As the King acted his part very well indeed, and gave the sailors +twenty shillings to drink, they begged the captain to do what such a worthy +gentleman asked. He pretended to yield to their entreaties, and the King got +safe to Normandy. +</p> + +<p> +Ireland being now subdued, and Scotland kept quiet by plenty of forts and +soldiers put there by Oliver, the Parliament would have gone on quietly enough, +as far as fighting with any foreign enemy went, but for getting into trouble +with the Dutch, who in the spring of the year one thousand six hundred and +fifty-one sent a fleet into the Downs under their <span class="smcap">Admiral +Van Tromp</span>, to call upon the bold English <span class="smcap">Admiral +Blake</span> (who was there with half as many ships as the Dutch) to strike his +flag. Blake fired a raging broadside instead, and beat off Van Tromp; who, in +the autumn, came back again with seventy ships, and challenged the bold +Blake—who still was only half as strong—to fight him. Blake fought +him all day; but, finding that the Dutch were too many for him, got quietly off +at night. What does Van Tromp upon this, but goes cruising and boasting about +the Channel, between the North Foreland and the Isle of Wight, with a great +Dutch broom tied to his masthead, as a sign that he could and would sweep the +English of the sea! Within three months, Blake lowered his tone though, and his +broom too; for, he and two other bold commanders, <span +class="smcap">Dean</span> and <span class="smcap">Monk</span>, fought him three +whole days, took twenty-three of his ships, shivered his broom to pieces, and +settled his business. +</p> + +<p> +Things were no sooner quiet again, than the army began to complain to the +Parliament that they were not governing the nation properly, and to hint that +they thought they could do it better themselves. Oliver, who had now made up +his mind to be the head of the state, or nothing at all, supported them in +this, and called a meeting of officers and his own Parliamentary friends, at +his lodgings in Whitehall, to consider the best way of getting rid of the +Parliament. It had now lasted just as many years as the King’s unbridled +power had lasted, before it came into existence. The end of the deliberation +was, that Oliver went down to the House in his usual plain black dress, with +his usual grey worsted stockings, but with an unusual party of soldiers behind +him. These last he left in the lobby, and then went in and sat down. Presently +he got up, made the Parliament a speech, told them that the Lord had done with +them, stamped his foot and said, ‘You are no Parliament. Bring them in! +Bring them in!’ At this signal the door flew open, and the soldiers +appeared. ‘This is not honest,’ said Sir Harry Vane, one of the +members. ‘Sir Harry Vane!’ cried Cromwell; ‘O, Sir Harry +Vane! The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane!’ Then he pointed out +members one by one, and said this man was a drunkard, and that man a dissipated +fellow, and that man a liar, and so on. Then he caused the Speaker to be walked +out of his chair, told the guard to clear the House, called the mace upon the +table—which is a sign that the House is sitting—‘a +fool’s bauble,’ and said, ‘here, carry it away!’ Being +obeyed in all these orders, he quietly locked the door, put the key in his +pocket, walked back to Whitehall again, and told his friends, who were still +assembled there, what he had done. +</p> + +<p> +They formed a new Council of State after this extraordinary proceeding, and got +a new Parliament together in their own way: which Oliver himself opened in a +sort of sermon, and which he said was the beginning of a perfect heaven upon +earth. In this Parliament there sat a well-known leather-seller, who had taken +the singular name of Praise God Barebones, and from whom it was called, for a +joke, Barebones’s Parliament, though its general name was the Little +Parliament. As it soon appeared that it was not going to put Oliver in the +first place, it turned out to be not at all like the beginning of heaven upon +earth, and Oliver said it really was not to be borne with. So he cleared off +that Parliament in much the same way as he had disposed of the other; and then +the council of officers decided that he must be made the supreme authority of +the kingdom, under the title of the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. +</p> + +<p> +So, on the sixteenth of December, one thousand six hundred and fifty-three, a +great procession was formed at Oliver’s door, and he came out in a black +velvet suit and a big pair of boots, and got into his coach and went down to +Westminster, attended by the judges, and the lord mayor, and the aldermen, and +all the other great and wonderful personages of the country. There, in the +Court of Chancery, he publicly accepted the office of Lord Protector. Then he +was sworn, and the City sword was handed to him, and the seal was handed to +him, and all the other things were handed to him which are usually handed to +Kings and Queens on state occasions. When Oliver had handed them all back, he +was quite made and completely finished off as Lord Protector; and several of +the Ironsides preached about it at great length, all the evening. +</p> + +<h3>SECOND PART</h3> + +<p> +Oliver Cromwell—whom the people long called <span class="smcap">Old +Noll</span>—in accepting the office of Protector, had bound himself by a +certain paper which was handed to him, called ‘the Instrument,’ to +summon a Parliament, consisting of between four and five hundred members, in +the election of which neither the Royalists nor the Catholics were to have any +share. He had also pledged himself that this Parliament should not be dissolved +without its own consent until it had sat five months. +</p> + +<p> +When this Parliament met, Oliver made a speech to them of three hours long, +very wisely advising them what to do for the credit and happiness of the +country. To keep down the more violent members, he required them to sign a +recognition of what they were forbidden by ‘the Instrument’ to do; +which was, chiefly, to take the power from one single person at the head of the +state or to command the army. Then he dismissed them to go to work. With his +usual vigour and resolution he went to work himself with some frantic +preachers—who were rather overdoing their sermons in calling him a +villain and a tyrant—by shutting up their chapels, and sending a few of +them off to prison. +</p> + +<p> +There was not at that time, in England or anywhere else, a man so able to +govern the country as Oliver Cromwell. Although he ruled with a strong hand, +and levied a very heavy tax on the Royalists (but not until they had plotted +against his life), he ruled wisely, and as the times required. He caused +England to be so respected abroad, that I wish some lords and gentlemen who +have governed it under kings and queens in later days would have taken a leaf +out of Oliver Cromwell’s book. He sent bold Admiral Blake to the +Mediterranean Sea, to make the Duke of Tuscany pay sixty thousand pounds for +injuries he had done to British subjects, and spoliation he had committed on +English merchants. He further despatched him and his fleet to Algiers, Tunis, +and Tripoli, to have every English ship and every English man delivered up to +him that had been taken by pirates in those parts. All this was gloriously +done; and it began to be thoroughly well known, all over the world, that +England was governed by a man in earnest, who would not allow the English name +to be insulted or slighted anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +These were not all his foreign triumphs. He sent a fleet to sea against the +Dutch; and the two powers, each with one hundred ships upon its side, met in +the English Channel off the North Foreland, where the fight lasted all day +long. Dean was killed in this fight; but Monk, who commanded in the same ship +with him, threw his cloak over his body, that the sailors might not know of his +death, and be disheartened. Nor were they. The English broadsides so +exceedingly astonished the Dutch that they sheered off at last, though the +redoubtable Van Tromp fired upon them with his own guns for deserting their +flag. Soon afterwards, the two fleets engaged again, off the coast of Holland. +There, the valiant Van Tromp was shot through the heart, and the Dutch gave in, +and peace was made. +</p> + +<p> +Further than this, Oliver resolved not to bear the domineering and bigoted +conduct of Spain, which country not only claimed a right to all the gold and +silver that could be found in South America, and treated the ships of all other +countries who visited those regions, as pirates, but put English subjects into +the horrible Spanish prisons of the Inquisition. So, Oliver told the Spanish +ambassador that English ships must be free to go wherever they would, and that +English merchants must not be thrown into those same dungeons, no, not for the +pleasure of all the priests in Spain. To this, the Spanish ambassador replied +that the gold and silver country, and the Holy Inquisition, were his +King’s two eyes, neither of which he could submit to have put out. Very +well, said Oliver, then he was afraid he (Oliver) must damage those two eyes +directly. +</p> + +<p> +So, another fleet was despatched under two commanders, <span +class="smcap">Penn</span> and <span class="smcap">Venables</span>, for +Hispaniola; where, however, the Spaniards got the better of the fight. +Consequently, the fleet came home again, after taking Jamaica on the way. +Oliver, indignant with the two commanders who had not done what bold Admiral +Blake would have done, clapped them both into prison, declared war against +Spain, and made a treaty with France, in virtue of which it was to shelter the +King and his brother the Duke of York no longer. Then, he sent a fleet abroad +under bold Admiral Blake, which brought the King of Portugal to his +senses—just to keep its hand in—and then engaged a Spanish fleet, +sunk four great ships, and took two more, laden with silver to the value of two +millions of pounds: which dazzling prize was brought from Portsmouth to London +in waggons, with the populace of all the towns and villages through which the +waggons passed, shouting with all their might. After this victory, bold Admiral +Blake sailed away to the port of Santa Cruz to cut off the Spanish +treasure-ships coming from Mexico. There, he found them, ten in number, with +seven others to take care of them, and a big castle, and seven batteries, all +roaring and blazing away at him with great guns. Blake cared no more for great +guns than for pop-guns—no more for their hot iron balls than for +snow-balls. He dashed into the harbour, captured and burnt every one of the +ships, and came sailing out again triumphantly, with the victorious English +flag flying at his masthead. This was the last triumph of this great commander, +who had sailed and fought until he was quite worn out. He died, as his +successful ship was coming into Plymouth Harbour amidst the joyful acclamations +of the people, and was buried in state in Westminster Abbey. Not to lie there, +long. +</p> + +<p> +Over and above all this, Oliver found that the <span +class="smcap">Vaudois</span>, or Protestant people of the valleys of Lucerne, +were insolently treated by the Catholic powers, and were even put to death for +their religion, in an audacious and bloody manner. Instantly, he informed those +powers that this was a thing which Protestant England would not allow; and he +speedily carried his point, through the might of his great name, and +established their right to worship God in peace after their own harmless +manner. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, his English army won such admiration in fighting with the French +against the Spaniards, that, after they had assaulted the town of Dunkirk +together, the French King in person gave it up to the English, that it might be +a token to them of their might and valour. +</p> + +<p> +There were plots enough against Oliver among the frantic religionists (who +called themselves Fifth Monarchy Men), and among the disappointed Republicans. +He had a difficult game to play, for the Royalists were always ready to side +with either party against him. The ‘King over the water,’ too, as +Charles was called, had no scruples about plotting with any one against his +life; although there is reason to suppose that he would willingly have married +one of his daughters, if Oliver would have had such a son-in-law. There was a +certain <span class="smcap">Colonel Saxby</span> of the army, once a great +supporter of Oliver’s but now turned against him, who was a grievous +trouble to him through all this part of his career; and who came and went +between the discontented in England and Spain, and Charles who put himself in +alliance with Spain on being thrown off by France. This man died in prison at +last; but not until there had been very serious plots between the Royalists and +Republicans, and an actual rising of them in England, when they burst into the +city of Salisbury, on a Sunday night, seized the judges who were going to hold +the assizes there next day, and would have hanged them but for the merciful +objections of the more temperate of their number. Oliver was so vigorous and +shrewd that he soon put this revolt down, as he did most other conspiracies; +and it was well for one of its chief managers—that same Lord Wilmot who +had assisted in Charles’s flight, and was now <span class="smcap">Earl of +Rochester</span>—that he made his escape. Oliver seemed to have eyes and +ears everywhere, and secured such sources of information as his enemies little +dreamed of. There was a chosen body of six persons, called the Sealed Knot, who +were in the closest and most secret confidence of Charles. One of the foremost +of these very men, a <span class="smcap">Sir Richard Willis</span>, reported to +Oliver everything that passed among them, and had two hundred a year for it. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Miles Syndarcomb</span>, also of the old army, was another +conspirator against the Protector. He and a man named <span +class="smcap">Cecil</span>, bribed one of his Life Guards to let them have good +notice when he was going out—intending to shoot him from a window. But, +owing either to his caution or his good fortune, they could never get an aim at +him. Disappointed in this design, they got into the chapel in Whitehall, with a +basketful of combustibles, which were to explode by means of a slow match in +six hours; then, in the noise and confusion of the fire, they hoped to kill +Oliver. But, the Life Guardsman himself disclosed this plot; and they were +seized, and Miles died (or killed himself in prison) a little while before he +was ordered for execution. A few such plotters Oliver caused to be beheaded, a +few more to be hanged, and many more, including those who rose in arms against +him, to be sent as slaves to the West Indies. If he were rigid, he was +impartial too, in asserting the laws of England. When a Portuguese nobleman, +the brother of the Portuguese ambassador, killed a London citizen in mistake +for another man with whom he had had a quarrel, Oliver caused him to be tried +before a jury of Englishmen and foreigners, and had him executed in spite of +the entreaties of all the ambassadors in London. +</p> + +<p> +One of Oliver’s own friends, the <span class="smcap">Duke of +Oldenburgh</span>, in sending him a present of six fine coach-horses, was very +near doing more to please the Royalists than all the plotters put together. One +day, Oliver went with his coach, drawn by these six horses, into Hyde Park, to +dine with his secretary and some of his other gentlemen under the trees there. +After dinner, being merry, he took it into his head to put his friends inside +and to drive them home: a postillion riding one of the foremost horses, as the +custom was. On account of Oliver’s being too free with the whip, the six +fine horses went off at a gallop, the postillion got thrown, and Oliver fell +upon the coach-pole and narrowly escaped being shot by his own pistol, which +got entangled with his clothes in the harness, and went off. He was dragged +some distance by the foot, until his foot came out of the shoe, and then he +came safely to the ground under the broad body of the coach, and was very +little the worse. The gentlemen inside were only bruised, and the discontented +people of all parties were much disappointed. +</p> + +<p> +The rest of the history of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell is a history of +his Parliaments. His first one not pleasing him at all, he waited until the +five months were out, and then dissolved it. The next was better suited to his +views; and from that he desired to get—if he could with safety to +himself—the title of King. He had had this in his mind some time: whether +because he thought that the English people, being more used to the title, were +more likely to obey it; or whether because he really wished to be a king +himself, and to leave the succession to that title in his family, is far from +clear. He was already as high, in England and in all the world, as he would +ever be, and I doubt if he cared for the mere name. However, a paper, called +the ‘Humble Petition and Advice,’ was presented to him by the House +of Commons, praying him to take a high title and to appoint his successor. That +he would have taken the title of King there is no doubt, but for the strong +opposition of the army. This induced him to forbear, and to assent only to the +other points of the petition. Upon which occasion there was another grand show +in Westminster Hall, when the Speaker of the House of Commons formally invested +him with a purple robe lined with ermine, and presented him with a splendidly +bound Bible, and put a golden sceptre in his hand. The next time the Parliament +met, he called a House of Lords of sixty members, as the petition gave him +power to do; but as that Parliament did not please him either, and would not +proceed to the business of the country, he jumped into a coach one morning, +took six Guards with him, and sent them to the right-about. I wish this had +been a warning to Parliaments to avoid long speeches, and do more work. +</p> + +<p> +It was the month of August, one thousand six hundred and fifty-eight, when +Oliver Cromwell’s favourite daughter, <span class="smcap">Elizabeth +Claypole</span> (who had lately lost her youngest son), lay very ill, and his +mind was greatly troubled, because he loved her dearly. Another of his +daughters was married to <span class="smcap">Lord Falconberg</span>, another to +the grandson of the Earl of Warwick, and he had made his son <span +class="smcap">Richard</span> one of the Members of the Upper House. He was very +kind and loving to them all, being a good father and a good husband; but he +loved this daughter the best of the family, and went down to Hampton Court to +see her, and could hardly be induced to stir from her sick room until she died. +Although his religion had been of a gloomy kind, his disposition had been +always cheerful. He had been fond of music in his home, and had kept open table +once a week for all officers of the army not below the rank of captain, and had +always preserved in his house a quiet, sensible dignity. He encouraged men of +genius and learning, and loved to have them about him. <span +class="smcap">Milton</span> was one of his great friends. He was good humoured +too, with the nobility, whose dresses and manners were very different from his; +and to show them what good information he had, he would sometimes jokingly tell +them when they were his guests, where they had last drunk the health of the +‘King over the water,’ and would recommend them to be more private +(if they could) another time. But he had lived in busy times, had borne the +weight of heavy State affairs, and had often gone in fear of his life. He was +ill of the gout and ague; and when the death of his beloved child came upon him +in addition, he sank, never to raise his head again. He told his physicians on +the twenty-fourth of August that the Lord had assured him that he was not to +die in that illness, and that he would certainly get better. This was only his +sick fancy, for on the third of September, which was the anniversary of the +great battle of Worcester, and the day of the year which he called his +fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth year of his age. He had been delirious, +and had lain insensible some hours, but he had been overheard to murmur a very +good prayer the day before. The whole country lamented his death. If you want +to know the real worth of Oliver Cromwell, and his real services to his +country, you can hardly do better than compare England under him, with England +under <span class="smcap">Charles the Second</span>. +</p> + +<p> +He had appointed his son Richard to succeed him, and after there had been, at +Somerset House in the Strand, a lying in state more splendid than +sensible—as all such vanities after death are, I think—Richard +became Lord Protector. He was an amiable country gentleman, but had none of his +father’s great genius, and was quite unfit for such a post in such a +storm of parties. Richard’s Protectorate, which only lasted a year and a +half, is a history of quarrels between the officers of the army and the +Parliament, and between the officers among themselves; and of a growing +discontent among the people, who had far too many long sermons and far too few +amusements, and wanted a change. At last, General Monk got the army well into +his own hands, and then in pursuance of a secret plan he seems to have +entertained from the time of Oliver’s death, declared for the +King’s cause. He did not do this openly; but, in his place in the House +of Commons, as one of the members for Devonshire, strongly advocated the +proposals of one <span class="smcap">Sir John Greenville</span>, who came to +the House with a letter from Charles, dated from Breda, and with whom he had +previously been in secret communication. There had been plots and counterplots, +and a recall of the last members of the Long Parliament, and an end of the Long +Parliament, and risings of the Royalists that were made too soon; and most men +being tired out, and there being no one to head the country now great Oliver +was dead, it was readily agreed to welcome Charles Stuart. Some of the wiser +and better members said—what was most true—that in the letter from +Breda, he gave no real promise to govern well, and that it would be best to +make him pledge himself beforehand as to what he should be bound to do for the +benefit of the kingdom. Monk said, however, it would be all right when he came, +and he could not come too soon. +</p> + +<p> +So, everybody found out all in a moment that the country <i>must</i> be +prosperous and happy, having another Stuart to condescend to reign over it; and +there was a prodigious firing off of guns, lighting of bonfires, ringing of +bells, and throwing up of caps. The people drank the King’s health by +thousands in the open streets, and everybody rejoiced. Down came the Arms of +the Commonwealth, up went the Royal Arms instead, and out came the public +money. Fifty thousand pounds for the King, ten thousand pounds for his brother +the Duke of York, five thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of Gloucester. +Prayers for these gracious Stuarts were put up in all the churches; +commissioners were sent to Holland (which suddenly found out that Charles was a +great man, and that it loved him) to invite the King home; Monk and the Kentish +grandees went to Dover, to kneel down before him as he landed. He kissed and +embraced Monk, made him ride in the coach with himself and his brothers, came +on to London amid wonderful shoutings, and passed through the army at +Blackheath on the twenty-ninth of May (his birthday), in the year one thousand +six hundred and sixty. Greeted by splendid dinners under tents, by flags and +tapestry streaming from all the houses, by delighted crowds in all the streets, +by troops of noblemen and gentlemen in rich dresses, by City companies, +train-bands, drummers, trumpeters, the great Lord Mayor, and the majestic +Aldermen, the King went on to Whitehall. On entering it, he commemorated his +Restoration with the joke that it really would seem to have been his own fault +that he had not come long ago, since everybody told him that he had always +wished for him with all his heart. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap35"></a>CHAPTER XXXV<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH</h2> + +<p> +There never were such profligate times in England as under Charles the Second. +Whenever you see his portrait, with his swarthy, ill-looking face and great +nose, you may fancy him in his Court at Whitehall, surrounded by some of the +very worst vagabonds in the kingdom (though they were lords and ladies), +drinking, gambling, indulging in vicious conversation, and committing every +kind of profligate excess. It has been a fashion to call Charles the Second +‘The Merry Monarch.’ Let me try to give you a general idea of some +of the merry things that were done, in the merry days when this merry gentleman +sat upon his merry throne, in merry England. +</p> + +<p> +The first merry proceeding was—of course—to declare that he was one +of the greatest, the wisest, and the noblest kings that ever shone, like the +blessed sun itself, on this benighted earth. The next merry and pleasant piece +of business was, for the Parliament, in the humblest manner, to give him one +million two hundred thousand pounds a year, and to settle upon him for life +that old disputed tonnage and poundage which had been so bravely fought for. +Then, General Monk being made <span class="smcap">Earl of Albemarle</span>, and +a few other Royalists similarly rewarded, the law went to work to see what was +to be done to those persons (they were called Regicides) who had been concerned +in making a martyr of the late King. Ten of these were merrily executed; that +is to say, six of the judges, one of the council, Colonel Hacker and another +officer who had commanded the Guards, and <span class="smcap">Hugh +Peters</span>, a preacher who had preached against the martyr with all his +heart. These executions were so extremely merry, that every horrible +circumstance which Cromwell had abandoned was revived with appalling cruelty. +The hearts of the sufferers were torn out of their living bodies; their bowels +were burned before their faces; the executioner cut jokes to the next victim, +as he rubbed his filthy hands together, that were reeking with the blood of the +last; and the heads of the dead were drawn on sledges with the living to the +place of suffering. Still, even so merry a monarch could not force one of these +dying men to say that he was sorry for what he had done. Nay, the most +memorable thing said among them was, that if the thing were to do again they +would do it. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Harry Vane, who had furnished the evidence against Strafford, and was one +of the most staunch of the Republicans, was also tried, found guilty, and +ordered for execution. When he came upon the scaffold on Tower Hill, after +conducting his own defence with great power, his notes of what he had meant to +say to the people were torn away from him, and the drums and trumpets were +ordered to sound lustily and drown his voice; for, the people had been so much +impressed by what the Regicides had calmly said with their last breath, that it +was the custom now, to have the drums and trumpets always under the scaffold, +ready to strike up. Vane said no more than this: ‘It is a bad cause which +cannot bear the words of a dying man:’ and bravely died. +</p> + +<p> +These merry scenes were succeeded by another, perhaps even merrier. On the +anniversary of the late King’s death, the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, +Ireton, and Bradshaw, were torn out of their graves in Westminster Abbey, +dragged to Tyburn, hanged there on a gallows all day long, and then beheaded. +Imagine the head of Oliver Cromwell set upon a pole to be stared at by a brutal +crowd, not one of whom would have dared to look the living Oliver in the face +for half a moment! Think, after you have read this reign, what England was +under Oliver Cromwell who was torn out of his grave, and what it was under this +merry monarch who sold it, like a merry Judas, over and over again. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, the remains of Oliver’s wife and daughter were not to be +spared either, though they had been most excellent women. The base clergy of +that time gave up their bodies, which had been buried in the Abbey, +and—to the eternal disgrace of England—they were thrown into a pit, +together with the mouldering bones of Pym and of the brave and bold old Admiral +Blake. +</p> + +<p> +The clergy acted this disgraceful part because they hoped to get the +nonconformists, or dissenters, thoroughly put down in this reign, and to have +but one prayer-book and one service for all kinds of people, no matter what +their private opinions were. This was pretty well, I think, for a Protestant +Church, which had displaced the Romish Church because people had a right to +their own opinions in religious matters. However, they carried it with a high +hand, and a prayer-book was agreed upon, in which the extremest opinions of +Archbishop Laud were not forgotten. An Act was passed, too, preventing any +dissenter from holding any office under any corporation. So, the regular clergy +in their triumph were soon as merry as the King. The army being by this time +disbanded, and the King crowned, everything was to go on easily for evermore. +</p> + +<p> +I must say a word here about the King’s family. He had not been long upon +the throne when his brother the Duke of Gloucester, and his sister the <span +class="smcap">Princess of Orange</span>, died within a few months of each +other, of small-pox. His remaining sister, the <span class="smcap">Princess +Henrietta</span>, married the <span class="smcap">Duke of Orleans</span>, the +brother of <span class="smcap">Louis the Fourteenth</span>, King of France. His +brother <span class="smcap">James</span>, <span class="smcap">Duke of +York</span>, was made High Admiral, and by-and-by became a Catholic. He was a +gloomy, sullen, bilious sort of man, with a remarkable partiality for the +ugliest women in the country. He married, under very discreditable +circumstances, <span class="smcap">Anne Hyde</span>, the daughter of <span +class="smcap">Lord Clarendon</span>, then the King’s principal +Minister—not at all a delicate minister either, but doing much of the +dirty work of a very dirty palace. It became important now that the King +himself should be married; and divers foreign Monarchs, not very particular +about the character of their son-in-law, proposed their daughters to him. The +<span class="smcap">King of Portugal</span> offered his daughter, <span +class="smcap">Catherine of Braganza</span>, and fifty thousand pounds: in +addition to which, the French King, who was favourable to that match, offered a +loan of another fifty thousand. The King of Spain, on the other hand, offered +any one out of a dozen of Princesses, and other hopes of gain. But the ready +money carried the day, and Catherine came over in state to her merry marriage. +</p> + +<p> +The whole Court was a great flaunting crowd of debauched men and shameless +women; and Catherine’s merry husband insulted and outraged her in every +possible way, until she consented to receive those worthless creatures as her +very good friends, and to degrade herself by their companionship. A <span +class="smcap">Mrs. Palmer</span>, whom the King made <span class="smcap">Lady +Castlemaine</span>, and afterwards <span class="smcap">Duchess of +Cleveland</span>, was one of the most powerful of the bad women about the +Court, and had great influence with the King nearly all through his reign. +Another merry lady named <span class="smcap">Moll Davies</span>, a dancer at +the theatre, was afterwards her rival. So was <span class="smcap">Nell +Gwyn</span>, first an orange girl and then an actress, who really had good in +her, and of whom one of the worst things I know is, that actually she does seem +to have been fond of the King. The first <span class="smcap">Duke of St. +Albans</span> was this orange girl’s child. In like manner the son of a +merry waiting-lady, whom the King created <span class="smcap">Duchess Of +Portsmouth</span>, became the <span class="smcap">Duke of Richmond</span>. Upon +the whole it is not so bad a thing to be a commoner. +</p> + +<p> +The Merry Monarch was so exceedingly merry among these merry ladies, and some +equally merry (and equally infamous) lords and gentlemen, that he soon got +through his hundred thousand pounds, and then, by way of raising a little +pocket-money, made a merry bargain. He sold Dunkirk to the French King for five +millions of livres. When I think of the dignity to which Oliver Cromwell raised +England in the eyes of foreign powers, and when I think of the manner in which +he gained for England this very Dunkirk, I am much inclined to consider that if +the Merry Monarch had been made to follow his father for this action, he would +have received his just deserts. +</p> + +<p> +Though he was like his father in none of that father’s greater qualities, +he was like him in being worthy of no trust. When he sent that letter to the +Parliament, from Breda, he did expressly promise that all sincere religious +opinions should be respected. Yet he was no sooner firm in his power than he +consented to one of the worst Acts of Parliament ever passed. Under this law, +every minister who should not give his solemn assent to the Prayer-Book by a +certain day, was declared to be a minister no longer, and to be deprived of his +church. The consequence of this was that some two thousand honest men were +taken from their congregations, and reduced to dire poverty and distress. It +was followed by another outrageous law, called the Conventicle Act, by which +any person above the age of sixteen who was present at any religious service +not according to the Prayer-Book, was to be imprisoned three months for the +first offence, six for the second, and to be transported for the third. This +Act alone filled the prisons, which were then most dreadful dungeons, to +overflowing. +</p> + +<p> +The Covenanters in Scotland had already fared no better. A base Parliament, +usually known as the Drunken Parliament, in consequence of its principal +members being seldom sober, had been got together to make laws against the +Covenanters, and to force all men to be of one mind in religious matters. The +<span class="smcap">Marquis of Argyle</span>, relying on the King’s +honour, had given himself up to him; but, he was wealthy, and his enemies +wanted his wealth. He was tried for treason, on the evidence of some private +letters in which he had expressed opinions—as well he might—more +favourable to the government of the late Lord Protector than of the present +merry and religious King. He was executed, as were two men of mark among the +Covenanters; and <span class="smcap">Sharp</span>, a traitor who had once been +the friend of the Presbyterians and betrayed them, was made Archbishop of St. +Andrew’s, to teach the Scotch how to like bishops. +</p> + +<p> +Things being in this merry state at home, the Merry Monarch undertook a war +with the Dutch; principally because they interfered with an African company, +established with the two objects of buying gold-dust and slaves, of which the +Duke of York was a leading member. After some preliminary hostilities, the said +Duke sailed to the coast of Holland with a fleet of ninety-eight vessels of +war, and four fire-ships. This engaged with the Dutch fleet, of no fewer than +one hundred and thirteen ships. In the great battle between the two forces, the +Dutch lost eighteen ships, four admirals, and seven thousand men. But, the +English on shore were in no mood of exultation when they heard the news. +</p> + +<p> +For, this was the year and the time of the Great Plague in London. During the +winter of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four it had been whispered about, +that some few people had died here and there of the disease called the Plague, +in some of the unwholesome suburbs around London. News was not published at +that time as it is now, and some people believed these rumours, and some +disbelieved them, and they were soon forgotten. But, in the month of May, one +thousand six hundred and sixty-five, it began to be said all over the town that +the disease had burst out with great violence in St. Giles’s, and that +the people were dying in great numbers. This soon turned out to be awfully +true. The roads out of London were choked up by people endeavouring to escape +from the infected city, and large sums were paid for any kind of conveyance. +The disease soon spread so fast, that it was necessary to shut up the houses in +which sick people were, and to cut them off from communication with the living. +Every one of these houses was marked on the outside of the door with a red +cross, and the words, Lord, have mercy upon us! The streets were all deserted, +grass grew in the public ways, and there was a dreadful silence in the air. +When night came on, dismal rumblings used to be heard, and these were the +wheels of the death-carts, attended by men with veiled faces and holding cloths +to their mouths, who rang doleful bells and cried in a loud and solemn voice, +‘Bring out your dead!’ The corpses put into these carts were buried +by torchlight in great pits; no service being performed over them; all men +being afraid to stay for a moment on the brink of the ghastly graves. In the +general fear, children ran away from their parents, and parents from their +children. Some who were taken ill, died alone, and without any help. Some were +stabbed or strangled by hired nurses who robbed them of all their money, and +stole the very beds on which they lay. Some went mad, dropped from the windows, +ran through the streets, and in their pain and frenzy flung themselves into the +river. +</p> + +<p> +These were not all the horrors of the time. The wicked and dissolute, in wild +desperation, sat in the taverns singing roaring songs, and were stricken as +they drank, and went out and died. The fearful and superstitious persuaded +themselves that they saw supernatural sights—burning swords in the sky, +gigantic arms and darts. Others pretended that at nights vast crowds of ghosts +walked round and round the dismal pits. One madman, naked, and carrying a +brazier full of burning coals upon his head, stalked through the streets, +crying out that he was a Prophet, commissioned to denounce the vengeance of the +Lord on wicked London. Another always went to and fro, exclaiming, ‘Yet +forty days, and London shall be destroyed!’ A third awoke the echoes in +the dismal streets, by night and by day, and made the blood of the sick run +cold, by calling out incessantly, in a deep hoarse voice, ‘O, the great +and dreadful God!’ +</p> + +<p> +Through the months of July and August and September, the Great Plague raged +more and more. Great fires were lighted in the streets, in the hope of stopping +the infection; but there was a plague of rain too, and it beat the fires out. +At last, the winds which usually arise at that time of the year which is called +the equinox, when day and night are of equal length all over the world, began +to blow, and to purify the wretched town. The deaths began to decrease, the red +crosses slowly to disappear, the fugitives to return, the shops to open, pale +frightened faces to be seen in the streets. The Plague had been in every part +of England, but in close and unwholesome London it had killed one hundred +thousand people. +</p> + +<p> +All this time, the Merry Monarch was as merry as ever, and as worthless as +ever. All this time, the debauched lords and gentlemen and the shameless ladies +danced and gamed and drank, and loved and hated one another, according to their +merry ways. +</p> + +<p> +So little humanity did the government learn from the late affliction, that one +of the first things the Parliament did when it met at Oxford (being as yet +afraid to come to London), was to make a law, called the Five Mile Act, +expressly directed against those poor ministers who, in the time of the Plague, +had manfully come back to comfort the unhappy people. This infamous law, by +forbidding them to teach in any school, or to come within five miles of any +city, town, or village, doomed them to starvation and death. +</p> + +<p> +The fleet had been at sea, and healthy. The King of France was now in alliance +with the Dutch, though his navy was chiefly employed in looking on while the +English and Dutch fought. The Dutch gained one victory; and the English gained +another and a greater; and Prince Rupert, one of the English admirals, was out +in the Channel one windy night, looking for the French Admiral, with the +intention of giving him something more to do than he had had yet, when the gale +increased to a storm, and blew him into Saint Helen’s. That night was the +third of September, one thousand six hundred and sixty-six, and that wind +fanned the Great Fire of London. +</p> + +<p> +It broke out at a baker’s shop near London Bridge, on the spot on which +the Monument now stands as a remembrance of those raging flames. It spread and +spread, and burned and burned, for three days. The nights were lighter than the +days; in the daytime there was an immense cloud of smoke, and in the night-time +there was a great tower of fire mounting up into the sky, which lighted the +whole country landscape for ten miles round. Showers of hot ashes rose into the +air and fell on distant places; flying sparks carried the conflagration to +great distances, and kindled it in twenty new spots at a time; church steeples +fell down with tremendous crashes; houses crumbled into cinders by the hundred +and the thousand. The summer had been intensely hot and dry, the streets were +very narrow, and the houses mostly built of wood and plaster. Nothing could +stop the tremendous fire, but the want of more houses to burn; nor did it stop +until the whole way from the Tower to Temple Bar was a desert, composed of the +ashes of thirteen thousand houses and eighty-nine churches. +</p> + +<p> +This was a terrible visitation at the time, and occasioned great loss and +suffering to the two hundred thousand burnt-out people, who were obliged to lie +in the fields under the open night sky, or in hastily-made huts of mud and +straw, while the lanes and roads were rendered impassable by carts which had +broken down as they tried to save their goods. But the Fire was a great +blessing to the City afterwards, for it arose from its ruins very much +improved—built more regularly, more widely, more cleanly and carefully, +and therefore much more healthily. It might be far more healthy than it is, but +there are some people in it still—even now, at this time, nearly two +hundred years later—so selfish, so pig-headed, and so ignorant, that I +doubt if even another Great Fire would warm them up to do their duty. +</p> + +<p> +The Catholics were accused of having wilfully set London in flames; one poor +Frenchman, who had been mad for years, even accused himself of having with his +own hand fired the first house. There is no reasonable doubt, however, that the +fire was accidental. An inscription on the Monument long attributed it to the +Catholics; but it is removed now, and was always a malicious and stupid +untruth. +</p> + +<h3>SECOND PART</h3> + +<p> +That the Merry Monarch might be very merry indeed, in the merry times when his +people were suffering under pestilence and fire, he drank and gambled and flung +away among his favourites the money which the Parliament had voted for the war. +The consequence of this was that the stout-hearted English sailors were merrily +starving of want, and dying in the streets; while the Dutch, under their +admirals <span class="smcap">De Witt</span> and <span class="smcap">De +Ruyter</span>, came into the River Thames, and up the River Medway as far as +Upnor, burned the guard-ships, silenced the weak batteries, and did what they +would to the English coast for six whole weeks. Most of the English ships that +could have prevented them had neither powder nor shot on board; in this merry +reign, public officers made themselves as merry as the King did with the public +money; and when it was entrusted to them to spend in national defences or +preparations, they put it into their own pockets with the merriest grace in the +world. +</p> + +<p> +Lord Clarendon had, by this time, run as long a course as is usually allotted +to the unscrupulous ministers of bad kings. He was impeached by his political +opponents, but unsuccessfully. The King then commanded him to withdraw from +England and retire to France, which he did, after defending himself in writing. +He was no great loss at home, and died abroad some seven years afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +There then came into power a ministry called the Cabal Ministry, because it was +composed of <span class="smcap">Lord Clifford</span>, the <span +class="smcap">Earl of Arlington</span>, the <span class="smcap">Duke of +Buckingham</span> (a great rascal, and the King’s most powerful +favourite), <span class="smcap">Lord Ashley</span>, and the <span +class="smcap">Duke of Lauderdale</span>, <span class="smcap">c. a. b. a. +l.</span> As the French were making conquests in Flanders, the first Cabal +proceeding was to make a treaty with the Dutch, for uniting with Spain to +oppose the French. It was no sooner made than the Merry Monarch, who always +wanted to get money without being accountable to a Parliament for his +expenditure, apologised to the King of France for having had anything to do +with it, and concluded a secret treaty with him, making himself his infamous +pensioner to the amount of two millions of livres down, and three millions more +a year; and engaging to desert that very Spain, to make war against those very +Dutch, and to declare himself a Catholic when a convenient time should arrive. +This religious king had lately been crying to his Catholic brother on the +subject of his strong desire to be a Catholic; and now he merrily concluded +this treasonable conspiracy against the country he governed, by undertaking to +become one as soon as he safely could. For all of which, though he had had ten +merry heads instead of one, he richly deserved to lose them by the +headsman’s axe. +</p> + +<p> +As his one merry head might have been far from safe, if these things had been +known, they were kept very quiet, and war was declared by France and England +against the Dutch. But, a very uncommon man, afterwards most important to +English history and to the religion and liberty of this land, arose among them, +and for many long years defeated the whole projects of France. This was <span +class="smcap">William of Nassau</span>, <span class="smcap">Prince of +Orange</span>, son of the last Prince of Orange of the same name, who married +the daughter of Charles the First of England. He was a young man at this time, +only just of age; but he was brave, cool, intrepid, and wise. His father had +been so detested that, upon his death, the Dutch had abolished the authority to +which this son would have otherwise succeeded (Stadtholder it was called), and +placed the chief power in the hands of <span class="smcap">John de Witt</span>, +who educated this young prince. Now, the Prince became very popular, and John +de Witt’s brother <span class="smcap">Cornelius</span> was sentenced to +banishment on a false accusation of conspiring to kill him. John went to the +prison where he was, to take him away to exile, in his coach; and a great mob +who collected on the occasion, then and there cruelly murdered both the +brothers. This left the government in the hands of the Prince, who was really +the choice of the nation; and from this time he exercised it with the greatest +vigour, against the whole power of France, under its famous generals <span +class="smcap">Condé</span> and <span class="smcap">Turenne</span>, and +in support of the Protestant religion. It was full seven years before this war +ended in a treaty of peace made at Nimeguen, and its details would occupy a +very considerable space. It is enough to say that William of Orange established +a famous character with the whole world; and that the Merry Monarch, adding to +and improving on his former baseness, bound himself to do everything the King +of France liked, and nothing the King of France did not like, for a pension of +one hundred thousand pounds a year, which was afterwards doubled. Besides this, +the King of France, by means of his corrupt ambassador—who wrote accounts +of his proceedings in England, which are not always to be believed, I +think—bought our English members of Parliament, as he wanted them. So, in +point of fact, during a considerable portion of this merry reign, the King of +France was the real King of this country. +</p> + +<p> +But there was a better time to come, and it was to come (though his royal uncle +little thought so) through that very William, Prince of Orange. He came over to +England, saw Mary, the elder daughter of the Duke of York, and married her. We +shall see by-and-by what came of that marriage, and why it is never to be +forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +This daughter was a Protestant, but her mother died a Catholic. She and her +sister <span class="smcap">Anne</span>, also a Protestant, were the only +survivors of eight children. Anne afterwards married <span +class="smcap">George</span>, <span class="smcap">Prince of Denmark</span>, +brother to the King of that country. +</p> + +<p> +Lest you should do the Merry Monarch the injustice of supposing that he was +even good humoured (except when he had everything his own way), or that he was +high spirited and honourable, I will mention here what was done to a member of +the House of Commons, <span class="smcap">Sir John Coventry</span>. He made a +remark in a debate about taxing the theatres, which gave the King offence. The +King agreed with his illegitimate son, who had been born abroad, and whom he +had made <span class="smcap">Duke of Monmouth</span>, to take the following +merry vengeance. To waylay him at night, fifteen armed men to one, and to slit +his nose with a penknife. Like master, like man. The King’s favourite, +the Duke of Buckingham, was strongly suspected of setting on an assassin to +murder the <span class="smcap">Duke of Ormond</span> as he was returning home +from a dinner; and that Duke’s spirited son, <span class="smcap">Lord +Ossory</span>, was so persuaded of his guilt, that he said to him at Court, +even as he stood beside the King, ‘My lord, I know very well that you are +at the bottom of this late attempt upon my father. But I give you warning, if +he ever come to a violent end, his blood shall be upon you, and wherever I meet +you I will pistol you! I will do so, though I find you standing behind the +King’s chair; and I tell you this in his Majesty’s presence, that +you may be quite sure of my doing what I threaten.’ Those were merry +times indeed. +</p> + +<p> +There was a fellow named <span class="smcap">Blood</span>, who was seized for +making, with two companions, an audacious attempt to steal the crown, the +globe, and sceptre, from the place where the jewels were kept in the Tower. +This robber, who was a swaggering ruffian, being taken, declared that he was +the man who had endeavoured to kill the Duke of Ormond, and that he had meant +to kill the King too, but was overawed by the majesty of his appearance, when +he might otherwise have done it, as he was bathing at Battersea. The King being +but an ill-looking fellow, I don’t believe a word of this. Whether he was +flattered, or whether he knew that Buckingham had really set Blood on to murder +the Duke, is uncertain. But it is quite certain that he pardoned this thief, +gave him an estate of five hundred a year in Ireland (which had had the honour +of giving him birth), and presented him at Court to the debauched lords and the +shameless ladies, who made a great deal of him—as I have no doubt they +would have made of the Devil himself, if the King had introduced him. +</p> + +<p> +Infamously pensioned as he was, the King still wanted money, and consequently +was obliged to call Parliaments. In these, the great object of the Protestants +was to thwart the Catholic Duke of York, who married a second time; his new +wife being a young lady only fifteen years old, the Catholic sister of the +<span class="smcap">Duke of Modena</span>. In this they were seconded by the +Protestant Dissenters, though to their own disadvantage: since, to exclude +Catholics from power, they were even willing to exclude themselves. The +King’s object was to pretend to be a Protestant, while he was really a +Catholic; to swear to the bishops that he was devoutly attached to the English +Church, while he knew he had bargained it away to the King of France; and by +cheating and deceiving them, and all who were attached to royalty, to become +despotic and be powerful enough to confess what a rascal he was. Meantime, the +King of France, knowing his merry pensioner well, intrigued with the +King’s opponents in Parliament, as well as with the King and his friends. +</p> + +<p> +The fears that the country had of the Catholic religion being restored, if the +Duke of York should come to the throne, and the low cunning of the King in +pretending to share their alarms, led to some very terrible results. A certain +<span class="smcap">Dr. Tonge</span>, a dull clergyman in the City, fell into +the hands of a certain <span class="smcap">Titus Oates</span>, a most infamous +character, who pretended to have acquired among the Jesuits abroad a knowledge +of a great plot for the murder of the King, and the re-establishment of the +Catholic religion. Titus Oates, being produced by this unlucky Dr. Tonge and +solemnly examined before the council, contradicted himself in a thousand ways, +told the most ridiculous and improbable stories, and implicated <span +class="smcap">Coleman</span>, the Secretary of the Duchess of York. Now, +although what he charged against Coleman was not true, and although you and I +know very well that the real dangerous Catholic plot was that one with the King +of France of which the Merry Monarch was himself the head, there happened to be +found among Coleman’s papers, some letters, in which he did praise the +days of Bloody Queen Mary, and abuse the Protestant religion. This was great +good fortune for Titus, as it seemed to confirm him; but better still was in +store. <span class="smcap">Sir Edmundbury Godfrey</span>, the magistrate who +had first examined him, being unexpectedly found dead near Primrose Hill, was +confidently believed to have been killed by the Catholics. I think there is no +doubt that he had been melancholy mad, and that he killed himself; but he had a +great Protestant funeral, and Titus was called the Saver of the Nation, and +received a pension of twelve hundred pounds a year. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as Oates’s wickedness had met with this success, up started +another villain, named <span class="smcap">William Bedloe</span>, who, +attracted by a reward of five hundred pounds offered for the apprehension of +the murderers of Godfrey, came forward and charged two Jesuits and some other +persons with having committed it at the Queen’s desire. Oates, going into +partnership with this new informer, had the audacity to accuse the poor Queen +herself of high treason. Then appeared a third informer, as bad as either of +the two, and accused a Catholic banker named <span class="smcap">Stayley</span> +of having said that the King was the greatest rogue in the world (which would +not have been far from the truth), and that he would kill him with his own +hand. This banker, being at once tried and executed, Coleman and two others +were tried and executed. Then, a miserable wretch named <span +class="smcap">Prance</span>, a Catholic silversmith, being accused by Bedloe, +was tortured into confessing that he had taken part in Godfrey’s murder, +and into accusing three other men of having committed it. Then, five Jesuits +were accused by Oates, Bedloe, and Prance together, and were all found guilty, +and executed on the same kind of contradictory and absurd evidence. The +Queen’s physician and three monks were next put on their trial; but Oates +and Bedloe had for the time gone far enough and these four were acquitted. The +public mind, however, was so full of a Catholic plot, and so strong against the +Duke of York, that James consented to obey a written order from his brother, +and to go with his family to Brussels, provided that his rights should never be +sacrificed in his absence to the Duke of Monmouth. The House of Commons, not +satisfied with this as the King hoped, passed a bill to exclude the Duke from +ever succeeding to the throne. In return, the King dissolved the Parliament. He +had deserted his old favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, who was now in the +opposition. +</p> + +<p> +To give any sufficient idea of the miseries of Scotland in this merry reign, +would occupy a hundred pages. Because the people would not have bishops, and +were resolved to stand by their solemn League and Covenant, such cruelties were +inflicted upon them as make the blood run cold. Ferocious dragoons galloped +through the country to punish the peasants for deserting the churches; sons +were hanged up at their fathers’ doors for refusing to disclose where +their fathers were concealed; wives were tortured to death for not betraying +their husbands; people were taken out of their fields and gardens, and shot on +the public roads without trial; lighted matches were tied to the fingers of +prisoners, and a most horrible torment called the Boot was invented, and +constantly applied, which ground and mashed the victims’ legs with iron +wedges. Witnesses were tortured as well as prisoners. All the prisons were +full; all the gibbets were heavy with bodies; murder and plunder devastated the +whole country. In spite of all, the Covenanters were by no means to be dragged +into the churches, and persisted in worshipping God as they thought right. A +body of ferocious Highlanders, turned upon them from the mountains of their own +country, had no greater effect than the English dragoons under <span +class="smcap">Grahame of Claverhouse</span>, the most cruel and rapacious of +all their enemies, whose name will ever be cursed through the length and +breadth of Scotland. Archbishop Sharp had ever aided and abetted all these +outrages. But he fell at last; for, when the injuries of the Scottish people +were at their height, he was seen, in his coach-and-six coming across a moor, +by a body of men, headed by one <span class="smcap">John Balfour</span>, who +were waiting for another of their oppressors. Upon this they cried out that +Heaven had delivered him into their hands, and killed him with many wounds. If +ever a man deserved such a death, I think Archbishop Sharp did. +</p> + +<p> +It made a great noise directly, and the Merry Monarch—strongly suspected +of having goaded the Scottish people on, that he might have an excuse for a +greater army than the Parliament were willing to give him—sent down his +son, the Duke of Monmouth, as commander-in-chief, with instructions to attack +the Scottish rebels, or Whigs as they were called, whenever he came up with +them. Marching with ten thousand men from Edinburgh, he found them, in number +four or five thousand, drawn up at Bothwell Bridge, by the Clyde. They were +soon dispersed; and Monmouth showed a more humane character towards them, than +he had shown towards that Member of Parliament whose nose he had caused to be +slit with a penknife. But the Duke of Lauderdale was their bitter foe, and sent +Claverhouse to finish them. +</p> + +<p> +As the Duke of York became more and more unpopular, the Duke of Monmouth became +more and more popular. It would have been decent in the latter not to have +voted in favour of the renewed bill for the exclusion of James from the throne; +but he did so, much to the King’s amusement, who used to sit in the House +of Lords by the fire, hearing the debates, which he said were as good as a +play. The House of Commons passed the bill by a large majority, and it was +carried up to the House of Lords by <span class="smcap">Lord Russell</span>, +one of the best of the leaders on the Protestant side. It was rejected there, +chiefly because the bishops helped the King to get rid of it; and the fear of +Catholic plots revived again. There had been another got up, by a fellow out of +Newgate, named <span class="smcap">Dangerfield</span>, which is more famous +than it deserves to be, under the name of the <span class="smcap">Meal-Tub +Plot</span>. This jail-bird having been got out of Newgate by a <span +class="smcap">Mrs. Cellier</span>, a Catholic nurse, had turned Catholic +himself, and pretended that he knew of a plot among the Presbyterians against +the King’s life. This was very pleasant to the Duke of York, who hated +the Presbyterians, who returned the compliment. He gave Dangerfield twenty +guineas, and sent him to the King his brother. But Dangerfield, breaking down +altogether in his charge, and being sent back to Newgate, almost astonished the +Duke out of his five senses by suddenly swearing that the Catholic nurse had +put that false design into his head, and that what he really knew about, was, a +Catholic plot against the King; the evidence of which would be found in some +papers, concealed in a meal-tub in Mrs. Cellier’s house. There they were, +of course—for he had put them there himself—and so the tub gave the +name to the plot. But, the nurse was acquitted on her trial, and it came to +nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Lord Ashley, of the Cabal, was now Lord Shaftesbury, and was strong against the +succession of the Duke of York. The House of Commons, aggravated to the utmost +extent, as we may well suppose, by suspicions of the King’s conspiracy +with the King of France, made a desperate point of the exclusion, still, and +were bitter against the Catholics generally. So unjustly bitter were they, I +grieve to say, that they impeached the venerable Lord Stafford, a Catholic +nobleman seventy years old, of a design to kill the King. The witnesses were +that atrocious Oates and two other birds of the same feather. He was found +guilty, on evidence quite as foolish as it was false, and was beheaded on Tower +Hill. The people were opposed to him when he first appeared upon the scaffold; +but, when he had addressed them and shown them how innocent he was and how +wickedly he was sent there, their better nature was aroused, and they said, +‘We believe you, my Lord. God bless you, my Lord!’ +</p> + +<p> +The House of Commons refused to let the King have any money until he should +consent to the Exclusion Bill; but, as he could get it and did get it from his +master the King of France, he could afford to hold them very cheap. He called a +Parliament at Oxford, to which he went down with a great show of being armed +and protected as if he were in danger of his life, and to which the opposition +members also went armed and protected, alleging that they were in fear of the +Papists, who were numerous among the King’s guards. However, they went on +with the Exclusion Bill, and were so earnest upon it that they would have +carried it again, if the King had not popped his crown and state robes into a +sedan-chair, bundled himself into it along with them, hurried down to the +chamber where the House of Lords met, and dissolved the Parliament. After which +he scampered home, and the members of Parliament scampered home too, as fast as +their legs could carry them. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of York, then residing in Scotland, had, under the law which excluded +Catholics from public trust, no right whatever to public employment. +Nevertheless, he was openly employed as the King’s representative in +Scotland, and there gratified his sullen and cruel nature to his heart’s +content by directing the dreadful cruelties against the Covenanters. There were +two ministers named <span class="smcap">Cargill</span> and <span +class="smcap">Cameron</span> who had escaped from the battle of Bothwell +Bridge, and who returned to Scotland, and raised the miserable but still brave +and unsubdued Covenanters afresh, under the name of Cameronians. As Cameron +publicly posted a declaration that the King was a forsworn tyrant, no mercy was +shown to his unhappy followers after he was slain in battle. The Duke of York, +who was particularly fond of the Boot and derived great pleasure from having it +applied, offered their lives to some of these people, if they would cry on the +scaffold ‘God save the King!’ But their relations, friends, and +countrymen, had been so barbarously tortured and murdered in this merry reign, +that they preferred to die, and did die. The Duke then obtained his merry +brother’s permission to hold a Parliament in Scotland, which first, with +most shameless deceit, confirmed the laws for securing the Protestant religion +against Popery, and then declared that nothing must or should prevent the +succession of the Popish Duke. After this double-faced beginning, it +established an oath which no human being could understand, but which everybody +was to take, as a proof that his religion was the lawful religion. The Earl of +Argyle, taking it with the explanation that he did not consider it to prevent +him from favouring any alteration either in the Church or State which was not +inconsistent with the Protestant religion or with his loyalty, was tried for +high treason before a Scottish jury of which the <span class="smcap">Marquis of +Montrose</span> was foreman, and was found guilty. He escaped the scaffold, for +that time, by getting away, in the disguise of a page, in the train of his +daughter, <span class="smcap">Lady Sophia Lindsay</span>. It was absolutely +proposed, by certain members of the Scottish Council, that this lady should be +whipped through the streets of Edinburgh. But this was too much even for the +Duke, who had the manliness then (he had very little at most times) to remark +that Englishmen were not accustomed to treat ladies in that manner. In those +merry times nothing could equal the brutal servility of the Scottish fawners, +but the conduct of similar degraded beings in England. +</p> + +<p> +After the settlement of these little affairs, the Duke returned to England, and +soon resumed his place at the Council, and his office of High Admiral—all +this by his brother’s favour, and in open defiance of the law. It would +have been no loss to the country, if he had been drowned when his ship, in +going to Scotland to fetch his family, struck on a sand-bank, and was lost with +two hundred souls on board. But he escaped in a boat with some friends; and the +sailors were so brave and unselfish, that, when they saw him rowing away, they +gave three cheers, while they themselves were going down for ever. +</p> + +<p> +The Merry Monarch, having got rid of his Parliament, went to work to make +himself despotic, with all speed. Having had the villainy to order the +execution of <span class="smcap">Oliver Plunket</span>, <span +class="smcap">Bishop of Armagh</span>, falsely accused of a plot to establish +Popery in that country by means of a French army—the very thing this +royal traitor was himself trying to do at home—and having tried to ruin +Lord Shaftesbury, and failed—he turned his hand to controlling the +corporations all over the country; because, if he could only do that, he could +get what juries he chose, to bring in perjured verdicts, and could get what +members he chose returned to Parliament. These merry times produced, and made +Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench, a drunken ruffian of the name +of <span class="smcap">Jeffreys</span>; a red-faced, swollen, bloated, horrible +creature, with a bullying, roaring voice, and a more savage nature perhaps than +was ever lodged in any human breast. This monster was the Merry Monarch’s +especial favourite, and he testified his admiration of him by giving him a ring +from his own finger, which the people used to call Judge Jeffreys’s +Bloodstone. Him the King employed to go about and bully the corporations, +beginning with London; or, as Jeffreys himself elegantly called it, ‘to +give them a lick with the rough side of his tongue.’ And he did it so +thoroughly, that they soon became the basest and most sycophantic bodies in the +kingdom—except the University of Oxford, which, in that respect, was +quite pre-eminent and unapproachable. +</p> + +<p> +Lord Shaftesbury (who died soon after the King’s failure against him), +<span class="smcap">Lord William Russell</span>, the Duke of Monmouth, <span +class="smcap">Lord Howard</span>, <span class="smcap">Lord Jersey</span>, <span +class="smcap">Algernon Sidney</span>, <span class="smcap">John Hampden</span> +(grandson of the great Hampden), and some others, used to hold a council +together after the dissolution of the Parliament, arranging what it might be +necessary to do, if the King carried his Popish plot to the utmost height. Lord +Shaftesbury having been much the most violent of this party, brought two +violent men into their secrets—<span class="smcap">Rumsey</span>, who had +been a soldier in the Republican army; and <span class="smcap">West</span>, a +lawyer. These two knew an old officer of <span +class="smcap">Cromwell’s</span>, called <span +class="smcap">Rumbold</span>, who had married a maltster’s widow, and so +had come into possession of a solitary dwelling called the Rye House, near +Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire. Rumbold said to them what a capital place this +house of his would be from which to shoot at the King, who often passed there +going to and fro from Newmarket. They liked the idea, and entertained it. But, +one of their body gave information; and they, together with <span +class="smcap">Shepherd</span> a wine merchant, Lord Russell, Algernon Sidney, +<span class="smcap">Lord Essex</span>, <span class="smcap">Lord Howard</span>, +and Hampden, were all arrested. +</p> + +<p> +Lord Russell might have easily escaped, but scorned to do so, being innocent of +any wrong; Lord Essex might have easily escaped, but scorned to do so, lest his +flight should prejudice Lord Russell. But it weighed upon his mind that he had +brought into their council, Lord Howard—who now turned a miserable +traitor—against a great dislike Lord Russell had always had of him. He +could not bear the reflection, and destroyed himself before Lord Russell was +brought to trial at the Old Bailey. +</p> + +<p> +He knew very well that he had nothing to hope, having always been manful in the +Protestant cause against the two false brothers, the one on the throne, and the +other standing next to it. He had a wife, one of the noblest and best of women, +who acted as his secretary on his trial, who comforted him in his prison, who +supped with him on the night before he died, and whose love and virtue and +devotion have made her name imperishable. Of course, he was found guilty, and +was sentenced to be beheaded in Lincoln’s Inn-fields, not many yards from +his own house. When he had parted from his children on the evening before his +death, his wife still stayed with him until ten o’clock at night; and +when their final separation in this world was over, and he had kissed her many +times, he still sat for a long while in his prison, talking of her goodness. +Hearing the rain fall fast at that time, he calmly said, ‘Such a rain +to-morrow will spoil a great show, which is a dull thing on a rainy day.’ +At midnight he went to bed, and slept till four; even when his servant called +him, he fell asleep again while his clothes were being made ready. He rode to +the scaffold in his own carriage, attended by two famous clergymen, <span +class="smcap">Tillotson</span> and <span class="smcap">Burnet</span>, and sang +a psalm to himself very softly, as he went along. He was as quiet and as steady +as if he had been going out for an ordinary ride. After saying that he was +surprised to see so great a crowd, he laid down his head upon the block, as if +upon the pillow of his bed, and had it struck off at the second blow. His noble +wife was busy for him even then; for that true-hearted lady printed and widely +circulated his last words, of which he had given her a copy. They made the +blood of all the honest men in England boil. +</p> + +<p> +The University of Oxford distinguished itself on the very same day by +pretending to believe that the accusation against Lord Russell was true, and by +calling the King, in a written paper, the Breath of their Nostrils and the +Anointed of the Lord. This paper the Parliament afterwards caused to be burned +by the common hangman; which I am sorry for, as I wish it had been framed and +glazed and hung up in some public place, as a monument of baseness for the +scorn of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +Next, came the trial of Algernon Sidney, at which Jeffreys presided, like a +great crimson toad, sweltering and swelling with rage. ‘I pray God, Mr. +Sidney,’ said this Chief Justice of a merry reign, after passing +sentence, ‘to work in you a temper fit to go to the other world, for I +see you are not fit for this.’ ‘My lord,’ said the prisoner, +composedly holding out his arm, ‘feel my pulse, and see if I be +disordered. I thank Heaven I never was in better temper than I am now.’ +Algernon Sidney was executed on Tower Hill, on the seventh of December, one +thousand six hundred and eighty-three. He died a hero, and died, in his own +words, ‘For that good old cause in which he had been engaged from his +youth, and for which God had so often and so wonderfully declared +himself.’ +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Monmouth had been making his uncle, the Duke of York, very jealous, +by going about the country in a royal sort of way, playing at the +people’s games, becoming godfather to their children, and even touching +for the King’s evil, or stroking the faces of the sick to cure +them—though, for the matter of that, I should say he did them about as +much good as any crowned king could have done. His father had got him to write +a letter, confessing his having had a part in the conspiracy, for which Lord +Russell had been beheaded; but he was ever a weak man, and as soon as he had +written it, he was ashamed of it and got it back again. For this, he was +banished to the Netherlands; but he soon returned and had an interview with his +father, unknown to his uncle. It would seem that he was coming into the Merry +Monarch’s favour again, and that the Duke of York was sliding out of it, +when Death appeared to the merry galleries at Whitehall, and astonished the +debauched lords and gentlemen, and the shameless ladies, very considerably. +</p> + +<p> +On Monday, the second of February, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, +the merry pensioner and servant of the King of France fell down in a fit of +apoplexy. By the Wednesday his case was hopeless, and on the Thursday he was +told so. As he made a difficulty about taking the sacrament from the Protestant +Bishop of Bath, the Duke of York got all who were present away from the bed, +and asked his brother, in a whisper, if he should send for a Catholic priest? +The King replied, ‘For God’s sake, brother, do!’ The Duke +smuggled in, up the back stairs, disguised in a wig and gown, a priest named +<span class="smcap">Huddleston</span>, who had saved the King’s life +after the battle of Worcester: telling him that this worthy man in the wig had +once saved his body, and was now come to save his soul. +</p> + +<p> +The Merry Monarch lived through that night, and died before noon on the next +day, which was Friday, the sixth. Two of the last things he said were of a +human sort, and your remembrance will give him the full benefit of them. When +the Queen sent to say she was too unwell to attend him and to ask his pardon, +he said, ‘Alas! poor woman, <i>she</i> beg <i>my</i> pardon! I beg hers +with all my heart. Take back that answer to her.’ And he also said, in +reference to Nell Gwyn, ‘Do not let poor Nelly starve.’ +</p> + +<p> +He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his reign. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap36"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI<br/> +ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND</h2> + +<p> +King James the Second was a man so very disagreeable, that even the best of +historians has favoured his brother Charles, as becoming, by comparison, quite +a pleasant character. The one object of his short reign was to re-establish the +Catholic religion in England; and this he doggedly pursued with such a stupid +obstinacy, that his career very soon came to a close. +</p> + +<p> +The first thing he did, was, to assure his council that he would make it his +endeavour to preserve the Government, both in Church and State, as it was by +law established; and that he would always take care to defend and support the +Church. Great public acclamations were raised over this fair speech, and a +great deal was said, from the pulpits and elsewhere, about the word of a King +which was never broken, by credulous people who little supposed that he had +formed a secret council for Catholic affairs, of which a mischievous Jesuit, +called <span class="smcap">Father Petre</span>, was one of the chief members. +With tears of joy in his eyes, he received, as the beginning of <i>his</i> +pension from the King of France, five hundred thousand livres; yet, with a +mixture of meanness and arrogance that belonged to his contemptible character, +he was always jealous of making some show of being independent of the King of +France, while he pocketed his money. As—notwithstanding his publishing +two papers in favour of Popery (and not likely to do it much service, I should +think) written by the King, his brother, and found in his strong-box; and his +open display of himself attending mass—the Parliament was very +obsequious, and granted him a large sum of money, he began his reign with a +belief that he could do what he pleased, and with a determination to do it. +</p> + +<p> +Before we proceed to its principal events, let us dispose of Titus Oates. He +was tried for perjury, a fortnight after the coronation, and besides being very +heavily fined, was sentenced to stand twice in the pillory, to be whipped from +Aldgate to Newgate one day, and from Newgate to Tyburn two days afterwards, and +to stand in the pillory five times a year as long as he lived. This fearful +sentence was actually inflicted on the rascal. Being unable to stand after his +first flogging, he was dragged on a sledge from Newgate to Tyburn, and flogged +as he was drawn along. He was so strong a villain that he did not die under the +torture, but lived to be afterwards pardoned and rewarded, though not to be +ever believed in any more. Dangerfield, the only other one of that crew left +alive, was not so fortunate. He was almost killed by a whipping from Newgate to +Tyburn, and, as if that were not punishment enough, a ferocious barrister of +Gray’s Inn gave him a poke in the eye with his cane, which caused his +death; for which the ferocious barrister was deservedly tried and executed. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as James was on the throne, Argyle and Monmouth went from Brussels to +Rotterdam, and attended a meeting of Scottish exiles held there, to concert +measures for a rising in England. It was agreed that Argyle should effect a +landing in Scotland, and Monmouth in England; and that two Englishmen should be +sent with Argyle to be in his confidence, and two Scotchmen with the Duke of +Monmouth. +</p> + +<p> +Argyle was the first to act upon this contract. But, two of his men being taken +prisoners at the Orkney Islands, the Government became aware of his intention, +and was able to act against him with such vigour as to prevent his raising more +than two or three thousand Highlanders, although he sent a fiery cross, by +trusty messengers, from clan to clan and from glen to glen, as the custom then +was when those wild people were to be excited by their chiefs. As he was moving +towards Glasgow with his small force, he was betrayed by some of his followers, +taken, and carried, with his hands tied behind his back, to his old prison in +Edinburgh Castle. James ordered him to be executed, on his old shamefully +unjust sentence, within three days; and he appears to have been anxious that +his legs should have been pounded with his old favourite the boot. However, the +boot was not applied; he was simply beheaded, and his head was set upon the top +of Edinburgh Jail. One of those Englishmen who had been assigned to him was +that old soldier Rumbold, the master of the Rye House. He was sorely wounded, +and within a week after Argyle had suffered with great courage, was brought up +for trial, lest he should die and disappoint the King. He, too, was executed, +after defending himself with great spirit, and saying that he did not believe +that God had made the greater part of mankind to carry saddles on their backs +and bridles in their mouths, and to be ridden by a few, booted and spurred for +the purpose—in which I thoroughly agree with Rumbold. +</p> + +<p> +The Duke of Monmouth, partly through being detained and partly through idling +his time away, was five or six weeks behind his friend when he landed at Lyme, +in Dorset: having at his right hand an unlucky nobleman called <span +class="smcap">Lord Grey of Werk</span>, who of himself would have ruined a far +more promising expedition. He immediately set up his standard in the +market-place, and proclaimed the King a tyrant, and a Popish usurper, and I +know not what else; charging him, not only with what he had done, which was bad +enough, but with what neither he nor anybody else had done, such as setting +fire to London, and poisoning the late King. Raising some four thousand men by +these means, he marched on to Taunton, where there were many Protestant +dissenters who were strongly opposed to the Catholics. Here, both the rich and +poor turned out to receive him, ladies waved a welcome to him from all the +windows as he passed along the streets, flowers were strewn in his way, and +every compliment and honour that could be devised was showered upon him. Among +the rest, twenty young ladies came forward, in their best clothes, and in their +brightest beauty, and gave him a Bible ornamented with their own fair hands, +together with other presents. +</p> + +<p> +Encouraged by this homage, he proclaimed himself King, and went on to +Bridgewater. But, here the Government troops, under the <span +class="smcap">Earl of Feversham</span>, were close at hand; and he was so +dispirited at finding that he made but few powerful friends after all, that it +was a question whether he should disband his army and endeavour to escape. It +was resolved, at the instance of that unlucky Lord Grey, to make a night attack +on the King’s army, as it lay encamped on the edge of a morass called +Sedgemoor. The horsemen were commanded by the same unlucky lord, who was not a +brave man. He gave up the battle almost at the first obstacle—which was a +deep drain; and although the poor countrymen, who had turned out for Monmouth, +fought bravely with scythes, poles, pitchforks, and such poor weapons as they +had, they were soon dispersed by the trained soldiers, and fled in all +directions. When the Duke of Monmouth himself fled, was not known in the +confusion; but the unlucky Lord Grey was taken early next day, and then another +of the party was taken, who confessed that he had parted from the Duke only +four hours before. Strict search being made, he was found disguised as a +peasant, hidden in a ditch under fern and nettles, with a few peas in his +pocket which he had gathered in the fields to eat. The only other articles he +had upon him were a few papers and little books: one of the latter being a +strange jumble, in his own writing, of charms, songs, recipes, and prayers. He +was completely broken. He wrote a miserable letter to the King, beseeching and +entreating to be allowed to see him. When he was taken to London, and conveyed +bound into the King’s presence, he crawled to him on his knees, and made +a most degrading exhibition. As James never forgave or relented towards +anybody, he was not likely to soften towards the issuer of the Lyme +proclamation, so he told the suppliant to prepare for death. +</p> + +<p> +On the fifteenth of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, this +unfortunate favourite of the people was brought out to die on Tower Hill. The +crowd was immense, and the tops of all the houses were covered with gazers. He +had seen his wife, the daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, in the Tower, and had +talked much of a lady whom he loved far better—the <span +class="smcap">Lady Harriet Wentworth</span>—who was one of the last +persons he remembered in this life. Before laying down his head upon the block +he felt the edge of the axe, and told the executioner that he feared it was not +sharp enough, and that the axe was not heavy enough. On the executioner +replying that it was of the proper kind, the Duke said, ‘I pray you have +a care, and do not use me so awkwardly as you used my Lord Russell.’ The +executioner, made nervous by this, and trembling, struck once and merely gashed +him in the neck. Upon this, the Duke of Monmouth raised his head and looked the +man reproachfully in the face. Then he struck twice, and then thrice, and then +threw down the axe, and cried out in a voice of horror that he could not finish +that work. The sheriffs, however, threatening him with what should be done to +himself if he did not, he took it up again and struck a fourth time and a fifth +time. Then the wretched head at last fell off, and James, Duke of Monmouth, was +dead, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. He was a showy, graceful man, with +many popular qualities, and had found much favour in the open hearts of the +English. +</p> + +<p> +The atrocities, committed by the Government, which followed this Monmouth +rebellion, form the blackest and most lamentable page in English history. The +poor peasants, having been dispersed with great loss, and their leaders having +been taken, one would think that the implacable King might have been satisfied. +But no; he let loose upon them, among other intolerable monsters, a <span +class="smcap">Colonel Kirk</span>, who had served against the Moors, and whose +soldiers—called by the people Kirk’s lambs, because they bore a +lamb upon their flag, as the emblem of Christianity—were worthy of their +leader. The atrocities committed by these demons in human shape are far too +horrible to be related here. It is enough to say, that besides most ruthlessly +murdering and robbing them, and ruining them by making them buy their pardons +at the price of all they possessed, it was one of Kirk’s favourite +amusements, as he and his officers sat drinking after dinner, and toasting the +King, to have batches of prisoners hanged outside the windows for the +company’s diversion; and that when their feet quivered in the convulsions +of death, he used to swear that they should have music to their dancing, and +would order the drums to beat and the trumpets to play. The detestable King +informed him, as an acknowledgment of these services, that he was ‘very +well satisfied with his proceedings.’ But the King’s great delight +was in the proceedings of Jeffreys, now a peer, who went down into the west, +with four other judges, to try persons accused of having had any share in the +rebellion. The King pleasantly called this ‘Jeffreys’s +campaign.’ The people down in that part of the country remember it to +this day as The Bloody Assize. +</p> + +<p> +It began at Winchester, where a poor deaf old lady, <span class="smcap">Mrs. +Alicia Lisle</span>, the widow of one of the judges of Charles the First (who +had been murdered abroad by some Royalist assassins), was charged with having +given shelter in her house to two fugitives from Sedgemoor. Three times the +jury refused to find her guilty, until Jeffreys bullied and frightened them +into that false verdict. When he had extorted it from them, he said, +‘Gentlemen, if I had been one of you, and she had been my own mother, I +would have found her guilty;’—as I dare say he would. He sentenced +her to be burned alive, that very afternoon. The clergy of the cathedral and +some others interfered in her favour, and she was beheaded within a week. As a +high mark of his approbation, the King made Jeffreys Lord Chancellor; and he +then went on to Dorchester, to Exeter, to Taunton, and to Wells. It is +astonishing, when we read of the enormous injustice and barbarity of this +beast, to know that no one struck him dead on the judgment-seat. It was enough +for any man or woman to be accused by an enemy, before Jeffreys, to be found +guilty of high treason. One man who pleaded not guilty, he ordered to be taken +out of court upon the instant, and hanged; and this so terrified the prisoners +in general that they mostly pleaded guilty at once. At Dorchester alone, in the +course of a few days, Jeffreys hanged eighty people; besides whipping, +transporting, imprisoning, and selling as slaves, great numbers. He executed, +in all, two hundred and fifty, or three hundred. +</p> + +<p> +These executions took place, among the neighbours and friends of the sentenced, +in thirty-six towns and villages. Their bodies were mangled, steeped in +caldrons of boiling pitch and tar, and hung up by the roadsides, in the +streets, over the very churches. The sight and smell of heads and limbs, the +hissing and bubbling of the infernal caldrons, and the tears and terrors of the +people, were dreadful beyond all description. One rustic, who was forced to +steep the remains in the black pot, was ever afterwards called ‘Tom +Boilman.’ The hangman has ever since been called Jack Ketch, because a +man of that name went hanging and hanging, all day long, in the train of +Jeffreys. You will hear much of the horrors of the great French Revolution. +Many and terrible they were, there is no doubt; but I know of nothing worse, +done by the maddened people of France in that awful time, than was done by the +highest judge in England, with the express approval of the King of England, in +The Bloody Assize. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was even this all. Jeffreys was as fond of money for himself as of misery +for others, and he sold pardons wholesale to fill his pockets. The King +ordered, at one time, a thousand prisoners to be given to certain of his +favourites, in order that they might bargain with them for their pardons. The +young ladies of Taunton who had presented the Bible, were bestowed upon the +maids of honour at court; and those precious ladies made very hard bargains +with them indeed. When The Bloody Assize was at its most dismal height, the +King was diverting himself with horse-races in the very place where Mrs. Lisle +had been executed. When Jeffreys had done his worst, and came home again, he +was particularly complimented in the Royal Gazette; and when the King heard +that through drunkenness and raging he was very ill, his odious Majesty +remarked that such another man could not easily be found in England. Besides +all this, a former sheriff of London, named <span class="smcap">Cornish</span>, +was hanged within sight of his own house, after an abominably conducted trial, +for having had a share in the Rye House Plot, on evidence given by Rumsey, +which that villain was obliged to confess was directly opposed to the evidence +he had given on the trial of Lord Russell. And on the very same day, a worthy +widow, named <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Gaunt</span>, was burned alive at +Tyburn, for having sheltered a wretch who himself gave evidence against her. +She settled the fuel about herself with her own hands, so that the flames +should reach her quickly: and nobly said, with her last breath, that she had +obeyed the sacred command of God, to give refuge to the outcast, and not to +betray the wanderer. +</p> + +<p> +After all this hanging, beheading, burning, boiling, mutilating, exposing, +robbing, transporting, and selling into slavery, of his unhappy subjects, the +King not unnaturally thought that he could do whatever he would. So, he went to +work to change the religion of the country with all possible speed; and what he +did was this. +</p> + +<p> +He first of all tried to get rid of what was called the Test Act—which +prevented the Catholics from holding public employments—by his own power +of dispensing with the penalties. He tried it in one case, and, eleven of the +twelve judges deciding in his favour, he exercised it in three others, being +those of three dignitaries of University College, Oxford, who had become +Papists, and whom he kept in their places and sanctioned. He revived the hated +Ecclesiastical Commission, to get rid of <span class="smcap">Compton</span>, +Bishop of London, who manfully opposed him. He solicited the Pope to favour +England with an ambassador, which the Pope (who was a sensible man then) rather +unwillingly did. He flourished Father Petre before the eyes of the people on +all possible occasions. He favoured the establishment of convents in several +parts of London. He was delighted to have the streets, and even the court +itself, filled with Monks and Friars in the habits of their orders. He +constantly endeavoured to make Catholics of the Protestants about him. He held +private interviews, which he called ‘closetings,’ with those +Members of Parliament who held offices, to persuade them to consent to the +design he had in view. When they did not consent, they were removed, or +resigned of themselves, and their places were given to Catholics. He displaced +Protestant officers from the army, by every means in his power, and got +Catholics into their places too. He tried the same thing with the corporations, +and also (though not so successfully) with the Lord Lieutenants of counties. To +terrify the people into the endurance of all these measures, he kept an army of +fifteen thousand men encamped on Hounslow Heath, where mass was openly +performed in the General’s tent, and where priests went among the +soldiers endeavouring to persuade them to become Catholics. For circulating a +paper among those men advising them to be true to their religion, a Protestant +clergyman, named <span class="smcap">Johnson</span>, the chaplain of the late +Lord Russell, was actually sentenced to stand three times in the pillory, and +was actually whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. He dismissed his own +brother-in-law from his Council because he was a Protestant, and made a Privy +Councillor of the before-mentioned Father Petre. He handed Ireland over to +<span class="smcap">Richard Talbot</span>, <span class="smcap">Earl of +Tyrconnell</span>, a worthless, dissolute knave, who played the same game there +for his master, and who played the deeper game for himself of one day putting +it under the protection of the French King. In going to these extremities, +every man of sense and judgment among the Catholics, from the Pope to a porter, +knew that the King was a mere bigoted fool, who would undo himself and the +cause he sought to advance; but he was deaf to all reason, and, happily for +England ever afterwards, went tumbling off his throne in his own blind way. +</p> + +<p> +A spirit began to arise in the country, which the besotted blunderer little +expected. He first found it out in the University of Cambridge. Having made a +Catholic a dean at Oxford without any opposition, he tried to make a monk a +master of arts at Cambridge: which attempt the University resisted, and +defeated him. He then went back to his favourite Oxford. On the death of the +President of Magdalen College, he commanded that there should be elected to +succeed him, one <span class="smcap">Mr. Anthony Farmer</span>, whose only +recommendation was, that he was of the King’s religion. The University +plucked up courage at last, and refused. The King substituted another man, and +it still refused, resolving to stand by its own election of a <span +class="smcap">Mr. Hough</span>. The dull tyrant, upon this, punished Mr. Hough, +and five-and-twenty more, by causing them to be expelled and declared incapable +of holding any church preferment; then he proceeded to what he supposed to be +his highest step, but to what was, in fact, his last plunge head-foremost in +his tumble off his throne. +</p> + +<p> +He had issued a declaration that there should be no religious tests or penal +laws, in order to let in the Catholics more easily; but the Protestant +dissenters, unmindful of themselves, had gallantly joined the regular church in +opposing it tooth and nail. The King and Father Petre now resolved to have this +read, on a certain Sunday, in all the churches, and to order it to be +circulated for that purpose by the bishops. The latter took counsel with the +Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in disgrace; and they resolved that the +declaration should not be read, and that they would petition the King against +it. The Archbishop himself wrote out the petition, and six bishops went into +the King’s bedchamber the same night to present it, to his infinite +astonishment. Next day was the Sunday fixed for the reading, and it was only +read by two hundred clergymen out of ten thousand. The King resolved against +all advice to prosecute the bishops in the Court of King’s Bench, and +within three weeks they were summoned before the Privy Council, and committed +to the Tower. As the six bishops were taken to that dismal place, by water, the +people who were assembled in immense numbers fell upon their knees, and wept +for them, and prayed for them. When they got to the Tower, the officers and +soldiers on guard besought them for their blessing. While they were confined +there, the soldiers every day drank to their release with loud shouts. When +they were brought up to the Court of King’s Bench for their trial, which +the Attorney-General said was for the high offence of censuring the Government, +and giving their opinion about affairs of state, they were attended by similar +multitudes, and surrounded by a throng of noblemen and gentlemen. When the jury +went out at seven o’clock at night to consider of their verdict, +everybody (except the King) knew that they would rather starve than yield to +the King’s brewer, who was one of them, and wanted a verdict for his +customer. When they came into court next morning, after resisting the brewer +all night, and gave a verdict of not guilty, such a shout rose up in +Westminster Hall as it had never heard before; and it was passed on among the +people away to Temple Bar, and away again to the Tower. It did not pass only to +the east, but passed to the west too, until it reached the camp at Hounslow, +where the fifteen thousand soldiers took it up and echoed it. And still, when +the dull King, who was then with Lord Feversham, heard the mighty roar, asked +in alarm what it was, and was told that it was ‘nothing but the acquittal +of the bishops,’ he said, in his dogged way, ‘Call you that +nothing? It is so much the worse for them.’ +</p> + +<p> +Between the petition and the trial, the Queen had given birth to a son, which +Father Petre rather thought was owing to Saint Winifred. But I doubt if Saint +Winifred had much to do with it as the King’s friend, inasmuch as the +entirely new prospect of a Catholic successor (for both the King’s +daughters were Protestants) determined the <span class="smcap">Earls of +Shrewsbury</span>, <span class="smcap">Danby</span>, and <span +class="smcap">Devonshire</span>, <span class="smcap">Lord Lumley</span>, the +<span class="smcap">Bishop of London</span>, <span class="smcap">Admiral +Russell</span>, and <span class="smcap">Colonel Sidney</span>, to invite the +Prince of Orange over to England. The Royal Mole, seeing his danger at last, +made, in his fright, many great concessions, besides raising an army of forty +thousand men; but the Prince of Orange was not a man for James the Second to +cope with. His preparations were extraordinarily vigorous, and his mind was +resolved. +</p> + +<p> +For a fortnight after the Prince was ready to sail for England, a great wind +from the west prevented the departure of his fleet. Even when the wind lulled, +and it did sail, it was dispersed by a storm, and was obliged to put back to +refit. At last, on the first of November, one thousand six hundred and +eighty-eight, the Protestant east wind, as it was long called, began to blow; +and on the third, the people of Dover and the people of Calais saw a fleet +twenty miles long sailing gallantly by, between the two places. On Monday, the +fifth, it anchored at Torbay in Devonshire, and the Prince, with a splendid +retinue of officers and men, marched into Exeter. But the people in that +western part of the country had suffered so much in The Bloody Assize, that +they had lost heart. Few people joined him; and he began to think of returning, +and publishing the invitation he had received from those lords, as his +justification for having come at all. At this crisis, some of the gentry joined +him; the Royal army began to falter; an engagement was signed, by which all who +set their hand to it declared that they would support one another in defence of +the laws and liberties of the three Kingdoms, of the Protestant religion, and +of the Prince of Orange. From that time, the cause received no check; the +greatest towns in England began, one after another, to declare for the Prince; +and he knew that it was all safe with him when the University of Oxford offered +to melt down its plate, if he wanted any money. +</p> + +<p> +By this time the King was running about in a pitiable way, touching people for +the King’s evil in one place, reviewing his troops in another, and +bleeding from the nose in a third. The young Prince was sent to Portsmouth, +Father Petre went off like a shot to France, and there was a general and swift +dispersal of all the priests and friars. One after another, the King’s +most important officers and friends deserted him and went over to the Prince. +In the night, his daughter Anne fled from Whitehall Palace; and the Bishop of +London, who had once been a soldier, rode before her with a drawn sword in his +hand, and pistols at his saddle. ‘God help me,’ cried the miserable +King: ‘my very children have forsaken me!’ In his wildness, after +debating with such lords as were in London, whether he should or should not +call a Parliament, and after naming three of them to negotiate with the Prince, +he resolved to fly to France. He had the little Prince of Wales brought back +from Portsmouth; and the child and the Queen crossed the river to Lambeth in an +open boat, on a miserable wet night, and got safely away. This was on the night +of the ninth of December. +</p> + +<p> +At one o’clock on the morning of the eleventh, the King, who had, in the +meantime, received a letter from the Prince of Orange, stating his objects, got +out of bed, told <span class="smcap">Lord Northumberland</span> who lay in his +room not to open the door until the usual hour in the morning, and went down +the back stairs (the same, I suppose, by which the priest in the wig and gown +had come up to his brother) and crossed the river in a small boat: sinking the +great seal of England by the way. Horses having been provided, he rode, +accompanied by <span class="smcap">Sir Edward Hales</span>, to Feversham, where +he embarked in a Custom House Hoy. The master of this Hoy, wanting more +ballast, ran into the Isle of Sheppy to get it, where the fishermen and +smugglers crowded about the boat, and informed the King of their suspicions +that he was a ‘hatchet-faced Jesuit.’ As they took his money and +would not let him go, he told them who he was, and that the Prince of Orange +wanted to take his life; and he began to scream for a boat—and then to +cry, because he had lost a piece of wood on his ride which he called a fragment +of Our Saviour’s cross. He put himself into the hands of the Lord +Lieutenant of the county, and his detention was made known to the Prince of +Orange at Windsor—who, only wanting to get rid of him, and not caring +where he went, so that he went away, was very much disconcerted that they did +not let him go. However, there was nothing for it but to have him brought back, +with some state in the way of Life Guards, to Whitehall. And as soon as he got +there, in his infatuation, he heard mass, and set a Jesuit to say grace at his +public dinner. +</p> + +<p> +The people had been thrown into the strangest state of confusion by his flight, +and had taken it into their heads that the Irish part of the army were going to +murder the Protestants. Therefore, they set the bells a ringing, and lighted +watch-fires, and burned Catholic Chapels, and looked about in all directions +for Father Petre and the Jesuits, while the Pope’s ambassador was running +away in the dress of a footman. They found no Jesuits; but a man, who had once +been a frightened witness before Jeffreys in court, saw a swollen, drunken face +looking through a window down at Wapping, which he well remembered. The face +was in a sailor’s dress, but he knew it to be the face of that accursed +judge, and he seized him. The people, to their lasting honour, did not tear him +to pieces. After knocking him about a little, they took him, in the basest +agonies of terror, to the Lord Mayor, who sent him, at his own shrieking +petition, to the Tower for safety. There, he died. +</p> + +<p> +Their bewilderment continuing, the people now lighted bonfires and made +rejoicings, as if they had any reason to be glad to have the King back again. +But, his stay was very short, for the English guards were removed from +Whitehall, Dutch guards were marched up to it, and he was told by one of his +late ministers that the Prince would enter London, next day, and he had better +go to Ham. He said, Ham was a cold, damp place, and he would rather go to +Rochester. He thought himself very cunning in this, as he meant to escape from +Rochester to France. The Prince of Orange and his friends knew that, perfectly +well, and desired nothing more. So, he went to Gravesend, in his royal barge, +attended by certain lords, and watched by Dutch troops, and pitied by the +generous people, who were far more forgiving than he had ever been, when they +saw him in his humiliation. On the night of the twenty-third of December, not +even then understanding that everybody wanted to get rid of him, he went out, +absurdly, through his Rochester garden, down to the Medway, and got away to +France, where he rejoined the Queen. +</p> + +<p> +There had been a council in his absence, of the lords, and the authorities of +London. When the Prince came, on the day after the King’s departure, he +summoned the Lords to meet him, and soon afterwards, all those who had served +in any of the Parliaments of King Charles the Second. It was finally resolved +by these authorities that the throne was vacant by the conduct of King James +the Second; that it was inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this +Protestant kingdom, to be governed by a Popish prince; that the Prince and +Princess of Orange should be King and Queen during their lives and the life of +the survivor of them; and that their children should succeed them, if they had +any. That if they had none, the Princess Anne and her children should succeed; +that if she had none, the heirs of the Prince of Orange should succeed. +</p> + +<p> +On the thirteenth of January, one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine, the +Prince and Princess, sitting on a throne in Whitehall, bound themselves to +these conditions. The Protestant religion was established in England, and +England’s great and glorious Revolution was complete. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap37"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2> + +<p> +I have now arrived at the close of my little history. The events which +succeeded the famous Revolution of one thousand six hundred and eighty-eight, +would neither be easily related nor easily understood in such a book as this. +</p> + +<p> +William and Mary reigned together, five years. After the death of his good +wife, William occupied the throne, alone, for seven years longer. During his +reign, on the sixteenth of September, one thousand seven hundred and one, the +poor weak creature who had once been James the Second of England, died in +France. In the meantime he had done his utmost (which was not much) to cause +William to be assassinated, and to regain his lost dominions. James’s son +was declared, by the French King, the rightful King of England; and was called +in France <span class="smcap">The Chevalier Saint George</span>, and in England +<span class="smcap">The Pretender</span>. Some infatuated people in England, +and particularly in Scotland, took up the Pretender’s cause from time to +time—as if the country had not had Stuarts enough!—and many lives +were sacrificed, and much misery was occasioned. King William died on Sunday, +the seventh of March, one thousand seven hundred and two, of the consequences +of an accident occasioned by his horse stumbling with him. He was always a +brave, patriotic Prince, and a man of remarkable abilities. His manner was +cold, and he made but few friends; but he had truly loved his queen. When he +was dead, a lock of her hair, in a ring, was found tied with a black ribbon +round his left arm. +</p> + +<p> +He was succeeded by the <span class="smcap">Princess Anne</span>, a popular +Queen, who reigned twelve years. In her reign, in the month of May, one +thousand seven hundred and seven, the Union between England and Scotland was +effected, and the two countries were incorporated under the name of <span +class="smcap">Great Britain</span>. Then, from the year one thousand seven +hundred and fourteen to the year one thousand, eight hundred and thirty, +reigned the four <span class="smcap">Georges</span>. +</p> + +<p> +It was in the reign of George the Second, one thousand seven hundred and +forty-five, that the Pretender did his last mischief, and made his last +appearance. Being an old man by that time, he and the Jacobites—as his +friends were called—put forward his son, <span class="smcap">Charles +Edward</span>, known as the young Chevalier. The Highlanders of Scotland, an +extremely troublesome and wrong-headed race on the subject of the Stuarts, +espoused his cause, and he joined them, and there was a Scottish rebellion to +make him king, in which many gallant and devoted gentlemen lost their lives. It +was a hard matter for Charles Edward to escape abroad again, with a high price +on his head; but the Scottish people were extraordinarily faithful to him, and, +after undergoing many romantic adventures, not unlike those of Charles the +Second, he escaped to France. A number of charming stories and delightful songs +arose out of the Jacobite feelings, and belong to the Jacobite times. Otherwise +I think the Stuarts were a public nuisance altogether. +</p> + +<p> +It was in the reign of George the Third that England lost North America, by +persisting in taxing her without her own consent. That immense country, made +independent under <span class="smcap">Washington</span>, and left to itself, +became the United States; one of the greatest nations of the earth. In these +times in which I write, it is honourably remarkable for protecting its +subjects, wherever they may travel, with a dignity and a determination which is +a model for England. Between you and me, England has rather lost ground in this +respect since the days of Oliver Cromwell. +</p> + +<p> +The Union of Great Britain with Ireland—which had been getting on very +ill by itself—took place in the reign of George the Third, on the second +of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">William the Fourth</span> succeeded George the Fourth, in +the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty, and reigned seven years. <span +class="smcap">Queen Victoria</span>, his niece, the only child of the Duke of +Kent, the fourth son of George the Third, came to the throne on the twentieth +of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven. She was married to <span +class="smcap">Prince Albert</span> of Saxe Gotha on the tenth of February, one +thousand eight hundred and forty. She is very good, and much beloved. So I end, +like the crier, with +</p> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">God Save the Queen</span>! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b8c064 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #699 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/699) diff --git a/old/699.txt b/old/699.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a246e52 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/699.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14923 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Child's History of England, by Charles +Dickens, Illustrated by F. H. Townsend + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Child's History of England + + +Author: Charles Dickens + + + +Release Date: May 6, 2007 [eBook #699] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND*** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1905 Chapman & Hall "Works of Charles Dickens" +edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND + + +By CHARLES DICKENS + +With Illustrations by F. H. Townsend and others + +LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LD. +NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS +1905 + + + + +CHAPTER I--ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + + +If you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper +corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the sea. They are +England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and Scotland form the greater +part of these Islands. Ireland is the next in size. The little +neighbouring islands, which are so small upon the Map as to be mere dots, +are chiefly little bits of Scotland,--broken off, I dare say, in the +course of a great length of time, by the power of the restless water. + +In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was born on +earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the same place, +and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars now. But the sea +was not alive, then, with great ships and brave sailors, sailing to and +from all parts of the world. It was very lonely. The Islands lay +solitary, in the great expanse of water. The foaming waves dashed +against their cliffs, and the bleak winds blew over their forests; but +the winds and waves brought no adventurers to land upon the Islands, and +the savage Islanders knew nothing of the rest of the world, and the rest +of the world knew nothing of them. + +It is supposed that the Phoenicians, who were an ancient people, famous +for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and found that +they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as you know, and +both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast. The most celebrated +tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the sea. One of them, which I +have seen, is so close to it that it is hollowed out underneath the +ocean; and the miners say, that in stormy weather, when they are at work +down in that deep place, they can hear the noise of the waves thundering +above their heads. So, the Phoenicians, coasting about the Islands, +would come, without much difficulty, to where the tin and lead were. + +The Phoenicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and gave the +Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The Islanders were, at +first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only dressed in the rough +skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as other savages do, with +coloured earths and the juices of plants. But the Phoenicians, sailing +over to the opposite coasts of France and Belgium, and saying to the +people there, 'We have been to those white cliffs across the water, which +you can see in fine weather, and from that country, which is called +BRITAIN, we bring this tin and lead,' tempted some of the French and +Belgians to come over also. These people settled themselves on the south +coast of England, which is now called Kent; and, although they were a +rough people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful arts, and +improved that part of the Islands. It is probable that other people came +over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there. + +Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the Islanders, +and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; almost savage, +still, especially in the interior of the country away from the sea where +the foreign settlers seldom went; but hardy, brave, and strong. + +The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The greater part +of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads, no bridges, no +streets, no houses that you would think deserving of the name. A town +was nothing but a collection of straw-covered huts, hidden in a thick +wood, with a ditch all round, and a low wall, made of mud, or the trunks +of trees placed one upon another. The people planted little or no corn, +but lived upon the flesh of their flocks and cattle. They made no coins, +but used metal rings for money. They were clever in basket-work, as +savage people often are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth, and +some very bad earthenware. But in building fortresses they were much +more clever. + +They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, but +seldom, if ever, ventured far from the shore. They made swords, of +copper mixed with tin; but, these swords were of an awkward shape, and so +soft that a heavy blow would bend one. They made light shields, short +pointed daggers, and spears--which they jerked back after they had thrown +them at an enemy, by a long strip of leather fastened to the stem. The +butt-end was a rattle, to frighten an enemy's horse. The ancient +Britons, being divided into as many as thirty or forty tribes, each +commanded by its own little king, were constantly fighting with one +another, as savage people usually do; and they always fought with these +weapons. + +They were very fond of horses. The standard of Kent was the picture of a +white horse. They could break them in and manage them wonderfully well. +Indeed, the horses (of which they had an abundance, though they were +rather small) were so well taught in those days, that they can scarcely +be said to have improved since; though the men are so much wiser. They +understood, and obeyed, every word of command; and would stand still by +themselves, in all the din and noise of battle, while their masters went +to fight on foot. The Britons could not have succeeded in their most +remarkable art, without the aid of these sensible and trusty animals. The +art I mean, is the construction and management of war-chariots or cars, +for which they have ever been celebrated in history. Each of the best +sort of these chariots, not quite breast high in front, and open at the +back, contained one man to drive, and two or three others to fight--all +standing up. The horses who drew them were so well trained, that they +would tear, at full gallop, over the most stony ways, and even through +the woods; dashing down their masters' enemies beneath their hoofs, and +cutting them to pieces with the blades of swords, or scythes, which were +fastened to the wheels, and stretched out beyond the car on each side, +for that cruel purpose. In a moment, while at full speed, the horses +would stop, at the driver's command. The men within would leap out, deal +blows about them with their swords like hail, leap on the horses, on the +pole, spring back into the chariots anyhow; and, as soon as they were +safe, the horses tore away again. + +The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the Religion of +the Druids. It seems to have been brought over, in very early times +indeed, from the opposite country of France, anciently called Gaul, and +to have mixed up the worship of the Serpent, and of the Sun and Moon, +with the worship of some of the Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Most of its +ceremonies were kept secret by the priests, the Druids, who pretended to +be enchanters, and who carried magicians' wands, and wore, each of them, +about his neck, what he told the ignorant people was a Serpent's egg in a +golden case. But it is certain that the Druidical ceremonies included +the sacrifice of human victims, the torture of some suspected criminals, +and, on particular occasions, even the burning alive, in immense wicker +cages, of a number of men and animals together. The Druid Priests had +some kind of veneration for the Oak, and for the mistletoe--the same +plant that we hang up in houses at Christmas Time now--when its white +berries grew upon the Oak. They met together in dark woods, which they +called Sacred Groves; and there they instructed, in their mysterious +arts, young men who came to them as pupils, and who sometimes stayed with +them as long as twenty years. + +These Druids built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, fragments +of some of which are yet remaining. Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, in +Wiltshire, is the most extraordinary of these. Three curious stones, +called Kits Coty House, on Bluebell Hill, near Maidstone, in Kent, form +another. We know, from examination of the great blocks of which such +buildings are made, that they could not have been raised without the aid +of some ingenious machines, which are common now, but which the ancient +Britons certainly did not use in making their own uncomfortable houses. I +should not wonder if the Druids, and their pupils who stayed with them +twenty years, knowing more than the rest of the Britons, kept the people +out of sight while they made these buildings, and then pretended that +they built them by magic. Perhaps they had a hand in the fortresses too; +at all events, as they were very powerful, and very much believed in, and +as they made and executed the laws, and paid no taxes, I don't wonder +that they liked their trade. And, as they persuaded the people the more +Druids there were, the better off the people would be, I don't wonder +that there were a good many of them. But it is pleasant to think that +there are no Druids, _now_, who go on in that way, and pretend to carry +Enchanters' Wands and Serpents' Eggs--and of course there is nothing of +the kind, anywhere. + +Such was the improved condition of the ancient Britons, fifty-five years +before the birth of Our Saviour, when the Romans, under their great +General, Julius Caesar, were masters of all the rest of the known world. +Julius Caesar had then just conquered Gaul; and hearing, in Gaul, a good +deal about the opposite Island with the white cliffs, and about the +bravery of the Britons who inhabited it--some of whom had been fetched +over to help the Gauls in the war against him--he resolved, as he was so +near, to come and conquer Britain next. + +So, Julius Caesar came sailing over to this Island of ours, with eighty +vessels and twelve thousand men. And he came from the French coast +between Calais and Boulogne, 'because thence was the shortest passage +into Britain;' just for the same reason as our steam-boats now take the +same track, every day. He expected to conquer Britain easily: but it was +not such easy work as he supposed--for the bold Britons fought most +bravely; and, what with not having his horse-soldiers with him (for they +had been driven back by a storm), and what with having some of his +vessels dashed to pieces by a high tide after they were drawn ashore, he +ran great risk of being totally defeated. However, for once that the +bold Britons beat him, he beat them twice; though not so soundly but that +he was very glad to accept their proposals of peace, and go away. + +But, in the spring of the next year, he came back; this time, with eight +hundred vessels and thirty thousand men. The British tribes chose, as +their general-in-chief, a Briton, whom the Romans in their Latin language +called CASSIVELLAUNUS, but whose British name is supposed to have been +CASWALLON. A brave general he was, and well he and his soldiers fought +the Roman army! So well, that whenever in that war the Roman soldiers +saw a great cloud of dust, and heard the rattle of the rapid British +chariots, they trembled in their hearts. Besides a number of smaller +battles, there was a battle fought near Canterbury, in Kent; there was a +battle fought near Chertsey, in Surrey; there was a battle fought near a +marshy little town in a wood, the capital of that part of Britain which +belonged to CASSIVELLAUNUS, and which was probably near what is now Saint +Albans, in Hertfordshire. However, brave CASSIVELLAUNUS had the worst of +it, on the whole; though he and his men always fought like lions. As the +other British chiefs were jealous of him, and were always quarrelling +with him, and with one another, he gave up, and proposed peace. Julius +Caesar was very glad to grant peace easily, and to go away again with all +his remaining ships and men. He had expected to find pearls in Britain, +and he may have found a few for anything I know; but, at all events, he +found delicious oysters, and I am sure he found tough Britons--of whom, I +dare say, he made the same complaint as Napoleon Bonaparte the great +French General did, eighteen hundred years afterwards, when he said they +were such unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they were +beaten. They never _did_ know, I believe, and never will. + +Nearly a hundred years passed on, and all that time, there was peace in +Britain. The Britons improved their towns and mode of life: became more +civilised, travelled, and learnt a great deal from the Gauls and Romans. +At last, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, sent AULUS PLAUTIUS, a skilful +general, with a mighty force, to subdue the Island, and shortly +afterwards arrived himself. They did little; and OSTORIUS SCAPULA, +another general, came. Some of the British Chiefs of Tribes submitted. +Others resolved to fight to the death. Of these brave men, the bravest +was CARACTACUS, or CARADOC, who gave battle to the Romans, with his army, +among the mountains of North Wales. 'This day,' said he to his soldiers, +'decides the fate of Britain! Your liberty, or your eternal slavery, +dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who drove the great +Caesar himself across the sea!' On hearing these words, his men, with a +great shout, rushed upon the Romans. But the strong Roman swords and +armour were too much for the weaker British weapons in close conflict. +The Britons lost the day. The wife and daughter of the brave CARACTACUS +were taken prisoners; his brothers delivered themselves up; he himself +was betrayed into the hands of the Romans by his false and base +stepmother: and they carried him, and all his family, in triumph to Rome. + +But a great man will be great in misfortune, great in prison, great in +chains. His noble air, and dignified endurance of distress, so touched +the Roman people who thronged the streets to see him, that he and his +family were restored to freedom. No one knows whether his great heart +broke, and he died in Rome, or whether he ever returned to his own dear +country. English oaks have grown up from acorns, and withered away, when +they were hundreds of years old--and other oaks have sprung up in their +places, and died too, very aged--since the rest of the history of the +brave CARACTACUS was forgotten. + +Still, the Britons _would not_ yield. They rose again and again, and +died by thousands, sword in hand. They rose, on every possible occasion. +SUETONIUS, another Roman general, came, and stormed the Island of +Anglesey (then called MONA), which was supposed to be sacred, and he +burnt the Druids in their own wicker cages, by their own fires. But, +even while he was in Britain, with his victorious troops, the BRITONS +rose. Because BOADICEA, a British queen, the widow of the King of the +Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted the plundering of her property by +the Romans who were settled in England, she was scourged, by order of +CATUS a Roman officer; and her two daughters were shamefully insulted in +her presence, and her husband's relations were made slaves. To avenge +this injury, the Britons rose, with all their might and rage. They drove +CATUS into Gaul; they laid the Roman possessions waste; they forced the +Romans out of London, then a poor little town, but a trading place; they +hanged, burnt, crucified, and slew by the sword, seventy thousand Romans +in a few days. SUETONIUS strengthened his army, and advanced to give +them battle. They strengthened their army, and desperately attacked his, +on the field where it was strongly posted. Before the first charge of +the Britons was made, BOADICEA, in a war-chariot, with her fair hair +streaming in the wind, and her injured daughters lying at her feet, drove +among the troops, and cried to them for vengeance on their oppressors, +the licentious Romans. The Britons fought to the last; but they were +vanquished with great slaughter, and the unhappy queen took poison. + +Still, the spirit of the Britons was not broken. When SUETONIUS left the +country, they fell upon his troops, and retook the Island of Anglesey. +AGRICOLA came, fifteen or twenty years afterwards, and retook it once +more, and devoted seven years to subduing the country, especially that +part of it which is now called SCOTLAND; but, its people, the +Caledonians, resisted him at every inch of ground. They fought the +bloodiest battles with him; they killed their very wives and children, to +prevent his making prisoners of them; they fell, fighting, in such great +numbers that certain hills in Scotland are yet supposed to be vast heaps +of stones piled up above their graves. HADRIAN came, thirty years +afterwards, and still they resisted him. SEVERUS came, nearly a hundred +years afterwards, and they worried his great army like dogs, and rejoiced +to see them die, by thousands, in the bogs and swamps. CARACALLA, the +son and successor of SEVERUS, did the most to conquer them, for a time; +but not by force of arms. He knew how little that would do. He yielded +up a quantity of land to the Caledonians, and gave the Britons the same +privileges as the Romans possessed. There was peace, after this, for +seventy years. + +Then new enemies arose. They were the Saxons, a fierce, sea-faring +people from the countries to the North of the Rhine, the great river of +Germany on the banks of which the best grapes grow to make the German +wine. They began to come, in pirate ships, to the sea-coast of Gaul and +Britain, and to plunder them. They were repulsed by CARAUSIUS, a native +either of Belgium or of Britain, who was appointed by the Romans to the +command, and under whom the Britons first began to fight upon the sea. +But, after this time, they renewed their ravages. A few years more, and +the Scots (which was then the name for the people of Ireland), and the +Picts, a northern people, began to make frequent plundering incursions +into the South of Britain. All these attacks were repeated, at +intervals, during two hundred years, and through a long succession of +Roman Emperors and chiefs; during all which length of time, the Britons +rose against the Romans, over and over again. At last, in the days of +the Roman HONORIUS, when the Roman power all over the world was fast +declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at home, the Romans +abandoned all hope of conquering Britain, and went away. And still, at +last, as at first, the Britons rose against them, in their old brave +manner; for, a very little while before, they had turned away the Roman +magistrates, and declared themselves an independent people. + +Five hundred years had passed, since Julius Caesar's first invasion of +the Island, when the Romans departed from it for ever. In the course of +that time, although they had been the cause of terrible fighting and +bloodshed, they had done much to improve the condition of the Britons. +They had made great military roads; they had built forts; they had taught +them how to dress, and arm themselves, much better than they had ever +known how to do before; they had refined the whole British way of living. +AGRICOLA had built a great wall of earth, more than seventy miles long, +extending from Newcastle to beyond Carlisle, for the purpose of keeping +out the Picts and Scots; HADRIAN had strengthened it; SEVERUS, finding it +much in want of repair, had built it afresh of stone. + +Above all, it was in the Roman time, and by means of Roman ships, that +the Christian Religion was first brought into Britain, and its people +first taught the great lesson that, to be good in the sight of GOD, they +must love their neighbours as themselves, and do unto others as they +would be done by. The Druids declared that it was very wicked to believe +in any such thing, and cursed all the people who did believe it, very +heartily. But, when the people found that they were none the better for +the blessings of the Druids, and none the worse for the curses of the +Druids, but, that the sun shone and the rain fell without consulting the +Druids at all, they just began to think that the Druids were mere men, +and that it signified very little whether they cursed or blessed. After +which, the pupils of the Druids fell off greatly in numbers, and the +Druids took to other trades. + +Thus I have come to the end of the Roman time in England. It is but +little that is known of those five hundred years; but some remains of +them are still found. Often, when labourers are digging up the ground, +to make foundations for houses or churches, they light on rusty money +that once belonged to the Romans. Fragments of plates from which they +ate, of goblets from which they drank, and of pavement on which they +trod, are discovered among the earth that is broken by the plough, or the +dust that is crumbled by the gardener's spade. Wells that the Romans +sunk, still yield water; roads that the Romans made, form part of our +highways. In some old battle-fields, British spear-heads and Roman +armour have been found, mingled together in decay, as they fell in the +thick pressure of the fight. Traces of Roman camps overgrown with grass, +and of mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of Britons, are to be +seen in almost all parts of the country. Across the bleak moors of +Northumberland, the wall of SEVERUS, overrun with moss and weeds, still +stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their dogs lie sleeping +on it in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge yet stands: +a monument of the earlier time when the Roman name was unknown in +Britain, and when the Druids, with their best magic wands, could not have +written it in the sands of the wild sea-shore. + + + + +CHAPTER II--ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + + +The Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons began to +wish they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone, and the Britons +being much reduced in numbers by their long wars, the Picts and Scots +came pouring in, over the broken and unguarded wall of SEVERUS, in +swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and killed the people; and +came back so often for more booty and more slaughter, that the +unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. As if the Picts and Scots +were not bad enough on land, the Saxons attacked the islanders by sea; +and, as if something more were still wanting to make them miserable, they +quarrelled bitterly among themselves as to what prayers they ought to +say, and how they ought to say them. The priests, being very angry with +one another on these questions, cursed one another in the heartiest +manner; and (uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the people whom +they could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were very badly +off, you may believe. + +They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to Rome +entreating help--which they called the Groans of the Britons; and in +which they said, 'The barbarians chase us into the sea, the sea throws us +back upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard choice left us of +perishing by the sword, or perishing by the waves.' But, the Romans +could not help them, even if they were so inclined; for they had enough +to do to defend themselves against their own enemies, who were then very +fierce and strong. At last, the Britons, unable to bear their hard +condition any longer, resolved to make peace with the Saxons, and to +invite the Saxons to come into their country, and help them to keep out +the Picts and Scots. + +It was a British Prince named VORTIGERN who took this resolution, and who +made a treaty of friendship with HENGIST and HORSA, two Saxon chiefs. +Both of these names, in the old Saxon language, signify Horse; for the +Saxons, like many other nations in a rough state, were fond of giving men +the names of animals, as Horse, Wolf, Bear, Hound. The Indians of North +America,--a very inferior people to the Saxons, though--do the same to +this day. + +HENGIST and HORSA drove out the Picts and Scots; and VORTIGERN, being +grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to their settling +themselves in that part of England which is called the Isle of Thanet, or +to their inviting over more of their countrymen to join them. But +HENGIST had a beautiful daughter named ROWENA; and when, at a feast, she +filled a golden goblet to the brim with wine, and gave it to VORTIGERN, +saying in a sweet voice, 'Dear King, thy health!' the King fell in love +with her. My opinion is, that the cunning HENGIST meant him to do so, in +order that the Saxons might have greater influence with him; and that the +fair ROWENA came to that feast, golden goblet and all, on purpose. + +At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the King +was angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments, ROWENA +would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and softly say, 'Dear King, +they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you loved that Saxon girl +who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the feast!' And, really, I +don't see how the King could help himself. + +Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, VORTIGERN died--he was +dethroned, and put in prison, first, I am afraid; and ROWENA died; and +generations of Saxons and Britons died; and events that happened during a +long, long time, would have been quite forgotten but for the tales and +songs of the old Bards, who used to go about from feast to feast, with +their white beards, recounting the deeds of their forefathers. Among the +histories of which they sang and talked, there was a famous one, +concerning the bravery and virtues of KING ARTHUR, supposed to have been +a British Prince in those old times. But, whether such a person really +lived, or whether there were several persons whose histories came to be +confused together under that one name, or whether all about him was +invention, no one knows. + +I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early Saxon +times, as they are described in these songs and stories of the Bards. + +In, and long after, the days of VORTIGERN, fresh bodies of Saxons, under +various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body, conquering the +Britons in the East, and settling there, called their kingdom Essex; +another body settled in the West, and called their kingdom Wessex; the +Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established themselves in one place; the +Southfolk, or Suffolk people, established themselves in another; and +gradually seven kingdoms or states arose in England, which were called +the Saxon Heptarchy. The poor Britons, falling back before these crowds +of fighting men whom they had innocently invited over as friends, retired +into Wales and the adjacent country; into Devonshire, and into Cornwall. +Those parts of England long remained unconquered. And in Cornwall +now--where the sea-coast is very gloomy, steep, and rugged--where, in the +dark winter-time, ships have often been wrecked close to the land, and +every soul on board has perished--where the winds and waves howl drearily +and split the solid rocks into arches and caverns--there are very ancient +ruins, which the people call the ruins of KING ARTHUR'S Castle. + +Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the +Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered over +the Britons too much, to care for what _they_ said about their religion, +or anything else) by AUGUSTINE, a monk from Rome. KING ETHELBERT, of +Kent, was soon converted; and the moment he said he was a Christian, his +courtiers all said _they_ were Christians; after which, ten thousand of +his subjects said they were Christians too. AUGUSTINE built a little +church, close to this King's palace, on the ground now occupied by the +beautiful cathedral of Canterbury. SEBERT, the King's nephew, built on a +muddy marshy place near London, where there had been a temple to Apollo, +a church dedicated to Saint Peter, which is now Westminster Abbey. And, +in London itself, on the foundation of a temple to Diana, he built +another little church which has risen up, since that old time, to be +Saint Paul's. + +After the death of ETHELBERT, EDWIN, King of Northumbria, who was such a +good king that it was said a woman or child might openly carry a purse of +gold, in his reign, without fear, allowed his child to be baptised, and +held a great council to consider whether he and his people should all be +Christians or not. It was decided that they should be. COIFI, the chief +priest of the old religion, made a great speech on the occasion. In this +discourse, he told the people that he had found out the old gods to be +impostors. 'I am quite satisfied of it,' he said. 'Look at me! I have +been serving them all my life, and they have done nothing for me; +whereas, if they had been really powerful, they could not have decently +done less, in return for all I have done for them, than make my fortune. +As they have never made my fortune, I am quite convinced they are +impostors!' When this singular priest had finished speaking, he hastily +armed himself with sword and lance, mounted a war-horse, rode at a +furious gallop in sight of all the people to the temple, and flung his +lance against it as an insult. From that time, the Christian religion +spread itself among the Saxons, and became their faith. + +The next very famous prince was EGBERT. He lived about a hundred and +fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right to the throne +of Wessex than BEORTRIC, another Saxon prince who was at the head of that +kingdom, and who married EDBURGA, the daughter of OFFA, king of another +of the seven kingdoms. This QUEEN EDBURGA was a handsome murderess, who +poisoned people when they offended her. One day, she mixed a cup of +poison for a certain noble belonging to the court; but her husband drank +of it too, by mistake, and died. Upon this, the people revolted, in +great crowds; and running to the palace, and thundering at the gates, +cried, 'Down with the wicked queen, who poisons men!' They drove her out +of the country, and abolished the title she had disgraced. When years +had passed away, some travellers came home from Italy, and said that in +the town of Pavia they had seen a ragged beggar-woman, who had once been +handsome, but was then shrivelled, bent, and yellow, wandering about the +streets, crying for bread; and that this beggar-woman was the poisoning +English queen. It was, indeed, EDBURGA; and so she died, without a +shelter for her wretched head. + +EGBERT, not considering himself safe in England, in consequence of his +having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival might take +him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the court of +CHARLEMAGNE, King of France. On the death of BEORTRIC, so unhappily +poisoned by mistake, EGBERT came back to Britain; succeeded to the throne +of Wessex; conquered some of the other monarchs of the seven kingdoms; +added their territories to his own; and, for the first time, called the +country over which he ruled, ENGLAND. + +And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England +sorely. These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway, whom +the English called the Danes. They were a warlike people, quite at home +upon the sea; not Christians; very daring and cruel. They came over in +ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they landed. Once, they beat +EGBERT in battle. Once, EGBERT beat them. But, they cared no more for +being beaten than the English themselves. In the four following short +reigns, of ETHELWULF, and his sons, ETHELBALD, ETHELBERT, and ETHELRED, +they came back, over and over again, burning and plundering, and laying +England waste. In the last-mentioned reign, they seized EDMUND, King of +East England, and bound him to a tree. Then, they proposed to him that +he should change his religion; but he, being a good Christian, steadily +refused. Upon that, they beat him, made cowardly jests upon him, all +defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, and, finally, struck off his +head. It is impossible to say whose head they might have struck off +next, but for the death of KING ETHELRED from a wound he had received in +fighting against them, and the succession to his throne of the best and +wisest king that ever lived in England. + + + + +CHAPTER III--ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + + +Alfred the Great was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age, when he +became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to Rome, where +the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeys which they +supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed for some time in +Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for, then, that at twelve +years old he had not been taught to read; although, of the sons of KING +ETHELWULF, he, the youngest, was the favourite. But he had--as most men +who grow up to be great and good are generally found to have had--an +excellent mother; and, one day, this lady, whose name was OSBURGA, +happened, as she was sitting among her sons, to read a book of Saxon +poetry. The art of printing was not known until long and long after that +period, and the book, which was written, was what is called +'illuminated,' with beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The +brothers admiring it very much, their mother said, 'I will give it to +that one of you four princes who first learns to read.' ALFRED sought +out a tutor that very day, applied himself to learn with great diligence, +and soon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life. + +This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine battles with +the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by which the false Danes +swore they would quit the country. They pretended to consider that they +had taken a very solemn oath, in swearing this upon the holy bracelets +that they wore, and which were always buried with them when they died; +but they cared little for it, for they thought nothing of breaking oaths +and treaties too, as soon as it suited their purpose, and coming back +again to fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal winter, in the +fourth year of KING ALFRED'S reign, they spread themselves in great +numbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed and routed the King's +soldiers that the King was left alone, and was obliged to disguise +himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in the cottage of one of +his cowherds who did not know his face. + +Here, KING ALFRED, while the Danes sought him far and near, was left +alone one day, by the cowherd's wife, to watch some cakes which she put +to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his bow and arrows, +with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when a brighter time should +come, and thinking deeply of his poor unhappy subjects whom the Danes +chased through the land, his noble mind forgot the cakes, and they were +burnt. 'What!' said the cowherd's wife, who scolded him well when she +came back, and little thought she was scolding the King, 'you will be +ready enough to eat them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch them, idle +dog?' + +At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes who +landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their flag; on +which was represented the likeness of a Raven--a very fit bird for a +thievish army like that, I think. The loss of their standard troubled +the Danes greatly, for they believed it to be enchanted--woven by the +three daughters of one father in a single afternoon--and they had a story +among themselves that when they were victorious in battle, the Raven +stretched his wings and seemed to fly; and that when they were defeated, +he would droop. He had good reason to droop, now, if he could have done +anything half so sensible; for, KING ALFRED joined the Devonshire men; +made a camp with them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a bog in +Somersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for vengeance on the +Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people. + +But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those pestilent +Danes were, and how they were fortified, KING ALFRED, being a good +musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, and went, with his +harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in the very tent of GUTHRUM +the Danish leader, and entertained the Danes as they caroused. While he +seemed to think of nothing but his music, he was watchful of their tents, +their arms, their discipline, everything that he desired to know. And +right soon did this great king entertain them to a different tune; for, +summoning all his true followers to meet him at an appointed place, where +they received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the monarch whom many +of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at their head, +marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with great slaughter, and +besieged them for fourteen days to prevent their escape. But, being as +merciful as he was good and brave, he then, instead of killing them, +proposed peace: on condition that they should altogether depart from that +Western part of England, and settle in the East; and that GUTHRUM should +become a Christian, in remembrance of the Divine religion which now +taught his conqueror, the noble ALFRED, to forgive the enemy who had so +often injured him. This, GUTHRUM did. At his baptism, KING ALFRED was +his godfather. And GUTHRUM was an honourable chief who well deserved +that clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to the +king. The Danes under him were faithful too. They plundered and burned +no more, but worked like honest men. They ploughed, and sowed, and +reaped, and led good honest English lives. And I hope the children of +those Danes played, many a time, with Saxon children in the sunny fields; +and that Danish young men fell in love with Saxon girls, and married +them; and that English travellers, benighted at the doors of Danish +cottages, often went in for shelter until morning; and that Danes and +Saxons sat by the red fire, friends, talking of KING ALFRED THE GREAT. + +All the Danes were not like these under GUTHRUM; for, after some years, +more of them came over, in the old plundering and burning way--among them +a fierce pirate of the name of HASTINGS, who had the boldness to sail up +the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships. For three years, there was a +war with these Danes; and there was a famine in the country, too, and a +plague, both upon human creatures and beasts. But KING ALFRED, whose +mighty heart never failed him, built large ships nevertheless, with which +to pursue the pirates on the sea; and he encouraged his soldiers, by his +brave example, to fight valiantly against them on the shore. At last, he +drove them all away; and then there was repose in England. + +As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, KING ALFRED +never rested from his labours to improve his people. He loved to talk +with clever men, and with travellers from foreign countries, and to write +down what they told him, for his people to read. He had studied Latin +after learning to read English, and now another of his labours was, to +translate Latin books into the English-Saxon tongue, that his people +might be interested, and improved by their contents. He made just laws, +that they might live more happily and freely; he turned away all partial +judges, that no wrong might be done them; he was so careful of their +property, and punished robbers so severely, that it was a common thing to +say that under the great KING ALFRED, garlands of golden chains and +jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man would have touched +one. He founded schools; he patiently heard causes himself in his Court +of Justice; the great desires of his heart were, to do right to all his +subjects, and to leave England better, wiser, happier in all ways, than +he found it. His industry in these efforts was quite astonishing. Every +day he divided into certain portions, and in each portion devoted himself +to a certain pursuit. That he might divide his time exactly, he had wax +torches or candles made, which were all of the same size, were notched +across at regular distances, and were always kept burning. Thus, as the +candles burnt down, he divided the day into notches, almost as accurately +as we now divide it into hours upon the clock. But when the candles were +first invented, it was found that the wind and draughts of air, blowing +into the palace through the doors and windows, and through the chinks in +the walls, caused them to gutter and burn unequally. To prevent this, +the King had them put into cases formed of wood and white horn. And +these were the first lanthorns ever made in England. + +All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, which +caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could relieve. He bore +it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life, like a brave good man, +until he was fifty-three years old; and then, having reigned thirty +years, he died. He died in the year nine hundred and one; but, long ago +as that is, his fame, and the love and gratitude with which his subjects +regarded him, are freshly remembered to the present hour. + +In the next reign, which was the reign of EDWARD, surnamed THE ELDER, who +was chosen in council to succeed, a nephew of KING ALFRED troubled the +country by trying to obtain the throne. The Danes in the East of England +took part with this usurper (perhaps because they had honoured his uncle +so much, and honoured him for his uncle's sake), and there was hard +fighting; but, the King, with the assistance of his sister, gained the +day, and reigned in peace for four and twenty years. He gradually +extended his power over the whole of England, and so the Seven Kingdoms +were united into one. + +When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king, the +Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred and fifty +years. Great changes had taken place in its customs during that time. +The Saxons were still greedy eaters and great drinkers, and their feasts +were often of a noisy and drunken kind; but many new comforts and even +elegances had become known, and were fast increasing. Hangings for the +walls of rooms, where, in these modern days, we paste up paper, are known +to have been sometimes made of silk, ornamented with birds and flowers in +needlework. Tables and chairs were curiously carved in different woods; +were sometimes decorated with gold or silver; sometimes even made of +those precious metals. Knives and spoons were used at table; golden +ornaments were worn--with silk and cloth, and golden tissues and +embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, brass and bone. There +were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads, musical instruments. A harp +was passed round, at a feast, like the drinking-bowl, from guest to +guest; and each one usually sang or played when his turn came. The +weapons of the Saxons were stoutly made, and among them was a terrible +iron hammer that gave deadly blows, and was long remembered. The Saxons +themselves were a handsome people. The men were proud of their long fair +hair, parted on the forehead; their ample beards, their fresh +complexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the Saxon women filled all +England with a new delight and grace. + +I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now, +because under the GREAT ALFRED, all the best points of the English-Saxon +character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. It has been the +greatest character among the nations of the earth. Wherever the +descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, or otherwise made +their way, even to the remotest regions of the world, they have been +patient, persevering, never to be broken in spirit, never to be turned +aside from enterprises on which they have resolved. In Europe, Asia, +Africa, America, the whole world over; in the desert, in the forest, on +the sea; scorched by a burning sun, or frozen by ice that never melts; +the Saxon blood remains unchanged. Wheresoever that race goes, there, +law, and industry, and safety for life and property, and all the great +results of steady perseverance, are certain to arise. + +I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in his single +person, possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortune could not +subdue, whom prosperity could not spoil, whose perseverance nothing could +shake. Who was hopeful in defeat, and generous in success. Who loved +justice, freedom, truth, and knowledge. Who, in his care to instruct his +people, probably did more to preserve the beautiful old Saxon language, +than I can imagine. Without whom, the English tongue in which I tell +this story might have wanted half its meaning. As it is said that his +spirit still inspires some of our best English laws, so, let you and I +pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least to this--to +resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in ignorance, that +we will do our best, while life is in us, to have them taught; and to +tell those rulers whose duty it is to teach them, and who neglect their +duty, that they have profited very little by all the years that have +rolled away since the year nine hundred and one, and that they are far +behind the bright example of KING ALFRED THE GREAT. + + + + +CHAPTER IV--ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + + +Athelstan, the son of Edward the Elder, succeeded that king. He reigned +only fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his grandfather, the +great Alfred, and governed England well. He reduced the turbulent people +of Wales, and obliged them to pay him a tribute in money, and in cattle, +and to send him their best hawks and hounds. He was victorious over the +Cornish men, who were not yet quite under the Saxon government. He +restored such of the old laws as were good, and had fallen into disuse; +made some wise new laws, and took care of the poor and weak. A strong +alliance, made against him by ANLAF a Danish prince, CONSTANTINE King of +the Scots, and the people of North Wales, he broke and defeated in one +great battle, long famous for the vast numbers slain in it. After that, +he had a quiet reign; the lords and ladies about him had leisure to +become polite and agreeable; and foreign princes were glad (as they have +sometimes been since) to come to England on visits to the English court. + +When Athelstan died, at forty-seven years old, his brother EDMUND, who +was only eighteen, became king. He was the first of six boy-kings, as +you will presently know. + +They called him the Magnificent, because he showed a taste for +improvement and refinement. But he was beset by the Danes, and had a +short and troubled reign, which came to a troubled end. One night, when +he was feasting in his hall, and had eaten much and drunk deep, he saw, +among the company, a noted robber named LEOF, who had been banished from +England. Made very angry by the boldness of this man, the King turned to +his cup-bearer, and said, 'There is a robber sitting at the table yonder, +who, for his crimes, is an outlaw in the land--a hunted wolf, whose life +any man may take, at any time. Command that robber to depart!' 'I will +not depart!' said Leof. 'No?' cried the King. 'No, by the Lord!' said +Leof. Upon that the King rose from his seat, and, making passionately at +the robber, and seizing him by his long hair, tried to throw him down. +But the robber had a dagger underneath his cloak, and, in the scuffle, +stabbed the King to death. That done, he set his back against the wall, +and fought so desperately, that although he was soon cut to pieces by the +King's armed men, and the wall and pavement were splashed with his blood, +yet it was not before he had killed and wounded many of them. You may +imagine what rough lives the kings of those times led, when one of them +could struggle, half drunk, with a public robber in his own dining-hall, +and be stabbed in presence of the company who ate and drank with him. + +Then succeeded the boy-king EDRED, who was weak and sickly in body, but +of a strong mind. And his armies fought the Northmen, the Danes, and +Norwegians, or the Sea-Kings, as they were called, and beat them for the +time. And, in nine years, Edred died, and passed away. + +Then came the boy-king EDWY, fifteen years of age; but the real king, who +had the real power, was a monk named DUNSTAN--a clever priest, a little +mad, and not a little proud and cruel. + +Dunstan was then Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, whither the body of King +Edmund the Magnificent was carried, to be buried. While yet a boy, he +had got out of his bed one night (being then in a fever), and walked +about Glastonbury Church when it was under repair; and, because he did +not tumble off some scaffolds that were there, and break his neck, it was +reported that he had been shown over the building by an angel. He had +also made a harp that was said to play of itself--which it very likely +did, as AEolian Harps, which are played by the wind, and are understood +now, always do. For these wonders he had been once denounced by his +enemies, who were jealous of his favour with the late King Athelstan, as +a magician; and he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, and thrown into +a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal of trouble +yet. + +The priests of those days were, generally, the only scholars. They were +learned in many things. Having to make their own convents and +monasteries on uncultivated grounds that were granted to them by the +Crown, it was necessary that they should be good farmers and good +gardeners, or their lands would have been too poor to support them. For +the decoration of the chapels where they prayed, and for the comfort of +the refectories where they ate and drank, it was necessary that there +should be good carpenters, good smiths, good painters, among them. For +their greater safety in sickness and accident, living alone by themselves +in solitary places, it was necessary that they should study the virtues +of plants and herbs, and should know how to dress cuts, burns, scalds, +and bruises, and how to set broken limbs. Accordingly, they taught +themselves, and one another, a great variety of useful arts; and became +skilful in agriculture, medicine, surgery, and handicraft. And when they +wanted the aid of any little piece of machinery, which would be simple +enough now, but was marvellous then, to impose a trick upon the poor +peasants, they knew very well how to make it; and _did_ make it many a +time and often, I have no doubt. + +Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was one of the most sagacious of +these monks. He was an ingenious smith, and worked at a forge in a +little cell. This cell was made too short to admit of his lying at full +length when he went to sleep--as if _that_ did any good to anybody!--and +he used to tell the most extraordinary lies about demons and spirits, +who, he said, came there to persecute him. For instance, he related that +one day when he was at work, the devil looked in at the little window, +and tried to tempt him to lead a life of idle pleasure; whereupon, having +his pincers in the fire, red hot, he seized the devil by the nose, and +put him to such pain, that his bellowings were heard for miles and miles. +Some people are inclined to think this nonsense a part of Dunstan's +madness (for his head never quite recovered the fever), but I think not. +I observe that it induced the ignorant people to consider him a holy man, +and that it made him very powerful. Which was exactly what he always +wanted. + +On the day of the coronation of the handsome boy-king Edwy, it was +remarked by ODO, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was a Dane by birth), that +the King quietly left the coronation feast, while all the company were +there. Odo, much displeased, sent his friend Dunstan to seek him. +Dunstan finding him in the company of his beautiful young wife ELGIVA, +and her mother ETHELGIVA, a good and virtuous lady, not only grossly +abused them, but dragged the young King back into the feasting-hall by +force. Some, again, think Dunstan did this because the young King's fair +wife was his own cousin, and the monks objected to people marrying their +own cousins; but I believe he did it, because he was an imperious, +audacious, ill-conditioned priest, who, having loved a young lady himself +before he became a sour monk, hated all love now, and everything +belonging to it. + +The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. Dunstan had +been Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan with having +taken some of the last king's money. The Glastonbury Abbot fled to +Belgium (very narrowly escaping some pursuers who were sent to put out +his eyes, as you will wish they had, when you read what follows), and his +abbey was given to priests who were married; whom he always, both before +and afterwards, opposed. But he quickly conspired with his friend, Odo +the Dane, to set up the King's young brother, EDGAR, as his rival for the +throne; and, not content with this revenge, he caused the beautiful queen +Elgiva, though a lovely girl of only seventeen or eighteen, to be stolen +from one of the Royal Palaces, branded in the cheek with a red-hot iron, +and sold into slavery in Ireland. But the Irish people pitied and +befriended her; and they said, 'Let us restore the girl-queen to the boy- +king, and make the young lovers happy!' and they cured her of her cruel +wound, and sent her home as beautiful as before. But the villain +Dunstan, and that other villain, Odo, caused her to be waylaid at +Gloucester as she was joyfully hurrying to join her husband, and to be +hacked and hewn with swords, and to be barbarously maimed and lamed, and +left to die. When Edwy the Fair (his people called him so, because he +was so young and handsome) heard of her dreadful fate, he died of a +broken heart; and so the pitiful story of the poor young wife and husband +ends! Ah! Better to be two cottagers in these better times, than king +and queen of England in those bad days, though never so fair! + +Then came the boy-king, EDGAR, called the Peaceful, fifteen years old. +Dunstan, being still the real king, drove all married priests out of the +monasteries and abbeys, and replaced them by solitary monks like himself, +of the rigid order called the Benedictines. He made himself Archbishop +of Canterbury, for his greater glory; and exercised such power over the +neighbouring British princes, and so collected them about the King, that +once, when the King held his court at Chester, and went on the river Dee +to visit the monastery of St. John, the eight oars of his boat were +pulled (as the people used to delight in relating in stories and songs) +by eight crowned kings, and steered by the King of England. As Edgar was +very obedient to Dunstan and the monks, they took great pains to +represent him as the best of kings. But he was really profligate, +debauched, and vicious. He once forcibly carried off a young lady from +the convent at Wilton; and Dunstan, pretending to be very much shocked, +condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head for seven years--no +great punishment, I dare say, as it can hardly have been a more +comfortable ornament to wear, than a stewpan without a handle. His +marriage with his second wife, ELFRIDA, is one of the worst events of his +reign. Hearing of the beauty of this lady, he despatched his favourite +courtier, ATHELWOLD, to her father's castle in Devonshire, to see if she +were really as charming as fame reported. Now, she was so exceedingly +beautiful that Athelwold fell in love with her himself, and married her; +but he told the King that she was only rich--not handsome. The King, +suspecting the truth when they came home, resolved to pay the +newly-married couple a visit; and, suddenly, told Athelwold to prepare +for his immediate coming. Athelwold, terrified, confessed to his young +wife what he had said and done, and implored her to disguise her beauty +by some ugly dress or silly manner, that he might be safe from the King's +anger. She promised that she would; but she was a proud woman, who would +far rather have been a queen than the wife of a courtier. She dressed +herself in her best dress, and adorned herself with her richest jewels; +and when the King came, presently, he discovered the cheat. So, he +caused his false friend, Athelwold, to be murdered in a wood, and married +his widow, this bad Elfrida. Six or seven years afterwards, he died; and +was buried, as if he had been all that the monks said he was, in the +abbey of Glastonbury, which he--or Dunstan for him--had much enriched. + +England, in one part of this reign, was so troubled by wolves, which, +driven out of the open country, hid themselves in the mountains of Wales +when they were not attacking travellers and animals, that the tribute +payable by the Welsh people was forgiven them, on condition of their +producing, every year, three hundred wolves' heads. And the Welshmen +were so sharp upon the wolves, to save their money, that in four years +there was not a wolf left. + +Then came the boy-king, EDWARD, called the Martyr, from the manner of his +death. Elfrida had a son, named ETHELRED, for whom she claimed the +throne; but Dunstan did not choose to favour him, and he made Edward +king. The boy was hunting, one day, down in Dorsetshire, when he rode +near to Corfe Castle, where Elfrida and Ethelred lived. Wishing to see +them kindly, he rode away from his attendants and galloped to the castle +gate, where he arrived at twilight, and blew his hunting-horn. 'You are +welcome, dear King,' said Elfrida, coming out, with her brightest smiles. +'Pray you dismount and enter.' 'Not so, dear madam,' said the King. 'My +company will miss me, and fear that I have met with some harm. Please +you to give me a cup of wine, that I may drink here, in the saddle, to +you and to my little brother, and so ride away with the good speed I have +made in riding here.' Elfrida, going in to bring the wine, whispered an +armed servant, one of her attendants, who stole out of the darkening +gateway, and crept round behind the King's horse. As the King raised the +cup to his lips, saying, 'Health!' to the wicked woman who was smiling on +him, and to his innocent brother whose hand she held in hers, and who was +only ten years old, this armed man made a spring and stabbed him in the +back. He dropped the cup and spurred his horse away; but, soon fainting +with loss of blood, dropped from the saddle, and, in his fall, entangled +one of his feet in the stirrup. The frightened horse dashed on; trailing +his rider's curls upon the ground; dragging his smooth young face through +ruts, and stones, and briers, and fallen leaves, and mud; until the +hunters, tracking the animal's course by the King's blood, caught his +bridle, and released the disfigured body. + +Then came the sixth and last of the boy-kings, ETHELRED, whom Elfrida, +when he cried out at the sight of his murdered brother riding away from +the castle gate, unmercifully beat with a torch which she snatched from +one of the attendants. The people so disliked this boy, on account of +his cruel mother and the murder she had done to promote him, that Dunstan +would not have had him for king, but would have made EDGITHA, the +daughter of the dead King Edgar, and of the lady whom he stole out of the +convent at Wilton, Queen of England, if she would have consented. But +she knew the stories of the youthful kings too well, and would not be +persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so, Dunstan put +Ethelred on the throne, having no one else to put there, and gave him the +nickname of THE UNREADY--knowing that he wanted resolution and firmness. + +At first, Elfrida possessed great influence over the young King, but, as +he grew older and came of age, her influence declined. The infamous +woman, not having it in her power to do any more evil, then retired from +court, and, according, to the fashion of the time, built churches and +monasteries, to expiate her guilt. As if a church, with a steeple +reaching to the very stars, would have been any sign of true repentance +for the blood of the poor boy, whose murdered form was trailed at his +horse's heels! As if she could have buried her wickedness beneath the +senseless stones of the whole world, piled up one upon another, for the +monks to live in! + +About the ninth or tenth year of this reign, Dunstan died. He was +growing old then, but was as stern and artful as ever. Two circumstances +that happened in connexion with him, in this reign of Ethelred, made a +great noise. Once, he was present at a meeting of the Church, when the +question was discussed whether priests should have permission to marry; +and, as he sat with his head hung down, apparently thinking about it, a +voice seemed to come out of a crucifix in the room, and warn the meeting +to be of his opinion. This was some juggling of Dunstan's, and was +probably his own voice disguised. But he played off a worse juggle than +that, soon afterwards; for, another meeting being held on the same +subject, and he and his supporters being seated on one side of a great +room, and their opponents on the other, he rose and said, 'To Christ +himself, as judge, do I commit this cause!' Immediately on these words +being spoken, the floor where the opposite party sat gave way, and some +were killed and many wounded. You may be pretty sure that it had been +weakened under Dunstan's direction, and that it fell at Dunstan's signal. +_His_ part of the floor did not go down. No, no. He was too good a +workman for that. + +When he died, the monks settled that he was a Saint, and called him Saint +Dunstan ever afterwards. They might just as well have settled that he +was a coach-horse, and could just as easily have called him one. + +Ethelred the Unready was glad enough, I dare say, to be rid of this holy +saint; but, left to himself, he was a poor weak king, and his reign was a +reign of defeat and shame. The restless Danes, led by SWEYN, a son of +the King of Denmark who had quarrelled with his father and had been +banished from home, again came into England, and, year after year, +attacked and despoiled large towns. To coax these sea-kings away, the +weak Ethelred paid them money; but, the more money he paid, the more +money the Danes wanted. At first, he gave them ten thousand pounds; on +their next invasion, sixteen thousand pounds; on their next invasion, +four and twenty thousand pounds: to pay which large sums, the unfortunate +English people were heavily taxed. But, as the Danes still came back and +wanted more, he thought it would be a good plan to marry into some +powerful foreign family that would help him with soldiers. So, in the +year one thousand and two, he courted and married Emma, the sister of +Richard Duke of Normandy; a lady who was called the Flower of Normandy. + +And now, a terrible deed was done in England, the like of which was never +done on English ground before or since. On the thirteenth of November, +in pursuance of secret instructions sent by the King over the whole +country, the inhabitants of every town and city armed, and murdered all +the Danes who were their neighbours. + +Young and old, babies and soldiers, men and women, every Dane was killed. +No doubt there were among them many ferocious men who had done the +English great wrong, and whose pride and insolence, in swaggering in the +houses of the English and insulting their wives and daughters, had become +unbearable; but no doubt there were also among them many peaceful +Christian Danes who had married English women and become like English +men. They were all slain, even to GUNHILDA, the sister of the King of +Denmark, married to an English lord; who was first obliged to see the +murder of her husband and her child, and then was killed herself. + +When the King of the sea-kings heard of this deed of blood, he swore that +he would have a great revenge. He raised an army, and a mightier fleet +of ships than ever yet had sailed to England; and in all his army there +was not a slave or an old man, but every soldier was a free man, and the +son of a free man, and in the prime of life, and sworn to be revenged +upon the English nation, for the massacre of that dread thirteenth of +November, when his countrymen and countrywomen, and the little children +whom they loved, were killed with fire and sword. And so, the sea-kings +came to England in many great ships, each bearing the flag of its own +commander. Golden eagles, ravens, dragons, dolphins, beasts of prey, +threatened England from the prows of those ships, as they came onward +through the water; and were reflected in the shining shields that hung +upon their sides. The ship that bore the standard of the King of the sea- +kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent; and the King in his +anger prayed that the Gods in whom he trusted might all desert him, if +his serpent did not strike its fangs into England's heart. + +And indeed it did. For, the great army landing from the great fleet, +near Exeter, went forward, laying England waste, and striking their +lances in the earth as they advanced, or throwing them into rivers, in +token of their making all the island theirs. In remembrance of the black +November night when the Danes were murdered, wheresoever the invaders +came, they made the Saxons prepare and spread for them great feasts; and +when they had eaten those feasts, and had drunk a curse to England with +wild rejoicings, they drew their swords, and killed their Saxon +entertainers, and marched on. For six long years they carried on this +war: burning the crops, farmhouses, barns, mills, granaries; killing the +labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being sown in the +ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only heaps of ruin and +smoking ashes, where they had found rich towns. To crown this misery, +English officers and men deserted, and even the favourites of Ethelred +the Unready, becoming traitors, seized many of the English ships, turned +pirates against their own country, and aided by a storm occasioned the +loss of nearly the whole English navy. + +There was but one man of note, at this miserable pass, who was true to +his country and the feeble King. He was a priest, and a brave one. For +twenty days, the Archbishop of Canterbury defended that city against its +Danish besiegers; and when a traitor in the town threw the gates open and +admitted them, he said, in chains, 'I will not buy my life with money +that must be extorted from the suffering people. Do with me what you +please!' Again and again, he steadily refused to purchase his release +with gold wrung from the poor. + +At last, the Danes being tired of this, and being assembled at a drunken +merry-making, had him brought into the feasting-hall. + +'Now, bishop,' they said, 'we want gold!' + +He looked round on the crowd of angry faces; from the shaggy beards close +to him, to the shaggy beards against the walls, where men were mounted on +tables and forms to see him over the heads of others: and he knew that +his time was come. + +'I have no gold,' he said. + +'Get it, bishop!' they all thundered. + +'That, I have often told you I will not,' said he. + +They gathered closer round him, threatening, but he stood unmoved. Then, +one man struck him; then, another; then a cursing soldier picked up from +a heap in a corner of the hall, where fragments had been rudely thrown at +dinner, a great ox-bone, and cast it at his face, from which the blood +came spurting forth; then, others ran to the same heap, and knocked him +down with other bones, and bruised and battered him; until one soldier +whom he had baptised (willing, as I hope for the sake of that soldier's +soul, to shorten the sufferings of the good man) struck him dead with his +battle-axe. + +If Ethelred had had the heart to emulate the courage of this noble +archbishop, he might have done something yet. But he paid the Danes +forty-eight thousand pounds, instead, and gained so little by the +cowardly act, that Sweyn soon afterwards came over to subdue all England. +So broken was the attachment of the English people, by this time, to +their incapable King and their forlorn country which could not protect +them, that they welcomed Sweyn on all sides, as a deliverer. London +faithfully stood out, as long as the King was within its walls; but, when +he sneaked away, it also welcomed the Dane. Then, all was over; and the +King took refuge abroad with the Duke of Normandy, who had already given +shelter to the King's wife, once the Flower of that country, and to her +children. + +Still, the English people, in spite of their sad sufferings, could not +quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. When Sweyn died +suddenly, in little more than a month after he had been proclaimed King +of England, they generously sent to Ethelred, to say that they would have +him for their King again, 'if he would only govern them better than he +had governed them before.' The Unready, instead of coming himself, sent +Edward, one of his sons, to make promises for him. At last, he followed, +and the English declared him King. The Danes declared CANUTE, the son of +Sweyn, King. Thus, direful war began again, and lasted for three years, +when the Unready died. And I know of nothing better that he did, in all +his reign of eight and thirty years. + +Was Canute to be King now? Not over the Saxons, they said; they must +have EDMUND, one of the sons of the Unready, who was surnamed IRONSIDE, +because of his strength and stature. Edmund and Canute thereupon fell +to, and fought five battles--O unhappy England, what a fighting-ground it +was!--and then Ironside, who was a big man, proposed to Canute, who was a +little man, that they two should fight it out in single combat. If +Canute had been the big man, he would probably have said yes, but, being +the little man, he decidedly said no. However, he declared that he was +willing to divide the kingdom--to take all that lay north of Watling +Street, as the old Roman military road from Dover to Chester was called, +and to give Ironside all that lay south of it. Most men being weary of +so much bloodshed, this was done. But Canute soon became sole King of +England; for Ironside died suddenly within two months. Some think that +he was killed, and killed by Canute's orders. No one knows. + + + + +CHAPTER V--ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + + +Canute reigned eighteen years. He was a merciless King at first. After +he had clasped the hands of the Saxon chiefs, in token of the sincerity +with which he swore to be just and good to them in return for their +acknowledging him, he denounced and slew many of them, as well as many +relations of the late King. 'He who brings me the head of one of my +enemies,' he used to say, 'shall be dearer to me than a brother.' And he +was so severe in hunting down his enemies, that he must have got together +a pretty large family of these dear brothers. He was strongly inclined +to kill EDMUND and EDWARD, two children, sons of poor Ironside; but, +being afraid to do so in England, he sent them over to the King of +Sweden, with a request that the King would be so good as 'dispose of +them.' If the King of Sweden had been like many, many other men of that +day, he would have had their innocent throats cut; but he was a kind man, +and brought them up tenderly. + +Normandy ran much in Canute's mind. In Normandy were the two children of +the late king--EDWARD and ALFRED by name; and their uncle the Duke might +one day claim the crown for them. But the Duke showed so little +inclination to do so now, that he proposed to Canute to marry his sister, +the widow of The Unready; who, being but a showy flower, and caring for +nothing so much as becoming a queen again, left her children and was +wedded to him. + +Successful and triumphant, assisted by the valour of the English in his +foreign wars, and with little strife to trouble him at home, Canute had a +prosperous reign, and made many improvements. He was a poet and a +musician. He grew sorry, as he grew older, for the blood he had shed at +first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim's dress, by way of washing it out. +He gave a great deal of money to foreigners on his journey; but he took +it from the English before he started. On the whole, however, he +certainly became a far better man when he had no opposition to contend +with, and was as great a King as England had known for some time. + +The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day disgusted +with his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused his chair to be +set on the sea-shore, and feigned to command the tide as it came up not +to wet the edge of his robe, for the land was his; how the tide came up, +of course, without regarding him; and how he then turned to his +flatterers, and rebuked them, saying, what was the might of any earthly +king, to the might of the Creator, who could say unto the sea, 'Thus far +shalt thou go, and no farther!' We may learn from this, I think, that a +little sense will go a long way in a king; and that courtiers are not +easily cured of flattery, nor kings of a liking for it. If the courtiers +of Canute had not known, long before, that the King was fond of flattery, +they would have known better than to offer it in such large doses. And +if they had not known that he was vain of this speech (anything but a +wonderful speech it seems to me, if a good child had made it), they would +not have been at such great pains to repeat it. I fancy I see them all +on the sea-shore together; the King's chair sinking in the sand; the King +in a mighty good humour with his own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending +to be quite stunned by it! + +It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go 'thus far, and no farther.' +The great command goes forth to all the kings upon the earth, and went to +Canute in the year one thousand and thirty-five, and stretched him dead +upon his bed. Beside it, stood his Norman wife. Perhaps, as the King +looked his last upon her, he, who had so often thought distrustfully of +Normandy, long ago, thought once more of the two exiled Princes in their +uncle's court, and of the little favour they could feel for either Danes +or Saxons, and of a rising cloud in Normandy that slowly moved towards +England. + + + + +CHAPTER VI--ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE +CONFESSOR + + +Canute left three sons, by name SWEYN, HAROLD, and HARDICANUTE; but his +Queen, Emma, once the Flower of Normandy, was the mother of only +Hardicanute. Canute had wished his dominions to be divided between the +three, and had wished Harold to have England; but the Saxon people in the +South of England, headed by a nobleman with great possessions, called the +powerful EARL GODWIN (who is said to have been originally a poor +cow-boy), opposed this, and desired to have, instead, either Hardicanute, +or one of the two exiled Princes who were over in Normandy. It seemed so +certain that there would be more bloodshed to settle this dispute, that +many people left their homes, and took refuge in the woods and swamps. +Happily, however, it was agreed to refer the whole question to a great +meeting at Oxford, which decided that Harold should have all the country +north of the Thames, with London for his capital city, and that +Hardicanute should have all the south. The quarrel was so arranged; and, +as Hardicanute was in Denmark troubling himself very little about +anything but eating and getting drunk, his mother and Earl Godwin +governed the south for him. + +They had hardly begun to do so, and the trembling people who had hidden +themselves were scarcely at home again, when Edward, the elder of the two +exiled Princes, came over from Normandy with a few followers, to claim +the English Crown. His mother Emma, however, who only cared for her last +son Hardicanute, instead of assisting him, as he expected, opposed him so +strongly with all her influence that he was very soon glad to get safely +back. His brother Alfred was not so fortunate. Believing in an +affectionate letter, written some time afterwards to him and his brother, +in his mother's name (but whether really with or without his mother's +knowledge is now uncertain), he allowed himself to be tempted over to +England, with a good force of soldiers, and landing on the Kentish coast, +and being met and welcomed by Earl Godwin, proceeded into Surrey, as far +as the town of Guildford. Here, he and his men halted in the evening to +rest, having still the Earl in their company; who had ordered lodgings +and good cheer for them. But, in the dead of the night, when they were +off their guard, being divided into small parties sleeping soundly after +a long march and a plentiful supper in different houses, they were set +upon by the King's troops, and taken prisoners. Next morning they were +drawn out in a line, to the number of six hundred men, and were +barbarously tortured and killed; with the exception of every tenth man, +who was sold into slavery. As to the wretched Prince Alfred, he was +stripped naked, tied to a horse and sent away into the Isle of Ely, where +his eyes were torn out of his head, and where in a few days he miserably +died. I am not sure that the Earl had wilfully entrapped him, but I +suspect it strongly. + +Harold was now King all over England, though it is doubtful whether the +Archbishop of Canterbury (the greater part of the priests were Saxons, +and not friendly to the Danes) ever consented to crown him. Crowned or +uncrowned, with the Archbishop's leave or without it, he was King for +four years: after which short reign he died, and was buried; having never +done much in life but go a hunting. He was such a fast runner at this, +his favourite sport, that the people called him Harold Harefoot. + +Hardicanute was then at Bruges, in Flanders, plotting, with his mother +(who had gone over there after the cruel murder of Prince Alfred), for +the invasion of England. The Danes and Saxons, finding themselves +without a King, and dreading new disputes, made common cause, and joined +in inviting him to occupy the Throne. He consented, and soon troubled +them enough; for he brought over numbers of Danes, and taxed the people +so insupportably to enrich those greedy favourites that there were many +insurrections, especially one at Worcester, where the citizens rose and +killed his tax-collectors; in revenge for which he burned their city. He +was a brutal King, whose first public act was to order the dead body of +poor Harold Harefoot to be dug up, beheaded, and thrown into the river. +His end was worthy of such a beginning. He fell down drunk, with a +goblet of wine in his hand, at a wedding-feast at Lambeth, given in +honour of the marriage of his standard-bearer, a Dane named TOWED THE +PROUD. And he never spoke again. + +EDWARD, afterwards called by the monks THE CONFESSOR, succeeded; and his +first act was to oblige his mother Emma, who had favoured him so little, +to retire into the country; where she died some ten years afterwards. He +was the exiled prince whose brother Alfred had been so foully killed. He +had been invited over from Normandy by Hardicanute, in the course of his +short reign of two years, and had been handsomely treated at court. His +cause was now favoured by the powerful Earl Godwin, and he was soon made +King. This Earl had been suspected by the people, ever since Prince +Alfred's cruel death; he had even been tried in the last reign for the +Prince's murder, but had been pronounced not guilty; chiefly, as it was +supposed, because of a present he had made to the swinish King, of a +gilded ship with a figure-head of solid gold, and a crew of eighty +splendidly armed men. It was his interest to help the new King with his +power, if the new King would help him against the popular distrust and +hatred. So they made a bargain. Edward the Confessor got the Throne. +The Earl got more power and more land, and his daughter Editha was made +queen; for it was a part of their compact that the King should take her +for his wife. + +But, although she was a gentle lady, in all things worthy to be +beloved--good, beautiful, sensible, and kind--the King from the first +neglected her. Her father and her six proud brothers, resenting this +cold treatment, harassed the King greatly by exerting all their power to +make him unpopular. Having lived so long in Normandy, he preferred the +Normans to the English. He made a Norman Archbishop, and Norman Bishops; +his great officers and favourites were all Normans; he introduced the +Norman fashions and the Norman language; in imitation of the state custom +of Normandy, he attached a great seal to his state documents, instead of +merely marking them, as the Saxon Kings had done, with the sign of the +cross--just as poor people who have never been taught to write, now make +the same mark for their names. All this, the powerful Earl Godwin and +his six proud sons represented to the people as disfavour shown towards +the English; and thus they daily increased their own power, and daily +diminished the power of the King. + +They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned +eight years. Eustace, Earl of Bologne, who had married the King's +sister, came to England on a visit. After staying at the court some +time, he set forth, with his numerous train of attendants, to return +home. They were to embark at Dover. Entering that peaceful town in +armour, they took possession of the best houses, and noisily demanded to +be lodged and entertained without payment. One of the bold men of Dover, +who would not endure to have these domineering strangers jingling their +heavy swords and iron corselets up and down his house, eating his meat +and drinking his strong liquor, stood in his doorway and refused +admission to the first armed man who came there. The armed man drew, and +wounded him. The man of Dover struck the armed man dead. Intelligence +of what he had done, spreading through the streets to where the Count +Eustace and his men were standing by their horses, bridle in hand, they +passionately mounted, galloped to the house, surrounded it, forced their +way in (the doors and windows being closed when they came up), and killed +the man of Dover at his own fireside. They then clattered through the +streets, cutting down and riding over men, women, and children. This did +not last long, you may believe. The men of Dover set upon them with +great fury, killed nineteen of the foreigners, wounded many more, and, +blockading the road to the port so that they should not embark, beat them +out of the town by the way they had come. Hereupon, Count Eustace rides +as hard as man can ride to Gloucester, where Edward is, surrounded by +Norman monks and Norman lords. 'Justice!' cries the Count, 'upon the men +of Dover, who have set upon and slain my people!' The King sends +immediately for the powerful Earl Godwin, who happens to be near; reminds +him that Dover is under his government; and orders him to repair to Dover +and do military execution on the inhabitants. 'It does not become you,' +says the proud Earl in reply, 'to condemn without a hearing those whom +you have sworn to protect. I will not do it.' + +The King, therefore, summoned the Earl, on pain of banishment and loss of +his titles and property, to appear before the court to answer this +disobedience. The Earl refused to appear. He, his eldest son Harold, +and his second son Sweyn, hastily raised as many fighting men as their +utmost power could collect, and demanded to have Count Eustace and his +followers surrendered to the justice of the country. The King, in his +turn, refused to give them up, and raised a strong force. After some +treaty and delay, the troops of the great Earl and his sons began to fall +off. The Earl, with a part of his family and abundance of treasure, +sailed to Flanders; Harold escaped to Ireland; and the power of the great +family was for that time gone in England. But, the people did not forget +them. + +Then, Edward the Confessor, with the true meanness of a mean spirit, +visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons upon the +helpless daughter and sister, his unoffending wife, whom all who saw her +(her husband and his monks excepted) loved. He seized rapaciously upon +her fortune and her jewels, and allowing her only one attendant, confined +her in a gloomy convent, of which a sister of his--no doubt an unpleasant +lady after his own heart--was abbess or jailer. + +Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way, the King +favoured the Normans more than ever. He invited over WILLIAM, DUKE OF +NORMANDY, the son of that Duke who had received him and his murdered +brother long ago, and of a peasant girl, a tanner's daughter, with whom +that Duke had fallen in love for her beauty as he saw her washing clothes +in a brook. William, who was a great warrior, with a passion for fine +horses, dogs, and arms, accepted the invitation; and the Normans in +England, finding themselves more numerous than ever when he arrived with +his retinue, and held in still greater honour at court than before, +became more and more haughty towards the people, and were more and more +disliked by them. + +The old Earl Godwin, though he was abroad, knew well how the people felt; +for, with part of the treasure he had carried away with him, he kept +spies and agents in his pay all over England. + +Accordingly, he thought the time was come for fitting out a great +expedition against the Norman-loving King. With it, he sailed to the +Isle of Wight, where he was joined by his son Harold, the most gallant +and brave of all his family. And so the father and son came sailing up +the Thames to Southwark; great numbers of the people declaring for them, +and shouting for the English Earl and the English Harold, against the +Norman favourites! + +The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have been +whensoever they have been in the hands of monks. But the people rallied +so thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the old Earl was so steady +in demanding without bloodshed the restoration of himself and his family +to their rights, that at last the court took the alarm. The Norman +Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Norman Bishop of London, surrounded by +their retainers, fought their way out of London, and escaped from Essex +to France in a fishing-boat. The other Norman favourites dispersed in +all directions. The old Earl and his sons (except Sweyn, who had +committed crimes against the law) were restored to their possessions and +dignities. Editha, the virtuous and lovely Queen of the insensible King, +was triumphantly released from her prison, the convent, and once more sat +in her chair of state, arrayed in the jewels of which, when she had no +champion to support her rights, her cold-blooded husband had deprived +her. + +The old Earl Godwin did not long enjoy his restored fortune. He fell +down in a fit at the King's table, and died upon the third day +afterwards. Harold succeeded to his power, and to a far higher place in +the attachment of the people than his father had ever held. By his +valour he subdued the King's enemies in many bloody fights. He was +vigorous against rebels in Scotland--this was the time when Macbeth slew +Duncan, upon which event our English Shakespeare, hundreds of years +afterwards, wrote his great tragedy; and he killed the restless Welsh +King GRIFFITH, and brought his head to England. + +What Harold was doing at sea, when he was driven on the French coast by a +tempest, is not at all certain; nor does it at all matter. That his ship +was forced by a storm on that shore, and that he was taken prisoner, +there is no doubt. In those barbarous days, all shipwrecked strangers +were taken prisoners, and obliged to pay ransom. So, a certain Count +Guy, who was the Lord of Ponthieu where Harold's disaster happened, +seized him, instead of relieving him like a hospitable and Christian lord +as he ought to have done, and expected to make a very good thing of it. + +But Harold sent off immediately to Duke William of Normandy, complaining +of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than he ordered +Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen, where he then was, +and where he received him as an honoured guest. Now, some writers tell +us that Edward the Confessor, who was by this time old and had no +children, had made a will, appointing Duke William of Normandy his +successor, and had informed the Duke of his having done so. There is no +doubt that he was anxious about his successor; because he had even +invited over, from abroad, EDWARD THE OUTLAW, a son of Ironside, who had +come to England with his wife and three children, but whom the King had +strangely refused to see when he did come, and who had died in London +suddenly (princes were terribly liable to sudden death in those days), +and had been buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. The King might possibly +have made such a will; or, having always been fond of the Normans, he +might have encouraged Norman William to aspire to the English crown, by +something that he said to him when he was staying at the English court. +But, certainly William did now aspire to it; and knowing that Harold +would be a powerful rival, he called together a great assembly of his +nobles, offered Harold his daughter ADELE in marriage, informed him that +he meant on King Edward's death to claim the English crown as his own +inheritance, and required Harold then and there to swear to aid him. +Harold, being in the Duke's power, took this oath upon the Missal, or +Prayer-book. It is a good example of the superstitions of the monks, +that this Missal, instead of being placed upon a table, was placed upon a +tub; which, when Harold had sworn, was uncovered, and shown to be full of +dead men's bones--bones, as the monks pretended, of saints. This was +supposed to make Harold's oath a great deal more impressive and binding. +As if the great name of the Creator of Heaven and earth could be made +more solemn by a knuckle-bone, or a double-tooth, or a finger-nail, of +Dunstan! + +Within a week or two after Harold's return to England, the dreary old +Confessor was found to be dying. After wandering in his mind like a very +weak old man, he died. As he had put himself entirely in the hands of +the monks when he was alive, they praised him lustily when he was dead. +They had gone so far, already, as to persuade him that he could work +miracles; and had brought people afflicted with a bad disorder of the +skin, to him, to be touched and cured. This was called 'touching for the +King's Evil,' which afterwards became a royal custom. You know, however, +Who really touched the sick, and healed them; and you know His sacred +name is not among the dusty line of human kings. + + + + +CHAPTER VII--ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE +NORMANS + + +Harold was crowned King of England on the very day of the maudlin +Confessor's funeral. He had good need to be quick about it. When the +news reached Norman William, hunting in his park at Rouen, he dropped his +bow, returned to his palace, called his nobles to council, and presently +sent ambassadors to Harold, calling on him to keep his oath and resign +the Crown. Harold would do no such thing. The barons of France leagued +together round Duke William for the invasion of England. Duke William +promised freely to distribute English wealth and English lands among +them. The Pope sent to Normandy a consecrated banner, and a ring +containing a hair which he warranted to have grown on the head of Saint +Peter. He blessed the enterprise; and cursed Harold; and requested that +the Normans would pay 'Peter's Pence'--or a tax to himself of a penny a +year on every house--a little more regularly in future, if they could +make it convenient. + +King Harold had a rebel brother in Flanders, who was a vassal of HAROLD +HARDRADA, King of Norway. This brother, and this Norwegian King, joining +their forces against England, with Duke William's help, won a fight in +which the English were commanded by two nobles; and then besieged York. +Harold, who was waiting for the Normans on the coast at Hastings, with +his army, marched to Stamford Bridge upon the river Derwent to give them +instant battle. + +He found them drawn up in a hollow circle, marked out by their shining +spears. Riding round this circle at a distance, to survey it, he saw a +brave figure on horseback, in a blue mantle and a bright helmet, whose +horse suddenly stumbled and threw him. + +'Who is that man who has fallen?' Harold asked of one of his captains. + +'The King of Norway,' he replied. + +'He is a tall and stately king,' said Harold, 'but his end is near.' + +He added, in a little while, 'Go yonder to my brother, and tell him, if +he withdraw his troops, he shall be Earl of Northumberland, and rich and +powerful in England.' + +The captain rode away and gave the message. + +'What will he give to my friend the King of Norway?' asked the brother. + +'Seven feet of earth for a grave,' replied the captain. + +'No more?' returned the brother, with a smile. + +'The King of Norway being a tall man, perhaps a little more,' replied the +captain. + +'Ride back!' said the brother, 'and tell King Harold to make ready for +the fight!' + +He did so, very soon. And such a fight King Harold led against that +force, that his brother, and the Norwegian King, and every chief of note +in all their host, except the Norwegian King's son, Olave, to whom he +gave honourable dismissal, were left dead upon the field. The victorious +army marched to York. As King Harold sat there at the feast, in the +midst of all his company, a stir was heard at the doors; and messengers +all covered with mire from riding far and fast through broken ground came +hurrying in, to report that the Normans had landed in England. + +The intelligence was true. They had been tossed about by contrary winds, +and some of their ships had been wrecked. A part of their own shore, to +which they had been driven back, was strewn with Norman bodies. But they +had once more made sail, led by the Duke's own galley, a present from his +wife, upon the prow whereof the figure of a golden boy stood pointing +towards England. By day, the banner of the three Lions of Normandy, the +diverse coloured sails, the gilded vans, the many decorations of this +gorgeous ship, had glittered in the sun and sunny water; by night, a +light had sparkled like a star at her mast-head. And now, encamped near +Hastings, with their leader lying in the old Roman castle of Pevensey, +the English retiring in all directions, the land for miles around +scorched and smoking, fired and pillaged, was the whole Norman power, +hopeful and strong on English ground. + +Harold broke up the feast and hurried to London. Within a week, his army +was ready. He sent out spies to ascertain the Norman strength. William +took them, caused them to be led through his whole camp, and then +dismissed. 'The Normans,' said these spies to Harold, 'are not bearded +on the upper lip as we English are, but are shorn. They are priests.' +'My men,' replied Harold, with a laugh, 'will find those priests good +soldiers!' + +'The Saxons,' reported Duke William's outposts of Norman soldiers, who +were instructed to retire as King Harold's army advanced, 'rush on us +through their pillaged country with the fury of madmen.' + +'Let them come, and come soon!' said Duke William. + +Some proposals for a reconciliation were made, but were soon abandoned. +In the middle of the month of October, in the year one thousand and sixty- +six, the Normans and the English came front to front. All night the +armies lay encamped before each other, in a part of the country then +called Senlac, now called (in remembrance of them) Battle. With the +first dawn of day, they arose. There, in the faint light, were the +English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their midst, the Royal banner, +representing a fighting warrior, woven in gold thread, adorned with +precious stones; beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, stood +King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his side; +around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole English +army--every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his hand his +dreaded English battle-axe. + +On an opposite hill, in three lines, archers, foot-soldiers, horsemen, +was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle-cry, 'God help us!' +burst from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own battle- +cry, 'God's Rood! Holy Rood!' The Normans then came sweeping down the +hill to attack the English. + +There was one tall Norman Knight who rode before the Norman army on a +prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and singing +of the bravery of his countrymen. An English Knight, who rode out from +the English force to meet him, fell by this Knight's hand. Another +English Knight rode out, and he fell too. But then a third rode out, and +killed the Norman. This was in the first beginning of the fight. It +soon raged everywhere. + +The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for the +showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman rain. +When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with their battle-axes they +cut men and horses down. The Normans gave way. The English pressed +forward. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was +killed. Duke William took off his helmet, in order that his face might +be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before his men. This gave +them courage. As they turned again to face the English, some of their +Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the English from the rest, and +thus all that foremost portion of the English army fell, fighting +bravely. The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the Norman +arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down the crowds of horsemen +when they rode up, like forests of young trees, Duke William pretended to +retreat. The eager English followed. The Norman army closed again, and +fell upon them with great slaughter. + +'Still,' said Duke William, 'there are thousands of the English, firms as +rocks around their King. Shoot upward, Norman archers, that your arrows +may fall down upon their faces!' + +The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through all the +wild October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. In the red +sunset, and in the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men lay +strewn, a dreadful spectacle, all over the ground. + +King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His +brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman Knights, whose battered +armour had flashed fiery and golden in the sunshine all day long, and now +looked silvery in the moonlight, dashed forward to seize the Royal banner +from the English Knights and soldiers, still faithfully collected round +their blinded King. The King received a mortal wound, and dropped. The +English broke and fled. The Normans rallied, and the day was lost. + +O what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining in +the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the spot +where Harold fell--and he and his knights were carousing, within--and +soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro, without, sought for the +corpse of Harold among piles of dead--and the Warrior, worked in golden +thread and precious stones, lay low, all torn and soiled with blood--and +the three Norman Lions kept watch over the field! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII--ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR + + +Upon the ground where the brave Harold fell, William the Norman +afterwards founded an abbey, which, under the name of Battle Abbey, was a +rich and splendid place through many a troubled year, though now it is a +grey ruin overgrown with ivy. But the first work he had to do, was to +conquer the English thoroughly; and that, as you know by this time, was +hard work for any man. + +He ravaged several counties; he burned and plundered many towns; he laid +waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country; he destroyed +innumerable lives. At length STIGAND, Archbishop of Canterbury, with +other representatives of the clergy and the people, went to his camp, and +submitted to him. EDGAR, the insignificant son of Edmund Ironside, was +proclaimed King by others, but nothing came of it. He fled to Scotland +afterwards, where his sister, who was young and beautiful, married the +Scottish King. Edgar himself was not important enough for anybody to +care much about him. + +On Christmas Day, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, under the +title of WILLIAM THE FIRST; but he is best known as WILLIAM THE +CONQUEROR. It was a strange coronation. One of the bishops who +performed the ceremony asked the Normans, in French, if they would have +Duke William for their king? They answered Yes. Another of the bishops +put the same question to the Saxons, in English. They too answered Yes, +with a loud shout. The noise being heard by a guard of Norman +horse-soldiers outside, was mistaken for resistance on the part of the +English. The guard instantly set fire to the neighbouring houses, and a +tumult ensued; in the midst of which the King, being left alone in the +Abbey, with a few priests (and they all being in a terrible fright +together), was hurriedly crowned. When the crown was placed upon his +head, he swore to govern the English as well as the best of their own +monarchs. I dare say you think, as I do, that if we except the Great +Alfred, he might pretty easily have done that. + +Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last disastrous +battle. Their estates, and the estates of all the nobles who had fought +against him there, King William seized upon, and gave to his own Norman +knights and nobles. Many great English families of the present time +acquired their English lands in this way, and are very proud of it. + +But what is got by force must be maintained by force. These nobles were +obliged to build castles all over England, to defend their new property; +and, do what he would, the King could neither soothe nor quell the nation +as he wished. He gradually introduced the Norman language and the Norman +customs; yet, for a long time the great body of the English remained +sullen and revengeful. On his going over to Normandy, to visit his +subjects there, the oppressions of his half-brother ODO, whom he left in +charge of his English kingdom, drove the people mad. The men of Kent +even invited over, to take possession of Dover, their old enemy Count +Eustace of Boulogne, who had led the fray when the Dover man was slain at +his own fireside. The men of Hereford, aided by the Welsh, and commanded +by a chief named EDRIC THE WILD, drove the Normans out of their country. +Some of those who had been dispossessed of their lands, banded together +in the North of England; some, in Scotland; some, in the thick woods and +marshes; and whensoever they could fall upon the Normans, or upon the +English who had submitted to the Normans, they fought, despoiled, and +murdered, like the desperate outlaws that they were. Conspiracies were +set on foot for a general massacre of the Normans, like the old massacre +of the Danes. In short, the English were in a murderous mood all through +the kingdom. + +King William, fearing he might lose his conquest, came back, and tried to +pacify the London people by soft words. He then set forth to repress the +country people by stern deeds. Among the towns which he besieged, and +where he killed and maimed the inhabitants without any distinction, +sparing none, young or old, armed or unarmed, were Oxford, Warwick, +Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, York. In all these places, and in +many others, fire and sword worked their utmost horrors, and made the +land dreadful to behold. The streams and rivers were discoloured with +blood; the sky was blackened with smoke; the fields were wastes of ashes; +the waysides were heaped up with dead. Such are the fatal results of +conquest and ambition! Although William was a harsh and angry man, I do +not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this shocking ruin, when +he invaded England. But what he had got by the strong hand, he could +only keep by the strong hand, and in so doing he made England a great +grave. + +Two sons of Harold, by name EDMUND and GODWIN, came over from Ireland, +with some ships, against the Normans, but were defeated. This was +scarcely done, when the outlaws in the woods so harassed York, that the +Governor sent to the King for help. The King despatched a general and a +large force to occupy the town of Durham. The Bishop of that place met +the general outside the town, and warned him not to enter, as he would be +in danger there. The general cared nothing for the warning, and went in +with all his men. That night, on every hill within sight of Durham, +signal fires were seen to blaze. When the morning dawned, the English, +who had assembled in great strength, forced the gates, rushed into the +town, and slew the Normans every one. The English afterwards besought +the Danes to come and help them. The Danes came, with two hundred and +forty ships. The outlawed nobles joined them; they captured York, and +drove the Normans out of that city. Then, William bribed the Danes to go +away; and took such vengeance on the English, that all the former fire +and sword, smoke and ashes, death and ruin, were nothing compared with +it. In melancholy songs, and doleful stories, it was still sung and told +by cottage fires on winter evenings, a hundred years afterwards, how, in +those dreadful days of the Normans, there was not, from the River Humber +to the River Tyne, one inhabited village left, nor one cultivated +field--how there was nothing but a dismal ruin, where the human creatures +and the beasts lay dead together. + +The outlaws had, at this time, what they called a Camp of Refuge, in the +midst of the fens of Cambridgeshire. Protected by those marshy grounds +which were difficult of approach, they lay among the reeds and rushes, +and were hidden by the mists that rose up from the watery earth. Now, +there also was, at that time, over the sea in Flanders, an Englishman +named HEREWARD, whose father had died in his absence, and whose property +had been given to a Norman. When he heard of this wrong that had been +done him (from such of the exiled English as chanced to wander into that +country), he longed for revenge; and joining the outlaws in their camp of +refuge, became their commander. He was so good a soldier, that the +Normans supposed him to be aided by enchantment. William, even after he +had made a road three miles in length across the Cambridgeshire marshes, +on purpose to attack this supposed enchanter, thought it necessary to +engage an old lady, who pretended to be a sorceress, to come and do a +little enchantment in the royal cause. For this purpose she was pushed +on before the troops in a wooden tower; but Hereward very soon disposed +of this unfortunate sorceress, by burning her, tower and all. The monks +of the convent of Ely near at hand, however, who were fond of good +living, and who found it very uncomfortable to have the country blockaded +and their supplies of meat and drink cut off, showed the King a secret +way of surprising the camp. So Hereward was soon defeated. Whether he +afterwards died quietly, or whether he was killed after killing sixteen +of the men who attacked him (as some old rhymes relate that he did), I +cannot say. His defeat put an end to the Camp of Refuge; and, very soon +afterwards, the King, victorious both in Scotland and in England, quelled +the last rebellious English noble. He then surrounded himself with +Norman lords, enriched by the property of English nobles; had a great +survey made of all the land in England, which was entered as the property +of its new owners, on a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to +put out their fires and candles at a certain hour every night, on the +ringing of a bell which was called The Curfew; introduced the Norman +dresses and manners; made the Normans masters everywhere, and the +English, servants; turned out the English bishops, and put Normans in +their places; and showed himself to be the Conqueror indeed. + +But, even with his own Normans, he had a restless life. They were always +hungering and thirsting for the riches of the English; and the more he +gave, the more they wanted. His priests were as greedy as his soldiers. +We know of only one Norman who plainly told his master, the King, that he +had come with him to England to do his duty as a faithful servant, and +that property taken by force from other men had no charms for him. His +name was GUILBERT. We should not forget his name, for it is good to +remember and to honour honest men. + +Besides all these troubles, William the Conqueror was troubled by +quarrels among his sons. He had three living. ROBERT, called CURTHOSE, +because of his short legs; WILLIAM, called RUFUS or the Red, from the +colour of his hair; and HENRY, fond of learning, and called, in the +Norman language, BEAUCLERC, or Fine-Scholar. When Robert grew up, he +asked of his father the government of Normandy, which he had nominally +possessed, as a child, under his mother, MATILDA. The King refusing to +grant it, Robert became jealous and discontented; and happening one day, +while in this temper, to be ridiculed by his brothers, who threw water on +him from a balcony as he was walking before the door, he drew his sword, +rushed up-stairs, and was only prevented by the King himself from putting +them to death. That same night, he hotly departed with some followers +from his father's court, and endeavoured to take the Castle of Rouen by +surprise. Failing in this, he shut himself up in another Castle in +Normandy, which the King besieged, and where Robert one day unhorsed and +nearly killed him without knowing who he was. His submission when he +discovered his father, and the intercession of the queen and others, +reconciled them; but not soundly; for Robert soon strayed abroad, and +went from court to court with his complaints. He was a gay, careless, +thoughtless fellow, spending all he got on musicians and dancers; but his +mother loved him, and often, against the King's command, supplied him +with money through a messenger named SAMSON. At length the incensed King +swore he would tear out Samson's eyes; and Samson, thinking that his only +hope of safety was in becoming a monk, became one, went on such errands +no more, and kept his eyes in his head. + +All this time, from the turbulent day of his strange coronation, the +Conqueror had been struggling, you see, at any cost of cruelty and +bloodshed, to maintain what he had seized. All his reign, he struggled +still, with the same object ever before him. He was a stern, bold man, +and he succeeded in it. + +He loved money, and was particular in his eating, but he had only leisure +to indulge one other passion, and that was his love of hunting. He +carried it to such a height that he ordered whole villages and towns to +be swept away to make forests for the deer. Not satisfied with sixty- +eight Royal Forests, he laid waste an immense district, to form another +in Hampshire, called the New Forest. The many thousands of miserable +peasants who saw their little houses pulled down, and themselves and +children turned into the open country without a shelter, detested him for +his merciless addition to their many sufferings; and when, in the twenty- +first year of his reign (which proved to be the last), he went over to +Rouen, England was as full of hatred against him, as if every leaf on +every tree in all his Royal Forests had been a curse upon his head. In +the New Forest, his son Richard (for he had four sons) had been gored to +death by a Stag; and the people said that this so cruelly-made Forest +would yet be fatal to others of the Conqueror's race. + +He was engaged in a dispute with the King of France about some territory. +While he stayed at Rouen, negotiating with that King, he kept his bed and +took medicines: being advised by his physicians to do so, on account of +having grown to an unwieldy size. Word being brought to him that the +King of France made light of this, and joked about it, he swore in a +great rage that he should rue his jests. He assembled his army, marched +into the disputed territory, burnt--his old way!--the vines, the crops, +and fruit, and set the town of Mantes on fire. But, in an evil hour; +for, as he rode over the hot ruins, his horse, setting his hoofs upon +some burning embers, started, threw him forward against the pommel of the +saddle, and gave him a mortal hurt. For six weeks he lay dying in a +monastery near Rouen, and then made his will, giving England to William, +Normandy to Robert, and five thousand pounds to Henry. And now, his +violent deeds lay heavy on his mind. He ordered money to be given to +many English churches and monasteries, and--which was much better +repentance--released his prisoners of state, some of whom had been +confined in his dungeons twenty years. + +It was a September morning, and the sun was rising, when the King was +awakened from slumber by the sound of a church bell. 'What bell is +that?' he faintly asked. They told him it was the bell of the chapel of +Saint Mary. 'I commend my soul,' said he, 'to Mary!' and died. + +Think of his name, The Conqueror, and then consider how he lay in death! +The moment he was dead, his physicians, priests, and nobles, not knowing +what contest for the throne might now take place, or what might happen in +it, hastened away, each man for himself and his own property; the +mercenary servants of the court began to rob and plunder; the body of the +King, in the indecent strife, was rolled from the bed, and lay alone, for +hours, upon the ground. O Conqueror, of whom so many great names are +proud now, of whom so many great names thought nothing then, it were +better to have conquered one true heart, than England! + +By-and-by, the priests came creeping in with prayers and candles; and a +good knight, named HERLUIN, undertook (which no one else would do) to +convey the body to Caen, in Normandy, in order that it might be buried in +St. Stephen's church there, which the Conqueror had founded. But fire, +of which he had made such bad use in his life, seemed to follow him of +itself in death. A great conflagration broke out in the town when the +body was placed in the church; and those present running out to +extinguish the flames, it was once again left alone. + +It was not even buried in peace. It was about to be let down, in its +Royal robes, into a tomb near the high altar, in presence of a great +concourse of people, when a loud voice in the crowd cried out, 'This +ground is mine! Upon it, stood my father's house. This King despoiled +me of both ground and house to build this church. In the great name of +GOD, I here forbid his body to be covered with the earth that is my +right!' The priests and bishops present, knowing the speaker's right, +and knowing that the King had often denied him justice, paid him down +sixty shillings for the grave. Even then, the corpse was not at rest. +The tomb was too small, and they tried to force it in. It broke, a +dreadful smell arose, the people hurried out into the air, and, for the +third time, it was left alone. + +Where were the Conqueror's three sons, that they were not at their +father's burial? Robert was lounging among minstrels, dancers, and +gamesters, in France or Germany. Henry was carrying his five thousand +pounds safely away in a convenient chest he had got made. William the +Red was hurrying to England, to lay hands upon the Royal treasure and the +crown. + + + + +CHAPTER IX--ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS + + +William the Red, in breathless haste, secured the three great forts of +Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, and made with hot speed for Winchester, +where the Royal treasure was kept. The treasurer delivering him the +keys, he found that it amounted to sixty thousand pounds in silver, +besides gold and jewels. Possessed of this wealth, he soon persuaded the +Archbishop of Canterbury to crown him, and became William the Second, +King of England. + +Rufus was no sooner on the throne, than he ordered into prison again the +unhappy state captives whom his father had set free, and directed a +goldsmith to ornament his father's tomb profusely with gold and silver. +It would have been more dutiful in him to have attended the sick +Conqueror when he was dying; but England itself, like this Red King, who +once governed it, has sometimes made expensive tombs for dead men whom it +treated shabbily when they were alive. + +The King's brother, Robert of Normandy, seeming quite content to be only +Duke of that country; and the King's other brother, Fine-Scholar, being +quiet enough with his five thousand pounds in a chest; the King flattered +himself, we may suppose, with the hope of an easy reign. But easy reigns +were difficult to have in those days. The turbulent Bishop ODO (who had +blessed the Norman army at the Battle of Hastings, and who, I dare say, +took all the credit of the victory to himself) soon began, in concert +with some powerful Norman nobles, to trouble the Red King. + +The truth seems to be that this bishop and his friends, who had lands in +England and lands in Normandy, wished to hold both under one Sovereign; +and greatly preferred a thoughtless good-natured person, such as Robert +was, to Rufus; who, though far from being an amiable man in any respect, +was keen, and not to be imposed upon. They declared in Robert's favour, +and retired to their castles (those castles were very troublesome to +kings) in a sullen humour. The Red King, seeing the Normans thus falling +from him, revenged himself upon them by appealing to the English; to whom +he made a variety of promises, which he never meant to perform--in +particular, promises to soften the cruelty of the Forest Laws; and who, +in return, so aided him with their valour, that ODO was besieged in the +Castle of Rochester, and forced to abandon it, and to depart from England +for ever: whereupon the other rebellious Norman nobles were soon reduced +and scattered. + +Then, the Red King went over to Normandy, where the people suffered +greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The King's object was to +seize upon the Duke's dominions. This, the Duke, of course, prepared to +resist; and miserable war between the two brothers seemed inevitable, +when the powerful nobles on both sides, who had seen so much of war, +interfered to prevent it. A treaty was made. Each of the two brothers +agreed to give up something of his claims, and that the longer-liver of +the two should inherit all the dominions of the other. When they had +come to this loving understanding, they embraced and joined their forces +against Fine-Scholar; who had bought some territory of Robert with a part +of his five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous individual in +consequence. + +St. Michael's Mount, in Normandy (there is another St. Michael's Mount, +in Cornwall, wonderfully like it), was then, as it is now, a strong place +perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide is in, +the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland. In this place, +Fine-Scholar shut himself up with his soldiers, and here he was closely +besieged by his two brothers. At one time, when he was reduced to great +distress for want of water, the generous Robert not only permitted his +men to get water, but sent Fine-Scholar wine from his own table; and, on +being remonstrated with by the Red King, said 'What! shall we let our own +brother die of thirst? Where shall we get another, when he is gone?' At +another time, the Red King riding alone on the shore of the bay, looking +up at the Castle, was taken by two of Fine-Scholar's men, one of whom was +about to kill him, when he cried out, 'Hold, knave! I am the King of +England!' The story says that the soldier raised him from the ground +respectfully and humbly, and that the King took him into his service. The +story may or may not be true; but at any rate it is true that +Fine-Scholar could not hold out against his united brothers, and that he +abandoned Mount St. Michael, and wandered about--as poor and forlorn as +other scholars have been sometimes known to be. + +The Scotch became unquiet in the Red King's time, and were twice +defeated--the second time, with the loss of their King, Malcolm, and his +son. The Welsh became unquiet too. Against them, Rufus was less +successful; for they fought among their native mountains, and did great +execution on the King's troops. Robert of Normandy became unquiet too; +and, complaining that his brother the King did not faithfully perform his +part of their agreement, took up arms, and obtained assistance from the +King of France, whom Rufus, in the end, bought off with vast sums of +money. England became unquiet too. Lord Mowbray, the powerful Earl of +Northumberland, headed a great conspiracy to depose the King, and to +place upon the throne, STEPHEN, the Conqueror's near relative. The plot +was discovered; all the chief conspirators were seized; some were fined, +some were put in prison, some were put to death. The Earl of +Northumberland himself was shut up in a dungeon beneath Windsor Castle, +where he died, an old man, thirty long years afterwards. The Priests in +England were more unquiet than any other class or power; for the Red King +treated them with such small ceremony that he refused to appoint new +bishops or archbishops when the old ones died, but kept all the wealth +belonging to those offices in his own hands. In return for this, the +Priests wrote his life when he was dead, and abused him well. I am +inclined to think, myself, that there was little to choose between the +Priests and the Red King; that both sides were greedy and designing; and +that they were fairly matched. + +The Red King was false of heart, selfish, covetous, and mean. He had a +worthy minister in his favourite, Ralph, nicknamed--for almost every +famous person had a nickname in those rough days--Flambard, or the +Firebrand. Once, the King being ill, became penitent, and made ANSELM, a +foreign priest and a good man, Archbishop of Canterbury. But he no +sooner got well again than he repented of his repentance, and persisted +in wrongfully keeping to himself some of the wealth belonging to the +archbishopric. This led to violent disputes, which were aggravated by +there being in Rome at that time two rival Popes; each of whom declared +he was the only real original infallible Pope, who couldn't make a +mistake. At last, Anselm, knowing the Red King's character, and not +feeling himself safe in England, asked leave to return abroad. The Red +King gladly gave it; for he knew that as soon as Anselm was gone, he +could begin to store up all the Canterbury money again, for his own use. + +By such means, and by taxing and oppressing the English people in every +possible way, the Red King became very rich. When he wanted money for +any purpose, he raised it by some means or other, and cared nothing for +the injustice he did, or the misery he caused. Having the opportunity of +buying from Robert the whole duchy of Normandy for five years, he taxed +the English people more than ever, and made the very convents sell their +plate and valuables to supply him with the means to make the purchase. +But he was as quick and eager in putting down revolt as he was in raising +money; for, a part of the Norman people objecting--very naturally, I +think--to being sold in this way, he headed an army against them with all +the speed and energy of his father. He was so impatient, that he +embarked for Normandy in a great gale of wind. And when the sailors told +him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry weather, he replied, +'Hoist sail and away! Did you ever hear of a king who was drowned?' + +You will wonder how it was that even the careless Robert came to sell his +dominions. It happened thus. It had long been the custom for many +English people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were called +pilgrimages, in order that they might pray beside the tomb of Our Saviour +there. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks, and the Turks hating +Christianity, these Christian travellers were often insulted and ill +used. The Pilgrims bore it patiently for some time, but at length a +remarkable man, of great earnestness and eloquence, called PETER THE +HERMIT, began to preach in various places against the Turks, and to +declare that it was the duty of good Christians to drive away those +unbelievers from the tomb of Our Saviour, and to take possession of it, +and protect it. An excitement such as the world had never known before +was created. Thousands and thousands of men of all ranks and conditions +departed for Jerusalem to make war against the Turks. The war is called +in history the first Crusade, and every Crusader wore a cross marked on +his right shoulder. + +All the Crusaders were not zealous Christians. Among them were vast +numbers of the restless, idle, profligate, and adventurous spirit of the +time. Some became Crusaders for the love of change; some, in the hope of +plunder; some, because they had nothing to do at home; some, because they +did what the priests told them; some, because they liked to see foreign +countries; some, because they were fond of knocking men about, and would +as soon knock a Turk about as a Christian. Robert of Normandy may have +been influenced by all these motives; and by a kind desire, besides, to +save the Christian Pilgrims from bad treatment in future. He wanted to +raise a number of armed men, and to go to the Crusade. He could not do +so without money. He had no money; and he sold his dominions to his +brother, the Red King, for five years. With the large sum he thus +obtained, he fitted out his Crusaders gallantly, and went away to +Jerusalem in martial state. The Red King, who made money out of +everything, stayed at home, busily squeezing more money out of Normans +and English. + +After three years of great hardship and suffering--from shipwreck at sea; +from travel in strange lands; from hunger, thirst, and fever, upon the +burning sands of the desert; and from the fury of the Turks--the valiant +Crusaders got possession of Our Saviour's tomb. The Turks were still +resisting and fighting bravely, but this success increased the general +desire in Europe to join the Crusade. Another great French Duke was +proposing to sell his dominions for a term to the rich Red King, when the +Red King's reign came to a sudden and violent end. + +You have not forgotten the New Forest which the Conqueror made, and which +the miserable people whose homes he had laid waste, so hated. The +cruelty of the Forest Laws, and the torture and death they brought upon +the peasantry, increased this hatred. The poor persecuted country people +believed that the New Forest was enchanted. They said that in thunder- +storms, and on dark nights, demons appeared, moving beneath the branches +of the gloomy trees. They said that a terrible spectre had foretold to +Norman hunters that the Red King should be punished there. And now, in +the pleasant season of May, when the Red King had reigned almost thirteen +years; and a second Prince of the Conqueror's blood--another Richard, the +son of Duke Robert--was killed by an arrow in this dreaded Forest; the +people said that the second time was not the last, and that there was +another death to come. + +It was a lonely forest, accursed in the people's hearts for the wicked +deeds that had been done to make it; and no man save the King and his +Courtiers and Huntsmen, liked to stray there. But, in reality, it was +like any other forest. In the spring, the green leaves broke out of the +buds; in the summer, flourished heartily, and made deep shades; in the +winter, shrivelled and blew down, and lay in brown heaps on the moss. +Some trees were stately, and grew high and strong; some had fallen of +themselves; some were felled by the forester's axe; some were hollow, and +the rabbits burrowed at their roots; some few were struck by lightning, +and stood white and bare. There were hill-sides covered with rich fern, +on which the morning dew so beautifully sparkled; there were brooks, +where the deer went down to drink, or over which the whole herd bounded, +flying from the arrows of the huntsmen; there were sunny glades, and +solemn places where but little light came through the rustling leaves. +The songs of the birds in the New Forest were pleasanter to hear than the +shouts of fighting men outside; and even when the Red King and his Court +came hunting through its solitudes, cursing loud and riding hard, with a +jingling of stirrups and bridles and knives and daggers, they did much +less harm there than among the English or Normans, and the stags died (as +they lived) far easier than the people. + +Upon a day in August, the Red King, now reconciled to his brother, Fine- +Scholar, came with a great train to hunt in the New Forest. Fine-Scholar +was of the party. They were a merry party, and had lain all night at +Malwood-Keep, a hunting-lodge in the forest, where they had made good +cheer, both at supper and breakfast, and had drunk a deal of wine. The +party dispersed in various directions, as the custom of hunters then was. +The King took with him only SIR WALTER TYRREL, who was a famous +sportsman, and to whom he had given, before they mounted horse that +morning, two fine arrows. + +The last time the King was ever seen alive, he was riding with Sir Walter +Tyrrel, and their dogs were hunting together. + +It was almost night, when a poor charcoal-burner, passing through the +forest with his cart, came upon the solitary body of a dead man, shot +with an arrow in the breast, and still bleeding. He got it into his +cart. It was the body of the King. Shaken and tumbled, with its red +beard all whitened with lime and clotted with blood, it was driven in the +cart by the charcoal-burner next day to Winchester Cathedral, where it +was received and buried. + +Sir Walter Tyrrel, who escaped to Normandy, and claimed the protection of +the King of France, swore in France that the Red King was suddenly shot +dead by an arrow from an unseen hand, while they were hunting together; +that he was fearful of being suspected as the King's murderer; and that +he instantly set spurs to his horse, and fled to the sea-shore. Others +declared that the King and Sir Walter Tyrrel were hunting in company, a +little before sunset, standing in bushes opposite one another, when a +stag came between them. That the King drew his bow and took aim, but the +string broke. That the King then cried, 'Shoot, Walter, in the Devil's +name!' That Sir Walter shot. That the arrow glanced against a tree, was +turned aside from the stag, and struck the King from his horse, dead. + +By whose hand the Red King really fell, and whether that hand despatched +the arrow to his breast by accident or by design, is only known to GOD. +Some think his brother may have caused him to be killed; but the Red King +had made so many enemies, both among priests and people, that suspicion +may reasonably rest upon a less unnatural murderer. Men know no more +than that he was found dead in the New Forest, which the suffering people +had regarded as a doomed ground for his race. + + + + +CHAPTER X--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR + + +Fine-scholar, on hearing of the Red King's death, hurried to Winchester +with as much speed as Rufus himself had made, to seize the Royal +treasure. But the keeper of the treasure who had been one of the hunting- +party in the Forest, made haste to Winchester too, and, arriving there at +about the same time, refused to yield it up. Upon this, Fine-Scholar +drew his sword, and threatened to kill the treasurer; who might have paid +for his fidelity with his life, but that he knew longer resistance to be +useless when he found the Prince supported by a company of powerful +barons, who declared they were determined to make him King. The +treasurer, therefore, gave up the money and jewels of the Crown: and on +the third day after the death of the Red King, being a Sunday, +Fine-Scholar stood before the high altar in Westminster Abbey, and made a +solemn declaration that he would resign the Church property which his +brother had seized; that he would do no wrong to the nobles; and that he +would restore to the people the laws of Edward the Confessor, with all +the improvements of William the Conqueror. So began the reign of KING +HENRY THE FIRST. + +The people were attached to their new King, both because he had known +distresses, and because he was an Englishman by birth and not a Norman. +To strengthen this last hold upon them, the King wished to marry an +English lady; and could think of no other wife than MAUD THE GOOD, the +daughter of the King of Scotland. Although this good Princess did not +love the King, she was so affected by the representations the nobles made +to her of the great charity it would be in her to unite the Norman and +Saxon races, and prevent hatred and bloodshed between them for the +future, that she consented to become his wife. After some disputing +among the priests, who said that as she had been in a convent in her +youth, and had worn the veil of a nun, she could not lawfully be +married--against which the Princess stated that her aunt, with whom she +had lived in her youth, had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black +stuff over her, but for no other reason than because the nun's veil was +the only dress the conquering Normans respected in girl or woman, and not +because she had taken the vows of a nun, which she never had--she was +declared free to marry, and was made King Henry's Queen. A good Queen +she was; beautiful, kind-hearted, and worthy of a better husband than the +King. + +For he was a cunning and unscrupulous man, though firm and clever. He +cared very little for his word, and took any means to gain his ends. All +this is shown in his treatment of his brother Robert--Robert, who had +suffered him to be refreshed with water, and who had sent him the wine +from his own table, when he was shut up, with the crows flying below him, +parched with thirst, in the castle on the top of St. Michael's Mount, +where his Red brother would have let him die. + +Before the King began to deal with Robert, he removed and disgraced all +the favourites of the late King; who were for the most part base +characters, much detested by the people. Flambard, or Firebrand, whom +the late King had made Bishop of Durham, of all things in the world, +Henry imprisoned in the Tower; but Firebrand was a great joker and a +jolly companion, and made himself so popular with his guards that they +pretended to know nothing about a long rope that was sent into his prison +at the bottom of a deep flagon of wine. The guards took the wine, and +Firebrand took the rope; with which, when they were fast asleep, he let +himself down from a window in the night, and so got cleverly aboard ship +and away to Normandy. + +Now Robert, when his brother Fine-Scholar came to the throne, was still +absent in the Holy Land. Henry pretended that Robert had been made +Sovereign of that country; and he had been away so long, that the +ignorant people believed it. But, behold, when Henry had been some time +King of England, Robert came home to Normandy; having leisurely returned +from Jerusalem through Italy, in which beautiful country he had enjoyed +himself very much, and had married a lady as beautiful as itself! In +Normandy, he found Firebrand waiting to urge him to assert his claim to +the English crown, and declare war against King Henry. This, after great +loss of time in feasting and dancing with his beautiful Italian wife +among his Norman friends, he at last did. + +The English in general were on King Henry's side, though many of the +Normans were on Robert's. But the English sailors deserted the King, and +took a great part of the English fleet over to Normandy; so that Robert +came to invade this country in no foreign vessels, but in English ships. +The virtuous Anselm, however, whom Henry had invited back from abroad, +and made Archbishop of Canterbury, was steadfast in the King's cause; and +it was so well supported that the two armies, instead of fighting, made a +peace. Poor Robert, who trusted anybody and everybody, readily trusted +his brother, the King; and agreed to go home and receive a pension from +England, on condition that all his followers were fully pardoned. This +the King very faithfully promised, but Robert was no sooner gone than he +began to punish them. + +Among them was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, on being summoned by the King +to answer to five-and-forty accusations, rode away to one of his strong +castles, shut himself up therein, called around him his tenants and +vassals, and fought for his liberty, but was defeated and banished. +Robert, with all his faults, was so true to his word, that when he first +heard of this nobleman having risen against his brother, he laid waste +the Earl of Shrewsbury's estates in Normandy, to show the King that he +would favour no breach of their treaty. Finding, on better information, +afterwards, that the Earl's only crime was having been his friend, he +came over to England, in his old thoughtless, warm-hearted way, to +intercede with the King, and remind him of the solemn promise to pardon +all his followers. + +This confidence might have put the false King to the blush, but it did +not. Pretending to be very friendly, he so surrounded his brother with +spies and traps, that Robert, who was quite in his power, had nothing for +it but to renounce his pension and escape while he could. Getting home +to Normandy, and understanding the King better now, he naturally allied +himself with his old friend the Earl of Shrewsbury, who had still thirty +castles in that country. This was exactly what Henry wanted. He +immediately declared that Robert had broken the treaty, and next year +invaded Normandy. + +He pretended that he came to deliver the Normans, at their own request, +from his brother's misrule. There is reason to fear that his misrule was +bad enough; for his beautiful wife had died, leaving him with an infant +son, and his court was again so careless, dissipated, and ill-regulated, +that it was said he sometimes lay in bed of a day for want of clothes to +put on--his attendants having stolen all his dresses. But he headed his +army like a brave prince and a gallant soldier, though he had the +misfortune to be taken prisoner by King Henry, with four hundred of his +Knights. Among them was poor harmless Edgar Atheling, who loved Robert +well. Edgar was not important enough to be severe with. The King +afterwards gave him a small pension, which he lived upon and died upon, +in peace, among the quiet woods and fields of England. + +And Robert--poor, kind, generous, wasteful, heedless Robert, with so many +faults, and yet with virtues that might have made a better and a happier +man--what was the end of him? If the King had had the magnanimity to say +with a kind air, 'Brother, tell me, before these noblemen, that from this +time you will be my faithful follower and friend, and never raise your +hand against me or my forces more!' he might have trusted Robert to the +death. But the King was not a magnanimous man. He sentenced his brother +to be confined for life in one of the Royal Castles. In the beginning of +his imprisonment, he was allowed to ride out, guarded; but he one day +broke away from his guard and galloped of. He had the evil fortune to +ride into a swamp, where his horse stuck fast and he was taken. When the +King heard of it he ordered him to be blinded, which was done by putting +a red-hot metal basin on his eyes. + +And so, in darkness and in prison, many years, he thought of all his past +life, of the time he had wasted, of the treasure he had squandered, of +the opportunities he had lost, of the youth he had thrown away, of the +talents he had neglected. Sometimes, on fine autumn mornings, he would +sit and think of the old hunting parties in the free Forest, where he had +been the foremost and the gayest. Sometimes, in the still nights, he +would wake, and mourn for the many nights that had stolen past him at the +gaming-table; sometimes, would seem to hear, upon the melancholy wind, +the old songs of the minstrels; sometimes, would dream, in his blindness, +of the light and glitter of the Norman Court. Many and many a time, he +groped back, in his fancy, to Jerusalem, where he had fought so well; or, +at the head of his brave companions, bowed his feathered helmet to the +shouts of welcome greeting him in Italy, and seemed again to walk among +the sunny vineyards, or on the shore of the blue sea, with his lovely +wife. And then, thinking of her grave, and of his fatherless boy, he +would stretch out his solitary arms and weep. + +At length, one day, there lay in prison, dead, with cruel and disfiguring +scars upon his eyelids, bandaged from his jailer's sight, but on which +the eternal Heavens looked down, a worn old man of eighty. He had once +been Robert of Normandy. Pity him! + +{Duke Robert of Normandy: p52.jpg} + +At the time when Robert of Normandy was taken prisoner by his brother, +Robert's little son was only five years old. This child was taken, too, +and carried before the King, sobbing and crying; for, young as he was, he +knew he had good reason to be afraid of his Royal uncle. The King was +not much accustomed to pity those who were in his power, but his cold +heart seemed for the moment to soften towards the boy. He was observed +to make a great effort, as if to prevent himself from being cruel, and +ordered the child to be taken away; whereupon a certain Baron, who had +married a daughter of Duke Robert's (by name, Helie of Saint Saen), took +charge of him, tenderly. The King's gentleness did not last long. Before +two years were over, he sent messengers to this lord's Castle to seize +the child and bring him away. The Baron was not there at the time, but +his servants were faithful, and carried the boy off in his sleep and hid +him. When the Baron came home, and was told what the King had done, he +took the child abroad, and, leading him by the hand, went from King to +King and from Court to Court, relating how the child had a claim to the +throne of England, and how his uncle the King, knowing that he had that +claim, would have murdered him, perhaps, but for his escape. + +The youth and innocence of the pretty little WILLIAM FITZ-ROBERT (for +that was his name) made him many friends at that time. When he became a +young man, the King of France, uniting with the French Counts of Anjou +and Flanders, supported his cause against the King of England, and took +many of the King's towns and castles in Normandy. But, King Henry, +artful and cunning always, bribed some of William's friends with money, +some with promises, some with power. He bought off the Count of Anjou, +by promising to marry his eldest son, also named WILLIAM, to the Count's +daughter; and indeed the whole trust of this King's life was in such +bargains, and he believed (as many another King has done since, and as +one King did in France a very little time ago) that every man's truth and +honour can be bought at some price. For all this, he was so afraid of +William Fitz-Robert and his friends, that, for a long time, he believed +his life to be in danger; and never lay down to sleep, even in his palace +surrounded by his guards, without having a sword and buckler at his +bedside. + +To strengthen his power, the King with great ceremony betrothed his +eldest daughter MATILDA, then a child only eight years old, to be the +wife of Henry the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany. To raise her marriage- +portion, he taxed the English people in a most oppressive manner; then +treated them to a great procession, to restore their good humour; and +sent Matilda away, in fine state, with the German ambassadors, to be +educated in the country of her future husband. + +And now his Queen, Maud the Good, unhappily died. It was a sad thought +for that gentle lady, that the only hope with which she had married a man +whom she had never loved--the hope of reconciling the Norman and English +races--had failed. At the very time of her death, Normandy and all +France was in arms against England; for, so soon as his last danger was +over, King Henry had been false to all the French powers he had promised, +bribed, and bought, and they had naturally united against him. After +some fighting, however, in which few suffered but the unhappy common +people (who always suffered, whatsoever was the matter), he began to +promise, bribe, and buy again; and by those means, and by the help of the +Pope, who exerted himself to save more bloodshed, and by solemnly +declaring, over and over again, that he really was in earnest this time, +and would keep his word, the King made peace. + +One of the first consequences of this peace was, that the King went over +to Normandy with his son Prince William and a great retinue, to have the +Prince acknowledged as his successor by the Norman Nobles, and to +contract the promised marriage (this was one of the many promises the +King had broken) between him and the daughter of the Count of Anjou. Both +these things were triumphantly done, with great show and rejoicing; and +on the twenty-fifth of November, in the year one thousand one hundred and +twenty, the whole retinue prepared to embark at the Port of Barfleur, for +the voyage home. + +On that day, and at that place, there came to the King, Fitz-Stephen, a +sea-captain, and said: + +'My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. He +steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which your father +sailed to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me the same office. I +have a fair vessel in the harbour here, called The White Ship, manned by +fifty sailors of renown. I pray you, Sire, to let your servant have the +honour of steering you in The White Ship to England!' + +'I am sorry, friend,' replied the King, 'that my vessel is already +chosen, and that I cannot (therefore) sail with the son of the man who +served my father. But the Prince and all his company shall go along with +you, in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors of renown.' + +An hour or two afterwards, the King set sail in the vessel he had chosen, +accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a fair and +gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. While it +was yet night, the people in some of those ships heard a faint wild cry +come over the sea, and wondered what it was. + +Now, the Prince was a dissolute, debauched young man of eighteen, who +bore no love to the English, and had declared that when he came to the +throne he would yoke them to the plough like oxen. He went aboard The +White Ship, with one hundred and forty youthful Nobles like himself, +among whom were eighteen noble ladies of the highest rank. All this gay +company, with their servants and the fifty sailors, made three hundred +souls aboard the fair White Ship. + +'Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen,' said the Prince, 'to the fifty +sailors of renown! My father the King has sailed out of the harbour. +What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach England with the +rest?' + +'Prince!' said Fitz-Stephen, 'before morning, my fifty and The White Ship +shall overtake the swiftest vessel in attendance on your father the King, +if we sail at midnight!' + +Then the Prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out the +three casks of wine; and the Prince and all the noble company danced in +the moonlight on the deck of The White Ship. + +When, at last, she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur, there was not a +sober seaman on board. But the sails were all set, and the oars all +going merrily. Fitz-Stephen had the helm. The gay young nobles and the +beautiful ladies, wrapped in mantles of various bright colours to protect +them from the cold, talked, laughed, and sang. The Prince encouraged the +fifty sailors to row harder yet, for the honour of The White Ship. + +Crash! A terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the cry +the people in the distant vessels of the King heard faintly on the water. +The White Ship had struck upon a rock--was filling--going down! + +Fitz-Stephen hurried the Prince into a boat, with some few Nobles. 'Push +off,' he whispered; 'and row to land. It is not far, and the sea is +smooth. The rest of us must die.' + +But, as they rowed away, fast, from the sinking ship, the Prince heard +the voice of his sister MARIE, the Countess of Perche, calling for help. +He never in his life had been so good as he was then. He cried in an +agony, 'Row back at any risk! I cannot bear to leave her!' + +They rowed back. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his sister, +such numbers leaped in, that the boat was overset. And in the same +instant The White Ship went down. + +Only two men floated. They both clung to the main yard of the ship, +which had broken from the mast, and now supported them. One asked the +other who he was? He said, 'I am a nobleman, GODFREY by name, the son of +GILBERT DE L'AIGLE. And you?' said he. 'I am BEROLD, a poor butcher of +Rouen,' was the answer. Then, they said together, 'Lord be merciful to +us both!' and tried to encourage one another, as they drifted in the cold +benumbing sea on that unfortunate November night. + +By-and-by, another man came swimming towards them, whom they knew, when +he pushed aside his long wet hair, to be Fitz-Stephen. 'Where is the +Prince?' said he. 'Gone! Gone!' the two cried together. 'Neither he, +nor his brother, nor his sister, nor the King's niece, nor her brother, +nor any one of all the brave three hundred, noble or commoner, except we +three, has risen above the water!' Fitz-Stephen, with a ghastly face, +cried, 'Woe! woe, to me!' and sunk to the bottom. + +The other two clung to the yard for some hours. At length the young +noble said faintly, 'I am exhausted, and chilled with the cold, and can +hold no longer. Farewell, good friend! God preserve you!' So, he +dropped and sunk; and of all the brilliant crowd, the poor Butcher of +Rouen alone was saved. In the morning, some fishermen saw him floating +in his sheep-skin coat, and got him into their boat--the sole relater of +the dismal tale. + +For three days, no one dared to carry the intelligence to the King. At +length, they sent into his presence a little boy, who, weeping bitterly, +and kneeling at his feet, told him that The White Ship was lost with all +on board. The King fell to the ground like a dead man, and never, never +afterwards, was seen to smile. + +But he plotted again, and promised again, and bribed and bought again, in +his old deceitful way. Having no son to succeed him, after all his pains +('The Prince will never yoke us to the plough, now!' said the English +people), he took a second wife--ADELAIS or ALICE, a duke's daughter, and +the Pope's niece. Having no more children, however, he proposed to the +Barons to swear that they would recognise as his successor, his daughter +Matilda, whom, as she was now a widow, he married to the eldest son of +the Count of Anjou, GEOFFREY, surnamed PLANTAGENET, from a custom he had +of wearing a sprig of flowering broom (called Genet in French) in his cap +for a feather. As one false man usually makes many, and as a false King, +in particular, is pretty certain to make a false Court, the Barons took +the oath about the succession of Matilda (and her children after her), +twice over, without in the least intending to keep it. The King was now +relieved from any remaining fears of William Fitz-Robert, by his death in +the Monastery of St. Omer, in France, at twenty-six years old, of a pike- +wound in the hand. And as Matilda gave birth to three sons, he thought +the succession to the throne secure. + +He spent most of the latter part of his life, which was troubled by +family quarrels, in Normandy, to be near Matilda. When he had reigned +upward of thirty-five years, and was sixty-seven years old, he died of an +indigestion and fever, brought on by eating, when he was far from well, +of a fish called Lamprey, against which he had often been cautioned by +his physicians. His remains were brought over to Reading Abbey to be +buried. + +You may perhaps hear the cunning and promise-breaking of King Henry the +First, called 'policy' by some people, and 'diplomacy' by others. Neither +of these fine words will in the least mean that it was true; and nothing +that is not true can possibly be good. + +His greatest merit, that I know of, was his love of learning--I should +have given him greater credit even for that, if it had been strong enough +to induce him to spare the eyes of a certain poet he once took prisoner, +who was a knight besides. But he ordered the poet's eyes to be torn from +his head, because he had laughed at him in his verses; and the poet, in +the pain of that torture, dashed out his own brains against his prison +wall. King Henry the First was avaricious, revengeful, and so false, +that I suppose a man never lived whose word was less to be relied upon. + + + + +CHAPTER XI--ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN + + +The King was no sooner dead than all the plans and schemes he had +laboured at so long, and lied so much for, crumbled away like a hollow +heap of sand. STEPHEN, whom he had never mistrusted or suspected, +started up to claim the throne. + +Stephen was the son of ADELA, the Conqueror's daughter, married to the +Count of Blois. To Stephen, and to his brother HENRY, the late King had +been liberal; making Henry Bishop of Winchester, and finding a good +marriage for Stephen, and much enriching him. This did not prevent +Stephen from hastily producing a false witness, a servant of the late +King, to swear that the King had named him for his heir upon his death- +bed. On this evidence the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him. The new +King, so suddenly made, lost not a moment in seizing the Royal treasure, +and hiring foreign soldiers with some of it to protect his throne. + +If the dead King had even done as the false witness said, he would have +had small right to will away the English people, like so many sheep or +oxen, without their consent. But he had, in fact, bequeathed all his +territory to Matilda; who, supported by ROBERT, Earl of Gloucester, soon +began to dispute the crown. Some of the powerful barons and priests took +her side; some took Stephen's; all fortified their castles; and again the +miserable English people were involved in war, from which they could +never derive advantage whosoever was victorious, and in which all parties +plundered, tortured, starved, and ruined them. + +Five years had passed since the death of Henry the First--and during +those five years there had been two terrible invasions by the people of +Scotland under their King, David, who was at last defeated with all his +army--when Matilda, attended by her brother Robert and a large force, +appeared in England to maintain her claim. A battle was fought between +her troops and King Stephen's at Lincoln; in which the King himself was +taken prisoner, after bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword +were broken, and was carried into strict confinement at Gloucester. +Matilda then submitted herself to the Priests, and the Priests crowned +her Queen of England. + +She did not long enjoy this dignity. The people of London had a great +affection for Stephen; many of the Barons considered it degrading to be +ruled by a woman; and the Queen's temper was so haughty that she made +innumerable enemies. The people of London revolted; and, in alliance +with the troops of Stephen, besieged her at Winchester, where they took +her brother Robert prisoner, whom, as her best soldier and chief general, +she was glad to exchange for Stephen himself, who thus regained his +liberty. Then, the long war went on afresh. Once, she was pressed so +hard in the Castle of Oxford, in the winter weather when the snow lay +thick upon the ground, that her only chance of escape was to dress +herself all in white, and, accompanied by no more than three faithful +Knights, dressed in like manner that their figures might not be seen from +Stephen's camp as they passed over the snow, to steal away on foot, cross +the frozen Thames, walk a long distance, and at last gallop away on +horseback. All this she did, but to no great purpose then; for her +brother dying while the struggle was yet going on, she at last withdrew +to Normandy. + +In two or three years after her withdrawal her cause appeared in England, +afresh, in the person of her son Henry, young Plantagenet, who, at only +eighteen years of age, was very powerful: not only on account of his +mother having resigned all Normandy to him, but also from his having +married ELEANOR, the divorced wife of the French King, a bad woman, who +had great possessions in France. Louis, the French King, not relishing +this arrangement, helped EUSTACE, King Stephen's son, to invade Normandy: +but Henry drove their united forces out of that country, and then +returned here, to assist his partisans, whom the King was then besieging +at Wallingford upon the Thames. Here, for two days, divided only by the +river, the two armies lay encamped opposite to one another--on the eve, +as it seemed to all men, of another desperate fight, when the EARL OF +ARUNDEL took heart and said 'that it was not reasonable to prolong the +unspeakable miseries of two kingdoms to minister to the ambition of two +princes.' + +Many other noblemen repeating and supporting this when it was once +uttered, Stephen and young Plantagenet went down, each to his own bank of +the river, and held a conversation across it, in which they arranged a +truce; very much to the dissatisfaction of Eustace, who swaggered away +with some followers, and laid violent hands on the Abbey of St. Edmund's- +Bury, where he presently died mad. The truce led to a solemn council at +Winchester, in which it was agreed that Stephen should retain the crown, +on condition of his declaring Henry his successor; that WILLIAM, another +son of the King's, should inherit his father's rightful possessions; and +that all the Crown lands which Stephen had given away should be recalled, +and all the Castles he had permitted to be built demolished. Thus +terminated the bitter war, which had now lasted fifteen years, and had +again laid England waste. In the next year STEPHEN died, after a +troubled reign of nineteen years. + +Although King Stephen was, for the time in which he lived, a humane and +moderate man, with many excellent qualities; and although nothing worse +is known of him than his usurpation of the Crown, which he probably +excused to himself by the consideration that King Henry the First was a +usurper too--which was no excuse at all; the people of England suffered +more in these dread nineteen years, than at any former period even of +their suffering history. In the division of the nobility between the two +rival claimants of the Crown, and in the growth of what is called the +Feudal System (which made the peasants the born vassals and mere slaves +of the Barons), every Noble had his strong Castle, where he reigned the +cruel king of all the neighbouring people. Accordingly, he perpetrated +whatever cruelties he chose. And never were worse cruelties committed +upon earth than in wretched England in those nineteen years. + +The writers who were living then describe them fearfully. They say that +the castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that the +peasants, men and women, were put into dungeons for their gold and +silver, were tortured with fire and smoke, were hung up by the thumbs, +were hung up by the heels with great weights to their heads, were torn +with jagged irons, killed with hunger, broken to death in narrow chests +filled with sharp-pointed stones, murdered in countless fiendish ways. In +England there was no corn, no meat, no cheese, no butter, there were no +tilled lands, no harvests. Ashes of burnt towns, and dreary wastes, were +all that the traveller, fearful of the robbers who prowled abroad at all +hours, would see in a long day's journey; and from sunrise until night, +he would not come upon a home. + +The clergy sometimes suffered, and heavily too, from pillage, but many of +them had castles of their own, and fought in helmet and armour like the +barons, and drew lots with other fighting men for their share of booty. +The Pope (or Bishop of Rome), on King Stephen's resisting his ambition, +laid England under an Interdict at one period of this reign; which means +that he allowed no service to be performed in the churches, no couples to +be married, no bells to be rung, no dead bodies to be buried. Any man +having the power to refuse these things, no matter whether he were called +a Pope or a Poulterer, would, of course, have the power of afflicting +numbers of innocent people. That nothing might be wanting to the +miseries of King Stephen's time, the Pope threw in this contribution to +the public store--not very like the widow's contribution, as I think, +when Our Saviour sat in Jerusalem over-against the Treasury, 'and she +threw in two mites, which make a farthing.' + + + + +CHAPTER XII--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND + + +PART THE FIRST + + +Henry Plantagenet, when he was but twenty-one years old, quietly +succeeded to the throne of England, according to his agreement made with +the late King at Winchester. Six weeks after Stephen's death, he and his +Queen, Eleanor, were crowned in that city; into which they rode on +horseback in great state, side by side, amidst much shouting and +rejoicing, and clashing of music, and strewing of flowers. + +The reign of King Henry the Second began well. The King had great +possessions, and (what with his own rights, and what with those of his +wife) was lord of one-third part of France. He was a young man of +vigour, ability, and resolution, and immediately applied himself to +remove some of the evils which had arisen in the last unhappy reign. He +revoked all the grants of land that had been hastily made, on either +side, during the late struggles; he obliged numbers of disorderly +soldiers to depart from England; he reclaimed all the castles belonging +to the Crown; and he forced the wicked nobles to pull down their own +castles, to the number of eleven hundred, in which such dismal cruelties +had been inflicted on the people. The King's brother, GEOFFREY, rose +against him in France, while he was so well employed, and rendered it +necessary for him to repair to that country; where, after he had subdued +and made a friendly arrangement with his brother (who did not live long), +his ambition to increase his possessions involved him in a war with the +French King, Louis, with whom he had been on such friendly terms just +before, that to the French King's infant daughter, then a baby in the +cradle, he had promised one of his little sons in marriage, who was a +child of five years old. However, the war came to nothing at last, and +the Pope made the two Kings friends again. + +Now, the clergy, in the troubles of the last reign, had gone on very ill +indeed. There were all kinds of criminals among them--murderers, +thieves, and vagabonds; and the worst of the matter was, that the good +priests would not give up the bad priests to justice, when they committed +crimes, but persisted in sheltering and defending them. The King, well +knowing that there could be no peace or rest in England while such things +lasted, resolved to reduce the power of the clergy; and, when he had +reigned seven years, found (as he considered) a good opportunity for +doing so, in the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 'I will have for +the new Archbishop,' thought the King, 'a friend in whom I can trust, who +will help me to humble these rebellious priests, and to have them dealt +with, when they do wrong, as other men who do wrong are dealt with.' So, +he resolved to make his favourite, the new Archbishop; and this favourite +was so extraordinary a man, and his story is so curious, that I must tell +you all about him. + +Once upon a time, a worthy merchant of London, named GILBERT A BECKET, +made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was taken prisoner by a Saracen +lord. This lord, who treated him kindly and not like a slave, had one +fair daughter, who fell in love with the merchant; and who told him that +she wanted to become a Christian, and was willing to marry him if they +could fly to a Christian country. The merchant returned her love, until +he found an opportunity to escape, when he did not trouble himself about +the Saracen lady, but escaped with his servant Richard, who had been +taken prisoner along with him, and arrived in England and forgot her. The +Saracen lady, who was more loving than the merchant, left her father's +house in disguise to follow him, and made her way, under many hardships, +to the sea-shore. The merchant had taught her only two English words +(for I suppose he must have learnt the Saracen tongue himself, and made +love in that language), of which LONDON was one, and his own name, +GILBERT, the other. She went among the ships, saying, 'London! London!' +over and over again, until the sailors understood that she wanted to find +an English vessel that would carry her there; so they showed her such a +ship, and she paid for her passage with some of her jewels, and sailed +away. Well! The merchant was sitting in his counting-house in London +one day, when he heard a great noise in the street; and presently Richard +came running in from the warehouse, with his eyes wide open and his +breath almost gone, saying, 'Master, master, here is the Saracen lady!' +The merchant thought Richard was mad; but Richard said, 'No, master! As +I live, the Saracen lady is going up and down the city, calling Gilbert! +Gilbert!' Then, he took the merchant by the sleeve, and pointed out of +window; and there they saw her among the gables and water-spouts of the +dark, dirty street, in her foreign dress, so forlorn, surrounded by a +wondering crowd, and passing slowly along, calling Gilbert, Gilbert! When +the merchant saw her, and thought of the tenderness she had shown him in +his captivity, and of her constancy, his heart was moved, and he ran down +into the street; and she saw him coming, and with a great cry fainted in +his arms. They were married without loss of time, and Richard (who was +an excellent man) danced with joy the whole day of the wedding; and they +all lived happy ever afterwards. + +This merchant and this Saracen lady had one son, THOMAS A BECKET. He it +was who became the Favourite of King Henry the Second. + +He had become Chancellor, when the King thought of making him Archbishop. +He was clever, gay, well educated, brave; had fought in several battles +in France; had defeated a French knight in single combat, and brought his +horse away as a token of the victory. He lived in a noble palace, he was +the tutor of the young Prince Henry, he was served by one hundred and +forty knights, his riches were immense. The King once sent him as his +ambassador to France; and the French people, beholding in what state he +travelled, cried out in the streets, 'How splendid must the King of +England be, when this is only the Chancellor!' They had good reason to +wonder at the magnificence of Thomas a Becket, for, when he entered a +French town, his procession was headed by two hundred and fifty singing +boys; then, came his hounds in couples; then, eight waggons, each drawn +by five horses driven by five drivers: two of the waggons filled with +strong ale to be given away to the people; four, with his gold and silver +plate and stately clothes; two, with the dresses of his numerous +servants. Then, came twelve horses, each with a monkey on his back; +then, a train of people bearing shields and leading fine war-horses +splendidly equipped; then, falconers with hawks upon their wrists; then, +a host of knights, and gentlemen and priests; then, the Chancellor with +his brilliant garments flashing in the sun, and all the people capering +and shouting with delight. + +The King was well pleased with all this, thinking that it only made +himself the more magnificent to have so magnificent a favourite; but he +sometimes jested with the Chancellor upon his splendour too. Once, when +they were riding together through the streets of London in hard winter +weather, they saw a shivering old man in rags. 'Look at the poor +object!' said the King. 'Would it not be a charitable act to give that +aged man a comfortable warm cloak?' 'Undoubtedly it would,' said Thomas +a Becket, 'and you do well, Sir, to think of such Christian duties.' +'Come!' cried the King, 'then give him your cloak!' It was made of rich +crimson trimmed with ermine. The King tried to pull it off, the +Chancellor tried to keep it on, both were near rolling from their saddles +in the mud, when the Chancellor submitted, and the King gave the cloak to +the old beggar: much to the beggar's astonishment, and much to the +merriment of all the courtiers in attendance. For, courtiers are not +only eager to laugh when the King laughs, but they really do enjoy a +laugh against a Favourite. + +'I will make,' thought King Henry the second, 'this Chancellor of mine, +Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will then be the head of +the Church, and, being devoted to me, will help me to correct the Church. +He has always upheld my power against the power of the clergy, and once +publicly told some bishops (I remember), that men of the Church were +equally bound to me, with men of the sword. Thomas a Becket is the man, +of all other men in England, to help me in my great design.' So the +King, regardless of all objection, either that he was a fighting man, or +a lavish man, or a courtly man, or a man of pleasure, or anything but a +likely man for the office, made him Archbishop accordingly. + +Now, Thomas a Becket was proud and loved to be famous. He was already +famous for the pomp of his life, for his riches, his gold and silver +plate, his waggons, horses, and attendants. He could do no more in that +way than he had done; and being tired of that kind of fame (which is a +very poor one), he longed to have his name celebrated for something else. +Nothing, he knew, would render him so famous in the world, as the setting +of his utmost power and ability against the utmost power and ability of +the King. He resolved with the whole strength of his mind to do it. + +He may have had some secret grudge against the King besides. The King +may have offended his proud humour at some time or other, for anything I +know. I think it likely, because it is a common thing for Kings, +Princes, and other great people, to try the tempers of their favourites +rather severely. Even the little affair of the crimson cloak must have +been anything but a pleasant one to a haughty man. Thomas a Becket knew +better than any one in England what the King expected of him. In all his +sumptuous life, he had never yet been in a position to disappoint the +King. He could take up that proud stand now, as head of the Church; and +he determined that it should be written in history, either that he +subdued the King, or that the King subdued him. + +So, of a sudden, he completely altered the whole manner of his life. He +turned off all his brilliant followers, ate coarse food, drank bitter +water, wore next his skin sackcloth covered with dirt and vermin (for it +was then thought very religious to be very dirty), flogged his back to +punish himself, lived chiefly in a little cell, washed the feet of +thirteen poor people every day, and looked as miserable as he possibly +could. If he had put twelve hundred monkeys on horseback instead of +twelve, and had gone in procession with eight thousand waggons instead of +eight, he could not have half astonished the people so much as by this +great change. It soon caused him to be more talked about as an +Archbishop than he had been as a Chancellor. + +The King was very angry; and was made still more so, when the new +Archbishop, claiming various estates from the nobles as being rightfully +Church property, required the King himself, for the same reason, to give +up Rochester Castle, and Rochester City too. Not satisfied with this, he +declared that no power but himself should appoint a priest to any Church +in the part of England over which he was Archbishop; and when a certain +gentleman of Kent made such an appointment, as he claimed to have the +right to do, Thomas a Becket excommunicated him. + +Excommunication was, next to the Interdict I told you of at the close of +the last chapter, the great weapon of the clergy. It consisted in +declaring the person who was excommunicated, an outcast from the Church +and from all religious offices; and in cursing him all over, from the top +of his head to the sole of his foot, whether he was standing up, lying +down, sitting, kneeling, walking, running, hopping, jumping, gaping, +coughing, sneezing, or whatever else he was doing. This unchristian +nonsense would of course have made no sort of difference to the person +cursed--who could say his prayers at home if he were shut out of church, +and whom none but GOD could judge--but for the fears and superstitions of +the people, who avoided excommunicated persons, and made their lives +unhappy. So, the King said to the New Archbishop, 'Take off this +Excommunication from this gentleman of Kent.' To which the Archbishop +replied, 'I shall do no such thing.' + +The quarrel went on. A priest in Worcestershire committed a most +dreadful murder, that aroused the horror of the whole nation. The King +demanded to have this wretch delivered up, to be tried in the same court +and in the same way as any other murderer. The Archbishop refused, and +kept him in the Bishop's prison. The King, holding a solemn assembly in +Westminster Hall, demanded that in future all priests found guilty before +their Bishops of crimes against the law of the land should be considered +priests no longer, and should be delivered over to the law of the land +for punishment. The Archbishop again refused. The King required to know +whether the clergy would obey the ancient customs of the country? Every +priest there, but one, said, after Thomas a Becket, 'Saving my order.' +This really meant that they would only obey those customs when they did +not interfere with their own claims; and the King went out of the Hall in +great wrath. + +Some of the clergy began to be afraid, now, that they were going too far. +Though Thomas a Becket was otherwise as unmoved as Westminster Hall, they +prevailed upon him, for the sake of their fears, to go to the King at +Woodstock, and promise to observe the ancient customs of the country, +without saying anything about his order. The King received this +submission favourably, and summoned a great council of the clergy to meet +at the Castle of Clarendon, by Salisbury. But when the council met, the +Archbishop again insisted on the words 'saying my order;' and he still +insisted, though lords entreated him, and priests wept before him and +knelt to him, and an adjoining room was thrown open, filled with armed +soldiers of the King, to threaten him. At length he gave way, for that +time, and the ancient customs (which included what the King had demanded +in vain) were stated in writing, and were signed and sealed by the chief +of the clergy, and were called the Constitutions of Clarendon. + +The quarrel went on, for all that. The Archbishop tried to see the King. +The King would not see him. The Archbishop tried to escape from England. +The sailors on the coast would launch no boat to take him away. Then, he +again resolved to do his worst in opposition to the King, and began +openly to set the ancient customs at defiance. + +The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton, where he +accused him of high treason, and made a claim against him, which was not +a just one, for an enormous sum of money. Thomas a Becket was alone +against the whole assembly, and the very Bishops advised him to resign +his office and abandon his contest with the King. His great anxiety and +agitation stretched him on a sick-bed for two days, but he was still +undaunted. He went to the adjourned council, carrying a great cross in +his right hand, and sat down holding it erect before him. The King +angrily retired into an inner room. The whole assembly angrily retired +and left him there. But there he sat. The Bishops came out again in a +body, and renounced him as a traitor. He only said, 'I hear!' and sat +there still. They retired again into the inner room, and his trial +proceeded without him. By-and-by, the Earl of Leicester, heading the +barons, came out to read his sentence. He refused to hear it, denied the +power of the court, and said he would refer his cause to the Pope. As he +walked out of the hall, with the cross in his hand, some of those present +picked up rushes--rushes were strewn upon the floors in those days by way +of carpet--and threw them at him. He proudly turned his head, and said +that were he not Archbishop, he would chastise those cowards with the +sword he had known how to use in bygone days. He then mounted his horse, +and rode away, cheered and surrounded by the common people, to whom he +threw open his house that night and gave a supper, supping with them +himself. That same night he secretly departed from the town; and so, +travelling by night and hiding by day, and calling himself 'Brother +Dearman,' got away, not without difficulty, to Flanders. + +The struggle still went on. The angry King took possession of the +revenues of the archbishopric, and banished all the relations and +servants of Thomas a Becket, to the number of four hundred. The Pope and +the French King both protected him, and an abbey was assigned for his +residence. Stimulated by this support, Thomas a Becket, on a great +festival day, formally proceeded to a great church crowded with people, +and going up into the pulpit publicly cursed and excommunicated all who +had supported the Constitutions of Clarendon: mentioning many English +noblemen by name, and not distantly hinting at the King of England +himself. + +When intelligence of this new affront was carried to the King in his +chamber, his passion was so furious that he tore his clothes, and rolled +like a madman on his bed of straw and rushes. But he was soon up and +doing. He ordered all the ports and coasts of England to be narrowly +watched, that no letters of Interdict might be brought into the kingdom; +and sent messengers and bribes to the Pope's palace at Rome. Meanwhile, +Thomas a Becket, for his part, was not idle at Rome, but constantly +employed his utmost arts in his own behalf. Thus the contest stood, +until there was peace between France and England (which had been for some +time at war), and until the two children of the two Kings were married in +celebration of it. Then, the French King brought about a meeting between +Henry and his old favourite, so long his enemy. + +Even then, though Thomas a Becket knelt before the King, he was obstinate +and immovable as to those words about his order. King Louis of France +was weak enough in his veneration for Thomas a Becket and such men, but +this was a little too much for him. He said that a Becket 'wanted to be +greater than the saints and better than St. Peter,' and rode away from +him with the King of England. His poor French Majesty asked a Becket's +pardon for so doing, however, soon afterwards, and cut a very pitiful +figure. + +At last, and after a world of trouble, it came to this. There was +another meeting on French ground between King Henry and Thomas a Becket, +and it was agreed that Thomas a Becket should be Archbishop of +Canterbury, according to the customs of former Archbishops, and that the +King should put him in possession of the revenues of that post. And now, +indeed, you might suppose the struggle at an end, and Thomas a Becket at +rest. NO, not even yet. For Thomas a Becket hearing, by some means, +that King Henry, when he was in dread of his kingdom being placed under +an interdict, had had his eldest son Prince Henry secretly crowned, not +only persuaded the Pope to suspend the Archbishop of York who had +performed that ceremony, and to excommunicate the Bishops who had +assisted at it, but sent a messenger of his own into England, in spite of +all the King's precautions along the coast, who delivered the letters of +excommunication into the Bishops' own hands. Thomas a Becket then came +over to England himself, after an absence of seven years. He was +privately warned that it was dangerous to come, and that an ireful +knight, named RANULF DE BROC, had threatened that he should not live to +eat a loaf of bread in England; but he came. + +The common people received him well, and marched about with him in a +soldierly way, armed with such rustic weapons as they could get. He +tried to see the young prince who had once been his pupil, but was +prevented. He hoped for some little support among the nobles and +priests, but found none. He made the most of the peasants who attended +him, and feasted them, and went from Canterbury to Harrow-on-the-Hill, +and from Harrow-on-the-Hill back to Canterbury, and on Christmas Day +preached in the Cathedral there, and told the people in his sermon that +he had come to die among them, and that it was likely he would be +murdered. He had no fear, however--or, if he had any, he had much more +obstinacy--for he, then and there, excommunicated three of his enemies, +of whom Ranulf de Broc, the ireful knight, was one. + +As men in general had no fancy for being cursed, in their sitting and +walking, and gaping and sneezing, and all the rest of it, it was very +natural in the persons so freely excommunicated to complain to the King. +It was equally natural in the King, who had hoped that this troublesome +opponent was at last quieted, to fall into a mighty rage when he heard of +these new affronts; and, on the Archbishop of York telling him that he +never could hope for rest while Thomas a Becket lived, to cry out hastily +before his court, 'Have I no one here who will deliver me from this man?' +There were four knights present, who, hearing the King's words, looked at +one another, and went out. + +The names of these knights were REGINALD FITZURSE, WILLIAM TRACY, HUGH DE +MORVILLE, and RICHARD BRITO; three of whom had been in the train of +Thomas a Becket in the old days of his splendour. They rode away on +horseback, in a very secret manner, and on the third day after Christmas +Day arrived at Saltwood House, not far from Canterbury, which belonged to +the family of Ranulf de Broc. They quietly collected some followers +here, in case they should need any; and proceeding to Canterbury, +suddenly appeared (the four knights and twelve men) before the +Archbishop, in his own house, at two o'clock in the afternoon. They +neither bowed nor spoke, but sat down on the floor in silence, staring at +the Archbishop. + +Thomas a Becket said, at length, 'What do you want?' + +'We want,' said Reginald Fitzurse, 'the excommunication taken from the +Bishops, and you to answer for your offences to the King.' Thomas a +Becket defiantly replied, that the power of the clergy was above the +power of the King. That it was not for such men as they were, to +threaten him. That if he were threatened by all the swords in England, +he would never yield. + +'Then we will do more than threaten!' said the knights. And they went +out with the twelve men, and put on their armour, and drew their shining +swords, and came back. + +His servants, in the meantime, had shut up and barred the great gate of +the palace. At first, the knights tried to shatter it with their battle- +axes; but, being shown a window by which they could enter, they let the +gate alone, and climbed in that way. While they were battering at the +door, the attendants of Thomas a Becket had implored him to take refuge +in the Cathedral; in which, as a sanctuary or sacred place, they thought +the knights would dare to do no violent deed. He told them, again and +again, that he would not stir. Hearing the distant voices of the monks +singing the evening service, however, he said it was now his duty to +attend, and therefore, and for no other reason, he would go. + +There was a near way between his Palace and the Cathedral, by some +beautiful old cloisters which you may yet see. He went into the +Cathedral, without any hurry, and having the Cross carried before him as +usual. When he was safely there, his servants would have fastened the +door, but he said NO! it was the house of God and not a fortress. + +As he spoke, the shadow of Reginald Fitzurse appeared in the Cathedral +doorway, darkening the little light there was outside, on the dark winter +evening. This knight said, in a strong voice, 'Follow me, loyal servants +of the King!' The rattle of the armour of the other knights echoed +through the Cathedral, as they came clashing in. + +It was so dark, in the lofty aisles and among the stately pillars of the +church, and there were so many hiding-places in the crypt below and in +the narrow passages above, that Thomas a Becket might even at that pass +have saved himself if he would. But he would not. He told the monks +resolutely that he would not. And though they all dispersed and left him +there with no other follower than EDWARD GRYME, his faithful +cross-bearer, he was as firm then, as ever he had been in his life. + +The knights came on, through the darkness, making a terrible noise with +their armed tread upon the stone pavement of the church. 'Where is the +traitor?' they cried out. He made no answer. But when they cried, +'Where is the Archbishop?' he said proudly, 'I am here!' and came out of +the shade and stood before them. + +The knights had no desire to kill him, if they could rid the King and +themselves of him by any other means. They told him he must either fly +or go with them. He said he would do neither; and he threw William Tracy +off with such force when he took hold of his sleeve, that Tracy reeled +again. By his reproaches and his steadiness, he so incensed them, and +exasperated their fierce humour, that Reginald Fitzurse, whom he called +by an ill name, said, 'Then die!' and struck at his head. But the +faithful Edward Gryme put out his arm, and there received the main force +of the blow, so that it only made his master bleed. Another voice from +among the knights again called to Thomas a Becket to fly; but, with his +blood running down his face, and his hands clasped, and his head bent, he +commanded himself to God, and stood firm. Then they cruelly killed him +close to the altar of St. Bennet; and his body fell upon the pavement, +which was dirtied with his blood and brains. + +It is an awful thing to think of the murdered mortal, who had so showered +his curses about, lying, all disfigured, in the church, where a few lamps +here and there were but red specks on a pall of darkness; and to think of +the guilty knights riding away on horseback, looking over their shoulders +at the dim Cathedral, and remembering what they had left inside. + + + +PART THE SECOND + + +When the King heard how Thomas a Becket had lost his life in Canterbury +Cathedral, through the ferocity of the four Knights, he was filled with +dismay. Some have supposed that when the King spoke those hasty words, +'Have I no one here who will deliver me from this man?' he wished, and +meant a Becket to be slain. But few things are more unlikely; for, +besides that the King was not naturally cruel (though very passionate), +he was wise, and must have known full well what any stupid man in his +dominions must have known, namely, that such a murder would rouse the +Pope and the whole Church against him. + +He sent respectful messengers to the Pope, to represent his innocence +(except in having uttered the hasty words); and he swore solemnly and +publicly to his innocence, and contrived in time to make his peace. As +to the four guilty Knights, who fled into Yorkshire, and never again +dared to show themselves at Court, the Pope excommunicated them; and they +lived miserably for some time, shunned by all their countrymen. At last, +they went humbly to Jerusalem as a penance, and there died and were +buried. + +It happened, fortunately for the pacifying of the Pope, that an +opportunity arose very soon after the murder of a Becket, for the King to +declare his power in Ireland--which was an acceptable undertaking to the +Pope, as the Irish, who had been converted to Christianity by one +Patricius (otherwise Saint Patrick) long ago, before any Pope existed, +considered that the Pope had nothing at all to do with them, or they with +the Pope, and accordingly refused to pay him Peter's Pence, or that tax +of a penny a house which I have elsewhere mentioned. The King's +opportunity arose in this way. + +The Irish were, at that time, as barbarous a people as you can well +imagine. They were continually quarrelling and fighting, cutting one +another's throats, slicing one another's noses, burning one another's +houses, carrying away one another's wives, and committing all sorts of +violence. The country was divided into five kingdoms--DESMOND, THOMOND, +CONNAUGHT, ULSTER, and LEINSTER--each governed by a separate King, of +whom one claimed to be the chief of the rest. Now, one of these Kings, +named DERMOND MAC MURROUGH (a wild kind of name, spelt in more than one +wild kind of way), had carried off the wife of a friend of his, and +concealed her on an island in a bog. The friend resenting this (though +it was quite the custom of the country), complained to the chief King, +and, with the chief King's help, drove Dermond Mac Murrough out of his +dominions. Dermond came over to England for revenge; and offered to hold +his realm as a vassal of King Henry, if King Henry would help him to +regain it. The King consented to these terms; but only assisted him, +then, with what were called Letters Patent, authorising any English +subjects who were so disposed, to enter into his service, and aid his +cause. + +There was, at Bristol, a certain EARL RICHARD DE CLARE, called STRONGBOW; +of no very good character; needy and desperate, and ready for anything +that offered him a chance of improving his fortunes. There were, in +South Wales, two other broken knights of the same good-for-nothing sort, +called ROBERT FITZ-STEPHEN, and MAURICE FITZ-GERALD. These three, each +with a small band of followers, took up Dermond's cause; and it was +agreed that if it proved successful, Strongbow should marry Dermond's +daughter EVA, and be declared his heir. + +The trained English followers of these knights were so superior in all +the discipline of battle to the Irish, that they beat them against +immense superiority of numbers. In one fight, early in the war, they cut +off three hundred heads, and laid them before Mac Murrough; who turned +them every one up with his hands, rejoicing, and, coming to one which was +the head of a man whom he had much disliked, grasped it by the hair and +ears, and tore off the nose and lips with his teeth. You may judge from +this, what kind of a gentleman an Irish King in those times was. The +captives, all through this war, were horribly treated; the victorious +party making nothing of breaking their limbs, and casting them into the +sea from the tops of high rocks. It was in the midst of the miseries and +cruelties attendant on the taking of Waterford, where the dead lay piled +in the streets, and the filthy gutters ran with blood, that Strongbow +married Eva. An odious marriage-company those mounds of corpse's must +have made, I think, and one quite worthy of the young lady's father. + +He died, after Waterford and Dublin had been taken, and various successes +achieved; and Strongbow became King of Leinster. Now came King Henry's +opportunity. To restrain the growing power of Strongbow, he himself +repaired to Dublin, as Strongbow's Royal Master, and deprived him of his +kingdom, but confirmed him in the enjoyment of great possessions. The +King, then, holding state in Dublin, received the homage of nearly all +the Irish Kings and Chiefs, and so came home again with a great addition +to his reputation as Lord of Ireland, and with a new claim on the favour +of the Pope. And now, their reconciliation was completed--more easily +and mildly by the Pope, than the King might have expected, I think. + +At this period of his reign, when his troubles seemed so few and his +prospects so bright, those domestic miseries began which gradually made +the King the most unhappy of men, reduced his great spirit, wore away his +health, and broke his heart. + +He had four sons. HENRY, now aged eighteen--his secret crowning of whom +had given such offence to Thomas a Becket. RICHARD, aged sixteen; +GEOFFREY, fifteen; and JOHN, his favourite, a young boy whom the +courtiers named LACKLAND, because he had no inheritance, but to whom the +King meant to give the Lordship of Ireland. All these misguided boys, in +their turn, were unnatural sons to him, and unnatural brothers to each +other. Prince Henry, stimulated by the French King, and by his bad +mother, Queen Eleanor, began the undutiful history, + +First, he demanded that his young wife, MARGARET, the French King's +daughter, should be crowned as well as he. His father, the King, +consented, and it was done. It was no sooner done, than he demanded to +have a part of his father's dominions, during his father's life. This +being refused, he made off from his father in the night, with his bad +heart full of bitterness, and took refuge at the French King's Court. +Within a day or two, his brothers Richard and Geoffrey followed. Their +mother tried to join them--escaping in man's clothes--but she was seized +by King Henry's men, and immured in prison, where she lay, deservedly, +for sixteen years. Every day, however, some grasping English noblemen, +to whom the King's protection of his people from their avarice and +oppression had given offence, deserted him and joined the Princes. Every +day he heard some fresh intelligence of the Princes levying armies +against him; of Prince Henry's wearing a crown before his own ambassadors +at the French Court, and being called the Junior King of England; of all +the Princes swearing never to make peace with him, their father, without +the consent and approval of the Barons of France. But, with his +fortitude and energy unshaken, King Henry met the shock of these +disasters with a resolved and cheerful face. He called upon all Royal +fathers who had sons, to help him, for his cause was theirs; he hired, +out of his riches, twenty thousand men to fight the false French King, +who stirred his own blood against him; and he carried on the war with +such vigour, that Louis soon proposed a conference to treat for peace. + +The conference was held beneath an old wide-spreading green elm-tree, +upon a plain in France. It led to nothing. The war recommenced. Prince +Richard began his fighting career, by leading an army against his father; +but his father beat him and his army back; and thousands of his men would +have rued the day in which they fought in such a wicked cause, had not +the King received news of an invasion of England by the Scots, and +promptly come home through a great storm to repress it. And whether he +really began to fear that he suffered these troubles because a Becket had +been murdered; or whether he wished to rise in the favour of the Pope, +who had now declared a Becket to be a saint, or in the favour of his own +people, of whom many believed that even a Becket's senseless tomb could +work miracles, I don't know: but the King no sooner landed in England +than he went straight to Canterbury; and when he came within sight of the +distant Cathedral, he dismounted from his horse, took off his shoes, and +walked with bare and bleeding feet to a Becket's grave. There, he lay +down on the ground, lamenting, in the presence of many people; and by-and- +by he went into the Chapter House, and, removing his clothes from his +back and shoulders, submitted himself to be beaten with knotted cords +(not beaten very hard, I dare say though) by eighty Priests, one after +another. It chanced that on the very day when the King made this curious +exhibition of himself, a complete victory was obtained over the Scots; +which very much delighted the Priests, who said that it was won because +of his great example of repentance. For the Priests in general had found +out, since a Becket's death, that they admired him of all things--though +they had hated him very cordially when he was alive. + +The Earl of Flanders, who was at the head of the base conspiracy of the +King's undutiful sons and their foreign friends, took the opportunity of +the King being thus employed at home, to lay siege to Rouen, the capital +of Normandy. But the King, who was extraordinarily quick and active in +all his movements, was at Rouen, too, before it was supposed possible +that he could have left England; and there he so defeated the said Earl +of Flanders, that the conspirators proposed peace, and his bad sons Henry +and Geoffrey submitted. Richard resisted for six weeks; but, being +beaten out of castle after castle, he at last submitted too, and his +father forgave him. + +To forgive these unworthy princes was only to afford them breathing-time +for new faithlessness. They were so false, disloyal, and dishonourable, +that they were no more to be trusted than common thieves. In the very +next year, Prince Henry rebelled again, and was again forgiven. In eight +years more, Prince Richard rebelled against his elder brother; and Prince +Geoffrey infamously said that the brothers could never agree well +together, unless they were united against their father. In the very next +year after their reconciliation by the King, Prince Henry again rebelled +against his father; and again submitted, swearing to be true; and was +again forgiven; and again rebelled with Geoffrey. + +But the end of this perfidious Prince was come. He fell sick at a French +town; and his conscience terribly reproaching him with his baseness, he +sent messengers to the King his father, imploring him to come and see +him, and to forgive him for the last time on his bed of death. The +generous King, who had a royal and forgiving mind towards his children +always, would have gone; but this Prince had been so unnatural, that the +noblemen about the King suspected treachery, and represented to him that +he could not safely trust his life with such a traitor, though his own +eldest son. Therefore the King sent him a ring from off his finger as a +token of forgiveness; and when the Prince had kissed it, with much grief +and many tears, and had confessed to those around him how bad, and +wicked, and undutiful a son he had been; he said to the attendant +Priests: 'O, tie a rope about my body, and draw me out of bed, and lay me +down upon a bed of ashes, that I may die with prayers to God in a +repentant manner!' And so he died, at twenty-seven years old. + +Three years afterwards, Prince Geoffrey, being unhorsed at a tournament, +had his brains trampled out by a crowd of horses passing over him. So, +there only remained Prince Richard, and Prince John--who had grown to be +a young man now, and had solemnly sworn to be faithful to his father. +Richard soon rebelled again, encouraged by his friend the French King, +PHILIP THE SECOND (son of Louis, who was dead); and soon submitted and +was again forgiven, swearing on the New Testament never to rebel again; +and in another year or so, rebelled again; and, in the presence of his +father, knelt down on his knee before the King of France; and did the +French King homage: and declared that with his aid he would possess +himself, by force, of all his father's French dominions. + +And yet this Richard called himself a soldier of Our Saviour! And yet +this Richard wore the Cross, which the Kings of France and England had +both taken, in the previous year, at a brotherly meeting underneath the +old wide-spreading elm-tree on the plain, when they had sworn (like him) +to devote themselves to a new Crusade, for the love and honour of the +Truth! + +Sick at heart, wearied out by the falsehood of his sons, and almost ready +to lie down and die, the unhappy King who had so long stood firm, began +to fail. But the Pope, to his honour, supported him; and obliged the +French King and Richard, though successful in fight, to treat for peace. +Richard wanted to be Crowned King of England, and pretended that he +wanted to be married (which he really did not) to the French King's +sister, his promised wife, whom King Henry detained in England. King +Henry wanted, on the other hand, that the French King's sister should be +married to his favourite son, John: the only one of his sons (he said) +who had never rebelled against him. At last King Henry, deserted by his +nobles one by one, distressed, exhausted, broken-hearted, consented to +establish peace. + +One final heavy sorrow was reserved for him, even yet. When they brought +him the proposed treaty of peace, in writing, as he lay very ill in bed, +they brought him also the list of the deserters from their allegiance, +whom he was required to pardon. The first name upon this list was John, +his favourite son, in whom he had trusted to the last. + +'O John! child of my heart!' exclaimed the King, in a great agony of +mind. 'O John, whom I have loved the best! O John, for whom I have +contended through these many troubles! Have you betrayed me too!' And +then he lay down with a heavy groan, and said, 'Now let the world go as +it will. I care for nothing more!' + +After a time, he told his attendants to take him to the French town of +Chinon--a town he had been fond of, during many years. But he was fond +of no place now; it was too true that he could care for nothing more upon +this earth. He wildly cursed the hour when he was born, and cursed the +children whom he left behind him; and expired. + +As, one hundred years before, the servile followers of the Court had +abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death, so they now abandoned +his descendant. The very body was stripped, in the plunder of the Royal +chamber; and it was not easy to find the means of carrying it for burial +to the abbey church of Fontevraud. + +Richard was said in after years, by way of flattery, to have the heart of +a Lion. It would have been far better, I think, to have had the heart of +a Man. His heart, whatever it was, had cause to beat remorsefully within +his breast, when he came--as he did--into the solemn abbey, and looked on +his dead father's uncovered face. His heart, whatever it was, had been a +black and perjured heart, in all its dealings with the deceased King, and +more deficient in a single touch of tenderness than any wild beast's in +the forest. + +There is a pretty story told of this Reign, called the story of FAIR +ROSAMOND. It relates how the King doted on Fair Rosamond, who was the +loveliest girl in all the world; and how he had a beautiful Bower built +for her in a Park at Woodstock; and how it was erected in a labyrinth, +and could only be found by a clue of silk. How the bad Queen Eleanor, +becoming jealous of Fair Rosamond, found out the secret of the clue, and +one day, appeared before her, with a dagger and a cup of poison, and left +her to the choice between those deaths. How Fair Rosamond, after +shedding many piteous tears and offering many useless prayers to the +cruel Queen, took the poison, and fell dead in the midst of the beautiful +bower, while the unconscious birds sang gaily all around her. + +Now, there _was_ a fair Rosamond, and she was (I dare say) the loveliest +girl in all the world, and the King was certainly very fond of her, and +the bad Queen Eleanor was certainly made jealous. But I am afraid--I say +afraid, because I like the story so much--that there was no bower, no +labyrinth, no silken clue, no dagger, no poison. I am afraid fair +Rosamond retired to a nunnery near Oxford, and died there, peaceably; her +sister-nuns hanging a silken drapery over her tomb, and often dressing it +with flowers, in remembrance of the youth and beauty that had enchanted +the King when he too was young, and when his life lay fair before him. + +It was dark and ended now; faded and gone. Henry Plantagenet lay quiet +in the abbey church of Fontevraud, in the fifty-seventh year of his +age--never to be completed--after governing England well, for nearly +thirty-five years. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII--ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART + + +In the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, Richard +of the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the Second, whose +paternal heart he had done so much to break. He had been, as we have +seen, a rebel from his boyhood; but, the moment he became a king against +whom others might rebel, he found out that rebellion was a great +wickedness. In the heat of this pious discovery, he punished all the +leading people who had befriended him against his father. He could +scarcely have done anything that would have been a better instance of his +real nature, or a better warning to fawners and parasites not to trust in +lion-hearted princes. + +He likewise put his late father's treasurer in chains, and locked him up +in a dungeon from which he was not set free until he had relinquished, +not only all the Crown treasure, but all his own money too. So, Richard +certainly got the Lion's share of the wealth of this wretched treasurer, +whether he had a Lion's heart or not. + +He was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster: walking +to the Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the tops of four +lances, each carried by a great lord. On the day of his coronation, a +dreadful murdering of the Jews took place, which seems to have given +great delight to numbers of savage persons calling themselves Christians. +The King had issued a proclamation forbidding the Jews (who were +generally hated, though they were the most useful merchants in England) +to appear at the ceremony; but as they had assembled in London from all +parts, bringing presents to show their respect for the new Sovereign, +some of them ventured down to Westminster Hall with their gifts; which +were very readily accepted. It is supposed, now, that some noisy fellow +in the crowd, pretending to be a very delicate Christian, set up a howl +at this, and struck a Jew who was trying to get in at the Hall door with +his present. A riot arose. The Jews who had got into the Hall, were +driven forth; and some of the rabble cried out that the new King had +commanded the unbelieving race to be put to death. Thereupon the crowd +rushed through the narrow streets of the city, slaughtering all the Jews +they met; and when they could find no more out of doors (on account of +their having fled to their houses, and fastened themselves in), they ran +madly about, breaking open all the houses where the Jews lived, rushing +in and stabbing or spearing them, sometimes even flinging old people and +children out of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. This +great cruelty lasted four-and-twenty hours, and only three men were +punished for it. Even they forfeited their lives not for murdering and +robbing the Jews, but for burning the houses of some Christians. + +King Richard, who was a strong, restless, burly man, with one idea always +in his head, and that the very troublesome idea of breaking the heads of +other men, was mightily impatient to go on a Crusade to the Holy Land, +with a great army. As great armies could not be raised to go, even to +the Holy Land, without a great deal of money, he sold the Crown domains, +and even the high offices of State; recklessly appointing noblemen to +rule over his English subjects, not because they were fit to govern, but +because they could pay high for the privilege. In this way, and by +selling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties of avarice and +oppression, he scraped together a large treasure. He then appointed two +Bishops to take care of his kingdom in his absence, and gave great powers +and possessions to his brother John, to secure his friendship. John +would rather have been made Regent of England; but he was a sly man, and +friendly to the expedition; saying to himself, no doubt, 'The more +fighting, the more chance of my brother being killed; and when he _is_ +killed, then I become King John!' + +Before the newly levied army departed from England, the recruits and the +general populace distinguished themselves by astonishing cruelties on the +unfortunate Jews: whom, in many large towns, they murdered by hundreds in +the most horrible manner. + +At York, a large body of Jews took refuge in the Castle, in the absence +of its Governor, after the wives and children of many of them had been +slain before their eyes. Presently came the Governor, and demanded +admission. 'How can we give it thee, O Governor!' said the Jews upon the +walls, 'when, if we open the gate by so much as the width of a foot, the +roaring crowd behind thee will press in and kill us?' + +Upon this, the unjust Governor became angry, and told the people that he +approved of their killing those Jews; and a mischievous maniac of a +friar, dressed all in white, put himself at the head of the assault, and +they assaulted the Castle for three days. + +Then said JOCEN, the head-Jew (who was a Rabbi or Priest), to the rest, +'Brethren, there is no hope for us with the Christians who are hammering +at the gates and walls, and who must soon break in. As we and our wives +and children must die, either by Christian hands, or by our own, let it +be by our own. Let us destroy by fire what jewels and other treasure we +have here, then fire the castle, and then perish!' + +A few could not resolve to do this, but the greater part complied. They +made a blazing heap of all their valuables, and, when those were +consumed, set the castle in flames. While the flames roared and crackled +around them, and shooting up into the sky, turned it blood-red, Jocen cut +the throat of his beloved wife, and stabbed himself. All the others who +had wives or children, did the like dreadful deed. When the populace +broke in, they found (except the trembling few, cowering in corners, whom +they soon killed) only heaps of greasy cinders, with here and there +something like part of the blackened trunk of a burnt tree, but which had +lately been a human creature, formed by the beneficent hand of the +Creator as they were. + +After this bad beginning, Richard and his troops went on, in no very good +manner, with the Holy Crusade. It was undertaken jointly by the King of +England and his old friend Philip of France. They commenced the business +by reviewing their forces, to the number of one hundred thousand men. +Afterwards, they severally embarked their troops for Messina, in Sicily, +which was appointed as the next place of meeting. + +King Richard's sister had married the King of this place, but he was +dead: and his uncle TANCRED had usurped the crown, cast the Royal Widow +into prison, and possessed himself of her estates. Richard fiercely +demanded his sister's release, the restoration of her lands, and +(according to the Royal custom of the Island) that she should have a +golden chair, a golden table, four-and-twenty silver cups, and four-and- +twenty silver dishes. As he was too powerful to be successfully +resisted, Tancred yielded to his demands; and then the French King grew +jealous, and complained that the English King wanted to be absolute in +the Island of Messina and everywhere else. Richard, however, cared +little or nothing for this complaint; and in consideration of a present +of twenty thousand pieces of gold, promised his pretty little nephew +ARTHUR, then a child of two years old, in marriage to Tancred's daughter. +We shall hear again of pretty little Arthur by-and-by. + +This Sicilian affair arranged without anybody's brains being knocked out +(which must have rather disappointed him), King Richard took his sister +away, and also a fair lady named BERENGARIA, with whom he had fallen in +love in France, and whom his mother, Queen Eleanor (so long in prison, +you remember, but released by Richard on his coming to the Throne), had +brought out there to be his wife; and sailed with them for Cyprus. + +He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of Cyprus, +for allowing his subjects to pillage some of the English troops who were +shipwrecked on the shore; and easily conquering this poor monarch, he +seized his only daughter, to be a companion to the lady Berengaria, and +put the King himself into silver fetters. He then sailed away again with +his mother, sister, wife, and the captive princess; and soon arrived +before the town of Acre, which the French King with his fleet was +besieging from the sea. But the French King was in no triumphant +condition, for his army had been thinned by the swords of the Saracens, +and wasted by the plague; and SALADIN, the brave Sultan of the Turks, at +the head of a numerous army, was at that time gallantly defending the +place from the hills that rise above it. + +Wherever the united army of Crusaders went, they agreed in few points +except in gaming, drinking, and quarrelling, in a most unholy manner; in +debauching the people among whom they tarried, whether they were friends +or foes; and in carrying disturbance and ruin into quiet places. The +French King was jealous of the English King, and the English King was +jealous of the French King, and the disorderly and violent soldiers of +the two nations were jealous of one another; consequently, the two Kings +could not at first agree, even upon a joint assault on Acre; but when +they did make up their quarrel for that purpose, the Saracens promised to +yield the town, to give up to the Christians the wood of the Holy Cross, +to set at liberty all their Christian captives, and to pay two hundred +thousand pieces of gold. All this was to be done within forty days; but, +not being done, King Richard ordered some three thousand Saracen +prisoners to be brought out in the front of his camp, and there, in full +view of their own countrymen, to be butchered. + +The French King had no part in this crime; for he was by that time +travelling homeward with the greater part of his men; being offended by +the overbearing conduct of the English King; being anxious to look after +his own dominions; and being ill, besides, from the unwholesome air of +that hot and sandy country. King Richard carried on the war without him; +and remained in the East, meeting with a variety of adventures, nearly a +year and a half. Every night when his army was on the march, and came to +a halt, the heralds cried out three times, to remind all the soldiers of +the cause in which they were engaged, 'Save the Holy Sepulchre!' and then +all the soldiers knelt and said 'Amen!' Marching or encamping, the army +had continually to strive with the hot air of the glaring desert, or with +the Saracen soldiers animated and directed by the brave Saladin, or with +both together. Sickness and death, battle and wounds, were always among +them; but through every difficulty King Richard fought like a giant, and +worked like a common labourer. Long and long after he was quiet in his +grave, his terrible battle-axe, with twenty English pounds of English +steel in its mighty head, was a legend among the Saracens; and when all +the Saracen and Christian hosts had been dust for many a year, if a +Saracen horse started at any object by the wayside, his rider would +exclaim, 'What dost thou fear, Fool? Dost thou think King Richard is +behind it?' + +No one admired this King's renown for bravery more than Saladin himself, +who was a generous and gallant enemy. When Richard lay ill of a fever, +Saladin sent him fresh fruits from Damascus, and snow from the mountain- +tops. Courtly messages and compliments were frequently exchanged between +them--and then King Richard would mount his horse and kill as many +Saracens as he could; and Saladin would mount his, and kill as many +Christians as he could. In this way King Richard fought to his heart's +content at Arsoof and at Jaffa; and finding himself with nothing exciting +to do at Ascalon, except to rebuild, for his own defence, some +fortifications there which the Saracens had destroyed, he kicked his ally +the Duke of Austria, for being too proud to work at them. + +The army at last came within sight of the Holy City of Jerusalem; but, +being then a mere nest of jealousy, and quarrelling and fighting, soon +retired, and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years, three +months, three days, and three hours. Then, the English Christians, +protected by the noble Saladin from Saracen revenge, visited Our +Saviour's tomb; and then King Richard embarked with a small force at Acre +to return home. + +But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea, and was fain to pass through +Germany, under an assumed name. Now, there were many people in Germany +who had served in the Holy Land under that proud Duke of Austria who had +been kicked; and some of them, easily recognising a man so remarkable as +King Richard, carried their intelligence to the kicked Duke, who +straightway took him prisoner at a little inn near Vienna. + +The Duke's master the Emperor of Germany, and the King of France, were +equally delighted to have so troublesome a monarch in safe keeping. +Friendships which are founded on a partnership in doing wrong, are never +true; and the King of France was now quite as heartily King Richard's +foe, as he had ever been his friend in his unnatural conduct to his +father. He monstrously pretended that King Richard had designed to +poison him in the East; he charged him with having murdered, there, a man +whom he had in truth befriended; he bribed the Emperor of Germany to keep +him close prisoner; and, finally, through the plotting of these two +princes, Richard was brought before the German legislature, charged with +the foregoing crimes, and many others. But he defended himself so well, +that many of the assembly were moved to tears by his eloquence and +earnestness. It was decided that he should be treated, during the rest +of his captivity, in a manner more becoming his dignity than he had been, +and that he should be set free on the payment of a heavy ransom. This +ransom the English people willingly raised. When Queen Eleanor took it +over to Germany, it was at first evaded and refused. But she appealed to +the honour of all the princes of the German Empire in behalf of her son, +and appealed so well that it was accepted, and the King released. +Thereupon, the King of France wrote to Prince John--'Take care of +thyself. The devil is unchained!' + +Prince John had reason to fear his brother, for he had been a traitor to +him in his captivity. He had secretly joined the French King; had vowed +to the English nobles and people that his brother was dead; and had +vainly tried to seize the crown. He was now in France, at a place called +Evreux. Being the meanest and basest of men, he contrived a mean and +base expedient for making himself acceptable to his brother. He invited +the French officers of the garrison in that town to dinner, murdered them +all, and then took the fortress. With this recommendation to the good +will of a lion-hearted monarch, he hastened to King Richard, fell on his +knees before him, and obtained the intercession of Queen Eleanor. 'I +forgive him,' said the King, 'and I hope I may forget the injury he has +done me, as easily as I know he will forget my pardon.' + +While King Richard was in Sicily, there had been trouble in his dominions +at home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge thereof, arresting +the other; and making, in his pride and ambition, as great a show as if +he were King himself. But the King hearing of it at Messina, and +appointing a new Regency, this LONGCHAMP (for that was his name) had fled +to France in a woman's dress, and had there been encouraged and supported +by the French King. With all these causes of offence against Philip in +his mind, King Richard had no sooner been welcomed home by his +enthusiastic subjects with great display and splendour, and had no sooner +been crowned afresh at Winchester, than he resolved to show the French +King that the Devil was unchained indeed, and made war against him with +great fury. + +There was fresh trouble at home about this time, arising out of the +discontents of the poor people, who complained that they were far more +heavily taxed than the rich, and who found a spirited champion in WILLIAM +FITZ-OSBERT, called LONGBEARD. He became the leader of a secret society, +comprising fifty thousand men; he was seized by surprise; he stabbed the +citizen who first laid hands upon him; and retreated, bravely fighting, +to a church, which he maintained four days, until he was dislodged by +fire, and run through the body as he came out. He was not killed, +though; for he was dragged, half dead, at the tail of a horse to +Smithfield, and there hanged. Death was long a favourite remedy for +silencing the people's advocates; but as we go on with this history, I +fancy we shall find them difficult to make an end of, for all that. + +The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in progress +when a certain Lord named VIDOMAR, Viscount of Limoges, chanced to find +in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the King's vassal, he sent +the King half of it; but the King claimed the whole. The lord refused to +yield the whole. The King besieged the lord in his castle, swore that he +would take the castle by storm, and hang every man of its defenders on +the battlements. + +There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the effect +that in Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard would die. +It may be that BERTRAND DE GOURDON, a young man who was one of the +defenders of the castle, had often sung it or heard it sung of a winter +night, and remembered it when he saw, from his post upon the ramparts, +the King attended only by his chief officer riding below the walls +surveying the place. He drew an arrow to the head, took steady aim, said +between his teeth, 'Now I pray God speed thee well, arrow!' discharged +it, and struck the King in the left shoulder. + +Although the wound was not at first considered dangerous, it was severe +enough to cause the King to retire to his tent, and direct the assault to +be made without him. The castle was taken; and every man of its +defenders was hanged, as the King had sworn all should be, except +Bertrand de Gourdon, who was reserved until the royal pleasure respecting +him should be known. + +By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the King +knew that he was dying. He directed Bertrand to be brought into his +tent. The young man was brought there, heavily chained, King Richard +looked at him steadily. He looked, as steadily, at the King. + +'Knave!' said King Richard. 'What have I done to thee that thou +shouldest take my life?' + +'What hast thou done to me?' replied the young man. 'With thine own +hands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. Myself thou +wouldest have hanged. Let me die now, by any torture that thou wilt. My +comfort is, that no torture can save Thee. Thou too must die; and, +through me, the world is quit of thee!' + +Again the King looked at the young man steadily. Again the young man +looked steadily at him. Perhaps some remembrance of his generous enemy +Saladin, who was not a Christian, came into the mind of the dying King. + +'Youth!' he said, 'I forgive thee. Go unhurt!' Then, turning to the +chief officer who had been riding in his company when he received the +wound, King Richard said: + +'Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him depart.' + +He sunk down on his couch, and a dark mist seemed in his weakened eyes to +fill the tent wherein he had so often rested, and he died. His age was +forty-two; he had reigned ten years. His last command was not obeyed; +for the chief officer flayed Bertrand de Gourdon alive, and hanged him. + +There is an old tune yet known--a sorrowful air will sometimes outlive +many generations of strong men, and even last longer than battle-axes +with twenty pounds of steel in the head--by which this King is said to +have been discovered in his captivity. BLONDEL, a favourite Minstrel of +King Richard, as the story relates, faithfully seeking his Royal master, +went singing it outside the gloomy walls of many foreign fortresses and +prisons; until at last he heard it echoed from within a dungeon, and knew +the voice, and cried out in ecstasy, 'O Richard, O my King!' You may +believe it, if you like; it would be easy to believe worse things. +Richard was himself a Minstrel and a Poet. If he had not been a Prince +too, he might have been a better man perhaps, and might have gone out of +the world with less bloodshed and waste of life to answer for. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV--ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND + + +At two-and-thirty years of age, JOHN became King of England. His pretty +little nephew ARTHUR had the best claim to the throne; but John seized +the treasure, and made fine promises to the nobility, and got himself +crowned at Westminster within a few weeks after his brother Richard's +death. I doubt whether the crown could possibly have been put upon the +head of a meaner coward, or a more detestable villain, if England had +been searched from end to end to find him out. + +The French King, Philip, refused to acknowledge the right of John to his +new dignity, and declared in favour of Arthur. You must not suppose that +he had any generosity of feeling for the fatherless boy; it merely suited +his ambitious schemes to oppose the King of England. So John and the +French King went to war about Arthur. + +He was a handsome boy, at that time only twelve years old. He was not +born when his father, Geoffrey, had his brains trampled out at the +tournament; and, besides the misfortune of never having known a father's +guidance and protection, he had the additional misfortune to have a +foolish mother (CONSTANCE by name), lately married to her third husband. +She took Arthur, upon John's accession, to the French King, who pretended +to be very much his friend, and who made him a Knight, and promised him +his daughter in marriage; but, who cared so little about him in reality, +that finding it his interest to make peace with King John for a time, he +did so without the least consideration for the poor little Prince, and +heartlessly sacrificed all his interests. + +Young Arthur, for two years afterwards, lived quietly; and in the course +of that time his mother died. But, the French King then finding it his +interest to quarrel with King John again, again made Arthur his pretence, +and invited the orphan boy to court. 'You know your rights, Prince,' +said the French King, 'and you would like to be a King. Is it not so?' +'Truly,' said Prince Arthur, 'I should greatly like to be a King!' +'Then,' said Philip, 'you shall have two hundred gentlemen who are +Knights of mine, and with them you shall go to win back the provinces +belonging to you, of which your uncle, the usurping King of England, has +taken possession. I myself, meanwhile, will head a force against him in +Normandy.' Poor Arthur was so flattered and so grateful that he signed a +treaty with the crafty French King, agreeing to consider him his superior +Lord, and that the French King should keep for himself whatever he could +take from King John. + +Now, King John was so bad in all ways, and King Philip was so perfidious, +that Arthur, between the two, might as well have been a lamb between a +fox and a wolf. But, being so young, he was ardent and flushed with +hope; and, when the people of Brittany (which was his inheritance) sent +him five hundred more knights and five thousand foot soldiers, he +believed his fortune was made. The people of Brittany had been fond of +him from his birth, and had requested that he might be called Arthur, in +remembrance of that dimly-famous English Arthur, of whom I told you early +in this book, whom they believed to have been the brave friend and +companion of an old King of their own. They had tales among them about a +prophet called MERLIN (of the same old time), who had foretold that their +own King should be restored to them after hundreds of years; and they +believed that the prophecy would be fulfilled in Arthur; that the time +would come when he would rule them with a crown of Brittany upon his +head; and when neither King of France nor King of England would have any +power over them. When Arthur found himself riding in a glittering suit +of armour on a richly caparisoned horse, at the head of his train of +knights and soldiers, he began to believe this too, and to consider old +Merlin a very superior prophet. + +He did not know--how could he, being so innocent and inexperienced?--that +his little army was a mere nothing against the power of the King of +England. The French King knew it; but the poor boy's fate was little to +him, so that the King of England was worried and distressed. Therefore, +King Philip went his way into Normandy and Prince Arthur went his way +towards Mirebeau, a French town near Poictiers, both very well pleased. + +Prince Arthur went to attack the town of Mirebeau, because his +grandmother Eleanor, who has so often made her appearance in this history +(and who had always been his mother's enemy), was living there, and +because his Knights said, 'Prince, if you can take her prisoner, you will +be able to bring the King your uncle to terms!' But she was not to be +easily taken. She was old enough by this time--eighty--but she was as +full of stratagem as she was full of years and wickedness. Receiving +intelligence of young Arthur's approach, she shut herself up in a high +tower, and encouraged her soldiers to defend it like men. Prince Arthur +with his little army besieged the high tower. King John, hearing how +matters stood, came up to the rescue, with _his_ army. So here was a +strange family-party! The boy-Prince besieging his grandmother, and his +uncle besieging him! + +This position of affairs did not last long. One summer night King John, +by treachery, got his men into the town, surprised Prince Arthur's force, +took two hundred of his knights, and seized the Prince himself in his +bed. The Knights were put in heavy irons, and driven away in open carts +drawn by bullocks, to various dungeons where they were most inhumanly +treated, and where some of them were starved to death. Prince Arthur was +sent to the castle of Falaise. + +One day, while he was in prison at that castle, mournfully thinking it +strange that one so young should be in so much trouble, and looking out +of the small window in the deep dark wall, at the summer sky and the +birds, the door was softly opened, and he saw his uncle the King standing +in the shadow of the archway, looking very grim. + +'Arthur,' said the King, with his wicked eyes more on the stone floor +than on his nephew, 'will you not trust to the gentleness, the +friendship, and the truthfulness of your loving uncle?' + +'I will tell my loving uncle that,' replied the boy, 'when he does me +right. Let him restore to me my kingdom of England, and then come to me +and ask the question.' + +The King looked at him and went out. 'Keep that boy close prisoner,' +said he to the warden of the castle. + +Then, the King took secret counsel with the worst of his nobles how the +Prince was to be got rid of. Some said, 'Put out his eyes and keep him +in prison, as Robort of Normandy was kept.' Others said, 'Have him +stabbed.' Others, 'Have him hanged.' Others, 'Have him poisoned.' + +King John, feeling that in any case, whatever was done afterwards, it +would be a satisfaction to his mind to have those handsome eyes burnt out +that had looked at him so proudly while his own royal eyes were blinking +at the stone floor, sent certain ruffians to Falaise to blind the boy +with red-hot irons. But Arthur so pathetically entreated them, and shed +such piteous tears, and so appealed to HUBERT DE BOURG (or BURGH), the +warden of the castle, who had a love for him, and was an honourable, +tender man, that Hubert could not bear it. To his eternal honour he +prevented the torture from being performed, and, at his own risk, sent +the savages away. + +The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing +suggestion next, and, with his shuffling manner and his cruel face, +proposed it to one William de Bray. 'I am a gentleman and not an +executioner,' said William de Bray, and left the presence with disdain. + +But it was not difficult for a King to hire a murderer in those days. +King John found one for his money, and sent him down to the castle of +Falaise. 'On what errand dost thou come?' said Hubert to this fellow. +'To despatch young Arthur,' he returned. 'Go back to him who sent thee,' +answered Hubert, 'and say that I will do it!' + +King John very well knowing that Hubert would never do it, but that he +courageously sent this reply to save the Prince or gain time, despatched +messengers to convey the young prisoner to the castle of Rouen. + +Arthur was soon forced from the good Hubert--of whom he had never stood +in greater need than then--carried away by night, and lodged in his new +prison: where, through his grated window, he could hear the deep waters +of the river Seine, rippling against the stone wall below. + +One dark night, as he lay sleeping, dreaming perhaps of rescue by those +unfortunate gentlemen who were obscurely suffering and dying in his +cause, he was roused, and bidden by his jailer to come down the staircase +to the foot of the tower. He hurriedly dressed himself and obeyed. When +they came to the bottom of the winding stairs, and the night air from the +river blew upon their faces, the jailer trod upon his torch and put it +out. Then, Arthur, in the darkness, was hurriedly drawn into a solitary +boat. And in that boat, he found his uncle and one other man. + +He knelt to them, and prayed them not to murder him. Deaf to his +entreaties, they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with heavy +stones. When the spring-morning broke, the tower-door was closed, the +boat was gone, the river sparkled on its way, and never more was any +trace of the poor boy beheld by mortal eyes. + +The news of this atrocious murder being spread in England, awakened a +hatred of the King (already odious for his many vices, and for his having +stolen away and married a noble lady while his own wife was living) that +never slept again through his whole reign. In Brittany, the indignation +was intense. Arthur's own sister ELEANOR was in the power of John and +shut up in a convent at Bristol, but his half-sister ALICE was in +Brittany. The people chose her, and the murdered prince's father-in-law, +the last husband of Constance, to represent them; and carried their fiery +complaints to King Philip. King Philip summoned King John (as the holder +of territory in France) to come before him and defend himself. King John +refusing to appear, King Philip declared him false, perjured, and guilty; +and again made war. In a little time, by conquering the greater part of +his French territory, King Philip deprived him of one-third of his +dominions. And, through all the fighting that took place, King John was +always found, either to be eating and drinking, like a gluttonous fool, +when the danger was at a distance, or to be running away, like a beaten +cur, when it was near. + +You might suppose that when he was losing his dominions at this rate, and +when his own nobles cared so little for him or his cause that they +plainly refused to follow his banner out of England, he had enemies +enough. But he made another enemy of the Pope, which he did in this way. + +The Archbishop of Canterbury dying, and the junior monks of that place +wishing to get the start of the senior monks in the appointment of his +successor, met together at midnight, secretly elected a certain REGINALD, +and sent him off to Rome to get the Pope's approval. The senior monks +and the King soon finding this out, and being very angry about it, the +junior monks gave way, and all the monks together elected the Bishop of +Norwich, who was the King's favourite. The Pope, hearing the whole +story, declared that neither election would do for him, and that _he_ +elected STEPHEN LANGTON. The monks submitting to the Pope, the King +turned them all out bodily, and banished them as traitors. The Pope sent +three bishops to the King, to threaten him with an Interdict. The King +told the bishops that if any Interdict were laid upon his kingdom, he +would tear out the eyes and cut off the noses of all the monks he could +lay hold of, and send them over to Rome in that undecorated state as a +present for their master. The bishops, nevertheless, soon published the +Interdict, and fled. + +After it had lasted a year, the Pope proceeded to his next step; which +was Excommunication. King John was declared excommunicated, with all the +usual ceremonies. The King was so incensed at this, and was made so +desperate by the disaffection of his Barons and the hatred of his people, +that it is said he even privately sent ambassadors to the Turks in Spain, +offering to renounce his religion and hold his kingdom of them if they +would help him. It is related that the ambassadors were admitted to the +presence of the Turkish Emir through long lines of Moorish guards, and +that they found the Emir with his eyes seriously fixed on the pages of a +large book, from which he never once looked up. That they gave him a +letter from the King containing his proposals, and were gravely +dismissed. That presently the Emir sent for one of them, and conjured +him, by his faith in his religion, to say what kind of man the King of +England truly was? That the ambassador, thus pressed, replied that the +King of England was a false tyrant, against whom his own subjects would +soon rise. And that this was quite enough for the Emir. + +Money being, in his position, the next best thing to men, King John +spared no means of getting it. He set on foot another oppressing and +torturing of the unhappy Jews (which was quite in his way), and invented +a new punishment for one wealthy Jew of Bristol. Until such time as that +Jew should produce a certain large sum of money, the King sentenced him +to be imprisoned, and, every day, to have one tooth violently wrenched +out of his head--beginning with the double teeth. For seven days, the +oppressed man bore the daily pain and lost the daily tooth; but, on the +eighth, he paid the money. With the treasure raised in such ways, the +King made an expedition into Ireland, where some English nobles had +revolted. It was one of the very few places from which he did not run +away; because no resistance was shown. He made another expedition into +Wales--whence he _did_ run away in the end: but not before he had got +from the Welsh people, as hostages, twenty-seven young men of the best +families; every one of whom he caused to be slain in the following year. + +To Interdict and Excommunication, the Pope now added his last sentence; +Deposition. He proclaimed John no longer King, absolved all his subjects +from their allegiance, and sent Stephen Langton and others to the King of +France to tell him that, if he would invade England, he should be +forgiven all his sins--at least, should be forgiven them by the Pope, if +that would do. + +As there was nothing that King Philip desired more than to invade +England, he collected a great army at Rouen, and a fleet of seventeen +hundred ships to bring them over. But the English people, however +bitterly they hated the King, were not a people to suffer invasion +quietly. They flocked to Dover, where the English standard was, in such +great numbers to enrol themselves as defenders of their native land, that +there were not provisions for them, and the King could only select and +retain sixty thousand. But, at this crisis, the Pope, who had his own +reasons for objecting to either King John or King Philip being too +powerful, interfered. He entrusted a legate, whose name was PANDOLF, +with the easy task of frightening King John. He sent him to the English +Camp, from France, to terrify him with exaggerations of King Philip's +power, and his own weakness in the discontent of the English Barons and +people. Pandolf discharged his commission so well, that King John, in a +wretched panic, consented to acknowledge Stephen Langton; to resign his +kingdom 'to God, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul'--which meant the Pope; and +to hold it, ever afterwards, by the Pope's leave, on payment of an annual +sum of money. To this shameful contract he publicly bound himself in the +church of the Knights Templars at Dover: where he laid at the legate's +feet a part of the tribute, which the legate haughtily trampled upon. But +they _do_ say, that this was merely a genteel flourish, and that he was +afterwards seen to pick it up and pocket it. + +There was an unfortunate prophet, the name of Peter, who had greatly +increased King John's terrors by predicting that he would be unknighted +(which the King supposed to signify that he would die) before the Feast +of the Ascension should be past. That was the day after this +humiliation. When the next morning came, and the King, who had been +trembling all night, found himself alive and safe, he ordered the +prophet--and his son too--to be dragged through the streets at the tails +of horses, and then hanged, for having frightened him. + +As King John had now submitted, the Pope, to King Philip's great +astonishment, took him under his protection, and informed King Philip +that he found he could not give him leave to invade England. The angry +Philip resolved to do it without his leave but he gained nothing and lost +much; for, the English, commanded by the Earl of Salisbury, went over, in +five hundred ships, to the French coast, before the French fleet had +sailed away from it, and utterly defeated the whole. + +The Pope then took off his three sentences, one after another, and +empowered Stephen Langton publicly to receive King John into the favour +of the Church again, and to ask him to dinner. The King, who hated +Langton with all his might and main--and with reason too, for he was a +great and a good man, with whom such a King could have no +sympathy--pretended to cry and to be _very_ grateful. There was a little +difficulty about settling how much the King should pay as a recompense to +the clergy for the losses he had caused them; but, the end of it was, +that the superior clergy got a good deal, and the inferior clergy got +little or nothing--which has also happened since King John's time, I +believe. + +When all these matters were arranged, the King in his triumph became more +fierce, and false, and insolent to all around him than he had ever been. +An alliance of sovereigns against King Philip, gave him an opportunity of +landing an army in France; with which he even took a town! But, on the +French King's gaining a great victory, he ran away, of course, and made a +truce for five years. + +And now the time approached when he was to be still further humbled, and +made to feel, if he could feel anything, what a wretched creature he was. +Of all men in the world, Stephen Langton seemed raised up by Heaven to +oppose and subdue him. When he ruthlessly burnt and destroyed the +property of his own subjects, because their Lords, the Barons, would not +serve him abroad, Stephen Langton fearlessly reproved and threatened him. +When he swore to restore the laws of King Edward, or the laws of King +Henry the First, Stephen Langton knew his falsehood, and pursued him +through all his evasions. When the Barons met at the abbey of Saint +Edmund's-Bury, to consider their wrongs and the King's oppressions, +Stephen Langton roused them by his fervid words to demand a solemn +charter of rights and liberties from their perjured master, and to swear, +one by one, on the High Altar, that they would have it, or would wage war +against him to the death. When the King hid himself in London from the +Barons, and was at last obliged to receive them, they told him roundly +they would not believe him unless Stephen Langton became a surety that he +would keep his word. When he took the Cross to invest himself with some +interest, and belong to something that was received with favour, Stephen +Langton was still immovable. When he appealed to the Pope, and the Pope +wrote to Stephen Langton in behalf of his new favourite, Stephen Langton +was deaf, even to the Pope himself, and saw before him nothing but the +welfare of England and the crimes of the English King. + +At Easter-time, the Barons assembled at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, in +proud array, and, marching near to Oxford where the King was, delivered +into the hands of Stephen Langton and two others, a list of grievances. +'And these,' they said, 'he must redress, or we will do it for +ourselves!' When Stephen Langton told the King as much, and read the +list to him, he went half mad with rage. But that did him no more good +than his afterwards trying to pacify the Barons with lies. They called +themselves and their followers, 'The army of God and the Holy Church.' +Marching through the country, with the people thronging to them +everywhere (except at Northampton, where they failed in an attack upon +the castle), they at last triumphantly set up their banner in London +itself, whither the whole land, tired of the tyrant, seemed to flock to +join them. Seven knights alone, of all the knights in England, remained +with the King; who, reduced to this strait, at last sent the Earl of +Pembroke to the Barons to say that he approved of everything, and would +meet them to sign their charter when they would. 'Then,' said the +Barons, 'let the day be the fifteenth of June, and the place, +Runny-Mead.' + +On Monday, the fifteenth of June, one thousand two hundred and fourteen, +the King came from Windsor Castle, and the Barons came from the town of +Staines, and they met on Runny-Mead, which is still a pleasant meadow by +the Thames, where rushes grow in the clear water of the winding river, +and its banks are green with grass and trees. On the side of the Barons, +came the General of their army, ROBERT FITZ-WALTER, and a great concourse +of the nobility of England. With the King, came, in all, some four-and- +twenty persons of any note, most of whom despised him, and were merely +his advisers in form. On that great day, and in that great company, the +King signed MAGNA CHARTA--the great charter of England--by which he +pledged himself to maintain the Church in its rights; to relieve the +Barons of oppressive obligations as vassals of the Crown--of which the +Barons, in their turn, pledged themselves to relieve _their_ vassals, the +people; to respect the liberties of London and all other cities and +boroughs; to protect foreign merchants who came to England; to imprison +no man without a fair trial; and to sell, delay, or deny justice to none. +As the Barons knew his falsehood well, they further required, as their +securities, that he should send out of his kingdom all his foreign +troops; that for two months they should hold possession of the city of +London, and Stephen Langton of the Tower; and that five-and-twenty of +their body, chosen by themselves, should be a lawful committee to watch +the keeping of the charter, and to make war upon him if he broke it. + +All this he was obliged to yield. He signed the charter with a smile, +and, if he could have looked agreeable, would have done so, as he +departed from the splendid assembly. When he got home to Windsor Castle, +he was quite a madman in his helpless fury. And he broke the charter +immediately afterwards. + +He sent abroad for foreign soldiers, and sent to the Pope for help, and +plotted to take London by surprise, while the Barons should be holding a +great tournament at Stamford, which they had agreed to hold there as a +celebration of the charter. The Barons, however, found him out and put +it off. Then, when the Barons desired to see him and tax him with his +treachery, he made numbers of appointments with them, and kept none, and +shifted from place to place, and was constantly sneaking and skulking +about. At last he appeared at Dover, to join his foreign soldiers, of +whom numbers came into his pay; and with them he besieged and took +Rochester Castle, which was occupied by knights and soldiers of the +Barons. He would have hanged them every one; but the leader of the +foreign soldiers, fearful of what the English people might afterwards do +to him, interfered to save the knights; therefore the King was fain to +satisfy his vengeance with the death of all the common men. Then, he +sent the Earl of Salisbury, with one portion of his army, to ravage the +eastern part of his own dominions, while he carried fire and slaughter +into the northern part; torturing, plundering, killing, and inflicting +every possible cruelty upon the people; and, every morning, setting a +worthy example to his men by setting fire, with his own monster-hands, to +the house where he had slept last night. Nor was this all; for the Pope, +coming to the aid of his precious friend, laid the kingdom under an +Interdict again, because the people took part with the Barons. It did +not much matter, for the people had grown so used to it now, that they +had begun to think nothing about it. It occurred to them--perhaps to +Stephen Langton too--that they could keep their churches open, and ring +their bells, without the Pope's permission as well as with it. So, they +tried the experiment--and found that it succeeded perfectly. + +It being now impossible to bear the country, as a wilderness of cruelty, +or longer to hold any terms with such a forsworn outlaw of a King, the +Barons sent to Louis, son of the French monarch, to offer him the English +crown. Caring as little for the Pope's excommunication of him if he +accepted the offer, as it is possible his father may have cared for the +Pope's forgiveness of his sins, he landed at Sandwich (King John +immediately running away from Dover, where he happened to be), and went +on to London. The Scottish King, with whom many of the Northern English +Lords had taken refuge; numbers of the foreign soldiers, numbers of the +Barons, and numbers of the people went over to him every day;--King John, +the while, continually running away in all directions. + +The career of Louis was checked however, by the suspicions of the Barons, +founded on the dying declaration of a French Lord, that when the kingdom +was conquered he was sworn to banish them as traitors, and to give their +estates to some of his own Nobles. Rather than suffer this, some of the +Barons hesitated: others even went over to King John. + +It seemed to be the turning-point of King John's fortunes, for, in his +savage and murderous course, he had now taken some towns and met with +some successes. But, happily for England and humanity, his death was +near. Crossing a dangerous quicksand, called the Wash, not very far from +Wisbeach, the tide came up and nearly drowned his army. He and his +soldiers escaped; but, looking back from the shore when he was safe, he +saw the roaring water sweep down in a torrent, overturn the waggons, +horses, and men, that carried his treasure, and engulf them in a raging +whirlpool from which nothing could be delivered. + +Cursing, and swearing, and gnawing his fingers, he went on to Swinestead +Abbey, where the monks set before him quantities of pears, and peaches, +and new cider--some say poison too, but there is very little reason to +suppose so--of which he ate and drank in an immoderate and beastly way. +All night he lay ill of a burning fever, and haunted with horrible fears. +Next day, they put him in a horse-litter, and carried him to Sleaford +Castle, where he passed another night of pain and horror. Next day, they +carried him, with greater difficulty than on the day before, to the +castle of Newark upon Trent; and there, on the eighteenth of October, in +the forty-ninth year of his age, and the seventeenth of his vile reign, +was an end of this miserable brute. + + + + +CHAPTER XV--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER + + +If any of the English Barons remembered the murdered Arthur's sister, +Eleanor the fair maid of Brittany, shut up in her convent at Bristol, +none among them spoke of her now, or maintained her right to the Crown. +The dead Usurper's eldest boy, HENRY by name, was taken by the Earl of +Pembroke, the Marshal of England, to the city of Gloucester, and there +crowned in great haste when he was only ten years old. As the Crown +itself had been lost with the King's treasure in the raging water, and as +there was no time to make another, they put a circle of plain gold upon +his head instead. 'We have been the enemies of this child's father,' +said Lord Pembroke, a good and true gentleman, to the few Lords who were +present, 'and he merited our ill-will; but the child himself is innocent, +and his youth demands our friendship and protection.' Those Lords felt +tenderly towards the little boy, remembering their own young children; +and they bowed their heads, and said, 'Long live King Henry the Third!' + +Next, a great council met at Bristol, revised Magna Charta, and made Lord +Pembroke Regent or Protector of England, as the King was too young to +reign alone. The next thing to be done, was to get rid of Prince Louis +of France, and to win over those English Barons who were still ranged +under his banner. He was strong in many parts of England, and in London +itself; and he held, among other places, a certain Castle called the +Castle of Mount Sorel, in Leicestershire. To this fortress, after some +skirmishing and truce-making, Lord Pembroke laid siege. Louis despatched +an army of six hundred knights and twenty thousand soldiers to relieve +it. Lord Pembroke, who was not strong enough for such a force, retired +with all his men. The army of the French Prince, which had marched there +with fire and plunder, marched away with fire and plunder, and came, in a +boastful swaggering manner, to Lincoln. The town submitted; but the +Castle in the town, held by a brave widow lady, named NICHOLA DE CAMVILLE +(whose property it was), made such a sturdy resistance, that the French +Count in command of the army of the French Prince found it necessary to +besiege this Castle. While he was thus engaged, word was brought to him +that Lord Pembroke, with four hundred knights, two hundred and fifty men +with cross-bows, and a stout force both of horse and foot, was marching +towards him. 'What care I?' said the French Count. 'The Englishman is +not so mad as to attack me and my great army in a walled town!' But the +Englishman did it for all that, and did it--not so madly but so wisely, +that he decoyed the great army into the narrow, ill-paved lanes and +byways of Lincoln, where its horse-soldiers could not ride in any strong +body; and there he made such havoc with them, that the whole force +surrendered themselves prisoners, except the Count; who said that he +would never yield to any English traitor alive, and accordingly got +killed. The end of this victory, which the English called, for a joke, +the Fair of Lincoln, was the usual one in those times--the common men +were slain without any mercy, and the knights and gentlemen paid ransom +and went home. + +The wife of Louis, the fair BLANCHE OF CASTILE, dutifully equipped a +fleet of eighty good ships, and sent it over from France to her husband's +aid. An English fleet of forty ships, some good and some bad, gallantly +met them near the mouth of the Thames, and took or sunk sixty-five in one +fight. This great loss put an end to the French Prince's hopes. A +treaty was made at Lambeth, in virtue of which the English Barons who had +remained attached to his cause returned to their allegiance, and it was +engaged on both sides that the Prince and all his troops should retire +peacefully to France. It was time to go; for war had made him so poor +that he was obliged to borrow money from the citizens of London to pay +his expenses home. + +Lord Pembroke afterwards applied himself to governing the country justly, +and to healing the quarrels and disturbances that had arisen among men in +the days of the bad King John. He caused Magna Charta to be still more +improved, and so amended the Forest Laws that a Peasant was no longer put +to death for killing a stag in a Royal Forest, but was only imprisoned. +It would have been well for England if it could have had so good a +Protector many years longer, but that was not to be. Within three years +after the young King's Coronation, Lord Pembroke died; and you may see +his tomb, at this day, in the old Temple Church in London. + +The Protectorship was now divided. PETER DE ROCHES, whom King John had +made Bishop of Winchester, was entrusted with the care of the person of +the young sovereign; and the exercise of the Royal authority was confided +to EARL HUBERT DE BURGH. These two personages had from the first no +liking for each other, and soon became enemies. When the young King was +declared of age, Peter de Roches, finding that Hubert increased in power +and favour, retired discontentedly, and went abroad. For nearly ten +years afterwards Hubert had full sway alone. + +But ten years is a long time to hold the favour of a King. This King, +too, as he grew up, showed a strong resemblance to his father, in +feebleness, inconsistency, and irresolution. The best that can be said +of him is that he was not cruel. De Roches coming home again, after ten +years, and being a novelty, the King began to favour him and to look +coldly on Hubert. Wanting money besides, and having made Hubert rich, he +began to dislike Hubert. At last he was made to believe, or pretended to +believe, that Hubert had misappropriated some of the Royal treasure; and +ordered him to furnish an account of all he had done in his +administration. Besides which, the foolish charge was brought against +Hubert that he had made himself the King's favourite by magic. Hubert +very well knowing that he could never defend himself against such +nonsense, and that his old enemy must be determined on his ruin, instead +of answering the charges fled to Merton Abbey. Then the King, in a +violent passion, sent for the Mayor of London, and said to the Mayor, +'Take twenty thousand citizens, and drag me Hubert de Burgh out of that +abbey, and bring him here.' The Mayor posted off to do it, but the +Archbishop of Dublin (who was a friend of Hubert's) warning the King that +an abbey was a sacred place, and that if he committed any violence there, +he must answer for it to the Church, the King changed his mind and called +the Mayor back, and declared that Hubert should have four months to +prepare his defence, and should be safe and free during that time. + +Hubert, who relied upon the King's word, though I think he was old enough +to have known better, came out of Merton Abbey upon these conditions, and +journeyed away to see his wife: a Scottish Princess who was then at St. +Edmund's-Bury. + +Almost as soon as he had departed from the Sanctuary, his enemies +persuaded the weak King to send out one SIR GODFREY DE CRANCUMB, who +commanded three hundred vagabonds called the Black Band, with orders to +seize him. They came up with him at a little town in Essex, called +Brentwood, when he was in bed. He leaped out of bed, got out of the +house, fled to the church, ran up to the altar, and laid his hand upon +the cross. Sir Godfrey and the Black Band, caring neither for church, +altar, nor cross, dragged him forth to the church door, with their drawn +swords flashing round his head, and sent for a Smith to rivet a set of +chains upon him. When the Smith (I wish I knew his name!) was brought, +all dark and swarthy with the smoke of his forge, and panting with the +speed he had made; and the Black Band, falling aside to show him the +Prisoner, cried with a loud uproar, 'Make the fetters heavy! make them +strong!' the Smith dropped upon his knee--but not to the Black Band--and +said, 'This is the brave Earl Hubert de Burgh, who fought at Dover +Castle, and destroyed the French fleet, and has done his country much +good service. You may kill me, if you like, but I will never make a +chain for Earl Hubert de Burgh!' + +The Black Band never blushed, or they might have blushed at this. They +knocked the Smith about from one to another, and swore at him, and tied +the Earl on horseback, undressed as he was, and carried him off to the +Tower of London. The Bishops, however, were so indignant at the +violation of the Sanctuary of the Church, that the frightened King soon +ordered the Black Band to take him back again; at the same time +commanding the Sheriff of Essex to prevent his escaping out of Brentwood +Church. Well! the Sheriff dug a deep trench all round the church, and +erected a high fence, and watched the church night and day; the Black +Band and their Captain watched it too, like three hundred and one black +wolves. For thirty-nine days, Hubert de Burgh remained within. At +length, upon the fortieth day, cold and hunger were too much for him, and +he gave himself up to the Black Band, who carried him off, for the second +time, to the Tower. When his trial came on, he refused to plead; but at +last it was arranged that he should give up all the royal lands which had +been bestowed upon him, and should be kept at the Castle of Devizes, in +what was called 'free prison,' in charge of four knights appointed by +four lords. There, he remained almost a year, until, learning that a +follower of his old enemy the Bishop was made Keeper of the Castle, and +fearing that he might be killed by treachery, he climbed the ramparts one +dark night, dropped from the top of the high Castle wall into the moat, +and coming safely to the ground, took refuge in another church. From +this place he was delivered by a party of horse despatched to his help by +some nobles, who were by this time in revolt against the King, and +assembled in Wales. He was finally pardoned and restored to his estates, +but he lived privately, and never more aspired to a high post in the +realm, or to a high place in the King's favour. And thus end--more +happily than the stories of many favourites of Kings--the adventures of +Earl Hubert de Burgh. + +The nobles, who had risen in revolt, were stirred up to rebellion by the +overbearing conduct of the Bishop of Winchester, who, finding that the +King secretly hated the Great Charter which had been forced from his +father, did his utmost to confirm him in that dislike, and in the +preference he showed to foreigners over the English. Of this, and of his +even publicly declaring that the Barons of England were inferior to those +of France, the English Lords complained with such bitterness, that the +King, finding them well supported by the clergy, became frightened for +his throne, and sent away the Bishop and all his foreign associates. On +his marriage, however, with ELEANOR, a French lady, the daughter of the +Count of Provence, he openly favoured the foreigners again; and so many +of his wife's relations came over, and made such an immense family-party +at court, and got so many good things, and pocketed so much money, and +were so high with the English whose money they pocketed, that the bolder +English Barons murmured openly about a clause there was in the Great +Charter, which provided for the banishment of unreasonable favourites. +But, the foreigners only laughed disdainfully, and said, 'What are your +English laws to us?' + +King Philip of France had died, and had been succeeded by Prince Louis, +who had also died after a short reign of three years, and had been +succeeded by his son of the same name--so moderate and just a man that he +was not the least in the world like a King, as Kings went. ISABELLA, +King Henry's mother, wished very much (for a certain spite she had) that +England should make war against this King; and, as King Henry was a mere +puppet in anybody's hands who knew how to manage his feebleness, she +easily carried her point with him. But, the Parliament were determined +to give him no money for such a war. So, to defy the Parliament, he +packed up thirty large casks of silver--I don't know how he got so much; +I dare say he screwed it out of the miserable Jews--and put them aboard +ship, and went away himself to carry war into France: accompanied by his +mother and his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who was rich and +clever. But he only got well beaten, and came home. + +The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this. They +reproached the King with wasting the public money to make greedy +foreigners rich, and were so stern with him, and so determined not to let +him have more of it to waste if they could help it, that he was at his +wit's end for some, and tried so shamelessly to get all he could from his +subjects, by excuses or by force, that the people used to say the King +was the sturdiest beggar in England. He took the Cross, thinking to get +some money by that means; but, as it was very well known that he never +meant to go on a crusade, he got none. In all this contention, the +Londoners were particularly keen against the King, and the King hated +them warmly in return. Hating or loving, however, made no difference; he +continued in the same condition for nine or ten years, when at last the +Barons said that if he would solemnly confirm their liberties afresh, the +Parliament would vote him a large sum. + +As he readily consented, there was a great meeting held in Westminster +Hall, one pleasant day in May, when all the clergy, dressed in their +robes and holding every one of them a burning candle in his hand, stood +up (the Barons being also there) while the Archbishop of Canterbury read +the sentence of excommunication against any man, and all men, who should +henceforth, in any way, infringe the Great Charter of the Kingdom. When +he had done, they all put out their burning candles with a curse upon the +soul of any one, and every one, who should merit that sentence. The King +concluded with an oath to keep the Charter, 'As I am a man, as I am a +Christian, as I am a Knight, as I am a King!' + +It was easy to make oaths, and easy to break them; and the King did both, +as his father had done before him. He took to his old courses again when +he was supplied with money, and soon cured of their weakness the few who +had ever really trusted him. When his money was gone, and he was once +more borrowing and begging everywhere with a meanness worthy of his +nature, he got into a difficulty with the Pope respecting the Crown of +Sicily, which the Pope said he had a right to give away, and which he +offered to King Henry for his second son, PRINCE EDMUND. But, if you or +I give away what we have not got, and what belongs to somebody else, it +is likely that the person to whom we give it, will have some trouble in +taking it. It was exactly so in this case. It was necessary to conquer +the Sicilian Crown before it could be put upon young Edmund's head. It +could not be conquered without money. The Pope ordered the clergy to +raise money. The clergy, however, were not so obedient to him as usual; +they had been disputing with him for some time about his unjust +preference of Italian Priests in England; and they had begun to doubt +whether the King's chaplain, whom he allowed to be paid for preaching in +seven hundred churches, could possibly be, even by the Pope's favour, in +seven hundred places at once. 'The Pope and the King together,' said the +Bishop of London, 'may take the mitre off my head; but, if they do, they +will find that I shall put on a soldier's helmet. I pay nothing.' The +Bishop of Worcester was as bold as the Bishop of London, and would pay +nothing either. Such sums as the more timid or more helpless of the +clergy did raise were squandered away, without doing any good to the +King, or bringing the Sicilian Crown an inch nearer to Prince Edmund's +head. The end of the business was, that the Pope gave the Crown to the +brother of the King of France (who conquered it for himself), and sent +the King of England in, a bill of one hundred thousand pounds for the +expenses of not having won it. + +The King was now so much distressed that we might almost pity him, if it +were possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. His clever +brother, Richard, had bought the title of King of the Romans from the +German people, and was no longer near him, to help him with advice. The +clergy, resisting the very Pope, were in alliance with the Barons. The +Barons were headed by SIMON DE MONTFORT, Earl of Leicester, married to +King Henry's sister, and, though a foreigner himself, the most popular +man in England against the foreign favourites. When the King next met +his Parliament, the Barons, led by this Earl, came before him, armed from +head to foot, and cased in armour. When the Parliament again assembled, +in a month's time, at Oxford, this Earl was at their head, and the King +was obliged to consent, on oath, to what was called a Committee of +Government: consisting of twenty-four members: twelve chosen by the +Barons, and twelve chosen by himself. + +But, at a good time for him, his brother Richard came back. Richard's +first act (the Barons would not admit him into England on other terms) +was to swear to be faithful to the Committee of Government--which he +immediately began to oppose with all his might. Then, the Barons began +to quarrel among themselves; especially the proud Earl of Gloucester with +the Earl of Leicester, who went abroad in disgust. Then, the people +began to be dissatisfied with the Barons, because they did not do enough +for them. The King's chances seemed so good again at length, that he +took heart enough--or caught it from his brother--to tell the Committee +of Government that he abolished them--as to his oath, never mind that, +the Pope said!--and to seize all the money in the Mint, and to shut +himself up in the Tower of London. Here he was joined by his eldest son, +Prince Edward; and, from the Tower, he made public a letter of the Pope's +to the world in general, informing all men that he had been an excellent +and just King for five-and-forty years. + +As everybody knew he had been nothing of the sort, nobody cared much for +this document. It so chanced that the proud Earl of Gloucester dying, +was succeeded by his son; and that his son, instead of being the enemy of +the Earl of Leicester, was (for the time) his friend. It fell out, +therefore, that these two Earls joined their forces, took several of the +Royal Castles in the country, and advanced as hard as they could on +London. The London people, always opposed to the King, declared for them +with great joy. The King himself remained shut up, not at all +gloriously, in the Tower. Prince Edward made the best of his way to +Windsor Castle. His mother, the Queen, attempted to follow him by water; +but, the people seeing her barge rowing up the river, and hating her with +all their hearts, ran to London Bridge, got together a quantity of stones +and mud, and pelted the barge as it came through, crying furiously, +'Drown the Witch! Drown her!' They were so near doing it, that the +Mayor took the old lady under his protection, and shut her up in St. +Paul's until the danger was past. + +It would require a great deal of writing on my part, and a great deal of +reading on yours, to follow the King through his disputes with the +Barons, and to follow the Barons through their disputes with one +another--so I will make short work of it for both of us, and only relate +the chief events that arose out of these quarrels. The good King of +France was asked to decide between them. He gave it as his opinion that +the King must maintain the Great Charter, and that the Barons must give +up the Committee of Government, and all the rest that had been done by +the Parliament at Oxford: which the Royalists, or King's party, +scornfully called the Mad Parliament. The Barons declared that these +were not fair terms, and they would not accept them. Then they caused +the great bell of St. Paul's to be tolled, for the purpose of rousing up +the London people, who armed themselves at the dismal sound and formed +quite an army in the streets. I am sorry to say, however, that instead +of falling upon the King's party with whom their quarrel was, they fell +upon the miserable Jews, and killed at least five hundred of them. They +pretended that some of these Jews were on the King's side, and that they +kept hidden in their houses, for the destruction of the people, a certain +terrible composition called Greek Fire, which could not be put out with +water, but only burnt the fiercer for it. What they really did keep in +their houses was money; and this their cruel enemies wanted, and this +their cruel enemies took, like robbers and murderers. + +The Earl of Leicester put himself at the head of these Londoners and +other forces, and followed the King to Lewes in Sussex, where he lay +encamped with his army. Before giving the King's forces battle here, the +Earl addressed his soldiers, and said that King Henry the Third had +broken so many oaths, that he had become the enemy of God, and therefore +they would wear white crosses on their breasts, as if they were arrayed, +not against a fellow-Christian, but against a Turk. White-crossed +accordingly, they rushed into the fight. They would have lost the +day--the King having on his side all the foreigners in England: and, from +Scotland, JOHN COMYN, JOHN BALIOL, and ROBERT BRUCE, with all their +men--but for the impatience of PRINCE EDWARD, who, in his hot desire to +have vengeance on the people of London, threw the whole of his father's +army into confusion. He was taken Prisoner; so was the King; so was the +King's brother the King of the Romans; and five thousand Englishmen were +left dead upon the bloody grass. + +For this success, the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: which +neither the Earl nor the people cared at all about. The people loved him +and supported him, and he became the real King; having all the power of +the government in his own hands, though he was outwardly respectful to +King Henry the Third, whom he took with him wherever he went, like a poor +old limp court-card. He summoned a Parliament (in the year one thousand +two hundred and sixty-five) which was the first Parliament in England +that the people had any real share in electing; and he grew more and more +in favour with the people every day, and they stood by him in whatever he +did. + +Many of the other Barons, and particularly the Earl of Gloucester, who +had become by this time as proud as his father, grew jealous of this +powerful and popular Earl, who was proud too, and began to conspire +against him. Since the battle of Lewes, Prince Edward had been kept as a +hostage, and, though he was otherwise treated like a Prince, had never +been allowed to go out without attendants appointed by the Earl of +Leicester, who watched him. The conspiring Lords found means to propose +to him, in secret, that they should assist him to escape, and should make +him their leader; to which he very heartily consented. + +So, on a day that was agreed upon, he said to his attendants after dinner +(being then at Hereford), 'I should like to ride on horseback, this fine +afternoon, a little way into the country.' As they, too, thought it +would be very pleasant to have a canter in the sunshine, they all rode +out of the town together in a gay little troop. When they came to a fine +level piece of turf, the Prince fell to comparing their horses one with +another, and offering bets that one was faster than another; and the +attendants, suspecting no harm, rode galloping matches until their horses +were quite tired. The Prince rode no matches himself, but looked on from +his saddle, and staked his money. Thus they passed the whole merry +afternoon. Now, the sun was setting, and they were all going slowly up a +hill, the Prince's horse very fresh and all the other horses very weary, +when a strange rider mounted on a grey steed appeared at the top of the +hill, and waved his hat. 'What does the fellow mean?' said the +attendants one to another. The Prince answered on the instant by setting +spurs to his horse, dashing away at his utmost speed, joining the man, +riding into the midst of a little crowd of horsemen who were then seen +waiting under some trees, and who closed around him; and so he departed +in a cloud of dust, leaving the road empty of all but the baffled +attendants, who sat looking at one another, while their horses drooped +their ears and panted. + +The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. The Earl of +Leicester, with a part of the army and the stupid old King, was at +Hereford. One of the Earl of Leicester's sons, Simon de Montfort, with +another part of the army, was in Sussex. To prevent these two parts from +uniting was the Prince's first object. He attacked Simon de Montfort by +night, defeated him, seized his banners and treasure, and forced him into +Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, which belonged to his family. + +His father, the Earl of Leicester, in the meanwhile, not knowing what had +happened, marched out of Hereford, with his part of the army and the +King, to meet him. He came, on a bright morning in August, to Evesham, +which is watered by the pleasant river Avon. Looking rather anxiously +across the prospect towards Kenilworth, he saw his own banners advancing; +and his face brightened with joy. But, it clouded darkly when he +presently perceived that the banners were captured, and in the enemy's +hands; and he said, 'It is over. The Lord have mercy on our souls, for +our bodies are Prince Edward's!' + +He fought like a true Knight, nevertheless. When his horse was killed +under him, he fought on foot. It was a fierce battle, and the dead lay +in heaps everywhere. The old King, stuck up in a suit of armour on a big +war-horse, which didn't mind him at all, and which carried him into all +sorts of places where he didn't want to go, got into everybody's way, and +very nearly got knocked on the head by one of his son's men. But he +managed to pipe out, 'I am Harry of Winchester!' and the Prince, who +heard him, seized his bridle, and took him out of peril. The Earl of +Leicester still fought bravely, until his best son Henry was killed, and +the bodies of his best friends choked his path; and then he fell, still +fighting, sword in hand. They mangled his body, and sent it as a present +to a noble lady--but a very unpleasant lady, I should think--who was the +wife of his worst enemy. They could not mangle his memory in the minds +of the faithful people, though. Many years afterwards, they loved him +more than ever, and regarded him as a Saint, and always spoke of him as +'Sir Simon the Righteous.' + +And even though he was dead, the cause for which he had fought still +lived, and was strong, and forced itself upon the King in the very hour +of victory. Henry found himself obliged to respect the Great Charter, +however much he hated it, and to make laws similar to the laws of the +Great Earl of Leicester, and to be moderate and forgiving towards the +people at last--even towards the people of London, who had so long +opposed him. There were more risings before all this was done, but they +were set at rest by these means, and Prince Edward did his best in all +things to restore peace. One Sir Adam de Gourdon was the last +dissatisfied knight in arms; but, the Prince vanquished him in single +combat, in a wood, and nobly gave him his life, and became his friend, +instead of slaying him. Sir Adam was not ungrateful. He ever afterwards +remained devoted to his generous conqueror. + +When the troubles of the Kingdom were thus calmed, Prince Edward and his +cousin Henry took the Cross, and went away to the Holy Land, with many +English Lords and Knights. Four years afterwards the King of the Romans +died, and, next year (one thousand two hundred and seventy-two), his +brother the weak King of England died. He was sixty-eight years old +then, and had reigned fifty-six years. He was as much of a King in +death, as he had ever been in life. He was the mere pale shadow of a +King at all times. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS + + +It was now the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and seventy-two; +and Prince Edward, the heir to the throne, being away in the Holy Land, +knew nothing of his father's death. The Barons, however, proclaimed him +King, immediately after the Royal funeral; and the people very willingly +consented, since most men knew too well by this time what the horrors of +a contest for the crown were. So King Edward the First, called, in a not +very complimentary manner, LONGSHANKS, because of the slenderness of his +legs, was peacefully accepted by the English Nation. + +His legs had need to be strong, however long and thin they were; for they +had to support him through many difficulties on the fiery sands of Asia, +where his small force of soldiers fainted, died, deserted, and seemed to +melt away. But his prowess made light of it, and he said, 'I will go on, +if I go on with no other follower than my groom!' + +A Prince of this spirit gave the Turks a deal of trouble. He stormed +Nazareth, at which place, of all places on earth, I am sorry to relate, +he made a frightful slaughter of innocent people; and then he went to +Acre, where he got a truce of ten years from the Sultan. He had very +nearly lost his life in Acre, through the treachery of a Saracen Noble, +called the Emir of Jaffa, who, making the pretence that he had some idea +of turning Christian and wanted to know all about that religion, sent a +trusty messenger to Edward very often--with a dagger in his sleeve. At +last, one Friday in Whitsun week, when it was very hot, and all the sandy +prospect lay beneath the blazing sun, burnt up like a great overdone +biscuit, and Edward was lying on a couch, dressed for coolness in only a +loose robe, the messenger, with his chocolate-coloured face and his +bright dark eyes and white teeth, came creeping in with a letter, and +kneeled down like a tame tiger. But, the moment Edward stretched out his +hand to take the letter, the tiger made a spring at his heart. He was +quick, but Edward was quick too. He seized the traitor by his chocolate +throat, threw him to the ground, and slew him with the very dagger he had +drawn. The weapon had struck Edward in the arm, and although the wound +itself was slight, it threatened to be mortal, for the blade of the +dagger had been smeared with poison. Thanks, however, to a better +surgeon than was often to be found in those times, and to some wholesome +herbs, and above all, to his faithful wife, ELEANOR, who devotedly nursed +him, and is said by some to have sucked the poison from the wound with +her own red lips (which I am very willing to believe), Edward soon +recovered and was sound again. + +As the King his father had sent entreaties to him to return home, he now +began the journey. He had got as far as Italy, when he met messengers +who brought him intelligence of the King's death. Hearing that all was +quiet at home, he made no haste to return to his own dominions, but paid +a visit to the Pope, and went in state through various Italian Towns, +where he was welcomed with acclamations as a mighty champion of the Cross +from the Holy Land, and where he received presents of purple mantles and +prancing horses, and went along in great triumph. The shouting people +little knew that he was the last English monarch who would ever embark in +a crusade, or that within twenty years every conquest which the +Christians had made in the Holy Land at the cost of so much blood, would +be won back by the Turks. But all this came to pass. + +There was, and there is, an old town standing in a plain in France, +called Chalons. When the King was coming towards this place on his way +to England, a wily French Lord, called the Count of Chalons, sent him a +polite challenge to come with his knights and hold a fair tournament with +the Count and _his_ knights, and make a day of it with sword and lance. +It was represented to the King that the Count of Chalons was not to be +trusted, and that, instead of a holiday fight for mere show and in good +humour, he secretly meant a real battle, in which the English should be +defeated by superior force. + +The King, however, nothing afraid, went to the appointed place on the +appointed day with a thousand followers. When the Count came with two +thousand and attacked the English in earnest, the English rushed at them +with such valour that the Count's men and the Count's horses soon began +to be tumbled down all over the field. The Count himself seized the King +round the neck, but the King tumbled _him_ out of his saddle in return +for the compliment, and, jumping from his own horse, and standing over +him, beat away at his iron armour like a blacksmith hammering on his +anvil. Even when the Count owned himself defeated and offered his sword, +the King would not do him the honour to take it, but made him yield it up +to a common soldier. There had been such fury shown in this fight, that +it was afterwards called the little Battle of Chalons. + +The English were very well disposed to be proud of their King after these +adventures; so, when he landed at Dover in the year one thousand two +hundred and seventy-four (being then thirty-six years old), and went on +to Westminster where he and his good Queen were crowned with great +magnificence, splendid rejoicings took place. For the coronation-feast +there were provided, among other eatables, four hundred oxen, four +hundred sheep, four hundred and fifty pigs, eighteen wild boars, three +hundred flitches of bacon, and twenty thousand fowls. The fountains and +conduits in the street flowed with red and white wine instead of water; +the rich citizens hung silks and cloths of the brightest colours out of +their windows to increase the beauty of the show, and threw out gold and +silver by whole handfuls to make scrambles for the crowd. In short, +there was such eating and drinking, such music and capering, such a +ringing of bells and tossing of caps, such a shouting, and singing, and +revelling, as the narrow overhanging streets of old London City had not +witnessed for many a long day. All the people were merry except the poor +Jews, who, trembling within their houses, and scarcely daring to peep +out, began to foresee that they would have to find the money for this +joviality sooner or later. + +To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present, I am sorry to +add that in this reign they were most unmercifully pillaged. They were +hanged in great numbers, on accusations of having clipped the King's +coin--which all kinds of people had done. They were heavily taxed; they +were disgracefully badged; they were, on one day, thirteen years after +the coronation, taken up with their wives and children and thrown into +beastly prisons, until they purchased their release by paying to the King +twelve thousand pounds. Finally, every kind of property belonging to +them was seized by the King, except so little as would defray the charge +of their taking themselves away into foreign countries. Many years +elapsed before the hope of gain induced any of their race to return to +England, where they had been treated so heartlessly and had suffered so +much. + +If King Edward the First had been as bad a king to Christians as he was +to Jews, he would have been bad indeed. But he was, in general, a wise +and great monarch, under whom the country much improved. He had no love +for the Great Charter--few Kings had, through many, many years--but he +had high qualities. The first bold object which he conceived when he +came home, was, to unite under one Sovereign England, Scotland, and +Wales; the two last of which countries had each a little king of its own, +about whom the people were always quarrelling and fighting, and making a +prodigious disturbance--a great deal more than he was worth. In the +course of King Edward's reign he was engaged, besides, in a war with +France. To make these quarrels clearer, we will separate their histories +and take them thus. Wales, first. France, second. Scotland, third. + +* * * * * + +LLEWELLYN was the Prince of Wales. He had been on the side of the Barons +in the reign of the stupid old King, but had afterwards sworn allegiance +to him. When King Edward came to the throne, Llewellyn was required to +swear allegiance to him also; which he refused to do. The King, being +crowned and in his own dominions, three times more required Llewellyn to +come and do homage; and three times more Llewellyn said he would rather +not. He was going to be married to ELEANOR DE MONTFORT, a young lady of +the family mentioned in the last reign; and it chanced that this young +lady, coming from France with her youngest brother, EMERIC, was taken by +an English ship, and was ordered by the English King to be detained. Upon +this, the quarrel came to a head. The King went, with his fleet, to the +coast of Wales, where, so encompassing Llewellyn, that he could only take +refuge in the bleak mountain region of Snowdon in which no provisions +could reach him, he was soon starved into an apology, and into a treaty +of peace, and into paying the expenses of the war. The King, however, +forgave him some of the hardest conditions of the treaty, and consented +to his marriage. And he now thought he had reduced Wales to obedience. + +But the Welsh, although they were naturally a gentle, quiet, pleasant +people, who liked to receive strangers in their cottages among the +mountains, and to set before them with free hospitality whatever they had +to eat and drink, and to play to them on their harps, and sing their +native ballads to them, were a people of great spirit when their blood +was up. Englishmen, after this affair, began to be insolent in Wales, +and to assume the air of masters; and the Welsh pride could not bear it. +Moreover, they believed in that unlucky old Merlin, some of whose unlucky +old prophecies somebody always seemed doomed to remember when there was a +chance of its doing harm; and just at this time some blind old gentleman +with a harp and a long white beard, who was an excellent person, but had +become of an unknown age and tedious, burst out with a declaration that +Merlin had predicted that when English money had become round, a Prince +of Wales would be crowned in London. Now, King Edward had recently +forbidden the English penny to be cut into halves and quarters for +halfpence and farthings, and had actually introduced a round coin; +therefore, the Welsh people said this was the time Merlin meant, and rose +accordingly. + +King Edward had bought over PRINCE DAVID, Llewellyn's brother, by heaping +favours upon him; but he was the first to revolt, being perhaps troubled +in his conscience. One stormy night, he surprised the Castle of +Hawarden, in possession of which an English nobleman had been left; +killed the whole garrison, and carried off the nobleman a prisoner to +Snowdon. Upon this, the Welsh people rose like one man. King Edward, +with his army, marching from Worcester to the Menai Strait, crossed +it--near to where the wonderful tubular iron bridge now, in days so +different, makes a passage for railway trains--by a bridge of boats that +enabled forty men to march abreast. He subdued the Island of Anglesea, +and sent his men forward to observe the enemy. The sudden appearance of +the Welsh created a panic among them, and they fell back to the bridge. +The tide had in the meantime risen and separated the boats; the Welsh +pursuing them, they were driven into the sea, and there they sunk, in +their heavy iron armour, by thousands. After this victory Llewellyn, +helped by the severe winter-weather of Wales, gained another battle; but +the King ordering a portion of his English army to advance through South +Wales, and catch him between two foes, and Llewellyn bravely turning to +meet this new enemy, he was surprised and killed--very meanly, for he was +unarmed and defenceless. His head was struck off and sent to London, +where it was fixed upon the Tower, encircled with a wreath, some say of +ivy, some say of willow, some say of silver, to make it look like a +ghastly coin in ridicule of the prediction. + +David, however, still held out for six months, though eagerly sought +after by the King, and hunted by his own countrymen. One of them finally +betrayed him with his wife and children. He was sentenced to be hanged, +drawn, and quartered; and from that time this became the established +punishment of Traitors in England--a punishment wholly without excuse, as +being revolting, vile, and cruel, after its object is dead; and which has +no sense in it, as its only real degradation (and that nothing can blot +out) is to the country that permits on any consideration such abominable +barbarity. + +Wales was now subdued. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in the +Castle of Carnarvon, the King showed him to the Welsh people as their +countryman, and called him Prince of Wales; a title that has ever since +been borne by the heir-apparent to the English throne--which that little +Prince soon became, by the death of his elder brother. The King did +better things for the Welsh than that, by improving their laws and +encouraging their trade. Disturbances still took place, chiefly +occasioned by the avarice and pride of the English Lords, on whom Welsh +lands and castles had been bestowed; but they were subdued, and the +country never rose again. There is a legend that to prevent the people +from being incited to rebellion by the songs of their bards and harpers, +Edward had them all put to death. Some of them may have fallen among +other men who held out against the King; but this general slaughter is, I +think, a fancy of the harpers themselves, who, I dare say, made a song +about it many years afterwards, and sang it by the Welsh firesides until +it came to be believed. + +The foreign war of the reign of Edward the First arose in this way. The +crews of two vessels, one a Norman ship, and the other an English ship, +happened to go to the same place in their boats to fill their casks with +fresh water. Being rough angry fellows, they began to quarrel, and then +to fight--the English with their fists; the Normans with their +knives--and, in the fight, a Norman was killed. The Norman crew, instead +of revenging themselves upon those English sailors with whom they had +quarrelled (who were too strong for them, I suspect), took to their ship +again in a great rage, attacked the first English ship they met, laid +hold of an unoffending merchant who happened to be on board, and brutally +hanged him in the rigging of their own vessel with a dog at his feet. +This so enraged the English sailors that there was no restraining them; +and whenever, and wherever, English sailors met Norman sailors, they fell +upon each other tooth and nail. The Irish and Dutch sailors took part +with the English; the French and Genoese sailors helped the Normans; and +thus the greater part of the mariners sailing over the sea became, in +their way, as violent and raging as the sea itself when it is disturbed. + +King Edward's fame had been so high abroad that he had been chosen to +decide a difference between France and another foreign power, and had +lived upon the Continent three years. At first, neither he nor the +French King PHILIP (the good Louis had been dead some time) interfered in +these quarrels; but when a fleet of eighty English ships engaged and +utterly defeated a Norman fleet of two hundred, in a pitched battle +fought round a ship at anchor, in which no quarter was given, the matter +became too serious to be passed over. King Edward, as Duke of Guienne, +was summoned to present himself before the King of France, at Paris, and +answer for the damage done by his sailor subjects. At first, he sent the +Bishop of London as his representative, and then his brother EDMUND, who +was married to the French Queen's mother. I am afraid Edmund was an easy +man, and allowed himself to be talked over by his charming relations, the +French court ladies; at all events, he was induced to give up his +brother's dukedom for forty days--as a mere form, the French King said, +to satisfy his honour--and he was so very much astonished, when the time +was out, to find that the French King had no idea of giving it up again, +that I should not wonder if it hastened his death: which soon took place. + +King Edward was a King to win his foreign dukedom back again, if it could +be won by energy and valour. He raised a large army, renounced his +allegiance as Duke of Guienne, and crossed the sea to carry war into +France. Before any important battle was fought, however, a truce was +agreed upon for two years; and in the course of that time, the Pope +effected a reconciliation. King Edward, who was now a widower, having +lost his affectionate and good wife, Eleanor, married the French King's +sister, MARGARET; and the Prince of Wales was contracted to the French +King's daughter ISABELLA. + +Out of bad things, good things sometimes arise. Out of this hanging of +the innocent merchant, and the bloodshed and strife it caused, there came +to be established one of the greatest powers that the English people now +possess. The preparations for the war being very expensive, and King +Edward greatly wanting money, and being very arbitrary in his ways of +raising it, some of the Barons began firmly to oppose him. Two of them, +in particular, HUMPHREY BOHUN, Earl of Hereford, and ROGER BIGOD, Earl of +Norfolk, were so stout against him, that they maintained he had no right +to command them to head his forces in Guienne, and flatly refused to go +there. 'By Heaven, Sir Earl,' said the King to the Earl of Hereford, in +a great passion, 'you shall either go or be hanged!' 'By Heaven, Sir +King,' replied the Earl, 'I will neither go nor yet will I be hanged!' +and both he and the other Earl sturdily left the court, attended by many +Lords. The King tried every means of raising money. He taxed the +clergy, in spite of all the Pope said to the contrary; and when they +refused to pay, reduced them to submission, by saying Very well, then +they had no claim upon the government for protection, and any man might +plunder them who would--which a good many men were very ready to do, and +very readily did, and which the clergy found too losing a game to be +played at long. He seized all the wool and leather in the hands of the +merchants, promising to pay for it some fine day; and he set a tax upon +the exportation of wool, which was so unpopular among the traders that it +was called 'The evil toll.' But all would not do. The Barons, led by +those two great Earls, declared any taxes imposed without the consent of +Parliament, unlawful; and the Parliament refused to impose taxes, until +the King should confirm afresh the two Great Charters, and should +solemnly declare in writing, that there was no power in the country to +raise money from the people, evermore, but the power of Parliament +representing all ranks of the people. The King was very unwilling to +diminish his own power by allowing this great privilege in the +Parliament; but there was no help for it, and he at last complied. We +shall come to another King by-and-by, who might have saved his head from +rolling off, if he had profited by this example. + +The people gained other benefits in Parliament from the good sense and +wisdom of this King. Many of the laws were much improved; provision was +made for the greater safety of travellers, and the apprehension of +thieves and murderers; the priests were prevented from holding too much +land, and so becoming too powerful; and Justices of the Peace were first +appointed (though not at first under that name) in various parts of the +country. + +* * * * * + +And now we come to Scotland, which was the great and lasting trouble of +the reign of King Edward the First. + +About thirteen years after King Edward's coronation, Alexander the Third, +the King of Scotland, died of a fall from his horse. He had been married +to Margaret, King Edward's sister. All their children being dead, the +Scottish crown became the right of a young Princess only eight years old, +the daughter of ERIC, King of Norway, who had married a daughter of the +deceased sovereign. King Edward proposed, that the Maiden of Norway, as +this Princess was called, should be engaged to be married to his eldest +son; but, unfortunately, as she was coming over to England she fell sick, +and landing on one of the Orkney Islands, died there. A great commotion +immediately began in Scotland, where as many as thirteen noisy claimants +to the vacant throne started up and made a general confusion. + +King Edward being much renowned for his sagacity and justice, it seems to +have been agreed to refer the dispute to him. He accepted the trust, and +went, with an army, to the Border-land where England and Scotland joined. +There, he called upon the Scottish gentlemen to meet him at the Castle of +Norham, on the English side of the river Tweed; and to that Castle they +came. But, before he would take any step in the business, he required +those Scottish gentlemen, one and all, to do homage to him as their +superior Lord; and when they hesitated, he said, 'By holy Edward, whose +crown I wear, I will have my rights, or I will die in maintaining them!' +The Scottish gentlemen, who had not expected this, were disconcerted, and +asked for three weeks to think about it. + +At the end of the three weeks, another meeting took place, on a green +plain on the Scottish side of the river. Of all the competitors for the +Scottish throne, there were only two who had any real claim, in right of +their near kindred to the Royal Family. These were JOHN BALIOL and +ROBERT BRUCE: and the right was, I have no doubt, on the side of John +Baliol. At this particular meeting John Baliol was not present, but +Robert Bruce was; and on Robert Bruce being formally asked whether he +acknowledged the King of England for his superior lord, he answered, +plainly and distinctly, Yes, he did. Next day, John Baliol appeared, and +said the same. This point settled, some arrangements were made for +inquiring into their titles. + +The inquiry occupied a pretty long time--more than a year. While it was +going on, King Edward took the opportunity of making a journey through +Scotland, and calling upon the Scottish people of all degrees to +acknowledge themselves his vassals, or be imprisoned until they did. In +the meanwhile, Commissioners were appointed to conduct the inquiry, a +Parliament was held at Berwick about it, the two claimants were heard at +full length, and there was a vast amount of talking. At last, in the +great hall of the Castle of Berwick, the King gave judgment in favour of +John Baliol: who, consenting to receive his crown by the King of +England's favour and permission, was crowned at Scone, in an old stone +chair which had been used for ages in the abbey there, at the coronations +of Scottish Kings. Then, King Edward caused the great seal of Scotland, +used since the late King's death, to be broken in four pieces, and placed +in the English Treasury; and considered that he now had Scotland +(according to the common saying) under his thumb. + +Scotland had a strong will of its own yet, however. King Edward, +determined that the Scottish King should not forget he was his vassal, +summoned him repeatedly to come and defend himself and his judges before +the English Parliament when appeals from the decisions of Scottish courts +of justice were being heard. At length, John Baliol, who had no great +heart of his own, had so much heart put into him by the brave spirit of +the Scottish people, who took this as a national insult, that he refused +to come any more. Thereupon, the King further required him to help him +in his war abroad (which was then in progress), and to give up, as +security for his good behaviour in future, the three strong Scottish +Castles of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick. Nothing of this being done; +on the contrary, the Scottish people concealing their King among their +mountains in the Highlands and showing a determination to resist; Edward +marched to Berwick with an army of thirty thousand foot, and four +thousand horse; took the Castle, and slew its whole garrison, and the +inhabitants of the town as well--men, women, and children. LORD +WARRENNE, Earl of Surrey, then went on to the Castle of Dunbar, before +which a battle was fought, and the whole Scottish army defeated with +great slaughter. The victory being complete, the Earl of Surrey was left +as guardian of Scotland; the principal offices in that kingdom were given +to Englishmen; the more powerful Scottish Nobles were obliged to come and +live in England; the Scottish crown and sceptre were brought away; and +even the old stone chair was carried off and placed in Westminster Abbey, +where you may see it now. Baliol had the Tower of London lent him for a +residence, with permission to range about within a circle of twenty +miles. Three years afterwards he was allowed to go to Normandy, where he +had estates, and where he passed the remaining six years of his life: far +more happily, I dare say, than he had lived for a long while in angry +Scotland. + +Now, there was, in the West of Scotland, a gentleman of small fortune, +named WILLIAM WALLACE, the second son of a Scottish knight. He was a man +of great size and great strength; he was very brave and daring; when he +spoke to a body of his countrymen, he could rouse them in a wonderful +manner by the power of his burning words; he loved Scotland dearly, and +he hated England with his utmost might. The domineering conduct of the +English who now held the places of trust in Scotland made them as +intolerable to the proud Scottish people as they had been, under similar +circumstances, to the Welsh; and no man in all Scotland regarded them +with so much smothered rage as William Wallace. One day, an Englishman +in office, little knowing what he was, affronted _him_. Wallace +instantly struck him dead, and taking refuge among the rocks and hills, +and there joining with his countryman, SIR WILLIAM DOUGLAS, who was also +in arms against King Edward, became the most resolute and undaunted +champion of a people struggling for their independence that ever lived +upon the earth. + +The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled before him, and, thus +encouraged, the Scottish people revolted everywhere, and fell upon the +English without mercy. The Earl of Surrey, by the King's commands, +raised all the power of the Border-counties, and two English armies +poured into Scotland. Only one Chief, in the face of those armies, stood +by Wallace, who, with a force of forty thousand men, awaited the invaders +at a place on the river Forth, within two miles of Stirling. Across the +river there was only one poor wooden bridge, called the bridge of +Kildean--so narrow, that but two men could cross it abreast. With his +eyes upon this bridge, Wallace posted the greater part of his men among +some rising grounds, and waited calmly. When the English army came up on +the opposite bank of the river, messengers were sent forward to offer +terms. Wallace sent them back with a defiance, in the name of the +freedom of Scotland. Some of the officers of the Earl of Surrey in +command of the English, with _their_ eyes also on the bridge, advised him +to be discreet and not hasty. He, however, urged to immediate battle by +some other officers, and particularly by CRESSINGHAM, King Edward's +treasurer, and a rash man, gave the word of command to advance. One +thousand English crossed the bridge, two abreast; the Scottish troops +were as motionless as stone images. Two thousand English crossed; three +thousand, four thousand, five. Not a feather, all this time, had been +seen to stir among the Scottish bonnets. Now, they all fluttered. +'Forward, one party, to the foot of the Bridge!' cried Wallace, 'and let +no more English cross! The rest, down with me on the five thousand who +have come over, and cut them all to pieces!' It was done, in the sight +of the whole remainder of the English army, who could give no help. +Cressingham himself was killed, and the Scotch made whips for their +horses of his skin. + +King Edward was abroad at this time, and during the successes on the +Scottish side which followed, and which enabled bold Wallace to win the +whole country back again, and even to ravage the English borders. But, +after a few winter months, the King returned, and took the field with +more than his usual energy. One night, when a kick from his horse as +they both lay on the ground together broke two of his ribs, and a cry +arose that he was killed, he leaped into his saddle, regardless of the +pain he suffered, and rode through the camp. Day then appearing, he gave +the word (still, of course, in that bruised and aching state) Forward! +and led his army on to near Falkirk, where the Scottish forces were seen +drawn up on some stony ground, behind a morass. Here, he defeated +Wallace, and killed fifteen thousand of his men. With the shattered +remainder, Wallace drew back to Stirling; but, being pursued, set fire to +the town that it might give no help to the English, and escaped. The +inhabitants of Perth afterwards set fire to their houses for the same +reason, and the King, unable to find provisions, was forced to withdraw +his army. + +Another ROBERT BRUCE, the grandson of him who had disputed the Scottish +crown with Baliol, was now in arms against the King (that elder Bruce +being dead), and also JOHN COMYN, Baliol's nephew. These two young men +might agree in opposing Edward, but could agree in nothing else, as they +were rivals for the throne of Scotland. Probably it was because they +knew this, and knew what troubles must arise even if they could hope to +get the better of the great English King, that the principal Scottish +people applied to the Pope for his interference. The Pope, on the +principle of losing nothing for want of trying to get it, very coolly +claimed that Scotland belonged to him; but this was a little too much, +and the Parliament in a friendly manner told him so. + +In the spring time of the year one thousand three hundred and three, the +King sent SIR JOHN SEGRAVE, whom he made Governor of Scotland, with +twenty thousand men, to reduce the rebels. Sir John was not as careful +as he should have been, but encamped at Rosslyn, near Edinburgh, with his +army divided into three parts. The Scottish forces saw their advantage; +fell on each part separately; defeated each; and killed all the +prisoners. Then, came the King himself once more, as soon as a great +army could be raised; he passed through the whole north of Scotland, +laying waste whatsoever came in his way; and he took up his winter +quarters at Dunfermline. The Scottish cause now looked so hopeless, that +Comyn and the other nobles made submission and received their pardons. +Wallace alone stood out. He was invited to surrender, though on no +distinct pledge that his life should be spared; but he still defied the +ireful King, and lived among the steep crags of the Highland glens, where +the eagles made their nests, and where the mountain torrents roared, and +the white snow was deep, and the bitter winds blew round his unsheltered +head, as he lay through many a pitch-dark night wrapped up in his plaid. +Nothing could break his spirit; nothing could lower his courage; nothing +could induce him to forget or to forgive his country's wrongs. Even when +the Castle of Stirling, which had long held out, was besieged by the King +with every kind of military engine then in use; even when the lead upon +cathedral roofs was taken down to help to make them; even when the King, +though an old man, commanded in the siege as if he were a youth, being so +resolved to conquer; even when the brave garrison (then found with +amazement to be not two hundred people, including several ladies) were +starved and beaten out and were made to submit on their knees, and with +every form of disgrace that could aggravate their sufferings; even then, +when there was not a ray of hope in Scotland, William Wallace was as +proud and firm as if he had beheld the powerful and relentless Edward +lying dead at his feet. + +Who betrayed William Wallace in the end, is not quite certain. That he +was betrayed--probably by an attendant--is too true. He was taken to the +Castle of Dumbarton, under SIR JOHN MENTEITH, and thence to London, where +the great fame of his bravery and resolution attracted immense concourses +of people to behold him. He was tried in Westminster Hall, with a crown +of laurel on his head--it is supposed because he was reported to have +said that he ought to wear, or that he would wear, a crown there and was +found guilty as a robber, a murderer, and a traitor. What they called a +robber (he said to those who tried him) he was, because he had taken +spoil from the King's men. What they called a murderer, he was, because +he had slain an insolent Englishman. What they called a traitor, he was +not, for he had never sworn allegiance to the King, and had ever scorned +to do it. He was dragged at the tails of horses to West Smithfield, and +there hanged on a high gallows, torn open before he was dead, beheaded, +and quartered. His head was set upon a pole on London Bridge, his right +arm was sent to Newcastle, his left arm to Berwick, his legs to Perth and +Aberdeen. But, if King Edward had had his body cut into inches, and had +sent every separate inch into a separate town, he could not have +dispersed it half so far and wide as his fame. Wallace will be +remembered in songs and stories, while there are songs and stories in the +English tongue, and Scotland will hold him dear while her lakes and +mountains last. + +Released from this dreaded enemy, the King made a fairer plan of +Government for Scotland, divided the offices of honour among Scottish +gentlemen and English gentlemen, forgave past offences, and thought, in +his old age, that his work was done. + +But he deceived himself. Comyn and Bruce conspired, and made an +appointment to meet at Dumfries, in the church of the Minorites. There +is a story that Comyn was false to Bruce, and had informed against him to +the King; that Bruce was warned of his danger and the necessity of +flight, by receiving, one night as he sat at supper, from his friend the +Earl of Gloucester, twelve pennies and a pair of spurs; that as he was +riding angrily to keep his appointment (through a snow-storm, with his +horse's shoes reversed that he might not be tracked), he met an +evil-looking serving man, a messenger of Comyn, whom he killed, and +concealed in whose dress he found letters that proved Comyn's treachery. +However this may be, they were likely enough to quarrel in any case, +being hot-headed rivals; and, whatever they quarrelled about, they +certainly did quarrel in the church where they met, and Bruce drew his +dagger and stabbed Comyn, who fell upon the pavement. When Bruce came +out, pale and disturbed, the friends who were waiting for him asked what +was the matter? 'I think I have killed Comyn,' said he. 'You only think +so?' returned one of them; 'I will make sure!' and going into the church, +and finding him alive, stabbed him again and again. Knowing that the +King would never forgive this new deed of violence, the party then +declared Bruce King of Scotland: got him crowned at Scone--without the +chair; and set up the rebellious standard once again. + +When the King heard of it he kindled with fiercer anger than he had ever +shown yet. He caused the Prince of Wales and two hundred and seventy of +the young nobility to be knighted--the trees in the Temple Gardens were +cut down to make room for their tents, and they watched their armour all +night, according to the old usage: some in the Temple Church: some in +Westminster Abbey--and at the public Feast which then took place, he +swore, by Heaven, and by two swans covered with gold network which his +minstrels placed upon the table, that he would avenge the death of Comyn, +and would punish the false Bruce. And before all the company, he charged +the Prince his son, in case that he should die before accomplishing his +vow, not to bury him until it was fulfilled. Next morning the Prince and +the rest of the young Knights rode away to the Border-country to join the +English army; and the King, now weak and sick, followed in a +horse-litter. + +Bruce, after losing a battle and undergoing many dangers and much misery, +fled to Ireland, where he lay concealed through the winter. That winter, +Edward passed in hunting down and executing Bruce's relations and +adherents, sparing neither youth nor age, and showing no touch of pity or +sign of mercy. In the following spring, Bruce reappeared and gained some +victories. In these frays, both sides were grievously cruel. For +instance--Bruce's two brothers, being taken captives desperately wounded, +were ordered by the King to instant execution. Bruce's friend Sir John +Douglas, taking his own Castle of Douglas out of the hands of an English +Lord, roasted the dead bodies of the slaughtered garrison in a great fire +made of every movable within it; which dreadful cookery his men called +the Douglas Larder. Bruce, still successful, however, drove the Earl of +Pembroke and the Earl of Gloucester into the Castle of Ayr and laid siege +to it. + +The King, who had been laid up all the winter, but had directed the army +from his sick-bed, now advanced to Carlisle, and there, causing the +litter in which he had travelled to be placed in the Cathedral as an +offering to Heaven, mounted his horse once more, and for the last time. +He was now sixty-nine years old, and had reigned thirty-five years. He +was so ill, that in four days he could go no more than six miles; still, +even at that pace, he went on and resolutely kept his face towards the +Border. At length, he lay down at the village of Burgh-upon-Sands; and +there, telling those around him to impress upon the Prince that he was to +remember his father's vow, and was never to rest until he had thoroughly +subdued Scotland, he yielded up his last breath. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND + + +King Edward the Second, the first Prince of Wales, was twenty-three years +old when his father died. There was a certain favourite of his, a young +man from Gascony, named PIERS GAVESTON, of whom his father had so much +disapproved that he had ordered him out of England, and had made his son +swear by the side of his sick-bed, never to bring him back. But, the +Prince no sooner found himself King, than he broke his oath, as so many +other Princes and Kings did (they were far too ready to take oaths), and +sent for his dear friend immediately. + +Now, this same Gaveston was handsome enough, but was a reckless, +insolent, audacious fellow. He was detested by the proud English Lords: +not only because he had such power over the King, and made the Court such +a dissipated place, but, also, because he could ride better than they at +tournaments, and was used, in his impudence, to cut very bad jokes on +them; calling one, the old hog; another, the stage-player; another, the +Jew; another, the black dog of Ardenne. This was as poor wit as need be, +but it made those Lords very wroth; and the surly Earl of Warwick, who +was the black dog, swore that the time should come when Piers Gaveston +should feel the black dog's teeth. + +It was not come yet, however, nor did it seem to be coming. The King +made him Earl of Cornwall, and gave him vast riches; and, when the King +went over to France to marry the French Princess, ISABELLA, daughter of +PHILIP LE BEL: who was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world: +he made Gaveston, Regent of the Kingdom. His splendid marriage-ceremony +in the Church of Our Lady at Boulogne, where there were four Kings and +three Queens present (quite a pack of Court Cards, for I dare say the +Knaves were not wanting), being over, he seemed to care little or nothing +for his beautiful wife; but was wild with impatience to meet Gaveston +again. + +When he landed at home, he paid no attention to anybody else, but ran +into the favourite's arms before a great concourse of people, and hugged +him, and kissed him, and called him his brother. At the coronation which +soon followed, Gaveston was the richest and brightest of all the +glittering company there, and had the honour of carrying the crown. This +made the proud Lords fiercer than ever; the people, too, despised the +favourite, and would never call him Earl of Cornwall, however much he +complained to the King and asked him to punish them for not doing so, but +persisted in styling him plain Piers Gaveston. + +The Barons were so unceremonious with the King in giving him to +understand that they would not bear this favourite, that the King was +obliged to send him out of the country. The favourite himself was made +to take an oath (more oaths!) that he would never come back, and the +Barons supposed him to be banished in disgrace, until they heard that he +was appointed Governor of Ireland. Even this was not enough for the +besotted King, who brought him home again in a year's time, and not only +disgusted the Court and the people by his doting folly, but offended his +beautiful wife too, who never liked him afterwards. + +He had now the old Royal want--of money--and the Barons had the new power +of positively refusing to let him raise any. He summoned a Parliament at +York; the Barons refused to make one, while the favourite was near him. +He summoned another Parliament at Westminster, and sent Gaveston away. +Then, the Barons came, completely armed, and appointed a committee of +themselves to correct abuses in the state and in the King's household. He +got some money on these conditions, and directly set off with Gaveston to +the Border-country, where they spent it in idling away the time, and +feasting, while Bruce made ready to drive the English out of Scotland. +For, though the old King had even made this poor weak son of his swear +(as some say) that he would not bury his bones, but would have them +boiled clean in a caldron, and carried before the English army until +Scotland was entirely subdued, the second Edward was so unlike the first +that Bruce gained strength and power every day. + +The committee of Nobles, after some months of deliberation, ordained that +the King should henceforth call a Parliament together, once every year, +and even twice if necessary, instead of summoning it only when he chose. +Further, that Gaveston should once more be banished, and, this time, on +pain of death if he ever came back. The King's tears were of no avail; +he was obliged to send his favourite to Flanders. As soon as he had done +so, however, he dissolved the Parliament, with the low cunning of a mere +fool, and set off to the North of England, thinking to get an army about +him to oppose the Nobles. And once again he brought Gaveston home, and +heaped upon him all the riches and titles of which the Barons had +deprived him. + +The Lords saw, now, that there was nothing for it but to put the +favourite to death. They could have done so, legally, according to the +terms of his banishment; but they did so, I am sorry to say, in a shabby +manner. Led by the Earl of Lancaster, the King's cousin, they first of +all attacked the King and Gaveston at Newcastle. They had time to escape +by sea, and the mean King, having his precious Gaveston with him, was +quite content to leave his lovely wife behind. When they were +comparatively safe, they separated; the King went to York to collect a +force of soldiers; and the favourite shut himself up, in the meantime, in +Scarborough Castle overlooking the sea. This was what the Barons wanted. +They knew that the Castle could not hold out; they attacked it, and made +Gaveston surrender. He delivered himself up to the Earl of Pembroke--that +Lord whom he had called the Jew--on the Earl's pledging his faith and +knightly word, that no harm should happen to him and no violence be done +him. + +Now, it was agreed with Gaveston that he should be taken to the Castle of +Wallingford, and there kept in honourable custody. They travelled as far +as Dedington, near Banbury, where, in the Castle of that place, they +stopped for a night to rest. Whether the Earl of Pembroke left his +prisoner there, knowing what would happen, or really left him thinking no +harm, and only going (as he pretended) to visit his wife, the Countess, +who was in the neighbourhood, is no great matter now; in any case, he was +bound as an honourable gentleman to protect his prisoner, and he did not +do it. In the morning, while the favourite was yet in bed, he was +required to dress himself and come down into the court-yard. He did so +without any mistrust, but started and turned pale when he found it full +of strange armed men. 'I think you know me?' said their leader, also +armed from head to foot. 'I am the black dog of Ardenne!' The time was +come when Piers Gaveston was to feel the black dog's teeth indeed. They +set him on a mule, and carried him, in mock state and with military +music, to the black dog's kennel--Warwick Castle--where a hasty council, +composed of some great noblemen, considered what should be done with him. +Some were for sparing him, but one loud voice--it was the black dog's +bark, I dare say--sounded through the Castle Hall, uttering these words: +'You have the fox in your power. Let him go now, and you must hunt him +again.' + +They sentenced him to death. He threw himself at the feet of the Earl of +Lancaster--the old hog--but the old hog was as savage as the dog. He was +taken out upon the pleasant road, leading from Warwick to Coventry, where +the beautiful river Avon, by which, long afterwards, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE +was born and now lies buried, sparkled in the bright landscape of the +beautiful May-day; and there they struck off his wretched head, and +stained the dust with his blood. + +When the King heard of this black deed, in his grief and rage he +denounced relentless war against his Barons, and both sides were in arms +for half a year. But, it then became necessary for them to join their +forces against Bruce, who had used the time well while they were divided, +and had now a great power in Scotland. + +Intelligence was brought that Bruce was then besieging Stirling Castle, +and that the Governor had been obliged to pledge himself to surrender it, +unless he should be relieved before a certain day. Hereupon, the King +ordered the nobles and their fighting-men to meet him at Berwick; but, +the nobles cared so little for the King, and so neglected the summons, +and lost time, that only on the day before that appointed for the +surrender, did the King find himself at Stirling, and even then with a +smaller force than he had expected. However, he had, altogether, a +hundred thousand men, and Bruce had not more than forty thousand; but, +Bruce's army was strongly posted in three square columns, on the ground +lying between the Burn or Brook of Bannock and the walls of Stirling +Castle. + +On the very evening, when the King came up, Bruce did a brave act that +encouraged his men. He was seen by a certain HENRY DE BOHUN, an English +Knight, riding about before his army on a little horse, with a light +battle-axe in his hand, and a crown of gold on his head. This English +Knight, who was mounted on a strong war-horse, cased in steel, strongly +armed, and able (as he thought) to overthrow Bruce by crushing him with +his mere weight, set spurs to his great charger, rode on him, and made a +thrust at him with his heavy spear. Bruce parried the thrust, and with +one blow of his battle-axe split his skull. + +The Scottish men did not forget this, next day when the battle raged. +RANDOLPH, Bruce's valiant Nephew, rode, with the small body of men he +commanded, into such a host of the English, all shining in polished +armour in the sunlight, that they seemed to be swallowed up and lost, as +if they had plunged into the sea. But, they fought so well, and did such +dreadful execution, that the English staggered. Then came Bruce himself +upon them, with all the rest of his army. While they were thus hard +pressed and amazed, there appeared upon the hills what they supposed to +be a new Scottish army, but what were really only the camp followers, in +number fifteen thousand: whom Bruce had taught to show themselves at that +place and time. The Earl of Gloucester, commanding the English horse, +made a last rush to change the fortune of the day; but Bruce (like Jack +the Giant-killer in the story) had had pits dug in the ground, and +covered over with turfs and stakes. Into these, as they gave way beneath +the weight of the horses, riders and horses rolled by hundreds. The +English were completely routed; all their treasure, stores, and engines, +were taken by the Scottish men; so many waggons and other wheeled +vehicles were seized, that it is related that they would have reached, if +they had been drawn out in a line, one hundred and eighty miles. The +fortunes of Scotland were, for the time, completely changed; and never +was a battle won, more famous upon Scottish ground, than this great +battle of BANNOCKBURN. + +Plague and famine succeeded in England; and still the powerless King and +his disdainful Lords were always in contention. Some of the turbulent +chiefs of Ireland made proposals to Bruce, to accept the rule of that +country. He sent his brother Edward to them, who was crowned King of +Ireland. He afterwards went himself to help his brother in his Irish +wars, but his brother was defeated in the end and killed. Robert Bruce, +returning to Scotland, still increased his strength there. + +As the King's ruin had begun in a favourite, so it seemed likely to end +in one. He was too poor a creature to rely at all upon himself; and his +new favourite was one HUGH LE DESPENSER, the son of a gentleman of +ancient family. Hugh was handsome and brave, but he was the favourite of +a weak King, whom no man cared a rush for, and that was a dangerous place +to hold. The Nobles leagued against him, because the King liked him; and +they lay in wait, both for his ruin and his father's. Now, the King had +married him to the daughter of the late Earl of Gloucester, and had given +both him and his father great possessions in Wales. In their endeavours +to extend these, they gave violent offence to an angry Welsh gentleman, +named JOHN DE MOWBRAY, and to divers other angry Welsh gentlemen, who +resorted to arms, took their castles, and seized their estates. The Earl +of Lancaster had first placed the favourite (who was a poor relation of +his own) at Court, and he considered his own dignity offended by the +preference he received and the honours he acquired; so he, and the Barons +who were his friends, joined the Welshmen, marched on London, and sent a +message to the King demanding to have the favourite and his father +banished. At first, the King unaccountably took it into his head to be +spirited, and to send them a bold reply; but when they quartered +themselves around Holborn and Clerkenwell, and went down, armed, to the +Parliament at Westminster, he gave way, and complied with their demands. + +His turn of triumph came sooner than he expected. It arose out of an +accidental circumstance. The beautiful Queen happening to be travelling, +came one night to one of the royal castles, and demanded to be lodged and +entertained there until morning. The governor of this castle, who was +one of the enraged lords, was away, and in his absence, his wife refused +admission to the Queen; a scuffle took place among the common men on +either side, and some of the royal attendants were killed. The people, +who cared nothing for the King, were very angry that their beautiful +Queen should be thus rudely treated in her own dominions; and the King, +taking advantage of this feeling, besieged the castle, took it, and then +called the two Despensers home. Upon this, the confederate lords and the +Welshmen went over to Bruce. The King encountered them at Boroughbridge, +gained the victory, and took a number of distinguished prisoners; among +them, the Earl of Lancaster, now an old man, upon whose destruction he +was resolved. This Earl was taken to his own castle of Pontefract, and +there tried and found guilty by an unfair court appointed for the +purpose; he was not even allowed to speak in his own defence. He was +insulted, pelted, mounted on a starved pony without saddle or bridle, +carried out, and beheaded. Eight-and-twenty knights were hanged, drawn, +and quartered. When the King had despatched this bloody work, and had +made a fresh and a long truce with Bruce, he took the Despensers into +greater favour than ever, and made the father Earl of Winchester. + +One prisoner, and an important one, who was taken at Boroughbridge, made +his escape, however, and turned the tide against the King. This was +ROGER MORTIMER, always resolutely opposed to him, who was sentenced to +death, and placed for safe custody in the Tower of London. He treated +his guards to a quantity of wine into which he had put a sleeping potion; +and, when they were insensible, broke out of his dungeon, got into a +kitchen, climbed up the chimney, let himself down from the roof of the +building with a rope-ladder, passed the sentries, got down to the river, +and made away in a boat to where servants and horses were waiting for +him. He finally escaped to France, where CHARLES LE BEL, the brother of +the beautiful Queen, was King. Charles sought to quarrel with the King +of England, on pretence of his not having come to do him homage at his +coronation. It was proposed that the beautiful Queen should go over to +arrange the dispute; she went, and wrote home to the King, that as he was +sick and could not come to France himself, perhaps it would be better to +send over the young Prince, their son, who was only twelve years old, who +could do homage to her brother in his stead, and in whose company she +would immediately return. The King sent him: but, both he and the Queen +remained at the French Court, and Roger Mortimer became the Queen's +lover. + +When the King wrote, again and again, to the Queen to come home, she did +not reply that she despised him too much to live with him any more (which +was the truth), but said she was afraid of the two Despensers. In short, +her design was to overthrow the favourites' power, and the King's power, +such as it was, and invade England. Having obtained a French force of +two thousand men, and being joined by all the English exiles then in +France, she landed, within a year, at Orewell, in Suffolk, where she was +immediately joined by the Earls of Kent and Norfolk, the King's two +brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and lastly, by the first English +general who was despatched to check her: who went over to her with all +his men. The people of London, receiving these tidings, would do nothing +for the King, but broke open the Tower, let out all his prisoners, and +threw up their caps and hurrahed for the beautiful Queen. + +The King, with his two favourites, fled to Bristol, where he left old +Despenser in charge of the town and castle, while he went on with the son +to Wales. The Bristol men being opposed to the King, and it being +impossible to hold the town with enemies everywhere within the walls, +Despenser yielded it up on the third day, and was instantly brought to +trial for having traitorously influenced what was called 'the King's +mind'--though I doubt if the King ever had any. He was a venerable old +man, upwards of ninety years of age, but his age gained no respect or +mercy. He was hanged, torn open while he was yet alive, cut up into +pieces, and thrown to the dogs. His son was soon taken, tried at +Hereford before the same judge on a long series of foolish charges, found +guilty, and hanged upon a gallows fifty feet high, with a chaplet of +nettles round his head. His poor old father and he were innocent enough +of any worse crimes than the crime of having been friends of a King, on +whom, as a mere man, they would never have deigned to cast a favourable +look. It is a bad crime, I know, and leads to worse; but, many lords and +gentlemen--I even think some ladies, too, if I recollect right--have +committed it in England, who have neither been given to the dogs, nor +hanged up fifty feet high. + +The wretched King was running here and there, all this time, and never +getting anywhere in particular, until he gave himself up, and was taken +off to Kenilworth Castle. When he was safely lodged there, the Queen +went to London and met the Parliament. And the Bishop of Hereford, who +was the most skilful of her friends, said, What was to be done now? Here +was an imbecile, indolent, miserable King upon the throne; wouldn't it be +better to take him off, and put his son there instead? I don't know +whether the Queen really pitied him at this pass, but she began to cry; +so, the Bishop said, Well, my Lords and Gentlemen, what do you think, +upon the whole, of sending down to Kenilworth, and seeing if His Majesty +(God bless him, and forbid we should depose him!) won't resign? + +My Lords and Gentlemen thought it a good notion, so a deputation of them +went down to Kenilworth; and there the King came into the great hall of +the Castle, commonly dressed in a poor black gown; and when he saw a +certain bishop among them, fell down, poor feeble-headed man, and made a +wretched spectacle of himself. Somebody lifted him up, and then SIR +WILLIAM TRUSSEL, the Speaker of the House of Commons, almost frightened +him to death by making him a tremendous speech to the effect that he was +no longer a King, and that everybody renounced allegiance to him. After +which, SIR THOMAS BLOUNT, the Steward of the Household, nearly finished +him, by coming forward and breaking his white wand--which was a ceremony +only performed at a King's death. Being asked in this pressing manner +what he thought of resigning, the King said he thought it was the best +thing he could do. So, he did it, and they proclaimed his son next day. + +I wish I could close his history by saying that he lived a harmless life +in the Castle and the Castle gardens at Kenilworth, many years--that he +had a favourite, and plenty to eat and drink--and, having that, wanted +nothing. But he was shamefully humiliated. He was outraged, and +slighted, and had dirty water from ditches given him to shave with, and +wept and said he would have clean warm water, and was altogether very +miserable. He was moved from this castle to that castle, and from that +castle to the other castle, because this lord or that lord, or the other +lord, was too kind to him: until at last he came to Berkeley Castle, near +the River Severn, where (the Lord Berkeley being then ill and absent) he +fell into the hands of two black ruffians, called THOMAS GOURNAY and +WILLIAM OGLE. + +One night--it was the night of September the twenty-first, one thousand +three hundred and twenty-seven--dreadful screams were heard, by the +startled people in the neighbouring town, ringing through the thick walls +of the Castle, and the dark, deep night; and they said, as they were thus +horribly awakened from their sleep, 'May Heaven be merciful to the King; +for those cries forbode that no good is being done to him in his dismal +prison!' Next morning he was dead--not bruised, or stabbed, or marked +upon the body, but much distorted in the face; and it was whispered +afterwards, that those two villains, Gournay and Ogle, had burnt up his +inside with a red-hot iron. + +If you ever come near Gloucester, and see the centre tower of its +beautiful Cathedral, with its four rich pinnacles, rising lightly in the +air; you may remember that the wretched Edward the Second was buried in +the old abbey of that ancient city, at forty-three years old, after being +for nineteen years and a half a perfectly incapable King. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD + + +Roger Mortimer, the Queen's lover (who escaped to France in the last +chapter), was far from profiting by the examples he had had of the fate +of favourites. Having, through the Queen's influence, come into +possession of the estates of the two Despensers, he became extremely +proud and ambitious, and sought to be the real ruler of England. The +young King, who was crowned at fourteen years of age with all the usual +solemnities, resolved not to bear this, and soon pursued Mortimer to his +ruin. + +The people themselves were not fond of Mortimer--first, because he was a +Royal favourite; secondly, because he was supposed to have helped to make +a peace with Scotland which now took place, and in virtue of which the +young King's sister Joan, only seven years old, was promised in marriage +to David, the son and heir of Robert Bruce, who was only five years old. +The nobles hated Mortimer because of his pride, riches, and power. They +went so far as to take up arms against him; but were obliged to submit. +The Earl of Kent, one of those who did so, but who afterwards went over +to Mortimer and the Queen, was made an example of in the following cruel +manner: + +He seems to have been anything but a wise old earl; and he was persuaded +by the agents of the favourite and the Queen, that poor King Edward the +Second was not really dead; and thus was betrayed into writing letters +favouring his rightful claim to the throne. This was made out to be high +treason, and he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be executed. +They took the poor old lord outside the town of Winchester, and there +kept him waiting some three or four hours until they could find somebody +to cut off his head. At last, a convict said he would do it, if the +government would pardon him in return; and they gave him the pardon; and +at one blow he put the Earl of Kent out of his last suspense. + +While the Queen was in France, she had found a lovely and good young +lady, named Philippa, who she thought would make an excellent wife for +her son. The young King married this lady, soon after he came to the +throne; and her first child, Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards became +celebrated, as we shall presently see, under the famous title of EDWARD +THE BLACK PRINCE. + +The young King, thinking the time ripe for the downfall of Mortimer, took +counsel with Lord Montacute how he should proceed. A Parliament was +going to be held at Nottingham, and that lord recommended that the +favourite should be seized by night in Nottingham Castle, where he was +sure to be. Now, this, like many other things, was more easily said than +done; because, to guard against treachery, the great gates of the Castle +were locked every night, and the great keys were carried up-stairs to the +Queen, who laid them under her own pillow. But the Castle had a +governor, and the governor being Lord Montacute's friend, confided to him +how he knew of a secret passage underground, hidden from observation by +the weeds and brambles with which it was overgrown; and how, through that +passage, the conspirators might enter in the dead of the night, and go +straight to Mortimer's room. Accordingly, upon a certain dark night, at +midnight, they made their way through this dismal place: startling the +rats, and frightening the owls and bats: and came safely to the bottom of +the main tower of the Castle, where the King met them, and took them up a +profoundly-dark staircase in a deep silence. They soon heard the voice +of Mortimer in council with some friends; and bursting into the room with +a sudden noise, took him prisoner. The Queen cried out from her +bed-chamber, 'Oh, my sweet son, my dear son, spare my gentle Mortimer!' +They carried him off, however; and, before the next Parliament, accused +him of having made differences between the young King and his mother, and +of having brought about the death of the Earl of Kent, and even of the +late King; for, as you know by this time, when they wanted to get rid of +a man in those old days, they were not very particular of what they +accused him. Mortimer was found guilty of all this, and was sentenced to +be hanged at Tyburn. The King shut his mother up in genteel confinement, +where she passed the rest of her life; and now he became King in earnest. + +The first effort he made was to conquer Scotland. The English lords who +had lands in Scotland, finding that their rights were not respected under +the late peace, made war on their own account: choosing for their +general, Edward, the son of John Baliol, who made such a vigorous fight, +that in less than two months he won the whole Scottish Kingdom. He was +joined, when thus triumphant, by the King and Parliament; and he and the +King in person besieged the Scottish forces in Berwick. The whole +Scottish army coming to the assistance of their countrymen, such a +furious battle ensued, that thirty thousand men are said to have been +killed in it. Baliol was then crowned King of Scotland, doing homage to +the King of England; but little came of his successes after all, for the +Scottish men rose against him, within no very long time, and David Bruce +came back within ten years and took his kingdom. + +France was a far richer country than Scotland, and the King had a much +greater mind to conquer it. So, he let Scotland alone, and pretended +that he had a claim to the French throne in right of his mother. He had, +in reality, no claim at all; but that mattered little in those times. He +brought over to his cause many little princes and sovereigns, and even +courted the alliance of the people of Flanders--a busy, working +community, who had very small respect for kings, and whose head man was a +brewer. With such forces as he raised by these means, Edward invaded +France; but he did little by that, except run into debt in carrying on +the war to the extent of three hundred thousand pounds. The next year he +did better; gaining a great sea-fight in the harbour of Sluys. This +success, however, was very shortlived, for the Flemings took fright at +the siege of Saint Omer and ran away, leaving their weapons and baggage +behind them. Philip, the French King, coming up with his army, and +Edward being very anxious to decide the war, proposed to settle the +difference by single combat with him, or by a fight of one hundred +knights on each side. The French King said, he thanked him; but being +very well as he was, he would rather not. So, after some skirmishing and +talking, a short peace was made. + +It was soon broken by King Edward's favouring the cause of John, Earl of +Montford; a French nobleman, who asserted a claim of his own against the +French King, and offered to do homage to England for the Crown of France, +if he could obtain it through England's help. This French lord, himself, +was soon defeated by the French King's son, and shut up in a tower in +Paris; but his wife, a courageous and beautiful woman, who is said to +have had the courage of a man, and the heart of a lion, assembled the +people of Brittany, where she then was; and, showing them her infant son, +made many pathetic entreaties to them not to desert her and their young +Lord. They took fire at this appeal, and rallied round her in the strong +castle of Hennebon. Here she was not only besieged without by the French +under Charles de Blois, but was endangered within by a dreary old bishop, +who was always representing to the people what horrors they must undergo +if they were faithful--first from famine, and afterwards from fire and +sword. But this noble lady, whose heart never failed her, encouraged her +soldiers by her own example; went from post to post like a great general; +even mounted on horseback fully armed, and, issuing from the castle by a +by-path, fell upon the French camp, set fire to the tents, and threw the +whole force into disorder. This done, she got safely back to Hennebon +again, and was received with loud shouts of joy by the defenders of the +castle, who had given her up for lost. As they were now very short of +provisions, however, and as they could not dine off enthusiasm, and as +the old bishop was always saying, 'I told you what it would come to!' +they began to lose heart, and to talk of yielding the castle up. The +brave Countess retiring to an upper room and looking with great grief out +to sea, where she expected relief from England, saw, at this very time, +the English ships in the distance, and was relieved and rescued! Sir +Walter Manning, the English commander, so admired her courage, that, +being come into the castle with the English knights, and having made a +feast there, he assaulted the French by way of dessert, and beat them off +triumphantly. Then he and the knights came back to the castle with great +joy; and the Countess who had watched them from a high tower, thanked +them with all her heart, and kissed them every one. + +This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight with the +French off Guernsey, when she was on her way to England to ask for more +troops. Her great spirit roused another lady, the wife of another French +lord (whom the French King very barbarously murdered), to distinguish +herself scarcely less. The time was fast coming, however, when Edward, +Prince of Wales, was to be the great star of this French and English war. + +It was in the month of July, in the year one thousand three hundred and +forty-six, when the King embarked at Southampton for France, with an army +of about thirty thousand men in all, attended by the Prince of Wales and +by several of the chief nobles. He landed at La Hogue in Normandy; and, +burning and destroying as he went, according to custom, advanced up the +left bank of the River Seine, and fired the small towns even close to +Paris; but, being watched from the right bank of the river by the French +King and all his army, it came to this at last, that Edward found +himself, on Saturday the twenty-sixth of August, one thousand three +hundred and forty-six, on a rising ground behind the little French +village of Crecy, face to face with the French King's force. And, +although the French King had an enormous army--in number more than eight +times his--he there resolved to beat him or be beaten. + +The young Prince, assisted by the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Warwick, +led the first division of the English army; two other great Earls led the +second; and the King, the third. When the morning dawned, the King +received the sacrament, and heard prayers, and then, mounted on horseback +with a white wand in his hand, rode from company to company, and rank to +rank, cheering and encouraging both officers and men. Then the whole +army breakfasted, each man sitting on the ground where he had stood; and +then they remained quietly on the ground with their weapons ready. + +Up came the French King with all his great force. It was dark and angry +weather; there was an eclipse of the sun; there was a thunder-storm, +accompanied with tremendous rain; the frightened birds flew screaming +above the soldiers' heads. A certain captain in the French army advised +the French King, who was by no means cheerful, not to begin the battle +until the morrow. The King, taking this advice, gave the word to halt. +But, those behind not understanding it, or desiring to be foremost with +the rest, came pressing on. The roads for a great distance were covered +with this immense army, and with the common people from the villages, who +were flourishing their rude weapons, and making a great noise. Owing to +these circumstances, the French army advanced in the greatest confusion; +every French lord doing what he liked with his own men, and putting out +the men of every other French lord. + +Now, their King relied strongly upon a great body of cross-bowmen from +Genoa; and these he ordered to the front to begin the battle, on finding +that he could not stop it. They shouted once, they shouted twice, they +shouted three times, to alarm the English archers; but, the English would +have heard them shout three thousand times and would have never moved. At +last the cross-bowmen went forward a little, and began to discharge their +bolts; upon which, the English let fly such a hail of arrows, that the +Genoese speedily made off--for their cross-bows, besides being heavy to +carry, required to be wound up with a handle, and consequently took time +to re-load; the English, on the other hand, could discharge their arrows +almost as fast as the arrows could fly. + +When the French King saw the Genoese turning, he cried out to his men to +kill those scoundrels, who were doing harm instead of service. This +increased the confusion. Meanwhile the English archers, continuing to +shoot as fast as ever, shot down great numbers of the French soldiers and +knights; whom certain sly Cornish-men and Welshmen, from the English +army, creeping along the ground, despatched with great knives. + +The Prince and his division were at this time so hard-pressed, that the +Earl of Warwick sent a message to the King, who was overlooking the +battle from a windmill, beseeching him to send more aid. + +'Is my son killed?' said the King. + +'No, sire, please God,' returned the messenger. + +'Is he wounded?' said the King. + +'No, sire.' + +'Is he thrown to the ground?' said the King. + +'No, sire, not so; but, he is very hard-pressed.' + +'Then,' said the King, 'go back to those who sent you, and tell them I +shall send no aid; because I set my heart upon my son proving himself +this day a brave knight, and because I am resolved, please God, that the +honour of a great victory shall be his!' + +These bold words, being reported to the Prince and his division, so +raised their spirits, that they fought better than ever. The King of +France charged gallantly with his men many times; but it was of no use. +Night closing in, his horse was killed under him by an English arrow, and +the knights and nobles who had clustered thick about him early in the +day, were now completely scattered. At last, some of his few remaining +followers led him off the field by force since he would not retire of +himself, and they journeyed away to Amiens. The victorious English, +lighting their watch-fires, made merry on the field, and the King, riding +to meet his gallant son, took him in his arms, kissed him, and told him +that he had acted nobly, and proved himself worthy of the day and of the +crown. While it was yet night, King Edward was hardly aware of the great +victory he had gained; but, next day, it was discovered that eleven +princes, twelve hundred knights, and thirty thousand common men lay dead +upon the French side. Among these was the King of Bohemia, an old blind +man; who, having been told that his son was wounded in the battle, and +that no force could stand against the Black Prince, called to him two +knights, put himself on horse-back between them, fastened the three +bridles together, and dashed in among the English, where he was presently +slain. He bore as his crest three white ostrich feathers, with the motto +_Ich dien_, signifying in English 'I serve.' This crest and motto were +taken by the Prince of Wales in remembrance of that famous day, and have +been borne by the Prince of Wales ever since. + +Five days after this great battle, the King laid siege to Calais. This +siege--ever afterwards memorable--lasted nearly a year. In order to +starve the inhabitants out, King Edward built so many wooden houses for +the lodgings of his troops, that it is said their quarters looked like a +second Calais suddenly sprung around the first. Early in the siege, the +governor of the town drove out what he called the useless mouths, to the +number of seventeen hundred persons, men and women, young and old. King +Edward allowed them to pass through his lines, and even fed them, and +dismissed them with money; but, later in the siege, he was not so +merciful--five hundred more, who were afterwards driven out, dying of +starvation and misery. The garrison were so hard-pressed at last, that +they sent a letter to King Philip, telling him that they had eaten all +the horses, all the dogs, and all the rats and mice that could be found +in the place; and, that if he did not relieve them, they must either +surrender to the English, or eat one another. Philip made one effort to +give them relief; but they were so hemmed in by the English power, that +he could not succeed, and was fain to leave the place. Upon this they +hoisted the English flag, and surrendered to King Edward. 'Tell your +general,' said he to the humble messengers who came out of the town, +'that I require to have sent here, six of the most distinguished +citizens, bare-legged, and in their shirts, with ropes about their necks; +and let those six men bring with them the keys of the castle and the +town.' + +When the Governor of Calais related this to the people in the +Market-place, there was great weeping and distress; in the midst of +which, one worthy citizen, named Eustace de Saint Pierre, rose up and +said, that if the six men required were not sacrificed, the whole +population would be; therefore, he offered himself as the first. +Encouraged by this bright example, five other worthy citizens rose up one +after another, and offered themselves to save the rest. The Governor, +who was too badly wounded to be able to walk, mounted a poor old horse +that had not been eaten, and conducted these good men to the gate, while +all the people cried and mourned. + +Edward received them wrathfully, and ordered the heads of the whole six +to be struck off. However, the good Queen fell upon her knees, and +besought the King to give them up to her. The King replied, 'I wish you +had been somewhere else; but I cannot refuse you.' So she had them +properly dressed, made a feast for them, and sent them back with a +handsome present, to the great rejoicing of the whole camp. I hope the +people of Calais loved the daughter to whom she gave birth soon +afterwards, for her gentle mother's sake. + +Now came that terrible disease, the Plague, into Europe, hurrying from +the heart of China; and killed the wretched people--especially the +poor--in such enormous numbers, that one-half of the inhabitants of +England are related to have died of it. It killed the cattle, in great +numbers, too; and so few working men remained alive, that there were not +enough left to till the ground. + +After eight years of differing and quarrelling, the Prince of Wales again +invaded France with an army of sixty thousand men. He went through the +south of the country, burning and plundering wheresoever he went; while +his father, who had still the Scottish war upon his hands, did the like +in Scotland, but was harassed and worried in his retreat from that +country by the Scottish men, who repaid his cruelties with interest. + +The French King, Philip, was now dead, and was succeeded by his son John. +The Black Prince, called by that name from the colour of the armour he +wore to set off his fair complexion, continuing to burn and destroy in +France, roused John into determined opposition; and so cruel had the +Black Prince been in his campaign, and so severely had the French +peasants suffered, that he could not find one who, for love, or money, or +the fear of death, would tell him what the French King was doing, or +where he was. Thus it happened that he came upon the French King's +forces, all of a sudden, near the town of Poitiers, and found that the +whole neighbouring country was occupied by a vast French army. 'God help +us!' said the Black Prince, 'we must make the best of it.' + +So, on a Sunday morning, the eighteenth of September, the Prince whose +army was now reduced to ten thousand men in all--prepared to give battle +to the French King, who had sixty thousand horse alone. While he was so +engaged, there came riding from the French camp, a Cardinal, who had +persuaded John to let him offer terms, and try to save the shedding of +Christian blood. 'Save my honour,' said the Prince to this good priest, +'and save the honour of my army, and I will make any reasonable terms.' +He offered to give up all the towns, castles, and prisoners, he had +taken, and to swear to make no war in France for seven years; but, as +John would hear of nothing but his surrender, with a hundred of his chief +knights, the treaty was broken off, and the Prince said quietly--'God +defend the right; we shall fight to-morrow.' + +Therefore, on the Monday morning, at break of day, the two armies +prepared for battle. The English were posted in a strong place, which +could only be approached by one narrow lane, skirted by hedges on both +sides. The French attacked them by this lane; but were so galled and +slain by English arrows from behind the hedges, that they were forced to +retreat. Then went six hundred English bowmen round about, and, coming +upon the rear of the French army, rained arrows on them thick and fast. +The French knights, thrown into confusion, quitted their banners and +dispersed in all directions. Said Sir John Chandos to the Prince, 'Ride +forward, noble Prince, and the day is yours. The King of France is so +valiant a gentleman, that I know he will never fly, and may be taken +prisoner.' Said the Prince to this, 'Advance, English banners, in the +name of God and St. George!' and on they pressed until they came up with +the French King, fighting fiercely with his battle-axe, and, when all his +nobles had forsaken him, attended faithfully to the last by his youngest +son Philip, only sixteen years of age. Father and son fought well, and +the King had already two wounds in his face, and had been beaten down, +when he at last delivered himself to a banished French knight, and gave +him his right-hand glove in token that he had done so. + +The Black Prince was generous as well as brave, and he invited his royal +prisoner to supper in his tent, and waited upon him at table, and, when +they afterwards rode into London in a gorgeous procession, mounted the +French King on a fine cream-coloured horse, and rode at his side on a +little pony. This was all very kind, but I think it was, perhaps, a +little theatrical too, and has been made more meritorious than it +deserved to be; especially as I am inclined to think that the greatest +kindness to the King of France would have been not to have shown him to +the people at all. However, it must be said, for these acts of +politeness, that, in course of time, they did much to soften the horrors +of war and the passions of conquerors. It was a long, long time before +the common soldiers began to have the benefit of such courtly deeds; but +they did at last; and thus it is possible that a poor soldier who asked +for quarter at the battle of Waterloo, or any other such great fight, may +have owed his life indirectly to Edward the Black Prince. + +At this time there stood in the Strand, in London, a palace called the +Savoy, which was given up to the captive King of France and his son for +their residence. As the King of Scotland had now been King Edward's +captive for eleven years too, his success was, at this time, tolerably +complete. The Scottish business was settled by the prisoner being +released under the title of Sir David, King of Scotland, and by his +engaging to pay a large ransom. The state of France encouraged England +to propose harder terms to that country, where the people rose against +the unspeakable cruelty and barbarity of its nobles; where the nobles +rose in turn against the people; where the most frightful outrages were +committed on all sides; and where the insurrection of the peasants, +called the insurrection of the Jacquerie, from Jacques, a common +Christian name among the country people of France, awakened terrors and +hatreds that have scarcely yet passed away. A treaty called the Great +Peace, was at last signed, under which King Edward agreed to give up the +greater part of his conquests, and King John to pay, within six years, a +ransom of three million crowns of gold. He was so beset by his own +nobles and courtiers for having yielded to these conditions--though they +could help him to no better--that he came back of his own will to his old +palace-prison of the Savoy, and there died. + +There was a Sovereign of Castile at that time, called PEDRO THE CRUEL, +who deserved the name remarkably well: having committed, among other +cruelties, a variety of murders. This amiable monarch being driven from +his throne for his crimes, went to the province of Bordeaux, where the +Black Prince--now married to his cousin JOAN, a pretty widow--was +residing, and besought his help. The Prince, who took to him much more +kindly than a prince of such fame ought to have taken to such a ruffian, +readily listened to his fair promises, and agreeing to help him, sent +secret orders to some troublesome disbanded soldiers of his and his +father's, who called themselves the Free Companions, and who had been a +pest to the French people, for some time, to aid this Pedro. The Prince, +himself, going into Spain to head the army of relief, soon set Pedro on +his throne again--where he no sooner found himself, than, of course, he +behaved like the villain he was, broke his word without the least shame, +and abandoned all the promises he had made to the Black Prince. + +Now, it had cost the Prince a good deal of money to pay soldiers to +support this murderous King; and finding himself, when he came back +disgusted to Bordeaux, not only in bad health, but deeply in debt, he +began to tax his French subjects to pay his creditors. They appealed to +the French King, CHARLES; war again broke out; and the French town of +Limoges, which the Prince had greatly benefited, went over to the French +King. Upon this he ravaged the province of which it was the capital; +burnt, and plundered, and killed in the old sickening way; and refused +mercy to the prisoners, men, women, and children taken in the offending +town, though he was so ill and so much in need of pity himself from +Heaven, that he was carried in a litter. He lived to come home and make +himself popular with the people and Parliament, and he died on Trinity +Sunday, the eighth of June, one thousand three hundred and seventy-six, +at forty-six years old. + +The whole nation mourned for him as one of the most renowned and beloved +princes it had ever had; and he was buried with great lamentations in +Canterbury Cathedral. Near to the tomb of Edward the Confessor, his +monument, with his figure, carved in stone, and represented in the old +black armour, lying on its back, may be seen at this day, with an ancient +coat of mail, a helmet, and a pair of gauntlets hanging from a beam above +it, which most people like to believe were once worn by the Black Prince. + +King Edward did not outlive his renowned son, long. He was old, and one +Alice Perrers, a beautiful lady, had contrived to make him so fond of her +in his old age, that he could refuse her nothing, and made himself +ridiculous. She little deserved his love, or--what I dare say she valued +a great deal more--the jewels of the late Queen, which he gave her among +other rich presents. She took the very ring from his finger on the +morning of the day when he died, and left him to be pillaged by his +faithless servants. Only one good priest was true to him, and attended +him to the last. + +Besides being famous for the great victories I have related, the reign of +King Edward the Third was rendered memorable in better ways, by the +growth of architecture and the erection of Windsor Castle. In better +ways still, by the rising up of WICKLIFFE, originally a poor parish +priest: who devoted himself to exposing, with wonderful power and +success, the ambition and corruption of the Pope, and of the whole church +of which he was the head. + +Some of those Flemings were induced to come to England in this reign too, +and to settle in Norfolk, where they made better woollen cloths than the +English had ever had before. The Order of the Garter (a very fine thing +in its way, but hardly so important as good clothes for the nation) also +dates from this period. The King is said to have picked 'up a lady's +garter at a ball, and to have said, _Honi soit qui mal y pense_--in +English, 'Evil be to him who evil thinks of it.' The courtiers were +usually glad to imitate what the King said or did, and hence from a +slight incident the Order of the Garter was instituted, and became a +great dignity. So the story goes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX--ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND + + +Richard, son of the Black Prince, a boy eleven years of age, succeeded to +the Crown under the title of King Richard the Second. The whole English +nation were ready to admire him for the sake of his brave father. As to +the lords and ladies about the Court, they declared him to be the most +beautiful, the wisest, and the best--even of princes--whom the lords and +ladies about the Court, generally declare to be the most beautiful, the +wisest, and the best of mankind. To flatter a poor boy in this base +manner was not a very likely way to develop whatever good was in him; and +it brought him to anything but a good or happy end. + +The Duke of Lancaster, the young King's uncle--commonly called John of +Gaunt, from having been born at Ghent, which the common people so +pronounced--was supposed to have some thoughts of the throne himself; +but, as he was not popular, and the memory of the Black Prince was, he +submitted to his nephew. + +The war with France being still unsettled, the Government of England +wanted money to provide for the expenses that might arise out of it; +accordingly a certain tax, called the Poll-tax, which had originated in +the last reign, was ordered to be levied on the people. This was a tax +on every person in the kingdom, male and female, above the age of +fourteen, of three groats (or three four-penny pieces) a year; clergymen +were charged more, and only beggars were exempt. + +I have no need to repeat that the common people of England had long been +suffering under great oppression. They were still the mere slaves of the +lords of the land on which they lived, and were on most occasions harshly +and unjustly treated. But, they had begun by this time to think very +seriously of not bearing quite so much; and, probably, were emboldened by +that French insurrection I mentioned in the last chapter. + +The people of Essex rose against the Poll-tax, and being severely handled +by the government officers, killed some of them. At this very time one +of the tax-collectors, going his rounds from house to house, at Dartford +in Kent came to the cottage of one WAT, a tiler by trade, and claimed the +tax upon his daughter. Her mother, who was at home, declared that she +was under the age of fourteen; upon that, the collector (as other +collectors had already done in different parts of England) behaved in a +savage way, and brutally insulted Wat Tyler's daughter. The daughter +screamed, the mother screamed. Wat the Tiler, who was at work not far +off, ran to the spot, and did what any honest father under such +provocation might have done--struck the collector dead at a blow. + +Instantly the people of that town uprose as one man. They made Wat Tyler +their leader; they joined with the people of Essex, who were in arms +under a priest called JACK STRAW; they took out of prison another priest +named JOHN BALL; and gathering in numbers as they went along, advanced, +in a great confused army of poor men, to Blackheath. It is said that +they wanted to abolish all property, and to declare all men equal. I do +not think this very likely; because they stopped the travellers on the +roads and made them swear to be true to King Richard and the people. Nor +were they at all disposed to injure those who had done them no harm, +merely because they were of high station; for, the King's mother, who had +to pass through their camp at Blackheath, on her way to her young son, +lying for safety in the Tower of London, had merely to kiss a few dirty- +faced rough-bearded men who were noisily fond of royalty, and so got away +in perfect safety. Next day the whole mass marched on to London Bridge. + +There was a drawbridge in the middle, which WILLIAM WALWORTH the Mayor +caused to be raised to prevent their coming into the city; but they soon +terrified the citizens into lowering it again, and spread themselves, +with great uproar, over the streets. They broke open the prisons; they +burned the papers in Lambeth Palace; they destroyed the DUKE OF +LANCASTER'S Palace, the Savoy, in the Strand, said to be the most +beautiful and splendid in England; they set fire to the books and +documents in the Temple; and made a great riot. Many of these outrages +were committed in drunkenness; since those citizens, who had well-filled +cellars, were only too glad to throw them open to save the rest of their +property; but even the drunken rioters were very careful to steal +nothing. They were so angry with one man, who was seen to take a silver +cup at the Savoy Palace, and put it in his breast, that they drowned him +in the river, cup and all. + +The young King had been taken out to treat with them before they +committed these excesses; but, he and the people about him were so +frightened by the riotous shouts, that they got back to the Tower in the +best way they could. This made the insurgents bolder; so they went on +rioting away, striking off the heads of those who did not, at a moment's +notice, declare for King Richard and the people; and killing as many of +the unpopular persons whom they supposed to be their enemies as they +could by any means lay hold of. In this manner they passed one very +violent day, and then proclamation was made that the King would meet them +at Mile-end, and grant their requests. + +The rioters went to Mile-end to the number of sixty thousand, and the +King met them there, and to the King the rioters peaceably proposed four +conditions. First, that neither they, nor their children, nor any coming +after them, should be made slaves any more. Secondly, that the rent of +land should be fixed at a certain price in money, instead of being paid +in service. Thirdly, that they should have liberty to buy and sell in +all markets and public places, like other free men. Fourthly, that they +should be pardoned for past offences. Heaven knows, there was nothing +very unreasonable in these proposals! The young King deceitfully +pretended to think so, and kept thirty clerks up, all night, writing out +a charter accordingly. + +Now, Wat Tyler himself wanted more than this. He wanted the entire +abolition of the forest laws. He was not at Mile-end with the rest, but, +while that meeting was being held, broke into the Tower of London and +slew the archbishop and the treasurer, for whose heads the people had +cried out loudly the day before. He and his men even thrust their swords +into the bed of the Princess of Wales while the Princess was in it, to +make certain that none of their enemies were concealed there. + +So, Wat and his men still continued armed, and rode about the city. Next +morning, the King with a small train of some sixty gentlemen--among whom +was WALWORTH the Mayor--rode into Smithfield, and saw Wat and his people +at a little distance. Says Wat to his men, 'There is the King. I will +go speak with him, and tell him what we want.' + +Straightway Wat rode up to him, and began to talk. 'King,' says Wat, +'dost thou see all my men there?' + +'Ah,' says the King. 'Why?' + +'Because,' says Wat, 'they are all at my command, and have sworn to do +whatever I bid them.' + +Some declared afterwards that as Wat said this, he laid his hand on the +King's bridle. Others declared that he was seen to play with his own +dagger. I think, myself, that he just spoke to the King like a rough, +angry man as he was, and did nothing more. At any rate he was expecting +no attack, and preparing for no resistance, when Walworth the Mayor did +the not very valiant deed of drawing a short sword and stabbing him in +the throat. He dropped from his horse, and one of the King's people +speedily finished him. So fell Wat Tyler. Fawners and flatterers made a +mighty triumph of it, and set up a cry which will occasionally find an +echo to this day. But Wat was a hard-working man, who had suffered much, +and had been foully outraged; and it is probable that he was a man of a +much higher nature and a much braver spirit than any of the parasites who +exulted then, or have exulted since, over his defeat. + +Seeing Wat down, his men immediately bent their bows to avenge his fall. +If the young King had not had presence of mind at that dangerous moment, +both he and the Mayor to boot, might have followed Tyler pretty fast. But +the King riding up to the crowd, cried out that Tyler was a traitor, and +that he would be their leader. They were so taken by surprise, that they +set up a great shouting, and followed the boy until he was met at +Islington by a large body of soldiers. + +The end of this rising was the then usual end. As soon as the King found +himself safe, he unsaid all he had said, and undid all he had done; some +fifteen hundred of the rioters were tried (mostly in Essex) with great +rigour, and executed with great cruelty. Many of them were hanged on +gibbets, and left there as a terror to the country people; and, because +their miserable friends took some of the bodies down to bury, the King +ordered the rest to be chained up--which was the beginning of the +barbarous custom of hanging in chains. The King's falsehood in this +business makes such a pitiful figure, that I think Wat Tyler appears in +history as beyond comparison the truer and more respectable man of the +two. + +Richard was now sixteen years of age, and married Anne of Bohemia, an +excellent princess, who was called 'the good Queen Anne.' She deserved a +better husband; for the King had been fawned and flattered into a +treacherous, wasteful, dissolute, bad young man. + +There were two Popes at this time (as if one were not enough!), and their +quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. Scotland was still +troublesome too; and at home there was much jealousy and distrust, and +plotting and counter-plotting, because the King feared the ambition of +his relations, and particularly of his uncle, the Duke of Lancaster, and +the duke had his party against the King, and the King had his party +against the duke. Nor were these home troubles lessened when the duke +went to Castile to urge his claim to the crown of that kingdom; for then +the Duke of Gloucester, another of Richard's uncles, opposed him, and +influenced the Parliament to demand the dismissal of the King's favourite +ministers. The King said in reply, that he would not for such men +dismiss the meanest servant in his kitchen. But, it had begun to signify +little what a King said when a Parliament was determined; so Richard was +at last obliged to give way, and to agree to another Government of the +kingdom, under a commission of fourteen nobles, for a year. His uncle of +Gloucester was at the head of this commission, and, in fact, appointed +everybody composing it. + +Having done all this, the King declared as soon as he saw an opportunity +that he had never meant to do it, and that it was all illegal; and he got +the judges secretly to sign a declaration to that effect. The secret +oozed out directly, and was carried to the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke +of Gloucester, at the head of forty thousand men, met the King on his +entering into London to enforce his authority; the King was helpless +against him; his favourites and ministers were impeached and were +mercilessly executed. Among them were two men whom the people regarded +with very different feelings; one, Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice, who +was hated for having made what was called 'the bloody circuit' to try the +rioters; the other, Sir Simon Burley, an honourable knight, who had been +the dear friend of the Black Prince, and the governor and guardian of the +King. For this gentleman's life the good Queen even begged of Gloucester +on her knees; but Gloucester (with or without reason) feared and hated +him, and replied, that if she valued her husband's crown, she had better +beg no more. All this was done under what was called by some the +wonderful--and by others, with better reason, the merciless--Parliament. + +But Gloucester's power was not to last for ever. He held it for only a +year longer; in which year the famous battle of Otterbourne, sung in the +old ballad of Chevy Chase, was fought. When the year was out, the King, +turning suddenly to Gloucester, in the midst of a great council said, +'Uncle, how old am I?' 'Your highness,' returned the Duke, 'is in your +twenty-second year.' 'Am I so much?' said the King; 'then I will manage +my own affairs! I am much obliged to you, my good lords, for your past +services, but I need them no more.' He followed this up, by appointing a +new Chancellor and a new Treasurer, and announced to the people that he +had resumed the Government. He held it for eight years without +opposition. Through all that time, he kept his determination to revenge +himself some day upon his uncle Gloucester, in his own breast. + +At last the good Queen died, and then the King, desiring to take a second +wife, proposed to his council that he should marry Isabella, of France, +the daughter of Charles the Sixth: who, the French courtiers said (as the +English courtiers had said of Richard), was a marvel of beauty and wit, +and quite a phenomenon--of seven years old. The council were divided +about this marriage, but it took place. It secured peace between England +and France for a quarter of a century; but it was strongly opposed to the +prejudices of the English people. The Duke of Gloucester, who was +anxious to take the occasion of making himself popular, declaimed against +it loudly, and this at length decided the King to execute the vengeance +he had been nursing so long. + +He went with a gay company to the Duke of Gloucester's house, Pleshey +Castle, in Essex, where the Duke, suspecting nothing, came out into the +court-yard to receive his royal visitor. While the King conversed in a +friendly manner with the Duchess, the Duke was quietly seized, hurried +away, shipped for Calais, and lodged in the castle there. His friends, +the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, were taken in the same treacherous +manner, and confined to their castles. A few days after, at Nottingham, +they were impeached of high treason. The Earl of Arundel was condemned +and beheaded, and the Earl of Warwick was banished. Then, a writ was +sent by a messenger to the Governor of Calais, requiring him to send the +Duke of Gloucester over to be tried. In three days he returned an answer +that he could not do that, because the Duke of Gloucester had died in +prison. The Duke was declared a traitor, his property was confiscated to +the King, a real or pretended confession he had made in prison to one of +the Justices of the Common Pleas was produced against him, and there was +an end of the matter. How the unfortunate duke died, very few cared to +know. Whether he really died naturally; whether he killed himself; +whether, by the King's order, he was strangled, or smothered between two +beds (as a serving-man of the Governor's named Hall, did afterwards +declare), cannot be discovered. There is not much doubt that he was +killed, somehow or other, by his nephew's orders. Among the most active +nobles in these proceedings were the King's cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, +whom the King had made Duke of Hereford to smooth down the old family +quarrels, and some others: who had in the family-plotting times done just +such acts themselves as they now condemned in the duke. They seem to +have been a corrupt set of men; but such men were easily found about the +court in such days. + +The people murmured at all this, and were still very sore about the +French marriage. The nobles saw how little the King cared for law, and +how crafty he was, and began to be somewhat afraid for themselves. The +King's life was a life of continued feasting and excess; his retinue, +down to the meanest servants, were dressed in the most costly manner, and +caroused at his tables, it is related, to the number of ten thousand +persons every day. He himself, surrounded by a body of ten thousand +archers, and enriched by a duty on wool which the Commons had granted him +for life, saw no danger of ever being otherwise than powerful and +absolute, and was as fierce and haughty as a King could be. + +He had two of his old enemies left, in the persons of the Dukes of +Hereford and Norfolk. Sparing these no more than the others, he tampered +with the Duke of Hereford until he got him to declare before the Council +that the Duke of Norfolk had lately held some treasonable talk with him, +as he was riding near Brentford; and that he had told him, among other +things, that he could not believe the King's oath--which nobody could, I +should think. For this treachery he obtained a pardon, and the Duke of +Norfolk was summoned to appear and defend himself. As he denied the +charge and said his accuser was a liar and a traitor, both noblemen, +according to the manner of those times, were held in custody, and the +truth was ordered to be decided by wager of battle at Coventry. This +wager of battle meant that whosoever won the combat was to be considered +in the right; which nonsense meant in effect, that no strong man could +ever be wrong. A great holiday was made; a great crowd assembled, with +much parade and show; and the two combatants were about to rush at each +other with their lances, when the King, sitting in a pavilion to see +fair, threw down the truncheon he carried in his hand, and forbade the +battle. The Duke of Hereford was to be banished for ten years, and the +Duke of Norfolk was to be banished for life. So said the King. The Duke +of Hereford went to France, and went no farther. The Duke of Norfolk +made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and afterwards died at Venice of a +broken heart. + +Faster and fiercer, after this, the King went on in his career. The Duke +of Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of Hereford, died soon after +the departure of his son; and, the King, although he had solemnly granted +to that son leave to inherit his father's property, if it should come to +him during his banishment, immediately seized it all, like a robber. The +judges were so afraid of him, that they disgraced themselves by declaring +this theft to be just and lawful. His avarice knew no bounds. He +outlawed seventeen counties at once, on a frivolous pretence, merely to +raise money by way of fines for misconduct. In short, he did as many +dishonest things as he could; and cared so little for the discontent of +his subjects--though even the spaniel favourites began to whisper to him +that there was such a thing as discontent afloat--that he took that time, +of all others, for leaving England and making an expedition against the +Irish. + +He was scarcely gone, leaving the DUKE OF YORK Regent in his absence, +when his cousin, Henry of Hereford, came over from France to claim the +rights of which he had been so monstrously deprived. He was immediately +joined by the two great Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland; and his +uncle, the Regent, finding the King's cause unpopular, and the +disinclination of the army to act against Henry, very strong, withdrew +with the Royal forces towards Bristol. Henry, at the head of an army, +came from Yorkshire (where he had landed) to London and followed him. +They joined their forces--how they brought that about, is not distinctly +understood--and proceeded to Bristol Castle, whither three noblemen had +taken the young Queen. The castle surrendering, they presently put those +three noblemen to death. The Regent then remained there, and Henry went +on to Chester. + +All this time, the boisterous weather had prevented the King from +receiving intelligence of what had occurred. At length it was conveyed +to him in Ireland, and he sent over the EARL OF SALISBURY, who, landing +at Conway, rallied the Welshmen, and waited for the King a whole +fortnight; at the end of that time the Welshmen, who were perhaps not +very warm for him in the beginning, quite cooled down and went home. When +the King did land on the coast at last, he came with a pretty good power, +but his men cared nothing for him, and quickly deserted. Supposing the +Welshmen to be still at Conway, he disguised himself as a priest, and +made for that place in company with his two brothers and some few of +their adherents. But, there were no Welshmen left--only Salisbury and a +hundred soldiers. In this distress, the King's two brothers, Exeter and +Surrey, offered to go to Henry to learn what his intentions were. Surrey, +who was true to Richard, was put into prison. Exeter, who was false, +took the royal badge, which was a hart, off his shield, and assumed the +rose, the badge of Henry. After this, it was pretty plain to the King +what Henry's intentions were, without sending any more messengers to ask. + +The fallen King, thus deserted--hemmed in on all sides, and pressed with +hunger--rode here and rode there, and went to this castle, and went to +that castle, endeavouring to obtain some provisions, but could find none. +He rode wretchedly back to Conway, and there surrendered himself to the +Earl of Northumberland, who came from Henry, in reality to take him +prisoner, but in appearance to offer terms; and whose men were hidden not +far off. By this earl he was conducted to the castle of Flint, where his +cousin Henry met him, and dropped on his knee as if he were still +respectful to his sovereign. + +'Fair cousin of Lancaster,' said the King, 'you are very welcome' (very +welcome, no doubt; but he would have been more so, in chains or without a +head). + +'My lord,' replied Henry, 'I am come a little before my time; but, with +your good pleasure, I will show you the reason. Your people complain +with some bitterness, that you have ruled them rigorously for two-and- +twenty years. Now, if it please God, I will help you to govern them +better in future.' + +'Fair cousin,' replied the abject King, 'since it pleaseth you, it +pleaseth me mightily.' + +After this, the trumpets sounded, and the King was stuck on a wretched +horse, and carried prisoner to Chester, where he was made to issue a +proclamation, calling a Parliament. From Chester he was taken on towards +London. At Lichfield he tried to escape by getting out of a window and +letting himself down into a garden; it was all in vain, however, and he +was carried on and shut up in the Tower, where no one pitied him, and +where the whole people, whose patience he had quite tired out, reproached +him without mercy. Before he got there, it is related, that his very dog +left him and departed from his side to lick the hand of Henry. + +The day before the Parliament met, a deputation went to this wrecked +King, and told him that he had promised the Earl of Northumberland at +Conway Castle to resign the crown. He said he was quite ready to do it, +and signed a paper in which he renounced his authority and absolved his +people from their allegiance to him. He had so little spirit left that +he gave his royal ring to his triumphant cousin Henry with his own hand, +and said, that if he could have had leave to appoint a successor, that +same Henry was the man of all others whom he would have named. Next day, +the Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall, where Henry sat at the side +of the throne, which was empty and covered with a cloth of gold. The +paper just signed by the King was read to the multitude amid shouts of +joy, which were echoed through all the streets; when some of the noise +had died away, the King was formally deposed. Then Henry arose, and, +making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast, challenged the +realm of England as his right; the archbishops of Canterbury and York +seated him on the throne. + +The multitude shouted again, and the shouts re-echoed throughout all the +streets. No one remembered, now, that Richard the Second had ever been +the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best of princes; and he now made +living (to my thinking) a far more sorry spectacle in the Tower of +London, than Wat Tyler had made, lying dead, among the hoofs of the royal +horses in Smithfield. + +The Poll-tax died with Wat. The Smiths to the King and Royal Family, +could make no chains in which the King could hang the people's +recollection of him; so the Poll-tax was never collected. + + + + +CHAPTER XX--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE + + +During the last reign, the preaching of Wickliffe against the pride and +cunning of the Pope and all his men, had made a great noise in England. +Whether the new King wished to be in favour with the priests, or whether +he hoped, by pretending to be very religious, to cheat Heaven itself into +the belief that he was not a usurper, I don't know. Both suppositions +are likely enough. It is certain that he began his reign by making a +strong show against the followers of Wickliffe, who were called Lollards, +or heretics--although his father, John of Gaunt, had been of that way of +thinking, as he himself had been more than suspected of being. It is no +less certain that he first established in England the detestable and +atrocious custom, brought from abroad, of burning those people as a +punishment for their opinions. It was the importation into England of +one of the practices of what was called the Holy Inquisition: which was +the most _un_holy and the most infamous tribunal that ever disgraced +mankind, and made men more like demons than followers of Our Saviour. + +No real right to the crown, as you know, was in this King. Edward +Mortimer, the young Earl of March--who was only eight or nine years old, +and who was descended from the Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of +Henry's father--was, by succession, the real heir to the throne. However, +the King got his son declared Prince of Wales; and, obtaining possession +of the young Earl of March and his little brother, kept them in +confinement (but not severely) in Windsor Castle. He then required the +Parliament to decide what was to be done with the deposed King, who was +quiet enough, and who only said that he hoped his cousin Henry would be +'a good lord' to him. The Parliament replied that they would recommend +his being kept in some secret place where the people could not resort, +and where his friends could not be admitted to see him. Henry +accordingly passed this sentence upon him, and it now began to be pretty +clear to the nation that Richard the Second would not live very long. + +It was a noisy Parliament, as it was an unprincipled one, and the Lords +quarrelled so violently among themselves as to which of them had been +loyal and which disloyal, and which consistent and which inconsistent, +that forty gauntlets are said to have been thrown upon the floor at one +time as challenges to as many battles: the truth being that they were all +false and base together, and had been, at one time with the old King, and +at another time with the new one, and seldom true for any length of time +to any one. They soon began to plot again. A conspiracy was formed to +invite the King to a tournament at Oxford, and then to take him by +surprise and kill him. This murderous enterprise, which was agreed upon +at secret meetings in the house of the Abbot of Westminster, was betrayed +by the Earl of Rutland--one of the conspirators. The King, instead of +going to the tournament or staying at Windsor (where the conspirators +suddenly went, on finding themselves discovered, with the hope of seizing +him), retired to London, proclaimed them all traitors, and advanced upon +them with a great force. They retired into the west of England, +proclaiming Richard King; but, the people rose against them, and they +were all slain. Their treason hastened the death of the deposed monarch. +Whether he was killed by hired assassins, or whether he was starved to +death, or whether he refused food on hearing of his brothers being killed +(who were in that plot), is very doubtful. He met his death somehow; and +his body was publicly shown at St. Paul's Cathedral with only the lower +part of the face uncovered. I can scarcely doubt that he was killed by +the King's orders. + +The French wife of the miserable Richard was now only ten years old; and, +when her father, Charles of France, heard of her misfortunes and of her +lonely condition in England, he went mad: as he had several times done +before, during the last five or six years. The French Dukes of Burgundy +and Bourbon took up the poor girl's cause, without caring much about it, +but on the chance of getting something out of England. The people of +Bordeaux, who had a sort of superstitious attachment to the memory of +Richard, because he was born there, swore by the Lord that he had been +the best man in all his kingdom--which was going rather far--and promised +to do great things against the English. Nevertheless, when they came to +consider that they, and the whole people of France, were ruined by their +own nobles, and that the English rule was much the better of the two, +they cooled down again; and the two dukes, although they were very great +men, could do nothing without them. Then, began negotiations between +France and England for the sending home to Paris of the poor little Queen +with all her jewels and her fortune of two hundred thousand francs in +gold. The King was quite willing to restore the young lady, and even the +jewels; but he said he really could not part with the money. So, at last +she was safely deposited at Paris without her fortune, and then the Duke +of Burgundy (who was cousin to the French King) began to quarrel with the +Duke of Orleans (who was brother to the French King) about the whole +matter; and those two dukes made France even more wretched than ever. + +As the idea of conquering Scotland was still popular at home, the King +marched to the river Tyne and demanded homage of the King of that +country. This being refused, he advanced to Edinburgh, but did little +there; for, his army being in want of provisions, and the Scotch being +very careful to hold him in check without giving battle, he was obliged +to retire. It is to his immortal honour that in this sally he burnt no +villages and slaughtered no people, but was particularly careful that his +army should be merciful and harmless. It was a great example in those +ruthless times. + +A war among the border people of England and Scotland went on for twelve +months, and then the Earl of Northumberland, the nobleman who had helped +Henry to the crown, began to rebel against him--probably because nothing +that Henry could do for him would satisfy his extravagant expectations. +There was a certain Welsh gentleman, named OWEN GLENDOWER, who had been a +student in one of the Inns of Court, and had afterwards been in the +service of the late King, whose Welsh property was taken from him by a +powerful lord related to the present King, who was his neighbour. +Appealing for redress, and getting none, he took up arms, was made an +outlaw, and declared himself sovereign of Wales. He pretended to be a +magician; and not only were the Welsh people stupid enough to believe +him, but, even Henry believed him too; for, making three expeditions into +Wales, and being three times driven back by the wildness of the country, +the bad weather, and the skill of Glendower, he thought he was defeated +by the Welshman's magic arts. However, he took Lord Grey and Sir Edmund +Mortimer, prisoners, and allowed the relatives of Lord Grey to ransom +him, but would not extend such favour to Sir Edmund Mortimer. Now, Henry +Percy, called HOTSPUR, son of the Earl of Northumberland, who was married +to Mortimer's sister, is supposed to have taken offence at this; and, +therefore, in conjunction with his father and some others, to have joined +Owen Glendower, and risen against Henry. It is by no means clear that +this was the real cause of the conspiracy; but perhaps it was made the +pretext. It was formed, and was very powerful; including SCROOP, +Archbishop of York, and the EARL OF DOUGLAS, a powerful and brave +Scottish nobleman. The King was prompt and active, and the two armies +met at Shrewsbury. + +There were about fourteen thousand men in each. The old Earl of +Northumberland being sick, the rebel forces were led by his son. The +King wore plain armour to deceive the enemy; and four noblemen, with the +same object, wore the royal arms. The rebel charge was so furious, that +every one of those gentlemen was killed, the royal standard was beaten +down, and the young Prince of Wales was severely wounded in the face. But +he was one of the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived, and he +fought so well, and the King's troops were so encouraged by his bold +example, that they rallied immediately, and cut the enemy's forces all to +pieces. Hotspur was killed by an arrow in the brain, and the rout was so +complete that the whole rebellion was struck down by this one blow. The +Earl of Northumberland surrendered himself soon after hearing of the +death of his son, and received a pardon for all his offences. + +There were some lingerings of rebellion yet: Owen Glendower being retired +to Wales, and a preposterous story being spread among the ignorant people +that King Richard was still alive. How they could have believed such +nonsense it is difficult to imagine; but they certainly did suppose that +the Court fool of the late King, who was something like him, was he, +himself; so that it seemed as if, after giving so much trouble to the +country in his life, he was still to trouble it after his death. This +was not the worst. The young Earl of March and his brother were stolen +out of Windsor Castle. Being retaken, and being found to have been +spirited away by one Lady Spencer, she accused her own brother, that Earl +of Rutland who was in the former conspiracy and was now Duke of York, of +being in the plot. For this he was ruined in fortune, though not put to +death; and then another plot arose among the old Earl of Northumberland, +some other lords, and that same Scroop, Archbishop of York, who was with +the rebels before. These conspirators caused a writing to be posted on +the church doors, accusing the King of a variety of crimes; but, the King +being eager and vigilant to oppose them, they were all taken, and the +Archbishop was executed. This was the first time that a great churchman +had been slain by the law in England; but the King was resolved that it +should be done, and done it was. + +The next most remarkable event of this time was the seizure, by Henry, of +the heir to the Scottish throne--James, a boy of nine years old. He had +been put aboard-ship by his father, the Scottish King Robert, to save him +from the designs of his uncle, when, on his way to France, he was +accidentally taken by some English cruisers. He remained a prisoner in +England for nineteen years, and became in his prison a student and a +famous poet. + +With the exception of occasional troubles with the Welsh and with the +French, the rest of King Henry's reign was quiet enough. But, the King +was far from happy, and probably was troubled in his conscience by +knowing that he had usurped the crown, and had occasioned the death of +his miserable cousin. The Prince of Wales, though brave and generous, is +said to have been wild and dissipated, and even to have drawn his sword +on GASCOIGNE, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, because he was firm +in dealing impartially with one of his dissolute companions. Upon this +the Chief Justice is said to have ordered him immediately to prison; the +Prince of Wales is said to have submitted with a good grace; and the King +is said to have exclaimed, 'Happy is the monarch who has so just a judge, +and a son so willing to obey the laws.' This is all very doubtful, and +so is another story (of which Shakespeare has made beautiful use), that +the Prince once took the crown out of his father's chamber as he was +sleeping, and tried it on his own head. + +The King's health sank more and more, and he became subject to violent +eruptions on the face and to bad epileptic fits, and his spirits sank +every day. At last, as he was praying before the shrine of St. Edward at +Westminster Abbey, he was seized with a terrible fit, and was carried +into the Abbot's chamber, where he presently died. It had been foretold +that he would die at Jerusalem, which certainly is not, and never was, +Westminster. But, as the Abbot's room had long been called the Jerusalem +chamber, people said it was all the same thing, and were quite satisfied +with the prediction. + +The King died on the 20th of March, 1413, in the forty-seventh year of +his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. He was buried in Canterbury +Cathedral. He had been twice married, and had, by his first wife, a +family of four sons and two daughters. Considering his duplicity before +he came to the throne, his unjust seizure of it, and above all, his +making that monstrous law for the burning of what the priests called +heretics, he was a reasonably good king, as kings went. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH + + +FIRST PART + + +The Prince of Wales began his reign like a generous and honest man. He +set the young Earl of March free; he restored their estates and their +honours to the Percy family, who had lost them by their rebellion against +his father; he ordered the imbecile and unfortunate Richard to be +honourably buried among the Kings of England; and he dismissed all his +wild companions, with assurances that they should not want, if they would +resolve to be steady, faithful, and true. + +It is much easier to burn men than to burn their opinions; and those of +the Lollards were spreading every day. The Lollards were represented by +the priests--probably falsely for the most part--to entertain treasonable +designs against the new King; and Henry, suffering himself to be worked +upon by these representations, sacrificed his friend Sir John Oldcastle, +the Lord Cobham, to them, after trying in vain to convert him by +arguments. He was declared guilty, as the head of the sect, and +sentenced to the flames; but he escaped from the Tower before the day of +execution (postponed for fifty days by the King himself), and summoned +the Lollards to meet him near London on a certain day. So the priests +told the King, at least. I doubt whether there was any conspiracy beyond +such as was got up by their agents. On the day appointed, instead of +five-and-twenty thousand men, under the command of Sir John Oldcastle, in +the meadows of St. Giles, the King found only eighty men, and no Sir John +at all. There was, in another place, an addle-headed brewer, who had +gold trappings to his horses, and a pair of gilt spurs in his +breast--expecting to be made a knight next day by Sir John, and so to +gain the right to wear them--but there was no Sir John, nor did anybody +give information respecting him, though the King offered great rewards +for such intelligence. Thirty of these unfortunate Lollards were hanged +and drawn immediately, and were then burnt, gallows and all; and the +various prisons in and around London were crammed full of others. Some +of these unfortunate men made various confessions of treasonable designs; +but, such confessions were easily got, under torture and the fear of +fire, and are very little to be trusted. To finish the sad story of Sir +John Oldcastle at once, I may mention that he escaped into Wales, and +remained there safely, for four years. When discovered by Lord Powis, it +is very doubtful if he would have been taken alive--so great was the old +soldier's bravery--if a miserable old woman had not come behind him and +broken his legs with a stool. He was carried to London in a +horse-litter, was fastened by an iron chain to a gibbet, and so roasted +to death. + +To make the state of France as plain as I can in a few words, I should +tell you that the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Burgundy, commonly +called 'John without fear,' had had a grand reconciliation of their +quarrel in the last reign, and had appeared to be quite in a heavenly +state of mind. Immediately after which, on a Sunday, in the public +streets of Paris, the Duke of Orleans was murdered by a party of twenty +men, set on by the Duke of Burgundy--according to his own deliberate +confession. The widow of King Richard had been married in France to the +eldest son of the Duke of Orleans. The poor mad King was quite powerless +to help her, and the Duke of Burgundy became the real master of France. +Isabella dying, her husband (Duke of Orleans since the death of his +father) married the daughter of the Count of Armagnac, who, being a much +abler man than his young son-in-law, headed his party; thence called +after him Armagnacs. Thus, France was now in this terrible condition, +that it had in it the party of the King's son, the Dauphin Louis; the +party of the Duke of Burgundy, who was the father of the Dauphin's ill- +used wife; and the party of the Armagnacs; all hating each other; all +fighting together; all composed of the most depraved nobles that the +earth has ever known; and all tearing unhappy France to pieces. + +The late King had watched these dissensions from England, sensible (like +the French people) that no enemy of France could injure her more than her +own nobility. The present King now advanced a claim to the French +throne. His demand being, of course, refused, he reduced his proposal to +a certain large amount of French territory, and to demanding the French +princess, Catherine, in marriage, with a fortune of two millions of +golden crowns. He was offered less territory and fewer crowns, and no +princess; but he called his ambassadors home and prepared for war. Then, +he proposed to take the princess with one million of crowns. The French +Court replied that he should have the princess with two hundred thousand +crowns less; he said this would not do (he had never seen the princess in +his life), and assembled his army at Southampton. There was a short plot +at home just at that time, for deposing him, and making the Earl of March +king; but the conspirators were all speedily condemned and executed, and +the King embarked for France. + +It is dreadful to observe how long a bad example will be followed; but, +it is encouraging to know that a good example is never thrown away. The +King's first act on disembarking at the mouth of the river Seine, three +miles from Harfleur, was to imitate his father, and to proclaim his +solemn orders that the lives and property of the peaceable inhabitants +should be respected on pain of death. It is agreed by French writers, to +his lasting renown, that even while his soldiers were suffering the +greatest distress from want of food, these commands were rigidly obeyed. + +With an army in all of thirty thousand men, he besieged the town of +Harfleur both by sea and land for five weeks; at the end of which time +the town surrendered, and the inhabitants were allowed to depart with +only fivepence each, and a part of their clothes. All the rest of their +possessions was divided amongst the English army. But, that army +suffered so much, in spite of its successes, from disease and privation, +that it was already reduced one half. Still, the King was determined not +to retire until he had struck a greater blow. Therefore, against the +advice of all his counsellors, he moved on with his little force towards +Calais. When he came up to the river Somme he was unable to cross, in +consequence of the fort being fortified; and, as the English moved up the +left bank of the river looking for a crossing, the French, who had broken +all the bridges, moved up the right bank, watching them, and waiting to +attack them when they should try to pass it. At last the English found a +crossing and got safely over. The French held a council of war at Rouen, +resolved to give the English battle, and sent heralds to King Henry to +know by which road he was going. 'By the road that will take me straight +to Calais!' said the King, and sent them away with a present of a hundred +crowns. + +The English moved on, until they beheld the French, and then the King +gave orders to form in line of battle. The French not coming on, the +army broke up after remaining in battle array till night, and got good +rest and refreshment at a neighbouring village. The French were now all +lying in another village, through which they knew the English must pass. +They were resolved that the English should begin the battle. The English +had no means of retreat, if their King had any such intention; and so the +two armies passed the night, close together. + +To understand these armies well, you must bear in mind that the immense +French army had, among its notable persons, almost the whole of that +wicked nobility, whose debauchery had made France a desert; and so +besotted were they by pride, and by contempt for the common people, that +they had scarcely any bowmen (if indeed they had any at all) in their +whole enormous number: which, compared with the English army, was at +least as six to one. For these proud fools had said that the bow was not +a fit weapon for knightly hands, and that France must be defended by +gentlemen only. We shall see, presently, what hand the gentlemen made of +it. + +Now, on the English side, among the little force, there was a good +proportion of men who were not gentlemen by any means, but who were good +stout archers for all that. Among them, in the morning--having slept +little at night, while the French were carousing and making sure of +victory--the King rode, on a grey horse; wearing on his head a helmet of +shining steel, surmounted by a crown of gold, sparkling with precious +stones; and bearing over his armour, embroidered together, the arms of +England and the arms of France. The archers looked at the shining helmet +and the crown of gold and the sparkling jewels, and admired them all; +but, what they admired most was the King's cheerful face, and his bright +blue eye, as he told them that, for himself, he had made up his mind to +conquer there or to die there, and that England should never have a +ransom to pay for _him_. There was one brave knight who chanced to say +that he wished some of the many gallant gentlemen and good soldiers, who +were then idle at home in England, were there to increase their numbers. +But the King told him that, for his part, he did not wish for one more +man. 'The fewer we have,' said he, 'the greater will be the honour we +shall win!' His men, being now all in good heart, were refreshed with +bread and wine, and heard prayers, and waited quietly for the French. The +King waited for the French, because they were drawn up thirty deep (the +little English force was only three deep), on very difficult and heavy +ground; and he knew that when they moved, there must be confusion among +them. + +As they did not move, he sent off two parties:--one to lie concealed in a +wood on the left of the French: the other, to set fire to some houses +behind the French after the battle should be begun. This was scarcely +done, when three of the proud French gentlemen, who were to defend their +country without any help from the base peasants, came riding out, calling +upon the English to surrender. The King warned those gentlemen himself +to retire with all speed if they cared for their lives, and ordered the +English banners to advance. Upon that, Sir Thomas Erpingham, a great +English general, who commanded the archers, threw his truncheon into the +air, joyfully, and all the English men, kneeling down upon the ground and +biting it as if they took possession of the country, rose up with a great +shout and fell upon the French. + +Every archer was furnished with a great stake tipped with iron; and his +orders were, to thrust this stake into the ground, to discharge his +arrow, and then to fall back, when the French horsemen came on. As the +haughty French gentlemen, who were to break the English archers and +utterly destroy them with their knightly lances, came riding up, they +were received with such a blinding storm of arrows, that they broke and +turned. Horses and men rolled over one another, and the confusion was +terrific. Those who rallied and charged the archers got among the stakes +on slippery and boggy ground, and were so bewildered that the English +archers--who wore no armour, and even took off their leathern coats to be +more active--cut them to pieces, root and branch. Only three French +horsemen got within the stakes, and those were instantly despatched. All +this time the dense French army, being in armour, were sinking knee-deep +into the mire; while the light English archers, half-naked, were as fresh +and active as if they were fighting on a marble floor. + +But now, the second division of the French coming to the relief of the +first, closed up in a firm mass; the English, headed by the King, +attacked them; and the deadliest part of the battle began. The King's +brother, the Duke of Clarence, was struck down, and numbers of the French +surrounded him; but, King Henry, standing over the body, fought like a +lion until they were beaten off. + +Presently, came up a band of eighteen French knights, bearing the banner +of a certain French lord, who had sworn to kill or take the English King. +One of them struck him such a blow with a battle-axe that he reeled and +fell upon his knees; but, his faithful men, immediately closing round +him, killed every one of those eighteen knights, and so that French lord +never kept his oath. + +The French Duke of Alencon, seeing this, made a desperate charge, and cut +his way close up to the Royal Standard of England. He beat down the Duke +of York, who was standing near it; and, when the King came to his rescue, +struck off a piece of the crown he wore. But, he never struck another +blow in this world; for, even as he was in the act of saying who he was, +and that he surrendered to the King; and even as the King stretched out +his hand to give him a safe and honourable acceptance of the offer; he +fell dead, pierced by innumerable wounds. + +The death of this nobleman decided the battle. The third division of the +French army, which had never struck a blow yet, and which was, in itself, +more than double the whole English power, broke and fled. At this time +of the fight, the English, who as yet had made no prisoners, began to +take them in immense numbers, and were still occupied in doing so, or in +killing those who would not surrender, when a great noise arose in the +rear of the French--their flying banners were seen to stop--and King +Henry, supposing a great reinforcement to have arrived, gave orders that +all the prisoners should be put to death. As soon, however, as it was +found that the noise was only occasioned by a body of plundering +peasants, the terrible massacre was stopped. + +Then King Henry called to him the French herald, and asked him to whom +the victory belonged. + +The herald replied, 'To the King of England.' + +'_We_ have not made this havoc and slaughter,' said the King. 'It is the +wrath of Heaven on the sins of France. What is the name of that castle +yonder?' + +The herald answered him, 'My lord, it is the castle of Azincourt.' Said +the King, 'From henceforth this battle shall be known to posterity, by +the name of the battle of Azincourt.' + +Our English historians have made it Agincourt; but, under that name, it +will ever be famous in English annals. + +The loss upon the French side was enormous. Three Dukes were killed, two +more were taken prisoners, seven Counts were killed, three more were +taken prisoners, and ten thousand knights and gentlemen were slain upon +the field. The English loss amounted to sixteen hundred men, among whom +were the Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk. + +War is a dreadful thing; and it is appalling to know how the English were +obliged, next morning, to kill those prisoners mortally wounded, who yet +writhed in agony upon the ground; how the dead upon the French side were +stripped by their own countrymen and countrywomen, and afterwards buried +in great pits; how the dead upon the English side were piled up in a +great barn, and how their bodies and the barn were all burned together. +It is in such things, and in many more much too horrible to relate, that +the real desolation and wickedness of war consist. Nothing can make war +otherwise than horrible. But the dark side of it was little thought of +and soon forgotten; and it cast no shade of trouble on the English +people, except on those who had lost friends or relations in the fight. +They welcomed their King home with shouts of rejoicing, and plunged into +the water to bear him ashore on their shoulders, and flocked out in +crowds to welcome him in every town through which he passed, and hung +rich carpets and tapestries out of the windows, and strewed the streets +with flowers, and made the fountains run with wine, as the great field of +Agincourt had run with blood. + + + +SECOND PART + + +That proud and wicked French nobility who dragged their country to +destruction, and who were every day and every year regarded with deeper +hatred and detestation in the hearts of the French people, learnt +nothing, even from the defeat of Agincourt. So far from uniting against +the common enemy, they became, among themselves, more violent, more +bloody, and more false--if that were possible--than they had been before. +The Count of Armagnac persuaded the French king to plunder of her +treasures Queen Isabella of Bavaria, and to make her a prisoner. She, +who had hitherto been the bitter enemy of the Duke of Burgundy, proposed +to join him, in revenge. He carried her off to Troyes, where she +proclaimed herself Regent of France, and made him her lieutenant. The +Armagnac party were at that time possessed of Paris; but, one of the +gates of the city being secretly opened on a certain night to a party of +the duke's men, they got into Paris, threw into the prisons all the +Armagnacs upon whom they could lay their hands, and, a few nights +afterwards, with the aid of a furious mob of sixty thousand people, broke +the prisons open, and killed them all. The former Dauphin was now dead, +and the King's third son bore the title. Him, in the height of this +murderous scene, a French knight hurried out of bed, wrapped in a sheet, +and bore away to Poitiers. So, when the revengeful Isabella and the Duke +of Burgundy entered Paris in triumph after the slaughter of their +enemies, the Dauphin was proclaimed at Poitiers as the real Regent. + +King Henry had not been idle since his victory of Agincourt, but had +repulsed a brave attempt of the French to recover Harfleur; had gradually +conquered a great part of Normandy; and, at this crisis of affairs, took +the important town of Rouen, after a siege of half a year. This great +loss so alarmed the French, that the Duke of Burgundy proposed that a +meeting to treat of peace should be held between the French and the +English kings in a plain by the river Seine. On the appointed day, King +Henry appeared there, with his two brothers, Clarence and Gloucester, and +a thousand men. The unfortunate French King, being more mad than usual +that day, could not come; but the Queen came, and with her the Princess +Catherine: who was a very lovely creature, and who made a real impression +on King Henry, now that he saw her for the first time. This was the most +important circumstance that arose out of the meeting. + +As if it were impossible for a French nobleman of that time to be true to +his word of honour in anything, Henry discovered that the Duke of +Burgundy was, at that very moment, in secret treaty with the Dauphin; and +he therefore abandoned the negotiation. + +The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, each of whom with the best reason +distrusted the other as a noble ruffian surrounded by a party of noble +ruffians, were rather at a loss how to proceed after this; but, at length +they agreed to meet, on a bridge over the river Yonne, where it was +arranged that there should be two strong gates put up, with an empty +space between them; and that the Duke of Burgundy should come into that +space by one gate, with ten men only; and that the Dauphin should come +into that space by the other gate, also with ten men, and no more. + +So far the Dauphin kept his word, but no farther. When the Duke of +Burgundy was on his knee before him in the act of speaking, one of the +Dauphin's noble ruffians cut the said duke down with a small axe, and +others speedily finished him. + +It was in vain for the Dauphin to pretend that this base murder was not +done with his consent; it was too bad, even for France, and caused a +general horror. The duke's heir hastened to make a treaty with King +Henry, and the French Queen engaged that her husband should consent to +it, whatever it was. Henry made peace, on condition of receiving the +Princess Catherine in marriage, and being made Regent of France during +the rest of the King's lifetime, and succeeding to the French crown at +his death. He was soon married to the beautiful Princess, and took her +proudly home to England, where she was crowned with great honour and +glory. + +This peace was called the Perpetual Peace; we shall soon see how long it +lasted. It gave great satisfaction to the French people, although they +were so poor and miserable, that, at the time of the celebration of the +Royal marriage, numbers of them were dying with starvation, on the +dunghills in the streets of Paris. There was some resistance on the part +of the Dauphin in some few parts of France, but King Henry beat it all +down. + +And now, with his great possessions in France secured, and his beautiful +wife to cheer him, and a son born to give him greater happiness, all +appeared bright before him. But, in the fulness of his triumph and the +height of his power, Death came upon him, and his day was done. When he +fell ill at Vincennes, and found that he could not recover, he was very +calm and quiet, and spoke serenely to those who wept around his bed. His +wife and child, he said, he left to the loving care of his brother the +Duke of Bedford, and his other faithful nobles. He gave them his advice +that England should establish a friendship with the new Duke of Burgundy, +and offer him the regency of France; that it should not set free the +royal princes who had been taken at Agincourt; and that, whatever quarrel +might arise with France, England should never make peace without holding +Normandy. Then, he laid down his head, and asked the attendant priests +to chant the penitential psalms. Amid which solemn sounds, on the thirty- +first of August, one thousand four hundred and twenty-two, in only the +thirty-fourth year of his age and the tenth of his reign, King Henry the +Fifth passed away. + +Slowly and mournfully they carried his embalmed body in a procession of +great state to Paris, and thence to Rouen where his Queen was: from whom +the sad intelligence of his death was concealed until he had been dead +some days. Thence, lying on a bed of crimson and gold, with a golden +crown upon the head, and a golden ball and sceptre lying in the nerveless +hands, they carried it to Calais, with such a great retinue as seemed to +dye the road black. The King of Scotland acted as chief mourner, all the +Royal Household followed, the knights wore black armour and black plumes +of feathers, crowds of men bore torches, making the night as light as +day; and the widowed Princess followed last of all. At Calais there was +a fleet of ships to bring the funeral host to Dover. And so, by way of +London Bridge, where the service for the dead was chanted as it passed +along, they brought the body to Westminster Abbey, and there buried it +with great respect. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH + + +PART THE FIRST + + +It had been the wish of the late King, that while his infant son KING +HENRY THE SIXTH, at this time only nine months old, was under age, the +Duke of Gloucester should be appointed Regent. The English Parliament, +however, preferred to appoint a Council of Regency, with the Duke of +Bedford at its head: to be represented, in his absence only, by the Duke +of Gloucester. The Parliament would seem to have been wise in this, for +Gloucester soon showed himself to be ambitious and troublesome, and, in +the gratification of his own personal schemes, gave dangerous offence to +the Duke of Burgundy, which was with difficulty adjusted. + +As that duke declined the Regency of France, it was bestowed by the poor +French King upon the Duke of Bedford. But, the French King dying within +two months, the Dauphin instantly asserted his claim to the French +throne, and was actually crowned under the title of CHARLES THE SEVENTH. +The Duke of Bedford, to be a match for him, entered into a friendly +league with the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, and gave them his two +sisters in marriage. War with France was immediately renewed, and the +Perpetual Peace came to an untimely end. + +In the first campaign, the English, aided by this alliance, were speedily +successful. As Scotland, however, had sent the French five thousand men, +and might send more, or attack the North of England while England was +busy with France, it was considered that it would be a good thing to +offer the Scottish King, James, who had been so long imprisoned, his +liberty, on his paying forty thousand pounds for his board and lodging +during nineteen years, and engaging to forbid his subjects from serving +under the flag of France. It is pleasant to know, not only that the +amiable captive at last regained his freedom upon these terms, but, that +he married a noble English lady, with whom he had been long in love, and +became an excellent King. I am afraid we have met with some Kings in +this history, and shall meet with some more, who would have been very +much the better, and would have left the world much happier, if they had +been imprisoned nineteen years too. + +In the second campaign, the English gained a considerable victory at +Verneuil, in a battle which was chiefly remarkable, otherwise, for their +resorting to the odd expedient of tying their baggage-horses together by +the heads and tails, and jumbling them up with the baggage, so as to +convert them into a sort of live fortification--which was found useful to +the troops, but which I should think was not agreeable to the horses. For +three years afterwards very little was done, owing to both sides being +too poor for war, which is a very expensive entertainment; but, a council +was then held in Paris, in which it was decided to lay siege to the town +of Orleans, which was a place of great importance to the Dauphin's cause. +An English army of ten thousand men was despatched on this service, under +the command of the Earl of Salisbury, a general of fame. He being +unfortunately killed early in the siege, the Earl of Suffolk took his +place; under whom (reinforced by SIR JOHN FALSTAFF, who brought up four +hundred waggons laden with salt herrings and other provisions for the +troops, and, beating off the French who tried to intercept him, came +victorious out of a hot skirmish, which was afterwards called in jest the +Battle of the Herrings) the town of Orleans was so completely hemmed in, +that the besieged proposed to yield it up to their countryman the Duke of +Burgundy. The English general, however, replied that his English men had +won it, so far, by their blood and valour, and that his English men must +have it. There seemed to be no hope for the town, or for the Dauphin, +who was so dismayed that he even thought of flying to Scotland or to +Spain--when a peasant girl rose up and changed the whole state of +affairs. + +The story of this peasant girl I have now to tell. + + + +PART THE SECOND: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC + + +In a remote village among some wild hills in the province of Lorraine, +there lived a countryman whose name was JACQUES D'ARC. He had a +daughter, JOAN OF ARC, who was at this time in her twentieth year. She +had been a solitary girl from her childhood; she had often tended sheep +and cattle for whole days where no human figure was seen or human voice +heard; and she had often knelt, for hours together, in the gloomy, empty, +little village chapel, looking up at the altar and at the dim lamp +burning before it, until she fancied that she saw shadowy figures +standing there, and even that she heard them speak to her. The people in +that part of France were very ignorant and superstitious, and they had +many ghostly tales to tell about what they had dreamed, and what they saw +among the lonely hills when the clouds and the mists were resting on +them. So, they easily believed that Joan saw strange sights, and they +whispered among themselves that angels and spirits talked to her. + +At last, Joan told her father that she had one day been surprised by a +great unearthly light, and had afterwards heard a solemn voice, which +said it was Saint Michael's voice, telling her that she was to go and +help the Dauphin. Soon after this (she said), Saint Catherine and Saint +Margaret had appeared to her with sparkling crowns upon their heads, and +had encouraged her to be virtuous and resolute. These visions had +returned sometimes; but the Voices very often; and the voices always +said, 'Joan, thou art appointed by Heaven to go and help the Dauphin!' +She almost always heard them while the chapel bells were ringing. + +There is no doubt, now, that Joan believed she saw and heard these +things. It is very well known that such delusions are a disease which is +not by any means uncommon. It is probable enough that there were figures +of Saint Michael, and Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, in the little +chapel (where they would be very likely to have shining crowns upon their +heads), and that they first gave Joan the idea of those three personages. +She had long been a moping, fanciful girl, and, though she was a very +good girl, I dare say she was a little vain, and wishful for notoriety. + +Her father, something wiser than his neighbours, said, 'I tell thee, +Joan, it is thy fancy. Thou hadst better have a kind husband to take +care of thee, girl, and work to employ thy mind!' But Joan told him in +reply, that she had taken a vow never to have a husband, and that she +must go as Heaven directed her, to help the Dauphin. + +It happened, unfortunately for her father's persuasions, and most +unfortunately for the poor girl, too, that a party of the Dauphin's +enemies found their way into the village while Joan's disorder was at +this point, and burnt the chapel, and drove out the inhabitants. The +cruelties she saw committed, touched Joan's heart and made her worse. She +said that the voices and the figures were now continually with her; that +they told her she was the girl who, according to an old prophecy, was to +deliver France; and she must go and help the Dauphin, and must remain +with him until he should be crowned at Rheims: and that she must travel a +long way to a certain lord named BAUDRICOURT, who could and would, bring +her into the Dauphin's presence. + +As her father still said, 'I tell thee, Joan, it is thy fancy,' she set +off to find out this lord, accompanied by an uncle, a poor village +wheelwright and cart-maker, who believed in the reality of her visions. +They travelled a long way and went on and on, over a rough country, full +of the Duke of Burgundy's men, and of all kinds of robbers and marauders, +until they came to where this lord was. + +When his servants told him that there was a poor peasant girl named Joan +of Arc, accompanied by nobody but an old village wheelwright and cart- +maker, who wished to see him because she was commanded to help the +Dauphin and save France, Baudricourt burst out a-laughing, and bade them +send the girl away. But, he soon heard so much about her lingering in +the town, and praying in the churches, and seeing visions, and doing harm +to no one, that he sent for her, and questioned her. As she said the +same things after she had been well sprinkled with holy water as she had +said before the sprinkling, Baudricourt began to think there might be +something in it. At all events, he thought it worth while to send her on +to the town of Chinon, where the Dauphin was. So, he bought her a horse, +and a sword, and gave her two squires to conduct her. As the Voices had +told Joan that she was to wear a man's dress, now, she put one on, and +girded her sword to her side, and bound spurs to her heels, and mounted +her horse and rode away with her two squires. As to her uncle the +wheelwright, he stood staring at his niece in wonder until she was out of +sight--as well he might--and then went home again. The best place, too. + +Joan and her two squires rode on and on, until they came to Chinon, where +she was, after some doubt, admitted into the Dauphin's presence. Picking +him out immediately from all his court, she told him that she came +commanded by Heaven to subdue his enemies and conduct him to his +coronation at Rheims. She also told him (or he pretended so afterwards, +to make the greater impression upon his soldiers) a number of his secrets +known only to himself, and, furthermore, she said there was an old, old +sword in the cathedral of Saint Catherine at Fierbois, marked with five +old crosses on the blade, which Saint Catherine had ordered her to wear. + +{Joan of Arc: p158.jpg} + +Now, nobody knew anything about this old, old sword, but when the +cathedral came to be examined--which was immediately done--there, sure +enough, the sword was found! The Dauphin then required a number of grave +priests and bishops to give him their opinion whether the girl derived +her power from good spirits or from evil spirits, which they held +prodigiously long debates about, in the course of which several learned +men fell fast asleep and snored loudly. At last, when one gruff old +gentleman had said to Joan, 'What language do your Voices speak?' and +when Joan had replied to the gruff old gentleman, 'A pleasanter language +than yours,' they agreed that it was all correct, and that Joan of Arc +was inspired from Heaven. This wonderful circumstance put new heart into +the Dauphin's soldiers when they heard of it, and dispirited the English +army, who took Joan for a witch. + +So Joan mounted horse again, and again rode on and on, until she came to +Orleans. But she rode now, as never peasant girl had ridden yet. She +rode upon a white war-horse, in a suit of glittering armour; with the +old, old sword from the cathedral, newly burnished, in her belt; with a +white flag carried before her, upon which were a picture of God, and the +words JESUS MARIA. In this splendid state, at the head of a great body +of troops escorting provisions of all kinds for the starving inhabitants +of Orleans, she appeared before that beleaguered city. + +When the people on the walls beheld her, they cried out 'The Maid is +come! The Maid of the Prophecy is come to deliver us!' And this, and +the sight of the Maid fighting at the head of their men, made the French +so bold, and made the English so fearful, that the English line of forts +was soon broken, the troops and provisions were got into the town, and +Orleans was saved. + +Joan, henceforth called THE MAID OF ORLEANS, remained within the walls +for a few days, and caused letters to be thrown over, ordering Lord +Suffolk and his Englishmen to depart from before the town according to +the will of Heaven. As the English general very positively declined to +believe that Joan knew anything about the will of Heaven (which did not +mend the matter with his soldiers, for they stupidly said if she were not +inspired she was a witch, and it was of no use to fight against a witch), +she mounted her white war-horse again, and ordered her white banner to +advance. + +The besiegers held the bridge, and some strong towers upon the bridge; +and here the Maid of Orleans attacked them. The fight was fourteen hours +long. She planted a scaling ladder with her own hands, and mounted a +tower wall, but was struck by an English arrow in the neck, and fell into +the trench. She was carried away and the arrow was taken out, during +which operation she screamed and cried with the pain, as any other girl +might have done; but presently she said that the Voices were speaking to +her and soothing her to rest. After a while, she got up, and was again +foremost in the fight. When the English who had seen her fall and +supposed her dead, saw this, they were troubled with the strangest fears, +and some of them cried out that they beheld Saint Michael on a white +horse (probably Joan herself) fighting for the French. They lost the +bridge, and lost the towers, and next day set their chain of forts on +fire, and left the place. + +But as Lord Suffolk himself retired no farther than the town of Jargeau, +which was only a few miles off, the Maid of Orleans besieged him there, +and he was taken prisoner. As the white banner scaled the wall, she was +struck upon the head with a stone, and was again tumbled down into the +ditch; but, she only cried all the more, as she lay there, 'On, on, my +countrymen! And fear nothing, for the Lord hath delivered them into our +hands!' After this new success of the Maid's, several other fortresses +and places which had previously held out against the Dauphin were +delivered up without a battle; and at Patay she defeated the remainder of +the English army, and set up her victorious white banner on a field where +twelve hundred Englishmen lay dead. + +She now urged the Dauphin (who always kept out of the way when there was +any fighting) to proceed to Rheims, as the first part of her mission was +accomplished; and to complete the whole by being crowned there. The +Dauphin was in no particular hurry to do this, as Rheims was a long way +off, and the English and the Duke of Burgundy were still strong in the +country through which the road lay. However, they set forth, with ten +thousand men, and again the Maid of Orleans rode on and on, upon her +white war-horse, and in her shining armour. Whenever they came to a town +which yielded readily, the soldiers believed in her; but, whenever they +came to a town which gave them any trouble, they began to murmur that she +was an impostor. The latter was particularly the case at Troyes, which +finally yielded, however, through the persuasion of one Richard, a friar +of the place. Friar Richard was in the old doubt about the Maid of +Orleans, until he had sprinkled her well with holy water, and had also +well sprinkled the threshold of the gate by which she came into the city. +Finding that it made no change in her or the gate, he said, as the other +grave old gentlemen had said, that it was all right, and became her great +ally. + +So, at last, by dint of riding on and on, the Maid of Orleans, and the +Dauphin, and the ten thousand sometimes believing and sometimes +unbelieving men, came to Rheims. And in the great cathedral of Rheims, +the Dauphin actually was crowned Charles the Seventh in a great assembly +of the people. Then, the Maid, who with her white banner stood beside +the King in that hour of his triumph, kneeled down upon the pavement at +his feet, and said, with tears, that what she had been inspired to do, +was done, and that the only recompense she asked for, was, that she +should now have leave to go back to her distant home, and her sturdily +incredulous father, and her first simple escort the village wheelwright +and cart-maker. But the King said 'No!' and made her and her family as +noble as a King could, and settled upon her the income of a Count. + +Ah! happy had it been for the Maid of Orleans, if she had resumed her +rustic dress that day, and had gone home to the little chapel and the +wild hills, and had forgotten all these things, and had been a good man's +wife, and had heard no stranger voices than the voices of little +children! + +It was not to be, and she continued helping the King (she did a world for +him, in alliance with Friar Richard), and trying to improve the lives of +the coarse soldiers, and leading a religious, an unselfish, and a modest +life, herself, beyond any doubt. Still, many times she prayed the King +to let her go home; and once she even took off her bright armour and hung +it up in a church, meaning never to wear it more. But, the King always +won her back again--while she was of any use to him--and so she went on +and on and on, to her doom. + +When the Duke of Bedford, who was a very able man, began to be active for +England, and, by bringing the war back into France and by holding the +Duke of Burgundy to his faith, to distress and disturb Charles very much, +Charles sometimes asked the Maid of Orleans what the Voices said about +it? But, the Voices had become (very like ordinary voices in perplexed +times) contradictory and confused, so that now they said one thing, and +now said another, and the Maid lost credit every day. Charles marched on +Paris, which was opposed to him, and attacked the suburb of Saint Honore. +In this fight, being again struck down into the ditch, she was abandoned +by the whole army. She lay unaided among a heap of dead, and crawled out +how she could. Then, some of her believers went over to an opposition +Maid, Catherine of La Rochelle, who said she was inspired to tell where +there were treasures of buried money--though she never did--and then Joan +accidentally broke the old, old sword, and others said that her power was +broken with it. Finally, at the siege of Compiegne, held by the Duke of +Burgundy, where she did valiant service, she was basely left alone in a +retreat, though facing about and fighting to the last; and an archer +pulled her off her horse. + +O the uproar that was made, and the thanksgivings that were sung, about +the capture of this one poor country-girl! O the way in which she was +demanded to be tried for sorcery and heresy, and anything else you like, +by the Inquisitor-General of France, and by this great man, and by that +great man, until it is wearisome to think of! She was bought at last by +the Bishop of Beauvais for ten thousand francs, and was shut up in her +narrow prison: plain Joan of Arc again, and Maid of Orleans no more. + +I should never have done if I were to tell you how they had Joan out to +examine her, and cross-examine her, and re-examine her, and worry her +into saying anything and everything; and how all sorts of scholars and +doctors bestowed their utmost tediousness upon her. Sixteen times she +was brought out and shut up again, and worried, and entrapped, and argued +with, until she was heart-sick of the dreary business. On the last +occasion of this kind she was brought into a burial-place at Rouen, +dismally decorated with a scaffold, and a stake and faggots, and the +executioner, and a pulpit with a friar therein, and an awful sermon +ready. It is very affecting to know that even at that pass the poor girl +honoured the mean vermin of a King, who had so used her for his purposes +and so abandoned her; and, that while she had been regardless of +reproaches heaped upon herself, she spoke out courageously for him. + +It was natural in one so young to hold to life. To save her life, she +signed a declaration prepared for her--signed it with a cross, for she +couldn't write--that all her visions and Voices had come from the Devil. +Upon her recanting the past, and protesting that she would never wear a +man's dress in future, she was condemned to imprisonment for life, 'on +the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction.' + +But, on the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction, the visions and +the Voices soon returned. It was quite natural that they should do so, +for that kind of disease is much aggravated by fasting, loneliness, and +anxiety of mind. It was not only got out of Joan that she considered +herself inspired again, but, she was taken in a man's dress, which had +been left--to entrap her--in her prison, and which she put on, in her +solitude; perhaps, in remembrance of her past glories, perhaps, because +the imaginary Voices told her. For this relapse into the sorcery and +heresy and anything else you like, she was sentenced to be burnt to +death. And, in the market-place of Rouen, in the hideous dress which the +monks had invented for such spectacles; with priests and bishops sitting +in a gallery looking on, though some had the Christian grace to go away, +unable to endure the infamous scene; this shrieking girl--last seen +amidst the smoke and fire, holding a crucifix between her hands; last +heard, calling upon Christ--was burnt to ashes. They threw her ashes +into the river Seine; but they will rise against her murderers on the +last day. + +From the moment of her capture, neither the French King nor one single +man in all his court raised a finger to save her. It is no defence of +them that they may have never really believed in her, or that they may +have won her victories by their skill and bravery. The more they +pretended to believe in her, the more they had caused her to believe in +herself; and she had ever been true to them, ever brave, ever nobly +devoted. But, it is no wonder, that they, who were in all things false +to themselves, false to one another, false to their country, false to +Heaven, false to Earth, should be monsters of ingratitude and treachery +to a helpless peasant girl. + +In the picturesque old town of Rouen, where weeds and grass grow high on +the cathedral towers, and the venerable Norman streets are still warm in +the blessed sunlight though the monkish fires that once gleamed horribly +upon them have long grown cold, there is a statue of Joan of Arc, in the +scene of her last agony, the square to which she has given its present +name. I know some statues of modern times--even in the World's +metropolis, I think--which commemorate less constancy, less earnestness, +smaller claims upon the world's attention, and much greater impostors. + + + +PART THE THIRD + + +Bad deeds seldom prosper, happily for mankind; and the English cause +gained no advantage from the cruel death of Joan of Arc. For a long +time, the war went heavily on. The Duke of Bedford died; the alliance +with the Duke of Burgundy was broken; and Lord Talbot became a great +general on the English side in France. But, two of the consequences of +wars are, Famine--because the people cannot peacefully cultivate the +ground--and Pestilence, which comes of want, misery, and suffering. Both +these horrors broke out in both countries, and lasted for two wretched +years. Then, the war went on again, and came by slow degrees to be so +badly conducted by the English government, that, within twenty years from +the execution of the Maid of Orleans, of all the great French conquests, +the town of Calais alone remained in English hands. + +While these victories and defeats were taking place in the course of +time, many strange things happened at home. The young King, as he grew +up, proved to be very unlike his great father, and showed himself a +miserable puny creature. There was no harm in him--he had a great +aversion to shedding blood: which was something--but, he was a weak, +silly, helpless young man, and a mere shuttlecock to the great lordly +battledores about the Court. + +Of these battledores, Cardinal Beaufort, a relation of the King, and the +Duke of Gloucester, were at first the most powerful. The Duke of +Gloucester had a wife, who was nonsensically accused of practising +witchcraft to cause the King's death and lead to her husband's coming to +the throne, he being the next heir. She was charged with having, by the +help of a ridiculous old woman named Margery (who was called a witch), +made a little waxen doll in the King's likeness, and put it before a slow +fire that it might gradually melt away. It was supposed, in such cases, +that the death of the person whom the doll was made to represent, was +sure to happen. Whether the duchess was as ignorant as the rest of them, +and really did make such a doll with such an intention, I don't know; +but, you and I know very well that she might have made a thousand dolls, +if she had been stupid enough, and might have melted them all, without +hurting the King or anybody else. However, she was tried for it, and so +was old Margery, and so was one of the duke's chaplains, who was charged +with having assisted them. Both he and Margery were put to death, and +the duchess, after being taken on foot and bearing a lighted candle, +three times round the City, as a penance, was imprisoned for life. The +duke, himself, took all this pretty quietly, and made as little stir +about the matter as if he were rather glad to be rid of the duchess. + +But, he was not destined to keep himself out of trouble long. The royal +shuttlecock being three-and-twenty, the battledores were very anxious to +get him married. The Duke of Gloucester wanted him to marry a daughter +of the Count of Armagnac; but, the Cardinal and the Earl of Suffolk were +all for MARGARET, the daughter of the King of Sicily, who they knew was a +resolute, ambitious woman and would govern the King as she chose. To +make friends with this lady, the Earl of Suffolk, who went over to +arrange the match, consented to accept her for the King's wife without +any fortune, and even to give up the two most valuable possessions +England then had in France. So, the marriage was arranged, on terms very +advantageous to the lady; and Lord Suffolk brought her to England, and +she was married at Westminster. On what pretence this queen and her +party charged the Duke of Gloucester with high treason within a couple of +years, it is impossible to make out, the matter is so confused; but, they +pretended that the King's life was in danger, and they took the duke +prisoner. A fortnight afterwards, he was found dead in bed (they said), +and his body was shown to the people, and Lord Suffolk came in for the +best part of his estates. You know by this time how strangely liable +state prisoners were to sudden death. + +If Cardinal Beaufort had any hand in this matter, it did him no good, for +he died within six weeks; thinking it very hard and curious--at eighty +years old!--that he could not live to be Pope. + +This was the time when England had completed her loss of all her great +French conquests. The people charged the loss principally upon the Earl +of Suffolk, now a duke, who had made those easy terms about the Royal +Marriage, and who, they believed, had even been bought by France. So he +was impeached as a traitor, on a great number of charges, but chiefly on +accusations of having aided the French King, and of designing to make his +own son King of England. The Commons and the people being violent +against him, the King was made (by his friends) to interpose to save him, +by banishing him for five years, and proroguing the Parliament. The duke +had much ado to escape from a London mob, two thousand strong, who lay in +wait for him in St. Giles's fields; but, he got down to his own estates +in Suffolk, and sailed away from Ipswich. Sailing across the Channel, he +sent into Calais to know if he might land there; but, they kept his boat +and men in the harbour, until an English ship, carrying a hundred and +fifty men and called the Nicholas of the Tower, came alongside his little +vessel, and ordered him on board. 'Welcome, traitor, as men say,' was +the captain's grim and not very respectful salutation. He was kept on +board, a prisoner, for eight-and-forty hours, and then a small boat +appeared rowing toward the ship. As this boat came nearer, it was seen +to have in it a block, a rusty sword, and an executioner in a black mask. +The duke was handed down into it, and there his head was cut off with six +strokes of the rusty sword. Then, the little boat rowed away to Dover +beach, where the body was cast out, and left until the duchess claimed +it. By whom, high in authority, this murder was committed, has never +appeared. No one was ever punished for it. + +There now arose in Kent an Irishman, who gave himself the name of +Mortimer, but whose real name was JACK CADE. Jack, in imitation of Wat +Tyler, though he was a very different and inferior sort of man, addressed +the Kentish men upon their wrongs, occasioned by the bad government of +England, among so many battledores and such a poor shuttlecock; and the +Kentish men rose up to the number of twenty thousand. Their place of +assembly was Blackheath, where, headed by Jack, they put forth two +papers, which they called 'The Complaint of the Commons of Kent,' and +'The Requests of the Captain of the Great Assembly in Kent.' They then +retired to Sevenoaks. The royal army coming up with them here, they beat +it and killed their general. Then, Jack dressed himself in the dead +general's armour, and led his men to London. + +Jack passed into the City from Southwark, over the bridge, and entered it +in triumph, giving the strictest orders to his men not to plunder. Having +made a show of his forces there, while the citizens looked on quietly, he +went back into Southwark in good order, and passed the night. Next day, +he came back again, having got hold in the meantime of Lord Say, an +unpopular nobleman. Says Jack to the Lord Mayor and judges: 'Will you be +so good as to make a tribunal in Guildhall, and try me this nobleman?' +The court being hastily made, he was found guilty, and Jack and his men +cut his head off on Cornhill. They also cut off the head of his son-in- +law, and then went back in good order to Southwark again. + +But, although the citizens could bear the beheading of an unpopular lord, +they could not bear to have their houses pillaged. And it did so happen +that Jack, after dinner--perhaps he had drunk a little too much--began to +plunder the house where he lodged; upon which, of course, his men began +to imitate him. Wherefore, the Londoners took counsel with Lord Scales, +who had a thousand soldiers in the Tower; and defended London Bridge, and +kept Jack and his people out. This advantage gained, it was resolved by +divers great men to divide Jack's army in the old way, by making a great +many promises on behalf of the state, that were never intended to be +performed. This _did_ divide them; some of Jack's men saying that they +ought to take the conditions which were offered, and others saying that +they ought not, for they were only a snare; some going home at once; +others staying where they were; and all doubting and quarrelling among +themselves. + +Jack, who was in two minds about fighting or accepting a pardon, and who +indeed did both, saw at last that there was nothing to expect from his +men, and that it was very likely some of them would deliver him up and +get a reward of a thousand marks, which was offered for his apprehension. +So, after they had travelled and quarrelled all the way from Southwark to +Blackheath, and from Blackheath to Rochester, he mounted a good horse and +galloped away into Sussex. But, there galloped after him, on a better +horse, one Alexander Iden, who came up with him, had a hard fight with +him, and killed him. Jack's head was set aloft on London Bridge, with +the face looking towards Blackheath, where he had raised his flag; and +Alexander Iden got the thousand marks. + +It is supposed by some, that the Duke of York, who had been removed from +a high post abroad through the Queen's influence, and sent out of the +way, to govern Ireland, was at the bottom of this rising of Jack and his +men, because he wanted to trouble the government. He claimed (though not +yet publicly) to have a better right to the throne than Henry of +Lancaster, as one of the family of the Earl of March, whom Henry the +Fourth had set aside. Touching this claim, which, being through female +relationship, was not according to the usual descent, it is enough to say +that Henry the Fourth was the free choice of the people and the +Parliament, and that his family had now reigned undisputed for sixty +years. The memory of Henry the Fifth was so famous, and the English +people loved it so much, that the Duke of York's claim would, perhaps, +never have been thought of (it would have been so hopeless) but for the +unfortunate circumstance of the present King's being by this time quite +an idiot, and the country very ill governed. These two circumstances +gave the Duke of York a power he could not otherwise have had. + +Whether the Duke knew anything of Jack Cade, or not, he came over from +Ireland while Jack's head was on London Bridge; being secretly advised +that the Queen was setting up his enemy, the Duke of Somerset, against +him. He went to Westminster, at the head of four thousand men, and on +his knees before the King, represented to him the bad state of the +country, and petitioned him to summon a Parliament to consider it. This +the King promised. When the Parliament was summoned, the Duke of York +accused the Duke of Somerset, and the Duke of Somerset accused the Duke +of York; and, both in and out of Parliament, the followers of each party +were full of violence and hatred towards the other. At length the Duke +of York put himself at the head of a large force of his tenants, and, in +arms, demanded the reformation of the Government. Being shut out of +London, he encamped at Dartford, and the royal army encamped at +Blackheath. According as either side triumphed, the Duke of York was +arrested, or the Duke of Somerset was arrested. The trouble ended, for +the moment, in the Duke of York renewing his oath of allegiance, and +going in peace to one of his own castles. + +Half a year afterwards the Queen gave birth to a son, who was very ill +received by the people, and not believed to be the son of the King. It +shows the Duke of York to have been a moderate man, unwilling to involve +England in new troubles, that he did not take advantage of the general +discontent at this time, but really acted for the public good. He was +made a member of the cabinet, and the King being now so much worse that +he could not be carried about and shown to the people with any decency, +the duke was made Lord Protector of the kingdom, until the King should +recover, or the Prince should come of age. At the same time the Duke of +Somerset was committed to the Tower. So, now the Duke of Somerset was +down, and the Duke of York was up. By the end of the year, however, the +King recovered his memory and some spark of sense; upon which the Queen +used her power--which recovered with him--to get the Protector disgraced, +and her favourite released. So now the Duke of York was down, and the +Duke of Somerset was up. + +These ducal ups and downs gradually separated the whole nation into the +two parties of York and Lancaster, and led to those terrible civil wars +long known as the Wars of the Red and White Roses, because the red rose +was the badge of the House of Lancaster, and the white rose was the badge +of the House of York. + +The Duke of York, joined by some other powerful noblemen of the White +Rose party, and leading a small army, met the King with another small +army at St. Alban's, and demanded that the Duke of Somerset should be +given up. The poor King, being made to say in answer that he would +sooner die, was instantly attacked. The Duke of Somerset was killed, and +the King himself was wounded in the neck, and took refuge in the house of +a poor tanner. Whereupon, the Duke of York went to him, led him with +great submission to the Abbey, and said he was very sorry for what had +happened. Having now the King in his possession, he got a Parliament +summoned and himself once more made Protector, but, only for a few +months; for, on the King getting a little better again, the Queen and her +party got him into their possession, and disgraced the Duke once more. +So, now the Duke of York was down again. + +Some of the best men in power, seeing the danger of these constant +changes, tried even then to prevent the Red and the White Rose Wars. They +brought about a great council in London between the two parties. The +White Roses assembled in Blackfriars, the Red Roses in Whitefriars; and +some good priests communicated between them, and made the proceedings +known at evening to the King and the judges. They ended in a peaceful +agreement that there should be no more quarrelling; and there was a great +royal procession to St. Paul's, in which the Queen walked arm-in-arm with +her old enemy, the Duke of York, to show the people how comfortable they +all were. This state of peace lasted half a year, when a dispute between +the Earl of Warwick (one of the Duke's powerful friends) and some of the +King's servants at Court, led to an attack upon that Earl--who was a +White Rose--and to a sudden breaking out of all old animosities. So, +here were greater ups and downs than ever. + +There were even greater ups and downs than these, soon after. After +various battles, the Duke of York fled to Ireland, and his son the Earl +of March to Calais, with their friends the Earls of Salisbury and +Warwick; and a Parliament was held declaring them all traitors. Little +the worse for this, the Earl of Warwick presently came back, landed in +Kent, was joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other powerful +noblemen and gentlemen, engaged the King's forces at Northampton, +signally defeated them, and took the King himself prisoner, who was found +in his tent. Warwick would have been glad, I dare say, to have taken the +Queen and Prince too, but they escaped into Wales and thence into +Scotland. + +The King was carried by the victorious force straight to London, and made +to call a new Parliament, which immediately declared that the Duke of +York and those other noblemen were not traitors, but excellent subjects. +Then, back comes the Duke from Ireland at the head of five hundred +horsemen, rides from London to Westminster, and enters the House of +Lords. There, he laid his hand upon the cloth of gold which covered the +empty throne, as if he had half a mind to sit down in it--but he did not. +On the Archbishop of Canterbury, asking him if he would visit the King, +who was in his palace close by, he replied, 'I know no one in this +country, my lord, who ought not to visit _me_.' None of the lords +present spoke a single word; so, the duke went out as he had come in, +established himself royally in the King's palace, and, six days +afterwards, sent in to the Lords a formal statement of his claim to the +throne. The lords went to the King on this momentous subject, and after +a great deal of discussion, in which the judges and the other law +officers were afraid to give an opinion on either side, the question was +compromised. It was agreed that the present King should retain the crown +for his life, and that it should then pass to the Duke of York and his +heirs. + +But, the resolute Queen, determined on asserting her son's right, would +hear of no such thing. She came from Scotland to the north of England, +where several powerful lords armed in her cause. The Duke of York, for +his part, set off with some five thousand men, a little time before +Christmas Day, one thousand four hundred and sixty, to give her battle. +He lodged at Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, and the Red Roses defied him +to come out on Wakefield Green, and fight them then and there. His +generals said, he had best wait until his gallant son, the Earl of March, +came up with his power; but, he was determined to accept the challenge. +He did so, in an evil hour. He was hotly pressed on all sides, two +thousand of his men lay dead on Wakefield Green, and he himself was taken +prisoner. They set him down in mock state on an ant-hill, and twisted +grass about his head, and pretended to pay court to him on their knees, +saying, 'O King, without a kingdom, and Prince without a people, we hope +your gracious Majesty is very well and happy!' They did worse than this; +they cut his head off, and handed it on a pole to the Queen, who laughed +with delight when she saw it (you recollect their walking so religiously +and comfortably to St. Paul's!), and had it fixed, with a paper crown +upon its head, on the walls of York. The Earl of Salisbury lost his +head, too; and the Duke of York's second son, a handsome boy who was +flying with his tutor over Wakefield Bridge, was stabbed in the heart by +a murderous, lord--Lord Clifford by name--whose father had been killed by +the White Roses in the fight at St. Alban's. There was awful sacrifice +of life in this battle, for no quarter was given, and the Queen was wild +for revenge. When men unnaturally fight against their own countrymen, +they are always observed to be more unnaturally cruel and filled with +rage than they are against any other enemy. + +But, Lord Clifford had stabbed the second son of the Duke of York--not +the first. The eldest son, Edward Earl of March, was at Gloucester; and, +vowing vengeance for the death of his father, his brother, and their +faithful friends, he began to march against the Queen. He had to turn +and fight a great body of Welsh and Irish first, who worried his advance. +These he defeated in a great fight at Mortimer's Cross, near Hereford, +where he beheaded a number of the Red Roses taken in battle, in +retaliation for the beheading of the White Roses at Wakefield. The Queen +had the next turn of beheading. Having moved towards London, and falling +in, between St. Alban's and Barnet, with the Earl of Warwick and the Duke +of Norfolk, White Roses both, who were there with an army to oppose her, +and had got the King with them; she defeated them with great loss, and +struck off the heads of two prisoners of note, who were in the King's +tent with him, and to whom the King had promised his protection. Her +triumph, however, was very short. She had no treasure, and her army +subsisted by plunder. This caused them to be hated and dreaded by the +people, and particularly by the London people, who were wealthy. As soon +as the Londoners heard that Edward, Earl of March, united with the Earl +of Warwick, was advancing towards the city, they refused to send the +Queen supplies, and made a great rejoicing. + +The Queen and her men retreated with all speed, and Edward and Warwick +came on, greeted with loud acclamations on every side. The courage, +beauty, and virtues of young Edward could not be sufficiently praised by +the whole people. He rode into London like a conqueror, and met with an +enthusiastic welcome. A few days afterwards, Lord Falconbridge and the +Bishop of Exeter assembled the citizens in St. John's Field, Clerkenwell, +and asked them if they would have Henry of Lancaster for their King? To +this they all roared, 'No, no, no!' and 'King Edward! King Edward!' +Then, said those noblemen, would they love and serve young Edward? To +this they all cried, 'Yes, yes!' and threw up their caps and clapped +their hands, and cheered tremendously. + +Therefore, it was declared that by joining the Queen and not protecting +those two prisoners of note, Henry of Lancaster had forfeited the crown; +and Edward of York was proclaimed King. He made a great speech to the +applauding people at Westminster, and sat down as sovereign of England on +that throne, on the golden covering of which his father--worthy of a +better fate than the bloody axe which cut the thread of so many lives in +England, through so many years--had laid his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH + + +King Edward the Fourth was not quite twenty-one years of age when he took +that unquiet seat upon the throne of England. The Lancaster party, the +Red Roses, were then assembling in great numbers near York, and it was +necessary to give them battle instantly. But, the stout Earl of Warwick +leading for the young King, and the young King himself closely following +him, and the English people crowding round the Royal standard, the White +and the Red Roses met, on a wild March day when the snow was falling +heavily, at Towton; and there such a furious battle raged between them, +that the total loss amounted to forty thousand men--all Englishmen, +fighting, upon English ground, against one another. The young King +gained the day, took down the heads of his father and brother from the +walls of York, and put up the heads of some of the most famous noblemen +engaged in the battle on the other side. Then, he went to London and was +crowned with great splendour. + +A new Parliament met. No fewer than one hundred and fifty of the +principal noblemen and gentlemen on the Lancaster side were declared +traitors, and the King--who had very little humanity, though he was +handsome in person and agreeable in manners--resolved to do all he could, +to pluck up the Red Rose root and branch. + +Queen Margaret, however, was still active for her young son. She +obtained help from Scotland and from Normandy, and took several important +English castles. But, Warwick soon retook them; the Queen lost all her +treasure on board ship in a great storm; and both she and her son +suffered great misfortunes. Once, in the winter weather, as they were +riding through a forest, they were attacked and plundered by a party of +robbers; and, when they had escaped from these men and were passing alone +and on foot through a thick dark part of the wood, they came, all at +once, upon another robber. So the Queen, with a stout heart, took the +little Prince by the hand, and going straight up to that robber, said to +him, 'My friend, this is the young son of your lawful King! I confide +him to your care.' The robber was surprised, but took the boy in his +arms, and faithfully restored him and his mother to their friends. In +the end, the Queen's soldiers being beaten and dispersed, she went abroad +again, and kept quiet for the present. + +Now, all this time, the deposed King Henry was concealed by a Welsh +knight, who kept him close in his castle. But, next year, the Lancaster +party recovering their spirits, raised a large body of men, and called +him out of his retirement, to put him at their head. They were joined by +some powerful noblemen who had sworn fidelity to the new King, but who +were ready, as usual, to break their oaths, whenever they thought there +was anything to be got by it. One of the worst things in the history of +the war of the Red and White Roses, is the ease with which these +noblemen, who should have set an example of honour to the people, left +either side as they took slight offence, or were disappointed in their +greedy expectations, and joined the other. Well! Warwick's brother soon +beat the Lancastrians, and the false noblemen, being taken, were beheaded +without a moment's loss of time. The deposed King had a narrow escape; +three of his servants were taken, and one of them bore his cap of estate, +which was set with pearls and embroidered with two golden crowns. +However, the head to which the cap belonged, got safely into Lancashire, +and lay pretty quietly there (the people in the secret being very true) +for more than a year. At length, an old monk gave such intelligence as +led to Henry's being taken while he was sitting at dinner in a place +called Waddington Hall. He was immediately sent to London, and met at +Islington by the Earl of Warwick, by whose directions he was put upon a +horse, with his legs tied under it, and paraded three times round the +pillory. Then, he was carried off to the Tower, where they treated him +well enough. + +The White Rose being so triumphant, the young King abandoned himself +entirely to pleasure, and led a jovial life. But, thorns were springing +up under his bed of roses, as he soon found out. For, having been +privately married to ELIZABETH WOODVILLE, a young widow lady, very +beautiful and very captivating; and at last resolving to make his secret +known, and to declare her his Queen; he gave some offence to the Earl of +Warwick, who was usually called the King-Maker, because of his power and +influence, and because of his having lent such great help to placing +Edward on the throne. This offence was not lessened by the jealousy with +which the Nevil family (the Earl of Warwick's) regarded the promotion of +the Woodville family. For, the young Queen was so bent on providing for +her relations, that she made her father an earl and a great officer of +state; married her five sisters to young noblemen of the highest rank; +and provided for her younger brother, a young man of twenty, by marrying +him to an immensely rich old duchess of eighty. The Earl of Warwick took +all this pretty graciously for a man of his proud temper, until the +question arose to whom the King's sister, MARGARET, should be married. +The Earl of Warwick said, 'To one of the French King's sons,' and was +allowed to go over to the French King to make friendly proposals for that +purpose, and to hold all manner of friendly interviews with him. But, +while he was so engaged, the Woodville party married the young lady to +the Duke of Burgundy! Upon this he came back in great rage and scorn, +and shut himself up discontented, in his Castle of Middleham. + +A reconciliation, though not a very sincere one, was patched up between +the Earl of Warwick and the King, and lasted until the Earl married his +daughter, against the King's wishes, to the Duke of Clarence. While the +marriage was being celebrated at Calais, the people in the north of +England, where the influence of the Nevil family was strongest, broke out +into rebellion; their complaint was, that England was oppressed and +plundered by the Woodville family, whom they demanded to have removed +from power. As they were joined by great numbers of people, and as they +openly declared that they were supported by the Earl of Warwick, the King +did not know what to do. At last, as he wrote to the earl beseeching his +aid, he and his new son-in-law came over to England, and began to arrange +the business by shutting the King up in Middleham Castle in the safe +keeping of the Archbishop of York; so England was not only in the strange +position of having two kings at once, but they were both prisoners at the +same time. + +Even as yet, however, the King-Maker was so far true to the King, that he +dispersed a new rising of the Lancastrians, took their leader prisoner, +and brought him to the King, who ordered him to be immediately executed. +He presently allowed the King to return to London, and there innumerable +pledges of forgiveness and friendship were exchanged between them, and +between the Nevils and the Woodvilles; the King's eldest daughter was +promised in marriage to the heir of the Nevil family; and more friendly +oaths were sworn, and more friendly promises made, than this book would +hold. + +They lasted about three months. At the end of that time, the Archbishop +of York made a feast for the King, the Earl of Warwick, and the Duke of +Clarence, at his house, the Moor, in Hertfordshire. The King was washing +his hands before supper, when some one whispered him that a body of a +hundred men were lying in ambush outside the house. Whether this were +true or untrue, the King took fright, mounted his horse, and rode through +the dark night to Windsor Castle. Another reconciliation was patched up +between him and the King-Maker, but it was a short one, and it was the +last. A new rising took place in Lincolnshire, and the King marched to +repress it. Having done so, he proclaimed that both the Earl of Warwick +and the Duke of Clarence were traitors, who had secretly assisted it, and +who had been prepared publicly to join it on the following day. In these +dangerous circumstances they both took ship and sailed away to the French +court. + +And here a meeting took place between the Earl of Warwick and his old +enemy, the Dowager Queen Margaret, through whom his father had had his +head struck off, and to whom he had been a bitter foe. But, now, when he +said that he had done with the ungrateful and perfidious Edward of York, +and that henceforth he devoted himself to the restoration of the House of +Lancaster, either in the person of her husband or of her little son, she +embraced him as if he had ever been her dearest friend. She did more +than that; she married her son to his second daughter, the Lady Anne. +However agreeable this marriage was to the new friends, it was very +disagreeable to the Duke of Clarence, who perceived that his father-in- +law, the King-Maker, would never make _him_ King, now. So, being but a +weak-minded young traitor, possessed of very little worth or sense, he +readily listened to an artful court lady sent over for the purpose, and +promised to turn traitor once more, and go over to his brother, King +Edward, when a fitting opportunity should come. + +The Earl of Warwick, knowing nothing of this, soon redeemed his promise +to the Dowager Queen Margaret, by invading England and landing at +Plymouth, where he instantly proclaimed King Henry, and summoned all +Englishmen between the ages of sixteen and sixty, to join his banner. +Then, with his army increasing as he marched along, he went northward, +and came so near King Edward, who was in that part of the country, that +Edward had to ride hard for it to the coast of Norfolk, and thence to get +away in such ships as he could find, to Holland. Thereupon, the +triumphant King-Maker and his false son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence, +went to London, took the old King out of the Tower, and walked him in a +great procession to Saint Paul's Cathedral with the crown upon his head. +This did not improve the temper of the Duke of Clarence, who saw himself +farther off from being King than ever; but he kept his secret, and said +nothing. The Nevil family were restored to all their honours and +glories, and the Woodvilles and the rest were disgraced. The King-Maker, +less sanguinary than the King, shed no blood except that of the Earl of +Worcester, who had been so cruel to the people as to have gained the +title of the Butcher. Him they caught hidden in a tree, and him they +tried and executed. No other death stained the King-Maker's triumph. + +To dispute this triumph, back came King Edward again, next year, landing +at Ravenspur, coming on to York, causing all his men to cry 'Long live +King Henry!' and swearing on the altar, without a blush, that he came to +lay no claim to the crown. Now was the time for the Duke of Clarence, +who ordered his men to assume the White Rose, and declare for his +brother. The Marquis of Montague, though the Earl of Warwick's brother, +also declining to fight against King Edward, he went on successfully to +London, where the Archbishop of York let him into the City, and where the +people made great demonstrations in his favour. For this they had four +reasons. Firstly, there were great numbers of the King's adherents +hiding in the City and ready to break out; secondly, the King owed them a +great deal of money, which they could never hope to get if he were +unsuccessful; thirdly, there was a young prince to inherit the crown; and +fourthly, the King was gay and handsome, and more popular than a better +man might have been with the City ladies. After a stay of only two days +with these worthy supporters, the King marched out to Barnet Common, to +give the Earl of Warwick battle. And now it was to be seen, for the last +time, whether the King or the King-Maker was to carry the day. + +While the battle was yet pending, the fainthearted Duke of Clarence began +to repent, and sent over secret messages to his father-in-law, offering +his services in mediation with the King. But, the Earl of Warwick +disdainfully rejected them, and replied that Clarence was false and +perjured, and that he would settle the quarrel by the sword. The battle +began at four o'clock in the morning and lasted until ten, and during the +greater part of the time it was fought in a thick mist--absurdly supposed +to be raised by a magician. The loss of life was very great, for the +hatred was strong on both sides. The King-Maker was defeated, and the +King triumphed. Both the Earl of Warwick and his brother were slain, and +their bodies lay in St. Paul's, for some days, as a spectacle to the +people. + +Margaret's spirit was not broken even by this great blow. Within five +days she was in arms again, and raised her standard in Bath, whence she +set off with her army, to try and join Lord Pembroke, who had a force in +Wales. But, the King, coming up with her outside the town of Tewkesbury, +and ordering his brother, the DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, who was a brave +soldier, to attack her men, she sustained an entire defeat, and was taken +prisoner, together with her son, now only eighteen years of age. The +conduct of the King to this poor youth was worthy of his cruel character. +He ordered him to be led into his tent. 'And what,' said he, 'brought +_you_ to England?' 'I came to England,' replied the prisoner, with a +spirit which a man of spirit might have admired in a captive, 'to recover +my father's kingdom, which descended to him as his right, and from him +descends to me, as mine.' The King, drawing off his iron gauntlet, +struck him with it in the face; and the Duke of Clarence and some other +lords, who were there, drew their noble swords, and killed him. + +His mother survived him, a prisoner, for five years; after her ransom by +the King of France, she survived for six years more. Within three weeks +of this murder, Henry died one of those convenient sudden deaths which +were so common in the Tower; in plainer words, he was murdered by the +King's order. + +Having no particular excitement on his hands after this great defeat of +the Lancaster party, and being perhaps desirous to get rid of some of his +fat (for he was now getting too corpulent to be handsome), the King +thought of making war on France. As he wanted more money for this +purpose than the Parliament could give him, though they were usually +ready enough for war, he invented a new way of raising it, by sending for +the principal citizens of London, and telling them, with a grave face, +that he was very much in want of cash, and would take it very kind in +them if they would lend him some. It being impossible for them safely to +refuse, they complied, and the moneys thus forced from them were +called--no doubt to the great amusement of the King and the Court--as if +they were free gifts, 'Benevolences.' What with grants from Parliament, +and what with Benevolences, the King raised an army and passed over to +Calais. As nobody wanted war, however, the French King made proposals of +peace, which were accepted, and a truce was concluded for seven long +years. The proceedings between the Kings of France and England on this +occasion, were very friendly, very splendid, and very distrustful. They +finished with a meeting between the two Kings, on a temporary bridge over +the river Somme, where they embraced through two holes in a strong wooden +grating like a lion's cage, and made several bows and fine speeches to +one another. + +It was time, now, that the Duke of Clarence should be punished for his +treacheries; and Fate had his punishment in store. He was, probably, not +trusted by the King--for who could trust him who knew him!--and he had +certainly a powerful opponent in his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, +who, being avaricious and ambitious, wanted to marry that widowed +daughter of the Earl of Warwick's who had been espoused to the deceased +young Prince, at Calais. Clarence, who wanted all the family wealth for +himself, secreted this lady, whom Richard found disguised as a servant in +the City of London, and whom he married; arbitrators appointed by the +King, then divided the property between the brothers. This led to ill- +will and mistrust between them. Clarence's wife dying, and he wishing to +make another marriage, which was obnoxious to the King, his ruin was +hurried by that means, too. At first, the Court struck at his retainers +and dependents, and accused some of them of magic and witchcraft, and +similar nonsense. Successful against this small game, it then mounted to +the Duke himself, who was impeached by his brother the King, in person, +on a variety of such charges. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be +publicly executed. He never was publicly executed, but he met his death +somehow, in the Tower, and, no doubt, through some agency of the King or +his brother Gloucester, or both. It was supposed at the time that he was +told to choose the manner of his death, and that he chose to be drowned +in a butt of Malmsey wine. I hope the story may be true, for it would +have been a becoming death for such a miserable creature. + +The King survived him some five years. He died in the forty-second year +of his life, and the twenty-third of his reign. He had a very good +capacity and some good points, but he was selfish, careless, sensual, and +cruel. He was a favourite with the people for his showy manners; and the +people were a good example to him in the constancy of their attachment. +He was penitent on his death-bed for his 'benevolences,' and other +extortions, and ordered restitution to be made to the people who had +suffered from them. He also called about his bed the enriched members of +the Woodville family, and the proud lords whose honours were of older +date, and endeavoured to reconcile them, for the sake of the peaceful +succession of his son and the tranquillity of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH + + +The late King's eldest son, the Prince of Wales, called EDWARD after him, +was only thirteen years of age at his father's death. He was at Ludlow +Castle with his uncle, the Earl of Rivers. The prince's brother, the +Duke of York, only eleven years of age, was in London with his mother. +The boldest, most crafty, and most dreaded nobleman in England at that +time was their uncle RICHARD, Duke of Gloucester, and everybody wondered +how the two poor boys would fare with such an uncle for a friend or a +foe. + +The Queen, their mother, being exceedingly uneasy about this, was anxious +that instructions should be sent to Lord Rivers to raise an army to +escort the young King safely to London. But, Lord Hastings, who was of +the Court party opposed to the Woodvilles, and who disliked the thought +of giving them that power, argued against the proposal, and obliged the +Queen to be satisfied with an escort of two thousand horse. The Duke of +Gloucester did nothing, at first, to justify suspicion. He came from +Scotland (where he was commanding an army) to York, and was there the +first to swear allegiance to his nephew. He then wrote a condoling +letter to the Queen-Mother, and set off to be present at the coronation +in London. + +Now, the young King, journeying towards London too, with Lord Rivers and +Lord Gray, came to Stony Stratford, as his uncle came to Northampton, +about ten miles distant; and when those two lords heard that the Duke of +Gloucester was so near, they proposed to the young King that they should +go back and greet him in his name. The boy being very willing that they +should do so, they rode off and were received with great friendliness, +and asked by the Duke of Gloucester to stay and dine with him. In the +evening, while they were merry together, up came the Duke of Buckingham +with three hundred horsemen; and next morning the two lords and the two +dukes, and the three hundred horsemen, rode away together to rejoin the +King. Just as they were entering Stony Stratford, the Duke of +Gloucester, checking his horse, turned suddenly on the two lords, charged +them with alienating from him the affections of his sweet nephew, and +caused them to be arrested by the three hundred horsemen and taken back. +Then, he and the Duke of Buckingham went straight to the King (whom they +had now in their power), to whom they made a show of kneeling down, and +offering great love and submission; and then they ordered his attendants +to disperse, and took him, alone with them, to Northampton. + +A few days afterwards they conducted him to London, and lodged him in the +Bishop's Palace. But, he did not remain there long; for, the Duke of +Buckingham with a tender face made a speech expressing how anxious he was +for the Royal boy's safety, and how much safer he would be in the Tower +until his coronation, than he could be anywhere else. So, to the Tower +he was taken, very carefully, and the Duke of Gloucester was named +Protector of the State. + +Although Gloucester had proceeded thus far with a very smooth +countenance--and although he was a clever man, fair of speech, and not +ill-looking, in spite of one of his shoulders being something higher than +the other--and although he had come into the City riding bare-headed at +the King's side, and looking very fond of him--he had made the King's +mother more uneasy yet; and when the Royal boy was taken to the Tower, +she became so alarmed that she took sanctuary in Westminster with her +five daughters. + +Nor did she do this without reason, for, the Duke of Gloucester, finding +that the lords who were opposed to the Woodville family were faithful to +the young King nevertheless, quickly resolved to strike a blow for +himself. Accordingly, while those lords met in council at the Tower, he +and those who were in his interest met in separate council at his own +residence, Crosby Palace, in Bishopsgate Street. Being at last quite +prepared, he one day appeared unexpectedly at the council in the Tower, +and appeared to be very jocular and merry. He was particularly gay with +the Bishop of Ely: praising the strawberries that grew in his garden on +Holborn Hill, and asking him to have some gathered that he might eat them +at dinner. The Bishop, quite proud of the honour, sent one of his men to +fetch some; and the Duke, still very jocular and gay, went out; and the +council all said what a very agreeable duke he was! In a little time, +however, he came back quite altered--not at all jocular--frowning and +fierce--and suddenly said,-- + +'What do those persons deserve who have compassed my destruction; I being +the King's lawful, as well as natural, protector?' + +To this strange question, Lord Hastings replied, that they deserved +death, whosoever they were. + +'Then,' said the Duke, 'I tell you that they are that sorceress my +brother's wife;' meaning the Queen: 'and that other sorceress, Jane +Shore. Who, by witchcraft, have withered my body, and caused my arm to +shrink as I now show you.' + +He then pulled up his sleeve and showed them his arm, which was shrunken, +it is true, but which had been so, as they all very well knew, from the +hour of his birth. + +Jane Shore, being then the lover of Lord Hastings, as she had formerly +been of the late King, that lord knew that he himself was attacked. So, +he said, in some confusion, 'Certainly, my Lord, if they have done this, +they be worthy of punishment.' + +'If?' said the Duke of Gloucester; 'do you talk to me of ifs? I tell you +that they _have_ so done, and I will make it good upon thy body, thou +traitor!' + +With that, he struck the table a great blow with his fist. This was a +signal to some of his people outside to cry 'Treason!' They immediately +did so, and there was a rush into the chamber of so many armed men that +it was filled in a moment. + +'First,' said the Duke of Gloucester to Lord Hastings, 'I arrest thee, +traitor! And let him,' he added to the armed men who took him, 'have a +priest at once, for by St. Paul I will not dine until I have seen his +head of!' + +Lord Hastings was hurried to the green by the Tower chapel, and there +beheaded on a log of wood that happened to be lying on the ground. Then, +the Duke dined with a good appetite, and after dinner summoning the +principal citizens to attend him, told them that Lord Hastings and the +rest had designed to murder both himself and the Duke if Buckingham, who +stood by his side, if he had not providentially discovered their design. +He requested them to be so obliging as to inform their fellow-citizens of +the truth of what he said, and issued a proclamation (prepared and neatly +copied out beforehand) to the same effect. + +On the same day that the Duke did these things in the Tower, Sir Richard +Ratcliffe, the boldest and most undaunted of his men, went down to +Pontefract; arrested Lord Rivers, Lord Gray, and two other gentlemen; and +publicly executed them on the scaffold, without any trial, for having +intended the Duke's death. Three days afterwards the Duke, not to lose +time, went down the river to Westminster in his barge, attended by divers +bishops, lords, and soldiers, and demanded that the Queen should deliver +her second son, the Duke of York, into his safe keeping. The Queen, +being obliged to comply, resigned the child after she had wept over him; +and Richard of Gloucester placed him with his brother in the Tower. Then, +he seized Jane Shore, and, because she had been the lover of the late +King, confiscated her property, and got her sentenced to do public +penance in the streets by walking in a scanty dress, with bare feet, and +carrying a lighted candle, to St. Paul's Cathedral, through the most +crowded part of the City. + +Having now all things ready for his own advancement, he caused a friar to +preach a sermon at the cross which stood in front of St. Paul's +Cathedral, in which he dwelt upon the profligate manners of the late +King, and upon the late shame of Jane Shore, and hinted that the princes +were not his children. 'Whereas, good people,' said the friar, whose +name was SHAW, 'my Lord the Protector, the noble Duke of Gloucester, that +sweet prince, the pattern of all the noblest virtues, is the perfect +image and express likeness of his father.' There had been a little plot +between the Duke and the friar, that the Duke should appear in the crowd +at this moment, when it was expected that the people would cry 'Long live +King Richard!' But, either through the friar saying the words too soon, +or through the Duke's coming too late, the Duke and the words did not +come together, and the people only laughed, and the friar sneaked off +ashamed. + +The Duke of Buckingham was a better hand at such business than the friar, +so he went to the Guildhall the next day, and addressed the citizens in +the Lord Protector's behalf. A few dirty men, who had been hired and +stationed there for the purpose, crying when he had done, 'God save King +Richard!' he made them a great bow, and thanked them with all his heart. +Next day, to make an end of it, he went with the mayor and some lords and +citizens to Bayard Castle, by the river, where Richard then was, and read +an address, humbly entreating him to accept the Crown of England. +Richard, who looked down upon them out of a window and pretended to be in +great uneasiness and alarm, assured them there was nothing he desired +less, and that his deep affection for his nephews forbade him to think of +it. To this the Duke of Buckingham replied, with pretended warmth, that +the free people of England would never submit to his nephew's rule, and +that if Richard, who was the lawful heir, refused the Crown, why then +they must find some one else to wear it. The Duke of Gloucester +returned, that since he used that strong language, it became his painful +duty to think no more of himself, and to accept the Crown. + +Upon that, the people cheered and dispersed; and the Duke of Gloucester +and the Duke of Buckingham passed a pleasant evening, talking over the +play they had just acted with so much success, and every word of which +they had prepared together. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV--ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD + + +King Richard the Third was up betimes in the morning, and went to +Westminster Hall. In the Hall was a marble seat, upon which he sat +himself down between two great noblemen, and told the people that he +began the new reign in that place, because the first duty of a sovereign +was to administer the laws equally to all, and to maintain justice. He +then mounted his horse and rode back to the City, where he was received +by the clergy and the crowd as if he really had a right to the throne, +and really were a just man. The clergy and the crowd must have been +rather ashamed of themselves in secret, I think, for being such +poor-spirited knaves. + +The new King and his Queen were soon crowned with a great deal of show +and noise, which the people liked very much; and then the King set forth +on a royal progress through his dominions. He was crowned a second time +at York, in order that the people might have show and noise enough; and +wherever he went was received with shouts of rejoicing--from a good many +people of strong lungs, who were paid to strain their throats in crying, +'God save King Richard!' The plan was so successful that I am told it +has been imitated since, by other usurpers, in other progresses through +other dominions. + +While he was on this journey, King Richard stayed a week at Warwick. And +from Warwick he sent instructions home for one of the wickedest murders +that ever was done--the murder of the two young princes, his nephews, who +were shut up in the Tower of London. + +Sir Robert Brackenbury was at that time Governor of the Tower. To him, +by the hands of a messenger named JOHN GREEN, did King Richard send a +letter, ordering him by some means to put the two young princes to death. +But Sir Robert--I hope because he had children of his own, and loved +them--sent John Green back again, riding and spurring along the dusty +roads, with the answer that he could not do so horrible a piece of work. +The King, having frowningly considered a little, called to him SIR JAMES +TYRREL, his master of the horse, and to him gave authority to take +command of the Tower, whenever he would, for twenty-four hours, and to +keep all the keys of the Tower during that space of time. Tyrrel, well +knowing what was wanted, looked about him for two hardened ruffians, and +chose JOHN DIGHTON, one of his own grooms, and MILES FOREST, who was a +murderer by trade. Having secured these two assistants, he went, upon a +day in August, to the Tower, showed his authority from the King, took the +command for four-and-twenty hours, and obtained possession of the keys. +And when the black night came he went creeping, creeping, like a guilty +villain as he was, up the dark, stone winding stairs, and along the dark +stone passages, until he came to the door of the room where the two young +princes, having said their prayers, lay fast asleep, clasped in each +other's arms. And while he watched and listened at the door, he sent in +those evil demons, John Dighton and Miles Forest, who smothered the two +princes with the bed and pillows, and carried their bodies down the +stairs, and buried them under a great heap of stones at the staircase +foot. And when the day came, he gave up the command of the Tower, and +restored the keys, and hurried away without once looking behind him; and +Sir Robert Brackenbury went with fear and sadness to the princes' room, +and found the princes gone for ever. + +You know, through all this history, how true it is that traitors are +never true, and you will not be surprised to learn that the Duke of +Buckingham soon turned against King Richard, and joined a great +conspiracy that was formed to dethrone him, and to place the crown upon +its rightful owner's head. Richard had meant to keep the murder secret; +but when he heard through his spies that this conspiracy existed, and +that many lords and gentlemen drank in secret to the healths of the two +young princes in the Tower, he made it known that they were dead. The +conspirators, though thwarted for a moment, soon resolved to set up for +the crown against the murderous Richard, HENRY Earl of Richmond, grandson +of Catherine: that widow of Henry the Fifth who married Owen Tudor. And +as Henry was of the house of Lancaster, they proposed that he should +marry the Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the late King, now +the heiress of the house of York, and thus by uniting the rival families +put an end to the fatal wars of the Red and White Roses. All being +settled, a time was appointed for Henry to come over from Brittany, and +for a great rising against Richard to take place in several parts of +England at the same hour. On a certain day, therefore, in October, the +revolt took place; but unsuccessfully. Richard was prepared, Henry was +driven back at sea by a storm, his followers in England were dispersed, +and the Duke of Buckingham was taken, and at once beheaded in the market- +place at Salisbury. + +The time of his success was a good time, Richard thought, for summoning a +Parliament and getting some money. So, a Parliament was called, and it +flattered and fawned upon him as much as he could possibly desire, and +declared him to be the rightful King of England, and his only son Edward, +then eleven years of age, the next heir to the throne. + +Richard knew full well that, let the Parliament say what it would, the +Princess Elizabeth was remembered by people as the heiress of the house +of York; and having accurate information besides, of its being designed +by the conspirators to marry her to Henry of Richmond, he felt that it +would much strengthen him and weaken them, to be beforehand with them, +and marry her to his son. With this view he went to the Sanctuary at +Westminster, where the late King's widow and her daughter still were, and +besought them to come to Court: where (he swore by anything and +everything) they should be safely and honourably entertained. They came, +accordingly, but had scarcely been at Court a month when his son died +suddenly--or was poisoned--and his plan was crushed to pieces. + +In this extremity, King Richard, always active, thought, 'I must make +another plan.' And he made the plan of marrying the Princess Elizabeth +himself, although she was his niece. There was one difficulty in the +way: his wife, the Queen Anne, was alive. But, he knew (remembering his +nephews) how to remove that obstacle, and he made love to the Princess +Elizabeth, telling her he felt perfectly confident that the Queen would +die in February. The Princess was not a very scrupulous young lady, for, +instead of rejecting the murderer of her brothers with scorn and hatred, +she openly declared she loved him dearly; and, when February came and the +Queen did not die, she expressed her impatient opinion that she was too +long about it. However, King Richard was not so far out in his +prediction, but, that she died in March--he took good care of that--and +then this precious pair hoped to be married. But they were disappointed, +for the idea of such a marriage was so unpopular in the country, that the +King's chief counsellors, RATCLIFFE and CATESBY, would by no means +undertake to propose it, and the King was even obliged to declare in +public that he had never thought of such a thing. + +He was, by this time, dreaded and hated by all classes of his subjects. +His nobles deserted every day to Henry's side; he dared not call another +Parliament, lest his crimes should be denounced there; and for want of +money, he was obliged to get Benevolences from the citizens, which +exasperated them all against him. It was said too, that, being stricken +by his conscience, he dreamed frightful dreams, and started up in the +night-time, wild with terror and remorse. Active to the last, through +all this, he issued vigorous proclamations against Henry of Richmond and +all his followers, when he heard that they were coming against him with a +Fleet from France; and took the field as fierce and savage as a wild +boar--the animal represented on his shield. + +Henry of Richmond landed with six thousand men at Milford Haven, and came +on against King Richard, then encamped at Leicester with an army twice as +great, through North Wales. On Bosworth Field the two armies met; and +Richard, looking along Henry's ranks, and seeing them crowded with the +English nobles who had abandoned him, turned pale when he beheld the +powerful Lord Stanley and his son (whom he had tried hard to retain) +among them. But, he was as brave as he was wicked, and plunged into the +thickest of the fight. He was riding hither and thither, laying about +him in all directions, when he observed the Earl of Northumberland--one +of his few great allies--to stand inactive, and the main body of his +troops to hesitate. At the same moment, his desperate glance caught +Henry of Richmond among a little group of his knights. Riding hard at +him, and crying 'Treason!' he killed his standard-bearer, fiercely +unhorsed another gentleman, and aimed a powerful stroke at Henry himself, +to cut him down. But, Sir William Stanley parried it as it fell, and +before Richard could raise his arm again, he was borne down in a press of +numbers, unhorsed, and killed. Lord Stanley picked up the crown, all +bruised and trampled, and stained with blood, and put it upon Richmond's +head, amid loud and rejoicing cries of 'Long live King Henry!' + +That night, a horse was led up to the church of the Grey Friars at +Leicester; across whose back was tied, like some worthless sack, a naked +body brought there for burial. It was the body of the last of the +Plantagenet line, King Richard the Third, usurper and murderer, slain at +the battle of Bosworth Field in the thirty-second year of his age, after +a reign of two years. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH + + +King Henry the Seventh did not turn out to be as fine a fellow as the +nobility and people hoped, in the first joy of their deliverance from +Richard the Third. He was very cold, crafty, and calculating, and would +do almost anything for money. He possessed considerable ability, but his +chief merit appears to have been that he was not cruel when there was +nothing to be got by it. + +The new King had promised the nobles who had espoused his cause that he +would marry the Princess Elizabeth. The first thing he did, was, to +direct her to be removed from the castle of Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, +where Richard had placed her, and restored to the care of her mother in +London. The young Earl of Warwick, Edward Plantagenet, son and heir of +the late Duke of Clarence, had been kept a prisoner in the same old +Yorkshire Castle with her. This boy, who was now fifteen, the new King +placed in the Tower for safety. Then he came to London in great state, +and gratified the people with a fine procession; on which kind of show he +often very much relied for keeping them in good humour. The sports and +feasts which took place were followed by a terrible fever, called the +Sweating Sickness; of which great numbers of people died. Lord Mayors +and Aldermen are thought to have suffered most from it; whether, because +they were in the habit of over-eating themselves, or because they were +very jealous of preserving filth and nuisances in the City (as they have +been since), I don't know. + +The King's coronation was postponed on account of the general ill-health, +and he afterwards deferred his marriage, as if he were not very anxious +that it should take place: and, even after that, deferred the Queen's +coronation so long that he gave offence to the York party. However, he +set these things right in the end, by hanging some men and seizing on the +rich possessions of others; by granting more popular pardons to the +followers of the late King than could, at first, be got from him; and, by +employing about his Court, some very scrupulous persons who had been +employed in the previous reign. + +As this reign was principally remarkable for two very curious impostures +which have become famous in history, we will make those two stories its +principal feature. + +There was a priest at Oxford of the name of Simons, who had for a pupil a +handsome boy named Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker. Partly to gratify +his own ambitious ends, and partly to carry out the designs of a secret +party formed against the King, this priest declared that his pupil, the +boy, was no other than the young Earl of Warwick; who (as everybody might +have known) was safely locked up in the Tower of London. The priest and +the boy went over to Ireland; and, at Dublin, enlisted in their cause all +ranks of the people: who seem to have been generous enough, but +exceedingly irrational. The Earl of Kildare, the governor of Ireland, +declared that he believed the boy to be what the priest represented; and +the boy, who had been well tutored by the priest, told them such things +of his childhood, and gave them so many descriptions of the Royal Family, +that they were perpetually shouting and hurrahing, and drinking his +health, and making all kinds of noisy and thirsty demonstrations, to +express their belief in him. Nor was this feeling confined to Ireland +alone, for the Earl of Lincoln--whom the late usurper had named as his +successor--went over to the young Pretender; and, after holding a secret +correspondence with the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy--the sister of Edward +the Fourth, who detested the present King and all his race--sailed to +Dublin with two thousand German soldiers of her providing. In this +promising state of the boy's fortunes, he was crowned there, with a crown +taken off the head of a statue of the Virgin Mary; and was then, +according to the Irish custom of those days, carried home on the +shoulders of a big chieftain possessing a great deal more strength than +sense. Father Simons, you may be sure, was mighty busy at the +coronation. + +Ten days afterwards, the Germans, and the Irish, and the priest, and the +boy, and the Earl of Lincoln, all landed in Lancashire to invade England. +The King, who had good intelligence of their movements, set up his +standard at Nottingham, where vast numbers resorted to him every day; +while the Earl of Lincoln could gain but very few. With his small force +he tried to make for the town of Newark; but the King's army getting +between him and that place, he had no choice but to risk a battle at +Stoke. It soon ended in the complete destruction of the Pretender's +forces, one half of whom were killed; among them, the Earl himself. The +priest and the baker's boy were taken prisoners. The priest, after +confessing the trick, was shut up in prison, where he afterwards +died--suddenly perhaps. The boy was taken into the King's kitchen and +made a turnspit. He was afterwards raised to the station of one of the +King's falconers; and so ended this strange imposition. + +There seems reason to suspect that the Dowager Queen--always a restless +and busy woman--had had some share in tutoring the baker's son. The King +was very angry with her, whether or no. He seized upon her property, and +shut her up in a convent at Bermondsey. + +One might suppose that the end of this story would have put the Irish +people on their guard; but they were quite ready to receive a second +impostor, as they had received the first, and that same troublesome +Duchess of Burgundy soon gave them the opportunity. All of a sudden +there appeared at Cork, in a vessel arriving from Portugal, a young man +of excellent abilities, of very handsome appearance and most winning +manners, who declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the second son +of King Edward the Fourth. 'O,' said some, even of those ready Irish +believers, 'but surely that young Prince was murdered by his uncle in the +Tower!'--'It _is_ supposed so,' said the engaging young man; 'and my +brother _was_ killed in that gloomy prison; but I escaped--it don't +matter how, at present--and have been wandering about the world for seven +long years.' This explanation being quite satisfactory to numbers of the +Irish people, they began again to shout and to hurrah, and to drink his +health, and to make the noisy and thirsty demonstrations all over again. +And the big chieftain in Dublin began to look out for another coronation, +and another young King to be carried home on his back. + +Now, King Henry being then on bad terms with France, the French King, +Charles the Eighth, saw that, by pretending to believe in the handsome +young man, he could trouble his enemy sorely. So, he invited him over to +the French Court, and appointed him a body-guard, and treated him in all +respects as if he really were the Duke of York. Peace, however, being +soon concluded between the two Kings, the pretended Duke was turned +adrift, and wandered for protection to the Duchess of Burgundy. She, +after feigning to inquire into the reality of his claims, declared him to +be the very picture of her dear departed brother; gave him a body-guard +at her Court, of thirty halberdiers; and called him by the sounding name +of the White Rose of England. + +The leading members of the White Rose party in England sent over an +agent, named Sir Robert Clifford, to ascertain whether the White Rose's +claims were good: the King also sent over his agents to inquire into the +Rose's history. The White Roses declared the young man to be really the +Duke of York; the King declared him to be PERKIN WARBECK, the son of a +merchant of the city of Tournay, who had acquired his knowledge of +England, its language and manners, from the English merchants who traded +in Flanders; it was also stated by the Royal agents that he had been in +the service of Lady Brompton, the wife of an exiled English nobleman, and +that the Duchess of Burgundy had caused him to be trained and taught, +expressly for this deception. The King then required the Archduke +Philip--who was the sovereign of Burgundy--to banish this new Pretender, +or to deliver him up; but, as the Archduke replied that he could not +control the Duchess in her own land, the King, in revenge, took the +market of English cloth away from Antwerp, and prevented all commercial +intercourse between the two countries. + +He also, by arts and bribes, prevailed on Sir Robert Clifford to betray +his employers; and he denouncing several famous English noblemen as being +secretly the friends of Perkin Warbeck, the King had three of the +foremost executed at once. Whether he pardoned the remainder because +they were poor, I do not know; but it is only too probable that he +refused to pardon one famous nobleman against whom the same Clifford soon +afterwards informed separately, because he was rich. This was no other +than Sir William Stanley, who had saved the King's life at the battle of +Bosworth Field. It is very doubtful whether his treason amounted to much +more than his having said, that if he were sure the young man was the +Duke of York, he would not take arms against him. Whatever he had done +he admitted, like an honourable spirit; and he lost his head for it, and +the covetous King gained all his wealth. + +Perkin Warbeck kept quiet for three years; but, as the Flemings began to +complain heavily of the loss of their trade by the stoppage of the +Antwerp market on his account, and as it was not unlikely that they might +even go so far as to take his life, or give him up, he found it necessary +to do something. Accordingly he made a desperate sally, and landed, with +only a few hundred men, on the coast of Deal. But he was soon glad to +get back to the place from whence he came; for the country people rose +against his followers, killed a great many, and took a hundred and fifty +prisoners: who were all driven to London, tied together with ropes, like +a team of cattle. Every one of them was hanged on some part or other of +the sea-shore; in order, that if any more men should come over with +Perkin Warbeck, they might see the bodies as a warning before they +landed. + +Then the wary King, by making a treaty of commerce with the Flemings, +drove Perkin Warbeck out of that country; and, by completely gaining over +the Irish to his side, deprived him of that asylum too. He wandered away +to Scotland, and told his story at that Court. King James the Fourth of +Scotland, who was no friend to King Henry, and had no reason to be (for +King Henry had bribed his Scotch lords to betray him more than once; but +had never succeeded in his plots), gave him a great reception, called him +his cousin, and gave him in marriage the Lady Catherine Gordon, a +beautiful and charming creature related to the royal house of Stuart. + +Alarmed by this successful reappearance of the Pretender, the King still +undermined, and bought, and bribed, and kept his doings and Perkin +Warbeck's story in the dark, when he might, one would imagine, have +rendered the matter clear to all England. But, for all this bribing of +the Scotch lords at the Scotch King's Court, he could not procure the +Pretender to be delivered up to him. James, though not very particular +in many respects, would not betray him; and the ever-busy Duchess of +Burgundy so provided him with arms, and good soldiers, and with money +besides, that he had soon a little army of fifteen hundred men of various +nations. With these, and aided by the Scottish King in person, he +crossed the border into England, and made a proclamation to the people, +in which he called the King 'Henry Tudor;' offered large rewards to any +who should take or distress him; and announced himself as King Richard +the Fourth come to receive the homage of his faithful subjects. His +faithful subjects, however, cared nothing for him, and hated his faithful +troops: who, being of different nations, quarrelled also among +themselves. Worse than this, if worse were possible, they began to +plunder the country; upon which the White Rose said, that he would rather +lose his rights, than gain them through the miseries of the English +people. The Scottish King made a jest of his scruples; but they and +their whole force went back again without fighting a battle. + +The worst consequence of this attempt was, that a rising took place among +the people of Cornwall, who considered themselves too heavily taxed to +meet the charges of the expected war. Stimulated by Flammock, a lawyer, +and Joseph, a blacksmith, and joined by Lord Audley and some other +country gentlemen, they marched on all the way to Deptford Bridge, where +they fought a battle with the King's army. They were defeated--though +the Cornish men fought with great bravery--and the lord was beheaded, and +the lawyer and the blacksmith were hanged, drawn, and quartered. The +rest were pardoned. The King, who believed every man to be as avaricious +as himself, and thought that money could settle anything, allowed them to +make bargains for their liberty with the soldiers who had taken them. + +Perkin Warbeck, doomed to wander up and down, and never to find rest +anywhere--a sad fate: almost a sufficient punishment for an imposture, +which he seems in time to have half believed himself--lost his Scottish +refuge through a truce being made between the two Kings; and found +himself, once more, without a country before him in which he could lay +his head. But James (always honourable and true to him, alike when he +melted down his plate, and even the great gold chain he had been used to +wear, to pay soldiers in his cause; and now, when that cause was lost and +hopeless) did not conclude the treaty, until he had safely departed out +of the Scottish dominions. He, and his beautiful wife, who was faithful +to him under all reverses, and left her state and home to follow his poor +fortunes, were put aboard ship with everything necessary for their +comfort and protection, and sailed for Ireland. + +But, the Irish people had had enough of counterfeit Earls of Warwick and +Dukes of York, for one while; and would give the White Rose no aid. So, +the White Rose--encircled by thorns indeed--resolved to go with his +beautiful wife to Cornwall as a forlorn resource, and see what might be +made of the Cornish men, who had risen so valiantly a little while +before, and who had fought so bravely at Deptford Bridge. + +To Whitsand Bay, in Cornwall, accordingly, came Perkin Warbeck and his +wife; and the lovely lady he shut up for safety in the Castle of St. +Michael's Mount, and then marched into Devonshire at the head of three +thousand Cornishmen. These were increased to six thousand by the time of +his arrival in Exeter; but, there the people made a stout resistance, and +he went on to Taunton, where he came in sight of the King's army. The +stout Cornish men, although they were few in number, and badly armed, +were so bold, that they never thought of retreating; but bravely looked +forward to a battle on the morrow. Unhappily for them, the man who was +possessed of so many engaging qualities, and who attracted so many people +to his side when he had nothing else with which to tempt them, was not as +brave as they. In the night, when the two armies lay opposite to each +other, he mounted a swift horse and fled. When morning dawned, the poor +confiding Cornish men, discovering that they had no leader, surrendered +to the King's power. Some of them were hanged, and the rest were +pardoned and went miserably home. + +Before the King pursued Perkin Warbeck to the sanctuary of Beaulieu in +the New Forest, where it was soon known that he had taken refuge, he sent +a body of horsemen to St. Michael's Mount, to seize his wife. She was +soon taken and brought as a captive before the King. But she was so +beautiful, and so good, and so devoted to the man in whom she believed, +that the King regarded her with compassion, treated her with great +respect, and placed her at Court, near the Queen's person. And many +years after Perkin Warbeck was no more, and when his strange story had +become like a nursery tale, _she_ was called the White Rose, by the +people, in remembrance of her beauty. + +The sanctuary at Beaulieu was soon surrounded by the King's men; and the +King, pursuing his usual dark, artful ways, sent pretended friends to +Perkin Warbeck to persuade him to come out and surrender himself. This +he soon did; the King having taken a good look at the man of whom he had +heard so much--from behind a screen--directed him to be well mounted, and +to ride behind him at a little distance, guarded, but not bound in any +way. So they entered London with the King's favourite show--a +procession; and some of the people hooted as the Pretender rode slowly +through the streets to the Tower; but the greater part were quiet, and +very curious to see him. From the Tower, he was taken to the Palace at +Westminster, and there lodged like a gentleman, though closely watched. +He was examined every now and then as to his imposture; but the King was +so secret in all he did, that even then he gave it a consequence, which +it cannot be supposed to have in itself deserved. + +At last Perkin Warbeck ran away, and took refuge in another sanctuary +near Richmond in Surrey. From this he was again persuaded to deliver +himself up; and, being conveyed to London, he stood in the stocks for a +whole day, outside Westminster Hall, and there read a paper purporting to +be his full confession, and relating his history as the King's agents had +originally described it. He was then shut up in the Tower again, in the +company of the Earl of Warwick, who had now been there for fourteen +years: ever since his removal out of Yorkshire, except when the King had +had him at Court, and had shown him to the people, to prove the imposture +of the Baker's boy. It is but too probable, when we consider the crafty +character of Henry the Seventh, that these two were brought together for +a cruel purpose. A plot was soon discovered between them and the +keepers, to murder the Governor, get possession of the keys, and proclaim +Perkin Warbeck as King Richard the Fourth. That there was some such +plot, is likely; that they were tempted into it, is at least as likely; +that the unfortunate Earl of Warwick--last male of the Plantagenet +line--was too unused to the world, and too ignorant and simple to know +much about it, whatever it was, is perfectly certain; and that it was the +King's interest to get rid of him, is no less so. He was beheaded on +Tower Hill, and Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn. + +Such was the end of the pretended Duke of York, whose shadowy history was +made more shadowy--and ever will be--by the mystery and craft of the +King. If he had turned his great natural advantages to a more honest +account, he might have lived a happy and respected life, even in those +days. But he died upon a gallows at Tyburn, leaving the Scottish lady, +who had loved him so well, kindly protected at the Queen's Court. After +some time she forgot her old loves and troubles, as many people do with +Time's merciful assistance, and married a Welsh gentleman. Her second +husband, SIR MATTHEW CRADOC, more honest and more happy than her first, +lies beside her in a tomb in the old church of Swansea. + +The ill-blood between France and England in this reign, arose out of the +continued plotting of the Duchess of Burgundy, and disputes respecting +the affairs of Brittany. The King feigned to be very patriotic, +indignant, and warlike; but he always contrived so as never to make war +in reality, and always to make money. His taxation of the people, on +pretence of war with France, involved, at one time, a very dangerous +insurrection, headed by Sir John Egremont, and a common man called John a +Chambre. But it was subdued by the royal forces, under the command of +the Earl of Surrey. The knighted John escaped to the Duchess of +Burgundy, who was ever ready to receive any one who gave the King +trouble; and the plain John was hanged at York, in the midst of a number +of his men, but on a much higher gibbet, as being a greater traitor. Hung +high or hung low, however, hanging is much the same to the person hung. + +Within a year after her marriage, the Queen had given birth to a son, who +was called Prince Arthur, in remembrance of the old British prince of +romance and story; and who, when all these events had happened, being +then in his fifteenth year, was married to CATHERINE, the daughter of the +Spanish monarch, with great rejoicings and bright prospects; but in a +very few months he sickened and died. As soon as the King had recovered +from his grief, he thought it a pity that the fortune of the Spanish +Princess, amounting to two hundred thousand crowns, should go out of the +family; and therefore arranged that the young widow should marry his +second son HENRY, then twelve years of age, when he too should be +fifteen. There were objections to this marriage on the part of the +clergy; but, as the infallible Pope was gained over, and, as he _must_ be +right, that settled the business for the time. The King's eldest +daughter was provided for, and a long course of disturbance was +considered to be set at rest, by her being married to the Scottish King. + +And now the Queen died. When the King had got over that grief too, his +mind once more reverted to his darling money for consolation, and he +thought of marrying the Dowager Queen of Naples, who was immensely rich: +but, as it turned out not to be practicable to gain the money however +practicable it might have been to gain the lady, he gave up the idea. He +was not so fond of her but that he soon proposed to marry the Dowager +Duchess of Savoy; and, soon afterwards, the widow of the King of Castile, +who was raving mad. But he made a money-bargain instead, and married +neither. + +The Duchess of Burgundy, among the other discontented people to whom she +had given refuge, had sheltered EDMUND DE LA POLE (younger brother of +that Earl of Lincoln who was killed at Stoke), now Earl of Suffolk. The +King had prevailed upon him to return to the marriage of Prince Arthur; +but, he soon afterwards went away again; and then the King, suspecting a +conspiracy, resorted to his favourite plan of sending him some +treacherous friends, and buying of those scoundrels the secrets they +disclosed or invented. Some arrests and executions took place in +consequence. In the end, the King, on a promise of not taking his life, +obtained possession of the person of Edmund de la Pole, and shut him up +in the Tower. + +This was his last enemy. If he had lived much longer he would have made +many more among the people, by the grinding exaction to which he +constantly exposed them, and by the tyrannical acts of his two prime +favourites in all money-raising matters, EDMUND DUDLEY and RICHARD +EMPSON. But Death--the enemy who is not to be bought off or deceived, +and on whom no money, and no treachery has any effect--presented himself +at this juncture, and ended the King's reign. He died of the gout, on +the twenty-second of April, one thousand five hundred and nine, and in +the fifty-third year of his age, after reigning twenty-four years; he was +buried in the beautiful Chapel of Westminster Abbey, which he had himself +founded, and which still bears his name. + +It was in this reign that the great CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, on behalf of +Spain, discovered what was then called The New World. Great wonder, +interest, and hope of wealth being awakened in England thereby, the King +and the merchants of London and Bristol fitted out an English expedition +for further discoveries in the New World, and entrusted it to SEBASTIAN +CABOT, of Bristol, the son of a Venetian pilot there. He was very +successful in his voyage, and gained high reputation, both for himself +and England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND +BURLY KING HARRY + + +PART THE FIRST + + +We now come to King Henry the Eighth, whom it has been too much the +fashion to call 'Bluff King Hal,' and 'Burly King Harry,' and other fine +names; but whom I shall take the liberty to call, plainly, one of the +most detestable villains that ever drew breath. You will be able to +judge, long before we come to the end of his life, whether he deserves +the character. + +He was just eighteen years of age when he came to the throne. People +said he was handsome then; but I don't believe it. He was a big, burly, +noisy, small-eyed, large-faced, double-chinned, swinish-looking fellow in +later life (as we know from the likenesses of him, painted by the famous +HANS HOLBEIN), and it is not easy to believe that so bad a character can +ever have been veiled under a prepossessing appearance. + +He was anxious to make himself popular; and the people, who had long +disliked the late King, were very willing to believe that he deserved to +be so. He was extremely fond of show and display, and so were they. +Therefore there was great rejoicing when he married the Princess +Catherine, and when they were both crowned. And the King fought at +tournaments and always came off victorious--for the courtiers took care +of that--and there was a general outcry that he was a wonderful man. +Empson, Dudley, and their supporters were accused of a variety of crimes +they had never committed, instead of the offences of which they really +had been guilty; and they were pilloried, and set upon horses with their +faces to the tails, and knocked about and beheaded, to the satisfaction +of the people, and the enrichment of the King. + +The Pope, so indefatigable in getting the world into trouble, had mixed +himself up in a war on the continent of Europe, occasioned by the +reigning Princes of little quarrelling states in Italy having at various +times married into other Royal families, and so led to _their_ claiming a +share in those petty Governments. The King, who discovered that he was +very fond of the Pope, sent a herald to the King of France, to say that +he must not make war upon that holy personage, because he was the father +of all Christians. As the French King did not mind this relationship in +the least, and also refused to admit a claim King Henry made to certain +lands in France, war was declared between the two countries. Not to +perplex this story with an account of the tricks and designs of all the +sovereigns who were engaged in it, it is enough to say that England made +a blundering alliance with Spain, and got stupidly taken in by that +country; which made its own terms with France when it could and left +England in the lurch. SIR EDWARD HOWARD, a bold admiral, son of the Earl +of Surrey, distinguished himself by his bravery against the French in +this business; but, unfortunately, he was more brave than wise, for, +skimming into the French harbour of Brest with only a few row-boats, he +attempted (in revenge for the defeat and death of SIR THOMAS KNYVETT, +another bold English admiral) to take some strong French ships, well +defended with batteries of cannon. The upshot was, that he was left on +board of one of them (in consequence of its shooting away from his own +boat), with not more than about a dozen men, and was thrown into the sea +and drowned: though not until he had taken from his breast his gold chain +and gold whistle, which were the signs of his office, and had cast them +into the sea to prevent their being made a boast of by the enemy. After +this defeat--which was a great one, for Sir Edward Howard was a man of +valour and fame--the King took it into his head to invade France in +person; first executing that dangerous Earl of Suffolk whom his father +had left in the Tower, and appointing Queen Catherine to the charge of +his kingdom in his absence. He sailed to Calais, where he was joined by +MAXIMILIAN, Emperor of Germany, who pretended to be his soldier, and who +took pay in his service: with a good deal of nonsense of that sort, +flattering enough to the vanity of a vain blusterer. The King might be +successful enough in sham fights; but his idea of real battles chiefly +consisted in pitching silken tents of bright colours that were +ignominiously blown down by the wind, and in making a vast display of +gaudy flags and golden curtains. Fortune, however, favoured him better +than he deserved; for, after much waste of time in tent pitching, flag +flying, gold curtaining, and other such masquerading, he gave the French +battle at a place called Guinegate: where they took such an unaccountable +panic, and fled with such swiftness, that it was ever afterwards called +by the English the Battle of Spurs. Instead of following up his +advantage, the King, finding that he had had enough of real fighting, +came home again. + +The Scottish King, though nearly related to Henry by marriage, had taken +part against him in this war. The Earl of Surrey, as the English +general, advanced to meet him when he came out of his own dominions and +crossed the river Tweed. The two armies came up with one another when +the Scottish King had also crossed the river Till, and was encamped upon +the last of the Cheviot Hills, called the Hill of Flodden. Along the +plain below it, the English, when the hour of battle came, advanced. The +Scottish army, which had been drawn up in five great bodies, then came +steadily down in perfect silence. So they, in their turn, advanced to +meet the English army, which came on in one long line; and they attacked +it with a body of spearmen, under LORD HOME. At first they had the best +of it; but the English recovered themselves so bravely, and fought with +such valour, that, when the Scottish King had almost made his way up to +the Royal Standard, he was slain, and the whole Scottish power routed. +Ten thousand Scottish men lay dead that day on Flodden Field; and among +them, numbers of the nobility and gentry. For a long time afterwards, +the Scottish peasantry used to believe that their King had not been +really killed in this battle, because no Englishman had found an iron +belt he wore about his body as a penance for having been an unnatural and +undutiful son. But, whatever became of his belt, the English had his +sword and dagger, and the ring from his finger, and his body too, covered +with wounds. There is no doubt of it; for it was seen and recognised by +English gentlemen who had known the Scottish King well. + +When King Henry was making ready to renew the war in France, the French +King was contemplating peace. His queen, dying at this time, he +proposed, though he was upwards of fifty years old, to marry King Henry's +sister, the Princess Mary, who, besides being only sixteen, was betrothed +to the Duke of Suffolk. As the inclinations of young Princesses were not +much considered in such matters, the marriage was concluded, and the poor +girl was escorted to France, where she was immediately left as the French +King's bride, with only one of all her English attendants. That one was +a pretty young girl named ANNE BOLEYN, niece of the Earl of Surrey, who +had been made Duke of Norfolk, after the victory of Flodden Field. Anne +Boleyn's is a name to be remembered, as you will presently find. + +And now the French King, who was very proud of his young wife, was +preparing for many years of happiness, and she was looking forward, I +dare say, to many years of misery, when he died within three months, and +left her a young widow. The new French monarch, FRANCIS THE FIRST, +seeing how important it was to his interests that she should take for her +second husband no one but an Englishman, advised her first lover, the +Duke of Suffolk, when King Henry sent him over to France to fetch her +home, to marry her. The Princess being herself so fond of that Duke, as +to tell him that he must either do so then, or for ever lose her, they +were wedded; and Henry afterwards forgave them. In making interest with +the King, the Duke of Suffolk had addressed his most powerful favourite +and adviser, THOMAS WOLSEY--a name very famous in history for its rise +and downfall. + +Wolsey was the son of a respectable butcher at Ipswich, in Suffolk and +received so excellent an education that he became a tutor to the family +of the Marquis of Dorset, who afterwards got him appointed one of the +late King's chaplains. On the accession of Henry the Eighth, he was +promoted and taken into great favour. He was now Archbishop of York; the +Pope had made him a Cardinal besides; and whoever wanted influence in +England or favour with the King--whether he were a foreign monarch or an +English nobleman--was obliged to make a friend of the great Cardinal +Wolsey. + +He was a gay man, who could dance and jest, and sing and drink; and those +were the roads to so much, or rather so little, of a heart as King Henry +had. He was wonderfully fond of pomp and glitter, and so was the King. +He knew a good deal of the Church learning of that time; much of which +consisted in finding artful excuses and pretences for almost any wrong +thing, and in arguing that black was white, or any other colour. This +kind of learning pleased the King too. For many such reasons, the +Cardinal was high in estimation with the King; and, being a man of far +greater ability, knew as well how to manage him, as a clever keeper may +know how to manage a wolf or a tiger, or any other cruel and uncertain +beast, that may turn upon him and tear him any day. Never had there been +seen in England such state as my Lord Cardinal kept. His wealth was +enormous; equal, it was reckoned, to the riches of the Crown. His +palaces were as splendid as the King's, and his retinue was eight hundred +strong. He held his Court, dressed out from top to toe in flaming +scarlet; and his very shoes were golden, set with precious stones. His +followers rode on blood horses; while he, with a wonderful affectation of +humility in the midst of his great splendour, ambled on a mule with a red +velvet saddle and bridle and golden stirrups. + +Through the influence of this stately priest, a grand meeting was +arranged to take place between the French and English Kings in France; +but on ground belonging to England. A prodigious show of friendship and +rejoicing was to be made on the occasion; and heralds were sent to +proclaim with brazen trumpets through all the principal cities of Europe, +that, on a certain day, the Kings of France and England, as companions +and brothers in arms, each attended by eighteen followers, would hold a +tournament against all knights who might choose to come. + +CHARLES, the new Emperor of Germany (the old one being dead), wanted to +prevent too cordial an alliance between these sovereigns, and came over +to England before the King could repair to the place of meeting; and, +besides making an agreeable impression upon him, secured Wolsey's +interest by promising that his influence should make him Pope when the +next vacancy occurred. On the day when the Emperor left England, the +King and all the Court went over to Calais, and thence to the place of +meeting, between Ardres and Guisnes, commonly called the Field of the +Cloth of Gold. Here, all manner of expense and prodigality was lavished +on the decorations of the show; many of the knights and gentlemen being +so superbly dressed that it was said they carried their whole estates +upon their shoulders. + +There were sham castles, temporary chapels, fountains running wine, great +cellars full of wine free as water to all comers, silk tents, gold lace +and foil, gilt lions, and such things without end; and, in the midst of +all, the rich Cardinal out-shone and out-glittered all the noblemen and +gentlemen assembled. After a treaty made between the two Kings with as +much solemnity as if they had intended to keep it, the lists--nine +hundred feet long, and three hundred and twenty broad--were opened for +the tournament; the Queens of France and England looking on with great +array of lords and ladies. Then, for ten days, the two sovereigns fought +five combats every day, and always beat their polite adversaries; though +they _do_ write that the King of England, being thrown in a wrestle one +day by the King of France, lost his kingly temper with his brother-in- +arms, and wanted to make a quarrel of it. Then, there is a great story +belonging to this Field of the Cloth of Gold, showing how the English +were distrustful of the French, and the French of the English, until +Francis rode alone one morning to Henry's tent; and, going in before he +was out of bed, told him in joke that he was his prisoner; and how Henry +jumped out of bed and embraced Francis; and how Francis helped Henry to +dress, and warmed his linen for him; and how Henry gave Francis a +splendid jewelled collar, and how Francis gave Henry, in return, a costly +bracelet. All this and a great deal more was so written about, and sung +about, and talked about at that time (and, indeed, since that time too), +that the world has had good cause to be sick of it, for ever. + +Of course, nothing came of all these fine doings but a speedy renewal of +the war between England and France, in which the two Royal companions and +brothers in arms longed very earnestly to damage one another. But, +before it broke out again, the Duke of Buckingham was shamefully executed +on Tower Hill, on the evidence of a discharged servant--really for +nothing, except the folly of having believed in a friar of the name of +HOPKINS, who had pretended to be a prophet, and who had mumbled and +jumbled out some nonsense about the Duke's son being destined to be very +great in the land. It was believed that the unfortunate Duke had given +offence to the great Cardinal by expressing his mind freely about the +expense and absurdity of the whole business of the Field of the Cloth of +Gold. At any rate, he was beheaded, as I have said, for nothing. And +the people who saw it done were very angry, and cried out that it was the +work of 'the butcher's son!' + +The new war was a short one, though the Earl of Surrey invaded France +again, and did some injury to that country. It ended in another treaty +of peace between the two kingdoms, and in the discovery that the Emperor +of Germany was not such a good friend to England in reality, as he +pretended to be. Neither did he keep his promise to Wolsey to make him +Pope, though the King urged him. Two Popes died in pretty quick +succession; but the foreign priests were too much for the Cardinal, and +kept him out of the post. So the Cardinal and King together found out +that the Emperor of Germany was not a man to keep faith with; broke off a +projected marriage between the King's daughter MARY, Princess of Wales, +and that sovereign; and began to consider whether it might not be well to +marry the young lady, either to Francis himself, or to his eldest son. + +There now arose at Wittemberg, in Germany, the great leader of the mighty +change in England which is called The Reformation, and which set the +people free from their slavery to the priests. This was a learned +Doctor, named MARTIN LUTHER, who knew all about them, for he had been a +priest, and even a monk, himself. The preaching and writing of Wickliffe +had set a number of men thinking on this subject; and Luther, finding one +day to his great surprise, that there really was a book called the New +Testament which the priests did not allow to be read, and which contained +truths that they suppressed, began to be very vigorous against the whole +body, from the Pope downward. It happened, while he was yet only +beginning his vast work of awakening the nation, that an impudent fellow +named TETZEL, a friar of very bad character, came into his neighbourhood +selling what were called Indulgences, by wholesale, to raise money for +beautifying the great Cathedral of St. Peter's, at Rome. Whoever bought +an Indulgence of the Pope was supposed to buy himself off from the +punishment of Heaven for his offences. Luther told the people that these +Indulgences were worthless bits of paper, before God, and that Tetzel and +his masters were a crew of impostors in selling them. + +The King and the Cardinal were mightily indignant at this presumption; +and the King (with the help of SIR THOMAS MORE, a wise man, whom he +afterwards repaid by striking off his head) even wrote a book about it, +with which the Pope was so well pleased that he gave the King the title +of Defender of the Faith. The King and the Cardinal also issued flaming +warnings to the people not to read Luther's books, on pain of +excommunication. But they did read them for all that; and the rumour of +what was in them spread far and wide. + +When this great change was thus going on, the King began to show himself +in his truest and worst colours. Anne Boleyn, the pretty little girl who +had gone abroad to France with his sister, was by this time grown up to +be very beautiful, and was one of the ladies in attendance on Queen +Catherine. Now, Queen Catherine was no longer young or handsome, and it +is likely that she was not particularly good-tempered; having been always +rather melancholy, and having been made more so by the deaths of four of +her children when they were very young. So, the King fell in love with +the fair Anne Boleyn, and said to himself, 'How can I be best rid of my +own troublesome wife whom I am tired of, and marry Anne?' + +{Catherine was old, so he fell in love with Anne Boleyn: p0.jpg} + +You recollect that Queen Catherine had been the wife of Henry's brother. +What does the King do, after thinking it over, but calls his favourite +priests about him, and says, O! his mind is in such a dreadful state, and +he is so frightfully uneasy, because he is afraid it was not lawful for +him to marry the Queen! Not one of those priests had the courage to hint +that it was rather curious he had never thought of that before, and that +his mind seemed to have been in a tolerably jolly condition during a +great many years, in which he certainly had not fretted himself thin; +but, they all said, Ah! that was very true, and it was a serious +business; and perhaps the best way to make it right, would be for his +Majesty to be divorced! The King replied, Yes, he thought that would be +the best way, certainly; so they all went to work. + +If I were to relate to you the intrigues and plots that took place in the +endeavour to get this divorce, you would think the History of England the +most tiresome book in the world. So I shall say no more, than that after +a vast deal of negotiation and evasion, the Pope issued a commission to +Cardinal Wolsey and CARDINAL CAMPEGGIO (whom he sent over from Italy for +the purpose), to try the whole case in England. It is supposed--and I +think with reason--that Wolsey was the Queen's enemy, because she had +reproved him for his proud and gorgeous manner of life. But, he did not +at first know that the King wanted to marry Anne Boleyn; and when he did +know it, he even went down on his knees, in the endeavour to dissuade +him. + +The Cardinals opened their court in the Convent of the Black Friars, near +to where the bridge of that name in London now stands; and the King and +Queen, that they might be near it, took up their lodgings at the +adjoining palace of Bridewell, of which nothing now remains but a bad +prison. On the opening of the court, when the King and Queen were called +on to appear, that poor ill-used lady, with a dignity and firmness and +yet with a womanly affection worthy to be always admired, went and +kneeled at the King's feet, and said that she had come, a stranger, to +his dominions; that she had been a good and true wife to him for twenty +years; and that she could acknowledge no power in those Cardinals to try +whether she should be considered his wife after all that time, or should +be put away. With that, she got up and left the court, and would never +afterwards come back to it. + +The King pretended to be very much overcome, and said, O! my lords and +gentlemen, what a good woman she was to be sure, and how delighted he +would be to live with her unto death, but for that terrible uneasiness in +his mind which was quite wearing him away! So, the case went on, and +there was nothing but talk for two months. Then Cardinal Campeggio, who, +on behalf of the Pope, wanted nothing so much as delay, adjourned it for +two more months; and before that time was elapsed, the Pope himself +adjourned it indefinitely, by requiring the King and Queen to come to +Rome and have it tried there. But by good luck for the King, word was +brought to him by some of his people, that they had happened to meet at +supper, THOMAS CRANMER, a learned Doctor of Cambridge, who had proposed +to urge the Pope on, by referring the case to all the learned doctors and +bishops, here and there and everywhere, and getting their opinions that +the King's marriage was unlawful. The King, who was now in a hurry to +marry Anne Boleyn, thought this such a good idea, that he sent for +Cranmer, post haste, and said to LORD ROCHFORT, Anne Boleyn's father, +'Take this learned Doctor down to your country-house, and there let him +have a good room for a study, and no end of books out of which to prove +that I may marry your daughter.' Lord Rochfort, not at all reluctant, +made the learned Doctor as comfortable as he could; and the learned +Doctor went to work to prove his case. All this time, the King and Anne +Boleyn were writing letters to one another almost daily, full of +impatience to have the case settled; and Anne Boleyn was showing herself +(as I think) very worthy of the fate which afterwards befel her. + +It was bad for Cardinal Wolsey that he had left Cranmer to render this +help. It was worse for him that he had tried to dissuade the King from +marrying Anne Boleyn. Such a servant as he, to such a master as Henry, +would probably have fallen in any case; but, between the hatred of the +party of the Queen that was, and the hatred of the party of the Queen +that was to be, he fell suddenly and heavily. Going down one day to the +Court of Chancery, where he now presided, he was waited upon by the Dukes +of Norfolk and Suffolk, who told him that they brought an order to him to +resign that office, and to withdraw quietly to a house he had at Esher, +in Surrey. The Cardinal refusing, they rode off to the King; and next +day came back with a letter from him, on reading which, the Cardinal +submitted. An inventory was made out of all the riches in his palace at +York Place (now Whitehall), and he went sorrowfully up the river, in his +barge, to Putney. An abject man he was, in spite of his pride; for being +overtaken, riding out of that place towards Esher, by one of the King's +chamberlains who brought him a kind message and a ring, he alighted from +his mule, took off his cap, and kneeled down in the dirt. His poor Fool, +whom in his prosperous days he had always kept in his palace to entertain +him, cut a far better figure than he; for, when the Cardinal said to the +chamberlain that he had nothing to send to his lord the King as a +present, but that jester who was a most excellent one, it took six strong +yeomen to remove the faithful fool from his master. + +The once proud Cardinal was soon further disgraced, and wrote the most +abject letters to his vile sovereign; who humbled him one day and +encouraged him the next, according to his humour, until he was at last +ordered to go and reside in his diocese of York. He said he was too +poor; but I don't know how he made that out, for he took a hundred and +sixty servants with him, and seventy-two cart-loads of furniture, food, +and wine. He remained in that part of the country for the best part of a +year, and showed himself so improved by his misfortunes, and was so mild +and so conciliating, that he won all hearts. And indeed, even in his +proud days, he had done some magnificent things for learning and +education. At last, he was arrested for high treason; and, coming slowly +on his journey towards London, got as far as Leicester. Arriving at +Leicester Abbey after dark, and very ill, he said--when the monks came +out at the gate with lighted torches to receive him--that he had come to +lay his bones among them. He had indeed; for he was taken to a bed, from +which he never rose again. His last words were, 'Had I but served God as +diligently as I have served the King, He would not have given me over, in +my grey hairs. Howbeit, this is my just reward for my pains and +diligence, not regarding my service to God, but only my duty to my +prince.' The news of his death was quickly carried to the King, who was +amusing himself with archery in the garden of the magnificent Palace at +Hampton Court, which that very Wolsey had presented to him. The greatest +emotion his royal mind displayed at the loss of a servant so faithful and +so ruined, was a particular desire to lay hold of fifteen hundred pounds +which the Cardinal was reported to have hidden somewhere. + +The opinions concerning the divorce, of the learned doctors and bishops +and others, being at last collected, and being generally in the King's +favour, were forwarded to the Pope, with an entreaty that he would now +grant it. The unfortunate Pope, who was a timid man, was half distracted +between his fear of his authority being set aside in England if he did +not do as he was asked, and his dread of offending the Emperor of +Germany, who was Queen Catherine's nephew. In this state of mind he +still evaded and did nothing. Then, THOMAS CROMWELL, who had been one of +Wolsey's faithful attendants, and had remained so even in his decline, +advised the King to take the matter into his own hands, and make himself +the head of the whole Church. This, the King by various artful means, +began to do; but he recompensed the clergy by allowing them to burn as +many people as they pleased, for holding Luther's opinions. You must +understand that Sir Thomas More, the wise man who had helped the King +with his book, had been made Chancellor in Wolsey's place. But, as he +was truly attached to the Church as it was even in its abuses, he, in +this state of things, resigned. + +Being now quite resolved to get rid of Queen Catherine, and to marry Anne +Boleyn without more ado, the King made Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury, +and directed Queen Catherine to leave the Court. She obeyed; but replied +that wherever she went, she was Queen of England still, and would remain +so, to the last. The King then married Anne Boleyn privately; and the +new Archbishop of Canterbury, within half a year, declared his marriage +with Queen Catherine void, and crowned Anne Boleyn Queen. + +She might have known that no good could ever come from such wrong, and +that the corpulent brute who had been so faithless and so cruel to his +first wife, could be more faithless and more cruel to his second. She +might have known that, even when he was in love with her, he had been a +mean and selfish coward, running away, like a frightened cur, from her +society and her house, when a dangerous sickness broke out in it, and +when she might easily have taken it and died, as several of the household +did. But, Anne Boleyn arrived at all this knowledge too late, and bought +it at a dear price. Her bad marriage with a worse man came to its +natural end. Its natural end was not, as we shall too soon see, a +natural death for her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII--ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH + + +PART THE SECOND + + +The Pope was thrown into a very angry state of mind when he heard of the +King's marriage, and fumed exceedingly. Many of the English monks and +friars, seeing that their order was in danger, did the same; some even +declaimed against the King in church before his face, and were not to be +stopped until he himself roared out 'Silence!' The King, not much the +worse for this, took it pretty quietly; and was very glad when his Queen +gave birth to a daughter, who was christened ELIZABETH, and declared +Princess of Wales as her sister Mary had already been. + +One of the most atrocious features of this reign was that Henry the +Eighth was always trimming between the reformed religion and the +unreformed one; so that the more he quarrelled with the Pope, the more of +his own subjects he roasted alive for not holding the Pope's opinions. +Thus, an unfortunate student named John Frith, and a poor simple tailor +named Andrew Hewet who loved him very much, and said that whatever John +Frith believed _he_ believed, were burnt in Smithfield--to show what a +capital Christian the King was. + +But, these were speedily followed by two much greater victims, Sir Thomas +More, and John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. The latter, who was a +good and amiable old man, had committed no greater offence than believing +in Elizabeth Barton, called the Maid of Kent--another of those ridiculous +women who pretended to be inspired, and to make all sorts of heavenly +revelations, though they indeed uttered nothing but evil nonsense. For +this offence--as it was pretended, but really for denying the King to be +the supreme Head of the Church--he got into trouble, and was put in +prison; but, even then, he might have been suffered to die naturally +(short work having been made of executing the Kentish Maid and her +principal followers), but that the Pope, to spite the King, resolved to +make him a cardinal. Upon that the King made a ferocious joke to the +effect that the Pope might send Fisher a red hat--which is the way they +make a cardinal--but he should have no head on which to wear it; and he +was tried with all unfairness and injustice, and sentenced to death. He +died like a noble and virtuous old man, and left a worthy name behind +him. The King supposed, I dare say, that Sir Thomas More would be +frightened by this example; but, as he was not to be easily terrified, +and, thoroughly believing in the Pope, had made up his mind that the King +was not the rightful Head of the Church, he positively refused to say +that he was. For this crime he too was tried and sentenced, after having +been in prison a whole year. When he was doomed to death, and came away +from his trial with the edge of the executioner's axe turned towards +him--as was always done in those times when a state prisoner came to that +hopeless pass--he bore it quite serenely, and gave his blessing to his +son, who pressed through the crowd in Westminster Hall and kneeled down +to receive it. But, when he got to the Tower Wharf on his way back to +his prison, and his favourite daughter, MARGARET ROPER, a very good +woman, rushed through the guards again and again, to kiss him and to weep +upon his neck, he was overcome at last. He soon recovered, and never +more showed any feeling but cheerfulness and courage. When he was going +up the steps of the scaffold to his death, he said jokingly to the +Lieutenant of the Tower, observing that they were weak and shook beneath +his tread, 'I pray you, master Lieutenant, see me safe up; and, for my +coming down, I can shift for myself.' Also he said to the executioner, +after he had laid his head upon the block, 'Let me put my beard out of +the way; for that, at least, has never committed any treason.' Then his +head was struck off at a blow. These two executions were worthy of King +Henry the Eighth. Sir Thomas More was one of the most virtuous men in +his dominions, and the Bishop was one of his oldest and truest friends. +But to be a friend of that fellow was almost as dangerous as to be his +wife. + +When the news of these two murders got to Rome, the Pope raged against +the murderer more than ever Pope raged since the world began, and +prepared a Bull, ordering his subjects to take arms against him and +dethrone him. The King took all possible precautions to keep that +document out of his dominions, and set to work in return to suppress a +great number of the English monasteries and abbeys. + +This destruction was begun by a body of commissioners, of whom Cromwell +(whom the King had taken into great favour) was the head; and was carried +on through some few years to its entire completion. There is no doubt +that many of these religious establishments were religious in nothing but +in name, and were crammed with lazy, indolent, and sensual monks. There +is no doubt that they imposed upon the people in every possible way; that +they had images moved by wires, which they pretended were miraculously +moved by Heaven; that they had among them a whole tun measure full of +teeth, all purporting to have come out of the head of one saint, who must +indeed have been a very extraordinary person with that enormous allowance +of grinders; that they had bits of coal which they said had fried Saint +Lawrence, and bits of toe-nails which they said belonged to other famous +saints; penknives, and boots, and girdles, which they said belonged to +others; and that all these bits of rubbish were called Relics, and adored +by the ignorant people. But, on the other hand, there is no doubt +either, that the King's officers and men punished the good monks with the +bad; did great injustice; demolished many beautiful things and many +valuable libraries; destroyed numbers of paintings, stained glass +windows, fine pavements, and carvings; and that the whole court were +ravenously greedy and rapacious for the division of this great spoil +among them. The King seems to have grown almost mad in the ardour of +this pursuit; for he declared Thomas a Becket a traitor, though he had +been dead so many years, and had his body dug up out of his grave. He +must have been as miraculous as the monks pretended, if they had told the +truth, for he was found with one head on his shoulders, and they had +shown another as his undoubted and genuine head ever since his death; it +had brought them vast sums of money, too. The gold and jewels on his +shrine filled two great chests, and eight men tottered as they carried +them away. How rich the monasteries were you may infer from the fact +that, when they were all suppressed, one hundred and thirty thousand +pounds a year--in those days an immense sum--came to the Crown. + +These things were not done without causing great discontent among the +people. The monks had been good landlords and hospitable entertainers of +all travellers, and had been accustomed to give away a great deal of +corn, and fruit, and meat, and other things. In those days it was +difficult to change goods into money, in consequence of the roads being +very few and very bad, and the carts, and waggons of the worst +description; and they must either have given away some of the good things +they possessed in enormous quantities, or have suffered them to spoil and +moulder. So, many of the people missed what it was more agreeable to get +idly than to work for; and the monks who were driven out of their homes +and wandered about encouraged their discontent; and there were, +consequently, great risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. These were +put down by terrific executions, from which the monks themselves did not +escape, and the King went on grunting and growling in his own fat way, +like a Royal pig. + +I have told all this story of the religious houses at one time, to make +it plainer, and to get back to the King's domestic affairs. + +The unfortunate Queen Catherine was by this time dead; and the King was +by this time as tired of his second Queen as he had been of his first. As +he had fallen in love with Anne when she was in the service of Catherine, +so he now fell in love with another lady in the service of Anne. See how +wicked deeds are punished, and how bitterly and self-reproachfully the +Queen must now have thought of her own rise to the throne! The new fancy +was a LADY JANE SEYMOUR; and the King no sooner set his mind on her, than +he resolved to have Anne Boleyn's head. So, he brought a number of +charges against Anne, accusing her of dreadful crimes which she had never +committed, and implicating in them her own brother and certain gentlemen +in her service: among whom one Norris, and Mark Smeaton a musician, are +best remembered. As the lords and councillors were as afraid of the King +and as subservient to him as the meanest peasant in England was, they +brought in Anne Boleyn guilty, and the other unfortunate persons accused +with her, guilty too. Those gentlemen died like men, with the exception +of Smeaton, who had been tempted by the King into telling lies, which he +called confessions, and who had expected to be pardoned; but who, I am +very glad to say, was not. There was then only the Queen to dispose of. +She had been surrounded in the Tower with women spies; had been +monstrously persecuted and foully slandered; and had received no justice. +But her spirit rose with her afflictions; and, after having in vain tried +to soften the King by writing an affecting letter to him which still +exists, 'from her doleful prison in the Tower,' she resigned herself to +death. She said to those about her, very cheerfully, that she had heard +say the executioner was a good one, and that she had a little neck (she +laughed and clasped it with her hands as she said that), and would soon +be out of her pain. And she _was_ soon out of her pain, poor creature, +on the Green inside the Tower, and her body was flung into an old box and +put away in the ground under the chapel. + +There is a story that the King sat in his palace listening very anxiously +for the sound of the cannon which was to announce this new murder; and +that, when he heard it come booming on the air, he rose up in great +spirits and ordered out his dogs to go a-hunting. He was bad enough to +do it; but whether he did it or not, it is certain that he married Jane +Seymour the very next day. + +I have not much pleasure in recording that she lived just long enough to +give birth to a son who was christened EDWARD, and then to die of a +fever: for, I cannot but think that any woman who married such a ruffian, +and knew what innocent blood was on his hands, deserved the axe that +would assuredly have fallen on the neck of Jane Seymour, if she had lived +much longer. + +Cranmer had done what he could to save some of the Church property for +purposes of religion and education; but, the great families had been so +hungry to get hold of it, that very little could be rescued for such +objects. Even MILES COVERDALE, who did the people the inestimable +service of translating the Bible into English (which the unreformed +religion never permitted to be done), was left in poverty while the great +families clutched the Church lands and money. The people had been told +that when the Crown came into possession of these funds, it would not be +necessary to tax them; but they were taxed afresh directly afterwards. It +was fortunate for them, indeed, that so many nobles were so greedy for +this wealth; since, if it had remained with the Crown, there might have +been no end to tyranny for hundreds of years. One of the most active +writers on the Church's side against the King was a member of his own +family--a sort of distant cousin, REGINALD POLE by name--who attacked him +in the most violent manner (though he received a pension from him all the +time), and fought for the Church with his pen, day and night. As he was +beyond the King's reach--being in Italy--the King politely invited him +over to discuss the subject; but he, knowing better than to come, and +wisely staying where he was, the King's rage fell upon his brother Lord +Montague, the Marquis of Exeter, and some other gentlemen: who were tried +for high treason in corresponding with him and aiding him--which they +probably did--and were all executed. The Pope made Reginald Pole a +cardinal; but, so much against his will, that it is thought he even +aspired in his own mind to the vacant throne of England, and had hopes of +marrying the Princess Mary. His being made a high priest, however, put +an end to all that. His mother, the venerable Countess of Salisbury--who +was, unfortunately for herself, within the tyrant's reach--was the last +of his relatives on whom his wrath fell. When she was told to lay her +grey head upon the block, she answered the executioner, 'No! My head +never committed treason, and if you want it, you shall seize it.' So, +she ran round and round the scaffold with the executioner striking at +her, and her grey hair bedabbled with blood; and even when they held her +down upon the block she moved her head about to the last, resolved to be +no party to her own barbarous murder. All this the people bore, as they +had borne everything else. + +Indeed they bore much more; for the slow fires of Smithfield were +continually burning, and people were constantly being roasted to +death--still to show what a good Christian the King was. He defied the +Pope and his Bull, which was now issued, and had come into England; but +he burned innumerable people whose only offence was that they differed +from the Pope's religious opinions. There was a wretched man named +LAMBERT, among others, who was tried for this before the King, and with +whom six bishops argued one after another. When he was quite exhausted +(as well he might be, after six bishops), he threw himself on the King's +mercy; but the King blustered out that he had no mercy for heretics. So, +_he_ too fed the fire. + +All this the people bore, and more than all this yet. The national +spirit seems to have been banished from the kingdom at this time. The +very people who were executed for treason, the very wives and friends of +the 'bluff' King, spoke of him on the scaffold as a good prince, and a +gentle prince--just as serfs in similar circumstances have been known to +do, under the Sultan and Bashaws of the East, or under the fierce old +tyrants of Russia, who poured boiling and freezing water on them +alternately, until they died. The Parliament were as bad as the rest, +and gave the King whatever he wanted; among other vile accommodations, +they gave him new powers of murdering, at his will and pleasure, any one +whom he might choose to call a traitor. But the worst measure they +passed was an Act of Six Articles, commonly called at the time 'the whip +with six strings;' which punished offences against the Pope's opinions, +without mercy, and enforced the very worst parts of the monkish religion. +Cranmer would have modified it, if he could; but, being overborne by the +Romish party, had not the power. As one of the articles declared that +priests should not marry, and as he was married himself, he sent his wife +and children into Germany, and began to tremble at his danger; none the +less because he was, and had long been, the King's friend. This whip of +six strings was made under the King's own eye. It should never be +forgotten of him how cruelly he supported the worst of the Popish +doctrines when there was nothing to be got by opposing them. + +This amiable monarch now thought of taking another wife. He proposed to +the French King to have some of the ladies of the French Court exhibited +before him, that he might make his Royal choice; but the French King +answered that he would rather not have his ladies trotted out to be shown +like horses at a fair. He proposed to the Dowager Duchess of Milan, who +replied that she might have thought of such a match if she had had two +heads; but, that only owning one, she must beg to keep it safe. At last +Cromwell represented that there was a Protestant Princess in +Germany--those who held the reformed religion were called Protestants, +because their leaders had Protested against the abuses and impositions of +the unreformed Church--named ANNE OF CLEVES, who was beautiful, and would +answer the purpose admirably. The King said was she a large woman, +because he must have a fat wife? 'O yes,' said Cromwell; 'she was very +large, just the thing.' On hearing this the King sent over his famous +painter, Hans Holbein, to take her portrait. Hans made her out to be so +good-looking that the King was satisfied, and the marriage was arranged. +But, whether anybody had paid Hans to touch up the picture; or whether +Hans, like one or two other painters, flattered a princess in the +ordinary way of business, I cannot say: all I know is, that when Anne +came over and the King went to Rochester to meet her, and first saw her +without her seeing him, he swore she was 'a great Flanders mare,' and +said he would never marry her. Being obliged to do it now matters had +gone so far, he would not give her the presents he had prepared, and +would never notice her. He never forgave Cromwell his part in the +affair. His downfall dates from that time. + +It was quickened by his enemies, in the interests of the unreformed +religion, putting in the King's way, at a state dinner, a niece of the +Duke of Norfolk, CATHERINE HOWARD, a young lady of fascinating manners, +though small in stature and not particularly beautiful. Falling in love +with her on the spot, the King soon divorced Anne of Cleves after making +her the subject of much brutal talk, on pretence that she had been +previously betrothed to some one else--which would never do for one of +his dignity--and married Catherine. It is probable that on his wedding +day, of all days in the year, he sent his faithful Cromwell to the +scaffold, and had his head struck off. He further celebrated the +occasion by burning at one time, and causing to be drawn to the fire on +the same hurdles, some Protestant prisoners for denying the Pope's +doctrines, and some Roman Catholic prisoners for denying his own +supremacy. Still the people bore it, and not a gentleman in England +raised his hand. + +But, by a just retribution, it soon came out that Catherine Howard, +before her marriage, had been really guilty of such crimes as the King +had falsely attributed to his second wife Anne Boleyn; so, again the +dreadful axe made the King a widower, and this Queen passed away as so +many in that reign had passed away before her. As an appropriate pursuit +under the circumstances, Henry then applied himself to superintending the +composition of a religious book called 'A necessary doctrine for any +Christian Man.' He must have been a little confused in his mind, I +think, at about this period; for he was so false to himself as to be true +to some one: that some one being Cranmer, whom the Duke of Norfolk and +others of his enemies tried to ruin; but to whom the King was steadfast, +and to whom he one night gave his ring, charging him when he should find +himself, next day, accused of treason, to show it to the council board. +This Cranmer did to the confusion of his enemies. I suppose the King +thought he might want him a little longer. + +He married yet once more. Yes, strange to say, he found in England +another woman who would become his wife, and she was CATHERINE PARR, +widow of Lord Latimer. She leaned towards the reformed religion; and it +is some comfort to know, that she tormented the King considerably by +arguing a variety of doctrinal points with him on all possible occasions. +She had very nearly done this to her own destruction. After one of these +conversations the King in a very black mood actually instructed GARDINER, +one of his Bishops who favoured the Popish opinions, to draw a bill of +accusation against her, which would have inevitably brought her to the +scaffold where her predecessors had died, but that one of her friends +picked up the paper of instructions which had been dropped in the palace, +and gave her timely notice. She fell ill with terror; but managed the +King so well when he came to entrap her into further statements--by +saying that she had only spoken on such points to divert his mind and to +get some information from his extraordinary wisdom--that he gave her a +kiss and called her his sweetheart. And, when the Chancellor came next +day actually to take her to the Tower, the King sent him about his +business, and honoured him with the epithets of a beast, a knave, and a +fool. So near was Catherine Parr to the block, and so narrow was her +escape! + +There was war with Scotland in this reign, and a short clumsy war with +France for favouring Scotland; but, the events at home were so dreadful, +and leave such an enduring stain on the country, that I need say no more +of what happened abroad. + +A few more horrors, and this reign is over. There was a lady, ANNE +ASKEW, in Lincolnshire, who inclined to the Protestant opinions, and +whose husband being a fierce Catholic, turned her out of his house. She +came to London, and was considered as offending against the six articles, +and was taken to the Tower, and put upon the rack--probably because it +was hoped that she might, in her agony, criminate some obnoxious persons; +if falsely, so much the better. She was tortured without uttering a cry, +until the Lieutenant of the Tower would suffer his men to torture her no +more; and then two priests who were present actually pulled off their +robes, and turned the wheels of the rack with their own hands, so rending +and twisting and breaking her that she was afterwards carried to the fire +in a chair. She was burned with three others, a gentleman, a clergyman, +and a tailor; and so the world went on. + +Either the King became afraid of the power of the Duke of Norfolk, and +his son the Earl of Surrey, or they gave him some offence, but he +resolved to pull _them_ down, to follow all the rest who were gone. The +son was tried first--of course for nothing--and defended himself bravely; +but of course he was found guilty, and of course he was executed. Then +his father was laid hold of, and left for death too. + +But the King himself was left for death by a Greater King, and the earth +was to be rid of him at last. He was now a swollen, hideous spectacle, +with a great hole in his leg, and so odious to every sense that it was +dreadful to approach him. When he was found to be dying, Cranmer was +sent for from his palace at Croydon, and came with all speed, but found +him speechless. Happily, in that hour he perished. He was in the fifty- +sixth year of his age, and the thirty-eighth of his reign. + +Henry the Eighth has been favoured by some Protestant writers, because +the Reformation was achieved in his time. But the mighty merit of it +lies with other men and not with him; and it can be rendered none the +worse by this monster's crimes, and none the better by any defence of +them. The plain truth is, that he was a most intolerable ruffian, a +disgrace to human nature, and a blot of blood and grease upon the History +of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX--ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH + + +Henry the Eighth had made a will, appointing a council of sixteen to +govern the kingdom for his son while he was under age (he was now only +ten years old), and another council of twelve to help them. The most +powerful of the first council was the EARL OF HERTFORD, the young King's +uncle, who lost no time in bringing his nephew with great state up to +Enfield, and thence to the Tower. It was considered at the time a +striking proof of virtue in the young King that he was sorry for his +father's death; but, as common subjects have that virtue too, sometimes, +we will say no more about it. + +There was a curious part of the late King's will, requiring his executors +to fulfil whatever promises he had made. Some of the court wondering +what these might be, the Earl of Hertford and the other noblemen +interested, said that they were promises to advance and enrich _them_. +So, the Earl of Hertford made himself DUKE OF SOMERSET, and made his +brother EDWARD SEYMOUR a baron; and there were various similar +promotions, all very agreeable to the parties concerned, and very +dutiful, no doubt, to the late King's memory. To be more dutiful still, +they made themselves rich out of the Church lands, and were very +comfortable. The new Duke of Somerset caused himself to be declared +PROTECTOR of the kingdom, and was, indeed, the King. + +As young Edward the Sixth had been brought up in the principles of the +Protestant religion, everybody knew that they would be maintained. But +Cranmer, to whom they were chiefly entrusted, advanced them steadily and +temperately. Many superstitious and ridiculous practices were stopped; +but practices which were harmless were not interfered with. + +The Duke of Somerset, the Protector, was anxious to have the young King +engaged in marriage to the young Queen of Scotland, in order to prevent +that princess from making an alliance with any foreign power; but, as a +large party in Scotland were unfavourable to this plan, he invaded that +country. His excuse for doing so was, that the Border men--that is, the +Scotch who lived in that part of the country where England and Scotland +joined--troubled the English very much. But there were two sides to this +question; for the English Border men troubled the Scotch too; and, +through many long years, there were perpetual border quarrels which gave +rise to numbers of old tales and songs. However, the Protector invaded +Scotland; and ARRAN, the Scottish Regent, with an army twice as large as +his, advanced to meet him. They encountered on the banks of the river +Esk, within a few miles of Edinburgh; and there, after a little skirmish, +the Protector made such moderate proposals, in offering to retire if the +Scotch would only engage not to marry their princess to any foreign +prince, that the Regent thought the English were afraid. But in this he +made a horrible mistake; for the English soldiers on land, and the +English sailors on the water, so set upon the Scotch, that they broke and +fled, and more than ten thousand of them were killed. It was a dreadful +battle, for the fugitives were slain without mercy. The ground for four +miles, all the way to Edinburgh, was strewn with dead men, and with arms, +and legs, and heads. Some hid themselves in streams and were drowned; +some threw away their armour and were killed running, almost naked; but +in this battle of Pinkey the English lost only two or three hundred men. +They were much better clothed than the Scotch; at the poverty of whose +appearance and country they were exceedingly astonished. + +A Parliament was called when Somerset came back, and it repealed the whip +with six strings, and did one or two other good things; though it +unhappily retained the punishment of burning for those people who did not +make believe to believe, in all religious matters, what the Government +had declared that they must and should believe. It also made a foolish +law (meant to put down beggars), that any man who lived idly and loitered +about for three days together, should be burned with a hot iron, made a +slave, and wear an iron fetter. But this savage absurdity soon came to +an end, and went the way of a great many other foolish laws. + +The Protector was now so proud that he sat in Parliament before all the +nobles, on the right hand of the throne. Many other noblemen, who only +wanted to be as proud if they could get a chance, became his enemies of +course; and it is supposed that he came back suddenly from Scotland +because he had received news that his brother, LORD SEYMOUR, was becoming +dangerous to him. This lord was now High Admiral of England; a very +handsome man, and a great favourite with the Court ladies--even with the +young Princess Elizabeth, who romped with him a little more than young +princesses in these times do with any one. He had married Catherine +Parr, the late King's widow, who was now dead; and, to strengthen his +power, he secretly supplied the young King with money. He may even have +engaged with some of his brother's enemies in a plot to carry the boy +off. On these and other accusations, at any rate, he was confined in the +Tower, impeached, and found guilty; his own brother's name +being--unnatural and sad to tell--the first signed to the warrant of his +execution. He was executed on Tower Hill, and died denying his treason. +One of his last proceedings in this world was to write two letters, one +to the Princess Elizabeth, and one to the Princess Mary, which a servant +of his took charge of, and concealed in his shoe. These letters are +supposed to have urged them against his brother, and to revenge his +death. What they truly contained is not known; but there is no doubt +that he had, at one time, obtained great influence over the Princess +Elizabeth. + +All this while, the Protestant religion was making progress. The images +which the people had gradually come to worship, were removed from the +churches; the people were informed that they need not confess themselves +to priests unless they chose; a common prayer-book was drawn up in the +English language, which all could understand, and many other improvements +were made; still moderately. For Cranmer was a very moderate man, and +even restrained the Protestant clergy from violently abusing the +unreformed religion--as they very often did, and which was not a good +example. But the people were at this time in great distress. The +rapacious nobility who had come into possession of the Church lands, were +very bad landlords. They enclosed great quantities of ground for the +feeding of sheep, which was then more profitable than the growing of +crops; and this increased the general distress. So the people, who still +understood little of what was going on about them, and still readily +believed what the homeless monks told them--many of whom had been their +good friends in their better days--took it into their heads that all this +was owing to the reformed religion, and therefore rose, in many parts of +the country. + +The most powerful risings were in Devonshire and Norfolk. In Devonshire, +the rebellion was so strong that ten thousand men united within a few +days, and even laid siege to Exeter. But LORD RUSSELL, coming to the +assistance of the citizens who defended that town, defeated the rebels; +and, not only hanged the Mayor of one place, but hanged the vicar of +another from his own church steeple. What with hanging and killing by +the sword, four thousand of the rebels are supposed to have fallen in +that one county. In Norfolk (where the rising was more against the +enclosure of open lands than against the reformed religion), the popular +leader was a man named ROBERT KET, a tanner of Wymondham. The mob were, +in the first instance, excited against the tanner by one JOHN FLOWERDEW, +a gentleman who owed him a grudge: but the tanner was more than a match +for the gentleman, since he soon got the people on his side, and +established himself near Norwich with quite an army. There was a large +oak-tree in that place, on a spot called Moushold Hill, which Ket named +the Tree of Reformation; and under its green boughs, he and his men sat, +in the midsummer weather, holding courts of justice, and debating affairs +of state. They were even impartial enough to allow some rather tiresome +public speakers to get up into this Tree of Reformation, and point out +their errors to them, in long discourses, while they lay listening (not +always without some grumbling and growling) in the shade below. At last, +one sunny July day, a herald appeared below the tree, and proclaimed Ket +and all his men traitors, unless from that moment they dispersed and went +home: in which case they were to receive a pardon. But, Ket and his men +made light of the herald and became stronger than ever, until the Earl of +Warwick went after them with a sufficient force, and cut them all to +pieces. A few were hanged, drawn, and quartered, as traitors, and their +limbs were sent into various country places to be a terror to the people. +Nine of them were hanged upon nine green branches of the Oak of +Reformation; and so, for the time, that tree may be said to have withered +away. + +The Protector, though a haughty man, had compassion for the real +distresses of the common people, and a sincere desire to help them. But +he was too proud and too high in degree to hold even their favour +steadily; and many of the nobles always envied and hated him, because +they were as proud and not as high as he. He was at this time building a +great Palace in the Strand: to get the stone for which he blew up church +steeples with gunpowder, and pulled down bishops' houses: thus making +himself still more disliked. At length, his principal enemy, the Earl of +Warwick--Dudley by name, and the son of that Dudley who had made himself +so odious with Empson, in the reign of Henry the Seventh--joined with +seven other members of the Council against him, formed a separate +Council; and, becoming stronger in a few days, sent him to the Tower +under twenty-nine articles of accusation. After being sentenced by the +Council to the forfeiture of all his offices and lands, he was liberated +and pardoned, on making a very humble submission. He was even taken back +into the Council again, after having suffered this fall, and married his +daughter, LADY ANNE SEYMOUR, to Warwick's eldest son. But such a +reconciliation was little likely to last, and did not outlive a year. +Warwick, having got himself made Duke of Northumberland, and having +advanced the more important of his friends, then finished the history by +causing the Duke of Somerset and his friend LORD GREY, and others, to be +arrested for treason, in having conspired to seize and dethrone the King. +They were also accused of having intended to seize the new Duke of +Northumberland, with his friends LORD NORTHAMPTON and LORD PEMBROKE; to +murder them if they found need; and to raise the City to revolt. All +this the fallen Protector positively denied; except that he confessed to +having spoken of the murder of those three noblemen, but having never +designed it. He was acquitted of the charge of treason, and found guilty +of the other charges; so when the people--who remembered his having been +their friend, now that he was disgraced and in danger, saw him come out +from his trial with the axe turned from him--they thought he was +altogether acquitted, and sent up a loud shout of joy. + +But the Duke of Somerset was ordered to be beheaded on Tower Hill, at +eight o'clock in the morning, and proclamations were issued bidding the +citizens keep at home until after ten. They filled the streets, however, +and crowded the place of execution as soon as it was light; and, with sad +faces and sad hearts, saw the once powerful Protector ascend the scaffold +to lay his head upon the dreadful block. While he was yet saying his +last words to them with manly courage, and telling them, in particular, +how it comforted him, at that pass, to have assisted in reforming the +national religion, a member of the Council was seen riding up on +horseback. They again thought that the Duke was saved by his bringing a +reprieve, and again shouted for joy. But the Duke himself told them they +were mistaken, and laid down his head and had it struck off at a blow. + +Many of the bystanders rushed forward and steeped their handkerchiefs in +his blood, as a mark of their affection. He had, indeed, been capable of +many good acts, and one of them was discovered after he was no more. The +Bishop of Durham, a very good man, had been informed against to the +Council, when the Duke was in power, as having answered a treacherous +letter proposing a rebellion against the reformed religion. As the +answer could not be found, he could not be declared guilty; but it was +now discovered, hidden by the Duke himself among some private papers, in +his regard for that good man. The Bishop lost his office, and was +deprived of his possessions. + +It is not very pleasant to know that while his uncle lay in prison under +sentence of death, the young King was being vastly entertained by plays, +and dances, and sham fights: but there is no doubt of it, for he kept a +journal himself. It is pleasanter to know that not a single Roman +Catholic was burnt in this reign for holding that religion; though two +wretched victims suffered for heresy. One, a woman named JOAN BOCHER, +for professing some opinions that even she could only explain in +unintelligible jargon. The other, a Dutchman, named VON PARIS, who +practised as a surgeon in London. Edward was, to his credit, exceedingly +unwilling to sign the warrant for the woman's execution: shedding tears +before he did so, and telling Cranmer, who urged him to do it (though +Cranmer really would have spared the woman at first, but for her own +determined obstinacy), that the guilt was not his, but that of the man +who so strongly urged the dreadful act. We shall see, too soon, whether +the time ever came when Cranmer is likely to have remembered this with +sorrow and remorse. + +Cranmer and RIDLEY (at first Bishop of Rochester, and afterwards Bishop +of London) were the most powerful of the clergy of this reign. Others +were imprisoned and deprived of their property for still adhering to the +unreformed religion; the most important among whom were GARDINER Bishop +of Winchester, HEATH Bishop of Worcester, DAY Bishop of Chichester, and +BONNER that Bishop of London who was superseded by Ridley. The Princess +Mary, who inherited her mother's gloomy temper, and hated the reformed +religion as connected with her mother's wrongs and sorrows--she knew +nothing else about it, always refusing to read a single book in which it +was truly described--held by the unreformed religion too, and was the +only person in the kingdom for whom the old Mass was allowed to be +performed; nor would the young King have made that exception even in her +favour, but for the strong persuasions of Cranmer and Ridley. He always +viewed it with horror; and when he fell into a sickly condition, after +having been very ill, first of the measles and then of the small-pox, he +was greatly troubled in mind to think that if he died, and she, the next +heir to the throne, succeeded, the Roman Catholic religion would be set +up again. + +This uneasiness, the Duke of Northumberland was not slow to encourage: +for, if the Princess Mary came to the throne, he, who had taken part with +the Protestants, was sure to be disgraced. Now, the Duchess of Suffolk +was descended from King Henry the Seventh; and, if she resigned what +little or no right she had, in favour of her daughter LADY JANE GREY, +that would be the succession to promote the Duke's greatness; because +LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY, one of his sons, was, at this very time, newly +married to her. So, he worked upon the King's fears, and persuaded him +to set aside both the Princess Mary and the Princess Elizabeth, and +assert his right to appoint his successor. Accordingly the young King +handed to the Crown lawyers a writing signed half a dozen times over by +himself, appointing Lady Jane Grey to succeed to the Crown, and requiring +them to have his will made out according to law. They were much against +it at first, and told the King so; but the Duke of Northumberland--being +so violent about it that the lawyers even expected him to beat them, and +hotly declaring that, stripped to his shirt, he would fight any man in +such a quarrel--they yielded. Cranmer, also, at first hesitated; +pleading that he had sworn to maintain the succession of the Crown to the +Princess Mary; but, he was a weak man in his resolutions, and afterwards +signed the document with the rest of the council. + +It was completed none too soon; for Edward was now sinking in a rapid +decline; and, by way of making him better, they handed him over to a +woman-doctor who pretended to be able to cure it. He speedily got worse. +On the sixth of July, in the year one thousand five hundred and fifty- +three, he died, very peaceably and piously, praying God, with his last +breath, to protect the reformed religion. + +This King died in the sixteenth year of his age, and in the seventh of +his reign. It is difficult to judge what the character of one so young +might afterwards have become among so many bad, ambitious, quarrelling +nobles. But, he was an amiable boy, of very good abilities, and had +nothing coarse or cruel or brutal in his disposition--which in the son of +such a father is rather surprising. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX--ENGLAND UNDER MARY + + +The Duke of Northumberland was very anxious to keep the young King's +death a secret, in order that he might get the two Princesses into his +power. But, the Princess Mary, being informed of that event as she was +on her way to London to see her sick brother, turned her horse's head, +and rode away into Norfolk. The Earl of Arundel was her friend, and it +was he who sent her warning of what had happened. + +As the secret could not be kept, the Duke of Northumberland and the +council sent for the Lord Mayor of London and some of the aldermen, and +made a merit of telling it to them. Then, they made it known to the +people, and set off to inform Lady Jane Grey that she was to be Queen. + +She was a pretty girl of only sixteen, and was amiable, learned, and +clever. When the lords who came to her, fell on their knees before her, +and told her what tidings they brought, she was so astonished that she +fainted. On recovering, she expressed her sorrow for the young King's +death, and said that she knew she was unfit to govern the kingdom; but +that if she must be Queen, she prayed God to direct her. She was then at +Sion House, near Brentford; and the lords took her down the river in +state to the Tower, that she might remain there (as the custom was) until +she was crowned. But the people were not at all favourable to Lady Jane, +considering that the right to be Queen was Mary's, and greatly disliking +the Duke of Northumberland. They were not put into a better humour by +the Duke's causing a vintner's servant, one Gabriel Pot, to be taken up +for expressing his dissatisfaction among the crowd, and to have his ears +nailed to the pillory, and cut off. Some powerful men among the nobility +declared on Mary's side. They raised troops to support her cause, had +her proclaimed Queen at Norwich, and gathered around her at the castle of +Framlingham, which belonged to the Duke of Norfolk. For, she was not +considered so safe as yet, but that it was best to keep her in a castle +on the sea-coast, from whence she might be sent abroad, if necessary. + +The Council would have despatched Lady Jane's father, the Duke of +Suffolk, as the general of the army against this force; but, as Lady Jane +implored that her father might remain with her, and as he was known to be +but a weak man, they told the Duke of Northumberland that he must take +the command himself. He was not very ready to do so, as he mistrusted +the Council much; but there was no help for it, and he set forth with a +heavy heart, observing to a lord who rode beside him through Shoreditch +at the head of the troops, that, although the people pressed in great +numbers to look at them, they were terribly silent. + +And his fears for himself turned out to be well founded. While he was +waiting at Cambridge for further help from the Council, the Council took +it into their heads to turn their backs on Lady Jane's cause, and to take +up the Princess Mary's. This was chiefly owing to the before-mentioned +Earl of Arundel, who represented to the Lord Mayor and aldermen, in a +second interview with those sagacious persons, that, as for himself, he +did not perceive the Reformed religion to be in much danger--which Lord +Pembroke backed by flourishing his sword as another kind of persuasion. +The Lord Mayor and aldermen, thus enlightened, said there could be no +doubt that the Princess Mary ought to be Queen. So, she was proclaimed +at the Cross by St. Paul's, and barrels of wine were given to the people, +and they got very drunk, and danced round blazing bonfires--little +thinking, poor wretches, what other bonfires would soon be blazing in +Queen Mary's name. + +After a ten days' dream of royalty, Lady Jane Grey resigned the Crown +with great willingness, saying that she had only accepted it in obedience +to her father and mother; and went gladly back to her pleasant house by +the river, and her books. Mary then came on towards London; and at +Wanstead in Essex, was joined by her half-sister, the Princess Elizabeth. +They passed through the streets of London to the Tower, and there the new +Queen met some eminent prisoners then confined in it, kissed them, and +gave them their liberty. Among these was that Gardiner, Bishop of +Winchester, who had been imprisoned in the last reign for holding to the +unreformed religion. Him she soon made chancellor. + +The Duke of Northumberland had been taken prisoner, and, together with +his son and five others, was quickly brought before the Council. He, not +unnaturally, asked that Council, in his defence, whether it was treason +to obey orders that had been issued under the great seal; and, if it +were, whether they, who had obeyed them too, ought to be his judges? But +they made light of these points; and, being resolved to have him out of +the way, soon sentenced him to death. He had risen into power upon the +death of another man, and made but a poor show (as might be expected) +when he himself lay low. He entreated Gardiner to let him live, if it +were only in a mouse's hole; and, when he ascended the scaffold to be +beheaded on Tower Hill, addressed the people in a miserable way, saying +that he had been incited by others, and exhorting them to return to the +unreformed religion, which he told them was his faith. There seems +reason to suppose that he expected a pardon even then, in return for this +confession; but it matters little whether he did or not. His head was +struck off. + +Mary was now crowned Queen. She was thirty-seven years of age, short and +thin, wrinkled in the face, and very unhealthy. But she had a great +liking for show and for bright colours, and all the ladies of her Court +were magnificently dressed. She had a great liking too for old customs, +without much sense in them; and she was oiled in the oldest way, and +blessed in the oldest way, and done all manner of things to in the oldest +way, at her coronation. I hope they did her good. + +She soon began to show her desire to put down the Reformed religion, and +put up the unreformed one: though it was dangerous work as yet, the +people being something wiser than they used to be. They even cast a +shower of stones--and among them a dagger--at one of the royal chaplains +who attacked the Reformed religion in a public sermon. But the Queen and +her priests went steadily on. Ridley, the powerful bishop of the last +reign, was seized and sent to the Tower. LATIMER, also celebrated among +the Clergy of the last reign, was likewise sent to the Tower, and Cranmer +speedily followed. Latimer was an aged man; and, as his guards took him +through Smithfield, he looked round it, and said, 'This is a place that +hath long groaned for me.' For he knew well, what kind of bonfires would +soon be burning. Nor was the knowledge confined to him. The prisons +were fast filled with the chief Protestants, who were there left rotting +in darkness, hunger, dirt, and separation from their friends; many, who +had time left them for escape, fled from the kingdom; and the dullest of +the people began, now, to see what was coming. + +It came on fast. A Parliament was got together; not without strong +suspicion of unfairness; and they annulled the divorce, formerly +pronounced by Cranmer between the Queen's mother and King Henry the +Eighth, and unmade all the laws on the subject of religion that had been +made in the last King Edward's reign. They began their proceedings, in +violation of the law, by having the old mass said before them in Latin, +and by turning out a bishop who would not kneel down. They also declared +guilty of treason, Lady Jane Grey for aspiring to the Crown; her husband, +for being her husband; and Cranmer, for not believing in the mass +aforesaid. They then prayed the Queen graciously to choose a husband for +herself, as soon as might be. + +Now, the question who should be the Queen's husband had given rise to a +great deal of discussion, and to several contending parties. Some said +Cardinal Pole was the man--but the Queen was of opinion that he was _not_ +the man, he being too old and too much of a student. Others said that +the gallant young COURTENAY, whom the Queen had made Earl of Devonshire, +was the man--and the Queen thought so too, for a while; but she changed +her mind. At last it appeared that PHILIP, PRINCE OF SPAIN, was +certainly the man--though certainly not the people's man; for they +detested the idea of such a marriage from the beginning to the end, and +murmured that the Spaniard would establish in England, by the aid of +foreign soldiers, the worst abuses of the Popish religion, and even the +terrible Inquisition itself. + +These discontents gave rise to a conspiracy for marrying young Courtenay +to the Princess Elizabeth, and setting them up, with popular tumults all +over the kingdom, against the Queen. This was discovered in time by +Gardiner; but in Kent, the old bold county, the people rose in their old +bold way. SIR THOMAS WYAT, a man of great daring, was their leader. He +raised his standard at Maidstone, marched on to Rochester, established +himself in the old castle there, and prepared to hold out against the +Duke of Norfolk, who came against him with a party of the Queen's guards, +and a body of five hundred London men. The London men, however, were all +for Elizabeth, and not at all for Mary. They declared, under the castle +walls, for Wyat; the Duke retreated; and Wyat came on to Deptford, at the +head of fifteen thousand men. + +But these, in their turn, fell away. When he came to Southwark, there +were only two thousand left. Not dismayed by finding the London citizens +in arms, and the guns at the Tower ready to oppose his crossing the river +there, Wyat led them off to Kingston-upon-Thames, intending to cross the +bridge that he knew to be in that place, and so to work his way round to +Ludgate, one of the old gates of the City. He found the bridge broken +down, but mended it, came across, and bravely fought his way up Fleet +Street to Ludgate Hill. Finding the gate closed against him, he fought +his way back again, sword in hand, to Temple Bar. Here, being +overpowered, he surrendered himself, and three or four hundred of his men +were taken, besides a hundred killed. Wyat, in a moment of weakness (and +perhaps of torture) was afterwards made to accuse the Princess Elizabeth +as his accomplice to some very small extent. But his manhood soon +returned to him, and he refused to save his life by making any more false +confessions. He was quartered and distributed in the usual brutal way, +and from fifty to a hundred of his followers were hanged. The rest were +led out, with halters round their necks, to be pardoned, and to make a +parade of crying out, 'God save Queen Mary!' + +In the danger of this rebellion, the Queen showed herself to be a woman +of courage and spirit. She disdained to retreat to any place of safety, +and went down to the Guildhall, sceptre in hand, and made a gallant +speech to the Lord Mayor and citizens. But on the day after Wyat's +defeat, she did the most cruel act, even of her cruel reign, in signing +the warrant for the execution of Lady Jane Grey. + +They tried to persuade Lady Jane to accept the unreformed religion; but +she steadily refused. On the morning when she was to die, she saw from +her window the bleeding and headless body of her husband brought back in +a cart from the scaffold on Tower Hill where he had laid down his life. +But, as she had declined to see him before his execution, lest she should +be overpowered and not make a good end, so, she even now showed a +constancy and calmness that will never be forgotten. She came up to the +scaffold with a firm step and a quiet face, and addressed the bystanders +in a steady voice. They were not numerous; for she was too young, too +innocent and fair, to be murdered before the people on Tower Hill, as her +husband had just been; so, the place of her execution was within the +Tower itself. She said that she had done an unlawful act in taking what +was Queen Mary's right; but that she had done so with no bad intent, and +that she died a humble Christian. She begged the executioner to despatch +her quickly, and she asked him, 'Will you take my head off before I lay +me down?' He answered, 'No, Madam,' and then she was very quiet while +they bandaged her eyes. Being blinded, and unable to see the block on +which she was to lay her young head, she was seen to feel about for it +with her hands, and was heard to say, confused, 'O what shall I do! Where +is it?' Then they guided her to the right place, and the executioner +struck off her head. You know too well, now, what dreadful deeds the +executioner did in England, through many, many years, and how his axe +descended on the hateful block through the necks of some of the bravest, +wisest, and best in the land. But it never struck so cruel and so vile a +blow as this. + +The father of Lady Jane soon followed, but was little pitied. Queen +Mary's next object was to lay hold of Elizabeth, and this was pursued +with great eagerness. Five hundred men were sent to her retired house at +Ashridge, by Berkhampstead, with orders to bring her up, alive or dead. +They got there at ten at night, when she was sick in bed. But, their +leaders followed her lady into her bedchamber, whence she was brought out +betimes next morning, and put into a litter to be conveyed to London. She +was so weak and ill, that she was five days on the road; still, she was +so resolved to be seen by the people that she had the curtains of the +litter opened; and so, very pale and sickly, passed through the streets. +She wrote to her sister, saying she was innocent of any crime, and asking +why she was made a prisoner; but she got no answer, and was ordered to +the Tower. They took her in by the Traitor's Gate, to which she +objected, but in vain. One of the lords who conveyed her offered to +cover her with his cloak, as it was raining, but she put it away from +her, proudly and scornfully, and passed into the Tower, and sat down in a +court-yard on a stone. They besought her to come in out of the wet; but +she answered that it was better sitting there, than in a worse place. At +length she went to her apartment, where she was kept a prisoner, though +not so close a prisoner as at Woodstock, whither she was afterwards +removed, and where she is said to have one day envied a milkmaid whom she +heard singing in the sunshine as she went through the green fields. +Gardiner, than whom there were not many worse men among the fierce and +sullen priests, cared little to keep secret his stern desire for her +death: being used to say that it was of little service to shake off the +leaves, and lop the branches of the tree of heresy, if its root, the hope +of heretics, were left. He failed, however, in his benevolent design. +Elizabeth was, at length, released; and Hatfield House was assigned to +her as a residence, under the care of one SIR THOMAS POPE. + +It would seem that Philip, the Prince of Spain, was a main cause of this +change in Elizabeth's fortunes. He was not an amiable man, being, on the +contrary, proud, overbearing, and gloomy; but he and the Spanish lords +who came over with him, assuredly did discountenance the idea of doing +any violence to the Princess. It may have been mere prudence, but we +will hope it was manhood and honour. The Queen had been expecting her +husband with great impatience, and at length he came, to her great joy, +though he never cared much for her. They were married by Gardiner, at +Winchester, and there was more holiday-making among the people; but they +had their old distrust of this Spanish marriage, in which even the +Parliament shared. Though the members of that Parliament were far from +honest, and were strongly suspected to have been bought with Spanish +money, they would pass no bill to enable the Queen to set aside the +Princess Elizabeth and appoint her own successor. + +Although Gardiner failed in this object, as well as in the darker one of +bringing the Princess to the scaffold, he went on at a great pace in the +revival of the unreformed religion. A new Parliament was packed, in +which there were no Protestants. Preparations were made to receive +Cardinal Pole in England as the Pope's messenger, bringing his holy +declaration that all the nobility who had acquired Church property, +should keep it--which was done to enlist their selfish interest on the +Pope's side. Then a great scene was enacted, which was the triumph of +the Queen's plans. Cardinal Pole arrived in great splendour and dignity, +and was received with great pomp. The Parliament joined in a petition +expressive of their sorrow at the change in the national religion, and +praying him to receive the country again into the Popish Church. With +the Queen sitting on her throne, and the King on one side of her, and the +Cardinal on the other, and the Parliament present, Gardiner read the +petition aloud. The Cardinal then made a great speech, and was so +obliging as to say that all was forgotten and forgiven, and that the +kingdom was solemnly made Roman Catholic again. + +Everything was now ready for the lighting of the terrible bonfires. The +Queen having declared to the Council, in writing, that she would wish +none of her subjects to be burnt without some of the Council being +present, and that she would particularly wish there to be good sermons at +all burnings, the Council knew pretty well what was to be done next. So, +after the Cardinal had blessed all the bishops as a preface to the +burnings, the Chancellor Gardiner opened a High Court at Saint Mary +Overy, on the Southwark side of London Bridge, for the trial of heretics. +Here, two of the late Protestant clergymen, HOOPER, Bishop of Gloucester, +and ROGERS, a Prebendary of St. Paul's, were brought to be tried. Hooper +was tried first for being married, though a priest, and for not believing +in the mass. He admitted both of these accusations, and said that the +mass was a wicked imposition. Then they tried Rogers, who said the same. +Next morning the two were brought up to be sentenced; and then Rogers +said that his poor wife, being a German woman and a stranger in the land, +he hoped might be allowed to come to speak to him before he died. To +this the inhuman Gardiner replied, that she was not his wife. 'Yea, but +she is, my lord,' said Rogers, 'and she hath been my wife these eighteen +years.' His request was still refused, and they were both sent to +Newgate; all those who stood in the streets to sell things, being ordered +to put out their lights that the people might not see them. But, the +people stood at their doors with candles in their hands, and prayed for +them as they went by. Soon afterwards, Rogers was taken out of jail to +be burnt in Smithfield; and, in the crowd as he went along, he saw his +poor wife and his ten children, of whom the youngest was a little baby. +And so he was burnt to death. + +The next day, Hooper, who was to be burnt at Gloucester, was brought out +to take his last journey, and was made to wear a hood over his face that +he might not be known by the people. But, they did know him for all +that, down in his own part of the country; and, when he came near +Gloucester, they lined the road, making prayers and lamentations. His +guards took him to a lodging, where he slept soundly all night. At nine +o'clock next morning, he was brought forth leaning on a staff; for he had +taken cold in prison, and was infirm. The iron stake, and the iron chain +which was to bind him to it, were fixed up near a great elm-tree in a +pleasant open place before the cathedral, where, on peaceful Sundays, he +had been accustomed to preach and to pray, when he was bishop of +Gloucester. This tree, which had no leaves then, it being February, was +filled with people; and the priests of Gloucester College were looking +complacently on from a window, and there was a great concourse of +spectators in every spot from which a glimpse of the dreadful sight could +be beheld. When the old man kneeled down on the small platform at the +foot of the stake, and prayed aloud, the nearest people were observed to +be so attentive to his prayers that they were ordered to stand farther +back; for it did not suit the Romish Church to have those Protestant +words heard. His prayers concluded, he went up to the stake and was +stripped to his shirt, and chained ready for the fire. One of his guards +had such compassion on him that, to shorten his agonies, he tied some +packets of gunpowder about him. Then they heaped up wood and straw and +reeds, and set them all alight. But, unhappily, the wood was green and +damp, and there was a wind blowing that blew what flame there was, away. +Thus, through three-quarters of an hour, the good old man was scorched +and roasted and smoked, as the fire rose and sank; and all that time they +saw him, as he burned, moving his lips in prayer, and beating his breast +with one hand, even after the other was burnt away and had fallen off. + +Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, were taken to Oxford to dispute with a +commission of priests and doctors about the mass. They were shamefully +treated; and it is recorded that the Oxford scholars hissed and howled +and groaned, and misconducted themselves in an anything but a scholarly +way. The prisoners were taken back to jail, and afterwards tried in St. +Mary's Church. They were all found guilty. On the sixteenth of the +month of October, Ridley and Latimer were brought out, to make another of +the dreadful bonfires. + +The scene of the suffering of these two good Protestant men was in the +City ditch, near Baliol College. On coming to the dreadful spot, they +kissed the stakes, and then embraced each other. And then a learned +doctor got up into a pulpit which was placed there, and preached a sermon +from the text, 'Though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, +it profiteth me nothing.' When you think of the charity of burning men +alive, you may imagine that this learned doctor had a rather brazen face. +Ridley would have answered his sermon when it came to an end, but was not +allowed. When Latimer was stripped, it appeared that he had dressed +himself under his other clothes, in a new shroud; and, as he stood in it +before all the people, it was noted of him, and long remembered, that, +whereas he had been stooping and feeble but a few minutes before, he now +stood upright and handsome, in the knowledge that he was dying for a just +and a great cause. Ridley's brother-in-law was there with bags of +gunpowder; and when they were both chained up, he tied them round their +bodies. Then, a light was thrown upon the pile to fire it. 'Be of good +comfort, Master Ridley,' said Latimer, at that awful moment, 'and play +the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in +England, as I trust shall never be put out.' And then he was seen to +make motions with his hands as if he were washing them in the flames, and +to stroke his aged face with them, and was heard to cry, 'Father of +Heaven, receive my soul!' He died quickly, but the fire, after having +burned the legs of Ridley, sunk. There he lingered, chained to the iron +post, and crying, 'O! I cannot burn! O! for Christ's sake let the fire +come unto me!' And still, when his brother-in-law had heaped on more +wood, he was heard through the blinding smoke, still dismally crying, 'O! +I cannot burn, I cannot burn!' At last, the gunpowder caught fire, and +ended his miseries. + +Five days after this fearful scene, Gardiner went to his tremendous +account before God, for the cruelties he had so much assisted in +committing. + +Cranmer remained still alive and in prison. He was brought out again in +February, for more examining and trying, by Bonner, Bishop of London: +another man of blood, who had succeeded to Gardiner's work, even in his +lifetime, when Gardiner was tired of it. Cranmer was now degraded as a +priest, and left for death; but, if the Queen hated any one on earth, she +hated him, and it was resolved that he should be ruined and disgraced to +the utmost. There is no doubt that the Queen and her husband personally +urged on these deeds, because they wrote to the Council, urging them to +be active in the kindling of the fearful fires. As Cranmer was known not +to be a firm man, a plan was laid for surrounding him with artful people, +and inducing him to recant to the unreformed religion. Deans and friars +visited him, played at bowls with him, showed him various attentions, +talked persuasively with him, gave him money for his prison comforts, and +induced him to sign, I fear, as many as six recantations. But when, +after all, he was taken out to be burnt, he was nobly true to his better +self, and made a glorious end. + +After prayers and a sermon, Dr. Cole, the preacher of the day (who had +been one of the artful priests about Cranmer in prison), required him to +make a public confession of his faith before the people. This, Cole did, +expecting that he would declare himself a Roman Catholic. 'I will make a +profession of my faith,' said Cranmer, 'and with a good will too.' + +Then, he arose before them all, and took from the sleeve of his robe a +written prayer and read it aloud. That done, he kneeled and said the +Lord's Prayer, all the people joining; and then he arose again and told +them that he believed in the Bible, and that in what he had lately +written, he had written what was not the truth, and that, because his +right hand had signed those papers, he would burn his right hand first +when he came to the fire. As for the Pope, he did refuse him and +denounce him as the enemy of Heaven. Hereupon the pious Dr. Cole cried +out to the guards to stop that heretic's mouth and take him away. + +So they took him away, and chained him to the stake, where he hastily +took off his own clothes to make ready for the flames. And he stood +before the people with a bald head and a white and flowing beard. He was +so firm now when the worst was come, that he again declared against his +recantation, and was so impressive and so undismayed, that a certain +lord, who was one of the directors of the execution, called out to the +men to make haste! When the fire was lighted, Cranmer, true to his +latest word, stretched out his right hand, and crying out, 'This hand +hath offended!' held it among the flames, until it blazed and burned +away. His heart was found entire among his ashes, and he left at last a +memorable name in English history. Cardinal Pole celebrated the day by +saying his first mass, and next day he was made Archbishop of Canterbury +in Cranmer's place. + +The Queen's husband, who was now mostly abroad in his own dominions, and +generally made a coarse jest of her to his more familiar courtiers, was +at war with France, and came over to seek the assistance of England. +England was very unwilling to engage in a French war for his sake; but it +happened that the King of France, at this very time, aided a descent upon +the English coast. Hence, war was declared, greatly to Philip's +satisfaction; and the Queen raised a sum of money with which to carry it +on, by every unjustifiable means in her power. It met with no profitable +return, for the French Duke of Guise surprised Calais, and the English +sustained a complete defeat. The losses they met with in France greatly +mortified the national pride, and the Queen never recovered the blow. + +There was a bad fever raging in England at this time, and I am glad to +write that the Queen took it, and the hour of her death came. 'When I am +dead and my body is opened,' she said to those around those around her, +'ye shall find CALAIS written on my heart.' I should have thought, if +anything were written on it, they would have found the words--JANE GREY, +HOOPER, ROGERS, RIDLEY, LATIMER, CRANMER, AND THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE BURNT +ALIVE WITHIN FOUR YEARS OF MY WICKED REIGN, INCLUDING SIXTY WOMEN AND +FORTY LITTLE CHILDREN. But it is enough that their deaths were written +in Heaven. + +The Queen died on the seventeenth of November, fifteen hundred and fifty- +eight, after reigning not quite five years and a half, and in the forty- +fourth year of her age. Cardinal Pole died of the same fever next day. + +As BLOODY QUEEN MARY, this woman has become famous, and as BLOODY QUEEN +MARY, she will ever be justly remembered with horror and detestation in +Great Britain. Her memory has been held in such abhorrence that some +writers have arisen in later years to take her part, and to show that she +was, upon the whole, quite an amiable and cheerful sovereign! 'By their +fruits ye shall know them,' said OUR SAVIOUR. The stake and the fire +were the fruits of this reign, and you will judge this Queen by nothing +else. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI--ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH + + +There was great rejoicing all over the land when the Lords of the Council +went down to Hatfield, to hail the Princess Elizabeth as the new Queen of +England. Weary of the barbarities of Mary's reign, the people looked +with hope and gladness to the new Sovereign. The nation seemed to wake +from a horrible dream; and Heaven, so long hidden by the smoke of the +fires that roasted men and women to death, appeared to brighten once +more. + +Queen Elizabeth was five-and-twenty years of age when she rode through +the streets of London, from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, to be +crowned. Her countenance was strongly marked, but on the whole, +commanding and dignified; her hair was red, and her nose something too +long and sharp for a woman's. She was not the beautiful creature her +courtiers made out; but she was well enough, and no doubt looked all the +better for coming after the dark and gloomy Mary. She was well educated, +but a roundabout writer, and rather a hard swearer and coarse talker. She +was clever, but cunning and deceitful, and inherited much of her father's +violent temper. I mention this now, because she has been so over-praised +by one party, and so over-abused by another, that it is hardly possible +to understand the greater part of her reign without first understanding +what kind of woman she really was. + +She began her reign with the great advantage of having a very wise and +careful Minister, SIR WILLIAM CECIL, whom she afterwards made LORD +BURLEIGH. Altogether, the people had greater reason for rejoicing than +they usually had, when there were processions in the streets; and they +were happy with some reason. All kinds of shows and images were set up; +GOG and MAGOG were hoisted to the top of Temple Bar, and (which was more +to the purpose) the Corporation dutifully presented the young Queen with +the sum of a thousand marks in gold--so heavy a present, that she was +obliged to take it into her carriage with both hands. The coronation was +a great success; and, on the next day, one of the courtiers presented a +petition to the new Queen, praying that as it was the custom to release +some prisoners on such occasions, she would have the goodness to release +the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and also the Apostle +Saint Paul, who had been for some time shut up in a strange language so +that the people could not get at them. + +To this, the Queen replied that it would be better first to inquire of +themselves whether they desired to be released or not; and, as a means of +finding out, a great public discussion--a sort of religious +tournament--was appointed to take place between certain champions of the +two religions, in Westminster Abbey. You may suppose that it was soon +made pretty clear to common sense, that for people to benefit by what +they repeat or read, it is rather necessary they should understand +something about it. Accordingly, a Church Service in plain English was +settled, and other laws and regulations were made, completely +establishing the great work of the Reformation. The Romish bishops and +champions were not harshly dealt with, all things considered; and the +Queen's Ministers were both prudent and merciful. + +The one great trouble of this reign, and the unfortunate cause of the +greater part of such turmoil and bloodshed as occurred in it, was MARY +STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS. We will try to understand, in as few words as +possible, who Mary was, what she was, and how she came to be a thorn in +the royal pillow of Elizabeth. + +She was the daughter of the Queen Regent of Scotland, MARY OF GUISE. She +had been married, when a mere child, to the Dauphin, the son and heir of +the King of France. The Pope, who pretended that no one could rightfully +wear the crown of England without his gracious permission, was strongly +opposed to Elizabeth, who had not asked for the said gracious permission. +And as Mary Queen of Scots would have inherited the English crown in +right of her birth, supposing the English Parliament not to have altered +the succession, the Pope himself, and most of the discontented who were +followers of his, maintained that Mary was the rightful Queen of England, +and Elizabeth the wrongful Queen. Mary being so closely connected with +France, and France being jealous of England, there was far greater danger +in this than there would have been if she had had no alliance with that +great power. And when her young husband, on the death of his father, +became FRANCIS THE SECOND, King of France, the matter grew very serious. +For, the young couple styled themselves King and Queen of England, and +the Pope was disposed to help them by doing all the mischief he could. + +Now, the reformed religion, under the guidance of a stern and powerful +preacher, named JOHN KNOX, and other such men, had been making fierce +progress in Scotland. It was still a half savage country, where there +was a great deal of murdering and rioting continually going on; and the +Reformers, instead of reforming those evils as they should have done, +went to work in the ferocious old Scottish spirit, laying churches and +chapels waste, pulling down pictures and altars, and knocking about the +Grey Friars, and the Black Friars, and the White Friars, and the friars +of all sorts of colours, in all directions. This obdurate and harsh +spirit of the Scottish Reformers (the Scotch have always been rather a +sullen and frowning people in religious matters) put up the blood of the +Romish French court, and caused France to send troops over to Scotland, +with the hope of setting the friars of all sorts of colours on their legs +again; of conquering that country first, and England afterwards; and so +crushing the Reformation all to pieces. The Scottish Reformers, who had +formed a great league which they called The Congregation of the Lord, +secretly represented to Elizabeth that, if the reformed religion got the +worst of it with them, it would be likely to get the worst of it in +England too; and thus, Elizabeth, though she had a high notion of the +rights of Kings and Queens to do anything they liked, sent an army to +Scotland to support the Reformers, who were in arms against their +sovereign. All these proceedings led to a treaty of peace at Edinburgh, +under which the French consented to depart from the kingdom. By a +separate treaty, Mary and her young husband engaged to renounce their +assumed title of King and Queen of England. But this treaty they never +fulfilled. + +It happened, soon after matters had got to this state, that the young +French King died, leaving Mary a young widow. She was then invited by +her Scottish subjects to return home and reign over them; and as she was +not now happy where she was, she, after a little time, complied. + +Elizabeth had been Queen three years, when Mary Queen of Scots embarked +at Calais for her own rough, quarrelling country. As she came out of the +harbour, a vessel was lost before her eyes, and she said, 'O! good God! +what an omen this is for such a voyage!' She was very fond of France, +and sat on the deck, looking back at it and weeping, until it was quite +dark. When she went to bed, she directed to be called at daybreak, if +the French coast were still visible, that she might behold it for the +last time. As it proved to be a clear morning, this was done, and she +again wept for the country she was leaving, and said many times, +'Farewell, France! Farewell, France! I shall never see thee again!' All +this was long remembered afterwards, as sorrowful and interesting in a +fair young princess of nineteen. Indeed, I am afraid it gradually came, +together with her other distresses, to surround her with greater sympathy +than she deserved. + +When she came to Scotland, and took up her abode at the palace of +Holyrood in Edinburgh, she found herself among uncouth strangers and wild +uncomfortable customs very different from her experiences in the court of +France. The very people who were disposed to love her, made her head +ache when she was tired out by her voyage, with a serenade of discordant +music--a fearful concert of bagpipes, I suppose--and brought her and her +train home to her palace on miserable little Scotch horses that appeared +to be half starved. Among the people who were not disposed to love her, +she found the powerful leaders of the Reformed Church, who were bitter +upon her amusements, however innocent, and denounced music and dancing as +works of the devil. John Knox himself often lectured her, violently and +angrily, and did much to make her life unhappy. All these reasons +confirmed her old attachment to the Romish religion, and caused her, +there is no doubt, most imprudently and dangerously both for herself and +for England too, to give a solemn pledge to the heads of the Romish +Church that if she ever succeeded to the English crown, she would set up +that religion again. In reading her unhappy history, you must always +remember this; and also that during her whole life she was constantly put +forward against the Queen, in some form or other, by the Romish party. + +That Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not inclined to like her, is +pretty certain. Elizabeth was very vain and jealous, and had an +extraordinary dislike to people being married. She treated Lady +Catherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Lady Jane, with such shameful +severity, for no other reason than her being secretly married, that she +died and her husband was ruined; so, when a second marriage for Mary +began to be talked about, probably Elizabeth disliked her more. Not that +Elizabeth wanted suitors of her own, for they started up from Spain, +Austria, Sweden, and England. Her English lover at this time, and one +whom she much favoured too, was LORD ROBERT DUDLEY, Earl of +Leicester--himself secretly married to AMY ROBSART, the daughter of an +English gentleman, whom he was strongly suspected of causing to be +murdered, down at his country seat, Cumnor Hall in Berkshire, that he +might be free to marry the Queen. Upon this story, the great writer, SIR +WALTER SCOTT, has founded one of his best romances. But if Elizabeth +knew how to lead her handsome favourite on, for her own vanity and +pleasure, she knew how to stop him for her own pride; and his love, and +all the other proposals, came to nothing. The Queen always declared in +good set speeches, that she would never be married at all, but would live +and die a Maiden Queen. It was a very pleasant and meritorious +declaration, I suppose; but it has been puffed and trumpeted so much, +that I am rather tired of it myself. + +Divers princes proposed to marry Mary, but the English court had reasons +for being jealous of them all, and even proposed as a matter of policy +that she should marry that very Earl of Leicester who had aspired to be +the husband of Elizabeth. At last, LORD DARNLEY, son of the Earl of +Lennox, and himself descended from the Royal Family of Scotland, went +over with Elizabeth's consent to try his fortune at Holyrood. He was a +tall simpleton; and could dance and play the guitar; but I know of +nothing else he could do, unless it were to get very drunk, and eat +gluttonously, and make a contemptible spectacle of himself in many mean +and vain ways. However, he gained Mary's heart, not disdaining in the +pursuit of his object to ally himself with one of her secretaries, DAVID +RIZZIO, who had great influence with her. He soon married the Queen. +This marriage does not say much for her, but what followed will presently +say less. + +Mary's brother, the EARL OF MURRAY, and head of the Protestant party in +Scotland, had opposed this marriage, partly on religious grounds, and +partly perhaps from personal dislike of the very contemptible bridegroom. +When it had taken place, through Mary's gaining over to it the more +powerful of the lords about her, she banished Murray for his pains; and, +when he and some other nobles rose in arms to support the reformed +religion, she herself, within a month of her wedding day, rode against +them in armour with loaded pistols in her saddle. Driven out of +Scotland, they presented themselves before Elizabeth--who called them +traitors in public, and assisted them in private, according to her crafty +nature. + +Mary had been married but a little while, when she began to hate her +husband, who, in his turn, began to hate that David Rizzio, with whom he +had leagued to gain her favour, and whom he now believed to be her lover. +He hated Rizzio to that extent, that he made a compact with LORD RUTHVEN +and three other lords to get rid of him by murder. This wicked agreement +they made in solemn secrecy upon the first of March, fifteen hundred and +sixty-six, and on the night of Saturday the ninth, the conspirators were +brought by Darnley up a private staircase, dark and steep, into a range +of rooms where they knew that Mary was sitting at supper with her sister, +Lady Argyle, and this doomed man. When they went into the room, Darnley +took the Queen round the waist, and Lord Ruthven, who had risen from a +bed of sickness to do this murder, came in, gaunt and ghastly, leaning on +two men. Rizzio ran behind the Queen for shelter and protection. 'Let +him come out of the room,' said Ruthven. 'He shall not leave the room,' +replied the Queen; 'I read his danger in your face, and it is my will +that he remain here.' They then set upon him, struggled with him, +overturned the table, dragged him out, and killed him with fifty-six +stabs. When the Queen heard that he was dead, she said, 'No more tears. +I will think now of revenge!' + +Within a day or two, she gained her husband over, and prevailed on the +tall idiot to abandon the conspirators and fly with her to Dunbar. There, +he issued a proclamation, audaciously and falsely denying that he had any +knowledge of the late bloody business; and there they were joined by the +EARL BOTHWELL and some other nobles. With their help, they raised eight +thousand men; returned to Edinburgh, and drove the assassins into +England. Mary soon afterwards gave birth to a son--still thinking of +revenge. + +That she should have had a greater scorn for her husband after his late +cowardice and treachery than she had had before, was natural enough. +There is little doubt that she now began to love Bothwell instead, and to +plan with him means of getting rid of Darnley. Bothwell had such power +over her that he induced her even to pardon the assassins of Rizzio. The +arrangements for the Christening of the young Prince were entrusted to +him, and he was one of the most important people at the ceremony, where +the child was named JAMES: Elizabeth being his godmother, though not +present on the occasion. A week afterwards, Darnley, who had left Mary +and gone to his father's house at Glasgow, being taken ill with the small- +pox, she sent her own physician to attend him. But there is reason to +apprehend that this was merely a show and a pretence, and that she knew +what was doing, when Bothwell within another month proposed to one of the +late conspirators against Rizzio, to murder Darnley, 'for that it was the +Queen's mind that he should be taken away.' It is certain that on that +very day she wrote to her ambassador in France, complaining of him, and +yet went immediately to Glasgow, feigning to be very anxious about him, +and to love him very much. If she wanted to get him in her power, she +succeeded to her heart's content; for she induced him to go back with her +to Edinburgh, and to occupy, instead of the palace, a lone house outside +the city called the Kirk of Field. Here, he lived for about a week. One +Sunday night, she remained with him until ten o'clock, and then left him, +to go to Holyrood to be present at an entertainment given in celebration +of the marriage of one of her favourite servants. At two o'clock in the +morning the city was shaken by a great explosion, and the Kirk of Field +was blown to atoms. + +Darnley's body was found next day lying under a tree at some distance. +How it came there, undisfigured and unscorched by gunpowder, and how this +crime came to be so clumsily and strangely committed, it is impossible to +discover. The deceitful character of Mary, and the deceitful character +of Elizabeth, have rendered almost every part of their joint history +uncertain and obscure. But, I fear that Mary was unquestionably a party +to her husband's murder, and that this was the revenge she had +threatened. The Scotch people universally believed it. Voices cried out +in the streets of Edinburgh in the dead of the night, for justice on the +murderess. Placards were posted by unknown hands in the public places +denouncing Bothwell as the murderer, and the Queen as his accomplice; +and, when he afterwards married her (though himself already married), +previously making a show of taking her prisoner by force, the indignation +of the people knew no bounds. The women particularly are described as +having been quite frantic against the Queen, and to have hooted and cried +after her in the streets with terrific vehemence. + +Such guilty unions seldom prosper. This husband and wife had lived +together but a month, when they were separated for ever by the successes +of a band of Scotch nobles who associated against them for the protection +of the young Prince: whom Bothwell had vainly endeavoured to lay hold of, +and whom he would certainly have murdered, if the EARL OF MAR, in whose +hands the boy was, had not been firmly and honourably faithful to his +trust. Before this angry power, Bothwell fled abroad, where he died, a +prisoner and mad, nine miserable years afterwards. Mary being found by +the associated lords to deceive them at every turn, was sent a prisoner +to Lochleven Castle; which, as it stood in the midst of a lake, could +only be approached by boat. Here, one LORD LINDSAY, who was so much of a +brute that the nobles would have done better if they had chosen a mere +gentleman for their messenger, made her sign her abdication, and appoint +Murray, Regent of Scotland. Here, too, Murray saw her in a sorrowing and +humbled state. + +She had better have remained in the castle of Lochleven, dull prison as +it was, with the rippling of the lake against it, and the moving shadows +of the water on the room walls; but she could not rest there, and more +than once tried to escape. The first time she had nearly succeeded, +dressed in the clothes of her own washer-woman, but, putting up her hand +to prevent one of the boatmen from lifting her veil, the men suspected +her, seeing how white it was, and rowed her back again. A short time +afterwards, her fascinating manners enlisted in her cause a boy in the +Castle, called the little DOUGLAS, who, while the family were at supper, +stole the keys of the great gate, went softly out with the Queen, locked +the gate on the outside, and rowed her away across the lake, sinking the +keys as they went along. On the opposite shore she was met by another +Douglas, and some few lords; and, so accompanied, rode away on horseback +to Hamilton, where they raised three thousand men. Here, she issued a +proclamation declaring that the abdication she had signed in her prison +was illegal, and requiring the Regent to yield to his lawful Queen. Being +a steady soldier, and in no way discomposed although he was without an +army, Murray pretended to treat with her, until he had collected a force +about half equal to her own, and then he gave her battle. In one quarter +of an hour he cut down all her hopes. She had another weary ride on +horse-back of sixty long Scotch miles, and took shelter at Dundrennan +Abbey, whence she fled for safety to Elizabeth's dominions. + +Mary Queen of Scots came to England--to her own ruin, the trouble of the +kingdom, and the misery and death of many--in the year one thousand five +hundred and sixty-eight. How she left it and the world, nineteen years +afterwards, we have now to see. + + + +SECOND PART + + +When Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England, without money and even +without any other clothes than those she wore, she wrote to Elizabeth, +representing herself as an innocent and injured piece of Royalty, and +entreating her assistance to oblige her Scottish subjects to take her +back again and obey her. But, as her character was already known in +England to be a very different one from what she made it out to be, she +was told in answer that she must first clear herself. Made uneasy by +this condition, Mary, rather than stay in England, would have gone to +Spain, or to France, or would even have gone back to Scotland. But, as +her doing either would have been likely to trouble England afresh, it was +decided that she should be detained here. She first came to Carlisle, +and, after that, was moved about from castle to castle, as was considered +necessary; but England she never left again. + +After trying very hard to get rid of the necessity of clearing herself, +Mary, advised by LORD HERRIES, her best friend in England, agreed to +answer the charges against her, if the Scottish noblemen who made them +would attend to maintain them before such English noblemen as Elizabeth +might appoint for that purpose. Accordingly, such an assembly, under the +name of a conference, met, first at York, and afterwards at Hampton +Court. In its presence Lord Lennox, Darnley's father, openly charged +Mary with the murder of his son; and whatever Mary's friends may now say +or write in her behalf, there is no doubt that, when her brother Murray +produced against her a casket containing certain guilty letters and +verses which he stated to have passed between her and Bothwell, she +withdrew from the inquiry. Consequently, it is to be supposed that she +was then considered guilty by those who had the best opportunities of +judging of the truth, and that the feeling which afterwards arose in her +behalf was a very generous but not a very reasonable one. + +However, the DUKE OF NORFOLK, an honourable but rather weak nobleman, +partly because Mary was captivating, partly because he was ambitious, +partly because he was over-persuaded by artful plotters against +Elizabeth, conceived a strong idea that he would like to marry the Queen +of Scots--though he was a little frightened, too, by the letters in the +casket. This idea being secretly encouraged by some of the noblemen of +Elizabeth's court, and even by the favourite Earl of Leicester (because +it was objected to by other favourites who were his rivals), Mary +expressed her approval of it, and the King of France and the King of +Spain are supposed to have done the same. It was not so quietly planned, +though, but that it came to Elizabeth's ears, who warned the Duke 'to be +careful what sort of pillow he was going to lay his head upon.' He made +a humble reply at the time; but turned sulky soon afterwards, and, being +considered dangerous, was sent to the Tower. + +Thus, from the moment of Mary's coming to England she began to be the +centre of plots and miseries. + +A rise of the Catholics in the north was the next of these, and it was +only checked by many executions and much bloodshed. It was followed by a +great conspiracy of the Pope and some of the Catholic sovereigns of +Europe to depose Elizabeth, place Mary on the throne, and restore the +unreformed religion. It is almost impossible to doubt that Mary knew and +approved of this; and the Pope himself was so hot in the matter that he +issued a bull, in which he openly called Elizabeth the 'pretended Queen' +of England, excommunicated her, and excommunicated all her subjects who +should continue to obey her. A copy of this miserable paper got into +London, and was found one morning publicly posted on the Bishop of +London's gate. A great hue and cry being raised, another copy was found +in the chamber of a student of Lincoln's Inn, who confessed, being put +upon the rack, that he had received it from one JOHN FELTON, a rich +gentleman who lived across the Thames, near Southwark. This John Felton, +being put upon the rack too, confessed that he had posted the placard on +the Bishop's gate. For this offence he was, within four days, taken to +St. Paul's Churchyard, and there hanged and quartered. As to the Pope's +bull, the people by the reformation having thrown off the Pope, did not +care much, you may suppose, for the Pope's throwing off them. It was a +mere dirty piece of paper, and not half so powerful as a street ballad. + +On the very day when Felton was brought to his trial, the poor Duke of +Norfolk was released. It would have been well for him if he had kept +away from the Tower evermore, and from the snares that had taken him +there. But, even while he was in that dismal place he corresponded with +Mary, and as soon as he was out of it, he began to plot again. Being +discovered in correspondence with the Pope, with a view to a rising in +England which should force Elizabeth to consent to his marriage with Mary +and to repeal the laws against the Catholics, he was re-committed to the +Tower and brought to trial. He was found guilty by the unanimous verdict +of the Lords who tried him, and was sentenced to the block. + +It is very difficult to make out, at this distance of time, and between +opposite accounts, whether Elizabeth really was a humane woman, or +desired to appear so, or was fearful of shedding the blood of people of +great name who were popular in the country. Twice she commanded and +countermanded the execution of this Duke, and it did not take place until +five months after his trial. The scaffold was erected on Tower Hill, and +there he died like a brave man. He refused to have his eyes bandaged, +saying that he was not at all afraid of death; and he admitted the +justice of his sentence, and was much regretted by the people. + +Although Mary had shrunk at the most important time from disproving her +guilt, she was very careful never to do anything that would admit it. All +such proposals as were made to her by Elizabeth for her release, required +that admission in some form or other, and therefore came to nothing. +Moreover, both women being artful and treacherous, and neither ever +trusting the other, it was not likely that they could ever make an +agreement. So, the Parliament, aggravated by what the Pope had done, +made new and strong laws against the spreading of the Catholic religion +in England, and declared it treason in any one to say that the Queen and +her successors were not the lawful sovereigns of England. It would have +done more than this, but for Elizabeth's moderation. + +Since the Reformation, there had come to be three great sects of +religious people--or people who called themselves so--in England; that is +to say, those who belonged to the Reformed Church, those who belonged to +the Unreformed Church, and those who were called the Puritans, because +they said that they wanted to have everything very pure and plain in all +the Church service. These last were for the most part an uncomfortable +people, who thought it highly meritorious to dress in a hideous manner, +talk through their noses, and oppose all harmless enjoyments. But they +were powerful too, and very much in earnest, and they were one and all +the determined enemies of the Queen of Scots. The Protestant feeling in +England was further strengthened by the tremendous cruelties to which +Protestants were exposed in France and in the Netherlands. Scores of +thousands of them were put to death in those countries with every cruelty +that can be imagined, and at last, in the autumn of the year one thousand +five hundred and seventy-two, one of the greatest barbarities ever +committed in the world took place at Paris. + +It is called in history, THE MASSACRE OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, because it +took place on Saint Bartholomew's Eve. The day fell on Saturday the +twenty-third of August. On that day all the great leaders of the +Protestants (who were there called HUGUENOTS) were assembled together, +for the purpose, as was represented to them, of doing honour to the +marriage of their chief, the young King of Navarre, with the sister of +CHARLES THE NINTH: a miserable young King who then occupied the French +throne. This dull creature was made to believe by his mother and other +fierce Catholics about him that the Huguenots meant to take his life; and +he was persuaded to give secret orders that, on the tolling of a great +bell, they should be fallen upon by an overpowering force of armed men, +and slaughtered wherever they could be found. When the appointed hour +was close at hand, the stupid wretch, trembling from head to foot, was +taken into a balcony by his mother to see the atrocious work begun. The +moment the bell tolled, the murderers broke forth. During all that night +and the two next days, they broke into the houses, fired the houses, shot +and stabbed the Protestants, men, women, and children, and flung their +bodies into the streets. They were shot at in the streets as they passed +along, and their blood ran down the gutters. Upwards of ten thousand +Protestants were killed in Paris alone; in all France four or five times +that number. To return thanks to Heaven for these diabolical murders, +the Pope and his train actually went in public procession at Rome, and as +if this were not shame enough for them, they had a medal struck to +commemorate the event. But, however comfortable the wholesale murders +were to these high authorities, they had not that soothing effect upon +the doll-King. I am happy to state that he never knew a moment's peace +afterwards; that he was continually crying out that he saw the Huguenots +covered with blood and wounds falling dead before him; and that he died +within a year, shrieking and yelling and raving to that degree, that if +all the Popes who had ever lived had been rolled into one, they would not +have afforded His guilty Majesty the slightest consolation. + +When the terrible news of the massacre arrived in England, it made a +powerful impression indeed upon the people. If they began to run a +little wild against the Catholics at about this time, this fearful reason +for it, coming so soon after the days of bloody Queen Mary, must be +remembered in their excuse. The Court was not quite so honest as the +people--but perhaps it sometimes is not. It received the French +ambassador, with all the lords and ladies dressed in deep mourning, and +keeping a profound silence. Nevertheless, a proposal of marriage which +he had made to Elizabeth only two days before the eve of Saint +Bartholomew, on behalf of the Duke of Alencon, the French King's brother, +a boy of seventeen, still went on; while on the other hand, in her usual +crafty way, the Queen secretly supplied the Huguenots with money and +weapons. + +I must say that for a Queen who made all those fine speeches, of which I +have confessed myself to be rather tired, about living and dying a Maiden +Queen, Elizabeth was 'going' to be married pretty often. Besides always +having some English favourite or other whom she by turns encouraged and +swore at and knocked about--for the maiden Queen was very free with her +fists--she held this French Duke off and on through several years. When +he at last came over to England, the marriage articles were actually +drawn up, and it was settled that the wedding should take place in six +weeks. The Queen was then so bent upon it, that she prosecuted a poor +Puritan named STUBBS, and a poor bookseller named PAGE, for writing and +publishing a pamphlet against it. Their right hands were chopped off for +this crime; and poor Stubbs--more loyal than I should have been myself +under the circumstances--immediately pulled off his hat with his left +hand, and cried, 'God save the Queen!' Stubbs was cruelly treated; for +the marriage never took place after all, though the Queen pledged herself +to the Duke with a ring from her own finger. He went away, no better +than he came, when the courtship had lasted some ten years altogether; +and he died a couple of years afterwards, mourned by Elizabeth, who +appears to have been really fond of him. It is not much to her credit, +for he was a bad enough member of a bad family. + +To return to the Catholics. There arose two orders of priests, who were +very busy in England, and who were much dreaded. These were the JESUITS +(who were everywhere in all sorts of disguises), and the SEMINARY +PRIESTS. The people had a great horror of the first, because they were +known to have taught that murder was lawful if it were done with an +object of which they approved; and they had a great horror of the second, +because they came to teach the old religion, and to be the successors of +'Queen Mary's priests,' as those yet lingering in England were called, +when they should die out. The severest laws were made against them, and +were most unmercifully executed. Those who sheltered them in their +houses often suffered heavily for what was an act of humanity; and the +rack, that cruel torture which tore men's limbs asunder, was constantly +kept going. What these unhappy men confessed, or what was ever confessed +by any one under that agony, must always be received with great doubt, as +it is certain that people have frequently owned to the most absurd and +impossible crimes to escape such dreadful suffering. But I cannot doubt +it to have been proved by papers, that there were many plots, both among +the Jesuits, and with France, and with Scotland, and with Spain, for the +destruction of Queen Elizabeth, for the placing of Mary on the throne, +and for the revival of the old religion. + +If the English people were too ready to believe in plots, there were, as +I have said, good reasons for it. When the massacre of Saint Bartholomew +was yet fresh in their recollection, a great Protestant Dutch hero, the +PRINCE OF ORANGE, was shot by an assassin, who confessed that he had been +kept and trained for the purpose in a college of Jesuits. The Dutch, in +this surprise and distress, offered to make Elizabeth their sovereign, +but she declined the honour, and sent them a small army instead, under +the command of the Earl of Leicester, who, although a capital Court +favourite, was not much of a general. He did so little in Holland, that +his campaign there would probably have been forgotten, but for its +occasioning the death of one of the best writers, the best knights, and +the best gentlemen, of that or any age. This was SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, who +was wounded by a musket ball in the thigh as he mounted a fresh horse, +after having had his own killed under him. He had to ride back wounded, +a long distance, and was very faint with fatigue and loss of blood, when +some water, for which he had eagerly asked, was handed to him. But he +was so good and gentle even then, that seeing a poor badly wounded common +soldier lying on the ground, looking at the water with longing eyes, he +said, 'Thy necessity is greater than mine,' and gave it up to him. This +touching action of a noble heart is perhaps as well known as any incident +in history--is as famous far and wide as the blood-stained Tower of +London, with its axe, and block, and murders out of number. So +delightful is an act of true humanity, and so glad are mankind to +remember it. + +At home, intelligence of plots began to thicken every day. I suppose the +people never did live under such continual terrors as those by which they +were possessed now, of Catholic risings, and burnings, and poisonings, +and I don't know what. Still, we must always remember that they lived +near and close to awful realities of that kind, and that with their +experience it was not difficult to believe in any enormity. The +government had the same fear, and did not take the best means of +discovering the truth--for, besides torturing the suspected, it employed +paid spies, who will always lie for their own profit. It even made some +of the conspiracies it brought to light, by sending false letters to +disaffected people, inviting them to join in pretended plots, which they +too readily did. + +But, one great real plot was at length discovered, and it ended the +career of Mary, Queen of Scots. A seminary priest named BALLARD, and a +Spanish soldier named SAVAGE, set on and encouraged by certain French +priests, imparted a design to one ANTONY BABINGTON--a gentleman of +fortune in Derbyshire, who had been for some time a secret agent of +Mary's--for murdering the Queen. Babington then confided the scheme to +some other Catholic gentlemen who were his friends, and they joined in it +heartily. They were vain, weak-headed young men, ridiculously confident, +and preposterously proud of their plan; for they got a gimcrack painting +made, of the six choice spirits who were to murder Elizabeth, with +Babington in an attitude for the centre figure. Two of their number, +however, one of whom was a priest, kept Elizabeth's wisest minister, SIR +FRANCIS WALSINGHAM, acquainted with the whole project from the first. The +conspirators were completely deceived to the final point, when Babington +gave Savage, because he was shabby, a ring from his finger, and some +money from his purse, wherewith to buy himself new clothes in which to +kill the Queen. Walsingham, having then full evidence against the whole +band, and two letters of Mary's besides, resolved to seize them. +Suspecting something wrong, they stole out of the city, one by one, and +hid themselves in St. John's Wood, and other places which really were +hiding places then; but they were all taken, and all executed. When they +were seized, a gentleman was sent from Court to inform Mary of the fact, +and of her being involved in the discovery. Her friends have complained +that she was kept in very hard and severe custody. It does not appear +very likely, for she was going out a hunting that very morning. + +Queen Elizabeth had been warned long ago, by one in France who had good +information of what was secretly doing, that in holding Mary alive, she +held 'the wolf who would devour her.' The Bishop of London had, more +lately, given the Queen's favourite minister the advice in writing, +'forthwith to cut off the Scottish Queen's head.' The question now was, +what to do with her? The Earl of Leicester wrote a little note home from +Holland, recommending that she should be quietly poisoned; that noble +favourite having accustomed his mind, it is possible, to remedies of that +nature. His black advice, however, was disregarded, and she was brought +to trial at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, before a tribunal of +forty, composed of both religions. There, and in the Star Chamber at +Westminster, the trial lasted a fortnight. She defended herself with +great ability, but could only deny the confessions that had been made by +Babington and others; could only call her own letters, produced against +her by her own secretaries, forgeries; and, in short, could only deny +everything. She was found guilty, and declared to have incurred the +penalty of death. The Parliament met, approved the sentence, and prayed +the Queen to have it executed. The Queen replied that she requested them +to consider whether no means could be found of saving Mary's life without +endangering her own. The Parliament rejoined, No; and the citizens +illuminated their houses and lighted bonfires, in token of their joy that +all these plots and troubles were to be ended by the death of the Queen +of Scots. + +{Mary Queen of Scots Reading the death warrant: p240.jpg} + +She, feeling sure that her time was now come, wrote a letter to the Queen +of England, making three entreaties; first, that she might be buried in +France; secondly, that she might not be executed in secret, but before +her servants and some others; thirdly, that after her death, her servants +should not be molested, but should be suffered to go home with the +legacies she left them. It was an affecting letter, and Elizabeth shed +tears over it, but sent no answer. Then came a special ambassador from +France, and another from Scotland, to intercede for Mary's life; and then +the nation began to clamour, more and more, for her death. + +What the real feelings or intentions of Elizabeth were, can never be +known now; but I strongly suspect her of only wishing one thing more than +Mary's death, and that was to keep free of the blame of it. On the first +of February, one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, Lord Burleigh +having drawn out the warrant for the execution, the Queen sent to the +secretary DAVISON to bring it to her, that she might sign it: which she +did. Next day, when Davison told her it was sealed, she angrily asked +him why such haste was necessary? Next day but one, she joked about it, +and swore a little. Again, next day but one, she seemed to complain that +it was not yet done, but still she would not be plain with those about +her. So, on the seventh, the Earls of Kent and Shrewsbury, with the +Sheriff of Northamptonshire, came with the warrant to Fotheringay, to +tell the Queen of Scots to prepare for death. + +When those messengers of ill omen were gone, Mary made a frugal supper, +drank to her servants, read over her will, went to bed, slept for some +hours, and then arose and passed the remainder of the night saying +prayers. In the morning she dressed herself in her best clothes; and, at +eight o'clock when the sheriff came for her to her chapel, took leave of +her servants who were there assembled praying with her, and went down- +stairs, carrying a Bible in one hand and a crucifix in the other. Two of +her women and four of her men were allowed to be present in the hall; +where a low scaffold, only two feet from the ground, was erected and +covered with black; and where the executioner from the Tower, and his +assistant, stood, dressed in black velvet. The hall was full of people. +While the sentence was being read she sat upon a stool; and, when it was +finished, she again denied her guilt, as she had done before. The Earl +of Kent and the Dean of Peterborough, in their Protestant zeal, made some +very unnecessary speeches to her; to which she replied that she died in +the Catholic religion, and they need not trouble themselves about that +matter. When her head and neck were uncovered by the executioners, she +said that she had not been used to be undressed by such hands, or before +so much company. Finally, one of her women fastened a cloth over her +face, and she laid her neck upon the block, and repeated more than once +in Latin, 'Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!' Some say her +head was struck off in two blows, some say in three. However that be, +when it was held up, streaming with blood, the real hair beneath the +false hair she had long worn was seen to be as grey as that of a woman of +seventy, though she was at that time only in her forty-sixth year. All +her beauty was gone. + +But she was beautiful enough to her little dog, who cowered under her +dress, frightened, when she went upon the scaffold, and who lay down +beside her headless body when all her earthly sorrows were over. + + + +THIRD PART + + +On its being formally made known to Elizabeth that the sentence had been +executed on the Queen of Scots, she showed the utmost grief and rage, +drove her favourites from her with violent indignation, and sent Davison +to the Tower; from which place he was only released in the end by paying +an immense fine which completely ruined him. Elizabeth not only over- +acted her part in making these pretences, but most basely reduced to +poverty one of her faithful servants for no other fault than obeying her +commands. + +James, King of Scotland, Mary's son, made a show likewise of being very +angry on the occasion; but he was a pensioner of England to the amount of +five thousand pounds a year, and he had known very little of his mother, +and he possibly regarded her as the murderer of his father, and he soon +took it quietly. + +Philip, King of Spain, however, threatened to do greater things than ever +had been done yet, to set up the Catholic religion and punish Protestant +England. Elizabeth, hearing that he and the Prince of Parma were making +great preparations for this purpose, in order to be beforehand with them +sent out ADMIRAL DRAKE (a famous navigator, who had sailed about the +world, and had already brought great plunder from Spain) to the port of +Cadiz, where he burnt a hundred vessels full of stores. This great loss +obliged the Spaniards to put off the invasion for a year; but it was none +the less formidable for that, amounting to one hundred and thirty ships, +nineteen thousand soldiers, eight thousand sailors, two thousand slaves, +and between two and three thousand great guns. England was not idle in +making ready to resist this great force. All the men between sixteen +years old and sixty, were trained and drilled; the national fleet of +ships (in number only thirty-four at first) was enlarged by public +contributions and by private ships, fitted out by noblemen; the city of +London, of its own accord, furnished double the number of ships and men +that it was required to provide; and, if ever the national spirit was up +in England, it was up all through the country to resist the Spaniards. +Some of the Queen's advisers were for seizing the principal English +Catholics, and putting them to death; but the Queen--who, to her honour, +used to say, that she would never believe any ill of her subjects, which +a parent would not believe of her own children--rejected the advice, and +only confined a few of those who were the most suspected, in the fens in +Lincolnshire. The great body of Catholics deserved this confidence; for +they behaved most loyally, nobly, and bravely. + +So, with all England firing up like one strong, angry man, and with both +sides of the Thames fortified, and with the soldiers under arms, and with +the sailors in their ships, the country waited for the coming of the +proud Spanish fleet, which was called THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA. The Queen +herself, riding in armour on a white horse, and the Earl of Essex and the +Earl of Leicester holding her bridal rein, made a brave speech to the +troops at Tilbury Fort opposite Gravesend, which was received with such +enthusiasm as is seldom known. Then came the Spanish Armada into the +English Channel, sailing along in the form of a half moon, of such great +size that it was seven miles broad. But the English were quickly upon +it, and woe then to all the Spanish ships that dropped a little out of +the half moon, for the English took them instantly! And it soon appeared +that the great Armada was anything but invincible, for on a summer night, +bold Drake sent eight blazing fire-ships right into the midst of it. In +terrible consternation the Spaniards tried to get out to sea, and so +became dispersed; the English pursued them at a great advantage; a storm +came on, and drove the Spaniards among rocks and shoals; and the swift +end of the Invincible fleet was, that it lost thirty great ships and ten +thousand men, and, defeated and disgraced, sailed home again. Being +afraid to go by the English Channel, it sailed all round Scotland and +Ireland; some of the ships getting cast away on the latter coast in bad +weather, the Irish, who were a kind of savages, plundered those vessels +and killed their crews. So ended this great attempt to invade and +conquer England. And I think it will be a long time before any other +invincible fleet coming to England with the same object, will fare much +better than the Spanish Armada. + +Though the Spanish king had had this bitter taste of English bravery, he +was so little the wiser for it, as still to entertain his old designs, +and even to conceive the absurd idea of placing his daughter on the +English throne. But the Earl of Essex, SIR WALTER RALEIGH, SIR THOMAS +HOWARD, and some other distinguished leaders, put to sea from Plymouth, +entered the port of Cadiz once more, obtained a complete victory over the +shipping assembled there, and got possession of the town. In obedience +to the Queen's express instructions, they behaved with great humanity; +and the principal loss of the Spaniards was a vast sum of money which +they had to pay for ransom. This was one of many gallant achievements on +the sea, effected in this reign. Sir Walter Raleigh himself, after +marrying a maid of honour and giving offence to the Maiden Queen thereby, +had already sailed to South America in search of gold. + +The Earl of Leicester was now dead, and so was Sir Thomas Walsingham, +whom Lord Burleigh was soon to follow. The principal favourite was the +EARL OF ESSEX, a spirited and handsome man, a favourite with the people +too as well as with the Queen, and possessed of many admirable qualities. +It was much debated at Court whether there should be peace with Spain or +no, and he was very urgent for war. He also tried hard to have his own +way in the appointment of a deputy to govern in Ireland. One day, while +this question was in dispute, he hastily took offence, and turned his +back upon the Queen; as a gentle reminder of which impropriety, the Queen +gave him a tremendous box on the ear, and told him to go to the devil. He +went home instead, and did not reappear at Court for half a year or so, +when he and the Queen were reconciled, though never (as some suppose) +thoroughly. + +From this time the fate of the Earl of Essex and that of the Queen seemed +to be blended together. The Irish were still perpetually quarrelling and +fighting among themselves, and he went over to Ireland as Lord +Lieutenant, to the great joy of his enemies (Sir Walter Raleigh among the +rest), who were glad to have so dangerous a rival far off. Not being by +any means successful there, and knowing that his enemies would take +advantage of that circumstance to injure him with the Queen, he came home +again, though against her orders. The Queen being taken by surprise when +he appeared before her, gave him her hand to kiss, and he was +overjoyed--though it was not a very lovely hand by this time--but in the +course of the same day she ordered him to confine himself to his room, +and two or three days afterwards had him taken into custody. With the +same sort of caprice--and as capricious an old woman she now was, as ever +wore a crown or a head either--she sent him broth from her own table on +his falling ill from anxiety, and cried about him. + +He was a man who could find comfort and occupation in his books, and he +did so for a time; not the least happy time, I dare say, of his life. But +it happened unfortunately for him, that he held a monopoly in sweet +wines: which means that nobody could sell them without purchasing his +permission. This right, which was only for a term, expiring, he applied +to have it renewed. The Queen refused, with the rather strong +observation--but she _did_ make strong observations--that an unruly beast +must be stinted in his food. Upon this, the angry Earl, who had been +already deprived of many offices, thought himself in danger of complete +ruin, and turned against the Queen, whom he called a vain old woman who +had grown as crooked in her mind as she had in her figure. These +uncomplimentary expressions the ladies of the Court immediately snapped +up and carried to the Queen, whom they did not put in a better tempter, +you may believe. The same Court ladies, when they had beautiful dark +hair of their own, used to wear false red hair, to be like the Queen. So +they were not very high-spirited ladies, however high in rank. + +The worst object of the Earl of Essex, and some friends of his who used +to meet at LORD SOUTHAMPTON'S house, was to obtain possession of the +Queen, and oblige her by force to dismiss her ministers and change her +favourites. On Saturday the seventh of February, one thousand six +hundred and one, the council suspecting this, summoned the Earl to come +before them. He, pretending to be ill, declined; it was then settled +among his friends, that as the next day would be Sunday, when many of the +citizens usually assembled at the Cross by St. Paul's Cathedral, he +should make one bold effort to induce them to rise and follow him to the +Palace. + +So, on the Sunday morning, he and a small body of adherents started out +of his house--Essex House by the Strand, with steps to the river--having +first shut up in it, as prisoners, some members of the council who came +to examine him--and hurried into the City with the Earl at their head +crying out 'For the Queen! For the Queen! A plot is laid for my life!' +No one heeded them, however, and when they came to St. Paul's there were +no citizens there. In the meantime the prisoners at Essex House had been +released by one of the Earl's own friends; he had been promptly +proclaimed a traitor in the City itself; and the streets were barricaded +with carts and guarded by soldiers. The Earl got back to his house by +water, with difficulty, and after an attempt to defend his house against +the troops and cannon by which it was soon surrounded, gave himself up +that night. He was brought to trial on the nineteenth, and found guilty; +on the twenty-fifth, he was executed on Tower Hill, where he died, at +thirty-four years old, both courageously and penitently. His step-father +suffered with him. His enemy, Sir Walter Raleigh, stood near the +scaffold all the time--but not so near it as we shall see him stand, +before we finish his history. + +In this case, as in the cases of the Duke of Norfolk and Mary Queen of +Scots, the Queen had commanded, and countermanded, and again commanded, +the execution. It is probable that the death of her young and gallant +favourite in the prime of his good qualities, was never off her mind +afterwards, but she held out, the same vain, obstinate and capricious +woman, for another year. Then she danced before her Court on a state +occasion--and cut, I should think, a mighty ridiculous figure, doing so +in an immense ruff, stomacher and wig, at seventy years old. For another +year still, she held out, but, without any more dancing, and as a moody, +sorrowful, broken creature. At last, on the tenth of March, one thousand +six hundred and three, having been ill of a very bad cold, and made worse +by the death of the Countess of Nottingham who was her intimate friend, +she fell into a stupor and was supposed to be dead. She recovered her +consciousness, however, and then nothing would induce her to go to bed; +for she said that she knew that if she did, she should never get up +again. There she lay for ten days, on cushions on the floor, without any +food, until the Lord Admiral got her into bed at last, partly by +persuasions and partly by main force. When they asked her who should +succeed her, she replied that her seat had been the seat of Kings, and +that she would have for her successor, 'No rascal's son, but a King's.' +Upon this, the lords present stared at one another, and took the liberty +of asking whom she meant; to which she replied, 'Whom should I mean, but +our cousin of Scotland!' This was on the twenty-third of March. They +asked her once again that day, after she was speechless, whether she was +still in the same mind? She struggled up in bed, and joined her hands +over her head in the form of a crown, as the only reply she could make. +At three o'clock next morning, she very quietly died, in the forty-fifth +year of her reign. + +That reign had been a glorious one, and is made for ever memorable by the +distinguished men who flourished in it. Apart from the great voyagers, +statesmen, and scholars, whom it produced, the names of BACON, SPENSER, +and SHAKESPEARE, will always be remembered with pride and veneration by +the civilised world, and will always impart (though with no great reason, +perhaps) some portion of their lustre to the name of Elizabeth herself. +It was a great reign for discovery, for commerce, and for English +enterprise and spirit in general. It was a great reign for the +Protestant religion and for the Reformation which made England free. The +Queen was very popular, and in her progresses, or journeys about her +dominions, was everywhere received with the liveliest joy. I think the +truth is, that she was not half so good as she has been made out, and not +half so bad as she has been made out. She had her fine qualities, but +she was coarse, capricious, and treacherous, and had all the faults of an +excessively vain young woman long after she was an old one. On the +whole, she had a great deal too much of her father in her, to please me. + +Many improvements and luxuries were introduced in the course of these +five-and-forty years in the general manner of living; but cock-fighting, +bull-baiting, and bear-baiting, were still the national amusements; and a +coach was so rarely seen, and was such an ugly and cumbersome affair when +it was seen, that even the Queen herself, on many high occasions, rode on +horseback on a pillion behind the Lord Chancellor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII--ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST + + +'Our cousin of Scotland' was ugly, awkward, and shuffling both in mind +and person. His tongue was much too large for his mouth, his legs were +much too weak for his body, and his dull goggle-eyes stared and rolled +like an idiot's. He was cunning, covetous, wasteful, idle, drunken, +greedy, dirty, cowardly, a great swearer, and the most conceited man on +earth. His figure--what is commonly called rickety from his +birth--presented a most ridiculous appearance, dressed in thick padded +clothes, as a safeguard against being stabbed (of which he lived in +continual fear), of a grass-green colour from head to foot, with a +hunting-horn dangling at his side instead of a sword, and his hat and +feather sticking over one eye, or hanging on the back of his head, as he +happened to toss it on. He used to loll on the necks of his favourite +courtiers, and slobber their faces, and kiss and pinch their cheeks; and +the greatest favourite he ever had, used to sign himself in his letters +to his royal master, His Majesty's 'dog and slave,' and used to address +his majesty as 'his Sowship.' His majesty was the worst rider ever seen, +and thought himself the best. He was one of the most impertinent talkers +(in the broadest Scotch) ever heard, and boasted of being unanswerable in +all manner of argument. He wrote some of the most wearisome treatises +ever read--among others, a book upon witchcraft, in which he was a devout +believer--and thought himself a prodigy of authorship. He thought, and +wrote, and said, that a king had a right to make and unmake what laws he +pleased, and ought to be accountable to nobody on earth. This is the +plain, true character of the personage whom the greatest men about the +court praised and flattered to that degree, that I doubt if there be +anything much more shameful in the annals of human nature. + +He came to the English throne with great ease. The miseries of a +disputed succession had been felt so long, and so dreadfully, that he was +proclaimed within a few hours of Elizabeth's death, and was accepted by +the nation, even without being asked to give any pledge that he would +govern well, or that he would redress crying grievances. He took a month +to come from Edinburgh to London; and, by way of exercising his new +power, hanged a pickpocket on the journey without any trial, and knighted +everybody he could lay hold of. He made two hundred knights before he +got to his palace in London, and seven hundred before he had been in it +three months. He also shovelled sixty-two new peers into the House of +Lords--and there was a pretty large sprinkling of Scotchmen among them, +you may believe. + +His Sowship's prime Minister, CECIL (for I cannot do better than call his +majesty what his favourite called him), was the enemy of Sir Walter +Raleigh, and also of Sir Walter's political friend, LORD COBHAM; and his +Sowship's first trouble was a plot originated by these two, and entered +into by some others, with the old object of seizing the King and keeping +him in imprisonment until he should change his ministers. There were +Catholic priests in the plot, and there were Puritan noblemen too; for, +although the Catholics and Puritans were strongly opposed to each other, +they united at this time against his Sowship, because they knew that he +had a design against both, after pretending to be friendly to each; this +design being to have only one high and convenient form of the Protestant +religion, which everybody should be bound to belong to, whether they +liked it or not. This plot was mixed up with another, which may or may +not have had some reference to placing on the throne, at some time, the +LADY ARABELLA STUART; whose misfortune it was, to be the daughter of the +younger brother of his Sowship's father, but who was quite innocent of +any part in the scheme. Sir Walter Raleigh was accused on the confession +of Lord Cobham--a miserable creature, who said one thing at one time, and +another thing at another time, and could be relied upon in nothing. The +trial of Sir Walter Raleigh lasted from eight in the morning until nearly +midnight; he defended himself with such eloquence, genius, and spirit +against all accusations, and against the insults of COKE, the Attorney- +General--who, according to the custom of the time, foully abused him--that +those who went there detesting the prisoner, came away admiring him, and +declaring that anything so wonderful and so captivating was never heard. +He was found guilty, nevertheless, and sentenced to death. Execution was +deferred, and he was taken to the Tower. The two Catholic priests, less +fortunate, were executed with the usual atrocity; and Lord Cobham and two +others were pardoned on the scaffold. His Sowship thought it wonderfully +knowing in him to surprise the people by pardoning these three at the +very block; but, blundering, and bungling, as usual, he had very nearly +overreached himself. For, the messenger on horseback who brought the +pardon, came so late, that he was pushed to the outside of the crowd, and +was obliged to shout and roar out what he came for. The miserable Cobham +did not gain much by being spared that day. He lived, both as a prisoner +and a beggar, utterly despised, and miserably poor, for thirteen years, +and then died in an old outhouse belonging to one of his former servants. + +This plot got rid of, and Sir Walter Raleigh safely shut up in the Tower, +his Sowship held a great dispute with the Puritans on their presenting a +petition to him, and had it all his own way--not so very wonderful, as he +would talk continually, and would not hear anybody else--and filled the +Bishops with admiration. It was comfortably settled that there was to be +only one form of religion, and that all men were to think exactly alike. +But, although this was arranged two centuries and a half ago, and +although the arrangement was supported by much fining and imprisonment, I +do not find that it is quite successful, even yet. + +His Sowship, having that uncommonly high opinion of himself as a king, +had a very low opinion of Parliament as a power that audaciously wanted +to control him. When he called his first Parliament after he had been +king a year, he accordingly thought he would take pretty high ground with +them, and told them that he commanded them 'as an absolute king.' The +Parliament thought those strong words, and saw the necessity of upholding +their authority. His Sowship had three children: Prince Henry, Prince +Charles, and the Princess Elizabeth. It would have been well for one of +these, and we shall too soon see which, if he had learnt a little wisdom +concerning Parliaments from his father's obstinacy. + +Now, the people still labouring under their old dread of the Catholic +religion, this Parliament revived and strengthened the severe laws +against it. And this so angered ROBERT CATESBY, a restless Catholic +gentleman of an old family, that he formed one of the most desperate and +terrible designs ever conceived in the mind of man; no less a scheme than +the Gunpowder Plot. + +His object was, when the King, lords, and commons, should be assembled at +the next opening of Parliament, to blow them up, one and all, with a +great mine of gunpowder. The first person to whom he confided this +horrible idea was THOMAS WINTER, a Worcestershire gentleman who had +served in the army abroad, and had been secretly employed in Catholic +projects. While Winter was yet undecided, and when he had gone over to +the Netherlands, to learn from the Spanish Ambassador there whether there +was any hope of Catholics being relieved through the intercession of the +King of Spain with his Sowship, he found at Ostend a tall, dark, daring +man, whom he had known when they were both soldiers abroad, and whose +name was GUIDO--or GUY--FAWKES. Resolved to join the plot, he proposed +it to this man, knowing him to be the man for any desperate deed, and +they two came back to England together. Here, they admitted two other +conspirators; THOMAS PERCY, related to the Earl of Northumberland, and +JOHN WRIGHT, his brother-in-law. All these met together in a solitary +house in the open fields which were then near Clement's Inn, now a +closely blocked-up part of London; and when they had all taken a great +oath of secrecy, Catesby told the rest what his plan was. They then went +up-stairs into a garret, and received the Sacrament from FATHER GERARD, a +Jesuit, who is said not to have known actually of the Gunpowder Plot, but +who, I think, must have had his suspicions that there was something +desperate afoot. + +Percy was a Gentleman Pensioner, and as he had occasional duties to +perform about the Court, then kept at Whitehall, there would be nothing +suspicious in his living at Westminster. So, having looked well about +him, and having found a house to let, the back of which joined the +Parliament House, he hired it of a person named FERRIS, for the purpose +of undermining the wall. Having got possession of this house, the +conspirators hired another on the Lambeth side of the Thames, which they +used as a storehouse for wood, gunpowder, and other combustible matters. +These were to be removed at night (and afterwards were removed), bit by +bit, to the house at Westminster; and, that there might be some trusty +person to keep watch over the Lambeth stores, they admitted another +conspirator, by name ROBERT KAY, a very poor Catholic gentleman. + +All these arrangements had been made some months, and it was a dark, +wintry, December night, when the conspirators, who had been in the +meantime dispersed to avoid observation, met in the house at Westminster, +and began to dig. They had laid in a good stock of eatables, to avoid +going in and out, and they dug and dug with great ardour. But, the wall +being tremendously thick, and the work very severe, they took into their +plot CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, a younger brother of John Wright, that they +might have a new pair of hands to help. And Christopher Wright fell to +like a fresh man, and they dug and dug by night and by day, and Fawkes +stood sentinel all the time. And if any man's heart seemed to fail him +at all, Fawkes said, 'Gentlemen, we have abundance of powder and shot +here, and there is no fear of our being taken alive, even if discovered.' +The same Fawkes, who, in the capacity of sentinel, was always prowling +about, soon picked up the intelligence that the King had prorogued the +Parliament again, from the seventh of February, the day first fixed upon, +until the third of October. When the conspirators knew this, they agreed +to separate until after the Christmas holidays, and to take no notice of +each other in the meanwhile, and never to write letters to one another on +any account. So, the house in Westminster was shut up again, and I +suppose the neighbours thought that those strange-looking men who lived +there so gloomily, and went out so seldom, were gone away to have a merry +Christmas somewhere. + +It was the beginning of February, sixteen hundred and five, when Catesby +met his fellow-conspirators again at this Westminster house. He had now +admitted three more; JOHN GRANT, a Warwickshire gentleman of a melancholy +temper, who lived in a doleful house near Stratford-upon-Avon, with a +frowning wall all round it, and a deep moat; ROBERT WINTER, eldest +brother of Thomas; and Catesby's own servant, THOMAS BATES, who, Catesby +thought, had had some suspicion of what his master was about. These +three had all suffered more or less for their religion in Elizabeth's +time. And now, they all began to dig again, and they dug and dug by +night and by day. + +They found it dismal work alone there, underground, with such a fearful +secret on their minds, and so many murders before them. They were filled +with wild fancies. Sometimes, they thought they heard a great bell +tolling, deep down in the earth under the Parliament House; sometimes, +they thought they heard low voices muttering about the Gunpowder Plot; +once in the morning, they really did hear a great rumbling noise over +their heads, as they dug and sweated in their mine. Every man stopped +and looked aghast at his neighbour, wondering what had happened, when +that bold prowler, Fawkes, who had been out to look, came in and told +them that it was only a dealer in coals who had occupied a cellar under +the Parliament House, removing his stock in trade to some other place. +Upon this, the conspirators, who with all their digging and digging had +not yet dug through the tremendously thick wall, changed their plan; +hired that cellar, which was directly under the House of Lords; put six- +and-thirty barrels of gunpowder in it, and covered them over with fagots +and coals. Then they all dispersed again till September, when the +following new conspirators were admitted; SIR EDWARD BAYNHAM, of +Gloucestershire; SIR EVERARD DIGBY, of Rutlandshire; AMBROSE ROOKWOOD, of +Suffolk; FRANCIS TRESHAM, of Northamptonshire. Most of these were rich, +and were to assist the plot, some with money and some with horses on +which the conspirators were to ride through the country and rouse the +Catholics after the Parliament should be blown into air. + +Parliament being again prorogued from the third of October to the fifth +of November, and the conspirators being uneasy lest their design should +have been found out, Thomas Winter said he would go up into the House of +Lords on the day of the prorogation, and see how matters looked. Nothing +could be better. The unconscious Commissioners were walking about and +talking to one another, just over the six-and-thirty barrels of +gunpowder. He came back and told the rest so, and they went on with +their preparations. They hired a ship, and kept it ready in the Thames, +in which Fawkes was to sail for Flanders after firing with a slow match +the train that was to explode the powder. A number of Catholic gentlemen +not in the secret, were invited, on pretence of a hunting party, to meet +Sir Everard Digby at Dunchurch on the fatal day, that they might be ready +to act together. And now all was ready. + +But, now, the great wickedness and danger which had been all along at the +bottom of this wicked plot, began to show itself. As the fifth of +November drew near, most of the conspirators, remembering that they had +friends and relations who would be in the House of Lords that day, felt +some natural relenting, and a wish to warn them to keep away. They were +not much comforted by Catesby's declaring that in such a cause he would +blow up his own son. LORD MOUNTEAGLE, Tresham's brother-in-law, was +certain to be in the house; and when Tresham found that he could not +prevail upon the rest to devise any means of sparing their friends, he +wrote a mysterious letter to this lord and left it at his lodging in the +dusk, urging him to keep away from the opening of Parliament, 'since God +and man had concurred to punish the wickedness of the times.' It +contained the words 'that the Parliament should receive a terrible blow, +and yet should not see who hurt them.' And it added, 'the danger is +past, as soon as you have burnt the letter.' + +The ministers and courtiers made out that his Sowship, by a direct +miracle from Heaven, found out what this letter meant. The truth is, +that they were not long (as few men would be) in finding out for +themselves; and it was decided to let the conspirators alone, until the +very day before the opening of Parliament. That the conspirators had +their fears, is certain; for, Tresham himself said before them all, that +they were every one dead men; and, although even he did not take flight, +there is reason to suppose that he had warned other persons besides Lord +Mounteagle. However, they were all firm; and Fawkes, who was a man of +iron, went down every day and night to keep watch in the cellar as usual. +He was there about two in the afternoon of the fourth, when the Lord +Chamberlain and Lord Mounteagle threw open the door and looked in. 'Who +are you, friend?' said they. 'Why,' said Fawkes, 'I am Mr. Percy's +servant, and am looking after his store of fuel here.' 'Your master has +laid in a pretty good store,' they returned, and shut the door, and went +away. Fawkes, upon this, posted off to the other conspirators to tell +them all was quiet, and went back and shut himself up in the dark, black +cellar again, where he heard the bell go twelve o'clock and usher in the +fifth of November. About two hours afterwards, he slowly opened the +door, and came out to look about him, in his old prowling way. He was +instantly seized and bound, by a party of soldiers under SIR THOMAS +KNEVETT. He had a watch upon him, some touchwood, some tinder, some slow +matches; and there was a dark lantern with a candle in it, lighted, +behind the door. He had his boots and spurs on--to ride to the ship, I +suppose--and it was well for the soldiers that they took him so suddenly. +If they had left him but a moment's time to light a match, he certainly +would have tossed it in among the powder, and blown up himself and them. + +They took him to the King's bed-chamber first of all, and there the King +(causing him to be held very tight, and keeping a good way off), asked +him how he could have the heart to intend to destroy so many innocent +people? 'Because,' said Guy Fawkes, 'desperate diseases need desperate +remedies.' To a little Scotch favourite, with a face like a terrier, who +asked him (with no particular wisdom) why he had collected so much +gunpowder, he replied, because he had meant to blow Scotchmen back to +Scotland, and it would take a deal of powder to do that. Next day he was +carried to the Tower, but would make no confession. Even after being +horribly tortured, he confessed nothing that the Government did not +already know; though he must have been in a fearful state--as his +signature, still preserved, in contrast with his natural hand-writing +before he was put upon the dreadful rack, most frightfully shows. Bates, +a very different man, soon said the Jesuits had had to do with the plot, +and probably, under the torture, would as readily have said anything. +Tresham, taken and put in the Tower too, made confessions and unmade +them, and died of an illness that was heavy upon him. Rookwood, who had +stationed relays of his own horses all the way to Dunchurch, did not +mount to escape until the middle of the day, when the news of the plot +was all over London. On the road, he came up with the two Wrights, +Catesby, and Percy; and they all galloped together into Northamptonshire. +Thence to Dunchurch, where they found the proposed party assembled. +Finding, however, that there had been a plot, and that it had been +discovered, the party disappeared in the course of the night, and left +them alone with Sir Everard Digby. Away they all rode again, through +Warwickshire and Worcestershire, to a house called Holbeach, on the +borders of Staffordshire. They tried to raise the Catholics on their +way, but were indignantly driven off by them. All this time they were +hotly pursued by the sheriff of Worcester, and a fast increasing +concourse of riders. At last, resolving to defend themselves at +Holbeach, they shut themselves up in the house, and put some wet powder +before the fire to dry. But it blew up, and Catesby was singed and +blackened, and almost killed, and some of the others were sadly hurt. +Still, knowing that they must die, they resolved to die there, and with +only their swords in their hands appeared at the windows to be shot at by +the sheriff and his assistants. Catesby said to Thomas Winter, after +Thomas had been hit in the right arm which dropped powerless by his side, +'Stand by me, Tom, and we will die together!'--which they did, being shot +through the body by two bullets from one gun. John Wright, and +Christopher Wright, and Percy, were also shot. Rookwood and Digby were +taken: the former with a broken arm and a wound in his body too. + +It was the fifteenth of January, before the trial of Guy Fawkes, and such +of the other conspirators as were left alive, came on. They were all +found guilty, all hanged, drawn, and quartered: some, in St. Paul's +Churchyard, on the top of Ludgate-hill; some, before the Parliament +House. A Jesuit priest, named HENRY GARNET, to whom the dreadful design +was said to have been communicated, was taken and tried; and two of his +servants, as well as a poor priest who was taken with him, were tortured +without mercy. He himself was not tortured, but was surrounded in the +Tower by tamperers and traitors, and so was made unfairly to convict +himself out of his own mouth. He said, upon his trial, that he had done +all he could to prevent the deed, and that he could not make public what +had been told him in confession--though I am afraid he knew of the plot +in other ways. He was found guilty and executed, after a manful defence, +and the Catholic Church made a saint of him; some rich and powerful +persons, who had had nothing to do with the project, were fined and +imprisoned for it by the Star Chamber; the Catholics, in general, who had +recoiled with horror from the idea of the infernal contrivance, were +unjustly put under more severe laws than before; and this was the end of +the Gunpowder Plot. + + + +SECOND PART + + +His Sowship would pretty willingly, I think, have blown the House of +Commons into the air himself; for, his dread and jealousy of it knew no +bounds all through his reign. When he was hard pressed for money he was +obliged to order it to meet, as he could get no money without it; and +when it asked him first to abolish some of the monopolies in necessaries +of life which were a great grievance to the people, and to redress other +public wrongs, he flew into a rage and got rid of it again. At one time +he wanted it to consent to the Union of England with Scotland, and +quarrelled about that. At another time it wanted him to put down a most +infamous Church abuse, called the High Commission Court, and he +quarrelled with it about that. At another time it entreated him not to +be quite so fond of his archbishops and bishops who made speeches in his +praise too awful to be related, but to have some little consideration for +the poor Puritan clergy who were persecuted for preaching in their own +way, and not according to the archbishops and bishops; and they +quarrelled about that. In short, what with hating the House of Commons, +and pretending not to hate it; and what with now sending some of its +members who opposed him, to Newgate or to the Tower, and now telling the +rest that they must not presume to make speeches about the public affairs +which could not possibly concern them; and what with cajoling, and +bullying, and fighting, and being frightened; the House of Commons was +the plague of his Sowship's existence. It was pretty firm, however, in +maintaining its rights, and insisting that the Parliament should make the +laws, and not the King by his own single proclamations (which he tried +hard to do); and his Sowship was so often distressed for money, in +consequence, that he sold every sort of title and public office as if +they were merchandise, and even invented a new dignity called a +Baronetcy, which anybody could buy for a thousand pounds. + +These disputes with his Parliaments, and his hunting, and his drinking, +and his lying in bed--for he was a great sluggard--occupied his Sowship +pretty well. The rest of his time he chiefly passed in hugging and +slobbering his favourites. The first of these was SIR PHILIP HERBERT, +who had no knowledge whatever, except of dogs, and horses, and hunting, +but whom he soon made EARL OF MONTGOMERY. The next, and a much more +famous one, was ROBERT CARR, or KER (for it is not certain which was his +right name), who came from the Border country, and whom he soon made +VISCOUNT ROCHESTER, and afterwards, EARL OF SOMERSET. The way in which +his Sowship doted on this handsome young man, is even more odious to +think of, than the way in which the really great men of England +condescended to bow down before him. The favourite's great friend was a +certain SIR THOMAS OVERBURY, who wrote his love-letters for him, and +assisted him in the duties of his many high places, which his own +ignorance prevented him from discharging. But this same Sir Thomas +having just manhood enough to dissuade the favourite from a wicked +marriage with the beautiful Countess of Essex, who was to get a divorce +from her husband for the purpose, the said Countess, in her rage, got Sir +Thomas put into the Tower, and there poisoned him. Then the favourite +and this bad woman were publicly married by the King's pet bishop, with +as much to-do and rejoicing, as if he had been the best man, and she the +best woman, upon the face of the earth. + +But, after a longer sunshine than might have been expected--of seven +years or so, that is to say--another handsome young man started up and +eclipsed the EARL OF SOMERSET. This was GEORGE VILLIERS, the youngest +son of a Leicestershire gentleman: who came to Court with all the Paris +fashions on him, and could dance as well as the best mountebank that ever +was seen. He soon danced himself into the good graces of his Sowship, +and danced the other favourite out of favour. Then, it was all at once +discovered that the Earl and Countess of Somerset had not deserved all +those great promotions and mighty rejoicings, and they were separately +tried for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and for other crimes. But, +the King was so afraid of his late favourite's publicly telling some +disgraceful things he knew of him--which he darkly threatened to do--that +he was even examined with two men standing, one on either side of him, +each with a cloak in his hand, ready to throw it over his head and stop +his mouth if he should break out with what he had it in his power to +tell. So, a very lame affair was purposely made of the trial, and his +punishment was an allowance of four thousand pounds a year in retirement, +while the Countess was pardoned, and allowed to pass into retirement too. +They hated one another by this time, and lived to revile and torment each +other some years. + +While these events were in progress, and while his Sowship was making +such an exhibition of himself, from day to day and from year to year, as +is not often seen in any sty, three remarkable deaths took place in +England. The first was that of the Minister, Robert Cecil, Earl of +Salisbury, who was past sixty, and had never been strong, being deformed +from his birth. He said at last that he had no wish to live; and no +Minister need have had, with his experience of the meanness and +wickedness of those disgraceful times. The second was that of the Lady +Arabella Stuart, who alarmed his Sowship mightily, by privately marrying +WILLIAM SEYMOUR, son of LORD BEAUCHAMP, who was a descendant of King +Henry the Seventh, and who, his Sowship thought, might consequently +increase and strengthen any claim she might one day set up to the throne. +She was separated from her husband (who was put in the Tower) and thrust +into a boat to be confined at Durham. She escaped in a man's dress to +get away in a French ship from Gravesend to France, but unhappily missed +her husband, who had escaped too, and was soon taken. She went raving +mad in the miserable Tower, and died there after four years. The last, +and the most important of these three deaths, was that of Prince Henry, +the heir to the throne, in the nineteenth year of his age. He was a +promising young prince, and greatly liked; a quiet, well-conducted youth, +of whom two very good things are known: first, that his father was +jealous of him; secondly, that he was the friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, +languishing through all those years in the Tower, and often said that no +man but his father would keep such a bird in such a cage. On the +occasion of the preparations for the marriage of his sister the Princess +Elizabeth with a foreign prince (and an unhappy marriage it turned out), +he came from Richmond, where he had been very ill, to greet his new +brother-in-law, at the palace at Whitehall. There he played a great game +at tennis, in his shirt, though it was very cold weather, and was seized +with an alarming illness, and died within a fortnight of a putrid fever. +For this young prince Sir Walter Raleigh wrote, in his prison in the +Tower, the beginning of a History of the World: a wonderful instance how +little his Sowship could do to confine a great man's mind, however long +he might imprison his body. + +And this mention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had many faults, but who +never showed so many merits as in trouble and adversity, may bring me at +once to the end of his sad story. After an imprisonment in the Tower of +twelve long years, he proposed to resume those old sea voyages of his, +and to go to South America in search of gold. His Sowship, divided +between his wish to be on good terms with the Spaniards through whose +territory Sir Walter must pass (he had long had an idea of marrying +Prince Henry to a Spanish Princess), and his avaricious eagerness to get +hold of the gold, did not know what to do. But, in the end, he set Sir +Walter free, taking securities for his return; and Sir Walter fitted out +an expedition at his own coast and, on the twenty-eighth of March, one +thousand six hundred and seventeen, sailed away in command of one of its +ships, which he ominously called the Destiny. The expedition failed; the +common men, not finding the gold they had expected, mutinied; a quarrel +broke out between Sir Walter and the Spaniards, who hated him for old +successes of his against them; and he took and burnt a little town called +SAINT THOMAS. For this he was denounced to his Sowship by the Spanish +Ambassador as a pirate; and returning almost broken-hearted, with his +hopes and fortunes shattered, his company of friends dispersed, and his +brave son (who had been one of them) killed, he was taken--through the +treachery of SIR LEWIS STUKELY, his near relation, a scoundrel and a Vice- +Admiral--and was once again immured in his prison-home of so many years. + +His Sowship being mightily disappointed in not getting any gold, Sir +Walter Raleigh was tried as unfairly, and with as many lies and evasions +as the judges and law officers and every other authority in Church and +State habitually practised under such a King. After a great deal of +prevarication on all parts but his own, it was declared that he must die +under his former sentence, now fifteen years old. So, on the +twenty-eighth of October, one thousand six hundred and eighteen, he was +shut up in the Gate House at Westminster to pass his late night on earth, +and there he took leave of his good and faithful lady who was worthy to +have lived in better days. At eight o'clock next morning, after a +cheerful breakfast, and a pipe, and a cup of good wine, he was taken to +Old Palace Yard in Westminster, where the scaffold was set up, and where +so many people of high degree were assembled to see him die, that it was +a matter of some difficulty to get him through the crowd. He behaved +most nobly, but if anything lay heavy on his mind, it was that Earl of +Essex, whose head he had seen roll off; and he solemnly said that he had +had no hand in bringing him to the block, and that he had shed tears for +him when he died. As the morning was very cold, the Sheriff said, would +he come down to a fire for a little space, and warm himself? But Sir +Walter thanked him, and said no, he would rather it were done at once, +for he was ill of fever and ague, and in another quarter of an hour his +shaking fit would come upon him if he were still alive, and his enemies +might then suppose that he trembled for fear. With that, he kneeled and +made a very beautiful and Christian prayer. Before he laid his head upon +the block he felt the edge of the axe, and said, with a smile upon his +face, that it was a sharp medicine, but would cure the worst disease. +When he was bent down ready for death, he said to the executioner, +finding that he hesitated, 'What dost thou fear? Strike, man!' So, the +axe came down and struck his head off, in the sixty-sixth year of his +age. + +The new favourite got on fast. He was made a viscount, he was made Duke +of Buckingham, he was made a marquis, he was made Master of the Horse, he +was made Lord High Admiral--and the Chief Commander of the gallant +English forces that had dispersed the Spanish Armada, was displaced to +make room for him. He had the whole kingdom at his disposal, and his +mother sold all the profits and honours of the State, as if she had kept +a shop. He blazed all over with diamonds and other precious stones, from +his hatband and his earrings to his shoes. Yet he was an ignorant +presumptuous, swaggering compound of knave and fool, with nothing but his +beauty and his dancing to recommend him. This is the gentleman who +called himself his Majesty's dog and slave, and called his Majesty Your +Sowship. His Sowship called him STEENIE; it is supposed, because that +was a nickname for Stephen, and because St. Stephen was generally +represented in pictures as a handsome saint. + +His Sowship was driven sometimes to his wits'-end by his trimming between +the general dislike of the Catholic religion at home, and his desire to +wheedle and flatter it abroad, as his only means of getting a rich +princess for his son's wife: a part of whose fortune he might cram into +his greasy pockets. Prince Charles--or as his Sowship called him, Baby +Charles--being now PRINCE OF WALES, the old project of a marriage with +the Spanish King's daughter had been revived for him; and as she could +not marry a Protestant without leave from the Pope, his Sowship himself +secretly and meanly wrote to his Infallibility, asking for it. The +negotiation for this Spanish marriage takes up a larger space in great +books, than you can imagine, but the upshot of it all is, that when it +had been held off by the Spanish Court for a long time, Baby Charles and +Steenie set off in disguise as Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. John Smith, to +see the Spanish Princess; that Baby Charles pretended to be desperately +in love with her, and jumped off walls to look at her, and made a +considerable fool of himself in a good many ways; that she was called +Princess of Wales and that the whole Spanish Court believed Baby Charles +to be all but dying for her sake, as he expressly told them he was; that +Baby Charles and Steenie came back to England, and were received with as +much rapture as if they had been a blessing to it; that Baby Charles had +actually fallen in love with HENRIETTA MARIA, the French King's sister, +whom he had seen in Paris; that he thought it a wonderfully fine and +princely thing to have deceived the Spaniards, all through; and that he +openly said, with a chuckle, as soon as he was safe and sound at home +again, that the Spaniards were great fools to have believed him. + +Like most dishonest men, the Prince and the favourite complained that the +people whom they had deluded were dishonest. They made such +misrepresentations of the treachery of the Spaniards in this business of +the Spanish match, that the English nation became eager for a war with +them. Although the gravest Spaniards laughed at the idea of his Sowship +in a warlike attitude, the Parliament granted money for the beginning of +hostilities, and the treaties with Spain were publicly declared to be at +an end. The Spanish ambassador in London--probably with the help of the +fallen favourite, the Earl of Somerset--being unable to obtain speech +with his Sowship, slipped a paper into his hand, declaring that he was a +prisoner in his own house, and was entirely governed by Buckingham and +his creatures. The first effect of this letter was that his Sowship +began to cry and whine, and took Baby Charles away from Steenie, and went +down to Windsor, gabbling all sorts of nonsense. The end of it was that +his Sowship hugged his dog and slave, and said he was quite satisfied. + +He had given the Prince and the favourite almost unlimited power to +settle anything with the Pope as to the Spanish marriage; and he now, +with a view to the French one, signed a treaty that all Roman Catholics +in England should exercise their religion freely, and should never be +required to take any oath contrary thereto. In return for this, and for +other concessions much less to be defended, Henrietta Maria was to become +the Prince's wife, and was to bring him a fortune of eight hundred +thousand crowns. + +His Sowship's eyes were getting red with eagerly looking for the money, +when the end of a gluttonous life came upon him; and, after a fortnight's +illness, on Sunday the twenty-seventh of March, one thousand six hundred +and twenty-five, he died. He had reigned twenty-two years, and was fifty- +nine years old. I know of nothing more abominable in history than the +adulation that was lavished on this King, and the vice and corruption +that such a barefaced habit of lying produced in his court. It is much +to be doubted whether one man of honour, and not utterly self-disgraced, +kept his place near James the First. Lord Bacon, that able and wise +philosopher, as the First Judge in the Kingdom in this reign, became a +public spectacle of dishonesty and corruption; and in his base flattery +of his Sowship, and in his crawling servility to his dog and slave, +disgraced himself even more. But, a creature like his Sowship set upon a +throne is like the Plague, and everybody receives infection from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII--ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST + + +Baby Charles became KING CHARLES THE FIRST, in the twenty-fifth year of +his age. Unlike his father, he was usually amiable in his private +character, and grave and dignified in his bearing; but, like his father, +he had monstrously exaggerated notions of the rights of a king, and was +evasive, and not to be trusted. If his word could have been relied upon, +his history might have had a different end. + +His first care was to send over that insolent upstart, Buckingham, to +bring Henrietta Maria from Paris to be his Queen; upon which occasion +Buckingham--with his usual audacity--made love to the young Queen of +Austria, and was very indignant indeed with CARDINAL RICHELIEU, the +French Minister, for thwarting his intentions. The English people were +very well disposed to like their new Queen, and to receive her with great +favour when she came among them as a stranger. But, she held the +Protestant religion in great dislike, and brought over a crowd of +unpleasant priests, who made her do some very ridiculous things, and +forced themselves upon the public notice in many disagreeable ways. +Hence, the people soon came to dislike her, and she soon came to dislike +them; and she did so much all through this reign in setting the King (who +was dotingly fond of her) against his subjects, that it would have been +better for him if she had never been born. + +Now, you are to understand that King Charles the First--of his own +determination to be a high and mighty King not to be called to account by +anybody, and urged on by his Queen besides--deliberately set himself to +put his Parliament down and to put himself up. You are also to +understand, that even in pursuit of this wrong idea (enough in itself to +have ruined any king) he never took a straight course, but always took a +crooked one. + +He was bent upon war with Spain, though neither the House of Commons nor +the people were quite clear as to the justice of that war, now that they +began to think a little more about the story of the Spanish match. But +the King rushed into it hotly, raised money by illegal means to meet its +expenses, and encountered a miserable failure at Cadiz, in the very first +year of his reign. An expedition to Cadiz had been made in the hope of +plunder, but as it was not successful, it was necessary to get a grant of +money from the Parliament; and when they met, in no very complying +humour, the King told them, 'to make haste to let him have it, or it +would be the worse for themselves.' Not put in a more complying humour +by this, they impeached the King's favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, as +the cause (which he undoubtedly was) of many great public grievances and +wrongs. The King, to save him, dissolved the Parliament without getting +the money he wanted; and when the Lords implored him to consider and +grant a little delay, he replied, 'No, not one minute.' He then began to +raise money for himself by the following means among others. + +He levied certain duties called tonnage and poundage which had not been +granted by the Parliament, and could lawfully be levied by no other +power; he called upon the seaport towns to furnish, and to pay all the +cost for three months of, a fleet of armed ships; and he required the +people to unite in lending him large sums of money, the repayment of +which was very doubtful. If the poor people refused, they were pressed +as soldiers or sailors; if the gentry refused, they were sent to prison. +Five gentlemen, named SIR THOMAS DARNEL, JOHN CORBET, WALTER EARL, JOHN +HEVENINGHAM, and EVERARD HAMPDEN, for refusing were taken up by a warrant +of the King's privy council, and were sent to prison without any cause +but the King's pleasure being stated for their imprisonment. Then the +question came to be solemnly tried, whether this was not a violation of +Magna Charta, and an encroachment by the King on the highest rights of +the English people. His lawyers contended No, because to encroach upon +the rights of the English people would be to do wrong, and the King could +do no wrong. The accommodating judges decided in favour of this wicked +nonsense; and here was a fatal division between the King and the people. + +For all this, it became necessary to call another Parliament. The +people, sensible of the danger in which their liberties were, chose for +it those who were best known for their determined opposition to the King; +but still the King, quite blinded by his determination to carry +everything before him, addressed them when they met, in a contemptuous +manner, and just told them in so many words that he had only called them +together because he wanted money. The Parliament, strong enough and +resolute enough to know that they would lower his tone, cared little for +what he said, and laid before him one of the great documents of history, +which is called the PETITION OF RIGHT, requiring that the free men of +England should no longer be called upon to lend the King money, and +should no longer be pressed or imprisoned for refusing to do so; further, +that the free men of England should no longer be seized by the King's +special mandate or warrant, it being contrary to their rights and +liberties and the laws of their country. At first the King returned an +answer to this petition, in which he tried to shirk it altogether; but, +the House of Commons then showing their determination to go on with the +impeachment of Buckingham, the King in alarm returned an answer, giving +his consent to all that was required of him. He not only afterwards +departed from his word and honour on these points, over and over again, +but, at this very time, he did the mean and dissembling act of publishing +his first answer and not his second--merely that the people might suppose +that the Parliament had not got the better of him. + +That pestilent Buckingham, to gratify his own wounded vanity, had by this +time involved the country in war with France, as well as with Spain. For +such miserable causes and such miserable creatures are wars sometimes +made! But he was destined to do little more mischief in this world. One +morning, as he was going out of his house to his carriage, he turned to +speak to a certain Colonel FRYER who was with him; and he was violently +stabbed with a knife, which the murderer left sticking in his heart. This +happened in his hall. He had had angry words up-stairs, just before, +with some French gentlemen, who were immediately suspected by his +servants, and had a close escape from being set upon and killed. In the +midst of the noise, the real murderer, who had gone to the kitchen and +might easily have got away, drew his sword and cried out, 'I am the man!' +His name was JOHN FELTON, a Protestant and a retired officer in the army. +He said he had had no personal ill-will to the Duke, but had killed him +as a curse to the country. He had aimed his blow well, for Buckingham +had only had time to cry out, 'Villain!' and then he drew out the knife, +fell against a table, and died. + +The council made a mighty business of examining John Felton about this +murder, though it was a plain case enough, one would think. He had come +seventy miles to do it, he told them, and he did it for the reason he had +declared; if they put him upon the rack, as that noble MARQUIS OF DORSET +whom he saw before him, had the goodness to threaten, he gave that +marquis warning, that he would accuse _him_ as his accomplice! The King +was unpleasantly anxious to have him racked, nevertheless; but as the +judges now found out that torture was contrary to the law of England--it +is a pity they did not make the discovery a little sooner--John Felton +was simply executed for the murder he had done. A murder it undoubtedly +was, and not in the least to be defended: though he had freed England +from one of the most profligate, contemptible, and base court favourites +to whom it has ever yielded. + +A very different man now arose. This was SIR THOMAS WENTWORTH, a +Yorkshire gentleman, who had sat in Parliament for a long time, and who +had favoured arbitrary and haughty principles, but who had gone over to +the people's side on receiving offence from Buckingham. The King, much +wanting such a man--for, besides being naturally favourable to the King's +cause, he had great abilities--made him first a Baron, and then a +Viscount, and gave him high employment, and won him most completely. + +A Parliament, however, was still in existence, and was _not_ to be won. +On the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and twenty-nine, +SIR JOHN ELIOT, a great man who had been active in the Petition of Right, +brought forward other strong resolutions against the King's chief +instruments, and called upon the Speaker to put them to the vote. To +this the Speaker answered, 'he was commanded otherwise by the King,' and +got up to leave the chair--which, according to the rules of the House of +Commons would have obliged it to adjourn without doing anything more--when +two members, named Mr. HOLLIS and Mr. VALENTINE, held him down. A scene +of great confusion arose among the members; and while many swords were +drawn and flashing about, the King, who was kept informed of all that was +going on, told the captain of his guard to go down to the House and force +the doors. The resolutions were by that time, however, voted, and the +House adjourned. Sir John Eliot and those two members who had held the +Speaker down, were quickly summoned before the council. As they claimed +it to be their privilege not to answer out of Parliament for anything +they had said in it, they were committed to the Tower. The King then +went down and dissolved the Parliament, in a speech wherein he made +mention of these gentlemen as 'Vipers'--which did not do him much good +that ever I have heard of. + +As they refused to gain their liberty by saying they were sorry for what +they had done, the King, always remarkably unforgiving, never overlooked +their offence. When they demanded to be brought up before the court of +King's Bench, he even resorted to the meanness of having them moved about +from prison to prison, so that the writs issued for that purpose should +not legally find them. At last they came before the court and were +sentenced to heavy fines, and to be imprisoned during the King's +pleasure. When Sir John Eliot's health had quite given way, and he so +longed for change of air and scene as to petition for his release, the +King sent back the answer (worthy of his Sowship himself) that the +petition was not humble enough. When he sent another petition by his +young son, in which he pathetically offered to go back to prison when his +health was restored, if he might be released for its recovery, the King +still disregarded it. When he died in the Tower, and his children +petitioned to be allowed to take his body down to Cornwall, there to lay +it among the ashes of his forefathers, the King returned for answer, 'Let +Sir John Eliot's body be buried in the church of that parish where he +died.' All this was like a very little King indeed, I think. + +And now, for twelve long years, steadily pursuing his design of setting +himself up and putting the people down, the King called no Parliament; +but ruled without one. If twelve thousand volumes were written in his +praise (as a good many have been) it would still remain a fact, +impossible to be denied, that for twelve years King Charles the First +reigned in England unlawfully and despotically, seized upon his subjects' +goods and money at his pleasure, and punished according to his unbridled +will all who ventured to oppose him. It is a fashion with some people to +think that this King's career was cut short; but I must say myself that I +think he ran a pretty long one. + +WILLIAM LAUD, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the King's right-hand man in +the religious part of the putting down of the people's liberties. Laud, +who was a sincere man, of large learning but small sense--for the two +things sometimes go together in very different quantities--though a +Protestant, held opinions so near those of the Catholics, that the Pope +wanted to make a Cardinal of him, if he would have accepted that favour. +He looked upon vows, robes, lighted candles, images, and so forth, as +amazingly important in religious ceremonies; and he brought in an +immensity of bowing and candle-snuffing. He also regarded archbishops +and bishops as a sort of miraculous persons, and was inveterate in the +last degree against any who thought otherwise. Accordingly, he offered +up thanks to Heaven, and was in a state of much pious pleasure, when a +Scotch clergyman, named LEIGHTON, was pilloried, whipped, branded in the +cheek, and had one of his ears cut off and one of his nostrils slit, for +calling bishops trumpery and the inventions of men. He originated on a +Sunday morning the prosecution of WILLIAM PRYNNE, a barrister who was of +similar opinions, and who was fined a thousand pounds; who was pilloried; +who had his ears cut off on two occasions--one ear at a time--and who was +imprisoned for life. He highly approved of the punishment of DOCTOR +BASTWICK, a physician; who was also fined a thousand pounds; and who +afterwards had _his_ ears cut off, and was imprisoned for life. These +were gentle methods of persuasion, some will tell you: I think, they were +rather calculated to be alarming to the people. + +In the money part of the putting down of the people's liberties, the King +was equally gentle, as some will tell you: as I think, equally alarming. +He levied those duties of tonnage and poundage, and increased them as he +thought fit. He granted monopolies to companies of merchants on their +paying him for them, notwithstanding the great complaints that had, for +years and years, been made on the subject of monopolies. He fined the +people for disobeying proclamations issued by his Sowship in direct +violation of law. He revived the detested Forest laws, and took private +property to himself as his forest right. Above all, he determined to +have what was called Ship Money; that is to say, money for the support of +the fleet--not only from the seaports, but from all the counties of +England: having found out that, in some ancient time or other, all the +counties paid it. The grievance of this ship money being somewhat too +strong, JOHN CHAMBERS, a citizen of London, refused to pay his part of +it. For this the Lord Mayor ordered John Chambers to prison, and for +that John Chambers brought a suit against the Lord Mayor. LORD SAY, +also, behaved like a real nobleman, and declared he would not pay. But, +the sturdiest and best opponent of the ship money was JOHN HAMPDEN, a +gentleman of Buckinghamshire, who had sat among the 'vipers' in the House +of Commons when there was such a thing, and who had been the bosom friend +of Sir John Eliot. This case was tried before the twelve judges in the +Court of Exchequer, and again the King's lawyers said it was impossible +that ship money could be wrong, because the King could do no wrong, +however hard he tried--and he really did try very hard during these +twelve years. Seven of the judges said that was quite true, and Mr. +Hampden was bound to pay: five of the judges said that was quite false, +and Mr. Hampden was not bound to pay. So, the King triumphed (as he +thought), by making Hampden the most popular man in England; where +matters were getting to that height now, that many honest Englishmen +could not endure their country, and sailed away across the seas to found +a colony in Massachusetts Bay in America. It is said that Hampden +himself and his relation OLIVER CROMWELL were going with a company of +such voyagers, and were actually on board ship, when they were stopped by +a proclamation, prohibiting sea captains to carry out such passengers +without the royal license. But O! it would have been well for the King +if he had let them go! This was the state of England. If Laud had been +a madman just broke loose, he could not have done more mischief than he +did in Scotland. In his endeavours (in which he was seconded by the +King, then in person in that part of his dominions) to force his own +ideas of bishops, and his own religious forms and ceremonies upon the +Scotch, he roused that nation to a perfect frenzy. They formed a solemn +league, which they called The Covenant, for the preservation of their own +religious forms; they rose in arms throughout the whole country; they +summoned all their men to prayers and sermons twice a day by beat of +drum; they sang psalms, in which they compared their enemies to all the +evil spirits that ever were heard of; and they solemnly vowed to smite +them with the sword. At first the King tried force, then treaty, then a +Scottish Parliament which did not answer at all. Then he tried the EARL +OF STRAFFORD, formerly Sir Thomas Wentworth; who, as LORD WENTWORTH, had +been governing Ireland. He, too, had carried it with a very high hand +there, though to the benefit and prosperity of that country. + +Strafford and Laud were for conquering the Scottish people by force of +arms. Other lords who were taken into council, recommended that a +Parliament should at last be called; to which the King unwillingly +consented. So, on the thirteenth of April, one thousand six hundred and +forty, that then strange sight, a Parliament, was seen at Westminster. It +is called the Short Parliament, for it lasted a very little while. While +the members were all looking at one another, doubtful who would dare to +speak, MR. PYM arose and set forth all that the King had done unlawfully +during the past twelve years, and what was the position to which England +was reduced. This great example set, other members took courage and +spoke the truth freely, though with great patience and moderation. The +King, a little frightened, sent to say that if they would grant him a +certain sum on certain terms, no more ship money should be raised. They +debated the matter for two days; and then, as they would not give him all +he asked without promise or inquiry, he dissolved them. + +But they knew very well that he must have a Parliament now; and he began +to make that discovery too, though rather late in the day. Wherefore, on +the twenty-fourth of September, being then at York with an army collected +against the Scottish people, but his own men sullen and discontented like +the rest of the nation, the King told the great council of the Lords, +whom he had called to meet him there, that he would summon another +Parliament to assemble on the third of November. The soldiers of the +Covenant had now forced their way into England and had taken possession +of the northern counties, where the coals are got. As it would never do +to be without coals, and as the King's troops could make no head against +the Covenanters so full of gloomy zeal, a truce was made, and a treaty +with Scotland was taken into consideration. Meanwhile the northern +counties paid the Covenanters to leave the coals alone, and keep quiet. + +We have now disposed of the Short Parliament. We have next to see what +memorable things were done by the Long one. + + + +SECOND PART + + +The Long Parliament assembled on the third of November, one thousand six +hundred and forty-one. That day week the Earl of Strafford arrived from +York, very sensible that the spirited and determined men who formed that +Parliament were no friends towards him, who had not only deserted the +cause of the people, but who had on all occasions opposed himself to +their liberties. The King told him, for his comfort, that the Parliament +'should not hurt one hair of his head.' But, on the very next day Mr. +Pym, in the House of Commons, and with great solemnity, impeached the +Earl of Strafford as a traitor. He was immediately taken into custody +and fell from his proud height. + +It was the twenty-second of March before he was brought to trial in +Westminster Hall; where, although he was very ill and suffered great +pain, he defended himself with such ability and majesty, that it was +doubtful whether he would not get the best of it. But on the thirteenth +day of the trial, Pym produced in the House of Commons a copy of some +notes of a council, found by young SIR HARRY VANE in a red velvet cabinet +belonging to his father (Secretary Vane, who sat at the council-table +with the Earl), in which Strafford had distinctly told the King that he +was free from all rules and obligations of government, and might do with +his people whatever he liked; and in which he had added--'You have an +army in Ireland that you may employ to reduce this kingdom to obedience.' +It was not clear whether by the words 'this kingdom,' he had really meant +England or Scotland; but the Parliament contended that he meant England, +and this was treason. At the same sitting of the House of Commons it was +resolved to bring in a bill of attainder declaring the treason to have +been committed: in preference to proceeding with the trial by +impeachment, which would have required the treason to be proved. + +So, a bill was brought in at once, was carried through the House of +Commons by a large majority, and was sent up to the House of Lords. While +it was still uncertain whether the House of Lords would pass it and the +King consent to it, Pym disclosed to the House of Commons that the King +and Queen had both been plotting with the officers of the army to bring +up the soldiers and control the Parliament, and also to introduce two +hundred soldiers into the Tower of London to effect the Earl's escape. +The plotting with the army was revealed by one GEORGE GORING, the son of +a lord of that name: a bad fellow who was one of the original plotters, +and turned traitor. The King had actually given his warrant for the +admission of the two hundred men into the Tower, and they would have got +in too, but for the refusal of the governor--a sturdy Scotchman of the +name of BALFOUR--to admit them. These matters being made public, great +numbers of people began to riot outside the Houses of Parliament, and to +cry out for the execution of the Earl of Strafford, as one of the King's +chief instruments against them. The bill passed the House of Lords while +the people were in this state of agitation, and was laid before the King +for his assent, together with another bill declaring that the Parliament +then assembled should not be dissolved or adjourned without their own +consent. The King--not unwilling to save a faithful servant, though he +had no great attachment for him--was in some doubt what to do; but he +gave his consent to both bills, although he in his heart believed that +the bill against the Earl of Strafford was unlawful and unjust. The Earl +had written to him, telling him that he was willing to die for his sake. +But he had not expected that his royal master would take him at his word +quite so readily; for, when he heard his doom, he laid his hand upon his +heart, and said, 'Put not your trust in Princes!' + +The King, who never could be straightforward and plain, through one +single day or through one single sheet of paper, wrote a letter to the +Lords, and sent it by the young Prince of Wales, entreating them to +prevail with the Commons that 'that unfortunate man should fulfil the +natural course of his life in a close imprisonment.' In a postscript to +the very same letter, he added, 'If he must die, it were charity to +reprieve him till Saturday.' If there had been any doubt of his fate, +this weakness and meanness would have settled it. The very next day, +which was the twelfth of May, he was brought out to be beheaded on Tower +Hill. + +Archbishop Laud, who had been so fond of having people's ears cropped off +and their noses slit, was now confined in the Tower too; and when the +Earl went by his window to his death, he was there, at his request, to +give him his blessing. They had been great friends in the King's cause, +and the Earl had written to him in the days of their power that he +thought it would be an admirable thing to have Mr. Hampden publicly +whipped for refusing to pay the ship money. However, those high and +mighty doings were over now, and the Earl went his way to death with +dignity and heroism. The governor wished him to get into a coach at the +Tower gate, for fear the people should tear him to pieces; but he said it +was all one to him whether he died by the axe or by the people's hands. +So, he walked, with a firm tread and a stately look, and sometimes pulled +off his hat to them as he passed along. They were profoundly quiet. He +made a speech on the scaffold from some notes he had prepared (the paper +was found lying there after his head was struck off), and one blow of the +axe killed him, in the forty-ninth year of his age. + +This bold and daring act, the Parliament accompanied by other famous +measures, all originating (as even this did) in the King's having so +grossly and so long abused his power. The name of DELINQUENTS was +applied to all sheriffs and other officers who had been concerned in +raising the ship money, or any other money, from the people, in an +unlawful manner; the Hampden judgment was reversed; the judges who had +decided against Hampden were called upon to give large securities that +they would take such consequences as Parliament might impose upon them; +and one was arrested as he sat in High Court, and carried off to prison. +Laud was impeached; the unfortunate victims whose ears had been cropped +and whose noses had been slit, were brought out of prison in triumph; and +a bill was passed declaring that a Parliament should be called every +third year, and that if the King and the King's officers did not call it, +the people should assemble of themselves and summon it, as of their own +right and power. Great illuminations and rejoicings took place over all +these things, and the country was wildly excited. That the Parliament +took advantage of this excitement and stirred them up by every means, +there is no doubt; but you are always to remember those twelve long +years, during which the King had tried so hard whether he really could do +any wrong or not. + +All this time there was a great religious outcry against the right of the +Bishops to sit in Parliament; to which the Scottish people particularly +objected. The English were divided on this subject, and, partly on this +account and partly because they had had foolish expectations that the +Parliament would be able to take off nearly all the taxes, numbers of +them sometimes wavered and inclined towards the King. + +I believe myself, that if, at this or almost any other period of his +life, the King could have been trusted by any man not out of his senses, +he might have saved himself and kept his throne. But, on the English +army being disbanded, he plotted with the officers again, as he had done +before, and established the fact beyond all doubt by putting his +signature of approval to a petition against the Parliamentary leaders, +which was drawn up by certain officers. When the Scottish army was +disbanded, he went to Edinburgh in four days--which was going very fast +at that time--to plot again, and so darkly too, that it is difficult to +decide what his whole object was. Some suppose that he wanted to gain +over the Scottish Parliament, as he did in fact gain over, by presents +and favours, many Scottish lords and men of power. Some think that he +went to get proofs against the Parliamentary leaders in England of their +having treasonably invited the Scottish people to come and help them. +With whatever object he went to Scotland, he did little good by going. At +the instigation of the EARL OF MONTROSE, a desperate man who was then in +prison for plotting, he tried to kidnap three Scottish lords who escaped. +A committee of the Parliament at home, who had followed to watch him, +writing an account of this INCIDENT, as it was called, to the Parliament, +the Parliament made a fresh stir about it; were, or feigned to be, much +alarmed for themselves; and wrote to the EARL OF ESSEX, the commander-in- +chief, for a guard to protect them. + +It is not absolutely proved that the King plotted in Ireland besides, but +it is very probable that he did, and that the Queen did, and that he had +some wild hope of gaining the Irish people over to his side by favouring +a rise among them. Whether or no, they did rise in a most brutal and +savage rebellion; in which, encouraged by their priests, they committed +such atrocities upon numbers of the English, of both sexes and of all +ages, as nobody could believe, but for their being related on oath by eye- +witnesses. Whether one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand +Protestants were murdered in this outbreak, is uncertain; but, that it +was as ruthless and barbarous an outbreak as ever was known among any +savage people, is certain. + +The King came home from Scotland, determined to make a great struggle for +his lost power. He believed that, through his presents and favours, +Scotland would take no part against him; and the Lord Mayor of London +received him with such a magnificent dinner that he thought he must have +become popular again in England. It would take a good many Lord Mayors, +however, to make a people, and the King soon found himself mistaken. + +Not so soon, though, but that there was a great opposition in the +Parliament to a celebrated paper put forth by Pym and Hampden and the +rest, called 'THE REMONSTRANCE,' which set forth all the illegal acts +that the King had ever done, but politely laid the blame of them on his +bad advisers. Even when it was passed and presented to him, the King +still thought himself strong enough to discharge Balfour from his command +in the Tower, and to put in his place a man of bad character; to whom the +Commons instantly objected, and whom he was obliged to abandon. At this +time, the old outcry about the Bishops became louder than ever, and the +old Archbishop of York was so near being murdered as he went down to the +House of Lords--being laid hold of by the mob and violently knocked +about, in return for very foolishly scolding a shrill boy who was yelping +out 'No Bishops!'--that he sent for all the Bishops who were in town, and +proposed to them to sign a declaration that, as they could no longer +without danger to their lives attend their duty in Parliament, they +protested against the lawfulness of everything done in their absence. +This they asked the King to send to the House of Lords, which he did. +Then the House of Commons impeached the whole party of Bishops and sent +them off to the Tower: + +Taking no warning from this; but encouraged by there being a moderate +party in the Parliament who objected to these strong measures, the King, +on the third of January, one thousand six hundred and forty-two, took the +rashest step that ever was taken by mortal man. + +Of his own accord and without advice, he sent the Attorney-General to the +House of Lords, to accuse of treason certain members of Parliament who as +popular leaders were the most obnoxious to him; LORD KIMBOLTON, SIR +ARTHUR HASELRIG, DENZIL HOLLIS, JOHN PYM (they used to call him King Pym, +he possessed such power and looked so big), JOHN HAMPDEN, and WILLIAM +STRODE. The houses of those members he caused to be entered, and their +papers to be sealed up. At the same time, he sent a messenger to the +House of Commons demanding to have the five gentlemen who were members of +that House immediately produced. To this the House replied that they +should appear as soon as there was any legal charge against them, and +immediately adjourned. + +Next day, the House of Commons send into the City to let the Lord Mayor +know that their privileges are invaded by the King, and that there is no +safety for anybody or anything. Then, when the five members are gone out +of the way, down comes the King himself, with all his guard and from two +to three hundred gentlemen and soldiers, of whom the greater part were +armed. These he leaves in the hall; and then, with his nephew at his +side, goes into the House, takes off his hat, and walks up to the +Speaker's chair. The Speaker leaves it, the King stands in front of it, +looks about him steadily for a little while, and says he has come for +those five members. No one speaks, and then he calls John Pym by name. +No one speaks, and then he calls Denzil Hollis by name. No one speaks, +and then he asks the Speaker of the House where those five members are? +The Speaker, answering on his knee, nobly replies that he is the servant +of that House, and that he has neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, +anything but what the House commands him. Upon this, the King, beaten +from that time evermore, replies that he will seek them himself, for they +have committed treason; and goes out, with his hat in his hand, amid some +audible murmurs from the members. + +No words can describe the hurry that arose out of doors when all this was +known. The five members had gone for safety to a house in +Coleman-street, in the City, where they were guarded all night; and +indeed the whole city watched in arms like an army. At ten o'clock in +the morning, the King, already frightened at what he had done, came to +the Guildhall, with only half a dozen lords, and made a speech to the +people, hoping they would not shelter those whom he accused of treason. +Next day, he issued a proclamation for the apprehension of the five +members; but the Parliament minded it so little that they made great +arrangements for having them brought down to Westminster in great state, +five days afterwards. The King was so alarmed now at his own imprudence, +if not for his own safety, that he left his palace at Whitehall, and went +away with his Queen and children to Hampton Court. + +It was the eleventh of May, when the five members were carried in state +and triumph to Westminster. They were taken by water. The river could +not be seen for the boats on it; and the five members were hemmed in by +barges full of men and great guns, ready to protect them, at any cost. +Along the Strand a large body of the train-bands of London, under their +commander, SKIPPON, marched to be ready to assist the little fleet. +Beyond them, came a crowd who choked the streets, roaring incessantly +about the Bishops and the Papists, and crying out contemptuously as they +passed Whitehall, 'What has become of the King?' With this great noise +outside the House of Commons, and with great silence within, Mr. Pym rose +and informed the House of the great kindness with which they had been +received in the City. Upon that, the House called the sheriffs in and +thanked them, and requested the train-bands, under their commander +Skippon, to guard the House of Commons every day. Then, came four +thousand men on horseback out of Buckinghamshire, offering their services +as a guard too, and bearing a petition to the King, complaining of the +injury that had been done to Mr. Hampden, who was their county man and +much beloved and honoured. + +When the King set off for Hampton Court, the gentlemen and soldiers who +had been with him followed him out of town as far as +Kingston-upon-Thames; next day, Lord Digby came to them from the King at +Hampton Court, in his coach and six, to inform them that the King +accepted their protection. This, the Parliament said, was making war +against the kingdom, and Lord Digby fled abroad. The Parliament then +immediately applied themselves to getting hold of the military power of +the country, well knowing that the King was already trying hard to use it +against them, and that he had secretly sent the Earl of Newcastle to +Hull, to secure a valuable magazine of arms and gunpowder that was there. +In those times, every county had its own magazines of arms and powder, +for its own train-bands or militia; so, the Parliament brought in a bill +claiming the right (which up to this time had belonged to the King) of +appointing the Lord Lieutenants of counties, who commanded these train- +bands; also, of having all the forts, castles, and garrisons in the +kingdom, put into the hands of such governors as they, the Parliament, +could confide in. It also passed a law depriving the Bishops of their +votes. The King gave his assent to that bill, but would not abandon the +right of appointing the Lord Lieutenants, though he said he was willing +to appoint such as might be suggested to him by the Parliament. When the +Earl of Pembroke asked him whether he would not give way on that question +for a time, he said, 'By God! not for one hour!' and upon this he and the +Parliament went to war. + +His young daughter was betrothed to the Prince of Orange. On pretence of +taking her to the country of her future husband, the Queen was already +got safely away to Holland, there to pawn the Crown jewels for money to +raise an army on the King's side. The Lord Admiral being sick, the House +of Commons now named the Earl of Warwick to hold his place for a year. +The King named another gentleman; the House of Commons took its own way, +and the Earl of Warwick became Lord Admiral without the King's consent. +The Parliament sent orders down to Hull to have that magazine removed to +London; the King went down to Hull to take it himself. The citizens +would not admit him into the town, and the governor would not admit him +into the castle. The Parliament resolved that whatever the two Houses +passed, and the King would not consent to, should be called an ORDINANCE, +and should be as much a law as if he did consent to it. The King +protested against this, and gave notice that these ordinances were not to +be obeyed. The King, attended by the majority of the House of Peers, and +by many members of the House of Commons, established himself at York. The +Chancellor went to him with the Great Seal, and the Parliament made a new +Great Seal. The Queen sent over a ship full of arms and ammunition, and +the King issued letters to borrow money at high interest. The Parliament +raised twenty regiments of foot and seventy-five troops of horse; and the +people willingly aided them with their money, plate, jewellery, and +trinkets--the married women even with their wedding-rings. Every member +of Parliament who could raise a troop or a regiment in his own part of +the country, dressed it according to his taste and in his own colours, +and commanded it. Foremost among them all, OLIVER CROMWELL raised a +troop of horse--thoroughly in earnest and thoroughly well armed--who +were, perhaps, the best soldiers that ever were seen. + +In some of their proceedings, this famous Parliament passed the bounds of +previous law and custom, yielded to and favoured riotous assemblages of +the people, and acted tyrannically in imprisoning some who differed from +the popular leaders. But again, you are always to remember that the +twelve years during which the King had had his own wilful way, had gone +before; and that nothing could make the times what they might, could, +would, or should have been, if those twelve years had never rolled away. + + + +THIRD PART + + +I shall not try to relate the particulars of the great civil war between +King Charles the First and the Long Parliament, which lasted nearly four +years, and a full account of which would fill many large books. It was a +sad thing that Englishmen should once more be fighting against Englishmen +on English ground; but, it is some consolation to know that on both sides +there was great humanity, forbearance, and honour. The soldiers of the +Parliament were far more remarkable for these good qualities than the +soldiers of the King (many of whom fought for mere pay without much +caring for the cause); but those of the nobility and gentry who were on +the King's side were so brave, and so faithful to him, that their conduct +cannot but command our highest admiration. Among them were great numbers +of Catholics, who took the royal side because the Queen was so strongly +of their persuasion. + +The King might have distinguished some of these gallant spirits, if he +had been as generous a spirit himself, by giving them the command of his +army. Instead of that, however, true to his old high notions of royalty, +he entrusted it to his two nephews, PRINCE RUPERT and PRINCE MAURICE, who +were of royal blood and came over from abroad to help him. It might have +been better for him if they had stayed away; since Prince Rupert was an +impetuous, hot-headed fellow, whose only idea was to dash into battle at +all times and seasons, and lay about him. + +The general-in-chief of the Parliamentary army was the Earl of Essex, a +gentleman of honour and an excellent soldier. A little while before the +war broke out, there had been some rioting at Westminster between certain +officious law students and noisy soldiers, and the shopkeepers and their +apprentices, and the general people in the streets. At that time the +King's friends called the crowd, Roundheads, because the apprentices wore +short hair; the crowd, in return, called their opponents Cavaliers, +meaning that they were a blustering set, who pretended to be very +military. These two words now began to be used to distinguish the two +sides in the civil war. The Royalists also called the Parliamentary men +Rebels and Rogues, while the Parliamentary men called _them_ Malignants, +and spoke of themselves as the Godly, the Honest, and so forth. + +The war broke out at Portsmouth, where that double traitor Goring had +again gone over to the King and was besieged by the Parliamentary troops. +Upon this, the King proclaimed the Earl of Essex and the officers serving +under him, traitors, and called upon his loyal subjects to meet him in +arms at Nottingham on the twenty-fifth of August. But his loyal subjects +came about him in scanty numbers, and it was a windy, gloomy day, and the +Royal Standard got blown down, and the whole affair was very melancholy. +The chief engagements after this, took place in the vale of the Red Horse +near Banbury, at Brentford, at Devizes, at Chalgrave Field (where Mr. +Hampden was so sorely wounded while fighting at the head of his men, that +he died within a week), at Newbury (in which battle LORD FALKLAND, one of +the best noblemen on the King's side, was killed), at Leicester, at +Naseby, at Winchester, at Marston Moor near York, at Newcastle, and in +many other parts of England and Scotland. These battles were attended +with various successes. At one time, the King was victorious; at another +time, the Parliament. But almost all the great and busy towns were +against the King; and when it was considered necessary to fortify London, +all ranks of people, from labouring men and women, up to lords and +ladies, worked hard together with heartiness and good will. The most +distinguished leaders on the Parliamentary side were HAMPDEN, SIR THOMAS +FAIRFAX, and, above all, OLIVER CROMWELL, and his son-in-law IRETON. + +During the whole of this war, the people, to whom it was very expensive +and irksome, and to whom it was made the more distressing by almost every +family being divided--some of its members attaching themselves to one +side and some to the other--were over and over again most anxious for +peace. So were some of the best men in each cause. Accordingly, +treaties of peace were discussed between commissioners from the +Parliament and the King; at York, at Oxford (where the King held a little +Parliament of his own), and at Uxbridge. But they came to nothing. In +all these negotiations, and in all his difficulties, the King showed +himself at his best. He was courageous, cool, self-possessed, and +clever; but, the old taint of his character was always in him, and he was +never for one single moment to be trusted. Lord Clarendon, the +historian, one of his highest admirers, supposes that he had unhappily +promised the Queen never to make peace without her consent, and that this +must often be taken as his excuse. He never kept his word from night to +morning. He signed a cessation of hostilities with the blood-stained +Irish rebels for a sum of money, and invited the Irish regiments over, to +help him against the Parliament. In the battle of Naseby, his cabinet +was seized and was found to contain a correspondence with the Queen, in +which he expressly told her that he had deceived the Parliament--a +mongrel Parliament, he called it now, as an improvement on his old term +of vipers--in pretending to recognise it and to treat with it; and from +which it further appeared that he had long been in secret treaty with the +Duke of Lorraine for a foreign army of ten thousand men. Disappointed in +this, he sent a most devoted friend of his, the EARL OF GLAMORGAN, to +Ireland, to conclude a secret treaty with the Catholic powers, to send +him an Irish army of ten thousand men; in return for which he was to +bestow great favours on the Catholic religion. And, when this treaty was +discovered in the carriage of a fighting Irish Archbishop who was killed +in one of the many skirmishes of those days, he basely denied and +deserted his attached friend, the Earl, on his being charged with high +treason; and--even worse than this--had left blanks in the secret +instructions he gave him with his own kingly hand, expressly that he +might thus save himself. + +At last, on the twenty-seventh day of April, one thousand six hundred and +forty-six, the King found himself in the city of Oxford, so surrounded by +the Parliamentary army who were closing in upon him on all sides that he +felt that if he would escape he must delay no longer. So, that night, +having altered the cut of his hair and beard, he was dressed up as a +servant and put upon a horse with a cloak strapped behind him, and rode +out of the town behind one of his own faithful followers, with a +clergyman of that country who knew the road well, for a guide. He rode +towards London as far as Harrow, and then altered his plans and resolved, +it would seem, to go to the Scottish camp. The Scottish men had been +invited over to help the Parliamentary army, and had a large force then +in England. The King was so desperately intriguing in everything he did, +that it is doubtful what he exactly meant by this step. He took it, +anyhow, and delivered himself up to the EARL OF LEVEN, the Scottish +general-in-chief, who treated him as an honourable prisoner. Negotiations +between the Parliament on the one hand and the Scottish authorities on +the other, as to what should be done with him, lasted until the following +February. Then, when the King had refused to the Parliament the +concession of that old militia point for twenty years, and had refused to +Scotland the recognition of its Solemn League and Covenant, Scotland got +a handsome sum for its army and its help, and the King into the bargain. +He was taken, by certain Parliamentary commissioners appointed to receive +him, to one of his own houses, called Holmby House, near Althorpe, in +Northamptonshire. + +While the Civil War was still in progress, John Pym died, and was buried +with great honour in Westminster Abbey--not with greater honour than he +deserved, for the liberties of Englishmen owe a mighty debt to Pym and +Hampden. The war was but newly over when the Earl of Essex died, of an +illness brought on by his having overheated himself in a stag hunt in +Windsor Forest. He, too, was buried in Westminster Abbey, with great +state. I wish it were not necessary to add that Archbishop Laud died +upon the scaffold when the war was not yet done. His trial lasted in all +nearly a year, and, it being doubtful even then whether the charges +brought against him amounted to treason, the odious old contrivance of +the worst kings was resorted to, and a bill of attainder was brought in +against him. He was a violently prejudiced and mischievous person; had +had strong ear-cropping and nose-splitting propensities, as you know; and +had done a world of harm. But he died peaceably, and like a brave old +man. + + + +FOURTH PART + + +When the Parliament had got the King into their hands, they became very +anxious to get rid of their army, in which Oliver Cromwell had begun to +acquire great power; not only because of his courage and high abilities, +but because he professed to be very sincere in the Scottish sort of +Puritan religion that was then exceedingly popular among the soldiers. +They were as much opposed to the Bishops as to the Pope himself; and the +very privates, drummers, and trumpeters, had such an inconvenient habit +of starting up and preaching long-winded discourses, that I would not +have belonged to that army on any account. + +So, the Parliament, being far from sure but that the army might begin to +preach and fight against them now it had nothing else to do, proposed to +disband the greater part of it, to send another part to serve in Ireland +against the rebels, and to keep only a small force in England. But, the +army would not consent to be broken up, except upon its own conditions; +and, when the Parliament showed an intention of compelling it, it acted +for itself in an unexpected manner. A certain cornet, of the name of +JOICE, arrived at Holmby House one night, attended by four hundred +horsemen, went into the King's room with his hat in one hand and a pistol +in the other, and told the King that he had come to take him away. The +King was willing enough to go, and only stipulated that he should be +publicly required to do so next morning. Next morning, accordingly, he +appeared on the top of the steps of the house, and asked Comet Joice +before his men and the guard set there by the Parliament, what authority +he had for taking him away? To this Cornet Joice replied, 'The authority +of the army.' 'Have you a written commission?' said the King. Joice, +pointing to his four hundred men on horseback, replied, 'That is my +commission.' 'Well,' said the King, smiling, as if he were pleased, 'I +never before read such a commission; but it is written in fair and +legible characters. This is a company of as handsome proper gentlemen as +I have seen a long while.' He was asked where he would like to live, and +he said at Newmarket. So, to Newmarket he and Cornet Joice and the four +hundred horsemen rode; the King remarking, in the same smiling way, that +he could ride as far at a spell as Cornet Joice, or any man there. + +The King quite believed, I think, that the army were his friends. He +said as much to Fairfax when that general, Oliver Cromwell, and Ireton, +went to persuade him to return to the custody of the Parliament. He +preferred to remain as he was, and resolved to remain as he was. And +when the army moved nearer and nearer London to frighten the Parliament +into yielding to their demands, they took the King with them. It was a +deplorable thing that England should be at the mercy of a great body of +soldiers with arms in their hands; but the King certainly favoured them +at this important time of his life, as compared with the more lawful +power that tried to control him. It must be added, however, that they +treated him, as yet, more respectfully and kindly than the Parliament had +done. They allowed him to be attended by his own servants, to be +splendidly entertained at various houses, and to see his children--at +Cavesham House, near Reading--for two days. Whereas, the Parliament had +been rather hard with him, and had only allowed him to ride out and play +at bowls. + +It is much to be believed that if the King could have been trusted, even +at this time, he might have been saved. Even Oliver Cromwell expressly +said that he did believe that no man could enjoy his possessions in +peace, unless the King had his rights. He was not unfriendly towards the +King; he had been present when he received his children, and had been +much affected by the pitiable nature of the scene; he saw the King often; +he frequently walked and talked with him in the long galleries and +pleasant gardens of the Palace at Hampton Court, whither he was now +removed; and in all this risked something of his influence with the army. +But, the King was in secret hopes of help from the Scottish people; and +the moment he was encouraged to join them he began to be cool to his new +friends, the army, and to tell the officers that they could not possibly +do without him. At the very time, too, when he was promising to make +Cromwell and Ireton noblemen, if they would help him up to his old +height, he was writing to the Queen that he meant to hang them. They +both afterwards declared that they had been privately informed that such +a letter would be found, on a certain evening, sewed up in a saddle which +would be taken to the Blue Boar in Holborn to be sent to Dover; and that +they went there, disguised as common soldiers, and sat drinking in the +inn-yard until a man came with the saddle, which they ripped up with +their knives, and therein found the letter. I see little reason to doubt +the story. It is certain that Oliver Cromwell told one of the King's +most faithful followers that the King could not be trusted, and that he +would not be answerable if anything amiss were to happen to him. Still, +even after that, he kept a promise he had made to the King, by letting +him know that there was a plot with a certain portion of the army to +seize him. I believe that, in fact, he sincerely wanted the King to +escape abroad, and so to be got rid of without more trouble or danger. +That Oliver himself had work enough with the army is pretty plain; for +some of the troops were so mutinous against him, and against those who +acted with him at this time, that he found it necessary to have one man +shot at the head of his regiment to overawe the rest. + +The King, when he received Oliver's warning, made his escape from Hampton +Court; after some indecision and uncertainty, he went to Carisbrooke +Castle in the Isle of Wight. At first, he was pretty free there; but, +even there, he carried on a pretended treaty with the Parliament, while +he was really treating with commissioners from Scotland to send an army +into England to take his part. When he broke off this treaty with the +Parliament (having settled with Scotland) and was treated as a prisoner, +his treatment was not changed too soon, for he had plotted to escape that +very night to a ship sent by the Queen, which was lying off the island. + +He was doomed to be disappointed in his hopes from Scotland. The +agreement he had made with the Scottish Commissioners was not favourable +enough to the religion of that country to please the Scottish clergy; and +they preached against it. The consequence was, that the army raised in +Scotland and sent over, was too small to do much; and that, although it +was helped by a rising of the Royalists in England and by good soldiers +from Ireland, it could make no head against the Parliamentary army under +such men as Cromwell and Fairfax. The King's eldest son, the Prince of +Wales, came over from Holland with nineteen ships (a part of the English +fleet having gone over to him) to help his father; but nothing came of +his voyage, and he was fain to return. The most remarkable event of this +second civil war was the cruel execution by the Parliamentary General, of +SIR CHARLES LUCAS and SIR GEORGE LISLE, two grand Royalist generals, who +had bravely defended Colchester under every disadvantage of famine and +distress for nearly three months. When Sir Charles Lucas was shot, Sir +George Lisle kissed his body, and said to the soldiers who were to shoot +him, 'Come nearer, and make sure of me.' 'I warrant you, Sir George,' +said one of the soldiers, 'we shall hit you.' 'AY?' he returned with a +smile, 'but I have been nearer to you, my friends, many a time, and you +have missed me.' + +The Parliament, after being fearfully bullied by the army--who demanded +to have seven members whom they disliked given up to them--had voted that +they would have nothing more to do with the King. On the conclusion, +however, of this second civil war (which did not last more than six +months), they appointed commissioners to treat with him. The King, then +so far released again as to be allowed to live in a private house at +Newport in the Isle of Wight, managed his own part of the negotiation +with a sense that was admired by all who saw him, and gave up, in the +end, all that was asked of him--even yielding (which he had steadily +refused, so far) to the temporary abolition of the bishops, and the +transfer of their church land to the Crown. Still, with his old fatal +vice upon him, when his best friends joined the commissioners in +beseeching him to yield all those points as the only means of saving +himself from the army, he was plotting to escape from the island; he was +holding correspondence with his friends and the Catholics in Ireland, +though declaring that he was not; and he was writing, with his own hand, +that in what he yielded he meant nothing but to get time to escape. + +Matters were at this pass when the army, resolved to defy the Parliament, +marched up to London. The Parliament, not afraid of them now, and boldly +led by Hollis, voted that the King's concessions were sufficient ground +for settling the peace of the kingdom. Upon that, COLONEL RICH and +COLONEL PRIDE went down to the House of Commons with a regiment of horse +soldiers and a regiment of foot; and Colonel Pride, standing in the lobby +with a list of the members who were obnoxious to the army in his hand, +had them pointed out to him as they came through, and took them all into +custody. This proceeding was afterwards called by the people, for a +joke, PRIDE'S PURGE. Cromwell was in the North, at the head of his men, +at the time, but when he came home, approved of what had been done. + +What with imprisoning some members and causing others to stay away, the +army had now reduced the House of Commons to some fifty or so. These +soon voted that it was treason in a king to make war against his +parliament and his people, and sent an ordinance up to the House of Lords +for the King's being tried as a traitor. The House of Lords, then +sixteen in number, to a man rejected it. Thereupon, the Commons made an +ordinance of their own, that they were the supreme government of the +country, and would bring the King to trial. + +The King had been taken for security to a place called Hurst Castle: a +lonely house on a rock in the sea, connected with the coast of Hampshire +by a rough road two miles long at low water. Thence, he was ordered to +be removed to Windsor; thence, after being but rudely used there, and +having none but soldiers to wait upon him at table, he was brought up to +St. James's Palace in London, and told that his trial was appointed for +next day. + +On Saturday, the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and forty- +nine, this memorable trial began. The House of Commons had settled that +one hundred and thirty-five persons should form the Court, and these were +taken from the House itself, from among the officers of the army, and +from among the lawyers and citizens. JOHN BRADSHAW, serjeant-at-law, was +appointed president. The place was Westminster Hall. At the upper end, +in a red velvet chair, sat the president, with his hat (lined with plates +of iron for his protection) on his head. The rest of the Court sat on +side benches, also wearing their hats. The King's seat was covered with +velvet, like that of the president, and was opposite to it. He was +brought from St. James's to Whitehall, and from Whitehall he came by +water to his trial. + +When he came in, he looked round very steadily on the Court, and on the +great number of spectators, and then sat down: presently he got up and +looked round again. On the indictment 'against Charles Stuart, for high +treason,' being read, he smiled several times, and he denied the +authority of the Court, saying that there could be no parliament without +a House of Lords, and that he saw no House of Lords there. Also, that +the King ought to be there, and that he saw no King in the King's right +place. Bradshaw replied, that the Court was satisfied with its +authority, and that its authority was God's authority and the kingdom's. +He then adjourned the Court to the following Monday. On that day, the +trial was resumed, and went on all the week. When the Saturday came, as +the King passed forward to his place in the Hall, some soldiers and +others cried for 'justice!' and execution on him. That day, too, +Bradshaw, like an angry Sultan, wore a red robe, instead of the black +robe he had worn before. The King was sentenced to death that day. As +he went out, one solitary soldier said, 'God bless you, Sir!' For this, +his officer struck him. The King said he thought the punishment exceeded +the offence. The silver head of his walking-stick had fallen off while +he leaned upon it, at one time of the trial. The accident seemed to +disturb him, as if he thought it ominous of the falling of his own head; +and he admitted as much, now it was all over. + +Being taken back to Whitehall, he sent to the House of Commons, saying +that as the time of his execution might be nigh, he wished he might be +allowed to see his darling children. It was granted. On the Monday he +was taken back to St. James's; and his two children then in England, the +PRINCESS ELIZABETH thirteen years old, and the DUKE OF GLOUCESTER nine +years old, were brought to take leave of him, from Sion House, near +Brentford. It was a sad and touching scene, when he kissed and fondled +those poor children, and made a little present of two diamond seals to +the Princess, and gave them tender messages to their mother (who little +deserved them, for she had a lover of her own whom she married soon +afterwards), and told them that he died 'for the laws and liberties of +the land.' I am bound to say that I don't think he did, but I dare say +he believed so. + +There were ambassadors from Holland that day, to intercede for the +unhappy King, whom you and I both wish the Parliament had spared; but +they got no answer. The Scottish Commissioners interceded too; so did +the Prince of Wales, by a letter in which he offered as the next heir to +the throne, to accept any conditions from the Parliament; so did the +Queen, by letter likewise. + +Notwithstanding all, the warrant for the execution was this day signed. +There is a story that as Oliver Cromwell went to the table with the pen +in his hand to put his signature to it, he drew his pen across the face +of one of the commissioners, who was standing near, and marked it with +ink. That commissioner had not signed his own name yet, and the story +adds that when he came to do it he marked Cromwell's face with ink in the +same way. + +The King slept well, untroubled by the knowledge that it was his last +night on earth, and rose on the thirtieth of January, two hours before +day, and dressed himself carefully. He put on two shirts lest he should +tremble with the cold, and had his hair very carefully combed. The +warrant had been directed to three officers of the army, COLONEL HACKER, +COLONEL HUNKS, and COLONEL PHAYER. At ten o'clock, the first of these +came to the door and said it was time to go to Whitehall. The King, who +had always been a quick walker, walked at his usual speed through the +Park, and called out to the guard, with his accustomed voice of command, +'March on apace!' When he came to Whitehall, he was taken to his own +bedroom, where a breakfast was set forth. As he had taken the Sacrament, +he would eat nothing more; but, at about the time when the church bells +struck twelve at noon (for he had to wait, through the scaffold not being +ready), he took the advice of the good BISHOP JUXON who was with him, and +ate a little bread and drank a glass of claret. Soon after he had taken +this refreshment, Colonel Hacker came to the chamber with the warrant in +his hand, and called for Charles Stuart. + +And then, through the long gallery of Whitehall Palace, which he had +often seen light and gay and merry and crowded, in very different times, +the fallen King passed along, until he came to the centre window of the +Banqueting House, through which he emerged upon the scaffold, which was +hung with black. He looked at the two executioners, who were dressed in +black and masked; he looked at the troops of soldiers on horseback and on +foot, and all looked up at him in silence; he looked at the vast array of +spectators, filling up the view beyond, and turning all their faces upon +him; he looked at his old Palace of St. James's; and he looked at the +block. He seemed a little troubled to find that it was so low, and +asked, 'if there were no place higher?' Then, to those upon the +scaffold, he said, 'that it was the Parliament who had begun the war, and +not he; but he hoped they might be guiltless too, as ill instruments had +gone between them. In one respect,' he said, 'he suffered justly; and +that was because he had permitted an unjust sentence to be executed on +another.' In this he referred to the Earl of Strafford. + +He was not at all afraid to die; but he was anxious to die easily. When +some one touched the axe while he was speaking, he broke off and called +out, 'Take heed of the axe! take heed of the axe!' He also said to +Colonel Hacker, 'Take care that they do not put me to pain.' He told the +executioner, 'I shall say but very short prayers, and then thrust out my +hands'--as the sign to strike. + +He put his hair up, under a white satin cap which the bishop had carried, +and said, 'I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side.' The +bishop told him that he had but one stage more to travel in this weary +world, and that, though it was a turbulent and troublesome stage, it was +a short one, and would carry him a great way--all the way from earth to +Heaven. The King's last word, as he gave his cloak and the George--the +decoration from his breast--to the bishop, was, 'Remember!' He then +kneeled down, laid his head on the block, spread out his hands, and was +instantly killed. One universal groan broke from the crowd; and the +soldiers, who had sat on their horses and stood in their ranks immovable +as statues, were of a sudden all in motion, clearing the streets. + +Thus, in the forty-ninth year of his age, falling at the same time of his +career as Strafford had fallen in his, perished Charles the First. With +all my sorrow for him, I cannot agree with him that he died 'the martyr +of the people;' for the people had been martyrs to him, and to his ideas +of a King's rights, long before. Indeed, I am afraid that he was but a +bad judge of martyrs; for he had called that infamous Duke of Buckingham +'the Martyr of his Sovereign.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV--ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL + + +Before sunset on the memorable day on which King Charles the First was +executed, the House of Commons passed an act declaring it treason in any +one to proclaim the Prince of Wales--or anybody else--King of England. +Soon afterwards, it declared that the House of Lords was useless and +dangerous, and ought to be abolished; and directed that the late King's +statue should be taken down from the Royal Exchange in the City and other +public places. Having laid hold of some famous Royalists who had escaped +from prison, and having beheaded the DUKE OF HAMILTON, LORD HOLLAND, and +LORD CAPEL, in Palace Yard (all of whom died very courageously), they +then appointed a Council of State to govern the country. It consisted of +forty-one members, of whom five were peers. Bradshaw was made president. +The House of Commons also re-admitted members who had opposed the King's +death, and made up its numbers to about a hundred and fifty. + +But, it still had an army of more than forty thousand men to deal with, +and a very hard task it was to manage them. Before the King's execution, +the army had appointed some of its officers to remonstrate between them +and the Parliament; and now the common soldiers began to take that office +upon themselves. The regiments under orders for Ireland mutinied; one +troop of horse in the city of London seized their own flag, and refused +to obey orders. For this, the ringleader was shot: which did not mend +the matter, for, both his comrades and the people made a public funeral +for him, and accompanied the body to the grave with sound of trumpets and +with a gloomy procession of persons carrying bundles of rosemary steeped +in blood. Oliver was the only man to deal with such difficulties as +these, and he soon cut them short by bursting at midnight into the town +of Burford, near Salisbury, where the mutineers were sheltered, taking +four hundred of them prisoners, and shooting a number of them by sentence +of court-martial. The soldiers soon found, as all men did, that Oliver +was not a man to be trifled with. And there was an end of the mutiny. + +The Scottish Parliament did not know Oliver yet; so, on hearing of the +King's execution, it proclaimed the Prince of Wales King Charles the +Second, on condition of his respecting the Solemn League and Covenant. +Charles was abroad at that time, and so was Montrose, from whose help he +had hopes enough to keep him holding on and off with commissioners from +Scotland, just as his father might have done. These hopes were soon at +an end; for, Montrose, having raised a few hundred exiles in Germany, and +landed with them in Scotland, found that the people there, instead of +joining him, deserted the country at his approach. He was soon taken +prisoner and carried to Edinburgh. There he was received with every +possible insult, and carried to prison in a cart, his officers going two +and two before him. He was sentenced by the Parliament to be hanged on a +gallows thirty feet high, to have his head set on a spike in Edinburgh, +and his limbs distributed in other places, according to the old barbarous +manner. He said he had always acted under the Royal orders, and only +wished he had limbs enough to be distributed through Christendom, that it +might be the more widely known how loyal he had been. He went to the +scaffold in a bright and brilliant dress, and made a bold end at thirty- +eight years of age. The breath was scarcely out of his body when Charles +abandoned his memory, and denied that he had ever given him orders to +rise in his behalf. O the family failing was strong in that Charles +then! + +Oliver had been appointed by the Parliament to command the army in +Ireland, where he took a terrible vengeance for the sanguinary rebellion, +and made tremendous havoc, particularly in the siege of Drogheda, where +no quarter was given, and where he found at least a thousand of the +inhabitants shut up together in the great church: every one of whom was +killed by his soldiers, usually known as OLIVER'S IRONSIDES. There were +numbers of friars and priests among them, and Oliver gruffly wrote home +in his despatch that these were 'knocked on the head' like the rest. + +But, Charles having got over to Scotland where the men of the Solemn +League and Covenant led him a prodigiously dull life and made him very +weary with long sermons and grim Sundays, the Parliament called the +redoubtable Oliver home to knock the Scottish men on the head for setting +up that Prince. Oliver left his son-in-law, Ireton, as general in +Ireland in his stead (he died there afterwards), and he imitated the +example of his father-in-law with such good will that he brought the +country to subjection, and laid it at the feet of the Parliament. In the +end, they passed an act for the settlement of Ireland, generally +pardoning all the common people, but exempting from this grace such of +the wealthier sort as had been concerned in the rebellion, or in any +killing of Protestants, or who refused to lay down their arms. Great +numbers of Irish were got out of the country to serve under Catholic +powers abroad, and a quantity of land was declared to have been forfeited +by past offences, and was given to people who had lent money to the +Parliament early in the war. These were sweeping measures; but, if +Oliver Cromwell had had his own way fully, and had stayed in Ireland, he +would have done more yet. + +However, as I have said, the Parliament wanted Oliver for Scotland; so, +home Oliver came, and was made Commander of all the Forces of the +Commonwealth of England, and in three days away he went with sixteen +thousand soldiers to fight the Scottish men. Now, the Scottish men, +being then--as you will generally find them now--mighty cautious, +reflected that the troops they had were not used to war like the +Ironsides, and would be beaten in an open fight. Therefore they said, +'If we live quiet in our trenches in Edinburgh here, and if all the +farmers come into the town and desert the country, the Ironsides will be +driven out by iron hunger and be forced to go away.' This was, no doubt, +the wisest plan; but as the Scottish clergy _would_ interfere with what +they knew nothing about, and would perpetually preach long sermons +exhorting the soldiers to come out and fight, the soldiers got it in +their heads that they absolutely must come out and fight. Accordingly, +in an evil hour for themselves, they came out of their safe position. +Oliver fell upon them instantly, and killed three thousand, and took ten +thousand prisoners. + +To gratify the Scottish Parliament, and preserve their favour, Charles +had signed a declaration they laid before him, reproaching the memory of +his father and mother, and representing himself as a most religious +Prince, to whom the Solemn League and Covenant was as dear as life. He +meant no sort of truth in this, and soon afterwards galloped away on +horseback to join some tiresome Highland friends, who were always +flourishing dirks and broadswords. He was overtaken and induced to +return; but this attempt, which was called 'The Start,' did him just so +much service, that they did not preach quite such long sermons at him +afterwards as they had done before. + +On the first of January, one thousand six hundred and fifty-one, the +Scottish people crowned him at Scone. He immediately took the chief +command of an army of twenty thousand men, and marched to Stirling. His +hopes were heightened, I dare say, by the redoubtable Oliver being ill of +an ague; but Oliver scrambled out of bed in no time, and went to work +with such energy that he got behind the Royalist army and cut it off from +all communication with Scotland. There was nothing for it then, but to +go on to England; so it went on as far as Worcester, where the mayor and +some of the gentry proclaimed King Charles the Second straightway. His +proclamation, however, was of little use to him, for very few Royalists +appeared; and, on the very same day, two people were publicly beheaded on +Tower Hill for espousing his cause. Up came Oliver to Worcester too, at +double quick speed, and he and his Ironsides so laid about them in the +great battle which was fought there, that they completely beat the +Scottish men, and destroyed the Royalist army; though the Scottish men +fought so gallantly that it took five hours to do. + +The escape of Charles after this battle of Worcester did him good service +long afterwards, for it induced many of the generous English people to +take a romantic interest in him, and to think much better of him than he +ever deserved. He fled in the night, with not more than sixty followers, +to the house of a Catholic lady in Staffordshire. There, for his greater +safety, the whole sixty left him. He cropped his hair, stained his face +and hands brown as if they were sunburnt, put on the clothes of a +labouring countryman, and went out in the morning with his axe in his +hand, accompanied by four wood-cutters who were brothers, and another man +who was their brother-in-law. These good fellows made a bed for him +under a tree, as the weather was very bad; and the wife of one of them +brought him food to eat; and the old mother of the four brothers came and +fell down on her knees before him in the wood, and thanked God that her +sons were engaged in saving his life. At night, he came out of the +forest and went on to another house which was near the river Severn, with +the intention of passing into Wales; but the place swarmed with soldiers, +and the bridges were guarded, and all the boats were made fast. So, +after lying in a hayloft covered over with hay, for some time, he came +out of his place, attended by COLONEL CARELESS, a Catholic gentleman who +had met him there, and with whom he lay hid, all next day, up in the +shady branches of a fine old oak. It was lucky for the King that it was +September-time, and that the leaves had not begun to fall, since he and +the Colonel, perched up in this tree, could catch glimpses of the +soldiers riding about below, and could hear the crash in the wood as they +went about beating the boughs. + +After this, he walked and walked until his feet were all blistered; and, +having been concealed all one day in a house which was searched by the +troopers while he was there, went with LORD WILMOT, another of his good +friends, to a place called Bentley, where one MISS LANE, a Protestant +lady, had obtained a pass to be allowed to ride through the guards to see +a relation of hers near Bristol. Disguised as a servant, he rode in the +saddle before this young lady to the house of SIR JOHN WINTER, while Lord +Wilmot rode there boldly, like a plain country gentleman, with dogs at +his heels. It happened that Sir John Winter's butler had been servant in +Richmond Palace, and knew Charles the moment he set eyes upon him; but, +the butler was faithful and kept the secret. As no ship could be found +to carry him abroad, it was planned that he should go--still travelling +with Miss Lane as her servant--to another house, at Trent near Sherborne +in Dorsetshire; and then Miss Lane and her cousin, MR. LASCELLES, who had +gone on horseback beside her all the way, went home. I hope Miss Lane +was going to marry that cousin, for I am sure she must have been a brave, +kind girl. If I had been that cousin, I should certainly have loved Miss +Lane. + +When Charles, lonely for the loss of Miss Lane, was safe at Trent, a ship +was hired at Lyme, the master of which engaged to take two gentlemen to +France. In the evening of the same day, the King--now riding as servant +before another young lady--set off for a public-house at a place called +Charmouth, where the captain of the vessel was to take him on board. But, +the captain's wife, being afraid of her husband getting into trouble, +locked him up and would not let him sail. Then they went away to +Bridport; and, coming to the inn there, found the stable-yard full of +soldiers who were on the look-out for Charles, and who talked about him +while they drank. He had such presence of mind, that he led the horses +of his party through the yard as any other servant might have done, and +said, 'Come out of the way, you soldiers; let us have room to pass here!' +As he went along, he met a half-tipsy ostler, who rubbed his eyes and +said to him, 'Why, I was formerly servant to Mr. Potter at Exeter, and +surely I have sometimes seen you there, young man?' He certainly had, +for Charles had lodged there. His ready answer was, 'Ah, I did live with +him once; but I have no time to talk now. We'll have a pot of beer +together when I come back.' + +From this dangerous place he returned to Trent, and lay there concealed +several days. Then he escaped to Heale, near Salisbury; where, in the +house of a widow lady, he was hidden five days, until the master of a +collier lying off Shoreham in Sussex, undertook to convey a 'gentleman' +to France. On the night of the fifteenth of October, accompanied by two +colonels and a merchant, the King rode to Brighton, then a little fishing +village, to give the captain of the ship a supper before going on board; +but, so many people knew him, that this captain knew him too, and not +only he, but the landlord and landlady also. Before he went away, the +landlord came behind his chair, kissed his hand, and said he hoped to +live to be a lord and to see his wife a lady; at which Charles laughed. +They had had a good supper by this time, and plenty of smoking and +drinking, at which the King was a first-rate hand; so, the captain +assured him that he would stand by him, and he did. It was agreed that +the captain should pretend to sail to Deal, and that Charles should +address the sailors and say he was a gentleman in debt who was running +away from his creditors, and that he hoped they would join him in +persuading the captain to put him ashore in France. As the King acted +his part very well indeed, and gave the sailors twenty shillings to +drink, they begged the captain to do what such a worthy gentleman asked. +He pretended to yield to their entreaties, and the King got safe to +Normandy. + +Ireland being now subdued, and Scotland kept quiet by plenty of forts and +soldiers put there by Oliver, the Parliament would have gone on quietly +enough, as far as fighting with any foreign enemy went, but for getting +into trouble with the Dutch, who in the spring of the year one thousand +six hundred and fifty-one sent a fleet into the Downs under their ADMIRAL +VAN TROMP, to call upon the bold English ADMIRAL BLAKE (who was there +with half as many ships as the Dutch) to strike his flag. Blake fired a +raging broadside instead, and beat off Van Tromp; who, in the autumn, +came back again with seventy ships, and challenged the bold Blake--who +still was only half as strong--to fight him. Blake fought him all day; +but, finding that the Dutch were too many for him, got quietly off at +night. What does Van Tromp upon this, but goes cruising and boasting +about the Channel, between the North Foreland and the Isle of Wight, with +a great Dutch broom tied to his masthead, as a sign that he could and +would sweep the English of the sea! Within three months, Blake lowered +his tone though, and his broom too; for, he and two other bold +commanders, DEAN and MONK, fought him three whole days, took twenty-three +of his ships, shivered his broom to pieces, and settled his business. + +Things were no sooner quiet again, than the army began to complain to the +Parliament that they were not governing the nation properly, and to hint +that they thought they could do it better themselves. Oliver, who had +now made up his mind to be the head of the state, or nothing at all, +supported them in this, and called a meeting of officers and his own +Parliamentary friends, at his lodgings in Whitehall, to consider the best +way of getting rid of the Parliament. It had now lasted just as many +years as the King's unbridled power had lasted, before it came into +existence. The end of the deliberation was, that Oliver went down to the +House in his usual plain black dress, with his usual grey worsted +stockings, but with an unusual party of soldiers behind him. These last +he left in the lobby, and then went in and sat down. Presently he got +up, made the Parliament a speech, told them that the Lord had done with +them, stamped his foot and said, 'You are no Parliament. Bring them in! +Bring them in!' At this signal the door flew open, and the soldiers +appeared. 'This is not honest,' said Sir Harry Vane, one of the members. +'Sir Harry Vane!' cried Cromwell; 'O, Sir Harry Vane! The Lord deliver +me from Sir Harry Vane!' Then he pointed out members one by one, and +said this man was a drunkard, and that man a dissipated fellow, and that +man a liar, and so on. Then he caused the Speaker to be walked out of +his chair, told the guard to clear the House, called the mace upon the +table--which is a sign that the House is sitting--'a fool's bauble,' and +said, 'here, carry it away!' Being obeyed in all these orders, he +quietly locked the door, put the key in his pocket, walked back to +Whitehall again, and told his friends, who were still assembled there, +what he had done. + +They formed a new Council of State after this extraordinary proceeding, +and got a new Parliament together in their own way: which Oliver himself +opened in a sort of sermon, and which he said was the beginning of a +perfect heaven upon earth. In this Parliament there sat a well-known +leather-seller, who had taken the singular name of Praise God Barebones, +and from whom it was called, for a joke, Barebones's Parliament, though +its general name was the Little Parliament. As it soon appeared that it +was not going to put Oliver in the first place, it turned out to be not +at all like the beginning of heaven upon earth, and Oliver said it really +was not to be borne with. So he cleared off that Parliament in much the +same way as he had disposed of the other; and then the council of +officers decided that he must be made the supreme authority of the +kingdom, under the title of the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. + +So, on the sixteenth of December, one thousand six hundred and +fifty-three, a great procession was formed at Oliver's door, and he came +out in a black velvet suit and a big pair of boots, and got into his +coach and went down to Westminster, attended by the judges, and the lord +mayor, and the aldermen, and all the other great and wonderful personages +of the country. There, in the Court of Chancery, he publicly accepted +the office of Lord Protector. Then he was sworn, and the City sword was +handed to him, and the seal was handed to him, and all the other things +were handed to him which are usually handed to Kings and Queens on state +occasions. When Oliver had handed them all back, he was quite made and +completely finished off as Lord Protector; and several of the Ironsides +preached about it at great length, all the evening. + + + +SECOND PART + + +Oliver Cromwell--whom the people long called OLD NOLL--in accepting the +office of Protector, had bound himself by a certain paper which was +handed to him, called 'the Instrument,' to summon a Parliament, +consisting of between four and five hundred members, in the election of +which neither the Royalists nor the Catholics were to have any share. He +had also pledged himself that this Parliament should not be dissolved +without its own consent until it had sat five months. + +When this Parliament met, Oliver made a speech to them of three hours +long, very wisely advising them what to do for the credit and happiness +of the country. To keep down the more violent members, he required them +to sign a recognition of what they were forbidden by 'the Instrument' to +do; which was, chiefly, to take the power from one single person at the +head of the state or to command the army. Then he dismissed them to go +to work. With his usual vigour and resolution he went to work himself +with some frantic preachers--who were rather overdoing their sermons in +calling him a villain and a tyrant--by shutting up their chapels, and +sending a few of them off to prison. + +There was not at that time, in England or anywhere else, a man so able to +govern the country as Oliver Cromwell. Although he ruled with a strong +hand, and levied a very heavy tax on the Royalists (but not until they +had plotted against his life), he ruled wisely, and as the times +required. He caused England to be so respected abroad, that I wish some +lords and gentlemen who have governed it under kings and queens in later +days would have taken a leaf out of Oliver Cromwell's book. He sent bold +Admiral Blake to the Mediterranean Sea, to make the Duke of Tuscany pay +sixty thousand pounds for injuries he had done to British subjects, and +spoliation he had committed on English merchants. He further despatched +him and his fleet to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, to have every English +ship and every English man delivered up to him that had been taken by +pirates in those parts. All this was gloriously done; and it began to be +thoroughly well known, all over the world, that England was governed by a +man in earnest, who would not allow the English name to be insulted or +slighted anywhere. + +These were not all his foreign triumphs. He sent a fleet to sea against +the Dutch; and the two powers, each with one hundred ships upon its side, +met in the English Channel off the North Foreland, where the fight lasted +all day long. Dean was killed in this fight; but Monk, who commanded in +the same ship with him, threw his cloak over his body, that the sailors +might not know of his death, and be disheartened. Nor were they. The +English broadsides so exceedingly astonished the Dutch that they sheered +off at last, though the redoubtable Van Tromp fired upon them with his +own guns for deserting their flag. Soon afterwards, the two fleets +engaged again, off the coast of Holland. There, the valiant Van Tromp +was shot through the heart, and the Dutch gave in, and peace was made. + +Further than this, Oliver resolved not to bear the domineering and +bigoted conduct of Spain, which country not only claimed a right to all +the gold and silver that could be found in South America, and treated the +ships of all other countries who visited those regions, as pirates, but +put English subjects into the horrible Spanish prisons of the +Inquisition. So, Oliver told the Spanish ambassador that English ships +must be free to go wherever they would, and that English merchants must +not be thrown into those same dungeons, no, not for the pleasure of all +the priests in Spain. To this, the Spanish ambassador replied that the +gold and silver country, and the Holy Inquisition, were his King's two +eyes, neither of which he could submit to have put out. Very well, said +Oliver, then he was afraid he (Oliver) must damage those two eyes +directly. + +So, another fleet was despatched under two commanders, PENN and VENABLES, +for Hispaniola; where, however, the Spaniards got the better of the +fight. Consequently, the fleet came home again, after taking Jamaica on +the way. Oliver, indignant with the two commanders who had not done what +bold Admiral Blake would have done, clapped them both into prison, +declared war against Spain, and made a treaty with France, in virtue of +which it was to shelter the King and his brother the Duke of York no +longer. Then, he sent a fleet abroad under bold Admiral Blake, which +brought the King of Portugal to his senses--just to keep its hand in--and +then engaged a Spanish fleet, sunk four great ships, and took two more, +laden with silver to the value of two millions of pounds: which dazzling +prize was brought from Portsmouth to London in waggons, with the populace +of all the towns and villages through which the waggons passed, shouting +with all their might. After this victory, bold Admiral Blake sailed away +to the port of Santa Cruz to cut off the Spanish treasure-ships coming +from Mexico. There, he found them, ten in number, with seven others to +take care of them, and a big castle, and seven batteries, all roaring and +blazing away at him with great guns. Blake cared no more for great guns +than for pop-guns--no more for their hot iron balls than for snow-balls. +He dashed into the harbour, captured and burnt every one of the ships, +and came sailing out again triumphantly, with the victorious English flag +flying at his masthead. This was the last triumph of this great +commander, who had sailed and fought until he was quite worn out. He +died, as his successful ship was coming into Plymouth Harbour amidst the +joyful acclamations of the people, and was buried in state in Westminster +Abbey. Not to lie there, long. + +Over and above all this, Oliver found that the VAUDOIS, or Protestant +people of the valleys of Lucerne, were insolently treated by the Catholic +powers, and were even put to death for their religion, in an audacious +and bloody manner. Instantly, he informed those powers that this was a +thing which Protestant England would not allow; and he speedily carried +his point, through the might of his great name, and established their +right to worship God in peace after their own harmless manner. + +Lastly, his English army won such admiration in fighting with the French +against the Spaniards, that, after they had assaulted the town of Dunkirk +together, the French King in person gave it up to the English, that it +might be a token to them of their might and valour. + +There were plots enough against Oliver among the frantic religionists +(who called themselves Fifth Monarchy Men), and among the disappointed +Republicans. He had a difficult game to play, for the Royalists were +always ready to side with either party against him. The 'King over the +water,' too, as Charles was called, had no scruples about plotting with +any one against his life; although there is reason to suppose that he +would willingly have married one of his daughters, if Oliver would have +had such a son-in-law. There was a certain COLONEL SAXBY of the army, +once a great supporter of Oliver's but now turned against him, who was a +grievous trouble to him through all this part of his career; and who came +and went between the discontented in England and Spain, and Charles who +put himself in alliance with Spain on being thrown off by France. This +man died in prison at last; but not until there had been very serious +plots between the Royalists and Republicans, and an actual rising of them +in England, when they burst into the city of Salisbury, on a Sunday +night, seized the judges who were going to hold the assizes there next +day, and would have hanged them but for the merciful objections of the +more temperate of their number. Oliver was so vigorous and shrewd that +he soon put this revolt down, as he did most other conspiracies; and it +was well for one of its chief managers--that same Lord Wilmot who had +assisted in Charles's flight, and was now EARL OF ROCHESTER--that he made +his escape. Oliver seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere, and secured +such sources of information as his enemies little dreamed of. There was +a chosen body of six persons, called the Sealed Knot, who were in the +closest and most secret confidence of Charles. One of the foremost of +these very men, a SIR RICHARD WILLIS, reported to Oliver everything that +passed among them, and had two hundred a year for it. + +MILES SYNDARCOMB, also of the old army, was another conspirator against +the Protector. He and a man named CECIL, bribed one of his Life Guards +to let them have good notice when he was going out--intending to shoot +him from a window. But, owing either to his caution or his good fortune, +they could never get an aim at him. Disappointed in this design, they +got into the chapel in Whitehall, with a basketful of combustibles, which +were to explode by means of a slow match in six hours; then, in the noise +and confusion of the fire, they hoped to kill Oliver. But, the Life +Guardsman himself disclosed this plot; and they were seized, and Miles +died (or killed himself in prison) a little while before he was ordered +for execution. A few such plotters Oliver caused to be beheaded, a few +more to be hanged, and many more, including those who rose in arms +against him, to be sent as slaves to the West Indies. If he were rigid, +he was impartial too, in asserting the laws of England. When a +Portuguese nobleman, the brother of the Portuguese ambassador, killed a +London citizen in mistake for another man with whom he had had a quarrel, +Oliver caused him to be tried before a jury of Englishmen and foreigners, +and had him executed in spite of the entreaties of all the ambassadors in +London. + +One of Oliver's own friends, the DUKE OF OLDENBURGH, in sending him a +present of six fine coach-horses, was very near doing more to please the +Royalists than all the plotters put together. One day, Oliver went with +his coach, drawn by these six horses, into Hyde Park, to dine with his +secretary and some of his other gentlemen under the trees there. After +dinner, being merry, he took it into his head to put his friends inside +and to drive them home: a postillion riding one of the foremost horses, +as the custom was. On account of Oliver's being too free with the whip, +the six fine horses went off at a gallop, the postillion got thrown, and +Oliver fell upon the coach-pole and narrowly escaped being shot by his +own pistol, which got entangled with his clothes in the harness, and went +off. He was dragged some distance by the foot, until his foot came out +of the shoe, and then he came safely to the ground under the broad body +of the coach, and was very little the worse. The gentlemen inside were +only bruised, and the discontented people of all parties were much +disappointed. + +The rest of the history of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell is a +history of his Parliaments. His first one not pleasing him at all, he +waited until the five months were out, and then dissolved it. The next +was better suited to his views; and from that he desired to get--if he +could with safety to himself--the title of King. He had had this in his +mind some time: whether because he thought that the English people, being +more used to the title, were more likely to obey it; or whether because +he really wished to be a king himself, and to leave the succession to +that title in his family, is far from clear. He was already as high, in +England and in all the world, as he would ever be, and I doubt if he +cared for the mere name. However, a paper, called the 'Humble Petition +and Advice,' was presented to him by the House of Commons, praying him to +take a high title and to appoint his successor. That he would have taken +the title of King there is no doubt, but for the strong opposition of the +army. This induced him to forbear, and to assent only to the other +points of the petition. Upon which occasion there was another grand show +in Westminster Hall, when the Speaker of the House of Commons formally +invested him with a purple robe lined with ermine, and presented him with +a splendidly bound Bible, and put a golden sceptre in his hand. The next +time the Parliament met, he called a House of Lords of sixty members, as +the petition gave him power to do; but as that Parliament did not please +him either, and would not proceed to the business of the country, he +jumped into a coach one morning, took six Guards with him, and sent them +to the right-about. I wish this had been a warning to Parliaments to +avoid long speeches, and do more work. + +It was the month of August, one thousand six hundred and fifty-eight, +when Oliver Cromwell's favourite daughter, ELIZABETH CLAYPOLE (who had +lately lost her youngest son), lay very ill, and his mind was greatly +troubled, because he loved her dearly. Another of his daughters was +married to LORD FALCONBERG, another to the grandson of the Earl of +Warwick, and he had made his son RICHARD one of the Members of the Upper +House. He was very kind and loving to them all, being a good father and +a good husband; but he loved this daughter the best of the family, and +went down to Hampton Court to see her, and could hardly be induced to +stir from her sick room until she died. Although his religion had been +of a gloomy kind, his disposition had been always cheerful. He had been +fond of music in his home, and had kept open table once a week for all +officers of the army not below the rank of captain, and had always +preserved in his house a quiet, sensible dignity. He encouraged men of +genius and learning, and loved to have them about him. MILTON was one of +his great friends. He was good humoured too, with the nobility, whose +dresses and manners were very different from his; and to show them what +good information he had, he would sometimes jokingly tell them when they +were his guests, where they had last drunk the health of the 'King over +the water,' and would recommend them to be more private (if they could) +another time. But he had lived in busy times, had borne the weight of +heavy State affairs, and had often gone in fear of his life. He was ill +of the gout and ague; and when the death of his beloved child came upon +him in addition, he sank, never to raise his head again. He told his +physicians on the twenty-fourth of August that the Lord had assured him +that he was not to die in that illness, and that he would certainly get +better. This was only his sick fancy, for on the third of September, +which was the anniversary of the great battle of Worcester, and the day +of the year which he called his fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth +year of his age. He had been delirious, and had lain insensible some +hours, but he had been overheard to murmur a very good prayer the day +before. The whole country lamented his death. If you want to know the +real worth of Oliver Cromwell, and his real services to his country, you +can hardly do better than compare England under him, with England under +CHARLES THE SECOND. + +He had appointed his son Richard to succeed him, and after there had +been, at Somerset House in the Strand, a lying in state more splendid +than sensible--as all such vanities after death are, I think--Richard +became Lord Protector. He was an amiable country gentleman, but had none +of his father's great genius, and was quite unfit for such a post in such +a storm of parties. Richard's Protectorate, which only lasted a year and +a half, is a history of quarrels between the officers of the army and the +Parliament, and between the officers among themselves; and of a growing +discontent among the people, who had far too many long sermons and far +too few amusements, and wanted a change. At last, General Monk got the +army well into his own hands, and then in pursuance of a secret plan he +seems to have entertained from the time of Oliver's death, declared for +the King's cause. He did not do this openly; but, in his place in the +House of Commons, as one of the members for Devonshire, strongly +advocated the proposals of one SIR JOHN GREENVILLE, who came to the House +with a letter from Charles, dated from Breda, and with whom he had +previously been in secret communication. There had been plots and +counterplots, and a recall of the last members of the Long Parliament, +and an end of the Long Parliament, and risings of the Royalists that were +made too soon; and most men being tired out, and there being no one to +head the country now great Oliver was dead, it was readily agreed to +welcome Charles Stuart. Some of the wiser and better members said--what +was most true--that in the letter from Breda, he gave no real promise to +govern well, and that it would be best to make him pledge himself +beforehand as to what he should be bound to do for the benefit of the +kingdom. Monk said, however, it would be all right when he came, and he +could not come too soon. + +So, everybody found out all in a moment that the country _must_ be +prosperous and happy, having another Stuart to condescend to reign over +it; and there was a prodigious firing off of guns, lighting of bonfires, +ringing of bells, and throwing up of caps. The people drank the King's +health by thousands in the open streets, and everybody rejoiced. Down +came the Arms of the Commonwealth, up went the Royal Arms instead, and +out came the public money. Fifty thousand pounds for the King, ten +thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of York, five thousand pounds +for his brother the Duke of Gloucester. Prayers for these gracious +Stuarts were put up in all the churches; commissioners were sent to +Holland (which suddenly found out that Charles was a great man, and that +it loved him) to invite the King home; Monk and the Kentish grandees went +to Dover, to kneel down before him as he landed. He kissed and embraced +Monk, made him ride in the coach with himself and his brothers, came on +to London amid wonderful shoutings, and passed through the army at +Blackheath on the twenty-ninth of May (his birthday), in the year one +thousand six hundred and sixty. Greeted by splendid dinners under tents, +by flags and tapestry streaming from all the houses, by delighted crowds +in all the streets, by troops of noblemen and gentlemen in rich dresses, +by City companies, train-bands, drummers, trumpeters, the great Lord +Mayor, and the majestic Aldermen, the King went on to Whitehall. On +entering it, he commemorated his Restoration with the joke that it really +would seem to have been his own fault that he had not come long ago, +since everybody told him that he had always wished for him with all his +heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV--ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH + + +There never were such profligate times in England as under Charles the +Second. Whenever you see his portrait, with his swarthy, ill-looking +face and great nose, you may fancy him in his Court at Whitehall, +surrounded by some of the very worst vagabonds in the kingdom (though +they were lords and ladies), drinking, gambling, indulging in vicious +conversation, and committing every kind of profligate excess. It has +been a fashion to call Charles the Second 'The Merry Monarch.' Let me +try to give you a general idea of some of the merry things that were +done, in the merry days when this merry gentleman sat upon his merry +throne, in merry England. + +The first merry proceeding was--of course--to declare that he was one of +the greatest, the wisest, and the noblest kings that ever shone, like the +blessed sun itself, on this benighted earth. The next merry and pleasant +piece of business was, for the Parliament, in the humblest manner, to +give him one million two hundred thousand pounds a year, and to settle +upon him for life that old disputed tonnage and poundage which had been +so bravely fought for. Then, General Monk being made EARL OF ALBEMARLE, +and a few other Royalists similarly rewarded, the law went to work to see +what was to be done to those persons (they were called Regicides) who had +been concerned in making a martyr of the late King. Ten of these were +merrily executed; that is to say, six of the judges, one of the council, +Colonel Hacker and another officer who had commanded the Guards, and HUGH +PETERS, a preacher who had preached against the martyr with all his +heart. These executions were so extremely merry, that every horrible +circumstance which Cromwell had abandoned was revived with appalling +cruelty. The hearts of the sufferers were torn out of their living +bodies; their bowels were burned before their faces; the executioner cut +jokes to the next victim, as he rubbed his filthy hands together, that +were reeking with the blood of the last; and the heads of the dead were +drawn on sledges with the living to the place of suffering. Still, even +so merry a monarch could not force one of these dying men to say that he +was sorry for what he had done. Nay, the most memorable thing said among +them was, that if the thing were to do again they would do it. + +Sir Harry Vane, who had furnished the evidence against Strafford, and was +one of the most staunch of the Republicans, was also tried, found guilty, +and ordered for execution. When he came upon the scaffold on Tower Hill, +after conducting his own defence with great power, his notes of what he +had meant to say to the people were torn away from him, and the drums and +trumpets were ordered to sound lustily and drown his voice; for, the +people had been so much impressed by what the Regicides had calmly said +with their last breath, that it was the custom now, to have the drums and +trumpets always under the scaffold, ready to strike up. Vane said no +more than this: 'It is a bad cause which cannot bear the words of a dying +man:' and bravely died. + +These merry scenes were succeeded by another, perhaps even merrier. On +the anniversary of the late King's death, the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, +Ireton, and Bradshaw, were torn out of their graves in Westminster Abbey, +dragged to Tyburn, hanged there on a gallows all day long, and then +beheaded. Imagine the head of Oliver Cromwell set upon a pole to be +stared at by a brutal crowd, not one of whom would have dared to look the +living Oliver in the face for half a moment! Think, after you have read +this reign, what England was under Oliver Cromwell who was torn out of +his grave, and what it was under this merry monarch who sold it, like a +merry Judas, over and over again. + +Of course, the remains of Oliver's wife and daughter were not to be +spared either, though they had been most excellent women. The base +clergy of that time gave up their bodies, which had been buried in the +Abbey, and--to the eternal disgrace of England--they were thrown into a +pit, together with the mouldering bones of Pym and of the brave and bold +old Admiral Blake. + +The clergy acted this disgraceful part because they hoped to get the +nonconformists, or dissenters, thoroughly put down in this reign, and to +have but one prayer-book and one service for all kinds of people, no +matter what their private opinions were. This was pretty well, I think, +for a Protestant Church, which had displaced the Romish Church because +people had a right to their own opinions in religious matters. However, +they carried it with a high hand, and a prayer-book was agreed upon, in +which the extremest opinions of Archbishop Laud were not forgotten. An +Act was passed, too, preventing any dissenter from holding any office +under any corporation. So, the regular clergy in their triumph were soon +as merry as the King. The army being by this time disbanded, and the +King crowned, everything was to go on easily for evermore. + +I must say a word here about the King's family. He had not been long +upon the throne when his brother the Duke of Gloucester, and his sister +the PRINCESS OF ORANGE, died within a few months of each other, of small- +pox. His remaining sister, the PRINCESS HENRIETTA, married the DUKE OF +ORLEANS, the brother of LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH, King of France. His +brother JAMES, DUKE OF YORK, was made High Admiral, and by-and-by became +a Catholic. He was a gloomy, sullen, bilious sort of man, with a +remarkable partiality for the ugliest women in the country. He married, +under very discreditable circumstances, ANNE HYDE, the daughter of LORD +CLARENDON, then the King's principal Minister--not at all a delicate +minister either, but doing much of the dirty work of a very dirty palace. +It became important now that the King himself should be married; and +divers foreign Monarchs, not very particular about the character of their +son-in-law, proposed their daughters to him. The KING OF PORTUGAL +offered his daughter, CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA, and fifty thousand pounds: +in addition to which, the French King, who was favourable to that match, +offered a loan of another fifty thousand. The King of Spain, on the +other hand, offered any one out of a dozen of Princesses, and other hopes +of gain. But the ready money carried the day, and Catherine came over in +state to her merry marriage. + +The whole Court was a great flaunting crowd of debauched men and +shameless women; and Catherine's merry husband insulted and outraged her +in every possible way, until she consented to receive those worthless +creatures as her very good friends, and to degrade herself by their +companionship. A MRS. PALMER, whom the King made LADY CASTLEMAINE, and +afterwards DUCHESS OF CLEVELAND, was one of the most powerful of the bad +women about the Court, and had great influence with the King nearly all +through his reign. Another merry lady named MOLL DAVIES, a dancer at the +theatre, was afterwards her rival. So was NELL GWYN, first an orange +girl and then an actress, who really had good in her, and of whom one of +the worst things I know is, that actually she does seem to have been fond +of the King. The first DUKE OF ST. ALBANS was this orange girl's child. +In like manner the son of a merry waiting-lady, whom the King created +DUCHESS OF PORTSMOUTH, became the DUKE OF RICHMOND. Upon the whole it is +not so bad a thing to be a commoner. + +The Merry Monarch was so exceedingly merry among these merry ladies, and +some equally merry (and equally infamous) lords and gentlemen, that he +soon got through his hundred thousand pounds, and then, by way of raising +a little pocket-money, made a merry bargain. He sold Dunkirk to the +French King for five millions of livres. When I think of the dignity to +which Oliver Cromwell raised England in the eyes of foreign powers, and +when I think of the manner in which he gained for England this very +Dunkirk, I am much inclined to consider that if the Merry Monarch had +been made to follow his father for this action, he would have received +his just deserts. + +Though he was like his father in none of that father's greater qualities, +he was like him in being worthy of no trust. When he sent that letter to +the Parliament, from Breda, he did expressly promise that all sincere +religious opinions should be respected. Yet he was no sooner firm in his +power than he consented to one of the worst Acts of Parliament ever +passed. Under this law, every minister who should not give his solemn +assent to the Prayer-Book by a certain day, was declared to be a minister +no longer, and to be deprived of his church. The consequence of this was +that some two thousand honest men were taken from their congregations, +and reduced to dire poverty and distress. It was followed by another +outrageous law, called the Conventicle Act, by which any person above the +age of sixteen who was present at any religious service not according to +the Prayer-Book, was to be imprisoned three months for the first offence, +six for the second, and to be transported for the third. This Act alone +filled the prisons, which were then most dreadful dungeons, to +overflowing. + +The Covenanters in Scotland had already fared no better. A base +Parliament, usually known as the Drunken Parliament, in consequence of +its principal members being seldom sober, had been got together to make +laws against the Covenanters, and to force all men to be of one mind in +religious matters. The MARQUIS OF ARGYLE, relying on the King's honour, +had given himself up to him; but, he was wealthy, and his enemies wanted +his wealth. He was tried for treason, on the evidence of some private +letters in which he had expressed opinions--as well he might--more +favourable to the government of the late Lord Protector than of the +present merry and religious King. He was executed, as were two men of +mark among the Covenanters; and SHARP, a traitor who had once been the +friend of the Presbyterians and betrayed them, was made Archbishop of St. +Andrew's, to teach the Scotch how to like bishops. + +Things being in this merry state at home, the Merry Monarch undertook a +war with the Dutch; principally because they interfered with an African +company, established with the two objects of buying gold-dust and slaves, +of which the Duke of York was a leading member. After some preliminary +hostilities, the said Duke sailed to the coast of Holland with a fleet of +ninety-eight vessels of war, and four fire-ships. This engaged with the +Dutch fleet, of no fewer than one hundred and thirteen ships. In the +great battle between the two forces, the Dutch lost eighteen ships, four +admirals, and seven thousand men. But, the English on shore were in no +mood of exultation when they heard the news. + +For, this was the year and the time of the Great Plague in London. During +the winter of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four it had been +whispered about, that some few people had died here and there of the +disease called the Plague, in some of the unwholesome suburbs around +London. News was not published at that time as it is now, and some +people believed these rumours, and some disbelieved them, and they were +soon forgotten. But, in the month of May, one thousand six hundred and +sixty-five, it began to be said all over the town that the disease had +burst out with great violence in St. Giles's, and that the people were +dying in great numbers. This soon turned out to be awfully true. The +roads out of London were choked up by people endeavouring to escape from +the infected city, and large sums were paid for any kind of conveyance. +The disease soon spread so fast, that it was necessary to shut up the +houses in which sick people were, and to cut them off from communication +with the living. Every one of these houses was marked on the outside of +the door with a red cross, and the words, Lord, have mercy upon us! The +streets were all deserted, grass grew in the public ways, and there was a +dreadful silence in the air. When night came on, dismal rumblings used +to be heard, and these were the wheels of the death-carts, attended by +men with veiled faces and holding cloths to their mouths, who rang +doleful bells and cried in a loud and solemn voice, 'Bring out your +dead!' The corpses put into these carts were buried by torchlight in +great pits; no service being performed over them; all men being afraid to +stay for a moment on the brink of the ghastly graves. In the general +fear, children ran away from their parents, and parents from their +children. Some who were taken ill, died alone, and without any help. +Some were stabbed or strangled by hired nurses who robbed them of all +their money, and stole the very beds on which they lay. Some went mad, +dropped from the windows, ran through the streets, and in their pain and +frenzy flung themselves into the river. + +These were not all the horrors of the time. The wicked and dissolute, in +wild desperation, sat in the taverns singing roaring songs, and were +stricken as they drank, and went out and died. The fearful and +superstitious persuaded themselves that they saw supernatural +sights--burning swords in the sky, gigantic arms and darts. Others +pretended that at nights vast crowds of ghosts walked round and round the +dismal pits. One madman, naked, and carrying a brazier full of burning +coals upon his head, stalked through the streets, crying out that he was +a Prophet, commissioned to denounce the vengeance of the Lord on wicked +London. Another always went to and fro, exclaiming, 'Yet forty days, and +London shall be destroyed!' A third awoke the echoes in the dismal +streets, by night and by day, and made the blood of the sick run cold, by +calling out incessantly, in a deep hoarse voice, 'O, the great and +dreadful God!' + +Through the months of July and August and September, the Great Plague +raged more and more. Great fires were lighted in the streets, in the +hope of stopping the infection; but there was a plague of rain too, and +it beat the fires out. At last, the winds which usually arise at that +time of the year which is called the equinox, when day and night are of +equal length all over the world, began to blow, and to purify the +wretched town. The deaths began to decrease, the red crosses slowly to +disappear, the fugitives to return, the shops to open, pale frightened +faces to be seen in the streets. The Plague had been in every part of +England, but in close and unwholesome London it had killed one hundred +thousand people. + +All this time, the Merry Monarch was as merry as ever, and as worthless +as ever. All this time, the debauched lords and gentlemen and the +shameless ladies danced and gamed and drank, and loved and hated one +another, according to their merry ways. + +So little humanity did the government learn from the late affliction, +that one of the first things the Parliament did when it met at Oxford +(being as yet afraid to come to London), was to make a law, called the +Five Mile Act, expressly directed against those poor ministers who, in +the time of the Plague, had manfully come back to comfort the unhappy +people. This infamous law, by forbidding them to teach in any school, or +to come within five miles of any city, town, or village, doomed them to +starvation and death. + +The fleet had been at sea, and healthy. The King of France was now in +alliance with the Dutch, though his navy was chiefly employed in looking +on while the English and Dutch fought. The Dutch gained one victory; and +the English gained another and a greater; and Prince Rupert, one of the +English admirals, was out in the Channel one windy night, looking for the +French Admiral, with the intention of giving him something more to do +than he had had yet, when the gale increased to a storm, and blew him +into Saint Helen's. That night was the third of September, one thousand +six hundred and sixty-six, and that wind fanned the Great Fire of London. + +It broke out at a baker's shop near London Bridge, on the spot on which +the Monument now stands as a remembrance of those raging flames. It +spread and spread, and burned and burned, for three days. The nights +were lighter than the days; in the daytime there was an immense cloud of +smoke, and in the night-time there was a great tower of fire mounting up +into the sky, which lighted the whole country landscape for ten miles +round. Showers of hot ashes rose into the air and fell on distant +places; flying sparks carried the conflagration to great distances, and +kindled it in twenty new spots at a time; church steeples fell down with +tremendous crashes; houses crumbled into cinders by the hundred and the +thousand. The summer had been intensely hot and dry, the streets were +very narrow, and the houses mostly built of wood and plaster. Nothing +could stop the tremendous fire, but the want of more houses to burn; nor +did it stop until the whole way from the Tower to Temple Bar was a +desert, composed of the ashes of thirteen thousand houses and eighty-nine +churches. + +This was a terrible visitation at the time, and occasioned great loss and +suffering to the two hundred thousand burnt-out people, who were obliged +to lie in the fields under the open night sky, or in hastily-made huts of +mud and straw, while the lanes and roads were rendered impassable by +carts which had broken down as they tried to save their goods. But the +Fire was a great blessing to the City afterwards, for it arose from its +ruins very much improved--built more regularly, more widely, more cleanly +and carefully, and therefore much more healthily. It might be far more +healthy than it is, but there are some people in it still--even now, at +this time, nearly two hundred years later--so selfish, so pig-headed, and +so ignorant, that I doubt if even another Great Fire would warm them up +to do their duty. + +The Catholics were accused of having wilfully set London in flames; one +poor Frenchman, who had been mad for years, even accused himself of +having with his own hand fired the first house. There is no reasonable +doubt, however, that the fire was accidental. An inscription on the +Monument long attributed it to the Catholics; but it is removed now, and +was always a malicious and stupid untruth. + + + +SECOND PART + + +That the Merry Monarch might be very merry indeed, in the merry times +when his people were suffering under pestilence and fire, he drank and +gambled and flung away among his favourites the money which the +Parliament had voted for the war. The consequence of this was that the +stout-hearted English sailors were merrily starving of want, and dying in +the streets; while the Dutch, under their admirals DE WITT and DE RUYTER, +came into the River Thames, and up the River Medway as far as Upnor, +burned the guard-ships, silenced the weak batteries, and did what they +would to the English coast for six whole weeks. Most of the English +ships that could have prevented them had neither powder nor shot on +board; in this merry reign, public officers made themselves as merry as +the King did with the public money; and when it was entrusted to them to +spend in national defences or preparations, they put it into their own +pockets with the merriest grace in the world. + +Lord Clarendon had, by this time, run as long a course as is usually +allotted to the unscrupulous ministers of bad kings. He was impeached by +his political opponents, but unsuccessfully. The King then commanded him +to withdraw from England and retire to France, which he did, after +defending himself in writing. He was no great loss at home, and died +abroad some seven years afterwards. + +There then came into power a ministry called the Cabal Ministry, because +it was composed of LORD CLIFFORD, the EARL OF ARLINGTON, the DUKE OF +BUCKINGHAM (a great rascal, and the King's most powerful favourite), LORD +ASHLEY, and the DUKE OF LAUDERDALE, C. A. B. A. L. As the French were +making conquests in Flanders, the first Cabal proceeding was to make a +treaty with the Dutch, for uniting with Spain to oppose the French. It +was no sooner made than the Merry Monarch, who always wanted to get money +without being accountable to a Parliament for his expenditure, apologised +to the King of France for having had anything to do with it, and +concluded a secret treaty with him, making himself his infamous pensioner +to the amount of two millions of livres down, and three millions more a +year; and engaging to desert that very Spain, to make war against those +very Dutch, and to declare himself a Catholic when a convenient time +should arrive. This religious king had lately been crying to his +Catholic brother on the subject of his strong desire to be a Catholic; +and now he merrily concluded this treasonable conspiracy against the +country he governed, by undertaking to become one as soon as he safely +could. For all of which, though he had had ten merry heads instead of +one, he richly deserved to lose them by the headsman's axe. + +As his one merry head might have been far from safe, if these things had +been known, they were kept very quiet, and war was declared by France and +England against the Dutch. But, a very uncommon man, afterwards most +important to English history and to the religion and liberty of this +land, arose among them, and for many long years defeated the whole +projects of France. This was WILLIAM OF NASSAU, PRINCE OF ORANGE, son of +the last Prince of Orange of the same name, who married the daughter of +Charles the First of England. He was a young man at this time, only just +of age; but he was brave, cool, intrepid, and wise. His father had been +so detested that, upon his death, the Dutch had abolished the authority +to which this son would have otherwise succeeded (Stadtholder it was +called), and placed the chief power in the hands of JOHN DE WITT, who +educated this young prince. Now, the Prince became very popular, and +John de Witt's brother CORNELIUS was sentenced to banishment on a false +accusation of conspiring to kill him. John went to the prison where he +was, to take him away to exile, in his coach; and a great mob who +collected on the occasion, then and there cruelly murdered both the +brothers. This left the government in the hands of the Prince, who was +really the choice of the nation; and from this time he exercised it with +the greatest vigour, against the whole power of France, under its famous +generals CONDE and TURENNE, and in support of the Protestant religion. It +was full seven years before this war ended in a treaty of peace made at +Nimeguen, and its details would occupy a very considerable space. It is +enough to say that William of Orange established a famous character with +the whole world; and that the Merry Monarch, adding to and improving on +his former baseness, bound himself to do everything the King of France +liked, and nothing the King of France did not like, for a pension of one +hundred thousand pounds a year, which was afterwards doubled. Besides +this, the King of France, by means of his corrupt ambassador--who wrote +accounts of his proceedings in England, which are not always to be +believed, I think--bought our English members of Parliament, as he wanted +them. So, in point of fact, during a considerable portion of this merry +reign, the King of France was the real King of this country. + +But there was a better time to come, and it was to come (though his royal +uncle little thought so) through that very William, Prince of Orange. He +came over to England, saw Mary, the elder daughter of the Duke of York, +and married her. We shall see by-and-by what came of that marriage, and +why it is never to be forgotten. + +This daughter was a Protestant, but her mother died a Catholic. She and +her sister ANNE, also a Protestant, were the only survivors of eight +children. Anne afterwards married GEORGE, PRINCE OF DENMARK, brother to +the King of that country. + +Lest you should do the Merry Monarch the injustice of supposing that he +was even good humoured (except when he had everything his own way), or +that he was high spirited and honourable, I will mention here what was +done to a member of the House of Commons, SIR JOHN COVENTRY. He made a +remark in a debate about taxing the theatres, which gave the King +offence. The King agreed with his illegitimate son, who had been born +abroad, and whom he had made DUKE OF MONMOUTH, to take the following +merry vengeance. To waylay him at night, fifteen armed men to one, and +to slit his nose with a penknife. Like master, like man. The King's +favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, was strongly suspected of setting on +an assassin to murder the DUKE OF ORMOND as he was returning home from a +dinner; and that Duke's spirited son, LORD OSSORY, was so persuaded of +his guilt, that he said to him at Court, even as he stood beside the +King, 'My lord, I know very well that you are at the bottom of this late +attempt upon my father. But I give you warning, if he ever come to a +violent end, his blood shall be upon you, and wherever I meet you I will +pistol you! I will do so, though I find you standing behind the King's +chair; and I tell you this in his Majesty's presence, that you may be +quite sure of my doing what I threaten.' Those were merry times indeed. + +There was a fellow named BLOOD, who was seized for making, with two +companions, an audacious attempt to steal the crown, the globe, and +sceptre, from the place where the jewels were kept in the Tower. This +robber, who was a swaggering ruffian, being taken, declared that he was +the man who had endeavoured to kill the Duke of Ormond, and that he had +meant to kill the King too, but was overawed by the majesty of his +appearance, when he might otherwise have done it, as he was bathing at +Battersea. The King being but an ill-looking fellow, I don't believe a +word of this. Whether he was flattered, or whether he knew that +Buckingham had really set Blood on to murder the Duke, is uncertain. But +it is quite certain that he pardoned this thief, gave him an estate of +five hundred a year in Ireland (which had had the honour of giving him +birth), and presented him at Court to the debauched lords and the +shameless ladies, who made a great deal of him--as I have no doubt they +would have made of the Devil himself, if the King had introduced him. + +Infamously pensioned as he was, the King still wanted money, and +consequently was obliged to call Parliaments. In these, the great object +of the Protestants was to thwart the Catholic Duke of York, who married a +second time; his new wife being a young lady only fifteen years old, the +Catholic sister of the DUKE OF MODENA. In this they were seconded by the +Protestant Dissenters, though to their own disadvantage: since, to +exclude Catholics from power, they were even willing to exclude +themselves. The King's object was to pretend to be a Protestant, while +he was really a Catholic; to swear to the bishops that he was devoutly +attached to the English Church, while he knew he had bargained it away to +the King of France; and by cheating and deceiving them, and all who were +attached to royalty, to become despotic and be powerful enough to confess +what a rascal he was. Meantime, the King of France, knowing his merry +pensioner well, intrigued with the King's opponents in Parliament, as +well as with the King and his friends. + +The fears that the country had of the Catholic religion being restored, +if the Duke of York should come to the throne, and the low cunning of the +King in pretending to share their alarms, led to some very terrible +results. A certain DR. TONGE, a dull clergyman in the City, fell into +the hands of a certain TITUS OATES, a most infamous character, who +pretended to have acquired among the Jesuits abroad a knowledge of a +great plot for the murder of the King, and the re-establishment if the +Catholic religion. Titus Oates, being produced by this unlucky Dr. Tonge +and solemnly examined before the council, contradicted himself in a +thousand ways, told the most ridiculous and improbable stories, and +implicated COLEMAN, the Secretary of the Duchess of York. Now, although +what he charged against Coleman was not true, and although you and I know +very well that the real dangerous Catholic plot was that one with the +King of France of which the Merry Monarch was himself the head, there +happened to be found among Coleman's papers, some letters, in which he +did praise the days of Bloody Queen Mary, and abuse the Protestant +religion. This was great good fortune for Titus, as it seemed to confirm +him; but better still was in store. SIR EDMUNDBURY GODFREY, the +magistrate who had first examined him, being unexpectedly found dead near +Primrose Hill, was confidently believed to have been killed by the +Catholics. I think there is no doubt that he had been melancholy mad, +and that he killed himself; but he had a great Protestant funeral, and +Titus was called the Saver of the Nation, and received a pension of +twelve hundred pounds a year. + +As soon as Oates's wickedness had met with this success, up started +another villain, named WILLIAM BEDLOE, who, attracted by a reward of five +hundred pounds offered for the apprehension of the murderers of Godfrey, +came forward and charged two Jesuits and some other persons with having +committed it at the Queen's desire. Oates, going into partnership with +this new informer, had the audacity to accuse the poor Queen herself of +high treason. Then appeared a third informer, as bad as either of the +two, and accused a Catholic banker named STAYLEY of having said that the +King was the greatest rogue in the world (which would not have been far +from the truth), and that he would kill him with his own hand. This +banker, being at once tried and executed, Coleman and two others were +tried and executed. Then, a miserable wretch named PRANCE, a Catholic +silversmith, being accused by Bedloe, was tortured into confessing that +he had taken part in Godfrey's murder, and into accusing three other men +of having committed it. Then, five Jesuits were accused by Oates, +Bedloe, and Prance together, and were all found guilty, and executed on +the same kind of contradictory and absurd evidence. The Queen's +physician and three monks were next put on their trial; but Oates and +Bedloe had for the time gone far enough and these four were acquitted. +The public mind, however, was so full of a Catholic plot, and so strong +against the Duke of York, that James consented to obey a written order +from his brother, and to go with his family to Brussels, provided that +his rights should never be sacrificed in his absence to the Duke of +Monmouth. The House of Commons, not satisfied with this as the King +hoped, passed a bill to exclude the Duke from ever succeeding to the +throne. In return, the King dissolved the Parliament. He had deserted +his old favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, who was now in the opposition. + +To give any sufficient idea of the miseries of Scotland in this merry +reign, would occupy a hundred pages. Because the people would not have +bishops, and were resolved to stand by their solemn League and Covenant, +such cruelties were inflicted upon them as make the blood run cold. +Ferocious dragoons galloped through the country to punish the peasants +for deserting the churches; sons were hanged up at their fathers' doors +for refusing to disclose where their fathers were concealed; wives were +tortured to death for not betraying their husbands; people were taken out +of their fields and gardens, and shot on the public roads without trial; +lighted matches were tied to the fingers of prisoners, and a most +horrible torment called the Boot was invented, and constantly applied, +which ground and mashed the victims' legs with iron wedges. Witnesses +were tortured as well as prisoners. All the prisons were full; all the +gibbets were heavy with bodies; murder and plunder devastated the whole +country. In spite of all, the Covenanters were by no means to be dragged +into the churches, and persisted in worshipping God as they thought +right. A body of ferocious Highlanders, turned upon them from the +mountains of their own country, had no greater effect than the English +dragoons under GRAHAME OF CLAVERHOUSE, the most cruel and rapacious of +all their enemies, whose name will ever be cursed through the length and +breadth of Scotland. Archbishop Sharp had ever aided and abetted all +these outrages. But he fell at last; for, when the injuries of the +Scottish people were at their height, he was seen, in his coach-and-six +coming across a moor, by a body of men, headed by one JOHN BALFOUR, who +were waiting for another of their oppressors. Upon this they cried out +that Heaven had delivered him into their hands, and killed him with many +wounds. If ever a man deserved such a death, I think Archbishop Sharp +did. + +It made a great noise directly, and the Merry Monarch--strongly suspected +of having goaded the Scottish people on, that he might have an excuse for +a greater army than the Parliament were willing to give him--sent down +his son, the Duke of Monmouth, as commander-in-chief, with instructions +to attack the Scottish rebels, or Whigs as they were called, whenever he +came up with them. Marching with ten thousand men from Edinburgh, he +found them, in number four or five thousand, drawn up at Bothwell Bridge, +by the Clyde. They were soon dispersed; and Monmouth showed a more +humane character towards them, than he had shown towards that Member of +Parliament whose nose he had caused to be slit with a penknife. But the +Duke of Lauderdale was their bitter foe, and sent Claverhouse to finish +them. + +As the Duke of York became more and more unpopular, the Duke of Monmouth +became more and more popular. It would have been decent in the latter +not to have voted in favour of the renewed bill for the exclusion of +James from the throne; but he did so, much to the King's amusement, who +used to sit in the House of Lords by the fire, hearing the debates, which +he said were as good as a play. The House of Commons passed the bill by +a large majority, and it was carried up to the House of Lords by LORD +RUSSELL, one of the best of the leaders on the Protestant side. It was +rejected there, chiefly because the bishops helped the King to get rid of +it; and the fear of Catholic plots revived again. There had been another +got up, by a fellow out of Newgate, named DANGERFIELD, which is more +famous than it deserves to be, under the name of the MEAL-TUB PLOT. This +jail-bird having been got out of Newgate by a MRS. CELLIER, a Catholic +nurse, had turned Catholic himself, and pretended that he knew of a plot +among the Presbyterians against the King's life. This was very pleasant +to the Duke of York, who hated the Presbyterians, who returned the +compliment. He gave Dangerfield twenty guineas, and sent him to the King +his brother. But Dangerfield, breaking down altogether in his charge, +and being sent back to Newgate, almost astonished the Duke out of his +five senses by suddenly swearing that the Catholic nurse had put that +false design into his head, and that what he really knew about, was, a +Catholic plot against the King; the evidence of which would be found in +some papers, concealed in a meal-tub in Mrs. Cellier's house. There they +were, of course--for he had put them there himself--and so the tub gave +the name to the plot. But, the nurse was acquitted on her trial, and it +came to nothing. + +Lord Ashley, of the Cabal, was now Lord Shaftesbury, and was strong +against the succession of the Duke of York. The House of Commons, +aggravated to the utmost extent, as we may well suppose, by suspicions of +the King's conspiracy with the King of France, made a desperate point of +the exclusion, still, and were bitter against the Catholics generally. So +unjustly bitter were they, I grieve to say, that they impeached the +venerable Lord Stafford, a Catholic nobleman seventy years old, of a +design to kill the King. The witnesses were that atrocious Oates and two +other birds of the same feather. He was found guilty, on evidence quite +as foolish as it was false, and was beheaded on Tower Hill. The people +were opposed to him when he first appeared upon the scaffold; but, when +he had addressed them and shown them how innocent he was and how wickedly +he was sent there, their better nature was aroused, and they said, 'We +believe you, my Lord. God bless you, my Lord!' + +The House of Commons refused to let the King have any money until he +should consent to the Exclusion Bill; but, as he could get it and did get +it from his master the King of France, he could afford to hold them very +cheap. He called a Parliament at Oxford, to which he went down with a +great show of being armed and protected as if he were in danger of his +life, and to which the opposition members also went armed and protected, +alleging that they were in fear of the Papists, who were numerous among +the King's guards. However, they went on with the Exclusion Bill, and +were so earnest upon it that they would have carried it again, if the +King had not popped his crown and state robes into a sedan-chair, bundled +himself into it along with them, hurried down to the chamber where the +House of Lords met, and dissolved the Parliament. After which he +scampered home, and the members of Parliament scampered home too, as fast +as their legs could carry them. + +The Duke of York, then residing in Scotland, had, under the law which +excluded Catholics from public trust, no right whatever to public +employment. Nevertheless, he was openly employed as the King's +representative in Scotland, and there gratified his sullen and cruel +nature to his heart's content by directing the dreadful cruelties against +the Covenanters. There were two ministers named CARGILL and CAMERON who +had escaped from the battle of Bothwell Bridge, and who returned to +Scotland, and raised the miserable but still brave and unsubdued +Covenanters afresh, under the name of Cameronians. As Cameron publicly +posted a declaration that the King was a forsworn tyrant, no mercy was +shown to his unhappy followers after he was slain in battle. The Duke of +York, who was particularly fond of the Boot and derived great pleasure +from having it applied, offered their lives to some of these people, if +they would cry on the scaffold 'God save the King!' But their relations, +friends, and countrymen, had been so barbarously tortured and murdered in +this merry reign, that they preferred to die, and did die. The Duke then +obtained his merry brother's permission to hold a Parliament in Scotland, +which first, with most shameless deceit, confirmed the laws for securing +the Protestant religion against Popery, and then declared that nothing +must or should prevent the succession of the Popish Duke. After this +double-faced beginning, it established an oath which no human being could +understand, but which everybody was to take, as a proof that his religion +was the lawful religion. The Earl of Argyle, taking it with the +explanation that he did not consider it to prevent him from favouring any +alteration either in the Church or State which was not inconsistent with +the Protestant religion or with his loyalty, was tried for high treason +before a Scottish jury of which the MARQUIS OF MONTROSE was foreman, and +was found guilty. He escaped the scaffold, for that time, by getting +away, in the disguise of a page, in the train of his daughter, LADY +SOPHIA LINDSAY. It was absolutely proposed, by certain members of the +Scottish Council, that this lady should be whipped through the streets of +Edinburgh. But this was too much even for the Duke, who had the +manliness then (he had very little at most times) to remark that +Englishmen were not accustomed to treat ladies in that manner. In those +merry times nothing could equal the brutal servility of the Scottish +fawners, but the conduct of similar degraded beings in England. + +After the settlement of these little affairs, the Duke returned to +England, and soon resumed his place at the Council, and his office of +High Admiral--all this by his brother's favour, and in open defiance of +the law. It would have been no loss to the country, if he had been +drowned when his ship, in going to Scotland to fetch his family, struck +on a sand-bank, and was lost with two hundred souls on board. But he +escaped in a boat with some friends; and the sailors were so brave and +unselfish, that, when they saw him rowing away, they gave three cheers, +while they themselves were going down for ever. + +The Merry Monarch, having got rid of his Parliament, went to work to make +himself despotic, with all speed. Having had the villainy to order the +execution of OLIVER PLUNKET, BISHOP OF ARMAGH, falsely accused of a plot +to establish Popery in that country by means of a French army--the very +thing this royal traitor was himself trying to do at home--and having +tried to ruin Lord Shaftesbury, and failed--he turned his hand to +controlling the corporations all over the country; because, if he could +only do that, he could get what juries he chose, to bring in perjured +verdicts, and could get what members he chose returned to Parliament. +These merry times produced, and made Chief Justice of the Court of King's +Bench, a drunken ruffian of the name of JEFFREYS; a red-faced, swollen, +bloated, horrible creature, with a bullying, roaring voice, and a more +savage nature perhaps than was ever lodged in any human breast. This +monster was the Merry Monarch's especial favourite, and he testified his +admiration of him by giving him a ring from his own finger, which the +people used to call Judge Jeffreys's Bloodstone. Him the King employed +to go about and bully the corporations, beginning with London; or, as +Jeffreys himself elegantly called it, 'to give them a lick with the rough +side of his tongue.' And he did it so thoroughly, that they soon became +the basest and most sycophantic bodies in the kingdom--except the +University of Oxford, which, in that respect, was quite pre-eminent and +unapproachable. + +Lord Shaftesbury (who died soon after the King's failure against him), +LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, the Duke of Monmouth, LORD HOWARD, LORD JERSEY, +ALGERNON SIDNEY, JOHN HAMPDEN (grandson of the great Hampden), and some +others, used to hold a council together after the dissolution of the +Parliament, arranging what it might be necessary to do, if the King +carried his Popish plot to the utmost height. Lord Shaftesbury having +been much the most violent of this party, brought two violent men into +their secrets--RUMSEY, who had been a soldier in the Republican army; and +WEST, a lawyer. These two knew an old officer of CROMWELL'S, called +RUMBOLD, who had married a maltster's widow, and so had come into +possession of a solitary dwelling called the Rye House, near Hoddesdon, +in Hertfordshire. Rumbold said to them what a capital place this house +of his would be from which to shoot at the King, who often passed there +going to and fro from Newmarket. They liked the idea, and entertained +it. But, one of their body gave information; and they, together with +SHEPHERD a wine merchant, Lord Russell, Algernon Sidney, LORD ESSEX, LORD +HOWARD, and Hampden, were all arrested. + +Lord Russell might have easily escaped, but scorned to do so, being +innocent of any wrong; Lord Essex might have easily escaped, but scorned +to do so, lest his flight should prejudice Lord Russell. But it weighed +upon his mind that he had brought into their council, Lord Howard--who +now turned a miserable traitor--against a great dislike Lord Russell had +always had of him. He could not bear the reflection, and destroyed +himself before Lord Russell was brought to trial at the Old Bailey. + +He knew very well that he had nothing to hope, having always been manful +in the Protestant cause against the two false brothers, the one on the +throne, and the other standing next to it. He had a wife, one of the +noblest and best of women, who acted as his secretary on his trial, who +comforted him in his prison, who supped with him on the night before he +died, and whose love and virtue and devotion have made her name +imperishable. Of course, he was found guilty, and was sentenced to be +beheaded in Lincoln's Inn-fields, not many yards from his own house. When +he had parted from his children on the evening before his death, his wife +still stayed with him until ten o'clock at night; and when their final +separation in this world was over, and he had kissed her many times, he +still sat for a long while in his prison, talking of her goodness. +Hearing the rain fall fast at that time, he calmly said, 'Such a rain to- +morrow will spoil a great show, which is a dull thing on a rainy day.' At +midnight he went to bed, and slept till four; even when his servant +called him, he fell asleep again while his clothes were being made ready. +He rode to the scaffold in his own carriage, attended by two famous +clergymen, TILLOTSON and BURNET, and sang a psalm to himself very softly, +as he went along. He was as quiet and as steady as if he had been going +out for an ordinary ride. After saying that he was surprised to see so +great a crowd, he laid down his head upon the block, as if upon the +pillow of his bed, and had it struck off at the second blow. His noble +wife was busy for him even then; for that true-hearted lady printed and +widely circulated his last words, of which he had given her a copy. They +made the blood of all the honest men in England boil. + +The University of Oxford distinguished itself on the very same day by +pretending to believe that the accusation against Lord Russell was true, +and by calling the King, in a written paper, the Breath of their Nostrils +and the Anointed of the Lord. This paper the Parliament afterwards +caused to be burned by the common hangman; which I am sorry for, as I +wish it had been framed and glazed and hung up in some public place, as a +monument of baseness for the scorn of mankind. + +Next, came the trial of Algernon Sidney, at which Jeffreys presided, like +a great crimson toad, sweltering and swelling with rage. 'I pray God, +Mr. Sidney,' said this Chief Justice of a merry reign, after passing +sentence, 'to work in you a temper fit to go to the other world, for I +see you are not fit for this.' 'My lord,' said the prisoner, composedly +holding out his arm, 'feel my pulse, and see if I be disordered. I thank +Heaven I never was in better temper than I am now.' Algernon Sidney was +executed on Tower Hill, on the seventh of December, one thousand six +hundred and eighty-three. He died a hero, and died, in his own words, +'For that good old cause in which he had been engaged from his youth, and +for which God had so often and so wonderfully declared himself.' + +The Duke of Monmouth had been making his uncle, the Duke of York, very +jealous, by going about the country in a royal sort of way, playing at +the people's games, becoming godfather to their children, and even +touching for the King's evil, or stroking the faces of the sick to cure +them--though, for the matter of that, I should say he did them about as +much good as any crowned king could have done. His father had got him to +write a letter, confessing his having had a part in the conspiracy, for +which Lord Russell had been beheaded; but he was ever a weak man, and as +soon as he had written it, he was ashamed of it and got it back again. +For this, he was banished to the Netherlands; but he soon returned and +had an interview with his father, unknown to his uncle. It would seem +that he was coming into the Merry Monarch's favour again, and that the +Duke of York was sliding out of it, when Death appeared to the merry +galleries at Whitehall, and astonished the debauched lords and gentlemen, +and the shameless ladies, very considerably. + +On Monday, the second of February, one thousand six hundred and eighty- +five, the merry pensioner and servant of the King of France fell down in +a fit of apoplexy. By the Wednesday his case was hopeless, and on the +Thursday he was told so. As he made a difficulty about taking the +sacrament from the Protestant Bishop of Bath, the Duke of York got all +who were present away from the bed, and asked his brother, in a whisper, +if he should send for a Catholic priest? The King replied, 'For God's +sake, brother, do!' The Duke smuggled in, up the back stairs, disguised +in a wig and gown, a priest named HUDDLESTON, who had saved the King's +life after the battle of Worcester: telling him that this worthy man in +the wig had once saved his body, and was now come to save his soul. + +The Merry Monarch lived through that night, and died before noon on the +next day, which was Friday, the sixth. Two of the last things he said +were of a human sort, and your remembrance will give him the full benefit +of them. When the Queen sent to say she was too unwell to attend him and +to ask his pardon, he said, 'Alas! poor woman, _she_ beg _my_ pardon! I +beg hers with all my heart. Take back that answer to her.' And he also +said, in reference to Nell Gwyn, 'Do not let poor Nelly starve.' + +He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his +reign. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI--ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND + + +King James the Second was a man so very disagreeable, that even the best +of historians has favoured his brother Charles, as becoming, by +comparison, quite a pleasant character. The one object of his short +reign was to re-establish the Catholic religion in England; and this he +doggedly pursued with such a stupid obstinacy, that his career very soon +came to a close. + +The first thing he did, was, to assure his council that he would make it +his endeavour to preserve the Government, both in Church and State, as it +was by law established; and that he would always take care to defend and +support the Church. Great public acclamations were raised over this fair +speech, and a great deal was said, from the pulpits and elsewhere, about +the word of a King which was never broken, by credulous people who little +supposed that he had formed a secret council for Catholic affairs, of +which a mischievous Jesuit, called FATHER PETRE, was one of the chief +members. With tears of joy in his eyes, he received, as the beginning of +_his_ pension from the King of France, five hundred thousand livres; yet, +with a mixture of meanness and arrogance that belonged to his +contemptible character, he was always jealous of making some show of +being independent of the King of France, while he pocketed his money. +As--notwithstanding his publishing two papers in favour of Popery (and +not likely to do it much service, I should think) written by the King, +his brother, and found in his strong-box; and his open display of himself +attending mass--the Parliament was very obsequious, and granted him a +large sum of money, he began his reign with a belief that he could do +what he pleased, and with a determination to do it. + +Before we proceed to its principal events, let us dispose of Titus Oates. +He was tried for perjury, a fortnight after the coronation, and besides +being very heavily fined, was sentenced to stand twice in the pillory, to +be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate one day, and from Newgate to Tyburn +two days afterwards, and to stand in the pillory five times a year as +long as he lived. This fearful sentence was actually inflicted on the +rascal. Being unable to stand after his first flogging, he was dragged +on a sledge from Newgate to Tyburn, and flogged as he was drawn along. He +was so strong a villain that he did not die under the torture, but lived +to be afterwards pardoned and rewarded, though not to be ever believed in +any more. Dangerfield, the only other one of that crew left alive, was +not so fortunate. He was almost killed by a whipping from Newgate to +Tyburn, and, as if that were not punishment enough, a ferocious barrister +of Gray's Inn gave him a poke in the eye with his cane, which caused his +death; for which the ferocious barrister was deservedly tried and +executed. + +As soon as James was on the throne, Argyle and Monmouth went from +Brussels to Rotterdam, and attended a meeting of Scottish exiles held +there, to concert measures for a rising in England. It was agreed that +Argyle should effect a landing in Scotland, and Monmouth in England; and +that two Englishmen should be sent with Argyle to be in his confidence, +and two Scotchmen with the Duke of Monmouth. + +Argyle was the first to act upon this contract. But, two of his men +being taken prisoners at the Orkney Islands, the Government became aware +of his intention, and was able to act against him with such vigour as to +prevent his raising more than two or three thousand Highlanders, although +he sent a fiery cross, by trusty messengers, from clan to clan and from +glen to glen, as the custom then was when those wild people were to be +excited by their chiefs. As he was moving towards Glasgow with his small +force, he was betrayed by some of his followers, taken, and carried, with +his hands tied behind his back, to his old prison in Edinburgh Castle. +James ordered him to be executed, on his old shamefully unjust sentence, +within three days; and he appears to have been anxious that his legs +should have been pounded with his old favourite the boot. However, the +boot was not applied; he was simply beheaded, and his head was set upon +the top of Edinburgh Jail. One of those Englishmen who had been assigned +to him was that old soldier Rumbold, the master of the Rye House. He was +sorely wounded, and within a week after Argyle had suffered with great +courage, was brought up for trial, lest he should die and disappoint the +King. He, too, was executed, after defending himself with great spirit, +and saying that he did not believe that God had made the greater part of +mankind to carry saddles on their backs and bridles in their mouths, and +to be ridden by a few, booted and spurred for the purpose--in which I +thoroughly agree with Rumbold. + +The Duke of Monmouth, partly through being detained and partly through +idling his time away, was five or six weeks behind his friend when he +landed at Lyme, in Dorset: having at his right hand an unlucky nobleman +called LORD GREY OF WERK, who of himself would have ruined a far more +promising expedition. He immediately set up his standard in the market- +place, and proclaimed the King a tyrant, and a Popish usurper, and I know +not what else; charging him, not only with what he had done, which was +bad enough, but with what neither he nor anybody else had done, such as +setting fire to London, and poisoning the late King. Raising some four +thousand men by these means, he marched on to Taunton, where there were +many Protestant dissenters who were strongly opposed to the Catholics. +Here, both the rich and poor turned out to receive him, ladies waved a +welcome to him from all the windows as he passed along the streets, +flowers were strewn in his way, and every compliment and honour that +could be devised was showered upon him. Among the rest, twenty young +ladies came forward, in their best clothes, and in their brightest +beauty, and gave him a Bible ornamented with their own fair hands, +together with other presents. + +Encouraged by this homage, he proclaimed himself King, and went on to +Bridgewater. But, here the Government troops, under the EARL OF +FEVERSHAM, were close at hand; and he was so dispirited at finding that +he made but few powerful friends after all, that it was a question +whether he should disband his army and endeavour to escape. It was +resolved, at the instance of that unlucky Lord Grey, to make a night +attack on the King's army, as it lay encamped on the edge of a morass +called Sedgemoor. The horsemen were commanded by the same unlucky lord, +who was not a brave man. He gave up the battle almost at the first +obstacle--which was a deep drain; and although the poor countrymen, who +had turned out for Monmouth, fought bravely with scythes, poles, +pitchforks, and such poor weapons as they had, they were soon dispersed +by the trained soldiers, and fled in all directions. When the Duke of +Monmouth himself fled, was not known in the confusion; but the unlucky +Lord Grey was taken early next day, and then another of the party was +taken, who confessed that he had parted from the Duke only four hours +before. Strict search being made, he was found disguised as a peasant, +hidden in a ditch under fern and nettles, with a few peas in his pocket +which he had gathered in the fields to eat. The only other articles he +had upon him were a few papers and little books: one of the latter being +a strange jumble, in his own writing, of charms, songs, recipes, and +prayers. He was completely broken. He wrote a miserable letter to the +King, beseeching and entreating to be allowed to see him. When he was +taken to London, and conveyed bound into the King's presence, he crawled +to him on his knees, and made a most degrading exhibition. As James +never forgave or relented towards anybody, he was not likely to soften +towards the issuer of the Lyme proclamation, so he told the suppliant to +prepare for death. + +On the fifteenth of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, this +unfortunate favourite of the people was brought out to die on Tower Hill. +The crowd was immense, and the tops of all the houses were covered with +gazers. He had seen his wife, the daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, in +the Tower, and had talked much of a lady whom he loved far better--the +LADY HARRIET WENTWORTH--who was one of the last persons he remembered in +this life. Before laying down his head upon the block he felt the edge +of the axe, and told the executioner that he feared it was not sharp +enough, and that the axe was not heavy enough. On the executioner +replying that it was of the proper kind, the Duke said, 'I pray you have +a care, and do not use me so awkwardly as you used my Lord Russell.' The +executioner, made nervous by this, and trembling, struck once and merely +gashed him in the neck. Upon this, the Duke of Monmouth raised his head +and looked the man reproachfully in the face. Then he struck twice, and +then thrice, and then threw down the axe, and cried out in a voice of +horror that he could not finish that work. The sheriffs, however, +threatening him with what should be done to himself if he did not, he +took it up again and struck a fourth time and a fifth time. Then the +wretched head at last fell off, and James, Duke of Monmouth, was dead, in +the thirty-sixth year of his age. He was a showy, graceful man, with +many popular qualities, and had found much favour in the open hearts of +the English. + +The atrocities, committed by the Government, which followed this Monmouth +rebellion, form the blackest and most lamentable page in English history. +The poor peasants, having been dispersed with great loss, and their +leaders having been taken, one would think that the implacable King might +have been satisfied. But no; he let loose upon them, among other +intolerable monsters, a COLONEL KIRK, who had served against the Moors, +and whose soldiers--called by the people Kirk's lambs, because they bore +a lamb upon their flag, as the emblem of Christianity--were worthy of +their leader. The atrocities committed by these demons in human shape +are far too horrible to be related here. It is enough to say, that +besides most ruthlessly murdering and robbing them, and ruining them by +making them buy their pardons at the price of all they possessed, it was +one of Kirk's favourite amusements, as he and his officers sat drinking +after dinner, and toasting the King, to have batches of prisoners hanged +outside the windows for the company's diversion; and that when their feet +quivered in the convulsions of death, he used to swear that they should +have music to their dancing, and would order the drums to beat and the +trumpets to play. The detestable King informed him, as an acknowledgment +of these services, that he was 'very well satisfied with his +proceedings.' But the King's great delight was in the proceedings of +Jeffreys, now a peer, who went down into the west, with four other +judges, to try persons accused of having had any share in the rebellion. +The King pleasantly called this 'Jeffreys's campaign.' The people down +in that part of the country remember it to this day as The Bloody Assize. + +It began at Winchester, where a poor deaf old lady, MRS. ALICIA LISLE, +the widow of one of the judges of Charles the First (who had been +murdered abroad by some Royalist assassins), was charged with having +given shelter in her house to two fugitives from Sedgemoor. Three times +the jury refused to find her guilty, until Jeffreys bullied and +frightened them into that false verdict. When he had extorted it from +them, he said, 'Gentlemen, if I had been one of you, and she had been my +own mother, I would have found her guilty;'--as I dare say he would. He +sentenced her to be burned alive, that very afternoon. The clergy of the +cathedral and some others interfered in her favour, and she was beheaded +within a week. As a high mark of his approbation, the King made Jeffreys +Lord Chancellor; and he then went on to Dorchester, to Exeter, to +Taunton, and to Wells. It is astonishing, when we read of the enormous +injustice and barbarity of this beast, to know that no one struck him +dead on the judgment-seat. It was enough for any man or woman to be +accused by an enemy, before Jeffreys, to be found guilty of high treason. +One man who pleaded not guilty, he ordered to be taken out of court upon +the instant, and hanged; and this so terrified the prisoners in general +that they mostly pleaded guilty at once. At Dorchester alone, in the +course of a few days, Jeffreys hanged eighty people; besides whipping, +transporting, imprisoning, and selling as slaves, great numbers. He +executed, in all, two hundred and fifty, or three hundred. + +These executions took place, among the neighbours and friends of the +sentenced, in thirty-six towns and villages. Their bodies were mangled, +steeped in caldrons of boiling pitch and tar, and hung up by the +roadsides, in the streets, over the very churches. The sight and smell +of heads and limbs, the hissing and bubbling of the infernal caldrons, +and the tears and terrors of the people, were dreadful beyond all +description. One rustic, who was forced to steep the remains in the +black pot, was ever afterwards called 'Tom Boilman.' The hangman has +ever since been called Jack Ketch, because a man of that name went +hanging and hanging, all day long, in the train of Jeffreys. You will +hear much of the horrors of the great French Revolution. Many and +terrible they were, there is no doubt; but I know of nothing worse, done +by the maddened people of France in that awful time, than was done by the +highest judge in England, with the express approval of the King of +England, in The Bloody Assize. + +Nor was even this all. Jeffreys was as fond of money for himself as of +misery for others, and he sold pardons wholesale to fill his pockets. The +King ordered, at one time, a thousand prisoners to be given to certain of +his favourites, in order that they might bargain with them for their +pardons. The young ladies of Taunton who had presented the Bible, were +bestowed upon the maids of honour at court; and those precious ladies +made very hard bargains with them indeed. When The Bloody Assize was at +its most dismal height, the King was diverting himself with horse-races +in the very place where Mrs. Lisle had been executed. When Jeffreys had +done his worst, and came home again, he was particularly complimented in +the Royal Gazette; and when the King heard that through drunkenness and +raging he was very ill, his odious Majesty remarked that such another man +could not easily be found in England. Besides all this, a former sheriff +of London, named CORNISH, was hanged within sight of his own house, after +an abominably conducted trial, for having had a share in the Rye House +Plot, on evidence given by Rumsey, which that villain was obliged to +confess was directly opposed to the evidence he had given on the trial of +Lord Russell. And on the very same day, a worthy widow, named ELIZABETH +GAUNT, was burned alive at Tyburn, for having sheltered a wretch who +himself gave evidence against her. She settled the fuel about herself +with her own hands, so that the flames should reach her quickly: and +nobly said, with her last breath, that she had obeyed the sacred command +of God, to give refuge to the outcast, and not to betray the wanderer. + +After all this hanging, beheading, burning, boiling, mutilating, +exposing, robbing, transporting, and selling into slavery, of his unhappy +subjects, the King not unnaturally thought that he could do whatever he +would. So, he went to work to change the religion of the country with +all possible speed; and what he did was this. + +He first of all tried to get rid of what was called the Test Act--which +prevented the Catholics from holding public employments--by his own power +of dispensing with the penalties. He tried it in one case, and, eleven +of the twelve judges deciding in his favour, he exercised it in three +others, being those of three dignitaries of University College, Oxford, +who had become Papists, and whom he kept in their places and sanctioned. +He revived the hated Ecclesiastical Commission, to get rid of COMPTON, +Bishop of London, who manfully opposed him. He solicited the Pope to +favour England with an ambassador, which the Pope (who was a sensible man +then) rather unwillingly did. He flourished Father Petre before the eyes +of the people on all possible occasions. He favoured the establishment +of convents in several parts of London. He was delighted to have the +streets, and even the court itself, filled with Monks and Friars in the +habits of their orders. He constantly endeavoured to make Catholics of +the Protestants about him. He held private interviews, which he called +'closetings,' with those Members of Parliament who held offices, to +persuade them to consent to the design he had in view. When they did not +consent, they were removed, or resigned of themselves, and their places +were given to Catholics. He displaced Protestant officers from the army, +by every means in his power, and got Catholics into their places too. He +tried the same thing with the corporations, and also (though not so +successfully) with the Lord Lieutenants of counties. To terrify the +people into the endurance of all these measures, he kept an army of +fifteen thousand men encamped on Hounslow Heath, where mass was openly +performed in the General's tent, and where priests went among the +soldiers endeavouring to persuade them to become Catholics. For +circulating a paper among those men advising them to be true to their +religion, a Protestant clergyman, named JOHNSON, the chaplain of the late +Lord Russell, was actually sentenced to stand three times in the pillory, +and was actually whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. He dismissed his own +brother-in-law from his Council because he was a Protestant, and made a +Privy Councillor of the before-mentioned Father Petre. He handed Ireland +over to RICHARD TALBOT, EARL OF TYRCONNELL, a worthless, dissolute knave, +who played the same game there for his master, and who played the deeper +game for himself of one day putting it under the protection of the French +King. In going to these extremities, every man of sense and judgment +among the Catholics, from the Pope to a porter, knew that the King was a +mere bigoted fool, who would undo himself and the cause he sought to +advance; but he was deaf to all reason, and, happily for England ever +afterwards, went tumbling off his throne in his own blind way. + +A spirit began to arise in the country, which the besotted blunderer +little expected. He first found it out in the University of Cambridge. +Having made a Catholic a dean at Oxford without any opposition, he tried +to make a monk a master of arts at Cambridge: which attempt the +University resisted, and defeated him. He then went back to his +favourite Oxford. On the death of the President of Magdalen College, he +commanded that there should be elected to succeed him, one MR. ANTHONY +FARMER, whose only recommendation was, that he was of the King's +religion. The University plucked up courage at last, and refused. The +King substituted another man, and it still refused, resolving to stand by +its own election of a MR. HOUGH. The dull tyrant, upon this, punished +Mr. Hough, and five-and-twenty more, by causing them to be expelled and +declared incapable of holding any church preferment; then he proceeded to +what he supposed to be his highest step, but to what was, in fact, his +last plunge head-foremost in his tumble off his throne. + +He had issued a declaration that there should be no religious tests or +penal laws, in order to let in the Catholics more easily; but the +Protestant dissenters, unmindful of themselves, had gallantly joined the +regular church in opposing it tooth and nail. The King and Father Petre +now resolved to have this read, on a certain Sunday, in all the churches, +and to order it to be circulated for that purpose by the bishops. The +latter took counsel with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in +disgrace; and they resolved that the declaration should not be read, and +that they would petition the King against it. The Archbishop himself +wrote out the petition, and six bishops went into the King's bedchamber +the same night to present it, to his infinite astonishment. Next day was +the Sunday fixed for the reading, and it was only read by two hundred +clergymen out of ten thousand. The King resolved against all advice to +prosecute the bishops in the Court of King's Bench, and within three +weeks they were summoned before the Privy Council, and committed to the +Tower. As the six bishops were taken to that dismal place, by water, the +people who were assembled in immense numbers fell upon their knees, and +wept for them, and prayed for them. When they got to the Tower, the +officers and soldiers on guard besought them for their blessing. While +they were confined there, the soldiers every day drank to their release +with loud shouts. When they were brought up to the Court of King's Bench +for their trial, which the Attorney-General said was for the high offence +of censuring the Government, and giving their opinion about affairs of +state, they were attended by similar multitudes, and surrounded by a +throng of noblemen and gentlemen. When the jury went out at seven +o'clock at night to consider of their verdict, everybody (except the +King) knew that they would rather starve than yield to the King's brewer, +who was one of them, and wanted a verdict for his customer. When they +came into court next morning, after resisting the brewer all night, and +gave a verdict of not guilty, such a shout rose up in Westminster Hall as +it had never heard before; and it was passed on among the people away to +Temple Bar, and away again to the Tower. It did not pass only to the +east, but passed to the west too, until it reached the camp at Hounslow, +where the fifteen thousand soldiers took it up and echoed it. And still, +when the dull King, who was then with Lord Feversham, heard the mighty +roar, asked in alarm what it was, and was told that it was 'nothing but +the acquittal of the bishops,' he said, in his dogged way, 'Call you that +nothing? It is so much the worse for them.' + +Between the petition and the trial, the Queen had given birth to a son, +which Father Petre rather thought was owing to Saint Winifred. But I +doubt if Saint Winifred had much to do with it as the King's friend, +inasmuch as the entirely new prospect of a Catholic successor (for both +the King's daughters were Protestants) determined the EARLS OF +SHREWSBURY, DANBY, and DEVONSHIRE, LORD LUMLEY, the BISHOP OF LONDON, +ADMIRAL RUSSELL, and COLONEL SIDNEY, to invite the Prince of Orange over +to England. The Royal Mole, seeing his danger at last, made, in his +fright, many great concessions, besides raising an army of forty thousand +men; but the Prince of Orange was not a man for James the Second to cope +with. His preparations were extraordinarily vigorous, and his mind was +resolved. + +For a fortnight after the Prince was ready to sail for England, a great +wind from the west prevented the departure of his fleet. Even when the +wind lulled, and it did sail, it was dispersed by a storm, and was +obliged to put back to refit. At last, on the first of November, one +thousand six hundred and eighty-eight, the Protestant east wind, as it +was long called, began to blow; and on the third, the people of Dover and +the people of Calais saw a fleet twenty miles long sailing gallantly by, +between the two places. On Monday, the fifth, it anchored at Torbay in +Devonshire, and the Prince, with a splendid retinue of officers and men, +marched into Exeter. But the people in that western part of the country +had suffered so much in The Bloody Assize, that they had lost heart. Few +people joined him; and he began to think of returning, and publishing the +invitation he had received from those lords, as his justification for +having come at all. At this crisis, some of the gentry joined him; the +Royal army began to falter; an engagement was signed, by which all who +set their hand to it declared that they would support one another in +defence of the laws and liberties of the three Kingdoms, of the +Protestant religion, and of the Prince of Orange. From that time, the +cause received no check; the greatest towns in England began, one after +another, to declare for the Prince; and he knew that it was all safe with +him when the University of Oxford offered to melt down its plate, if he +wanted any money. + +By this time the King was running about in a pitiable way, touching +people for the King's evil in one place, reviewing his troops in another, +and bleeding from the nose in a third. The young Prince was sent to +Portsmouth, Father Petre went off like a shot to France, and there was a +general and swift dispersal of all the priests and friars. One after +another, the King's most important officers and friends deserted him and +went over to the Prince. In the night, his daughter Anne fled from +Whitehall Palace; and the Bishop of London, who had once been a soldier, +rode before her with a drawn sword in his hand, and pistols at his +saddle. 'God help me,' cried the miserable King: 'my very children have +forsaken me!' In his wildness, after debating with such lords as were in +London, whether he should or should not call a Parliament, and after +naming three of them to negotiate with the Prince, he resolved to fly to +France. He had the little Prince of Wales brought back from Portsmouth; +and the child and the Queen crossed the river to Lambeth in an open boat, +on a miserable wet night, and got safely away. This was on the night of +the ninth of December. + +At one o'clock on the morning of the eleventh, the King, who had, in the +meantime, received a letter from the Prince of Orange, stating his +objects, got out of bed, told LORD NORTHUMBERLAND who lay in his room not +to open the door until the usual hour in the morning, and went down the +back stairs (the same, I suppose, by which the priest in the wig and gown +had come up to his brother) and crossed the river in a small boat: +sinking the great seal of England by the way. Horses having been +provided, he rode, accompanied by SIR EDWARD HALES, to Feversham, where +he embarked in a Custom House Hoy. The master of this Hoy, wanting more +ballast, ran into the Isle of Sheppy to get it, where the fishermen and +smugglers crowded about the boat, and informed the King of their +suspicions that he was a 'hatchet-faced Jesuit.' As they took his money +and would not let him go, he told them who he was, and that the Prince of +Orange wanted to take his life; and he began to scream for a boat--and +then to cry, because he had lost a piece of wood on his ride which he +called a fragment of Our Saviour's cross. He put himself into the hands +of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, and his detention was made known to +the Prince of Orange at Windsor--who, only wanting to get rid of him, and +not caring where he went, so that he went away, was very much +disconcerted that they did not let him go. However, there was nothing +for it but to have him brought back, with some state in the way of Life +Guards, to Whitehall. And as soon as he got there, in his infatuation, +he heard mass, and set a Jesuit to say grace at his public dinner. + +The people had been thrown into the strangest state of confusion by his +flight, and had taken it into their heads that the Irish part of the army +were going to murder the Protestants. Therefore, they set the bells a +ringing, and lighted watch-fires, and burned Catholic Chapels, and looked +about in all directions for Father Petre and the Jesuits, while the +Pope's ambassador was running away in the dress of a footman. They found +no Jesuits; but a man, who had once been a frightened witness before +Jeffreys in court, saw a swollen, drunken face looking through a window +down at Wapping, which he well remembered. The face was in a sailor's +dress, but he knew it to be the face of that accursed judge, and he +seized him. The people, to their lasting honour, did not tear him to +pieces. After knocking him about a little, they took him, in the basest +agonies of terror, to the Lord Mayor, who sent him, at his own shrieking +petition, to the Tower for safety. There, he died. + +Their bewilderment continuing, the people now lighted bonfires and made +rejoicings, as if they had any reason to be glad to have the King back +again. But, his stay was very short, for the English guards were removed +from Whitehall, Dutch guards were marched up to it, and he was told by +one of his late ministers that the Prince would enter London, next day, +and he had better go to Ham. He said, Ham was a cold, damp place, and he +would rather go to Rochester. He thought himself very cunning in this, +as he meant to escape from Rochester to France. The Prince of Orange and +his friends knew that, perfectly well, and desired nothing more. So, he +went to Gravesend, in his royal barge, attended by certain lords, and +watched by Dutch troops, and pitied by the generous people, who were far +more forgiving than he had ever been, when they saw him in his +humiliation. On the night of the twenty-third of December, not even then +understanding that everybody wanted to get rid of him, he went out, +absurdly, through his Rochester garden, down to the Medway, and got away +to France, where he rejoined the Queen. + +There had been a council in his absence, of the lords, and the +authorities of London. When the Prince came, on the day after the King's +departure, he summoned the Lords to meet him, and soon afterwards, all +those who had served in any of the Parliaments of King Charles the +Second. It was finally resolved by these authorities that the throne was +vacant by the conduct of King James the Second; that it was inconsistent +with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom, to be governed by +a Popish prince; that the Prince and Princess of Orange should be King +and Queen during their lives and the life of the survivor of them; and +that their children should succeed them, if they had any. That if they +had none, the Princess Anne and her children should succeed; that if she +had none, the heirs of the Prince of Orange should succeed. + +On the thirteenth of January, one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine, +the Prince and Princess, sitting on a throne in Whitehall, bound +themselves to these conditions. The Protestant religion was established +in England, and England's great and glorious Revolution was complete. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + +I have now arrived at the close of my little history. The events which +succeeded the famous Revolution of one thousand six hundred and eighty- +eight, would neither be easily related nor easily understood in such a +book as this. + +William and Mary reigned together, five years. After the death of his +good wife, William occupied the throne, alone, for seven years longer. +During his reign, on the sixteenth of September, one thousand seven +hundred and one, the poor weak creature who had once been James the +Second of England, died in France. In the meantime he had done his +utmost (which was not much) to cause William to be assassinated, and to +regain his lost dominions. James's son was declared, by the French King, +the rightful King of England; and was called in France THE CHEVALIER +SAINT GEORGE, and in England THE PRETENDER. Some infatuated people in +England, and particularly in Scotland, took up the Pretender's cause from +time to time--as if the country had not had Stuarts enough!--and many +lives were sacrificed, and much misery was occasioned. King William died +on Sunday, the seventh of March, one thousand seven hundred and two, of +the consequences of an accident occasioned by his horse stumbling with +him. He was always a brave, patriotic Prince, and a man of remarkable +abilities. His manner was cold, and he made but few friends; but he had +truly loved his queen. When he was dead, a lock of her hair, in a ring, +was found tied with a black ribbon round his left arm. + +He was succeeded by the PRINCESS ANNE, a popular Queen, who reigned +twelve years. In her reign, in the month of May, one thousand seven +hundred and seven, the Union between England and Scotland was effected, +and the two countries were incorporated under the name of GREAT BRITAIN. +Then, from the year one thousand seven hundred and fourteen to the year +one thousand, eight hundred and thirty, reigned the four GEORGES. + +It was in the reign of George the Second, one thousand seven hundred and +forty-five, that the Pretender did his last mischief, and made his last +appearance. Being an old man by that time, he and the Jacobites--as his +friends were called--put forward his son, CHARLES EDWARD, known as the +young Chevalier. The Highlanders of Scotland, an extremely troublesome +and wrong-headed race on the subject of the Stuarts, espoused his cause, +and he joined them, and there was a Scottish rebellion to make him king, +in which many gallant and devoted gentlemen lost their lives. It was a +hard matter for Charles Edward to escape abroad again, with a high price +on his head; but the Scottish people were extraordinarily faithful to +him, and, after undergoing many romantic adventures, not unlike those of +Charles the Second, he escaped to France. A number of charming stories +and delightful songs arose out of the Jacobite feelings, and belong to +the Jacobite times. Otherwise I think the Stuarts were a public nuisance +altogether. + +It was in the reign of George the Third that England lost North America, +by persisting in taxing her without her own consent. That immense +country, made independent under WASHINGTON, and left to itself, became +the United States; one of the greatest nations of the earth. In these +times in which I write, it is honourably remarkable for protecting its +subjects, wherever they may travel, with a dignity and a determination +which is a model for England. Between you and me, England has rather +lost ground in this respect since the days of Oliver Cromwell. + +The Union of Great Britain with Ireland--which had been getting on very +ill by itself--took place in the reign of George the Third, on the second +of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. + +WILLIAM THE FOURTH succeeded George the Fourth, in the year one thousand +eight hundred and thirty, and reigned seven years. QUEEN VICTORIA, his +niece, the only child of the Duke of Kent, the fourth son of George the +Third, came to the throne on the twentieth of June, one thousand eight +hundred and thirty-seven. She was married to PRINCE ALBERT of Saxe Gotha +on the tenth of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty. She is +very good, and much beloved. So I end, like the crier, with + +GOD SAVE THE QUEEN! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND*** + + +******* This file should be named 699.txt or 699.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/9/699 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens +Scanned and Proofed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +A Child's History of England + + + + +CHAPTER I - ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + + + +IF you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand +upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the +sea. They are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and +Scotland form the greater part of these Islands. Ireland is the +next in size. The little neighbouring islands, which are so small +upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of +Scotland, - broken off, I dare say, in the course of a great length +of time, by the power of the restless water. + +In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was +born on earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the +same place, and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars +now. But the sea was not alive, then, with great ships and brave +sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the world. It was very +lonely. The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of water. +The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs, and the bleak winds +blew over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no +adventurers to land upon the Islands, and the savage Islanders knew +nothing of the rest of the world, and the rest of the world knew +nothing of them. + +It is supposed that the Phoenicians, who were an ancient people, +famous for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and +found that they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as +you know, and both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast. +The most celebrated tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the +sea. One of them, which I have seen, is so close to it that it is +hollowed out underneath the ocean; and the miners say, that in +stormy weather, when they are at work down in that deep place, they +can hear the noise of the waves thundering above their heads. So, +the Phoenicians, coasting about the Islands, would come, without +much difficulty, to where the tin and lead were. + +The Phoenicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and +gave the Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The +Islanders were, at first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only +dressed in the rough skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as +other savages do, with coloured earths and the juices of plants. +But the Phoenicians, sailing over to the opposite coasts of France +and Belgium, and saying to the people there, 'We have been to those +white cliffs across the water, which you can see in fine weather, +and from that country, which is called BRITAIN, we bring this tin +and lead,' tempted some of the French and Belgians to come over +also. These people settled themselves on the south coast of +England, which is now called Kent; and, although they were a rough +people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful arts, and +improved that part of the Islands. It is probable that other +people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there. + +Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the +Islanders, and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; +almost savage, still, especially in the interior of the country +away from the sea where the foreign settlers seldom went; but +hardy, brave, and strong. + +The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The +greater part of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads, +no bridges, no streets, no houses that you would think deserving of +the name. A town was nothing but a collection of straw-covered +huts, hidden in a thick wood, with a ditch all round, and a low +wall, made of mud, or the trunks of trees placed one upon another. +The people planted little or no corn, but lived upon the flesh of +their flocks and cattle. They made no coins, but used metal rings +for money. They were clever in basket-work, as savage people often +are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth, and some very bad +earthenware. But in building fortresses they were much more +clever. + +They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, +but seldom, if ever, ventured far from the shore. They made +swords, of copper mixed with tin; but, these swords were of an +awkward shape, and so soft that a heavy blow would bend one. They +made light shields, short pointed daggers, and spears - which they +jerked back after they had thrown them at an enemy, by a long strip +of leather fastened to the stem. The butt-end was a rattle, to +frighten an enemy's horse. The ancient Britons, being divided into +as many as thirty or forty tribes, each commanded by its own little +king, were constantly fighting with one another, as savage people +usually do; and they always fought with these weapons. + +They were very fond of horses. The standard of Kent was the +picture of a white horse. They could break them in and manage them +wonderfully well. Indeed, the horses (of which they had an +abundance, though they were rather small) were so well taught in +those days, that they can scarcely be said to have improved since; +though the men are so much wiser. They understood, and obeyed, +every word of command; and would stand still by themselves, in all +the din and noise of battle, while their masters went to fight on +foot. The Britons could not have succeeded in their most +remarkable art, without the aid of these sensible and trusty +animals. The art I mean, is the construction and management of +war-chariots or cars, for which they have ever been celebrated in +history. Each of the best sort of these chariots, not quite breast +high in front, and open at the back, contained one man to drive, +and two or three others to fight - all standing up. The horses who +drew them were so well trained, that they would tear, at full +gallop, over the most stony ways, and even through the woods; +dashing down their masters' enemies beneath their hoofs, and +cutting them to pieces with the blades of swords, or scythes, which +were fastened to the wheels, and stretched out beyond the car on +each side, for that cruel purpose. In a moment, while at full +speed, the horses would stop, at the driver's command. The men +within would leap out, deal blows about them with their swords like +hail, leap on the horses, on the pole, spring back into the +chariots anyhow; and, as soon as they were safe, the horses tore +away again. + +The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the +Religion of the Druids. It seems to have been brought over, in +very early times indeed, from the opposite country of France, +anciently called Gaul, and to have mixed up the worship of the +Serpent, and of the Sun and Moon, with the worship of some of the +Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Most of its ceremonies were kept +secret by the priests, the Druids, who pretended to be enchanters, +and who carried magicians' wands, and wore, each of them, about his +neck, what he told the ignorant people was a Serpent's egg in a +golden case. But it is certain that the Druidical ceremonies +included the sacrifice of human victims, the torture of some +suspected criminals, and, on particular occasions, even the burning +alive, in immense wicker cages, of a number of men and animals +together. The Druid Priests had some kind of veneration for the +Oak, and for the mistletoe - the same plant that we hang up in +houses at Christmas Time now - when its white berries grew upon the +Oak. They met together in dark woods, which they called Sacred +Groves; and there they instructed, in their mysterious arts, young +men who came to them as pupils, and who sometimes stayed with them +as long as twenty years. + +These Druids built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, +fragments of some of which are yet remaining. Stonehenge, on +Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, is the most extraordinary of these. +Three curious stones, called Kits Coty House, on Bluebell Hill, +near Maidstone, in Kent, form another. We know, from examination +of the great blocks of which such buildings are made, that they +could not have been raised without the aid of some ingenious +machines, which are common now, but which the ancient Britons +certainly did not use in making their own uncomfortable houses. I +should not wonder if the Druids, and their pupils who stayed with +them twenty years, knowing more than the rest of the Britons, kept +the people out of sight while they made these buildings, and then +pretended that they built them by magic. Perhaps they had a hand +in the fortresses too; at all events, as they were very powerful, +and very much believed in, and as they made and executed the laws, +and paid no taxes, I don't wonder that they liked their trade. +And, as they persuaded the people the more Druids there were, the +better off the people would be, I don't wonder that there were a +good many of them. But it is pleasant to think that there are no +Druids, NOW, who go on in that way, and pretend to carry +Enchanters' Wands and Serpents' Eggs - and of course there is +nothing of the kind, anywhere. + +Such was the improved condition of the ancient Britons, fifty-five +years before the birth of Our Saviour, when the Romans, under their +great General, Julius Caesar, were masters of all the rest of the +known world. Julius Caesar had then just conquered Gaul; and +hearing, in Gaul, a good deal about the opposite Island with the +white cliffs, and about the bravery of the Britons who inhabited it +- some of whom had been fetched over to help the Gauls in the war +against him - he resolved, as he was so near, to come and conquer +Britain next. + +So, Julius Caesar came sailing over to this Island of ours, with +eighty vessels and twelve thousand men. And he came from the +French coast between Calais and Boulogne, 'because thence was the +shortest passage into Britain;' just for the same reason as our +steam-boats now take the same track, every day. He expected to +conquer Britain easily: but it was not such easy work as he +supposed - for the bold Britons fought most bravely; and, what with +not having his horse-soldiers with him (for they had been driven +back by a storm), and what with having some of his vessels dashed +to pieces by a high tide after they were drawn ashore, he ran great +risk of being totally defeated. However, for once that the bold +Britons beat him, he beat them twice; though not so soundly but +that he was very glad to accept their proposals of peace, and go +away. + +But, in the spring of the next year, he came back; this time, with +eight hundred vessels and thirty thousand men. The British tribes +chose, as their general-in-chief, a Briton, whom the Romans in +their Latin language called CASSIVELLAUNUS, but whose British name +is supposed to have been CASWALLON. A brave general he was, and +well he and his soldiers fought the Roman army! So well, that +whenever in that war the Roman soldiers saw a great cloud of dust, +and heard the rattle of the rapid British chariots, they trembled +in their hearts. Besides a number of smaller battles, there was a +battle fought near Canterbury, in Kent; there was a battle fought +near Chertsey, in Surrey; there was a battle fought near a marshy +little town in a wood, the capital of that part of Britain which +belonged to CASSIVELLAUNUS, and which was probably near what is now +Saint Albans, in Hertfordshire. However, brave CASSIVELLAUNUS had +the worst of it, on the whole; though he and his men always fought +like lions. As the other British chiefs were jealous of him, and +were always quarrelling with him, and with one another, he gave up, +and proposed peace. Julius Caesar was very glad to grant peace +easily, and to go away again with all his remaining ships and men. +He had expected to find pearls in Britain, and he may have found a +few for anything I know; but, at all events, he found delicious +oysters, and I am sure he found tough Britons - of whom, I dare +say, he made the same complaint as Napoleon Bonaparte the great +French General did, eighteen hundred years afterwards, when he said +they were such unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they +were beaten. They never DID know, I believe, and never will. + +Nearly a hundred years passed on, and all that time, there was +peace in Britain. The Britons improved their towns and mode of +life: became more civilised, travelled, and learnt a great deal +from the Gauls and Romans. At last, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, +sent AULUS PLAUTIUS, a skilful general, with a mighty force, to +subdue the Island, and shortly afterwards arrived himself. They +did little; and OSTORIUS SCAPULA, another general, came. Some of +the British Chiefs of Tribes submitted. Others resolved to fight +to the death. Of these brave men, the bravest was CARACTACUS, or +CARADOC, who gave battle to the Romans, with his army, among the +mountains of North Wales. 'This day,' said he to his soldiers, +'decides the fate of Britain! Your liberty, or your eternal +slavery, dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who +drove the great Caesar himself across the sea!' On hearing these +words, his men, with a great shout, rushed upon the Romans. But +the strong Roman swords and armour were too much for the weaker +British weapons in close conflict. The Britons lost the day. The +wife and daughter of the brave CARACTACUS were taken prisoners; his +brothers delivered themselves up; he himself was betrayed into the +hands of the Romans by his false and base stepmother: and they +carried him, and all his family, in triumph to Rome. + +But a great man will be great in misfortune, great in prison, great +in chains. His noble air, and dignified endurance of distress, so +touched the Roman people who thronged the streets to see him, that +he and his family were restored to freedom. No one knows whether +his great heart broke, and he died in Rome, or whether he ever +returned to his own dear country. English oaks have grown up from +acorns, and withered away, when they were hundreds of years old - +and other oaks have sprung up in their places, and died too, very +aged - since the rest of the history of the brave CARACTACUS was +forgotten. + +Still, the Britons WOULD NOT yield. They rose again and again, and +died by thousands, sword in hand. They rose, on every possible +occasion. SUETONIUS, another Roman general, came, and stormed the +Island of Anglesey (then called MONA), which was supposed to be +sacred, and he burnt the Druids in their own wicker cages, by their +own fires. But, even while he was in Britain, with his victorious +troops, the BRITONS rose. Because BOADICEA, a British queen, the +widow of the King of the Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted the +plundering of her property by the Romans who were settled in +England, she was scourged, by order of CATUS a Roman officer; and +her two daughters were shamefully insulted in her presence, and her +husband's relations were made slaves. To avenge this injury, the +Britons rose, with all their might and rage. They drove CATUS into +Gaul; they laid the Roman possessions waste; they forced the Romans +out of London, then a poor little town, but a trading place; they +hanged, burnt, crucified, and slew by the sword, seventy thousand +Romans in a few days. SUETONIUS strengthened his army, and +advanced to give them battle. They strengthened their army, and +desperately attacked his, on the field where it was strongly +posted. Before the first charge of the Britons was made, BOADICEA, +in a war-chariot, with her fair hair streaming in the wind, and her +injured daughters lying at her feet, drove among the troops, and +cried to them for vengeance on their oppressors, the licentious +Romans. The Britons fought to the last; but they were vanquished +with great slaughter, and the unhappy queen took poison. + +Still, the spirit of the Britons was not broken. When SUETONIUS +left the country, they fell upon his troops, and retook the Island +of Anglesey. AGRICOLA came, fifteen or twenty years afterwards, +and retook it once more, and devoted seven years to subduing the +country, especially that part of it which is now called SCOTLAND; +but, its people, the Caledonians, resisted him at every inch of +ground. They fought the bloodiest battles with him; they killed +their very wives and children, to prevent his making prisoners of +them; they fell, fighting, in such great numbers that certain hills +in Scotland are yet supposed to be vast heaps of stones piled up +above their graves. HADRIAN came, thirty years afterwards, and +still they resisted him. SEVERUS came, nearly a hundred years +afterwards, and they worried his great army like dogs, and rejoiced +to see them die, by thousands, in the bogs and swamps. CARACALLA, +the son and successor of SEVERUS, did the most to conquer them, for +a time; but not by force of arms. He knew how little that would +do. He yielded up a quantity of land to the Caledonians, and gave +the Britons the same privileges as the Romans possessed. There was +peace, after this, for seventy years. + +Then new enemies arose. They were the Saxons, a fierce, sea-faring +people from the countries to the North of the Rhine, the great +river of Germany on the banks of which the best grapes grow to make +the German wine. They began to come, in pirate ships, to the sea- +coast of Gaul and Britain, and to plunder them. They were repulsed +by CARAUSIUS, a native either of Belgium or of Britain, who was +appointed by the Romans to the command, and under whom the Britons +first began to fight upon the sea. But, after this time, they +renewed their ravages. A few years more, and the Scots (which was +then the name for the people of Ireland), and the Picts, a northern +people, began to make frequent plundering incursions into the South +of Britain. All these attacks were repeated, at intervals, during +two hundred years, and through a long succession of Roman Emperors +and chiefs; during all which length of time, the Britons rose +against the Romans, over and over again. At last, in the days of +the Roman HONORIUS, when the Roman power all over the world was +fast declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at home, the +Romans abandoned all hope of conquering Britain, and went away. +And still, at last, as at first, the Britons rose against them, in +their old brave manner; for, a very little while before, they had +turned away the Roman magistrates, and declared themselves an +independent people. + +Five hundred years had passed, since Julius Caesar's first invasion +of the Island, when the Romans departed from it for ever. In the +course of that time, although they had been the cause of terrible +fighting and bloodshed, they had done much to improve the condition +of the Britons. They had made great military roads; they had built +forts; they had taught them how to dress, and arm themselves, much +better than they had ever known how to do before; they had refined +the whole British way of living. AGRICOLA had built a great wall +of earth, more than seventy miles long, extending from Newcastle to +beyond Carlisle, for the purpose of keeping out the Picts and +Scots; HADRIAN had strengthened it; SEVERUS, finding it much in +want of repair, had built it afresh of stone. + +Above all, it was in the Roman time, and by means of Roman ships, +that the Christian Religion was first brought into Britain, and its +people first taught the great lesson that, to be good in the sight +of GOD, they must love their neighbours as themselves, and do unto +others as they would be done by. The Druids declared that it was +very wicked to believe in any such thing, and cursed all the people +who did believe it, very heartily. But, when the people found that +they were none the better for the blessings of the Druids, and none +the worse for the curses of the Druids, but, that the sun shone and +the rain fell without consulting the Druids at all, they just began +to think that the Druids were mere men, and that it signified very +little whether they cursed or blessed. After which, the pupils of +the Druids fell off greatly in numbers, and the Druids took to +other trades. + +Thus I have come to the end of the Roman time in England. It is +but little that is known of those five hundred years; but some +remains of them are still found. Often, when labourers are digging +up the ground, to make foundations for houses or churches, they +light on rusty money that once belonged to the Romans. Fragments +of plates from which they ate, of goblets from which they drank, +and of pavement on which they trod, are discovered among the earth +that is broken by the plough, or the dust that is crumbled by the +gardener's spade. Wells that the Romans sunk, still yield water; +roads that the Romans made, form part of our highways. In some old +battle-fields, British spear-heads and Roman armour have been +found, mingled together in decay, as they fell in the thick +pressure of the fight. Traces of Roman camps overgrown with grass, +and of mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of Britons, are +to be seen in almost all parts of the country. Across the bleak +moors of Northumberland, the wall of SEVERUS, overrun with moss and +weeds, still stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their +dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain, +Stonehenge yet stands: a monument of the earlier time when the +Roman name was unknown in Britain, and when the Druids, with their +best magic wands, could not have written it in the sands of the +wild sea-shore. + + + +CHAPTER II - ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + + + +THE Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons +began to wish they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone, +and the Britons being much reduced in numbers by their long wars, +the Picts and Scots came pouring in, over the broken and unguarded +wall of SEVERUS, in swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and +killed the people; and came back so often for more booty and more +slaughter, that the unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. As +if the Picts and Scots were not bad enough on land, the Saxons +attacked the islanders by sea; and, as if something more were still +wanting to make them miserable, they quarrelled bitterly among +themselves as to what prayers they ought to say, and how they ought +to say them. The priests, being very angry with one another on +these questions, cursed one another in the heartiest manner; and +(uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the people whom they +could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were very badly +off, you may believe. + +They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to +Rome entreating help - which they called the Groans of the Britons; +and in which they said, 'The barbarians chase us into the sea, the +sea throws us back upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard +choice left us of perishing by the sword, or perishing by the +waves.' But, the Romans could not help them, even if they were so +inclined; for they had enough to do to defend themselves against +their own enemies, who were then very fierce and strong. At last, +the Britons, unable to bear their hard condition any longer, +resolved to make peace with the Saxons, and to invite the Saxons to +come into their country, and help them to keep out the Picts and +Scots. + +It was a British Prince named VORTIGERN who took this resolution, +and who made a treaty of friendship with HENGIST and HORSA, two +Saxon chiefs. Both of these names, in the old Saxon language, +signify Horse; for the Saxons, like many other nations in a rough +state, were fond of giving men the names of animals, as Horse, +Wolf, Bear, Hound. The Indians of North America, - a very inferior +people to the Saxons, though - do the same to this day. + +HENGIST and HORSA drove out the Picts and Scots; and VORTIGERN, +being grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to +their settling themselves in that part of England which is called +the Isle of Thanet, or to their inviting over more of their +countrymen to join them. But HENGIST had a beautiful daughter +named ROWENA; and when, at a feast, she filled a golden goblet to +the brim with wine, and gave it to VORTIGERN, saying in a sweet +voice, 'Dear King, thy health!' the King fell in love with her. My +opinion is, that the cunning HENGIST meant him to do so, in order +that the Saxons might have greater influence with him; and that the +fair ROWENA came to that feast, golden goblet and all, on purpose. + +At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the +King was angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments, +ROWENA would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and softly say, +'Dear King, they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you +loved that Saxon girl who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the +feast!' And, really, I don't see how the King could help himself. + +Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, VORTIGERN died - he +was dethroned, and put in prison, first, I am afraid; and ROWENA +died; and generations of Saxons and Britons died; and events that +happened during a long, long time, would have been quite forgotten +but for the tales and songs of the old Bards, who used to go about +from feast to feast, with their white beards, recounting the deeds +of their forefathers. Among the histories of which they sang and +talked, there was a famous one, concerning the bravery and virtues +of KING ARTHUR, supposed to have been a British Prince in those old +times. But, whether such a person really lived, or whether there +were several persons whose histories came to be confused together +under that one name, or whether all about him was invention, no one +knows. + +I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early +Saxon times, as they are described in these songs and stories of +the Bards. + +In, and long after, the days of VORTIGERN, fresh bodies of Saxons, +under various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body, +conquering the Britons in the East, and settling there, called +their kingdom Essex; another body settled in the West, and called +their kingdom Wessex; the Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established +themselves in one place; the Southfolk, or Suffolk people, +established themselves in another; and gradually seven kingdoms or +states arose in England, which were called the Saxon Heptarchy. +The poor Britons, falling back before these crowds of fighting men +whom they had innocently invited over as friends, retired into +Wales and the adjacent country; into Devonshire, and into Cornwall. +Those parts of England long remained unconquered. And in Cornwall +now - where the sea-coast is very gloomy, steep, and rugged - +where, in the dark winter-time, ships have often been wrecked close +to the land, and every soul on board has perished - where the winds +and waves howl drearily and split the solid rocks into arches and +caverns - there are very ancient ruins, which the people call the +ruins of KING ARTHUR'S Castle. + +Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the +Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered +over the Britons too much, to care for what THEY said about their +religion, or anything else) by AUGUSTINE, a monk from Rome. KING +ETHELBERT, of Kent, was soon converted; and the moment he said he +was a Christian, his courtiers all said THEY were Christians; after +which, ten thousand of his subjects said they were Christians too. +AUGUSTINE built a little church, close to this King's palace, on +the ground now occupied by the beautiful cathedral of Canterbury. +SEBERT, the King's nephew, built on a muddy marshy place near +London, where there had been a temple to Apollo, a church dedicated +to Saint Peter, which is now Westminster Abbey. And, in London +itself, on the foundation of a temple to Diana, he built another +little church which has risen up, since that old time, to be Saint +Paul's. + +After the death of ETHELBERT, EDWIN, King of Northumbria, who was +such a good king that it was said a woman or child might openly +carry a purse of gold, in his reign, without fear, allowed his +child to be baptised, and held a great council to consider whether +he and his people should all be Christians or not. It was decided +that they should be. COIFI, the chief priest of the old religion, +made a great speech on the occasion. In this discourse, he told +the people that he had found out the old gods to be impostors. 'I +am quite satisfied of it,' he said. 'Look at me! I have been +serving them all my life, and they have done nothing for me; +whereas, if they had been really powerful, they could not have +decently done less, in return for all I have done for them, than +make my fortune. As they have never made my fortune, I am quite +convinced they are impostors!' When this singular priest had +finished speaking, he hastily armed himself with sword and lance, +mounted a war-horse, rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the +people to the temple, and flung his lance against it as an insult. +From that time, the Christian religion spread itself among the +Saxons, and became their faith. + +The next very famous prince was EGBERT. He lived about a hundred +and fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right to +the throne of Wessex than BEORTRIC, another Saxon prince who was at +the head of that kingdom, and who married EDBURGA, the daughter of +OFFA, king of another of the seven kingdoms. This QUEEN EDBURGA +was a handsome murderess, who poisoned people when they offended +her. One day, she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble +belonging to the court; but her husband drank of it too, by +mistake, and died. Upon this, the people revolted, in great +crowds; and running to the palace, and thundering at the gates, +cried, 'Down with the wicked queen, who poisons men!' They drove +her out of the country, and abolished the title she had disgraced. +When years had passed away, some travellers came home from Italy, +and said that in the town of Pavia they had seen a ragged beggar- +woman, who had once been handsome, but was then shrivelled, bent, +and yellow, wandering about the streets, crying for bread; and that +this beggar-woman was the poisoning English queen. It was, indeed, +EDBURGA; and so she died, without a shelter for her wretched head. + +EGBERT, not considering himself safe in England, in consequence of +his having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival +might take him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the +court of CHARLEMAGNE, King of France. On the death of BEORTRIC, so +unhappily poisoned by mistake, EGBERT came back to Britain; +succeeded to the throne of Wessex; conquered some of the other +monarchs of the seven kingdoms; added their territories to his own; +and, for the first time, called the country over which he ruled, +ENGLAND. + +And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England +sorely. These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway, +whom the English called the Danes. They were a warlike people, +quite at home upon the sea; not Christians; very daring and cruel. +They came over in ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they +landed. Once, they beat EGBERT in battle. Once, EGBERT beat them. +But, they cared no more for being beaten than the English +themselves. In the four following short reigns, of ETHELWULF, and +his sons, ETHELBALD, ETHELBERT, and ETHELRED, they came back, over +and over again, burning and plundering, and laying England waste. +In the last-mentioned reign, they seized EDMUND, King of East +England, and bound him to a tree. Then, they proposed to him that +he should change his religion; but he, being a good Christian, +steadily refused. Upon that, they beat him, made cowardly jests +upon him, all defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, and, +finally, struck off his head. It is impossible to say whose head +they might have struck off next, but for the death of KING ETHELRED +from a wound he had received in fighting against them, and the +succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever +lived in England. + + + +CHAPTER III - ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + + + +ALFRED THE GREAT was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age, +when he became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to +Rome, where the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeys +which they supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed for +some time in Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for, +then, that at twelve years old he had not been taught to read; +although, of the sons of KING ETHELWULF, he, the youngest, was the +favourite. But he had - as most men who grow up to be great and +good are generally found to have had - an excellent mother; and, +one day, this lady, whose name was OSBURGA, happened, as she was +sitting among her sons, to read a book of Saxon poetry. The art of +printing was not known until long and long after that period, and +the book, which was written, was what is called 'illuminated,' with +beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The brothers admiring it +very much, their mother said, 'I will give it to that one of you +four princes who first learns to read.' ALFRED sought out a tutor +that very day, applied himself to learn with great diligence, and +soon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life. + +This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine +battles with the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by +which the false Danes swore they would quit the country. They +pretended to consider that they had taken a very solemn oath, in +swearing this upon the holy bracelets that they wore, and which +were always buried with them when they died; but they cared little +for it, for they thought nothing of breaking oaths and treaties +too, as soon as it suited their purpose, and coming back again to +fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal winter, in the +fourth year of KING ALFRED'S reign, they spread themselves in great +numbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed and routed the +King's soldiers that the King was left alone, and was obliged to +disguise himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in the +cottage of one of his cowherds who did not know his face. + +Here, KING ALFRED, while the Danes sought him far and near, was +left alone one day, by the cowherd's wife, to watch some cakes +which she put to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his +bow and arrows, with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when +a brighter time should come, and thinking deeply of his poor +unhappy subjects whom the Danes chased through the land, his noble +mind forgot the cakes, and they were burnt. 'What!' said the +cowherd's wife, who scolded him well when she came back, and little +thought she was scolding the King, 'you will be ready enough to eat +them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch them, idle dog?' + +At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes +who landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their +flag; on which was represented the likeness of a Raven - a very fit +bird for a thievish army like that, I think. The loss of their +standard troubled the Danes greatly, for they believed it to be +enchanted - woven by the three daughters of one father in a single +afternoon - and they had a story among themselves that when they +were victorious in battle, the Raven stretched his wings and seemed +to fly; and that when they were defeated, he would droop. He had +good reason to droop, now, if he could have done anything half so +sensible; for, KING ALFRED joined the Devonshire men; made a camp +with them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a bog in +Somersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for vengeance on +the Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people. + +But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those +pestilent Danes were, and how they were fortified, KING ALFRED, +being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, +and went, with his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in +the very tent of GUTHRUM the Danish leader, and entertained the +Danes as they caroused. While he seemed to think of nothing but +his music, he was watchful of their tents, their arms, their +discipline, everything that he desired to know. And right soon did +this great king entertain them to a different tune; for, summoning +all his true followers to meet him at an appointed place, where +they received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the monarch whom +many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at their +head, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with great +slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent their +escape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then, +instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that they +should altogether depart from that Western part of England, and +settle in the East; and that GUTHRUM should become a Christian, in +remembrance of the Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, +the noble ALFRED, to forgive the enemy who had so often injured +him. This, GUTHRUM did. At his baptism, KING ALFRED was his +godfather. And GUTHRUM was an honourable chief who well deserved +that clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to +the king. The Danes under him were faithful too. They plundered +and burned no more, but worked like honest men. They ploughed, and +sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English lives. And I hope +the children of those Danes played, many a time, with Saxon +children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in +love with Saxon girls, and married them; and that English +travellers, benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often went +in for shelter until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by the +red fire, friends, talking of KING ALFRED THE GREAT. + +All the Danes were not like these under GUTHRUM; for, after some +years, more of them came over, in the old plundering and burning +way - among them a fierce pirate of the name of HASTINGS, who had +the boldness to sail up the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships. +For three years, there was a war with these Danes; and there was a +famine in the country, too, and a plague, both upon human creatures +and beasts. But KING ALFRED, whose mighty heart never failed him, +built large ships nevertheless, with which to pursue the pirates on +the sea; and he encouraged his soldiers, by his brave example, to +fight valiantly against them on the shore. At last, he drove them +all away; and then there was repose in England. + +As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, KING +ALFRED never rested from his labours to improve his people. He +loved to talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreign +countries, and to write down what they told him, for his people to +read. He had studied Latin after learning to read English, and now +another of his labours was, to translate Latin books into the +English-Saxon tongue, that his people might be interested, and +improved by their contents. He made just laws, that they might +live more happily and freely; he turned away all partial judges, +that no wrong might be done them; he was so careful of their +property, and punished robbers so severely, that it was a common +thing to say that under the great KING ALFRED, garlands of golden +chains and jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man +would have touched one. He founded schools; he patiently heard +causes himself in his Court of Justice; the great desires of his +heart were, to do right to all his subjects, and to leave England +better, wiser, happier in all ways, than he found it. His industry +in these efforts was quite astonishing. Every day he divided into +certain portions, and in each portion devoted himself to a certain +pursuit. That he might divide his time exactly, he had wax torches +or candles made, which were all of the same size, were notched +across at regular distances, and were always kept burning. Thus, +as the candles burnt down, he divided the day into notches, almost +as accurately as we now divide it into hours upon the clock. But +when the candles were first invented, it was found that the wind +and draughts of air, blowing into the palace through the doors and +windows, and through the chinks in the walls, caused them to gutter +and burn unequally. To prevent this, the King had them put into +cases formed of wood and white horn. And these were the first +lanthorns ever made in England. + +All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, +which caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could +relieve. He bore it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life, +like a brave good man, until he was fifty-three years old; and +then, having reigned thirty years, he died. He died in the year +nine hundred and one; but, long ago as that is, his fame, and the +love and gratitude with which his subjects regarded him, are +freshly remembered to the present hour. + +In the next reign, which was the reign of EDWARD, surnamed THE +ELDER, who was chosen in council to succeed, a nephew of KING +ALFRED troubled the country by trying to obtain the throne. The +Danes in the East of England took part with this usurper (perhaps +because they had honoured his uncle so much, and honoured him for +his uncle's sake), and there was hard fighting; but, the King, with +the assistance of his sister, gained the day, and reigned in peace +for four and twenty years. He gradually extended his power over +the whole of England, and so the Seven Kingdoms were united into +one. + +When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king, +the Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred +and fifty years. Great changes had taken place in its customs +during that time. The Saxons were still greedy eaters and great +drinkers, and their feasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind; +but many new comforts and even elegances had become known, and were +fast increasing. Hangings for the walls of rooms, where, in these +modern days, we paste up paper, are known to have been sometimes +made of silk, ornamented with birds and flowers in needlework. +Tables and chairs were curiously carved in different woods; were +sometimes decorated with gold or silver; sometimes even made of +those precious metals. Knives and spoons were used at table; +golden ornaments were worn - with silk and cloth, and golden +tissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, +brass and bone. There were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads, +musical instruments. A harp was passed round, at a feast, like the +drinking-bowl, from guest to guest; and each one usually sang or +played when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutly +made, and among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly +blows, and was long remembered. The Saxons themselves were a +handsome people. The men were proud of their long fair hair, +parted on the forehead; their ample beards, their fresh +complexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the Saxon women filled +all England with a new delight and grace. + +I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now, +because under the GREAT ALFRED, all the best points of the English- +Saxon character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. It +has been the greatest character among the nations of the earth. +Wherever the descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, +or otherwise made their way, even to the remotest regions of the +world, they have been patient, persevering, never to be broken in +spirit, never to be turned aside from enterprises on which they +have resolved. In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the whole world +over; in the desert, in the forest, on the sea; scorched by a +burning sun, or frozen by ice that never melts; the Saxon blood +remains unchanged. Wheresoever that race goes, there, law, and +industry, and safety for life and property, and all the great +results of steady perseverance, are certain to arise. + +I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in his +single person, possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortune +could not subdue, whom prosperity could not spoil, whose +perseverance nothing could shake. Who was hopeful in defeat, and +generous in success. Who loved justice, freedom, truth, and +knowledge. Who, in his care to instruct his people, probably did +more to preserve the beautiful old Saxon language, than I can +imagine. Without whom, the English tongue in which I tell this +story might have wanted half its meaning. As it is said that his +spirit still inspires some of our best English laws, so, let you +and I pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least to this +- to resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in +ignorance, that we will do our best, while life is in us, to have +them taught; and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to teach +them, and who neglect their duty, that they have profited very +little by all the years that have rolled away since the year nine +hundred and one, and that they are far behind the bright example of +KING ALFRED THE GREAT. + + + +CHAPTER IV - ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + + + +ATHELSTAN, the son of Edward the Elder, succeeded that king. He +reigned only fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his +grandfather, the great Alfred, and governed England well. He +reduced the turbulent people of Wales, and obliged them to pay him +a tribute in money, and in cattle, and to send him their best hawks +and hounds. He was victorious over the Cornish men, who were not +yet quite under the Saxon government. He restored such of the old +laws as were good, and had fallen into disuse; made some wise new +laws, and took care of the poor and weak. A strong alliance, made +against him by ANLAF a Danish prince, CONSTANTINE King of the +Scots, and the people of North Wales, he broke and defeated in one +great battle, long famous for the vast numbers slain in it. After +that, he had a quiet reign; the lords and ladies about him had +leisure to become polite and agreeable; and foreign princes were +glad (as they have sometimes been since) to come to England on +visits to the English court. + +When Athelstan died, at forty-seven years old, his brother EDMUND, +who was only eighteen, became king. He was the first of six boy- +kings, as you will presently know. + +They called him the Magnificent, because he showed a taste for +improvement and refinement. But he was beset by the Danes, and had +a short and troubled reign, which came to a troubled end. One +night, when he was feasting in his hall, and had eaten much and +drunk deep, he saw, among the company, a noted robber named LEOF, +who had been banished from England. Made very angry by the +boldness of this man, the King turned to his cup-bearer, and said, +'There is a robber sitting at the table yonder, who, for his +crimes, is an outlaw in the land - a hunted wolf, whose life any +man may take, at any time. Command that robber to depart!' 'I +will not depart!' said Leof. 'No?' cried the King. 'No, by the +Lord!' said Leof. Upon that the King rose from his seat, and, +making passionately at the robber, and seizing him by his long +hair, tried to throw him down. But the robber had a dagger +underneath his cloak, and, in the scuffle, stabbed the King to +death. That done, he set his back against the wall, and fought so +desperately, that although he was soon cut to pieces by the King's +armed men, and the wall and pavement were splashed with his blood, +yet it was not before he had killed and wounded many of them. You +may imagine what rough lives the kings of those times led, when one +of them could struggle, half drunk, with a public robber in his own +dining-hall, and be stabbed in presence of the company who ate and +drank with him. + +Then succeeded the boy-king EDRED, who was weak and sickly in body, +but of a strong mind. And his armies fought the Northmen, the +Danes, and Norwegians, or the Sea-Kings, as they were called, and +beat them for the time. And, in nine years, Edred died, and passed +away. + +Then came the boy-king EDWY, fifteen years of age; but the real +king, who had the real power, was a monk named DUNSTAN - a clever +priest, a little mad, and not a little proud and cruel. + +Dunstan was then Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, whither the body of +King Edmund the Magnificent was carried, to be buried. While yet a +boy, he had got out of his bed one night (being then in a fever), +and walked about Glastonbury Church when it was under repair; and, +because he did not tumble off some scaffolds that were there, and +break his neck, it was reported that he had been shown over the +building by an angel. He had also made a harp that was said to +play of itself - which it very likely did, as AEolian Harps, which +are played by the wind, and are understood now, always do. For +these wonders he had been once denounced by his enemies, who were +jealous of his favour with the late King Athelstan, as a magician; +and he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, and thrown into a +marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal of +trouble yet. + +The priests of those days were, generally, the only scholars. They +were learned in many things. Having to make their own convents and +monasteries on uncultivated grounds that were granted to them by +the Crown, it was necessary that they should be good farmers and +good gardeners, or their lands would have been too poor to support +them. For the decoration of the chapels where they prayed, and for +the comfort of the refectories where they ate and drank, it was +necessary that there should be good carpenters, good smiths, good +painters, among them. For their greater safety in sickness and +accident, living alone by themselves in solitary places, it was +necessary that they should study the virtues of plants and herbs, +and should know how to dress cuts, burns, scalds, and bruises, and +how to set broken limbs. Accordingly, they taught themselves, and +one another, a great variety of useful arts; and became skilful in +agriculture, medicine, surgery, and handicraft. And when they +wanted the aid of any little piece of machinery, which would be +simple enough now, but was marvellous then, to impose a trick upon +the poor peasants, they knew very well how to make it; and DID make +it many a time and often, I have no doubt. + +Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was one of the most sagacious +of these monks. He was an ingenious smith, and worked at a forge +in a little cell. This cell was made too short to admit of his +lying at full length when he went to sleep - as if THAT did any +good to anybody! - and he used to tell the most extraordinary lies +about demons and spirits, who, he said, came there to persecute +him. For instance, he related that one day when he was at work, +the devil looked in at the little window, and tried to tempt him to +lead a life of idle pleasure; whereupon, having his pincers in the +fire, red hot, he seized the devil by the nose, and put him to such +pain, that his bellowings were heard for miles and miles. Some +people are inclined to think this nonsense a part of Dunstan's +madness (for his head never quite recovered the fever), but I think +not. I observe that it induced the ignorant people to consider him +a holy man, and that it made him very powerful. Which was exactly +what he always wanted. + +On the day of the coronation of the handsome boy-king Edwy, it was +remarked by ODO, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was a Dane by +birth), that the King quietly left the coronation feast, while all +the company were there. Odo, much displeased, sent his friend +Dunstan to seek him. Dunstan finding him in the company of his +beautiful young wife ELGIVA, and her mother ETHELGIVA, a good and +virtuous lady, not only grossly abused them, but dragged the young +King back into the feasting-hall by force. Some, again, think +Dunstan did this because the young King's fair wife was his own +cousin, and the monks objected to people marrying their own +cousins; but I believe he did it, because he was an imperious, +audacious, ill-conditioned priest, who, having loved a young lady +himself before he became a sour monk, hated all love now, and +everything belonging to it. + +The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. Dunstan +had been Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan +with having taken some of the last king's money. The Glastonbury +Abbot fled to Belgium (very narrowly escaping some pursuers who +were sent to put out his eyes, as you will wish they had, when you +read what follows), and his abbey was given to priests who were +married; whom he always, both before and afterwards, opposed. But +he quickly conspired with his friend, Odo the Dane, to set up the +King's young brother, EDGAR, as his rival for the throne; and, not +content with this revenge, he caused the beautiful queen Elgiva, +though a lovely girl of only seventeen or eighteen, to be stolen +from one of the Royal Palaces, branded in the cheek with a red-hot +iron, and sold into slavery in Ireland. But the Irish people +pitied and befriended her; and they said, 'Let us restore the girl- +queen to the boy-king, and make the young lovers happy!' and they +cured her of her cruel wound, and sent her home as beautiful as +before. But the villain Dunstan, and that other villain, Odo, +caused her to be waylaid at Gloucester as she was joyfully hurrying +to join her husband, and to be hacked and hewn with swords, and to +be barbarously maimed and lamed, and left to die. When Edwy the +Fair (his people called him so, because he was so young and +handsome) heard of her dreadful fate, he died of a broken heart; +and so the pitiful story of the poor young wife and husband ends! +Ah! Better to be two cottagers in these better times, than king +and queen of England in those bad days, though never so fair! + +Then came the boy-king, EDGAR, called the Peaceful, fifteen years +old. Dunstan, being still the real king, drove all married priests +out of the monasteries and abbeys, and replaced them by solitary +monks like himself, of the rigid order called the Benedictines. He +made himself Archbishop of Canterbury, for his greater glory; and +exercised such power over the neighbouring British princes, and so +collected them about the King, that once, when the King held his +court at Chester, and went on the river Dee to visit the monastery +of St. John, the eight oars of his boat were pulled (as the people +used to delight in relating in stories and songs) by eight crowned +kings, and steered by the King of England. As Edgar was very +obedient to Dunstan and the monks, they took great pains to +represent him as the best of kings. But he was really profligate, +debauched, and vicious. He once forcibly carried off a young lady +from the convent at Wilton; and Dunstan, pretending to be very much +shocked, condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head for +seven years - no great punishment, I dare say, as it can hardly +have been a more comfortable ornament to wear, than a stewpan +without a handle. His marriage with his second wife, ELFRIDA, is +one of the worst events of his reign. Hearing of the beauty of +this lady, he despatched his favourite courtier, ATHELWOLD, to her +father's castle in Devonshire, to see if she were really as +charming as fame reported. Now, she was so exceedingly beautiful +that Athelwold fell in love with her himself, and married her; but +he told the King that she was only rich - not handsome. The King, +suspecting the truth when they came home, resolved to pay the +newly-married couple a visit; and, suddenly, told Athelwold to +prepare for his immediate coming. Athelwold, terrified, confessed +to his young wife what he had said and done, and implored her to +disguise her beauty by some ugly dress or silly manner, that he +might be safe from the King's anger. She promised that she would; +but she was a proud woman, who would far rather have been a queen +than the wife of a courtier. She dressed herself in her best +dress, and adorned herself with her richest jewels; and when the +King came, presently, he discovered the cheat. So, he caused his +false friend, Athelwold, to be murdered in a wood, and married his +widow, this bad Elfrida. Six or seven years afterwards, he died; +and was buried, as if he had been all that the monks said he was, +in the abbey of Glastonbury, which he - or Dunstan for him - had +much enriched. + +England, in one part of this reign, was so troubled by wolves, +which, driven out of the open country, hid themselves in the +mountains of Wales when they were not attacking travellers and +animals, that the tribute payable by the Welsh people was forgiven +them, on condition of their producing, every year, three hundred +wolves' heads. And the Welshmen were so sharp upon the wolves, to +save their money, that in four years there was not a wolf left. + +Then came the boy-king, EDWARD, called the Martyr, from the manner +of his death. Elfrida had a son, named ETHELRED, for whom she +claimed the throne; but Dunstan did not choose to favour him, and +he made Edward king. The boy was hunting, one day, down in +Dorsetshire, when he rode near to Corfe Castle, where Elfrida and +Ethelred lived. Wishing to see them kindly, he rode away from his +attendants and galloped to the castle gate, where he arrived at +twilight, and blew his hunting-horn. 'You are welcome, dear King,' +said Elfrida, coming out, with her brightest smiles. 'Pray you +dismount and enter.' 'Not so, dear madam,' said the King. 'My +company will miss me, and fear that I have met with some harm. +Please you to give me a cup of wine, that I may drink here, in the +saddle, to you and to my little brother, and so ride away with the +good speed I have made in riding here.' Elfrida, going in to bring +the wine, whispered an armed servant, one of her attendants, who +stole out of the darkening gateway, and crept round behind the +King's horse. As the King raised the cup to his lips, saying, +'Health!' to the wicked woman who was smiling on him, and to his +innocent brother whose hand she held in hers, and who was only ten +years old, this armed man made a spring and stabbed him in the +back. He dropped the cup and spurred his horse away; but, soon +fainting with loss of blood, dropped from the saddle, and, in his +fall, entangled one of his feet in the stirrup. The frightened +horse dashed on; trailing his rider's curls upon the ground; +dragging his smooth young face through ruts, and stones, and +briers, and fallen leaves, and mud; until the hunters, tracking the +animal's course by the King's blood, caught his bridle, and +released the disfigured body. + +Then came the sixth and last of the boy-kings, ETHELRED, whom +Elfrida, when he cried out at the sight of his murdered brother +riding away from the castle gate, unmercifully beat with a torch +which she snatched from one of the attendants. The people so +disliked this boy, on account of his cruel mother and the murder +she had done to promote him, that Dunstan would not have had him +for king, but would have made EDGITHA, the daughter of the dead +King Edgar, and of the lady whom he stole out of the convent at +Wilton, Queen of England, if she would have consented. But she +knew the stories of the youthful kings too well, and would not be +persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so, Dunstan +put Ethelred on the throne, having no one else to put there, and +gave him the nickname of THE UNREADY - knowing that he wanted +resolution and firmness. + +At first, Elfrida possessed great influence over the young King, +but, as he grew older and came of age, her influence declined. The +infamous woman, not having it in her power to do any more evil, +then retired from court, and, according, to the fashion of the +time, built churches and monasteries, to expiate her guilt. As if +a church, with a steeple reaching to the very stars, would have +been any sign of true repentance for the blood of the poor boy, +whose murdered form was trailed at his horse's heels! As if she +could have buried her wickedness beneath the senseless stones of +the whole world, piled up one upon another, for the monks to live +in! + +About the ninth or tenth year of this reign, Dunstan died. He was +growing old then, but was as stern and artful as ever. Two +circumstances that happened in connexion with him, in this reign of +Ethelred, made a great noise. Once, he was present at a meeting of +the Church, when the question was discussed whether priests should +have permission to marry; and, as he sat with his head hung down, +apparently thinking about it, a voice seemed to come out of a +crucifix in the room, and warn the meeting to be of his opinion. +This was some juggling of Dunstan's, and was probably his own voice +disguised. But he played off a worse juggle than that, soon +afterwards; for, another meeting being held on the same subject, +and he and his supporters being seated on one side of a great room, +and their opponents on the other, he rose and said, 'To Christ +himself, as judge, do I commit this cause!' Immediately on these +words being spoken, the floor where the opposite party sat gave +way, and some were killed and many wounded. You may be pretty sure +that it had been weakened under Dunstan's direction, and that it +fell at Dunstan's signal. HIS part of the floor did not go down. +No, no. He was too good a workman for that. + +When he died, the monks settled that he was a Saint, and called him +Saint Dunstan ever afterwards. They might just as well have +settled that he was a coach-horse, and could just as easily have +called him one. + +Ethelred the Unready was glad enough, I dare say, to be rid of this +holy saint; but, left to himself, he was a poor weak king, and his +reign was a reign of defeat and shame. The restless Danes, led by +SWEYN, a son of the King of Denmark who had quarrelled with his +father and had been banished from home, again came into England, +and, year after year, attacked and despoiled large towns. To coax +these sea-kings away, the weak Ethelred paid them money; but, the +more money he paid, the more money the Danes wanted. At first, he +gave them ten thousand pounds; on their next invasion, sixteen +thousand pounds; on their next invasion, four and twenty thousand +pounds: to pay which large sums, the unfortunate English people +were heavily taxed. But, as the Danes still came back and wanted +more, he thought it would be a good plan to marry into some +powerful foreign family that would help him with soldiers. So, in +the year one thousand and two, he courted and married Emma, the +sister of Richard Duke of Normandy; a lady who was called the +Flower of Normandy. + +And now, a terrible deed was done in England, the like of which was +never done on English ground before or since. On the thirteenth of +November, in pursuance of secret instructions sent by the King over +the whole country, the inhabitants of every town and city armed, +and murdered all the Danes who were their neighbours. + +Young and old, babies and soldiers, men and women, every Dane was +killed. No doubt there were among them many ferocious men who had +done the English great wrong, and whose pride and insolence, in +swaggering in the houses of the English and insulting their wives +and daughters, had become unbearable; but no doubt there were also +among them many peaceful Christian Danes who had married English +women and become like English men. They were all slain, even to +GUNHILDA, the sister of the King of Denmark, married to an English +lord; who was first obliged to see the murder of her husband and +her child, and then was killed herself. + +When the King of the sea-kings heard of this deed of blood, he +swore that he would have a great revenge. He raised an army, and a +mightier fleet of ships than ever yet had sailed to England; and in +all his army there was not a slave or an old man, but every soldier +was a free man, and the son of a free man, and in the prime of +life, and sworn to be revenged upon the English nation, for the +massacre of that dread thirteenth of November, when his countrymen +and countrywomen, and the little children whom they loved, were +killed with fire and sword. And so, the sea-kings came to England +in many great ships, each bearing the flag of its own commander. +Golden eagles, ravens, dragons, dolphins, beasts of prey, +threatened England from the prows of those ships, as they came +onward through the water; and were reflected in the shining shields +that hung upon their sides. The ship that bore the standard of the +King of the sea-kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent; +and the King in his anger prayed that the Gods in whom he trusted +might all desert him, if his serpent did not strike its fangs into +England's heart. + +And indeed it did. For, the great army landing from the great +fleet, near Exeter, went forward, laying England waste, and +striking their lances in the earth as they advanced, or throwing +them into rivers, in token of their making all the island theirs. +In remembrance of the black November night when the Danes were +murdered, wheresoever the invaders came, they made the Saxons +prepare and spread for them great feasts; and when they had eaten +those feasts, and had drunk a curse to England with wild +rejoicings, they drew their swords, and killed their Saxon +entertainers, and marched on. For six long years they carried on +this war: burning the crops, farmhouses, barns, mills, granaries; +killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being +sown in the ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only +heaps of ruin and smoking ashes, where they had found rich towns. +To crown this misery, English officers and men deserted, and even +the favourites of Ethelred the Unready, becoming traitors, seized +many of the English ships, turned pirates against their own +country, and aided by a storm occasioned the loss of nearly the +whole English navy. + +There was but one man of note, at this miserable pass, who was true +to his country and the feeble King. He was a priest, and a brave +one. For twenty days, the Archbishop of Canterbury defended that +city against its Danish besiegers; and when a traitor in the town +threw the gates open and admitted them, he said, in chains, 'I will +not buy my life with money that must be extorted from the suffering +people. Do with me what you please!' Again and again, he steadily +refused to purchase his release with gold wrung from the poor. + +At last, the Danes being tired of this, and being assembled at a +drunken merry-making, had him brought into the feasting-hall. + +'Now, bishop,' they said, 'we want gold!' + +He looked round on the crowd of angry faces; from the shaggy beards +close to him, to the shaggy beards against the walls, where men +were mounted on tables and forms to see him over the heads of +others: and he knew that his time was come. + +'I have no gold,' he said. + +'Get it, bishop!' they all thundered. + +'That, I have often told you I will not,' said he. + +They gathered closer round him, threatening, but he stood unmoved. +Then, one man struck him; then, another; then a cursing soldier +picked up from a heap in a corner of the hall, where fragments had +been rudely thrown at dinner, a great ox-bone, and cast it at his +face, from which the blood came spurting forth; then, others ran to +the same heap, and knocked him down with other bones, and bruised +and battered him; until one soldier whom he had baptised (willing, +as I hope for the sake of that soldier's soul, to shorten the +sufferings of the good man) struck him dead with his battle-axe. + +If Ethelred had had the heart to emulate the courage of this noble +archbishop, he might have done something yet. But he paid the +Danes forty-eight thousand pounds, instead, and gained so little by +the cowardly act, that Sweyn soon afterwards came over to subdue +all England. So broken was the attachment of the English people, +by this time, to their incapable King and their forlorn country +which could not protect them, that they welcomed Sweyn on all +sides, as a deliverer. London faithfully stood out, as long as the +King was within its walls; but, when he sneaked away, it also +welcomed the Dane. Then, all was over; and the King took refuge +abroad with the Duke of Normandy, who had already given shelter to +the King's wife, once the Flower of that country, and to her +children. + +Still, the English people, in spite of their sad sufferings, could +not quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. When +Sweyn died suddenly, in little more than a month after he had been +proclaimed King of England, they generously sent to Ethelred, to +say that they would have him for their King again, 'if he would +only govern them better than he had governed them before.' The +Unready, instead of coming himself, sent Edward, one of his sons, +to make promises for him. At last, he followed, and the English +declared him King. The Danes declared CANUTE, the son of Sweyn, +King. Thus, direful war began again, and lasted for three years, +when the Unready died. And I know of nothing better that he did, +in all his reign of eight and thirty years. + +Was Canute to be King now? Not over the Saxons, they said; they +must have EDMUND, one of the sons of the Unready, who was surnamed +IRONSIDE, because of his strength and stature. Edmund and Canute +thereupon fell to, and fought five battles - O unhappy England, +what a fighting-ground it was! - and then Ironside, who was a big +man, proposed to Canute, who was a little man, that they two should +fight it out in single combat. If Canute had been the big man, he +would probably have said yes, but, being the little man, he +decidedly said no. However, he declared that he was willing to +divide the kingdom - to take all that lay north of Watling Street, +as the old Roman military road from Dover to Chester was called, +and to give Ironside all that lay south of it. Most men being +weary of so much bloodshed, this was done. But Canute soon became +sole King of England; for Ironside died suddenly within two months. +Some think that he was killed, and killed by Canute's orders. No +one knows. + + + +CHAPTER V - ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + + + +CANUTE reigned eighteen years. He was a merciless King at first. +After he had clasped the hands of the Saxon chiefs, in token of the +sincerity with which he swore to be just and good to them in return +for their acknowledging him, he denounced and slew many of them, as +well as many relations of the late King. 'He who brings me the +head of one of my enemies,' he used to say, 'shall be dearer to me +than a brother.' And he was so severe in hunting down his enemies, +that he must have got together a pretty large family of these dear +brothers. He was strongly inclined to kill EDMUND and EDWARD, two +children, sons of poor Ironside; but, being afraid to do so in +England, he sent them over to the King of Sweden, with a request +that the King would be so good as 'dispose of them.' If the King +of Sweden had been like many, many other men of that day, he would +have had their innocent throats cut; but he was a kind man, and +brought them up tenderly. + +Normandy ran much in Canute's mind. In Normandy were the two +children of the late king - EDWARD and ALFRED by name; and their +uncle the Duke might one day claim the crown for them. But the +Duke showed so little inclination to do so now, that he proposed to +Canute to marry his sister, the widow of The Unready; who, being +but a showy flower, and caring for nothing so much as becoming a +queen again, left her children and was wedded to him. + +Successful and triumphant, assisted by the valour of the English in +his foreign wars, and with little strife to trouble him at home, +Canute had a prosperous reign, and made many improvements. He was +a poet and a musician. He grew sorry, as he grew older, for the +blood he had shed at first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim's dress, +by way of washing it out. He gave a great deal of money to +foreigners on his journey; but he took it from the English before +he started. On the whole, however, he certainly became a far +better man when he had no opposition to contend with, and was as +great a King as England had known for some time. + +The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day +disgusted with his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused +his chair to be set on the sea-shore, and feigned to command the +tide as it came up not to wet the edge of his robe, for the land +was his; how the tide came up, of course, without regarding him; +and how he then turned to his flatterers, and rebuked them, saying, +what was the might of any earthly king, to the might of the +Creator, who could say unto the sea, 'Thus far shalt thou go, and +no farther!' We may learn from this, I think, that a little sense +will go a long way in a king; and that courtiers are not easily +cured of flattery, nor kings of a liking for it. If the courtiers +of Canute had not known, long before, that the King was fond of +flattery, they would have known better than to offer it in such +large doses. And if they had not known that he was vain of this +speech (anything but a wonderful speech it seems to me, if a good +child had made it), they would not have been at such great pains to +repeat it. I fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the +King's chair sinking in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour +with his own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending to be quite +stunned by it! + +It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go 'thus far, and no +farther.' The great command goes forth to all the kings upon the +earth, and went to Canute in the year one thousand and thirty-five, +and stretched him dead upon his bed. Beside it, stood his Norman +wife. Perhaps, as the King looked his last upon her, he, who had +so often thought distrustfully of Normandy, long ago, thought once +more of the two exiled Princes in their uncle's court, and of the +little favour they could feel for either Danes or Saxons, and of a +rising cloud in Normandy that slowly moved towards England. + + + +CHAPTER VI - ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD +THE CONFESSOR + + + +CANUTE left three sons, by name SWEYN, HAROLD, and HARDICANUTE; but +his Queen, Emma, once the Flower of Normandy, was the mother of +only Hardicanute. Canute had wished his dominions to be divided +between the three, and had wished Harold to have England; but the +Saxon people in the South of England, headed by a nobleman with +great possessions, called the powerful EARL GODWIN (who is said to +have been originally a poor cow-boy), opposed this, and desired to +have, instead, either Hardicanute, or one of the two exiled Princes +who were over in Normandy. It seemed so certain that there would +be more bloodshed to settle this dispute, that many people left +their homes, and took refuge in the woods and swamps. Happily, +however, it was agreed to refer the whole question to a great +meeting at Oxford, which decided that Harold should have all the +country north of the Thames, with London for his capital city, and +that Hardicanute should have all the south. The quarrel was so +arranged; and, as Hardicanute was in Denmark troubling himself very +little about anything but eating and getting drunk, his mother and +Earl Godwin governed the south for him. + +They had hardly begun to do so, and the trembling people who had +hidden themselves were scarcely at home again, when Edward, the +elder of the two exiled Princes, came over from Normandy with a few +followers, to claim the English Crown. His mother Emma, however, +who only cared for her last son Hardicanute, instead of assisting +him, as he expected, opposed him so strongly with all her influence +that he was very soon glad to get safely back. His brother Alfred +was not so fortunate. Believing in an affectionate letter, written +some time afterwards to him and his brother, in his mother's name +(but whether really with or without his mother's knowledge is now +uncertain), he allowed himself to be tempted over to England, with +a good force of soldiers, and landing on the Kentish coast, and +being met and welcomed by Earl Godwin, proceeded into Surrey, as +far as the town of Guildford. Here, he and his men halted in the +evening to rest, having still the Earl in their company; who had +ordered lodgings and good cheer for them. But, in the dead of the +night, when they were off their guard, being divided into small +parties sleeping soundly after a long march and a plentiful supper +in different houses, they were set upon by the King's troops, and +taken prisoners. Next morning they were drawn out in a line, to +the number of six hundred men, and were barbarously tortured and +killed; with the exception of every tenth man, who was sold into +slavery. As to the wretched Prince Alfred, he was stripped naked, +tied to a horse and sent away into the Isle of Ely, where his eyes +were torn out of his head, and where in a few days he miserably +died. I am not sure that the Earl had wilfully entrapped him, but +I suspect it strongly. + +Harold was now King all over England, though it is doubtful whether +the Archbishop of Canterbury (the greater part of the priests were +Saxons, and not friendly to the Danes) ever consented to crown him. +Crowned or uncrowned, with the Archbishop's leave or without it, he +was King for four years: after which short reign he died, and was +buried; having never done much in life but go a hunting. He was +such a fast runner at this, his favourite sport, that the people +called him Harold Harefoot. + +Hardicanute was then at Bruges, in Flanders, plotting, with his +mother (who had gone over there after the cruel murder of Prince +Alfred), for the invasion of England. The Danes and Saxons, +finding themselves without a King, and dreading new disputes, made +common cause, and joined in inviting him to occupy the Throne. He +consented, and soon troubled them enough; for he brought over +numbers of Danes, and taxed the people so insupportably to enrich +those greedy favourites that there were many insurrections, +especially one at Worcester, where the citizens rose and killed his +tax-collectors; in revenge for which he burned their city. He was +a brutal King, whose first public act was to order the dead body of +poor Harold Harefoot to be dug up, beheaded, and thrown into the +river. His end was worthy of such a beginning. He fell down +drunk, with a goblet of wine in his hand, at a wedding-feast at +Lambeth, given in honour of the marriage of his standard-bearer, a +Dane named TOWED THE PROUD. And he never spoke again. + +EDWARD, afterwards called by the monks THE CONFESSOR, succeeded; +and his first act was to oblige his mother Emma, who had favoured +him so little, to retire into the country; where she died some ten +years afterwards. He was the exiled prince whose brother Alfred +had been so foully killed. He had been invited over from Normandy +by Hardicanute, in the course of his short reign of two years, and +had been handsomely treated at court. His cause was now favoured +by the powerful Earl Godwin, and he was soon made King. This Earl +had been suspected by the people, ever since Prince Alfred's cruel +death; he had even been tried in the last reign for the Prince's +murder, but had been pronounced not guilty; chiefly, as it was +supposed, because of a present he had made to the swinish King, of +a gilded ship with a figure-head of solid gold, and a crew of +eighty splendidly armed men. It was his interest to help the new +King with his power, if the new King would help him against the +popular distrust and hatred. So they made a bargain. Edward the +Confessor got the Throne. The Earl got more power and more land, +and his daughter Editha was made queen; for it was a part of their +compact that the King should take her for his wife. + +But, although she was a gentle lady, in all things worthy to be +beloved - good, beautiful, sensible, and kind - the King from the +first neglected her. Her father and her six proud brothers, +resenting this cold treatment, harassed the King greatly by +exerting all their power to make him unpopular. Having lived so +long in Normandy, he preferred the Normans to the English. He made +a Norman Archbishop, and Norman Bishops; his great officers and +favourites were all Normans; he introduced the Norman fashions and +the Norman language; in imitation of the state custom of Normandy, +he attached a great seal to his state documents, instead of merely +marking them, as the Saxon Kings had done, with the sign of the +cross - just as poor people who have never been taught to write, +now make the same mark for their names. All this, the powerful +Earl Godwin and his six proud sons represented to the people as +disfavour shown towards the English; and thus they daily increased +their own power, and daily diminished the power of the King. + +They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had +reigned eight years. Eustace, Earl of Bologne, who had married the +King's sister, came to England on a visit. After staying at the +court some time, he set forth, with his numerous train of +attendants, to return home. They were to embark at Dover. +Entering that peaceful town in armour, they took possession of the +best houses, and noisily demanded to be lodged and entertained +without payment. One of the bold men of Dover, who would not +endure to have these domineering strangers jingling their heavy +swords and iron corselets up and down his house, eating his meat +and drinking his strong liquor, stood in his doorway and refused +admission to the first armed man who came there. The armed man +drew, and wounded him. The man of Dover struck the armed man dead. +Intelligence of what he had done, spreading through the streets to +where the Count Eustace and his men were standing by their horses, +bridle in hand, they passionately mounted, galloped to the house, +surrounded it, forced their way in (the doors and windows being +closed when they came up), and killed the man of Dover at his own +fireside. They then clattered through the streets, cutting down +and riding over men, women, and children. This did not last long, +you may believe. The men of Dover set upon them with great fury, +killed nineteen of the foreigners, wounded many more, and, +blockading the road to the port so that they should not embark, +beat them out of the town by the way they had come. Hereupon, +Count Eustace rides as hard as man can ride to Gloucester, where +Edward is, surrounded by Norman monks and Norman lords. 'Justice!' +cries the Count, 'upon the men of Dover, who have set upon and +slain my people!' The King sends immediately for the powerful Earl +Godwin, who happens to be near; reminds him that Dover is under his +government; and orders him to repair to Dover and do military +execution on the inhabitants. 'It does not become you,' says the +proud Earl in reply, 'to condemn without a hearing those whom you +have sworn to protect. I will not do it.' + +The King, therefore, summoned the Earl, on pain of banishment and +loss of his titles and property, to appear before the court to +answer this disobedience. The Earl refused to appear. He, his +eldest son Harold, and his second son Sweyn, hastily raised as many +fighting men as their utmost power could collect, and demanded to +have Count Eustace and his followers surrendered to the justice of +the country. The King, in his turn, refused to give them up, and +raised a strong force. After some treaty and delay, the troops of +the great Earl and his sons began to fall off. The Earl, with a +part of his family and abundance of treasure, sailed to Flanders; +Harold escaped to Ireland; and the power of the great family was +for that time gone in England. But, the people did not forget +them. + +Then, Edward the Confessor, with the true meanness of a mean +spirit, visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons +upon the helpless daughter and sister, his unoffending wife, whom +all who saw her (her husband and his monks excepted) loved. He +seized rapaciously upon her fortune and her jewels, and allowing +her only one attendant, confined her in a gloomy convent, of which +a sister of his - no doubt an unpleasant lady after his own heart - +was abbess or jailer. + +Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way, the +King favoured the Normans more than ever. He invited over WILLIAM, +DUKE OF NORMANDY, the son of that Duke who had received him and his +murdered brother long ago, and of a peasant girl, a tanner's +daughter, with whom that Duke had fallen in love for her beauty as +he saw her washing clothes in a brook. William, who was a great +warrior, with a passion for fine horses, dogs, and arms, accepted +the invitation; and the Normans in England, finding themselves more +numerous than ever when he arrived with his retinue, and held in +still greater honour at court than before, became more and more +haughty towards the people, and were more and more disliked by +them. + +The old Earl Godwin, though he was abroad, knew well how the people +felt; for, with part of the treasure he had carried away with him, +he kept spies and agents in his pay all over England. + +Accordingly, he thought the time was come for fitting out a great +expedition against the Norman-loving King. With it, he sailed to +the Isle of Wight, where he was joined by his son Harold, the most +gallant and brave of all his family. And so the father and son +came sailing up the Thames to Southwark; great numbers of the +people declaring for them, and shouting for the English Earl and +the English Harold, against the Norman favourites! + +The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have +been whensoever they have been in the hands of monks. But the +people rallied so thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the +old Earl was so steady in demanding without bloodshed the +restoration of himself and his family to their rights, that at last +the court took the alarm. The Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, and +the Norman Bishop of London, surrounded by their retainers, fought +their way out of London, and escaped from Essex to France in a +fishing-boat. The other Norman favourites dispersed in all +directions. The old Earl and his sons (except Sweyn, who had +committed crimes against the law) were restored to their +possessions and dignities. Editha, the virtuous and lovely Queen +of the insensible King, was triumphantly released from her prison, +the convent, and once more sat in her chair of state, arrayed in +the jewels of which, when she had no champion to support her +rights, her cold-blooded husband had deprived her. + +The old Earl Godwin did not long enjoy his restored fortune. He +fell down in a fit at the King's table, and died upon the third day +afterwards. Harold succeeded to his power, and to a far higher +place in the attachment of the people than his father had ever +held. By his valour he subdued the King's enemies in many bloody +fights. He was vigorous against rebels in Scotland - this was the +time when Macbeth slew Duncan, upon which event our English +Shakespeare, hundreds of years afterwards, wrote his great tragedy; +and he killed the restless Welsh King GRIFFITH, and brought his +head to England. + +What Harold was doing at sea, when he was driven on the French +coast by a tempest, is not at all certain; nor does it at all +matter. That his ship was forced by a storm on that shore, and +that he was taken prisoner, there is no doubt. In those barbarous +days, all shipwrecked strangers were taken prisoners, and obliged +to pay ransom. So, a certain Count Guy, who was the Lord of +Ponthieu where Harold's disaster happened, seized him, instead of +relieving him like a hospitable and Christian lord as he ought to +have done, and expected to make a very good thing of it. + +But Harold sent off immediately to Duke William of Normandy, +complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it +than he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen, +where he then was, and where he received him as an honoured guest. +Now, some writers tell us that Edward the Confessor, who was by +this time old and had no children, had made a will, appointing Duke +William of Normandy his successor, and had informed the Duke of his +having done so. There is no doubt that he was anxious about his +successor; because he had even invited over, from abroad, EDWARD +THE OUTLAW, a son of Ironside, who had come to England with his +wife and three children, but whom the King had strangely refused to +see when he did come, and who had died in London suddenly (princes +were terribly liable to sudden death in those days), and had been +buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. The King might possibly have made +such a will; or, having always been fond of the Normans, he might +have encouraged Norman William to aspire to the English crown, by +something that he said to him when he was staying at the English +court. But, certainly William did now aspire to it; and knowing +that Harold would be a powerful rival, he called together a great +assembly of his nobles, offered Harold his daughter ADELE in +marriage, informed him that he meant on King Edward's death to +claim the English crown as his own inheritance, and required Harold +then and there to swear to aid him. Harold, being in the Duke's +power, took this oath upon the Missal, or Prayer-book. It is a +good example of the superstitions of the monks, that this Missal, +instead of being placed upon a table, was placed upon a tub; which, +when Harold had sworn, was uncovered, and shown to be full of dead +men's bones - bones, as the monks pretended, of saints. This was +supposed to make Harold's oath a great deal more impressive and +binding. As if the great name of the Creator of Heaven and earth +could be made more solemn by a knuckle-bone, or a double-tooth, or +a finger-nail, of Dunstan! + +Within a week or two after Harold's return to England, the dreary +old Confessor was found to be dying. After wandering in his mind +like a very weak old man, he died. As he had put himself entirely +in the hands of the monks when he was alive, they praised him +lustily when he was dead. They had gone so far, already, as to +persuade him that he could work miracles; and had brought people +afflicted with a bad disorder of the skin, to him, to be touched +and cured. This was called 'touching for the King's Evil,' which +afterwards became a royal custom. You know, however, Who really +touched the sick, and healed them; and you know His sacred name is +not among the dusty line of human kings. + + + +CHAPTER VII - ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE +NORMANS + + + +HAROLD was crowned King of England on the very day of the maudlin +Confessor's funeral. He had good need to be quick about it. When +the news reached Norman William, hunting in his park at Rouen, he +dropped his bow, returned to his palace, called his nobles to +council, and presently sent ambassadors to Harold, calling on him +to keep his oath and resign the Crown. Harold would do no such +thing. The barons of France leagued together round Duke William +for the invasion of England. Duke William promised freely to +distribute English wealth and English lands among them. The Pope +sent to Normandy a consecrated banner, and a ring containing a hair +which he warranted to have grown on the head of Saint Peter. He +blessed the enterprise; and cursed Harold; and requested that the +Normans would pay 'Peter's Pence' - or a tax to himself of a penny +a year on every house - a little more regularly in future, if they +could make it convenient. + +King Harold had a rebel brother in Flanders, who was a vassal of +HAROLD HARDRADA, King of Norway. This brother, and this Norwegian +King, joining their forces against England, with Duke William's +help, won a fight in which the English were commanded by two +nobles; and then besieged York. Harold, who was waiting for the +Normans on the coast at Hastings, with his army, marched to +Stamford Bridge upon the river Derwent to give them instant battle. + +He found them drawn up in a hollow circle, marked out by their +shining spears. Riding round this circle at a distance, to survey +it, he saw a brave figure on horseback, in a blue mantle and a +bright helmet, whose horse suddenly stumbled and threw him. + +'Who is that man who has fallen?' Harold asked of one of his +captains. + +'The King of Norway,' he replied. + +'He is a tall and stately king,' said Harold, 'but his end is +near.' + +He added, in a little while, 'Go yonder to my brother, and tell +him, if he withdraw his troops, he shall be Earl of Northumberland, +and rich and powerful in England.' + +The captain rode away and gave the message. + +'What will he give to my friend the King of Norway?' asked the +brother. + +'Seven feet of earth for a grave,' replied the captain. + +'No more?' returned the brother, with a smile. + +'The King of Norway being a tall man, perhaps a little more,' +replied the captain. + +'Ride back!' said the brother, 'and tell King Harold to make ready +for the fight!' + +He did so, very soon. And such a fight King Harold led against +that force, that his brother, and the Norwegian King, and every +chief of note in all their host, except the Norwegian King's son, +Olave, to whom he gave honourable dismissal, were left dead upon +the field. The victorious army marched to York. As King Harold +sat there at the feast, in the midst of all his company, a stir was +heard at the doors; and messengers all covered with mire from +riding far and fast through broken ground came hurrying in, to +report that the Normans had landed in England. + +The intelligence was true. They had been tossed about by contrary +winds, and some of their ships had been wrecked. A part of their +own shore, to which they had been driven back, was strewn with +Norman bodies. But they had once more made sail, led by the Duke's +own galley, a present from his wife, upon the prow whereof the +figure of a golden boy stood pointing towards England. By day, the +banner of the three Lions of Normandy, the diverse coloured sails, +the gilded vans, the many decorations of this gorgeous ship, had +glittered in the sun and sunny water; by night, a light had +sparkled like a star at her mast-head. And now, encamped near +Hastings, with their leader lying in the old Roman castle of +Pevensey, the English retiring in all directions, the land for +miles around scorched and smoking, fired and pillaged, was the +whole Norman power, hopeful and strong on English ground. + +Harold broke up the feast and hurried to London. Within a week, +his army was ready. He sent out spies to ascertain the Norman +strength. William took them, caused them to be led through his +whole camp, and then dismissed. 'The Normans,' said these spies to +Harold, 'are not bearded on the upper lip as we English are, but +are shorn. They are priests.' 'My men,' replied Harold, with a +laugh, 'will find those priests good soldiers!' + +'The Saxons,' reported Duke William's outposts of Norman soldiers, +who were instructed to retire as King Harold's army advanced, 'rush +on us through their pillaged country with the fury of madmen.' + +'Let them come, and come soon!' said Duke William. + +Some proposals for a reconciliation were made, but were soon +abandoned. In the middle of the month of October, in the year one +thousand and sixty-six, the Normans and the English came front to +front. All night the armies lay encamped before each other, in a +part of the country then called Senlac, now called (in remembrance +of them) Battle. With the first dawn of day, they arose. There, +in the faint light, were the English on a hill; a wood behind them; +in their midst, the Royal banner, representing a fighting warrior, +woven in gold thread, adorned with precious stones; beneath the +banner, as it rustled in the wind, stood King Harold on foot, with +two of his remaining brothers by his side; around them, still and +silent as the dead, clustered the whole English army - every +soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his hand his dreaded +English battle-axe. + +On an opposite hill, in three lines, archers, foot-soldiers, +horsemen, was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle-cry, +'God help us!' burst from the Norman lines. The English answered +with their own battle-cry, 'God's Rood! Holy Rood!' The Normans +then came sweeping down the hill to attack the English. + +There was one tall Norman Knight who rode before the Norman army on +a prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and +singing of the bravery of his countrymen. An English Knight, who +rode out from the English force to meet him, fell by this Knight's +hand. Another English Knight rode out, and he fell too. But then +a third rode out, and killed the Norman. This was in the first +beginning of the fight. It soon raged everywhere. + +The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more +for the showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of +Norman rain. When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with +their battle-axes they cut men and horses down. The Normans gave +way. The English pressed forward. A cry went forth among the +Norman troops that Duke William was killed. Duke William took off +his helmet, in order that his face might be distinctly seen, and +rode along the line before his men. This gave them courage. As +they turned again to face the English, some of their Norman horse +divided the pursuing body of the English from the rest, and thus +all that foremost portion of the English army fell, fighting +bravely. The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the +Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down the crowds +of horsemen when they rode up, like forests of young trees, Duke +William pretended to retreat. The eager English followed. The +Norman army closed again, and fell upon them with great slaughter. + +'Still,' said Duke William, 'there are thousands of the English, +firms as rocks around their King. Shoot upward, Norman archers, +that your arrows may fall down upon their faces!' + +The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through +all the wild October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. +In the red sunset, and in the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of +dead men lay strewn, a dreadful spectacle, all over the ground. + +King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. +His brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman Knights, whose +battered armour had flashed fiery and golden in the sunshine all +day long, and now looked silvery in the moonlight, dashed forward +to seize the Royal banner from the English Knights and soldiers, +still faithfully collected round their blinded King. The King +received a mortal wound, and dropped. The English broke and fled. +The Normans rallied, and the day was lost. + +O what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining +in the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near +the spot where Harold fell - and he and his knights were carousing, +within - and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro, +without, sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead - and +the Warrior, worked in golden thread and precious stones, lay low, +all torn and soiled with blood - and the three Norman Lions kept +watch over the field! + + + +CHAPTER VIII - ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN +CONQUEROR + + + +UPON the ground where the brave Harold fell, William the Norman +afterwards founded an abbey, which, under the name of Battle Abbey, +was a rich and splendid place through many a troubled year, though +now it is a grey ruin overgrown with ivy. But the first work he +had to do, was to conquer the English thoroughly; and that, as you +know by this time, was hard work for any man. + +He ravaged several counties; he burned and plundered many towns; he +laid waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country; he +destroyed innumerable lives. At length STIGAND, Archbishop of +Canterbury, with other representatives of the clergy and the +people, went to his camp, and submitted to him. EDGAR, the +insignificant son of Edmund Ironside, was proclaimed King by +others, but nothing came of it. He fled to Scotland afterwards, +where his sister, who was young and beautiful, married the Scottish +King. Edgar himself was not important enough for anybody to care +much about him. + +On Christmas Day, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, under +the title of WILLIAM THE FIRST; but he is best known as WILLIAM THE +CONQUEROR. It was a strange coronation. One of the bishops who +performed the ceremony asked the Normans, in French, if they would +have Duke William for their king? They answered Yes. Another of +the bishops put the same question to the Saxons, in English. They +too answered Yes, with a loud shout. The noise being heard by a +guard of Norman horse-soldiers outside, was mistaken for resistance +on the part of the English. The guard instantly set fire to the +neighbouring houses, and a tumult ensued; in the midst of which the +King, being left alone in the Abbey, with a few priests (and they +all being in a terrible fright together), was hurriedly crowned. +When the crown was placed upon his head, he swore to govern the +English as well as the best of their own monarchs. I dare say you +think, as I do, that if we except the Great Alfred, he might pretty +easily have done that. + +Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last +disastrous battle. Their estates, and the estates of all the +nobles who had fought against him there, King William seized upon, +and gave to his own Norman knights and nobles. Many great English +families of the present time acquired their English lands in this +way, and are very proud of it. + +But what is got by force must be maintained by force. These nobles +were obliged to build castles all over England, to defend their new +property; and, do what he would, the King could neither soothe nor +quell the nation as he wished. He gradually introduced the Norman +language and the Norman customs; yet, for a long time the great +body of the English remained sullen and revengeful. On his going +over to Normandy, to visit his subjects there, the oppressions of +his half-brother ODO, whom he left in charge of his English +kingdom, drove the people mad. The men of Kent even invited over, +to take possession of Dover, their old enemy Count Eustace of +Boulogne, who had led the fray when the Dover man was slain at his +own fireside. The men of Hereford, aided by the Welsh, and +commanded by a chief named EDRIC THE WILD, drove the Normans out of +their country. Some of those who had been dispossessed of their +lands, banded together in the North of England; some, in Scotland; +some, in the thick woods and marshes; and whensoever they could +fall upon the Normans, or upon the English who had submitted to the +Normans, they fought, despoiled, and murdered, like the desperate +outlaws that they were. Conspiracies were set on foot for a +general massacre of the Normans, like the old massacre of the +Danes. In short, the English were in a murderous mood all through +the kingdom. + +King William, fearing he might lose his conquest, came back, and +tried to pacify the London people by soft words. He then set forth +to repress the country people by stern deeds. Among the towns +which he besieged, and where he killed and maimed the inhabitants +without any distinction, sparing none, young or old, armed or +unarmed, were Oxford, Warwick, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, +Lincoln, York. In all these places, and in many others, fire and +sword worked their utmost horrors, and made the land dreadful to +behold. The streams and rivers were discoloured with blood; the +sky was blackened with smoke; the fields were wastes of ashes; the +waysides were heaped up with dead. Such are the fatal results of +conquest and ambition! Although William was a harsh and angry man, +I do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this shocking +ruin, when he invaded England. But what he had got by the strong +hand, he could only keep by the strong hand, and in so doing he +made England a great grave. + +Two sons of Harold, by name EDMUND and GODWIN, came over from +Ireland, with some ships, against the Normans, but were defeated. +This was scarcely done, when the outlaws in the woods so harassed +York, that the Governor sent to the King for help. The King +despatched a general and a large force to occupy the town of +Durham. The Bishop of that place met the general outside the town, +and warned him not to enter, as he would be in danger there. The +general cared nothing for the warning, and went in with all his +men. That night, on every hill within sight of Durham, signal +fires were seen to blaze. When the morning dawned, the English, +who had assembled in great strength, forced the gates, rushed into +the town, and slew the Normans every one. The English afterwards +besought the Danes to come and help them. The Danes came, with two +hundred and forty ships. The outlawed nobles joined them; they +captured York, and drove the Normans out of that city. Then, +William bribed the Danes to go away; and took such vengeance on the +English, that all the former fire and sword, smoke and ashes, death +and ruin, were nothing compared with it. In melancholy songs, and +doleful stories, it was still sung and told by cottage fires on +winter evenings, a hundred years afterwards, how, in those dreadful +days of the Normans, there was not, from the River Humber to the +River Tyne, one inhabited village left, nor one cultivated field - +how there was nothing but a dismal ruin, where the human creatures +and the beasts lay dead together. + +The outlaws had, at this time, what they called a Camp of Refuge, +in the midst of the fens of Cambridgeshire. Protected by those +marshy grounds which were difficult of approach, they lay among the +reeds and rushes, and were hidden by the mists that rose up from +the watery earth. Now, there also was, at that time, over the sea +in Flanders, an Englishman named HEREWARD, whose father had died in +his absence, and whose property had been given to a Norman. When +he heard of this wrong that had been done him (from such of the +exiled English as chanced to wander into that country), he longed +for revenge; and joining the outlaws in their camp of refuge, +became their commander. He was so good a soldier, that the Normans +supposed him to be aided by enchantment. William, even after he +had made a road three miles in length across the Cambridgeshire +marshes, on purpose to attack this supposed enchanter, thought it +necessary to engage an old lady, who pretended to be a sorceress, +to come and do a little enchantment in the royal cause. For this +purpose she was pushed on before the troops in a wooden tower; but +Hereward very soon disposed of this unfortunate sorceress, by +burning her, tower and all. The monks of the convent of Ely near +at hand, however, who were fond of good living, and who found it +very uncomfortable to have the country blockaded and their supplies +of meat and drink cut off, showed the King a secret way of +surprising the camp. So Hereward was soon defeated. Whether he +afterwards died quietly, or whether he was killed after killing +sixteen of the men who attacked him (as some old rhymes relate that +he did), I cannot say. His defeat put an end to the Camp of +Refuge; and, very soon afterwards, the King, victorious both in +Scotland and in England, quelled the last rebellious English noble. +He then surrounded himself with Norman lords, enriched by the +property of English nobles; had a great survey made of all the land +in England, which was entered as the property of its new owners, on +a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to put out their +fires and candles at a certain hour every night, on the ringing of +a bell which was called The Curfew; introduced the Norman dresses +and manners; made the Normans masters everywhere, and the English, +servants; turned out the English bishops, and put Normans in their +places; and showed himself to be the Conqueror indeed. + +But, even with his own Normans, he had a restless life. They were +always hungering and thirsting for the riches of the English; and +the more he gave, the more they wanted. His priests were as greedy +as his soldiers. We know of only one Norman who plainly told his +master, the King, that he had come with him to England to do his +duty as a faithful servant, and that property taken by force from +other men had no charms for him. His name was GUILBERT. We should +not forget his name, for it is good to remember and to honour +honest men. + +Besides all these troubles, William the Conqueror was troubled by +quarrels among his sons. He had three living. ROBERT, called +CURTHOSE, because of his short legs; WILLIAM, called RUFUS or the +Red, from the colour of his hair; and HENRY, fond of learning, and +called, in the Norman language, BEAUCLERC, or Fine-Scholar. When +Robert grew up, he asked of his father the government of Normandy, +which he had nominally possessed, as a child, under his mother, +MATILDA. The King refusing to grant it, Robert became jealous and +discontented; and happening one day, while in this temper, to be +ridiculed by his brothers, who threw water on him from a balcony as +he was walking before the door, he drew his sword, rushed up- +stairs, and was only prevented by the King himself from putting +them to death. That same night, he hotly departed with some +followers from his father's court, and endeavoured to take the +Castle of Rouen by surprise. Failing in this, he shut himself up +in another Castle in Normandy, which the King besieged, and where +Robert one day unhorsed and nearly killed him without knowing who +he was. His submission when he discovered his father, and the +intercession of the queen and others, reconciled them; but not +soundly; for Robert soon strayed abroad, and went from court to +court with his complaints. He was a gay, careless, thoughtless +fellow, spending all he got on musicians and dancers; but his +mother loved him, and often, against the King's command, supplied +him with money through a messenger named SAMSON. At length the +incensed King swore he would tear out Samson's eyes; and Samson, +thinking that his only hope of safety was in becoming a monk, +became one, went on such errands no more, and kept his eyes in his +head. + +All this time, from the turbulent day of his strange coronation, +the Conqueror had been struggling, you see, at any cost of cruelty +and bloodshed, to maintain what he had seized. All his reign, he +struggled still, with the same object ever before him. He was a +stern, bold man, and he succeeded in it. + +He loved money, and was particular in his eating, but he had only +leisure to indulge one other passion, and that was his love of +hunting. He carried it to such a height that he ordered whole +villages and towns to be swept away to make forests for the deer. +Not satisfied with sixty-eight Royal Forests, he laid waste an +immense district, to form another in Hampshire, called the New +Forest. The many thousands of miserable peasants who saw their +little houses pulled down, and themselves and children turned into +the open country without a shelter, detested him for his merciless +addition to their many sufferings; and when, in the twenty-first +year of his reign (which proved to be the last), he went over to +Rouen, England was as full of hatred against him, as if every leaf +on every tree in all his Royal Forests had been a curse upon his +head. In the New Forest, his son Richard (for he had four sons) +had been gored to death by a Stag; and the people said that this so +cruelly-made Forest would yet be fatal to others of the Conqueror's +race. + +He was engaged in a dispute with the King of France about some +territory. While he stayed at Rouen, negotiating with that King, +he kept his bed and took medicines: being advised by his +physicians to do so, on account of having grown to an unwieldy +size. Word being brought to him that the King of France made light +of this, and joked about it, he swore in a great rage that he +should rue his jests. He assembled his army, marched into the +disputed territory, burnt - his old way! - the vines, the crops, +and fruit, and set the town of Mantes on fire. But, in an evil +hour; for, as he rode over the hot ruins, his horse, setting his +hoofs upon some burning embers, started, threw him forward against +the pommel of the saddle, and gave him a mortal hurt. For six +weeks he lay dying in a monastery near Rouen, and then made his +will, giving England to William, Normandy to Robert, and five +thousand pounds to Henry. And now, his violent deeds lay heavy on +his mind. He ordered money to be given to many English churches +and monasteries, and - which was much better repentance - released +his prisoners of state, some of whom had been confined in his +dungeons twenty years. + +It was a September morning, and the sun was rising, when the King +was awakened from slumber by the sound of a church bell. 'What +bell is that?' he faintly asked. They told him it was the bell of +the chapel of Saint Mary. 'I commend my soul,' said he, 'to Mary!' +and died. + +Think of his name, The Conqueror, and then consider how he lay in +death! The moment he was dead, his physicians, priests, and +nobles, not knowing what contest for the throne might now take +place, or what might happen in it, hastened away, each man for +himself and his own property; the mercenary servants of the court +began to rob and plunder; the body of the King, in the indecent +strife, was rolled from the bed, and lay alone, for hours, upon the +ground. O Conqueror, of whom so many great names are proud now, of +whom so many great names thought nothing then, it were better to +have conquered one true heart, than England! + +By-and-by, the priests came creeping in with prayers and candles; +and a good knight, named HERLUIN, undertook (which no one else +would do) to convey the body to Caen, in Normandy, in order that it +might be buried in St. Stephen's church there, which the Conqueror +had founded. But fire, of which he had made such bad use in his +life, seemed to follow him of itself in death. A great +conflagration broke out in the town when the body was placed in the +church; and those present running out to extinguish the flames, it +was once again left alone. + +It was not even buried in peace. It was about to be let down, in +its Royal robes, into a tomb near the high altar, in presence of a +great concourse of people, when a loud voice in the crowd cried +out, 'This ground is mine! Upon it, stood my father's house. This +King despoiled me of both ground and house to build this church. +In the great name of GOD, I here forbid his body to be covered with +the earth that is my right!' The priests and bishops present, +knowing the speaker's right, and knowing that the King had often +denied him justice, paid him down sixty shillings for the grave. +Even then, the corpse was not at rest. The tomb was too small, and +they tried to force it in. It broke, a dreadful smell arose, the +people hurried out into the air, and, for the third time, it was +left alone. + +Where were the Conqueror's three sons, that they were not at their +father's burial? Robert was lounging among minstrels, dancers, and +gamesters, in France or Germany. Henry was carrying his five +thousand pounds safely away in a convenient chest he had got made. +William the Red was hurrying to England, to lay hands upon the +Royal treasure and the crown. + + + +CHAPTER IX - ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS + + + +WILLIAM THE RED, in breathless haste, secured the three great forts +of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, and made with hot speed for +Winchester, where the Royal treasure was kept. The treasurer +delivering him the keys, he found that it amounted to sixty +thousand pounds in silver, besides gold and jewels. Possessed of +this wealth, he soon persuaded the Archbishop of Canterbury to +crown him, and became William the Second, King of England. + +Rufus was no sooner on the throne, than he ordered into prison +again the unhappy state captives whom his father had set free, and +directed a goldsmith to ornament his father's tomb profusely with +gold and silver. It would have been more dutiful in him to have +attended the sick Conqueror when he was dying; but England itself, +like this Red King, who once governed it, has sometimes made +expensive tombs for dead men whom it treated shabbily when they +were alive. + +The King's brother, Robert of Normandy, seeming quite content to be +only Duke of that country; and the King's other brother, Fine- +Scholar, being quiet enough with his five thousand pounds in a +chest; the King flattered himself, we may suppose, with the hope of +an easy reign. But easy reigns were difficult to have in those +days. The turbulent Bishop ODO (who had blessed the Norman army at +the Battle of Hastings, and who, I dare say, took all the credit of +the victory to himself) soon began, in concert with some powerful +Norman nobles, to trouble the Red King. + +The truth seems to be that this bishop and his friends, who had +lands in England and lands in Normandy, wished to hold both under +one Sovereign; and greatly preferred a thoughtless good-natured +person, such as Robert was, to Rufus; who, though far from being an +amiable man in any respect, was keen, and not to be imposed upon. +They declared in Robert's favour, and retired to their castles +(those castles were very troublesome to kings) in a sullen humour. +The Red King, seeing the Normans thus falling from him, revenged +himself upon them by appealing to the English; to whom he made a +variety of promises, which he never meant to perform - in +particular, promises to soften the cruelty of the Forest Laws; and +who, in return, so aided him with their valour, that ODO was +besieged in the Castle of Rochester, and forced to abandon it, and +to depart from England for ever: whereupon the other rebellious +Norman nobles were soon reduced and scattered. + +Then, the Red King went over to Normandy, where the people suffered +greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The King's object was +to seize upon the Duke's dominions. This, the Duke, of course, +prepared to resist; and miserable war between the two brothers +seemed inevitable, when the powerful nobles on both sides, who had +seen so much of war, interfered to prevent it. A treaty was made. +Each of the two brothers agreed to give up something of his claims, +and that the longer-liver of the two should inherit all the +dominions of the other. When they had come to this loving +understanding, they embraced and joined their forces against Fine- +Scholar; who had bought some territory of Robert with a part of his +five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous individual in +consequence. + +St. Michael's Mount, in Normandy (there is another St. Michael's +Mount, in Cornwall, wonderfully like it), was then, as it is now, a +strong place perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, +when the tide is in, the sea flows, leaving no road to the +mainland. In this place, Fine-Scholar shut himself up with his +soldiers, and here he was closely besieged by his two brothers. At +one time, when he was reduced to great distress for want of water, +the generous Robert not only permitted his men to get water, but +sent Fine-Scholar wine from his own table; and, on being +remonstrated with by the Red King, said 'What! shall we let our own +brother die of thirst? Where shall we get another, when he is +gone?' At another time, the Red King riding alone on the shore of +the bay, looking up at the Castle, was taken by two of Fine- +Scholar's men, one of whom was about to kill him, when he cried +out, 'Hold, knave! I am the King of England!' The story says that +the soldier raised him from the ground respectfully and humbly, and +that the King took him into his service. The story may or may not +be true; but at any rate it is true that Fine-Scholar could not +hold out against his united brothers, and that he abandoned Mount +St. Michael, and wandered about - as poor and forlorn as other +scholars have been sometimes known to be. + +The Scotch became unquiet in the Red King's time, and were twice +defeated - the second time, with the loss of their King, Malcolm, +and his son. The Welsh became unquiet too. Against them, Rufus +was less successful; for they fought among their native mountains, +and did great execution on the King's troops. Robert of Normandy +became unquiet too; and, complaining that his brother the King did +not faithfully perform his part of their agreement, took up arms, +and obtained assistance from the King of France, whom Rufus, in the +end, bought off with vast sums of money. England became unquiet +too. Lord Mowbray, the powerful Earl of Northumberland, headed a +great conspiracy to depose the King, and to place upon the throne, +STEPHEN, the Conqueror's near relative. The plot was discovered; +all the chief conspirators were seized; some were fined, some were +put in prison, some were put to death. The Earl of Northumberland +himself was shut up in a dungeon beneath Windsor Castle, where he +died, an old man, thirty long years afterwards. The Priests in +England were more unquiet than any other class or power; for the +Red King treated them with such small ceremony that he refused to +appoint new bishops or archbishops when the old ones died, but kept +all the wealth belonging to those offices in his own hands. In +return for this, the Priests wrote his life when he was dead, and +abused him well. I am inclined to think, myself, that there was +little to choose between the Priests and the Red King; that both +sides were greedy and designing; and that they were fairly matched. + +The Red King was false of heart, selfish, covetous, and mean. He +had a worthy minister in his favourite, Ralph, nicknamed - for +almost every famous person had a nickname in those rough days - +Flambard, or the Firebrand. Once, the King being ill, became +penitent, and made ANSELM, a foreign priest and a good man, +Archbishop of Canterbury. But he no sooner got well again than he +repented of his repentance, and persisted in wrongfully keeping to +himself some of the wealth belonging to the archbishopric. This +led to violent disputes, which were aggravated by there being in +Rome at that time two rival Popes; each of whom declared he was the +only real original infallible Pope, who couldn't make a mistake. +At last, Anselm, knowing the Red King's character, and not feeling +himself safe in England, asked leave to return abroad. The Red +King gladly gave it; for he knew that as soon as Anselm was gone, +he could begin to store up all the Canterbury money again, for his +own use. + +By such means, and by taxing and oppressing the English people in +every possible way, the Red King became very rich. When he wanted +money for any purpose, he raised it by some means or other, and +cared nothing for the injustice he did, or the misery he caused. +Having the opportunity of buying from Robert the whole duchy of +Normandy for five years, he taxed the English people more than +ever, and made the very convents sell their plate and valuables to +supply him with the means to make the purchase. But he was as +quick and eager in putting down revolt as he was in raising money; +for, a part of the Norman people objecting - very naturally, I +think - to being sold in this way, he headed an army against them +with all the speed and energy of his father. He was so impatient, +that he embarked for Normandy in a great gale of wind. And when +the sailors told him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry +weather, he replied, 'Hoist sail and away! Did you ever hear of a +king who was drowned?' + +You will wonder how it was that even the careless Robert came to +sell his dominions. It happened thus. It had long been the custom +for many English people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were +called pilgrimages, in order that they might pray beside the tomb +of Our Saviour there. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks, and the +Turks hating Christianity, these Christian travellers were often +insulted and ill used. The Pilgrims bore it patiently for some +time, but at length a remarkable man, of great earnestness and +eloquence, called PETER THE HERMIT, began to preach in various +places against the Turks, and to declare that it was the duty of +good Christians to drive away those unbelievers from the tomb of +Our Saviour, and to take possession of it, and protect it. An +excitement such as the world had never known before was created. +Thousands and thousands of men of all ranks and conditions departed +for Jerusalem to make war against the Turks. The war is called in +history the first Crusade, and every Crusader wore a cross marked +on his right shoulder. + +All the Crusaders were not zealous Christians. Among them were +vast numbers of the restless, idle, profligate, and adventurous +spirit of the time. Some became Crusaders for the love of change; +some, in the hope of plunder; some, because they had nothing to do +at home; some, because they did what the priests told them; some, +because they liked to see foreign countries; some, because they +were fond of knocking men about, and would as soon knock a Turk +about as a Christian. Robert of Normandy may have been influenced +by all these motives; and by a kind desire, besides, to save the +Christian Pilgrims from bad treatment in future. He wanted to +raise a number of armed men, and to go to the Crusade. He could +not do so without money. He had no money; and he sold his +dominions to his brother, the Red King, for five years. With the +large sum he thus obtained, he fitted out his Crusaders gallantly, +and went away to Jerusalem in martial state. The Red King, who +made money out of everything, stayed at home, busily squeezing more +money out of Normans and English. + +After three years of great hardship and suffering - from shipwreck +at sea; from travel in strange lands; from hunger, thirst, and +fever, upon the burning sands of the desert; and from the fury of +the Turks - the valiant Crusaders got possession of Our Saviour's +tomb. The Turks were still resisting and fighting bravely, but +this success increased the general desire in Europe to join the +Crusade. Another great French Duke was proposing to sell his +dominions for a term to the rich Red King, when the Red King's +reign came to a sudden and violent end. + +You have not forgotten the New Forest which the Conqueror made, and +which the miserable people whose homes he had laid waste, so hated. +The cruelty of the Forest Laws, and the torture and death they +brought upon the peasantry, increased this hatred. The poor +persecuted country people believed that the New Forest was +enchanted. They said that in thunder-storms, and on dark nights, +demons appeared, moving beneath the branches of the gloomy trees. +They said that a terrible spectre had foretold to Norman hunters +that the Red King should be punished there. And now, in the +pleasant season of May, when the Red King had reigned almost +thirteen years; and a second Prince of the Conqueror's blood - +another Richard, the son of Duke Robert - was killed by an arrow in +this dreaded Forest; the people said that the second time was not +the last, and that there was another death to come. + +It was a lonely forest, accursed in the people's hearts for the +wicked deeds that had been done to make it; and no man save the +King and his Courtiers and Huntsmen, liked to stray there. But, in +reality, it was like any other forest. In the spring, the green +leaves broke out of the buds; in the summer, flourished heartily, +and made deep shades; in the winter, shrivelled and blew down, and +lay in brown heaps on the moss. Some trees were stately, and grew +high and strong; some had fallen of themselves; some were felled by +the forester's axe; some were hollow, and the rabbits burrowed at +their roots; some few were struck by lightning, and stood white and +bare. There were hill-sides covered with rich fern, on which the +morning dew so beautifully sparkled; there were brooks, where the +deer went down to drink, or over which the whole herd bounded, +flying from the arrows of the huntsmen; there were sunny glades, +and solemn places where but little light came through the rustling +leaves. The songs of the birds in the New Forest were pleasanter +to hear than the shouts of fighting men outside; and even when the +Red King and his Court came hunting through its solitudes, cursing +loud and riding hard, with a jingling of stirrups and bridles and +knives and daggers, they did much less harm there than among the +English or Normans, and the stags died (as they lived) far easier +than the people. + +Upon a day in August, the Red King, now reconciled to his brother, +Fine-Scholar, came with a great train to hunt in the New Forest. +Fine-Scholar was of the party. They were a merry party, and had +lain all night at Malwood-Keep, a hunting-lodge in the forest, +where they had made good cheer, both at supper and breakfast, and +had drunk a deal of wine. The party dispersed in various +directions, as the custom of hunters then was. The King took with +him only SIR WALTER TYRREL, who was a famous sportsman, and to whom +he had given, before they mounted horse that morning, two fine +arrows. + +The last time the King was ever seen alive, he was riding with Sir +Walter Tyrrel, and their dogs were hunting together. + +It was almost night, when a poor charcoal-burner, passing through +the forest with his cart, came upon the solitary body of a dead +man, shot with an arrow in the breast, and still bleeding. He got +it into his cart. It was the body of the King. Shaken and +tumbled, with its red beard all whitened with lime and clotted with +blood, it was driven in the cart by the charcoal-burner next day to +Winchester Cathedral, where it was received and buried. + +Sir Walter Tyrrel, who escaped to Normandy, and claimed the +protection of the King of France, swore in France that the Red King +was suddenly shot dead by an arrow from an unseen hand, while they +were hunting together; that he was fearful of being suspected as +the King's murderer; and that he instantly set spurs to his horse, +and fled to the sea-shore. Others declared that the King and Sir +Walter Tyrrel were hunting in company, a little before sunset, +standing in bushes opposite one another, when a stag came between +them. That the King drew his bow and took aim, but the string +broke. That the King then cried, 'Shoot, Walter, in the Devil's +name!' That Sir Walter shot. That the arrow glanced against a +tree, was turned aside from the stag, and struck the King from his +horse, dead. + +By whose hand the Red King really fell, and whether that hand +despatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design, is +only known to GOD. Some think his brother may have caused him to +be killed; but the Red King had made so many enemies, both among +priests and people, that suspicion may reasonably rest upon a less +unnatural murderer. Men know no more than that he was found dead +in the New Forest, which the suffering people had regarded as a +doomed ground for his race. + + + +CHAPTER X - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR + + + +FINE-SCHOLAR, on hearing of the Red King's death, hurried to +Winchester with as much speed as Rufus himself had made, to seize +the Royal treasure. But the keeper of the treasure who had been +one of the hunting-party in the Forest, made haste to Winchester +too, and, arriving there at about the same time, refused to yield +it up. Upon this, Fine-Scholar drew his sword, and threatened to +kill the treasurer; who might have paid for his fidelity with his +life, but that he knew longer resistance to be useless when he +found the Prince supported by a company of powerful barons, who +declared they were determined to make him King. The treasurer, +therefore, gave up the money and jewels of the Crown: and on the +third day after the death of the Red King, being a Sunday, Fine- +Scholar stood before the high altar in Westminster Abbey, and made +a solemn declaration that he would resign the Church property which +his brother had seized; that he would do no wrong to the nobles; +and that he would restore to the people the laws of Edward the +Confessor, with all the improvements of William the Conqueror. So +began the reign of KING HENRY THE FIRST. + +The people were attached to their new King, both because he had +known distresses, and because he was an Englishman by birth and not +a Norman. To strengthen this last hold upon them, the King wished +to marry an English lady; and could think of no other wife than +MAUD THE GOOD, the daughter of the King of Scotland. Although this +good Princess did not love the King, she was so affected by the +representations the nobles made to her of the great charity it +would be in her to unite the Norman and Saxon races, and prevent +hatred and bloodshed between them for the future, that she +consented to become his wife. After some disputing among the +priests, who said that as she had been in a convent in her youth, +and had worn the veil of a nun, she could not lawfully be married - +against which the Princess stated that her aunt, with whom she had +lived in her youth, had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black +stuff over her, but for no other reason than because the nun's veil +was the only dress the conquering Normans respected in girl or +woman, and not because she had taken the vows of a nun, which she +never had - she was declared free to marry, and was made King +Henry's Queen. A good Queen she was; beautiful, kind-hearted, and +worthy of a better husband than the King. + +For he was a cunning and unscrupulous man, though firm and clever. +He cared very little for his word, and took any means to gain his +ends. All this is shown in his treatment of his brother Robert - +Robert, who had suffered him to be refreshed with water, and who +had sent him the wine from his own table, when he was shut up, with +the crows flying below him, parched with thirst, in the castle on +the top of St. Michael's Mount, where his Red brother would have +let him die. + +Before the King began to deal with Robert, he removed and disgraced +all the favourites of the late King; who were for the most part +base characters, much detested by the people. Flambard, or +Firebrand, whom the late King had made Bishop of Durham, of all +things in the world, Henry imprisoned in the Tower; but Firebrand +was a great joker and a jolly companion, and made himself so +popular with his guards that they pretended to know nothing about a +long rope that was sent into his prison at the bottom of a deep +flagon of wine. The guards took the wine, and Firebrand took the +rope; with which, when they were fast asleep, he let himself down +from a window in the night, and so got cleverly aboard ship and +away to Normandy. + +Now Robert, when his brother Fine-Scholar came to the throne, was +still absent in the Holy Land. Henry pretended that Robert had +been made Sovereign of that country; and he had been away so long, +that the ignorant people believed it. But, behold, when Henry had +been some time King of England, Robert came home to Normandy; +having leisurely returned from Jerusalem through Italy, in which +beautiful country he had enjoyed himself very much, and had married +a lady as beautiful as itself! In Normandy, he found Firebrand +waiting to urge him to assert his claim to the English crown, and +declare war against King Henry. This, after great loss of time in +feasting and dancing with his beautiful Italian wife among his +Norman friends, he at last did. + +The English in general were on King Henry's side, though many of +the Normans were on Robert's. But the English sailors deserted the +King, and took a great part of the English fleet over to Normandy; +so that Robert came to invade this country in no foreign vessels, +but in English ships. The virtuous Anselm, however, whom Henry had +invited back from abroad, and made Archbishop of Canterbury, was +steadfast in the King's cause; and it was so well supported that +the two armies, instead of fighting, made a peace. Poor Robert, +who trusted anybody and everybody, readily trusted his brother, the +King; and agreed to go home and receive a pension from England, on +condition that all his followers were fully pardoned. This the +King very faithfully promised, but Robert was no sooner gone than +he began to punish them. + +Among them was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, on being summoned by +the King to answer to five-and-forty accusations, rode away to one +of his strong castles, shut himself up therein, called around him +his tenants and vassals, and fought for his liberty, but was +defeated and banished. Robert, with all his faults, was so true to +his word, that when he first heard of this nobleman having risen +against his brother, he laid waste the Earl of Shrewsbury's estates +in Normandy, to show the King that he would favour no breach of +their treaty. Finding, on better information, afterwards, that the +Earl's only crime was having been his friend, he came over to +England, in his old thoughtless, warm-hearted way, to intercede +with the King, and remind him of the solemn promise to pardon all +his followers. + +This confidence might have put the false King to the blush, but it +did not. Pretending to be very friendly, he so surrounded his +brother with spies and traps, that Robert, who was quite in his +power, had nothing for it but to renounce his pension and escape +while he could. Getting home to Normandy, and understanding the +King better now, he naturally allied himself with his old friend +the Earl of Shrewsbury, who had still thirty castles in that +country. This was exactly what Henry wanted. He immediately +declared that Robert had broken the treaty, and next year invaded +Normandy. + +He pretended that he came to deliver the Normans, at their own +request, from his brother's misrule. There is reason to fear that +his misrule was bad enough; for his beautiful wife had died, +leaving him with an infant son, and his court was again so +careless, dissipated, and ill-regulated, that it was said he +sometimes lay in bed of a day for want of clothes to put on - his +attendants having stolen all his dresses. But he headed his army +like a brave prince and a gallant soldier, though he had the +misfortune to be taken prisoner by King Henry, with four hundred of +his Knights. Among them was poor harmless Edgar Atheling, who +loved Robert well. Edgar was not important enough to be severe +with. The King afterwards gave him a small pension, which he lived +upon and died upon, in peace, among the quiet woods and fields of +England. + +And Robert - poor, kind, generous, wasteful, heedless Robert, with +so many faults, and yet with virtues that might have made a better +and a happier man - what was the end of him? If the King had had +the magnanimity to say with a kind air, 'Brother, tell me, before +these noblemen, that from this time you will be my faithful +follower and friend, and never raise your hand against me or my +forces more!' he might have trusted Robert to the death. But the +King was not a magnanimous man. He sentenced his brother to be +confined for life in one of the Royal Castles. In the beginning of +his imprisonment, he was allowed to ride out, guarded; but he one +day broke away from his guard and galloped of. He had the evil +fortune to ride into a swamp, where his horse stuck fast and he was +taken. When the King heard of it he ordered him to be blinded, +which was done by putting a red-hot metal basin on his eyes. + +And so, in darkness and in prison, many years, he thought of all +his past life, of the time he had wasted, of the treasure he had +squandered, of the opportunities he had lost, of the youth he had +thrown away, of the talents he had neglected. Sometimes, on fine +autumn mornings, he would sit and think of the old hunting parties +in the free Forest, where he had been the foremost and the gayest. +Sometimes, in the still nights, he would wake, and mourn for the +many nights that had stolen past him at the gaming-table; +sometimes, would seem to hear, upon the melancholy wind, the old +songs of the minstrels; sometimes, would dream, in his blindness, +of the light and glitter of the Norman Court. Many and many a +time, he groped back, in his fancy, to Jerusalem, where he had +fought so well; or, at the head of his brave companions, bowed his +feathered helmet to the shouts of welcome greeting him in Italy, +and seemed again to walk among the sunny vineyards, or on the shore +of the blue sea, with his lovely wife. And then, thinking of her +grave, and of his fatherless boy, he would stretch out his solitary +arms and weep. + +At length, one day, there lay in prison, dead, with cruel and +disfiguring scars upon his eyelids, bandaged from his jailer's +sight, but on which the eternal Heavens looked down, a worn old man +of eighty. He had once been Robert of Normandy. Pity him! + +At the time when Robert of Normandy was taken prisoner by his +brother, Robert's little son was only five years old. This child +was taken, too, and carried before the King, sobbing and crying; +for, young as he was, he knew he had good reason to be afraid of +his Royal uncle. The King was not much accustomed to pity those +who were in his power, but his cold heart seemed for the moment to +soften towards the boy. He was observed to make a great effort, as +if to prevent himself from being cruel, and ordered the child to be +taken away; whereupon a certain Baron, who had married a daughter +of Duke Robert's (by name, Helie of Saint Saen), took charge of +him, tenderly. The King's gentleness did not last long. Before +two years were over, he sent messengers to this lord's Castle to +seize the child and bring him away. The Baron was not there at the +time, but his servants were faithful, and carried the boy off in +his sleep and hid him. When the Baron came home, and was told what +the King had done, he took the child abroad, and, leading him by +the hand, went from King to King and from Court to Court, relating +how the child had a claim to the throne of England, and how his +uncle the King, knowing that he had that claim, would have murdered +him, perhaps, but for his escape. + +The youth and innocence of the pretty little WILLIAM FITZ-ROBERT +(for that was his name) made him many friends at that time. When +he became a young man, the King of France, uniting with the French +Counts of Anjou and Flanders, supported his cause against the King +of England, and took many of the King's towns and castles in +Normandy. But, King Henry, artful and cunning always, bribed some +of William's friends with money, some with promises, some with +power. He bought off the Count of Anjou, by promising to marry his +eldest son, also named WILLIAM, to the Count's daughter; and indeed +the whole trust of this King's life was in such bargains, and he +believed (as many another King has done since, and as one King did +in France a very little time ago) that every man's truth and honour +can be bought at some price. For all this, he was so afraid of +William Fitz-Robert and his friends, that, for a long time, he +believed his life to be in danger; and never lay down to sleep, +even in his palace surrounded by his guards, without having a sword +and buckler at his bedside. + +To strengthen his power, the King with great ceremony betrothed his +eldest daughter MATILDA, then a child only eight years old, to be +the wife of Henry the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany. To raise her +marriage-portion, he taxed the English people in a most oppressive +manner; then treated them to a great procession, to restore their +good humour; and sent Matilda away, in fine state, with the German +ambassadors, to be educated in the country of her future husband. + +And now his Queen, Maud the Good, unhappily died. It was a sad +thought for that gentle lady, that the only hope with which she had +married a man whom she had never loved - the hope of reconciling +the Norman and English races - had failed. At the very time of her +death, Normandy and all France was in arms against England; for, so +soon as his last danger was over, King Henry had been false to all +the French powers he had promised, bribed, and bought, and they had +naturally united against him. After some fighting, however, in +which few suffered but the unhappy common people (who always +suffered, whatsoever was the matter), he began to promise, bribe, +and buy again; and by those means, and by the help of the Pope, who +exerted himself to save more bloodshed, and by solemnly declaring, +over and over again, that he really was in earnest this time, and +would keep his word, the King made peace. + +One of the first consequences of this peace was, that the King went +over to Normandy with his son Prince William and a great retinue, +to have the Prince acknowledged as his successor by the Norman +Nobles, and to contract the promised marriage (this was one of the +many promises the King had broken) between him and the daughter of +the Count of Anjou. Both these things were triumphantly done, with +great show and rejoicing; and on the twenty-fifth of November, in +the year one thousand one hundred and twenty, the whole retinue +prepared to embark at the Port of Barfleur, for the voyage home. + +On that day, and at that place, there came to the King, Fitz- +Stephen, a sea-captain, and said: + +'My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. +He steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which +your father sailed to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me +the same office. I have a fair vessel in the harbour here, called +The White Ship, manned by fifty sailors of renown. I pray you, +Sire, to let your servant have the honour of steering you in The +White Ship to England!' + +'I am sorry, friend,' replied the King, 'that my vessel is already +chosen, and that I cannot (therefore) sail with the son of the man +who served my father. But the Prince and all his company shall go +along with you, in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors +of renown.' + +An hour or two afterwards, the King set sail in the vessel he had +chosen, accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a +fair and gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the +morning. While it was yet night, the people in some of those ships +heard a faint wild cry come over the sea, and wondered what it was. + +Now, the Prince was a dissolute, debauched young man of eighteen, +who bore no love to the English, and had declared that when he came +to the throne he would yoke them to the plough like oxen. He went +aboard The White Ship, with one hundred and forty youthful Nobles +like himself, among whom were eighteen noble ladies of the highest +rank. All this gay company, with their servants and the fifty +sailors, made three hundred souls aboard the fair White Ship. + +'Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen,' said the Prince, 'to the +fifty sailors of renown! My father the King has sailed out of the +harbour. What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach +England with the rest?' + +'Prince!' said Fitz-Stephen, 'before morning, my fifty and The +White Ship shall overtake the swiftest vessel in attendance on your +father the King, if we sail at midnight!' + +Then the Prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out +the three casks of wine; and the Prince and all the noble company +danced in the moonlight on the deck of The White Ship. + +When, at last, she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur, there was +not a sober seaman on board. But the sails were all set, and the +oars all going merrily. Fitz-Stephen had the helm. The gay young +nobles and the beautiful ladies, wrapped in mantles of various +bright colours to protect them from the cold, talked, laughed, and +sang. The Prince encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet, +for the honour of The White Ship. + +Crash! A terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the +cry the people in the distant vessels of the King heard faintly on +the water. The White Ship had struck upon a rock - was filling - +going down! + +Fitz-Stephen hurried the Prince into a boat, with some few Nobles. +'Push off,' he whispered; 'and row to land. It is not far, and the +sea is smooth. The rest of us must die.' + +But, as they rowed away, fast, from the sinking ship, the Prince +heard the voice of his sister MARIE, the Countess of Perche, +calling for help. He never in his life had been so good as he was +then. He cried in an agony, 'Row back at any risk! I cannot bear +to leave her!' + +They rowed back. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his +sister, such numbers leaped in, that the boat was overset. And in +the same instant The White Ship went down. + +Only two men floated. They both clung to the main yard of the +ship, which had broken from the mast, and now supported them. One +asked the other who he was? He said, 'I am a nobleman, GODFREY by +name, the son of GILBERT DE L'AIGLE. And you?' said he. 'I am +BEROLD, a poor butcher of Rouen,' was the answer. Then, they said +together, 'Lord be merciful to us both!' and tried to encourage one +another, as they drifted in the cold benumbing sea on that +unfortunate November night. + +By-and-by, another man came swimming towards them, whom they knew, +when he pushed aside his long wet hair, to be Fitz-Stephen. 'Where +is the Prince?' said he. 'Gone! Gone!' the two cried together. +'Neither he, nor his brother, nor his sister, nor the King's niece, +nor her brother, nor any one of all the brave three hundred, noble +or commoner, except we three, has risen above the water!' Fitz- +Stephen, with a ghastly face, cried, 'Woe! woe, to me!' and sunk to +the bottom. + +The other two clung to the yard for some hours. At length the +young noble said faintly, 'I am exhausted, and chilled with the +cold, and can hold no longer. Farewell, good friend! God preserve +you!' So, he dropped and sunk; and of all the brilliant crowd, the +poor Butcher of Rouen alone was saved. In the morning, some +fishermen saw him floating in his sheep-skin coat, and got him into +their boat - the sole relater of the dismal tale. + +For three days, no one dared to carry the intelligence to the King. +At length, they sent into his presence a little boy, who, weeping +bitterly, and kneeling at his feet, told him that The White Ship +was lost with all on board. The King fell to the ground like a +dead man, and never, never afterwards, was seen to smile. + +But he plotted again, and promised again, and bribed and bought +again, in his old deceitful way. Having no son to succeed him, +after all his pains ('The Prince will never yoke us to the plough, +now!' said the English people), he took a second wife - ADELAIS or +ALICE, a duke's daughter, and the Pope's niece. Having no more +children, however, he proposed to the Barons to swear that they +would recognise as his successor, his daughter Matilda, whom, as +she was now a widow, he married to the eldest son of the Count of +Anjou, GEOFFREY, surnamed PLANTAGENET, from a custom he had of +wearing a sprig of flowering broom (called Genˆt in French) in his +cap for a feather. As one false man usually makes many, and as a +false King, in particular, is pretty certain to make a false Court, +the Barons took the oath about the succession of Matilda (and her +children after her), twice over, without in the least intending to +keep it. The King was now relieved from any remaining fears of +William Fitz-Robert, by his death in the Monastery of St. Omer, in +France, at twenty-six years old, of a pike-wound in the hand. And +as Matilda gave birth to three sons, he thought the succession to +the throne secure. + +He spent most of the latter part of his life, which was troubled by +family quarrels, in Normandy, to be near Matilda. When he had +reigned upward of thirty-five years, and was sixty-seven years old, +he died of an indigestion and fever, brought on by eating, when he +was far from well, of a fish called Lamprey, against which he had +often been cautioned by his physicians. His remains were brought +over to Reading Abbey to be buried. + +You may perhaps hear the cunning and promise-breaking of King Henry +the First, called 'policy' by some people, and 'diplomacy' by +others. Neither of these fine words will in the least mean that it +was true; and nothing that is not true can possibly be good. + +His greatest merit, that I know of, was his love of learning - I +should have given him greater credit even for that, if it had been +strong enough to induce him to spare the eyes of a certain poet he +once took prisoner, who was a knight besides. But he ordered the +poet's eyes to be torn from his head, because he had laughed at him +in his verses; and the poet, in the pain of that torture, dashed +out his own brains against his prison wall. King Henry the First +was avaricious, revengeful, and so false, that I suppose a man +never lived whose word was less to be relied upon. + + + +CHAPTER XI - ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN + + + +THE King was no sooner dead than all the plans and schemes he had +laboured at so long, and lied so much for, crumbled away like a +hollow heap of sand. STEPHEN, whom he had never mistrusted or +suspected, started up to claim the throne. + +Stephen was the son of ADELA, the Conqueror's daughter, married to +the Count of Blois. To Stephen, and to his brother HENRY, the late +King had been liberal; making Henry Bishop of Winchester, and +finding a good marriage for Stephen, and much enriching him. This +did not prevent Stephen from hastily producing a false witness, a +servant of the late King, to swear that the King had named him for +his heir upon his death-bed. On this evidence the Archbishop of +Canterbury crowned him. The new King, so suddenly made, lost not a +moment in seizing the Royal treasure, and hiring foreign soldiers +with some of it to protect his throne. + +If the dead King had even done as the false witness said, he would +have had small right to will away the English people, like so many +sheep or oxen, without their consent. But he had, in fact, +bequeathed all his territory to Matilda; who, supported by ROBERT, +Earl of Gloucester, soon began to dispute the crown. Some of the +powerful barons and priests took her side; some took Stephen's; all +fortified their castles; and again the miserable English people +were involved in war, from which they could never derive advantage +whosoever was victorious, and in which all parties plundered, +tortured, starved, and ruined them. + +Five years had passed since the death of Henry the First - and +during those five years there had been two terrible invasions by +the people of Scotland under their King, David, who was at last +defeated with all his army - when Matilda, attended by her brother +Robert and a large force, appeared in England to maintain her +claim. A battle was fought between her troops and King Stephen's +at Lincoln; in which the King himself was taken prisoner, after +bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword were broken, and +was carried into strict confinement at Gloucester. Matilda then +submitted herself to the Priests, and the Priests crowned her Queen +of England. + +She did not long enjoy this dignity. The people of London had a +great affection for Stephen; many of the Barons considered it +degrading to be ruled by a woman; and the Queen's temper was so +haughty that she made innumerable enemies. The people of London +revolted; and, in alliance with the troops of Stephen, besieged her +at Winchester, where they took her brother Robert prisoner, whom, +as her best soldier and chief general, she was glad to exchange for +Stephen himself, who thus regained his liberty. Then, the long war +went on afresh. Once, she was pressed so hard in the Castle of +Oxford, in the winter weather when the snow lay thick upon the +ground, that her only chance of escape was to dress herself all in +white, and, accompanied by no more than three faithful Knights, +dressed in like manner that their figures might not be seen from +Stephen's camp as they passed over the snow, to steal away on foot, +cross the frozen Thames, walk a long distance, and at last gallop +away on horseback. All this she did, but to no great purpose then; +for her brother dying while the struggle was yet going on, she at +last withdrew to Normandy. + +In two or three years after her withdrawal her cause appeared in +England, afresh, in the person of her son Henry, young Plantagenet, +who, at only eighteen years of age, was very powerful: not only on +account of his mother having resigned all Normandy to him, but also +from his having married ELEANOR, the divorced wife of the French +King, a bad woman, who had great possessions in France. Louis, the +French King, not relishing this arrangement, helped EUSTACE, King +Stephen's son, to invade Normandy: but Henry drove their united +forces out of that country, and then returned here, to assist his +partisans, whom the King was then besieging at Wallingford upon the +Thames. Here, for two days, divided only by the river, the two +armies lay encamped opposite to one another - on the eve, as it +seemed to all men, of another desperate fight, when the EARL OF +ARUNDEL took heart and said 'that it was not reasonable to prolong +the unspeakable miseries of two kingdoms to minister to the +ambition of two princes.' + +Many other noblemen repeating and supporting this when it was once +uttered, Stephen and young Plantagenet went down, each to his own +bank of the river, and held a conversation across it, in which they +arranged a truce; very much to the dissatisfaction of Eustace, who +swaggered away with some followers, and laid violent hands on the +Abbey of St. Edmund's-Bury, where he presently died mad. The truce +led to a solemn council at Winchester, in which it was agreed that +Stephen should retain the crown, on condition of his declaring +Henry his successor; that WILLIAM, another son of the King's, +should inherit his father's rightful possessions; and that all the +Crown lands which Stephen had given away should be recalled, and +all the Castles he had permitted to be built demolished. Thus +terminated the bitter war, which had now lasted fifteen years, and +had again laid England waste. In the next year STEPHEN died, after +a troubled reign of nineteen years. + +Although King Stephen was, for the time in which he lived, a humane +and moderate man, with many excellent qualities; and although +nothing worse is known of him than his usurpation of the Crown, +which he probably excused to himself by the consideration that King +Henry the First was a usurper too - which was no excuse at all; the +people of England suffered more in these dread nineteen years, than +at any former period even of their suffering history. In the +division of the nobility between the two rival claimants of the +Crown, and in the growth of what is called the Feudal System (which +made the peasants the born vassals and mere slaves of the Barons), +every Noble had his strong Castle, where he reigned the cruel king +of all the neighbouring people. Accordingly, he perpetrated +whatever cruelties he chose. And never were worse cruelties +committed upon earth than in wretched England in those nineteen +years. + +The writers who were living then describe them fearfully. They say +that the castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that +the peasants, men and women, were put into dungeons for their gold +and silver, were tortured with fire and smoke, were hung up by the +thumbs, were hung up by the heels with great weights to their +heads, were torn with jagged irons, killed with hunger, broken to +death in narrow chests filled with sharp-pointed stones, murdered +in countless fiendish ways. In England there was no corn, no meat, +no cheese, no butter, there were no tilled lands, no harvests. +Ashes of burnt towns, and dreary wastes, were all that the +traveller, fearful of the robbers who prowled abroad at all hours, +would see in a long day's journey; and from sunrise until night, he +would not come upon a home. + +The clergy sometimes suffered, and heavily too, from pillage, but +many of them had castles of their own, and fought in helmet and +armour like the barons, and drew lots with other fighting men for +their share of booty. The Pope (or Bishop of Rome), on King +Stephen's resisting his ambition, laid England under an Interdict +at one period of this reign; which means that he allowed no service +to be performed in the churches, no couples to be married, no bells +to be rung, no dead bodies to be buried. Any man having the power +to refuse these things, no matter whether he were called a Pope or +a Poulterer, would, of course, have the power of afflicting numbers +of innocent people. That nothing might be wanting to the miseries +of King Stephen's time, the Pope threw in this contribution to the +public store - not very like the widow's contribution, as I think, +when Our Saviour sat in Jerusalem over-against the Treasury, 'and +she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.' + + + +CHAPTER XII - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND - PART THE FIRST + + + +HENRY PLANTAGENET, when he was but twenty-one years old, quietly +succeeded to the throne of England, according to his agreement made +with the late King at Winchester. Six weeks after Stephen's death, +he and his Queen, Eleanor, were crowned in that city; into which +they rode on horseback in great state, side by side, amidst much +shouting and rejoicing, and clashing of music, and strewing of +flowers. + +The reign of King Henry the Second began well. The King had great +possessions, and (what with his own rights, and what with those of +his wife) was lord of one-third part of France. He was a young man +of vigour, ability, and resolution, and immediately applied himself +to remove some of the evils which had arisen in the last unhappy +reign. He revoked all the grants of land that had been hastily +made, on either side, during the late struggles; he obliged numbers +of disorderly soldiers to depart from England; he reclaimed all the +castles belonging to the Crown; and he forced the wicked nobles to +pull down their own castles, to the number of eleven hundred, in +which such dismal cruelties had been inflicted on the people. The +King's brother, GEOFFREY, rose against him in France, while he was +so well employed, and rendered it necessary for him to repair to +that country; where, after he had subdued and made a friendly +arrangement with his brother (who did not live long), his ambition +to increase his possessions involved him in a war with the French +King, Louis, with whom he had been on such friendly terms just +before, that to the French King's infant daughter, then a baby in +the cradle, he had promised one of his little sons in marriage, who +was a child of five years old. However, the war came to nothing at +last, and the Pope made the two Kings friends again. + +Now, the clergy, in the troubles of the last reign, had gone on +very ill indeed. There were all kinds of criminals among them - +murderers, thieves, and vagabonds; and the worst of the matter was, +that the good priests would not give up the bad priests to justice, +when they committed crimes, but persisted in sheltering and +defending them. The King, well knowing that there could be no +peace or rest in England while such things lasted, resolved to +reduce the power of the clergy; and, when he had reigned seven +years, found (as he considered) a good opportunity for doing so, in +the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 'I will have for the +new Archbishop,' thought the King, 'a friend in whom I can trust, +who will help me to humble these rebellious priests, and to have +them dealt with, when they do wrong, as other men who do wrong are +dealt with.' So, he resolved to make his favourite, the new +Archbishop; and this favourite was so extraordinary a man, and his +story is so curious, that I must tell you all about him. + +Once upon a time, a worthy merchant of London, named GILBERT A +BECKET, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was taken prisoner +by a Saracen lord. This lord, who treated him kindly and not like +a slave, had one fair daughter, who fell in love with the merchant; +and who told him that she wanted to become a Christian, and was +willing to marry him if they could fly to a Christian country. The +merchant returned her love, until he found an opportunity to +escape, when he did not trouble himself about the Saracen lady, but +escaped with his servant Richard, who had been taken prisoner along +with him, and arrived in England and forgot her. The Saracen lady, +who was more loving than the merchant, left her father's house in +disguise to follow him, and made her way, under many hardships, to +the sea-shore. The merchant had taught her only two English words +(for I suppose he must have learnt the Saracen tongue himself, and +made love in that language), of which LONDON was one, and his own +name, GILBERT, the other. She went among the ships, saying, +'London! London!' over and over again, until the sailors understood +that she wanted to find an English vessel that would carry her +there; so they showed her such a ship, and she paid for her passage +with some of her jewels, and sailed away. Well! The merchant was +sitting in his counting-house in London one day, when he heard a +great noise in the street; and presently Richard came running in +from the warehouse, with his eyes wide open and his breath almost +gone, saying, 'Master, master, here is the Saracen lady!' The +merchant thought Richard was mad; but Richard said, 'No, master! +As I live, the Saracen lady is going up and down the city, calling +Gilbert! Gilbert!' Then, he took the merchant by the sleeve, and +pointed out of window; and there they saw her among the gables and +water-spouts of the dark, dirty street, in her foreign dress, so +forlorn, surrounded by a wondering crowd, and passing slowly along, +calling Gilbert, Gilbert! When the merchant saw her, and thought +of the tenderness she had shown him in his captivity, and of her +constancy, his heart was moved, and he ran down into the street; +and she saw him coming, and with a great cry fainted in his arms. +They were married without loss of time, and Richard (who was an +excellent man) danced with joy the whole day of the wedding; and +they all lived happy ever afterwards. + +This merchant and this Saracen lady had one son, THOMAS A BECKET. +He it was who became the Favourite of King Henry the Second. + +He had become Chancellor, when the King thought of making him +Archbishop. He was clever, gay, well educated, brave; had fought +in several battles in France; had defeated a French knight in +single combat, and brought his horse away as a token of the +victory. He lived in a noble palace, he was the tutor of the young +Prince Henry, he was served by one hundred and forty knights, his +riches were immense. The King once sent him as his ambassador to +France; and the French people, beholding in what state he +travelled, cried out in the streets, 'How splendid must the King of +England be, when this is only the Chancellor!' They had good +reason to wonder at the magnificence of Thomas a Becket, for, when +he entered a French town, his procession was headed by two hundred +and fifty singing boys; then, came his hounds in couples; then, +eight waggons, each drawn by five horses driven by five drivers: +two of the waggons filled with strong ale to be given away to the +people; four, with his gold and silver plate and stately clothes; +two, with the dresses of his numerous servants. Then, came twelve +horses, each with a monkey on his back; then, a train of people +bearing shields and leading fine war-horses splendidly equipped; +then, falconers with hawks upon their wrists; then, a host of +knights, and gentlemen and priests; then, the Chancellor with his +brilliant garments flashing in the sun, and all the people capering +and shouting with delight. + +The King was well pleased with all this, thinking that it only made +himself the more magnificent to have so magnificent a favourite; +but he sometimes jested with the Chancellor upon his splendour too. +Once, when they were riding together through the streets of London +in hard winter weather, they saw a shivering old man in rags. +'Look at the poor object!' said the King. 'Would it not be a +charitable act to give that aged man a comfortable warm cloak?' +'Undoubtedly it would,' said Thomas a Becket, 'and you do well, +Sir, to think of such Christian duties.' 'Come!' cried the King, +'then give him your cloak!' It was made of rich crimson trimmed +with ermine. The King tried to pull it off, the Chancellor tried +to keep it on, both were near rolling from their saddles in the +mud, when the Chancellor submitted, and the King gave the cloak to +the old beggar: much to the beggar's astonishment, and much to the +merriment of all the courtiers in attendance. For, courtiers are +not only eager to laugh when the King laughs, but they really do +enjoy a laugh against a Favourite. + +'I will make,' thought King Henry the second, 'this Chancellor of +mine, Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will then be +the head of the Church, and, being devoted to me, will help me to +correct the Church. He has always upheld my power against the +power of the clergy, and once publicly told some bishops (I +remember), that men of the Church were equally bound to me, with +men of the sword. Thomas a Becket is the man, of all other men in +England, to help me in my great design.' So the King, regardless +of all objection, either that he was a fighting man, or a lavish +man, or a courtly man, or a man of pleasure, or anything but a +likely man for the office, made him Archbishop accordingly. + +Now, Thomas a Becket was proud and loved to be famous. He was +already famous for the pomp of his life, for his riches, his gold +and silver plate, his waggons, horses, and attendants. He could do +no more in that way than he had done; and being tired of that kind +of fame (which is a very poor one), he longed to have his name +celebrated for something else. Nothing, he knew, would render him +so famous in the world, as the setting of his utmost power and +ability against the utmost power and ability of the King. He +resolved with the whole strength of his mind to do it. + +He may have had some secret grudge against the King besides. The +King may have offended his proud humour at some time or other, for +anything I know. I think it likely, because it is a common thing +for Kings, Princes, and other great people, to try the tempers of +their favourites rather severely. Even the little affair of the +crimson cloak must have been anything but a pleasant one to a +haughty man. Thomas a Becket knew better than any one in England +what the King expected of him. In all his sumptuous life, he had +never yet been in a position to disappoint the King. He could take +up that proud stand now, as head of the Church; and he determined +that it should be written in history, either that he subdued the +King, or that the King subdued him. + +So, of a sudden, he completely altered the whole manner of his +life. He turned off all his brilliant followers, ate coarse food, +drank bitter water, wore next his skin sackcloth covered with dirt +and vermin (for it was then thought very religious to be very +dirty), flogged his back to punish himself, lived chiefly in a +little cell, washed the feet of thirteen poor people every day, and +looked as miserable as he possibly could. If he had put twelve +hundred monkeys on horseback instead of twelve, and had gone in +procession with eight thousand waggons instead of eight, he could +not have half astonished the people so much as by this great +change. It soon caused him to be more talked about as an +Archbishop than he had been as a Chancellor. + +The King was very angry; and was made still more so, when the new +Archbishop, claiming various estates from the nobles as being +rightfully Church property, required the King himself, for the same +reason, to give up Rochester Castle, and Rochester City too. Not +satisfied with this, he declared that no power but himself should +appoint a priest to any Church in the part of England over which he +was Archbishop; and when a certain gentleman of Kent made such an +appointment, as he claimed to have the right to do, Thomas a Becket +excommunicated him. + +Excommunication was, next to the Interdict I told you of at the +close of the last chapter, the great weapon of the clergy. It +consisted in declaring the person who was excommunicated, an +outcast from the Church and from all religious offices; and in +cursing him all over, from the top of his head to the sole of his +foot, whether he was standing up, lying down, sitting, kneeling, +walking, running, hopping, jumping, gaping, coughing, sneezing, or +whatever else he was doing. This unchristian nonsense would of +course have made no sort of difference to the person cursed - who +could say his prayers at home if he were shut out of church, and +whom none but GOD could judge - but for the fears and superstitions +of the people, who avoided excommunicated persons, and made their +lives unhappy. So, the King said to the New Archbishop, 'Take off +this Excommunication from this gentleman of Kent.' To which the +Archbishop replied, 'I shall do no such thing.' + +The quarrel went on. A priest in Worcestershire committed a most +dreadful murder, that aroused the horror of the whole nation. The +King demanded to have this wretch delivered up, to be tried in the +same court and in the same way as any other murderer. The +Archbishop refused, and kept him in the Bishop's prison. The King, +holding a solemn assembly in Westminster Hall, demanded that in +future all priests found guilty before their Bishops of crimes +against the law of the land should be considered priests no longer, +and should be delivered over to the law of the land for punishment. +The Archbishop again refused. The King required to know whether +the clergy would obey the ancient customs of the country? Every +priest there, but one, said, after Thomas a Becket, 'Saving my +order.' This really meant that they would only obey those customs +when they did not interfere with their own claims; and the King +went out of the Hall in great wrath. + +Some of the clergy began to be afraid, now, that they were going +too far. Though Thomas a Becket was otherwise as unmoved as +Westminster Hall, they prevailed upon him, for the sake of their +fears, to go to the King at Woodstock, and promise to observe the +ancient customs of the country, without saying anything about his +order. The King received this submission favourably, and summoned +a great council of the clergy to meet at the Castle of Clarendon, +by Salisbury. But when the council met, the Archbishop again +insisted on the words 'saying my order;' and he still insisted, +though lords entreated him, and priests wept before him and knelt +to him, and an adjoining room was thrown open, filled with armed +soldiers of the King, to threaten him. At length he gave way, for +that time, and the ancient customs (which included what the King +had demanded in vain) were stated in writing, and were signed and +sealed by the chief of the clergy, and were called the +Constitutions of Clarendon. + +The quarrel went on, for all that. The Archbishop tried to see the +King. The King would not see him. The Archbishop tried to escape +from England. The sailors on the coast would launch no boat to +take him away. Then, he again resolved to do his worst in +opposition to the King, and began openly to set the ancient customs +at defiance. + +The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton, where +he accused him of high treason, and made a claim against him, which +was not a just one, for an enormous sum of money. Thomas a Becket +was alone against the whole assembly, and the very Bishops advised +him to resign his office and abandon his contest with the King. +His great anxiety and agitation stretched him on a sick-bed for two +days, but he was still undaunted. He went to the adjourned +council, carrying a great cross in his right hand, and sat down +holding it erect before him. The King angrily retired into an +inner room. The whole assembly angrily retired and left him there. +But there he sat. The Bishops came out again in a body, and +renounced him as a traitor. He only said, 'I hear!' and sat there +still. They retired again into the inner room, and his trial +proceeded without him. By-and-by, the Earl of Leicester, heading +the barons, came out to read his sentence. He refused to hear it, +denied the power of the court, and said he would refer his cause to +the Pope. As he walked out of the hall, with the cross in his +hand, some of those present picked up rushes - rushes were strewn +upon the floors in those days by way of carpet - and threw them at +him. He proudly turned his head, and said that were he not +Archbishop, he would chastise those cowards with the sword he had +known how to use in bygone days. He then mounted his horse, and +rode away, cheered and surrounded by the common people, to whom he +threw open his house that night and gave a supper, supping with +them himself. That same night he secretly departed from the town; +and so, travelling by night and hiding by day, and calling himself +'Brother Dearman,' got away, not without difficulty, to Flanders. + +The struggle still went on. The angry King took possession of the +revenues of the archbishopric, and banished all the relations and +servants of Thomas a Becket, to the number of four hundred. The +Pope and the French King both protected him, and an abbey was +assigned for his residence. Stimulated by this support, Thomas a +Becket, on a great festival day, formally proceeded to a great +church crowded with people, and going up into the pulpit publicly +cursed and excommunicated all who had supported the Constitutions +of Clarendon: mentioning many English noblemen by name, and not +distantly hinting at the King of England himself. + +When intelligence of this new affront was carried to the King in +his chamber, his passion was so furious that he tore his clothes, +and rolled like a madman on his bed of straw and rushes. But he +was soon up and doing. He ordered all the ports and coasts of +England to be narrowly watched, that no letters of Interdict might +be brought into the kingdom; and sent messengers and bribes to the +Pope's palace at Rome. Meanwhile, Thomas a Becket, for his part, +was not idle at Rome, but constantly employed his utmost arts in +his own behalf. Thus the contest stood, until there was peace +between France and England (which had been for some time at war), +and until the two children of the two Kings were married in +celebration of it. Then, the French King brought about a meeting +between Henry and his old favourite, so long his enemy. + +Even then, though Thomas a Becket knelt before the King, he was +obstinate and immovable as to those words about his order. King +Louis of France was weak enough in his veneration for Thomas a +Becket and such men, but this was a little too much for him. He +said that a Becket 'wanted to be greater than the saints and better +than St. Peter,' and rode away from him with the King of England. +His poor French Majesty asked a Becket's pardon for so doing, +however, soon afterwards, and cut a very pitiful figure. + +At last, and after a world of trouble, it came to this. There was +another meeting on French ground between King Henry and Thomas a +Becket, and it was agreed that Thomas a Becket should be Archbishop +of Canterbury, according to the customs of former Archbishops, and +that the King should put him in possession of the revenues of that +post. And now, indeed, you might suppose the struggle at an end, +and Thomas a Becket at rest. NO, not even yet. For Thomas a +Becket hearing, by some means, that King Henry, when he was in +dread of his kingdom being placed under an interdict, had had his +eldest son Prince Henry secretly crowned, not only persuaded the +Pope to suspend the Archbishop of York who had performed that +ceremony, and to excommunicate the Bishops who had assisted at it, +but sent a messenger of his own into England, in spite of all the +King's precautions along the coast, who delivered the letters of +excommunication into the Bishops' own hands. Thomas a Becket then +came over to England himself, after an absence of seven years. He +was privately warned that it was dangerous to come, and that an +ireful knight, named RANULF DE BROC, had threatened that he should +not live to eat a loaf of bread in England; but he came. + +The common people received him well, and marched about with him in +a soldierly way, armed with such rustic weapons as they could get. +He tried to see the young prince who had once been his pupil, but +was prevented. He hoped for some little support among the nobles +and priests, but found none. He made the most of the peasants who +attended him, and feasted them, and went from Canterbury to Harrow- +on-the-Hill, and from Harrow-on-the-Hill back to Canterbury, and on +Christmas Day preached in the Cathedral there, and told the people +in his sermon that he had come to die among them, and that it was +likely he would be murdered. He had no fear, however - or, if he +had any, he had much more obstinacy - for he, then and there, +excommunicated three of his enemies, of whom Ranulf de Broc, the +ireful knight, was one. + +As men in general had no fancy for being cursed, in their sitting +and walking, and gaping and sneezing, and all the rest of it, it +was very natural in the persons so freely excommunicated to +complain to the King. It was equally natural in the King, who had +hoped that this troublesome opponent was at last quieted, to fall +into a mighty rage when he heard of these new affronts; and, on the +Archbishop of York telling him that he never could hope for rest +while Thomas a Becket lived, to cry out hastily before his court, +'Have I no one here who will deliver me from this man?' There were +four knights present, who, hearing the King's words, looked at one +another, and went out. + +The names of these knights were REGINALD FITZURSE, WILLIAM TRACY, +HUGH DE MORVILLE, and RICHARD BRITO; three of whom had been in the +train of Thomas a Becket in the old days of his splendour. They +rode away on horseback, in a very secret manner, and on the third +day after Christmas Day arrived at Saltwood House, not far from +Canterbury, which belonged to the family of Ranulf de Broc. They +quietly collected some followers here, in case they should need +any; and proceeding to Canterbury, suddenly appeared (the four +knights and twelve men) before the Archbishop, in his own house, at +two o'clock in the afternoon. They neither bowed nor spoke, but +sat down on the floor in silence, staring at the Archbishop. + +Thomas a Becket said, at length, 'What do you want?' + +'We want,' said Reginald Fitzurse, 'the excommunication taken from +the Bishops, and you to answer for your offences to the King.' +Thomas a Becket defiantly replied, that the power of the clergy was +above the power of the King. That it was not for such men as they +were, to threaten him. That if he were threatened by all the +swords in England, he would never yield. + +'Then we will do more than threaten!' said the knights. And they +went out with the twelve men, and put on their armour, and drew +their shining swords, and came back. + +His servants, in the meantime, had shut up and barred the great +gate of the palace. At first, the knights tried to shatter it with +their battle-axes; but, being shown a window by which they could +enter, they let the gate alone, and climbed in that way. While +they were battering at the door, the attendants of Thomas a Becket +had implored him to take refuge in the Cathedral; in which, as a +sanctuary or sacred place, they thought the knights would dare to +do no violent deed. He told them, again and again, that he would +not stir. Hearing the distant voices of the monks singing the +evening service, however, he said it was now his duty to attend, +and therefore, and for no other reason, he would go. + +There was a near way between his Palace and the Cathedral, by some +beautiful old cloisters which you may yet see. He went into the +Cathedral, without any hurry, and having the Cross carried before +him as usual. When he was safely there, his servants would have +fastened the door, but he said NO! it was the house of God and not +a fortress. + +As he spoke, the shadow of Reginald Fitzurse appeared in the +Cathedral doorway, darkening the little light there was outside, on +the dark winter evening. This knight said, in a strong voice, +'Follow me, loyal servants of the King!' The rattle of the armour +of the other knights echoed through the Cathedral, as they came +clashing in. + +It was so dark, in the lofty aisles and among the stately pillars +of the church, and there were so many hiding-places in the crypt +below and in the narrow passages above, that Thomas a Becket might +even at that pass have saved himself if he would. But he would +not. He told the monks resolutely that he would not. And though +they all dispersed and left him there with no other follower than +EDWARD GRYME, his faithful cross-bearer, he was as firm then, as +ever he had been in his life. + +The knights came on, through the darkness, making a terrible noise +with their armed tread upon the stone pavement of the church. +'Where is the traitor?' they cried out. He made no answer. But +when they cried, 'Where is the Archbishop?' he said proudly, 'I am +here!' and came out of the shade and stood before them. + +The knights had no desire to kill him, if they could rid the King +and themselves of him by any other means. They told him he must +either fly or go with them. He said he would do neither; and he +threw William Tracy off with such force when he took hold of his +sleeve, that Tracy reeled again. By his reproaches and his +steadiness, he so incensed them, and exasperated their fierce +humour, that Reginald Fitzurse, whom he called by an ill name, +said, 'Then die!' and struck at his head. But the faithful Edward +Gryme put out his arm, and there received the main force of the +blow, so that it only made his master bleed. Another voice from +among the knights again called to Thomas a Becket to fly; but, with +his blood running down his face, and his hands clasped, and his +head bent, he commanded himself to God, and stood firm. Then they +cruelly killed him close to the altar of St. Bennet; and his body +fell upon the pavement, which was dirtied with his blood and +brains. + +It is an awful thing to think of the murdered mortal, who had so +showered his curses about, lying, all disfigured, in the church, +where a few lamps here and there were but red specks on a pall of +darkness; and to think of the guilty knights riding away on +horseback, looking over their shoulders at the dim Cathedral, and +remembering what they had left inside. + + +PART THE SECOND + + +WHEN the King heard how Thomas a Becket had lost his life in +Canterbury Cathedral, through the ferocity of the four Knights, he +was filled with dismay. Some have supposed that when the King +spoke those hasty words, 'Have I no one here who will deliver me +from this man?' he wished, and meant a Becket to be slain. But few +things are more unlikely; for, besides that the King was not +naturally cruel (though very passionate), he was wise, and must +have known full well what any stupid man in his dominions must have +known, namely, that such a murder would rouse the Pope and the +whole Church against him. + +He sent respectful messengers to the Pope, to represent his +innocence (except in having uttered the hasty words); and he swore +solemnly and publicly to his innocence, and contrived in time to +make his peace. As to the four guilty Knights, who fled into +Yorkshire, and never again dared to show themselves at Court, the +Pope excommunicated them; and they lived miserably for some time, +shunned by all their countrymen. At last, they went humbly to +Jerusalem as a penance, and there died and were buried. + +It happened, fortunately for the pacifying of the Pope, that an +opportunity arose very soon after the murder of a Becket, for the +King to declare his power in Ireland - which was an acceptable +undertaking to the Pope, as the Irish, who had been converted to +Christianity by one Patricius (otherwise Saint Patrick) long ago, +before any Pope existed, considered that the Pope had nothing at +all to do with them, or they with the Pope, and accordingly refused +to pay him Peter's Pence, or that tax of a penny a house which I +have elsewhere mentioned. The King's opportunity arose in this +way. + +The Irish were, at that time, as barbarous a people as you can well +imagine. They were continually quarrelling and fighting, cutting +one another's throats, slicing one another's noses, burning one +another's houses, carrying away one another's wives, and committing +all sorts of violence. The country was divided into five kingdoms +- DESMOND, THOMOND, CONNAUGHT, ULSTER, and LEINSTER - each governed +by a separate King, of whom one claimed to be the chief of the +rest. Now, one of these Kings, named DERMOND MAC MURROUGH (a wild +kind of name, spelt in more than one wild kind of way), had carried +off the wife of a friend of his, and concealed her on an island in +a bog. The friend resenting this (though it was quite the custom +of the country), complained to the chief King, and, with the chief +King's help, drove Dermond Mac Murrough out of his dominions. +Dermond came over to England for revenge; and offered to hold his +realm as a vassal of King Henry, if King Henry would help him to +regain it. The King consented to these terms; but only assisted +him, then, with what were called Letters Patent, authorising any +English subjects who were so disposed, to enter into his service, +and aid his cause. + +There was, at Bristol, a certain EARL RICHARD DE CLARE, called +STRONGBOW; of no very good character; needy and desperate, and +ready for anything that offered him a chance of improving his +fortunes. There were, in South Wales, two other broken knights of +the same good-for-nothing sort, called ROBERT FITZ-STEPHEN, and +MAURICE FITZ-GERALD. These three, each with a small band of +followers, took up Dermond's cause; and it was agreed that if it +proved successful, Strongbow should marry Dermond's daughter EVA, +and be declared his heir. + +The trained English followers of these knights were so superior in +all the discipline of battle to the Irish, that they beat them +against immense superiority of numbers. In one fight, early in the +war, they cut off three hundred heads, and laid them before Mac +Murrough; who turned them every one up with his hands, rejoicing, +and, coming to one which was the head of a man whom he had much +disliked, grasped it by the hair and ears, and tore off the nose +and lips with his teeth. You may judge from this, what kind of a +gentleman an Irish King in those times was. The captives, all +through this war, were horribly treated; the victorious party +making nothing of breaking their limbs, and casting them into the +sea from the tops of high rocks. It was in the midst of the +miseries and cruelties attendant on the taking of Waterford, where +the dead lay piled in the streets, and the filthy gutters ran with +blood, that Strongbow married Eva. An odious marriage-company +those mounds of corpse's must have made, I think, and one quite +worthy of the young lady's father. + +He died, after Waterford and Dublin had been taken, and various +successes achieved; and Strongbow became King of Leinster. Now +came King Henry's opportunity. To restrain the growing power of +Strongbow, he himself repaired to Dublin, as Strongbow's Royal +Master, and deprived him of his kingdom, but confirmed him in the +enjoyment of great possessions. The King, then, holding state in +Dublin, received the homage of nearly all the Irish Kings and +Chiefs, and so came home again with a great addition to his +reputation as Lord of Ireland, and with a new claim on the favour +of the Pope. And now, their reconciliation was completed - more +easily and mildly by the Pope, than the King might have expected, I +think. + +At this period of his reign, when his troubles seemed so few and +his prospects so bright, those domestic miseries began which +gradually made the King the most unhappy of men, reduced his great +spirit, wore away his health, and broke his heart. + +He had four sons. HENRY, now aged eighteen - his secret crowning +of whom had given such offence to Thomas a Becket. RICHARD, aged +sixteen; GEOFFREY, fifteen; and JOHN, his favourite, a young boy +whom the courtiers named LACKLAND, because he had no inheritance, +but to whom the King meant to give the Lordship of Ireland. All +these misguided boys, in their turn, were unnatural sons to him, +and unnatural brothers to each other. Prince Henry, stimulated by +the French King, and by his bad mother, Queen Eleanor, began the +undutiful history, + +First, he demanded that his young wife, MARGARET, the French King's +daughter, should be crowned as well as he. His father, the King, +consented, and it was done. It was no sooner done, than he +demanded to have a part of his father's dominions, during his +father's life. This being refused, he made off from his father in +the night, with his bad heart full of bitterness, and took refuge +at the French King's Court. Within a day or two, his brothers +Richard and Geoffrey followed. Their mother tried to join them - +escaping in man's clothes - but she was seized by King Henry's men, +and immured in prison, where she lay, deservedly, for sixteen +years. Every day, however, some grasping English noblemen, to whom +the King's protection of his people from their avarice and +oppression had given offence, deserted him and joined the Princes. +Every day he heard some fresh intelligence of the Princes levying +armies against him; of Prince Henry's wearing a crown before his +own ambassadors at the French Court, and being called the Junior +King of England; of all the Princes swearing never to make peace +with him, their father, without the consent and approval of the +Barons of France. But, with his fortitude and energy unshaken, +King Henry met the shock of these disasters with a resolved and +cheerful face. He called upon all Royal fathers who had sons, to +help him, for his cause was theirs; he hired, out of his riches, +twenty thousand men to fight the false French King, who stirred his +own blood against him; and he carried on the war with such vigour, +that Louis soon proposed a conference to treat for peace. + +The conference was held beneath an old wide-spreading green elm- +tree, upon a plain in France. It led to nothing. The war +recommenced. Prince Richard began his fighting career, by leading +an army against his father; but his father beat him and his army +back; and thousands of his men would have rued the day in which +they fought in such a wicked cause, had not the King received news +of an invasion of England by the Scots, and promptly come home +through a great storm to repress it. And whether he really began +to fear that he suffered these troubles because a Becket had been +murdered; or whether he wished to rise in the favour of the Pope, +who had now declared a Becket to be a saint, or in the favour of +his own people, of whom many believed that even a Becket's +senseless tomb could work miracles, I don't know: but the King no +sooner landed in England than he went straight to Canterbury; and +when he came within sight of the distant Cathedral, he dismounted +from his horse, took off his shoes, and walked with bare and +bleeding feet to a Becket's grave. There, he lay down on the +ground, lamenting, in the presence of many people; and by-and-by he +went into the Chapter House, and, removing his clothes from his +back and shoulders, submitted himself to be beaten with knotted +cords (not beaten very hard, I dare say though) by eighty Priests, +one after another. It chanced that on the very day when the King +made this curious exhibition of himself, a complete victory was +obtained over the Scots; which very much delighted the Priests, who +said that it was won because of his great example of repentance. +For the Priests in general had found out, since a Becket's death, +that they admired him of all things - though they had hated him +very cordially when he was alive. + +The Earl of Flanders, who was at the head of the base conspiracy of +the King's undutiful sons and their foreign friends, took the +opportunity of the King being thus employed at home, to lay siege +to Rouen, the capital of Normandy. But the King, who was +extraordinarily quick and active in all his movements, was at +Rouen, too, before it was supposed possible that he could have left +England; and there he so defeated the said Earl of Flanders, that +the conspirators proposed peace, and his bad sons Henry and +Geoffrey submitted. Richard resisted for six weeks; but, being +beaten out of castle after castle, he at last submitted too, and +his father forgave him. + +To forgive these unworthy princes was only to afford them +breathing-time for new faithlessness. They were so false, +disloyal, and dishonourable, that they were no more to be trusted +than common thieves. In the very next year, Prince Henry rebelled +again, and was again forgiven. In eight years more, Prince Richard +rebelled against his elder brother; and Prince Geoffrey infamously +said that the brothers could never agree well together, unless they +were united against their father. In the very next year after +their reconciliation by the King, Prince Henry again rebelled +against his father; and again submitted, swearing to be true; and +was again forgiven; and again rebelled with Geoffrey. + +But the end of this perfidious Prince was come. He fell sick at a +French town; and his conscience terribly reproaching him with his +baseness, he sent messengers to the King his father, imploring him +to come and see him, and to forgive him for the last time on his +bed of death. The generous King, who had a royal and forgiving +mind towards his children always, would have gone; but this Prince +had been so unnatural, that the noblemen about the King suspected +treachery, and represented to him that he could not safely trust +his life with such a traitor, though his own eldest son. Therefore +the King sent him a ring from off his finger as a token of +forgiveness; and when the Prince had kissed it, with much grief and +many tears, and had confessed to those around him how bad, and +wicked, and undutiful a son he had been; he said to the attendant +Priests: 'O, tie a rope about my body, and draw me out of bed, and +lay me down upon a bed of ashes, that I may die with prayers to God +in a repentant manner!' And so he died, at twenty-seven years old. + +Three years afterwards, Prince Geoffrey, being unhorsed at a +tournament, had his brains trampled out by a crowd of horses +passing over him. So, there only remained Prince Richard, and +Prince John - who had grown to be a young man now, and had solemnly +sworn to be faithful to his father. Richard soon rebelled again, +encouraged by his friend the French King, PHILIP THE SECOND (son of +Louis, who was dead); and soon submitted and was again forgiven, +swearing on the New Testament never to rebel again; and in another +year or so, rebelled again; and, in the presence of his father, +knelt down on his knee before the King of France; and did the +French King homage: and declared that with his aid he would +possess himself, by force, of all his father's French dominions. + +And yet this Richard called himself a soldier of Our Saviour! And +yet this Richard wore the Cross, which the Kings of France and +England had both taken, in the previous year, at a brotherly +meeting underneath the old wide-spreading elm-tree on the plain, +when they had sworn (like him) to devote themselves to a new +Crusade, for the love and honour of the Truth! + +Sick at heart, wearied out by the falsehood of his sons, and almost +ready to lie down and die, the unhappy King who had so long stood +firm, began to fail. But the Pope, to his honour, supported him; +and obliged the French King and Richard, though successful in +fight, to treat for peace. Richard wanted to be Crowned King of +England, and pretended that he wanted to be married (which he +really did not) to the French King's sister, his promised wife, +whom King Henry detained in England. King Henry wanted, on the +other hand, that the French King's sister should be married to his +favourite son, John: the only one of his sons (he said) who had +never rebelled against him. At last King Henry, deserted by his +nobles one by one, distressed, exhausted, broken-hearted, consented +to establish peace. + +One final heavy sorrow was reserved for him, even yet. When they +brought him the proposed treaty of peace, in writing, as he lay +very ill in bed, they brought him also the list of the deserters +from their allegiance, whom he was required to pardon. The first +name upon this list was John, his favourite son, in whom he had +trusted to the last. + +'O John! child of my heart!' exclaimed the King, in a great agony +of mind. 'O John, whom I have loved the best! O John, for whom I +have contended through these many troubles! Have you betrayed me +too!' And then he lay down with a heavy groan, and said, 'Now let +the world go as it will. I care for nothing more!' + +After a time, he told his attendants to take him to the French town +of Chinon - a town he had been fond of, during many years. But he +was fond of no place now; it was too true that he could care for +nothing more upon this earth. He wildly cursed the hour when he +was born, and cursed the children whom he left behind him; and +expired. + +As, one hundred years before, the servile followers of the Court +had abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death, so they now +abandoned his descendant. The very body was stripped, in the +plunder of the Royal chamber; and it was not easy to find the means +of carrying it for burial to the abbey church of Fontevraud. + +Richard was said in after years, by way of flattery, to have the +heart of a Lion. It would have been far better, I think, to have +had the heart of a Man. His heart, whatever it was, had cause to +beat remorsefully within his breast, when he came - as he did - +into the solemn abbey, and looked on his dead father's uncovered +face. His heart, whatever it was, had been a black and perjured +heart, in all its dealings with the deceased King, and more +deficient in a single touch of tenderness than any wild beast's in +the forest. + +There is a pretty story told of this Reign, called the story of +FAIR ROSAMOND. It relates how the King doted on Fair Rosamond, who +was the loveliest girl in all the world; and how he had a beautiful +Bower built for her in a Park at Woodstock; and how it was erected +in a labyrinth, and could only be found by a clue of silk. How the +bad Queen Eleanor, becoming jealous of Fair Rosamond, found out the +secret of the clue, and one day, appeared before her, with a dagger +and a cup of poison, and left her to the choice between those +deaths. How Fair Rosamond, after shedding many piteous tears and +offering many useless prayers to the cruel Queen, took the poison, +and fell dead in the midst of the beautiful bower, while the +unconscious birds sang gaily all around her. + +Now, there WAS a fair Rosamond, and she was (I dare say) the +loveliest girl in all the world, and the King was certainly very +fond of her, and the bad Queen Eleanor was certainly made jealous. +But I am afraid - I say afraid, because I like the story so much - +that there was no bower, no labyrinth, no silken clue, no dagger, +no poison. I am afraid fair Rosamond retired to a nunnery near +Oxford, and died there, peaceably; her sister-nuns hanging a silken +drapery over her tomb, and often dressing it with flowers, in +remembrance of the youth and beauty that had enchanted the King +when he too was young, and when his life lay fair before him. + +It was dark and ended now; faded and gone. Henry Plantagenet lay +quiet in the abbey church of Fontevraud, in the fifty-seventh year +of his age - never to be completed - after governing England well, +for nearly thirty-five years. + + + +CHAPTER XIII - ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION- +HEART + + + +IN the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, +Richard of the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the +Second, whose paternal heart he had done so much to break. He had +been, as we have seen, a rebel from his boyhood; but, the moment he +became a king against whom others might rebel, he found out that +rebellion was a great wickedness. In the heat of this pious +discovery, he punished all the leading people who had befriended +him against his father. He could scarcely have done anything that +would have been a better instance of his real nature, or a better +warning to fawners and parasites not to trust in lion-hearted +princes. + +He likewise put his late father's treasurer in chains, and locked +him up in a dungeon from which he was not set free until he had +relinquished, not only all the Crown treasure, but all his own +money too. So, Richard certainly got the Lion's share of the +wealth of this wretched treasurer, whether he had a Lion's heart or +not. + +He was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster: +walking to the Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the +tops of four lances, each carried by a great lord. On the day of +his coronation, a dreadful murdering of the Jews took place, which +seems to have given great delight to numbers of savage persons +calling themselves Christians. The King had issued a proclamation +forbidding the Jews (who were generally hated, though they were the +most useful merchants in England) to appear at the ceremony; but as +they had assembled in London from all parts, bringing presents to +show their respect for the new Sovereign, some of them ventured +down to Westminster Hall with their gifts; which were very readily +accepted. It is supposed, now, that some noisy fellow in the +crowd, pretending to be a very delicate Christian, set up a howl at +this, and struck a Jew who was trying to get in at the Hall door +with his present. A riot arose. The Jews who had got into the +Hall, were driven forth; and some of the rabble cried out that the +new King had commanded the unbelieving race to be put to death. +Thereupon the crowd rushed through the narrow streets of the city, +slaughtering all the Jews they met; and when they could find no +more out of doors (on account of their having fled to their houses, +and fastened themselves in), they ran madly about, breaking open +all the houses where the Jews lived, rushing in and stabbing or +spearing them, sometimes even flinging old people and children out +of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. This great +cruelty lasted four-and-twenty hours, and only three men were +punished for it. Even they forfeited their lives not for murdering +and robbing the Jews, but for burning the houses of some +Christians. + +King Richard, who was a strong, restless, burly man, with one idea +always in his head, and that the very troublesome idea of breaking +the heads of other men, was mightily impatient to go on a Crusade +to the Holy Land, with a great army. As great armies could not be +raised to go, even to the Holy Land, without a great deal of money, +he sold the Crown domains, and even the high offices of State; +recklessly appointing noblemen to rule over his English subjects, +not because they were fit to govern, but because they could pay +high for the privilege. In this way, and by selling pardons at a +dear rate and by varieties of avarice and oppression, he scraped +together a large treasure. He then appointed two Bishops to take +care of his kingdom in his absence, and gave great powers and +possessions to his brother John, to secure his friendship. John +would rather have been made Regent of England; but he was a sly +man, and friendly to the expedition; saying to himself, no doubt, +'The more fighting, the more chance of my brother being killed; and +when he IS killed, then I become King John!' + +Before the newly levied army departed from England, the recruits +and the general populace distinguished themselves by astonishing +cruelties on the unfortunate Jews: whom, in many large towns, they +murdered by hundreds in the most horrible manner. + +At York, a large body of Jews took refuge in the Castle, in the +absence of its Governor, after the wives and children of many of +them had been slain before their eyes. Presently came the +Governor, and demanded admission. 'How can we give it thee, O +Governor!' said the Jews upon the walls, 'when, if we open the gate +by so much as the width of a foot, the roaring crowd behind thee +will press in and kill us?' + +Upon this, the unjust Governor became angry, and told the people +that he approved of their killing those Jews; and a mischievous +maniac of a friar, dressed all in white, put himself at the head of +the assault, and they assaulted the Castle for three days. + +Then said JOCEN, the head-Jew (who was a Rabbi or Priest), to the +rest, 'Brethren, there is no hope for us with the Christians who +are hammering at the gates and walls, and who must soon break in. +As we and our wives and children must die, either by Christian +hands, or by our own, let it be by our own. Let us destroy by fire +what jewels and other treasure we have here, then fire the castle, +and then perish!' + +A few could not resolve to do this, but the greater part complied. +They made a blazing heap of all their valuables, and, when those +were consumed, set the castle in flames. While the flames roared +and crackled around them, and shooting up into the sky, turned it +blood-red, Jocen cut the throat of his beloved wife, and stabbed +himself. All the others who had wives or children, did the like +dreadful deed. When the populace broke in, they found (except the +trembling few, cowering in corners, whom they soon killed) only +heaps of greasy cinders, with here and there something like part of +the blackened trunk of a burnt tree, but which had lately been a +human creature, formed by the beneficent hand of the Creator as +they were. + +After this bad beginning, Richard and his troops went on, in no +very good manner, with the Holy Crusade. It was undertaken jointly +by the King of England and his old friend Philip of France. They +commenced the business by reviewing their forces, to the number of +one hundred thousand men. Afterwards, they severally embarked +their troops for Messina, in Sicily, which was appointed as the +next place of meeting. + +King Richard's sister had married the King of this place, but he +was dead: and his uncle TANCRED had usurped the crown, cast the +Royal Widow into prison, and possessed himself of her estates. +Richard fiercely demanded his sister's release, the restoration of +her lands, and (according to the Royal custom of the Island) that +she should have a golden chair, a golden table, four-and-twenty +silver cups, and four-and-twenty silver dishes. As he was too +powerful to be successfully resisted, Tancred yielded to his +demands; and then the French King grew jealous, and complained that +the English King wanted to be absolute in the Island of Messina and +everywhere else. Richard, however, cared little or nothing for +this complaint; and in consideration of a present of twenty +thousand pieces of gold, promised his pretty little nephew ARTHUR, +then a child of two years old, in marriage to Tancred's daughter. +We shall hear again of pretty little Arthur by-and-by. + +This Sicilian affair arranged without anybody's brains being +knocked out (which must have rather disappointed him), King Richard +took his sister away, and also a fair lady named BERENGARIA, with +whom he had fallen in love in France, and whom his mother, Queen +Eleanor (so long in prison, you remember, but released by Richard +on his coming to the Throne), had brought out there to be his wife; +and sailed with them for Cyprus. + +He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of +Cyprus, for allowing his subjects to pillage some of the English +troops who were shipwrecked on the shore; and easily conquering +this poor monarch, he seized his only daughter, to be a companion +to the lady Berengaria, and put the King himself into silver +fetters. He then sailed away again with his mother, sister, wife, +and the captive princess; and soon arrived before the town of Acre, +which the French King with his fleet was besieging from the sea. +But the French King was in no triumphant condition, for his army +had been thinned by the swords of the Saracens, and wasted by the +plague; and SALADIN, the brave Sultan of the Turks, at the head of +a numerous army, was at that time gallantly defending the place +from the hills that rise above it. + +Wherever the united army of Crusaders went, they agreed in few +points except in gaming, drinking, and quarrelling, in a most +unholy manner; in debauching the people among whom they tarried, +whether they were friends or foes; and in carrying disturbance and +ruin into quiet places. The French King was jealous of the English +King, and the English King was jealous of the French King, and the +disorderly and violent soldiers of the two nations were jealous of +one another; consequently, the two Kings could not at first agree, +even upon a joint assault on Acre; but when they did make up their +quarrel for that purpose, the Saracens promised to yield the town, +to give up to the Christians the wood of the Holy Cross, to set at +liberty all their Christian captives, and to pay two hundred +thousand pieces of gold. All this was to be done within forty +days; but, not being done, King Richard ordered some three thousand +Saracen prisoners to be brought out in the front of his camp, and +there, in full view of their own countrymen, to be butchered. + +The French King had no part in this crime; for he was by that time +travelling homeward with the greater part of his men; being +offended by the overbearing conduct of the English King; being +anxious to look after his own dominions; and being ill, besides, +from the unwholesome air of that hot and sandy country. King +Richard carried on the war without him; and remained in the East, +meeting with a variety of adventures, nearly a year and a half. +Every night when his army was on the march, and came to a halt, the +heralds cried out three times, to remind all the soldiers of the +cause in which they were engaged, 'Save the Holy Sepulchre!' and +then all the soldiers knelt and said 'Amen!' Marching or +encamping, the army had continually to strive with the hot air of +the glaring desert, or with the Saracen soldiers animated and +directed by the brave Saladin, or with both together. Sickness and +death, battle and wounds, were always among them; but through every +difficulty King Richard fought like a giant, and worked like a +common labourer. Long and long after he was quiet in his grave, +his terrible battle-axe, with twenty English pounds of English +steel in its mighty head, was a legend among the Saracens; and when +all the Saracen and Christian hosts had been dust for many a year, +if a Saracen horse started at any object by the wayside, his rider +would exclaim, 'What dost thou fear, Fool? Dost thou think King +Richard is behind it?' + +No one admired this King's renown for bravery more than Saladin +himself, who was a generous and gallant enemy. When Richard lay +ill of a fever, Saladin sent him fresh fruits from Damascus, and +snow from the mountain-tops. Courtly messages and compliments were +frequently exchanged between them - and then King Richard would +mount his horse and kill as many Saracens as he could; and Saladin +would mount his, and kill as many Christians as he could. In this +way King Richard fought to his heart's content at Arsoof and at +Jaffa; and finding himself with nothing exciting to do at Ascalon, +except to rebuild, for his own defence, some fortifications there +which the Saracens had destroyed, he kicked his ally the Duke of +Austria, for being too proud to work at them. + +The army at last came within sight of the Holy City of Jerusalem; +but, being then a mere nest of jealousy, and quarrelling and +fighting, soon retired, and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce +for three years, three months, three days, and three hours. Then, +the English Christians, protected by the noble Saladin from Saracen +revenge, visited Our Saviour's tomb; and then King Richard embarked +with a small force at Acre to return home. + +But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea, and was fain to pass +through Germany, under an assumed name. Now, there were many +people in Germany who had served in the Holy Land under that proud +Duke of Austria who had been kicked; and some of them, easily +recognising a man so remarkable as King Richard, carried their +intelligence to the kicked Duke, who straightway took him prisoner +at a little inn near Vienna. + +The Duke's master the Emperor of Germany, and the King of France, +were equally delighted to have so troublesome a monarch in safe +keeping. Friendships which are founded on a partnership in doing +wrong, are never true; and the King of France was now quite as +heartily King Richard's foe, as he had ever been his friend in his +unnatural conduct to his father. He monstrously pretended that +King Richard had designed to poison him in the East; he charged him +with having murdered, there, a man whom he had in truth befriended; +he bribed the Emperor of Germany to keep him close prisoner; and, +finally, through the plotting of these two princes, Richard was +brought before the German legislature, charged with the foregoing +crimes, and many others. But he defended himself so well, that +many of the assembly were moved to tears by his eloquence and +earnestness. It was decided that he should be treated, during the +rest of his captivity, in a manner more becoming his dignity than +he had been, and that he should be set free on the payment of a +heavy ransom. This ransom the English people willingly raised. +When Queen Eleanor took it over to Germany, it was at first evaded +and refused. But she appealed to the honour of all the princes of +the German Empire in behalf of her son, and appealed so well that +it was accepted, and the King released. Thereupon, the King of +France wrote to Prince John - 'Take care of thyself. The devil is +unchained!' + +Prince John had reason to fear his brother, for he had been a +traitor to him in his captivity. He had secretly joined the French +King; had vowed to the English nobles and people that his brother +was dead; and had vainly tried to seize the crown. He was now in +France, at a place called Evreux. Being the meanest and basest of +men, he contrived a mean and base expedient for making himself +acceptable to his brother. He invited the French officers of the +garrison in that town to dinner, murdered them all, and then took +the fortress. With this recommendation to the good will of a lion- +hearted monarch, he hastened to King Richard, fell on his knees +before him, and obtained the intercession of Queen Eleanor. 'I +forgive him,' said the King, 'and I hope I may forget the injury he +has done me, as easily as I know he will forget my pardon.' + +While King Richard was in Sicily, there had been trouble in his +dominions at home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge +thereof, arresting the other; and making, in his pride and +ambition, as great a show as if he were King himself. But the King +hearing of it at Messina, and appointing a new Regency, this +LONGCHAMP (for that was his name) had fled to France in a woman's +dress, and had there been encouraged and supported by the French +King. With all these causes of offence against Philip in his mind, +King Richard had no sooner been welcomed home by his enthusiastic +subjects with great display and splendour, and had no sooner been +crowned afresh at Winchester, than he resolved to show the French +King that the Devil was unchained indeed, and made war against him +with great fury. + +There was fresh trouble at home about this time, arising out of the +discontents of the poor people, who complained that they were far +more heavily taxed than the rich, and who found a spirited champion +in WILLIAM FITZ-OSBERT, called LONGBEARD. He became the leader of +a secret society, comprising fifty thousand men; he was seized by +surprise; he stabbed the citizen who first laid hands upon him; and +retreated, bravely fighting, to a church, which he maintained four +days, until he was dislodged by fire, and run through the body as +he came out. He was not killed, though; for he was dragged, half +dead, at the tail of a horse to Smithfield, and there hanged. +Death was long a favourite remedy for silencing the people's +advocates; but as we go on with this history, I fancy we shall find +them difficult to make an end of, for all that. + +The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in +progress when a certain Lord named VIDOMAR, Viscount of Limoges, +chanced to find in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the +King's vassal, he sent the King half of it; but the King claimed +the whole. The lord refused to yield the whole. The King besieged +the lord in his castle, swore that he would take the castle by +storm, and hang every man of its defenders on the battlements. + +There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the +effect that in Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard +would die. It may be that BERTRAND DE GOURDON, a young man who was +one of the defenders of the castle, had often sung it or heard it +sung of a winter night, and remembered it when he saw, from his +post upon the ramparts, the King attended only by his chief officer +riding below the walls surveying the place. He drew an arrow to +the head, took steady aim, said between his teeth, 'Now I pray God +speed thee well, arrow!' discharged it, and struck the King in the +left shoulder. + +Although the wound was not at first considered dangerous, it was +severe enough to cause the King to retire to his tent, and direct +the assault to be made without him. The castle was taken; and +every man of its defenders was hanged, as the King had sworn all +should be, except Bertrand de Gourdon, who was reserved until the +royal pleasure respecting him should be known. + +By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the +King knew that he was dying. He directed Bertrand to be brought +into his tent. The young man was brought there, heavily chained, +King Richard looked at him steadily. He looked, as steadily, at +the King. + +'Knave!' said King Richard. 'What have I done to thee that thou +shouldest take my life?' + +'What hast thou done to me?' replied the young man. 'With thine +own hands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. Myself +thou wouldest have hanged. Let me die now, by any torture that +thou wilt. My comfort is, that no torture can save Thee. Thou too +must die; and, through me, the world is quit of thee!' + +Again the King looked at the young man steadily. Again the young +man looked steadily at him. Perhaps some remembrance of his +generous enemy Saladin, who was not a Christian, came into the mind +of the dying King. + +'Youth!' he said, 'I forgive thee. Go unhurt!' Then, turning to +the chief officer who had been riding in his company when he +received the wound, King Richard said: + +'Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him +depart.' + +He sunk down on his couch, and a dark mist seemed in his weakened +eyes to fill the tent wherein he had so often rested, and he died. +His age was forty-two; he had reigned ten years. His last command +was not obeyed; for the chief officer flayed Bertrand de Gourdon +alive, and hanged him. + +There is an old tune yet known - a sorrowful air will sometimes +outlive many generations of strong men, and even last longer than +battle-axes with twenty pounds of steel in the head - by which this +King is said to have been discovered in his captivity. BLONDEL, a +favourite Minstrel of King Richard, as the story relates, +faithfully seeking his Royal master, went singing it outside the +gloomy walls of many foreign fortresses and prisons; until at last +he heard it echoed from within a dungeon, and knew the voice, and +cried out in ecstasy, 'O Richard, O my King!' You may believe it, +if you like; it would be easy to believe worse things. Richard was +himself a Minstrel and a Poet. If he had not been a Prince too, he +might have been a better man perhaps, and might have gone out of +the world with less bloodshed and waste of life to answer for. + + + +CHAPTER XIV - ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND + + + +AT two-and-thirty years of age, JOHN became King of England. His +pretty little nephew ARTHUR had the best claim to the throne; but +John seized the treasure, and made fine promises to the nobility, +and got himself crowned at Westminster within a few weeks after his +brother Richard's death. I doubt whether the crown could possibly +have been put upon the head of a meaner coward, or a more +detestable villain, if England had been searched from end to end to +find him out. + +The French King, Philip, refused to acknowledge the right of John +to his new dignity, and declared in favour of Arthur. You must not +suppose that he had any generosity of feeling for the fatherless +boy; it merely suited his ambitious schemes to oppose the King of +England. So John and the French King went to war about Arthur. + +He was a handsome boy, at that time only twelve years old. He was +not born when his father, Geoffrey, had his brains trampled out at +the tournament; and, besides the misfortune of never having known a +father's guidance and protection, he had the additional misfortune +to have a foolish mother (CONSTANCE by name), lately married to her +third husband. She took Arthur, upon John's accession, to the +French King, who pretended to be very much his friend, and who made +him a Knight, and promised him his daughter in marriage; but, who +cared so little about him in reality, that finding it his interest +to make peace with King John for a time, he did so without the +least consideration for the poor little Prince, and heartlessly +sacrificed all his interests. + +Young Arthur, for two years afterwards, lived quietly; and in the +course of that time his mother died. But, the French King then +finding it his interest to quarrel with King John again, again made +Arthur his pretence, and invited the orphan boy to court. 'You +know your rights, Prince,' said the French King, 'and you would +like to be a King. Is it not so?' 'Truly,' said Prince Arthur, 'I +should greatly like to be a King!' 'Then,' said Philip, 'you shall +have two hundred gentlemen who are Knights of mine, and with them +you shall go to win back the provinces belonging to you, of which +your uncle, the usurping King of England, has taken possession. I +myself, meanwhile, will head a force against him in Normandy.' +Poor Arthur was so flattered and so grateful that he signed a +treaty with the crafty French King, agreeing to consider him his +superior Lord, and that the French King should keep for himself +whatever he could take from King John. + +Now, King John was so bad in all ways, and King Philip was so +perfidious, that Arthur, between the two, might as well have been a +lamb between a fox and a wolf. But, being so young, he was ardent +and flushed with hope; and, when the people of Brittany (which was +his inheritance) sent him five hundred more knights and five +thousand foot soldiers, he believed his fortune was made. The +people of Brittany had been fond of him from his birth, and had +requested that he might be called Arthur, in remembrance of that +dimly-famous English Arthur, of whom I told you early in this book, +whom they believed to have been the brave friend and companion of +an old King of their own. They had tales among them about a +prophet called MERLIN (of the same old time), who had foretold that +their own King should be restored to them after hundreds of years; +and they believed that the prophecy would be fulfilled in Arthur; +that the time would come when he would rule them with a crown of +Brittany upon his head; and when neither King of France nor King of +England would have any power over them. When Arthur found himself +riding in a glittering suit of armour on a richly caparisoned +horse, at the head of his train of knights and soldiers, he began +to believe this too, and to consider old Merlin a very superior +prophet. + +He did not know - how could he, being so innocent and +inexperienced? - that his little army was a mere nothing against +the power of the King of England. The French King knew it; but the +poor boy's fate was little to him, so that the King of England was +worried and distressed. Therefore, King Philip went his way into +Normandy and Prince Arthur went his way towards Mirebeau, a French +town near Poictiers, both very well pleased. + +Prince Arthur went to attack the town of Mirebeau, because his +grandmother Eleanor, who has so often made her appearance in this +history (and who had always been his mother's enemy), was living +there, and because his Knights said, 'Prince, if you can take her +prisoner, you will be able to bring the King your uncle to terms!' +But she was not to be easily taken. She was old enough by this +time - eighty - but she was as full of stratagem as she was full of +years and wickedness. Receiving intelligence of young Arthur's +approach, she shut herself up in a high tower, and encouraged her +soldiers to defend it like men. Prince Arthur with his little army +besieged the high tower. King John, hearing how matters stood, +came up to the rescue, with HIS army. So here was a strange +family-party! The boy-Prince besieging his grandmother, and his +uncle besieging him! + +This position of affairs did not last long. One summer night King +John, by treachery, got his men into the town, surprised Prince +Arthur's force, took two hundred of his knights, and seized the +Prince himself in his bed. The Knights were put in heavy irons, +and driven away in open carts drawn by bullocks, to various +dungeons where they were most inhumanly treated, and where some of +them were starved to death. Prince Arthur was sent to the castle +of Falaise. + +One day, while he was in prison at that castle, mournfully thinking +it strange that one so young should be in so much trouble, and +looking out of the small window in the deep dark wall, at the +summer sky and the birds, the door was softly opened, and he saw +his uncle the King standing in the shadow of the archway, looking +very grim. + +'Arthur,' said the King, with his wicked eyes more on the stone +floor than on his nephew, 'will you not trust to the gentleness, +the friendship, and the truthfulness of your loving uncle?' + +'I will tell my loving uncle that,' replied the boy, 'when he does +me right. Let him restore to me my kingdom of England, and then +come to me and ask the question.' + +The King looked at him and went out. 'Keep that boy close +prisoner,' said he to the warden of the castle. + +Then, the King took secret counsel with the worst of his nobles how +the Prince was to be got rid of. Some said, 'Put out his eyes and +keep him in prison, as Robort of Normandy was kept.' Others said, +'Have him stabbed.' Others, 'Have him hanged.' Others, 'Have him +poisoned.' + +King John, feeling that in any case, whatever was done afterwards, +it would be a satisfaction to his mind to have those handsome eyes +burnt out that had looked at him so proudly while his own royal +eyes were blinking at the stone floor, sent certain ruffians to +Falaise to blind the boy with red-hot irons. But Arthur so +pathetically entreated them, and shed such piteous tears, and so +appealed to HUBERT DE BOURG (or BURGH), the warden of the castle, +who had a love for him, and was an honourable, tender man, that +Hubert could not bear it. To his eternal honour he prevented the +torture from being performed, and, at his own risk, sent the +savages away. + +The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing +suggestion next, and, with his shuffling manner and his cruel face, +proposed it to one William de Bray. 'I am a gentleman and not an +executioner,' said William de Bray, and left the presence with +disdain. + +But it was not difficult for a King to hire a murderer in those +days. King John found one for his money, and sent him down to the +castle of Falaise. 'On what errand dost thou come?' said Hubert to +this fellow. 'To despatch young Arthur,' he returned. 'Go back to +him who sent thee,' answered Hubert, 'and say that I will do it!' + +King John very well knowing that Hubert would never do it, but that +he courageously sent this reply to save the Prince or gain time, +despatched messengers to convey the young prisoner to the castle of +Rouen. + +Arthur was soon forced from the good Hubert - of whom he had never +stood in greater need than then - carried away by night, and lodged +in his new prison: where, through his grated window, he could hear +the deep waters of the river Seine, rippling against the stone wall +below. + +One dark night, as he lay sleeping, dreaming perhaps of rescue by +those unfortunate gentlemen who were obscurely suffering and dying +in his cause, he was roused, and bidden by his jailer to come down +the staircase to the foot of the tower. He hurriedly dressed +himself and obeyed. When they came to the bottom of the winding +stairs, and the night air from the river blew upon their faces, the +jailer trod upon his torch and put it out. Then, Arthur, in the +darkness, was hurriedly drawn into a solitary boat. And in that +boat, he found his uncle and one other man. + +He knelt to them, and prayed them not to murder him. Deaf to his +entreaties, they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with +heavy stones. When the spring-morning broke, the tower-door was +closed, the boat was gone, the river sparkled on its way, and never +more was any trace of the poor boy beheld by mortal eyes. + +The news of this atrocious murder being spread in England, awakened +a hatred of the King (already odious for his many vices, and for +his having stolen away and married a noble lady while his own wife +was living) that never slept again through his whole reign. In +Brittany, the indignation was intense. Arthur's own sister ELEANOR +was in the power of John and shut up in a convent at Bristol, but +his half-sister ALICE was in Brittany. The people chose her, and +the murdered prince's father-in-law, the last husband of Constance, +to represent them; and carried their fiery complaints to King +Philip. King Philip summoned King John (as the holder of territory +in France) to come before him and defend himself. King John +refusing to appear, King Philip declared him false, perjured, and +guilty; and again made war. In a little time, by conquering the +greater part of his French territory, King Philip deprived him of +one-third of his dominions. And, through all the fighting that +took place, King John was always found, either to be eating and +drinking, like a gluttonous fool, when the danger was at a +distance, or to be running away, like a beaten cur, when it was +near. + +You might suppose that when he was losing his dominions at this +rate, and when his own nobles cared so little for him or his cause +that they plainly refused to follow his banner out of England, he +had enemies enough. But he made another enemy of the Pope, which +he did in this way. + +The Archbishop of Canterbury dying, and the junior monks of that +place wishing to get the start of the senior monks in the +appointment of his successor, met together at midnight, secretly +elected a certain REGINALD, and sent him off to Rome to get the +Pope's approval. The senior monks and the King soon finding this +out, and being very angry about it, the junior monks gave way, and +all the monks together elected the Bishop of Norwich, who was the +King's favourite. The Pope, hearing the whole story, declared that +neither election would do for him, and that HE elected STEPHEN +LANGTON. The monks submitting to the Pope, the King turned them +all out bodily, and banished them as traitors. The Pope sent three +bishops to the King, to threaten him with an Interdict. The King +told the bishops that if any Interdict were laid upon his kingdom, +he would tear out the eyes and cut off the noses of all the monks +he could lay hold of, and send them over to Rome in that +undecorated state as a present for their master. The bishops, +nevertheless, soon published the Interdict, and fled. + +After it had lasted a year, the Pope proceeded to his next step; +which was Excommunication. King John was declared excommunicated, +with all the usual ceremonies. The King was so incensed at this, +and was made so desperate by the disaffection of his Barons and the +hatred of his people, that it is said he even privately sent +ambassadors to the Turks in Spain, offering to renounce his +religion and hold his kingdom of them if they would help him. It +is related that the ambassadors were admitted to the presence of +the Turkish Emir through long lines of Moorish guards, and that +they found the Emir with his eyes seriously fixed on the pages of a +large book, from which he never once looked up. That they gave him +a letter from the King containing his proposals, and were gravely +dismissed. That presently the Emir sent for one of them, and +conjured him, by his faith in his religion, to say what kind of man +the King of England truly was? That the ambassador, thus pressed, +replied that the King of England was a false tyrant, against whom +his own subjects would soon rise. And that this was quite enough +for the Emir. + +Money being, in his position, the next best thing to men, King John +spared no means of getting it. He set on foot another oppressing +and torturing of the unhappy Jews (which was quite in his way), and +invented a new punishment for one wealthy Jew of Bristol. Until +such time as that Jew should produce a certain large sum of money, +the King sentenced him to be imprisoned, and, every day, to have +one tooth violently wrenched out of his head - beginning with the +double teeth. For seven days, the oppressed man bore the daily +pain and lost the daily tooth; but, on the eighth, he paid the +money. With the treasure raised in such ways, the King made an +expedition into Ireland, where some English nobles had revolted. +It was one of the very few places from which he did not run away; +because no resistance was shown. He made another expedition into +Wales - whence he DID run away in the end: but not before he had +got from the Welsh people, as hostages, twenty-seven young men of +the best families; every one of whom he caused to be slain in the +following year. + +To Interdict and Excommunication, the Pope now added his last +sentence; Deposition. He proclaimed John no longer King, absolved +all his subjects from their allegiance, and sent Stephen Langton +and others to the King of France to tell him that, if he would +invade England, he should be forgiven all his sins - at least, +should be forgiven them by the Pope, if that would do. + +As there was nothing that King Philip desired more than to invade +England, he collected a great army at Rouen, and a fleet of +seventeen hundred ships to bring them over. But the English +people, however bitterly they hated the King, were not a people to +suffer invasion quietly. They flocked to Dover, where the English +standard was, in such great numbers to enrol themselves as +defenders of their native land, that there were not provisions for +them, and the King could only select and retain sixty thousand. +But, at this crisis, the Pope, who had his own reasons for +objecting to either King John or King Philip being too powerful, +interfered. He entrusted a legate, whose name was PANDOLF, with +the easy task of frightening King John. He sent him to the English +Camp, from France, to terrify him with exaggerations of King +Philip's power, and his own weakness in the discontent of the +English Barons and people. Pandolf discharged his commission so +well, that King John, in a wretched panic, consented to acknowledge +Stephen Langton; to resign his kingdom 'to God, Saint Peter, and +Saint Paul' - which meant the Pope; and to hold it, ever +afterwards, by the Pope's leave, on payment of an annual sum of +money. To this shameful contract he publicly bound himself in the +church of the Knights Templars at Dover: where he laid at the +legate's feet a part of the tribute, which the legate haughtily +trampled upon. But they DO say, that this was merely a genteel +flourish, and that he was afterwards seen to pick it up and pocket +it. + +There was an unfortunate prophet, the name of Peter, who had +greatly increased King John's terrors by predicting that he would +be unknighted (which the King supposed to signify that he would +die) before the Feast of the Ascension should be past. That was +the day after this humiliation. When the next morning came, and +the King, who had been trembling all night, found himself alive and +safe, he ordered the prophet - and his son too - to be dragged +through the streets at the tails of horses, and then hanged, for +having frightened him. + +As King John had now submitted, the Pope, to King Philip's great +astonishment, took him under his protection, and informed King +Philip that he found he could not give him leave to invade England. +The angry Philip resolved to do it without his leave but he gained +nothing and lost much; for, the English, commanded by the Earl of +Salisbury, went over, in five hundred ships, to the French coast, +before the French fleet had sailed away from it, and utterly +defeated the whole. + +The Pope then took off his three sentences, one after another, and +empowered Stephen Langton publicly to receive King John into the +favour of the Church again, and to ask him to dinner. The King, +who hated Langton with all his might and main - and with reason +too, for he was a great and a good man, with whom such a King could +have no sympathy - pretended to cry and to be VERY grateful. There +was a little difficulty about settling how much the King should pay +as a recompense to the clergy for the losses he had caused them; +but, the end of it was, that the superior clergy got a good deal, +and the inferior clergy got little or nothing - which has also +happened since King John's time, I believe. + +When all these matters were arranged, the King in his triumph +became more fierce, and false, and insolent to all around him than +he had ever been. An alliance of sovereigns against King Philip, +gave him an opportunity of landing an army in France; with which he +even took a town! But, on the French King's gaining a great +victory, he ran away, of course, and made a truce for five years. + +And now the time approached when he was to be still further +humbled, and made to feel, if he could feel anything, what a +wretched creature he was. Of all men in the world, Stephen Langton +seemed raised up by Heaven to oppose and subdue him. When he +ruthlessly burnt and destroyed the property of his own subjects, +because their Lords, the Barons, would not serve him abroad, +Stephen Langton fearlessly reproved and threatened him. When he +swore to restore the laws of King Edward, or the laws of King Henry +the First, Stephen Langton knew his falsehood, and pursued him +through all his evasions. When the Barons met at the abbey of +Saint Edmund's-Bury, to consider their wrongs and the King's +oppressions, Stephen Langton roused them by his fervid words to +demand a solemn charter of rights and liberties from their perjured +master, and to swear, one by one, on the High Altar, that they +would have it, or would wage war against him to the death. When +the King hid himself in London from the Barons, and was at last +obliged to receive them, they told him roundly they would not +believe him unless Stephen Langton became a surety that he would +keep his word. When he took the Cross to invest himself with some +interest, and belong to something that was received with favour, +Stephen Langton was still immovable. When he appealed to the Pope, +and the Pope wrote to Stephen Langton in behalf of his new +favourite, Stephen Langton was deaf, even to the Pope himself, and +saw before him nothing but the welfare of England and the crimes of +the English King. + +At Easter-time, the Barons assembled at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, +in proud array, and, marching near to Oxford where the King was, +delivered into the hands of Stephen Langton and two others, a list +of grievances. 'And these,' they said, 'he must redress, or we +will do it for ourselves!' When Stephen Langton told the King as +much, and read the list to him, he went half mad with rage. But +that did him no more good than his afterwards trying to pacify the +Barons with lies. They called themselves and their followers, 'The +army of God and the Holy Church.' Marching through the country, +with the people thronging to them everywhere (except at +Northampton, where they failed in an attack upon the castle), they +at last triumphantly set up their banner in London itself, whither +the whole land, tired of the tyrant, seemed to flock to join them. +Seven knights alone, of all the knights in England, remained with +the King; who, reduced to this strait, at last sent the Earl of +Pembroke to the Barons to say that he approved of everything, and +would meet them to sign their charter when they would. 'Then,' +said the Barons, 'let the day be the fifteenth of June, and the +place, Runny-Mead.' + +On Monday, the fifteenth of June, one thousand two hundred and +fourteen, the King came from Windsor Castle, and the Barons came +from the town of Staines, and they met on Runny-Mead, which is +still a pleasant meadow by the Thames, where rushes grow in the +clear water of the winding river, and its banks are green with +grass and trees. On the side of the Barons, came the General of +their army, ROBERT FITZ-WALTER, and a great concourse of the +nobility of England. With the King, came, in all, some four-and- +twenty persons of any note, most of whom despised him, and were +merely his advisers in form. On that great day, and in that great +company, the King signed MAGNA CHARTA - the great charter of +England - by which he pledged himself to maintain the Church in its +rights; to relieve the Barons of oppressive obligations as vassals +of the Crown - of which the Barons, in their turn, pledged +themselves to relieve THEIR vassals, the people; to respect the +liberties of London and all other cities and boroughs; to protect +foreign merchants who came to England; to imprison no man without a +fair trial; and to sell, delay, or deny justice to none. As the +Barons knew his falsehood well, they further required, as their +securities, that he should send out of his kingdom all his foreign +troops; that for two months they should hold possession of the city +of London, and Stephen Langton of the Tower; and that five-and- +twenty of their body, chosen by themselves, should be a lawful +committee to watch the keeping of the charter, and to make war upon +him if he broke it. + +All this he was obliged to yield. He signed the charter with a +smile, and, if he could have looked agreeable, would have done so, +as he departed from the splendid assembly. When he got home to +Windsor Castle, he was quite a madman in his helpless fury. And he +broke the charter immediately afterwards. + +He sent abroad for foreign soldiers, and sent to the Pope for help, +and plotted to take London by surprise, while the Barons should be +holding a great tournament at Stamford, which they had agreed to +hold there as a celebration of the charter. The Barons, however, +found him out and put it off. Then, when the Barons desired to see +him and tax him with his treachery, he made numbers of appointments +with them, and kept none, and shifted from place to place, and was +constantly sneaking and skulking about. At last he appeared at +Dover, to join his foreign soldiers, of whom numbers came into his +pay; and with them he besieged and took Rochester Castle, which was +occupied by knights and soldiers of the Barons. He would have +hanged them every one; but the leader of the foreign soldiers, +fearful of what the English people might afterwards do to him, +interfered to save the knights; therefore the King was fain to +satisfy his vengeance with the death of all the common men. Then, +he sent the Earl of Salisbury, with one portion of his army, to +ravage the eastern part of his own dominions, while he carried fire +and slaughter into the northern part; torturing, plundering, +killing, and inflicting every possible cruelty upon the people; +and, every morning, setting a worthy example to his men by setting +fire, with his own monster-hands, to the house where he had slept +last night. Nor was this all; for the Pope, coming to the aid of +his precious friend, laid the kingdom under an Interdict again, +because the people took part with the Barons. It did not much +matter, for the people had grown so used to it now, that they had +begun to think nothing about it. It occurred to them - perhaps to +Stephen Langton too - that they could keep their churches open, and +ring their bells, without the Pope's permission as well as with it. +So, they tried the experiment - and found that it succeeded +perfectly. + +It being now impossible to bear the country, as a wilderness of +cruelty, or longer to hold any terms with such a forsworn outlaw of +a King, the Barons sent to Louis, son of the French monarch, to +offer him the English crown. Caring as little for the Pope's +excommunication of him if he accepted the offer, as it is possible +his father may have cared for the Pope's forgiveness of his sins, +he landed at Sandwich (King John immediately running away from +Dover, where he happened to be), and went on to London. The +Scottish King, with whom many of the Northern English Lords had +taken refuge; numbers of the foreign soldiers, numbers of the +Barons, and numbers of the people went over to him every day; - +King John, the while, continually running away in all directions. + +The career of Louis was checked however, by the suspicions of the +Barons, founded on the dying declaration of a French Lord, that +when the kingdom was conquered he was sworn to banish them as +traitors, and to give their estates to some of his own Nobles. +Rather than suffer this, some of the Barons hesitated: others even +went over to King John. + +It seemed to be the turning-point of King John's fortunes, for, in +his savage and murderous course, he had now taken some towns and +met with some successes. But, happily for England and humanity, +his death was near. Crossing a dangerous quicksand, called the +Wash, not very far from Wisbeach, the tide came up and nearly +drowned his army. He and his soldiers escaped; but, looking back +from the shore when he was safe, he saw the roaring water sweep +down in a torrent, overturn the waggons, horses, and men, that +carried his treasure, and engulf them in a raging whirlpool from +which nothing could be delivered. + +Cursing, and swearing, and gnawing his fingers, he went on to +Swinestead Abbey, where the monks set before him quantities of +pears, and peaches, and new cider - some say poison too, but there +is very little reason to suppose so - of which he ate and drank in +an immoderate and beastly way. All night he lay ill of a burning +fever, and haunted with horrible fears. Next day, they put him in +a horse-litter, and carried him to Sleaford Castle, where he passed +another night of pain and horror. Next day, they carried him, with +greater difficulty than on the day before, to the castle of Newark +upon Trent; and there, on the eighteenth of October, in the forty- +ninth year of his age, and the seventeenth of his vile reign, was +an end of this miserable brute. + + + +CHAPTER XV - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER + + + +IF any of the English Barons remembered the murdered Arthur's +sister, Eleanor the fair maid of Brittany, shut up in her convent +at Bristol, none among them spoke of her now, or maintained her +right to the Crown. The dead Usurper's eldest boy, HENRY by name, +was taken by the Earl of Pembroke, the Marshal of England, to the +city of Gloucester, and there crowned in great haste when he was +only ten years old. As the Crown itself had been lost with the +King's treasure in the raging water, and as there was no time to +make another, they put a circle of plain gold upon his head +instead. 'We have been the enemies of this child's father,' said +Lord Pembroke, a good and true gentleman, to the few Lords who were +present, 'and he merited our ill-will; but the child himself is +innocent, and his youth demands our friendship and protection.' +Those Lords felt tenderly towards the little boy, remembering their +own young children; and they bowed their heads, and said, 'Long +live King Henry the Third!' + +Next, a great council met at Bristol, revised Magna Charta, and +made Lord Pembroke Regent or Protector of England, as the King was +too young to reign alone. The next thing to be done, was to get +rid of Prince Louis of France, and to win over those English Barons +who were still ranged under his banner. He was strong in many +parts of England, and in London itself; and he held, among other +places, a certain Castle called the Castle of Mount Sorel, in +Leicestershire. To this fortress, after some skirmishing and +truce-making, Lord Pembroke laid siege. Louis despatched an army +of six hundred knights and twenty thousand soldiers to relieve it. +Lord Pembroke, who was not strong enough for such a force, retired +with all his men. The army of the French Prince, which had marched +there with fire and plunder, marched away with fire and plunder, +and came, in a boastful swaggering manner, to Lincoln. The town +submitted; but the Castle in the town, held by a brave widow lady, +named NICHOLA DE CAMVILLE (whose property it was), made such a +sturdy resistance, that the French Count in command of the army of +the French Prince found it necessary to besiege this Castle. While +he was thus engaged, word was brought to him that Lord Pembroke, +with four hundred knights, two hundred and fifty men with cross- +bows, and a stout force both of horse and foot, was marching +towards him. 'What care I?' said the French Count. 'The +Englishman is not so mad as to attack me and my great army in a +walled town!' But the Englishman did it for all that, and did it - +not so madly but so wisely, that he decoyed the great army into the +narrow, ill-paved lanes and byways of Lincoln, where its horse- +soldiers could not ride in any strong body; and there he made such +havoc with them, that the whole force surrendered themselves +prisoners, except the Count; who said that he would never yield to +any English traitor alive, and accordingly got killed. The end of +this victory, which the English called, for a joke, the Fair of +Lincoln, was the usual one in those times - the common men were +slain without any mercy, and the knights and gentlemen paid ransom +and went home. + +The wife of Louis, the fair BLANCHE OF CASTILE, dutifully equipped +a fleet of eighty good ships, and sent it over from France to her +husband's aid. An English fleet of forty ships, some good and some +bad, gallantly met them near the mouth of the Thames, and took or +sunk sixty-five in one fight. This great loss put an end to the +French Prince's hopes. A treaty was made at Lambeth, in virtue of +which the English Barons who had remained attached to his cause +returned to their allegiance, and it was engaged on both sides that +the Prince and all his troops should retire peacefully to France. +It was time to go; for war had made him so poor that he was obliged +to borrow money from the citizens of London to pay his expenses +home. + +Lord Pembroke afterwards applied himself to governing the country +justly, and to healing the quarrels and disturbances that had +arisen among men in the days of the bad King John. He caused Magna +Charta to be still more improved, and so amended the Forest Laws +that a Peasant was no longer put to death for killing a stag in a +Royal Forest, but was only imprisoned. It would have been well for +England if it could have had so good a Protector many years longer, +but that was not to be. Within three years after the young King's +Coronation, Lord Pembroke died; and you may see his tomb, at this +day, in the old Temple Church in London. + +The Protectorship was now divided. PETER DE ROCHES, whom King John +had made Bishop of Winchester, was entrusted with the care of the +person of the young sovereign; and the exercise of the Royal +authority was confided to EARL HUBERT DE BURGH. These two +personages had from the first no liking for each other, and soon +became enemies. When the young King was declared of age, Peter de +Roches, finding that Hubert increased in power and favour, retired +discontentedly, and went abroad. For nearly ten years afterwards +Hubert had full sway alone. + +But ten years is a long time to hold the favour of a King. This +King, too, as he grew up, showed a strong resemblance to his +father, in feebleness, inconsistency, and irresolution. The best +that can be said of him is that he was not cruel. De Roches coming +home again, after ten years, and being a novelty, the King began to +favour him and to look coldly on Hubert. Wanting money besides, +and having made Hubert rich, he began to dislike Hubert. At last +he was made to believe, or pretended to believe, that Hubert had +misappropriated some of the Royal treasure; and ordered him to +furnish an account of all he had done in his administration. +Besides which, the foolish charge was brought against Hubert that +he had made himself the King's favourite by magic. Hubert very +well knowing that he could never defend himself against such +nonsense, and that his old enemy must be determined on his ruin, +instead of answering the charges fled to Merton Abbey. Then the +King, in a violent passion, sent for the Mayor of London, and said +to the Mayor, 'Take twenty thousand citizens, and drag me Hubert de +Burgh out of that abbey, and bring him here.' The Mayor posted off +to do it, but the Archbishop of Dublin (who was a friend of +Hubert's) warning the King that an abbey was a sacred place, and +that if he committed any violence there, he must answer for it to +the Church, the King changed his mind and called the Mayor back, +and declared that Hubert should have four months to prepare his +defence, and should be safe and free during that time. + +Hubert, who relied upon the King's word, though I think he was old +enough to have known better, came out of Merton Abbey upon these +conditions, and journeyed away to see his wife: a Scottish +Princess who was then at St. Edmund's-Bury. + +Almost as soon as he had departed from the Sanctuary, his enemies +persuaded the weak King to send out one SIR GODFREY DE CRANCUMB, +who commanded three hundred vagabonds called the Black Band, with +orders to seize him. They came up with him at a little town in +Essex, called Brentwood, when he was in bed. He leaped out of bed, +got out of the house, fled to the church, ran up to the altar, and +laid his hand upon the cross. Sir Godfrey and the Black Band, +caring neither for church, altar, nor cross, dragged him forth to +the church door, with their drawn swords flashing round his head, +and sent for a Smith to rivet a set of chains upon him. When the +Smith (I wish I knew his name!) was brought, all dark and swarthy +with the smoke of his forge, and panting with the speed he had +made; and the Black Band, falling aside to show him the Prisoner, +cried with a loud uproar, 'Make the fetters heavy! make them +strong!' the Smith dropped upon his knee - but not to the Black +Band - and said, 'This is the brave Earl Hubert de Burgh, who +fought at Dover Castle, and destroyed the French fleet, and has +done his country much good service. You may kill me, if you like, +but I will never make a chain for Earl Hubert de Burgh!' + +The Black Band never blushed, or they might have blushed at this. +They knocked the Smith about from one to another, and swore at him, +and tied the Earl on horseback, undressed as he was, and carried +him off to the Tower of London. The Bishops, however, were so +indignant at the violation of the Sanctuary of the Church, that the +frightened King soon ordered the Black Band to take him back again; +at the same time commanding the Sheriff of Essex to prevent his +escaping out of Brentwood Church. Well! the Sheriff dug a deep +trench all round the church, and erected a high fence, and watched +the church night and day; the Black Band and their Captain watched +it too, like three hundred and one black wolves. For thirty-nine +days, Hubert de Burgh remained within. At length, upon the +fortieth day, cold and hunger were too much for him, and he gave +himself up to the Black Band, who carried him off, for the second +time, to the Tower. When his trial came on, he refused to plead; +but at last it was arranged that he should give up all the royal +lands which had been bestowed upon him, and should be kept at the +Castle of Devizes, in what was called 'free prison,' in charge of +four knights appointed by four lords. There, he remained almost a +year, until, learning that a follower of his old enemy the Bishop +was made Keeper of the Castle, and fearing that he might be killed +by treachery, he climbed the ramparts one dark night, dropped from +the top of the high Castle wall into the moat, and coming safely to +the ground, took refuge in another church. From this place he was +delivered by a party of horse despatched to his help by some +nobles, who were by this time in revolt against the King, and +assembled in Wales. He was finally pardoned and restored to his +estates, but he lived privately, and never more aspired to a high +post in the realm, or to a high place in the King's favour. And +thus end - more happily than the stories of many favourites of +Kings - the adventures of Earl Hubert de Burgh. + +The nobles, who had risen in revolt, were stirred up to rebellion +by the overbearing conduct of the Bishop of Winchester, who, +finding that the King secretly hated the Great Charter which had +been forced from his father, did his utmost to confirm him in that +dislike, and in the preference he showed to foreigners over the +English. Of this, and of his even publicly declaring that the +Barons of England were inferior to those of France, the English +Lords complained with such bitterness, that the King, finding them +well supported by the clergy, became frightened for his throne, and +sent away the Bishop and all his foreign associates. On his +marriage, however, with ELEANOR, a French lady, the daughter of the +Count of Provence, he openly favoured the foreigners again; and so +many of his wife's relations came over, and made such an immense +family-party at court, and got so many good things, and pocketed so +much money, and were so high with the English whose money they +pocketed, that the bolder English Barons murmured openly about a +clause there was in the Great Charter, which provided for the +banishment of unreasonable favourites. But, the foreigners only +laughed disdainfully, and said, 'What are your English laws to us?' + +King Philip of France had died, and had been succeeded by Prince +Louis, who had also died after a short reign of three years, and +had been succeeded by his son of the same name - so moderate and +just a man that he was not the least in the world like a King, as +Kings went. ISABELLA, King Henry's mother, wished very much (for a +certain spite she had) that England should make war against this +King; and, as King Henry was a mere puppet in anybody's hands who +knew how to manage his feebleness, she easily carried her point +with him. But, the Parliament were determined to give him no money +for such a war. So, to defy the Parliament, he packed up thirty +large casks of silver - I don't know how he got so much; I dare say +he screwed it out of the miserable Jews - and put them aboard ship, +and went away himself to carry war into France: accompanied by his +mother and his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who was rich and +clever. But he only got well beaten, and came home. + +The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this. They +reproached the King with wasting the public money to make greedy +foreigners rich, and were so stern with him, and so determined not +to let him have more of it to waste if they could help it, that he +was at his wit's end for some, and tried so shamelessly to get all +he could from his subjects, by excuses or by force, that the people +used to say the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. He took +the Cross, thinking to get some money by that means; but, as it was +very well known that he never meant to go on a crusade, he got +none. In all this contention, the Londoners were particularly keen +against the King, and the King hated them warmly in return. Hating +or loving, however, made no difference; he continued in the same +condition for nine or ten years, when at last the Barons said that +if he would solemnly confirm their liberties afresh, the Parliament +would vote him a large sum. + +As he readily consented, there was a great meeting held in +Westminster Hall, one pleasant day in May, when all the clergy, +dressed in their robes and holding every one of them a burning +candle in his hand, stood up (the Barons being also there) while +the Archbishop of Canterbury read the sentence of excommunication +against any man, and all men, who should henceforth, in any way, +infringe the Great Charter of the Kingdom. When he had done, they +all put out their burning candles with a curse upon the soul of any +one, and every one, who should merit that sentence. The King +concluded with an oath to keep the Charter, 'As I am a man, as I am +a Christian, as I am a Knight, as I am a King!' + +It was easy to make oaths, and easy to break them; and the King did +both, as his father had done before him. He took to his old +courses again when he was supplied with money, and soon cured of +their weakness the few who had ever really trusted him. When his +money was gone, and he was once more borrowing and begging +everywhere with a meanness worthy of his nature, he got into a +difficulty with the Pope respecting the Crown of Sicily, which the +Pope said he had a right to give away, and which he offered to King +Henry for his second son, PRINCE EDMUND. But, if you or I give +away what we have not got, and what belongs to somebody else, it is +likely that the person to whom we give it, will have some trouble +in taking it. It was exactly so in this case. It was necessary to +conquer the Sicilian Crown before it could be put upon young +Edmund's head. It could not be conquered without money. The Pope +ordered the clergy to raise money. The clergy, however, were not +so obedient to him as usual; they had been disputing with him for +some time about his unjust preference of Italian Priests in +England; and they had begun to doubt whether the King's chaplain, +whom he allowed to be paid for preaching in seven hundred churches, +could possibly be, even by the Pope's favour, in seven hundred +places at once. 'The Pope and the King together,' said the Bishop +of London, 'may take the mitre off my head; but, if they do, they +will find that I shall put on a soldier's helmet. I pay nothing.' +The Bishop of Worcester was as bold as the Bishop of London, and +would pay nothing either. Such sums as the more timid or more +helpless of the clergy did raise were squandered away, without +doing any good to the King, or bringing the Sicilian Crown an inch +nearer to Prince Edmund's head. The end of the business was, that +the Pope gave the Crown to the brother of the King of France (who +conquered it for himself), and sent the King of England in, a bill +of one hundred thousand pounds for the expenses of not having won +it. + +The King was now so much distressed that we might almost pity him, +if it were possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. His +clever brother, Richard, had bought the title of King of the Romans +from the German people, and was no longer near him, to help him +with advice. The clergy, resisting the very Pope, were in alliance +with the Barons. The Barons were headed by SIMON DE MONTFORT, Earl +of Leicester, married to King Henry's sister, and, though a +foreigner himself, the most popular man in England against the +foreign favourites. When the King next met his Parliament, the +Barons, led by this Earl, came before him, armed from head to foot, +and cased in armour. When the Parliament again assembled, in a +month's time, at Oxford, this Earl was at their head, and the King +was obliged to consent, on oath, to what was called a Committee of +Government: consisting of twenty-four members: twelve chosen by +the Barons, and twelve chosen by himself. + +But, at a good time for him, his brother Richard came back. +Richard's first act (the Barons would not admit him into England on +other terms) was to swear to be faithful to the Committee of +Government - which he immediately began to oppose with all his +might. Then, the Barons began to quarrel among themselves; +especially the proud Earl of Gloucester with the Earl of Leicester, +who went abroad in disgust. Then, the people began to be +dissatisfied with the Barons, because they did not do enough for +them. The King's chances seemed so good again at length, that he +took heart enough - or caught it from his brother - to tell the +Committee of Government that he abolished them - as to his oath, +never mind that, the Pope said! - and to seize all the money in the +Mint, and to shut himself up in the Tower of London. Here he was +joined by his eldest son, Prince Edward; and, from the Tower, he +made public a letter of the Pope's to the world in general, +informing all men that he had been an excellent and just King for +five-and-forty years. + +As everybody knew he had been nothing of the sort, nobody cared +much for this document. It so chanced that the proud Earl of +Gloucester dying, was succeeded by his son; and that his son, +instead of being the enemy of the Earl of Leicester, was (for the +time) his friend. It fell out, therefore, that these two Earls +joined their forces, took several of the Royal Castles in the +country, and advanced as hard as they could on London. The London +people, always opposed to the King, declared for them with great +joy. The King himself remained shut up, not at all gloriously, in +the Tower. Prince Edward made the best of his way to Windsor +Castle. His mother, the Queen, attempted to follow him by water; +but, the people seeing her barge rowing up the river, and hating +her with all their hearts, ran to London Bridge, got together a +quantity of stones and mud, and pelted the barge as it came +through, crying furiously, 'Drown the Witch! Drown her!' They +were so near doing it, that the Mayor took the old lady under his +protection, and shut her up in St. Paul's until the danger was +past. + +It would require a great deal of writing on my part, and a great +deal of reading on yours, to follow the King through his disputes +with the Barons, and to follow the Barons through their disputes +with one another - so I will make short work of it for both of us, +and only relate the chief events that arose out of these quarrels. +The good King of France was asked to decide between them. He gave +it as his opinion that the King must maintain the Great Charter, +and that the Barons must give up the Committee of Government, and +all the rest that had been done by the Parliament at Oxford: which +the Royalists, or King's party, scornfully called the Mad +Parliament. The Barons declared that these were not fair terms, +and they would not accept them. Then they caused the great bell of +St. Paul's to be tolled, for the purpose of rousing up the London +people, who armed themselves at the dismal sound and formed quite +an army in the streets. I am sorry to say, however, that instead +of falling upon the King's party with whom their quarrel was, they +fell upon the miserable Jews, and killed at least five hundred of +them. They pretended that some of these Jews were on the King's +side, and that they kept hidden in their houses, for the +destruction of the people, a certain terrible composition called +Greek Fire, which could not be put out with water, but only burnt +the fiercer for it. What they really did keep in their houses was +money; and this their cruel enemies wanted, and this their cruel +enemies took, like robbers and murderers. + +The Earl of Leicester put himself at the head of these Londoners +and other forces, and followed the King to Lewes in Sussex, where +he lay encamped with his army. Before giving the King's forces +battle here, the Earl addressed his soldiers, and said that King +Henry the Third had broken so many oaths, that he had become the +enemy of God, and therefore they would wear white crosses on their +breasts, as if they were arrayed, not against a fellow-Christian, +but against a Turk. White-crossed accordingly, they rushed into +the fight. They would have lost the day - the King having on his +side all the foreigners in England: and, from Scotland, JOHN +COMYN, JOHN BALIOL, and ROBERT BRUCE, with all their men - but for +the impatience of PRINCE EDWARD, who, in his hot desire to have +vengeance on the people of London, threw the whole of his father's +army into confusion. He was taken Prisoner; so was the King; so +was the King's brother the King of the Romans; and five thousand +Englishmen were left dead upon the bloody grass. + +For this success, the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: +which neither the Earl nor the people cared at all about. The +people loved him and supported him, and he became the real King; +having all the power of the government in his own hands, though he +was outwardly respectful to King Henry the Third, whom he took with +him wherever he went, like a poor old limp court-card. He summoned +a Parliament (in the year one thousand two hundred and sixty-five) +which was the first Parliament in England that the people had any +real share in electing; and he grew more and more in favour with +the people every day, and they stood by him in whatever he did. + +Many of the other Barons, and particularly the Earl of Gloucester, +who had become by this time as proud as his father, grew jealous of +this powerful and popular Earl, who was proud too, and began to +conspire against him. Since the battle of Lewes, Prince Edward had +been kept as a hostage, and, though he was otherwise treated like a +Prince, had never been allowed to go out without attendants +appointed by the Earl of Leicester, who watched him. The +conspiring Lords found means to propose to him, in secret, that +they should assist him to escape, and should make him their leader; +to which he very heartily consented. + +So, on a day that was agreed upon, he said to his attendants after +dinner (being then at Hereford), 'I should like to ride on +horseback, this fine afternoon, a little way into the country.' As +they, too, thought it would be very pleasant to have a canter in +the sunshine, they all rode out of the town together in a gay +little troop. When they came to a fine level piece of turf, the +Prince fell to comparing their horses one with another, and +offering bets that one was faster than another; and the attendants, +suspecting no harm, rode galloping matches until their horses were +quite tired. The Prince rode no matches himself, but looked on +from his saddle, and staked his money. Thus they passed the whole +merry afternoon. Now, the sun was setting, and they were all going +slowly up a hill, the Prince's horse very fresh and all the other +horses very weary, when a strange rider mounted on a grey steed +appeared at the top of the hill, and waved his hat. 'What does the +fellow mean?' said the attendants one to another. The Prince +answered on the instant by setting spurs to his horse, dashing away +at his utmost speed, joining the man, riding into the midst of a +little crowd of horsemen who were then seen waiting under some +trees, and who closed around him; and so he departed in a cloud of +dust, leaving the road empty of all but the baffled attendants, who +sat looking at one another, while their horses drooped their ears +and panted. + +The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. The Earl of +Leicester, with a part of the army and the stupid old King, was at +Hereford. One of the Earl of Leicester's sons, Simon de Montfort, +with another part of the army, was in Sussex. To prevent these two +parts from uniting was the Prince's first object. He attacked +Simon de Montfort by night, defeated him, seized his banners and +treasure, and forced him into Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, +which belonged to his family. + +His father, the Earl of Leicester, in the meanwhile, not knowing +what had happened, marched out of Hereford, with his part of the +army and the King, to meet him. He came, on a bright morning in +August, to Evesham, which is watered by the pleasant river Avon. +Looking rather anxiously across the prospect towards Kenilworth, he +saw his own banners advancing; and his face brightened with joy. +But, it clouded darkly when he presently perceived that the banners +were captured, and in the enemy's hands; and he said, 'It is over. +The Lord have mercy on our souls, for our bodies are Prince +Edward's!' + +He fought like a true Knight, nevertheless. When his horse was +killed under him, he fought on foot. It was a fierce battle, and +the dead lay in heaps everywhere. The old King, stuck up in a suit +of armour on a big war-horse, which didn't mind him at all, and +which carried him into all sorts of places where he didn't want to +go, got into everybody's way, and very nearly got knocked on the +head by one of his son's men. But he managed to pipe out, 'I am +Harry of Winchester!' and the Prince, who heard him, seized his +bridle, and took him out of peril. The Earl of Leicester still +fought bravely, until his best son Henry was killed, and the bodies +of his best friends choked his path; and then he fell, still +fighting, sword in hand. They mangled his body, and sent it as a +present to a noble lady - but a very unpleasant lady, I should +think - who was the wife of his worst enemy. They could not mangle +his memory in the minds of the faithful people, though. Many years +afterwards, they loved him more than ever, and regarded him as a +Saint, and always spoke of him as 'Sir Simon the Righteous.' + +And even though he was dead, the cause for which he had fought +still lived, and was strong, and forced itself upon the King in the +very hour of victory. Henry found himself obliged to respect the +Great Charter, however much he hated it, and to make laws similar +to the laws of the Great Earl of Leicester, and to be moderate and +forgiving towards the people at last - even towards the people of +London, who had so long opposed him. There were more risings +before all this was done, but they were set at rest by these means, +and Prince Edward did his best in all things to restore peace. One +Sir Adam de Gourdon was the last dissatisfied knight in arms; but, +the Prince vanquished him in single combat, in a wood, and nobly +gave him his life, and became his friend, instead of slaying him. +Sir Adam was not ungrateful. He ever afterwards remained devoted +to his generous conqueror. + +When the troubles of the Kingdom were thus calmed, Prince Edward +and his cousin Henry took the Cross, and went away to the Holy +Land, with many English Lords and Knights. Four years afterwards +the King of the Romans died, and, next year (one thousand two +hundred and seventy-two), his brother the weak King of England +died. He was sixty-eight years old then, and had reigned fifty-six +years. He was as much of a King in death, as he had ever been in +life. He was the mere pale shadow of a King at all times. + + + +CHAPTER XVI - ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS + + + +IT was now the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and +seventy-two; and Prince Edward, the heir to the throne, being away +in the Holy Land, knew nothing of his father's death. The Barons, +however, proclaimed him King, immediately after the Royal funeral; +and the people very willingly consented, since most men knew too +well by this time what the horrors of a contest for the crown were. +So King Edward the First, called, in a not very complimentary +manner, LONGSHANKS, because of the slenderness of his legs, was +peacefully accepted by the English Nation. + +His legs had need to be strong, however long and thin they were; +for they had to support him through many difficulties on the fiery +sands of Asia, where his small force of soldiers fainted, died, +deserted, and seemed to melt away. But his prowess made light of +it, and he said, 'I will go on, if I go on with no other follower +than my groom!' + +A Prince of this spirit gave the Turks a deal of trouble. He +stormed Nazareth, at which place, of all places on earth, I am +sorry to relate, he made a frightful slaughter of innocent people; +and then he went to Acre, where he got a truce of ten years from +the Sultan. He had very nearly lost his life in Acre, through the +treachery of a Saracen Noble, called the Emir of Jaffa, who, making +the pretence that he had some idea of turning Christian and wanted +to know all about that religion, sent a trusty messenger to Edward +very often - with a dagger in his sleeve. At last, one Friday in +Whitsun week, when it was very hot, and all the sandy prospect lay +beneath the blazing sun, burnt up like a great overdone biscuit, +and Edward was lying on a couch, dressed for coolness in only a +loose robe, the messenger, with his chocolate-coloured face and his +bright dark eyes and white teeth, came creeping in with a letter, +and kneeled down like a tame tiger. But, the moment Edward +stretched out his hand to take the letter, the tiger made a spring +at his heart. He was quick, but Edward was quick too. He seized +the traitor by his chocolate throat, threw him to the ground, and +slew him with the very dagger he had drawn. The weapon had struck +Edward in the arm, and although the wound itself was slight, it +threatened to be mortal, for the blade of the dagger had been +smeared with poison. Thanks, however, to a better surgeon than was +often to be found in those times, and to some wholesome herbs, and +above all, to his faithful wife, ELEANOR, who devotedly nursed him, +and is said by some to have sucked the poison from the wound with +her own red lips (which I am very willing to believe), Edward soon +recovered and was sound again. + +As the King his father had sent entreaties to him to return home, +he now began the journey. He had got as far as Italy, when he met +messengers who brought him intelligence of the King's death. +Hearing that all was quiet at home, he made no haste to return to +his own dominions, but paid a visit to the Pope, and went in state +through various Italian Towns, where he was welcomed with +acclamations as a mighty champion of the Cross from the Holy Land, +and where he received presents of purple mantles and prancing +horses, and went along in great triumph. The shouting people +little knew that he was the last English monarch who would ever +embark in a crusade, or that within twenty years every conquest +which the Christians had made in the Holy Land at the cost of so +much blood, would be won back by the Turks. But all this came to +pass. + +There was, and there is, an old town standing in a plain in France, +called Chƒlons. When the King was coming towards this place on his +way to England, a wily French Lord, called the Count of Chƒlons, +sent him a polite challenge to come with his knights and hold a +fair tournament with the Count and HIS knights, and make a day of +it with sword and lance. It was represented to the King that the +Count of Chƒlons was not to be trusted, and that, instead of a +holiday fight for mere show and in good humour, he secretly meant a +real battle, in which the English should be defeated by superior +force. + +The King, however, nothing afraid, went to the appointed place on +the appointed day with a thousand followers. When the Count came +with two thousand and attacked the English in earnest, the English +rushed at them with such valour that the Count's men and the +Count's horses soon began to be tumbled down all over the field. +The Count himself seized the King round the neck, but the King +tumbled HIM out of his saddle in return for the compliment, and, +jumping from his own horse, and standing over him, beat away at his +iron armour like a blacksmith hammering on his anvil. Even when +the Count owned himself defeated and offered his sword, the King +would not do him the honour to take it, but made him yield it up to +a common soldier. There had been such fury shown in this fight, +that it was afterwards called the little Battle of Chƒlons. + +The English were very well disposed to be proud of their King after +these adventures; so, when he landed at Dover in the year one +thousand two hundred and seventy-four (being then thirty-six years +old), and went on to Westminster where he and his good Queen were +crowned with great magnificence, splendid rejoicings took place. +For the coronation-feast there were provided, among other eatables, +four hundred oxen, four hundred sheep, four hundred and fifty pigs, +eighteen wild boars, three hundred flitches of bacon, and twenty +thousand fowls. The fountains and conduits in the street flowed +with red and white wine instead of water; the rich citizens hung +silks and cloths of the brightest colours out of their windows to +increase the beauty of the show, and threw out gold and silver by +whole handfuls to make scrambles for the crowd. In short, there +was such eating and drinking, such music and capering, such a +ringing of bells and tossing of caps, such a shouting, and singing, +and revelling, as the narrow overhanging streets of old London City +had not witnessed for many a long day. All the people were merry +except the poor Jews, who, trembling within their houses, and +scarcely daring to peep out, began to foresee that they would have +to find the money for this joviality sooner or later. + +To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present, I am sorry +to add that in this reign they were most unmercifully pillaged. +They were hanged in great numbers, on accusations of having clipped +the King's coin - which all kinds of people had done. They were +heavily taxed; they were disgracefully badged; they were, on one +day, thirteen years after the coronation, taken up with their wives +and children and thrown into beastly prisons, until they purchased +their release by paying to the King twelve thousand pounds. +Finally, every kind of property belonging to them was seized by the +King, except so little as would defray the charge of their taking +themselves away into foreign countries. Many years elapsed before +the hope of gain induced any of their race to return to England, +where they had been treated so heartlessly and had suffered so +much. + +If King Edward the First had been as bad a king to Christians as he +was to Jews, he would have been bad indeed. But he was, in +general, a wise and great monarch, under whom the country much +improved. He had no love for the Great Charter - few Kings had, +through many, many years - but he had high qualities. The first +bold object which he conceived when he came home, was, to unite +under one Sovereign England, Scotland, and Wales; the two last of +which countries had each a little king of its own, about whom the +people were always quarrelling and fighting, and making a +prodigious disturbance - a great deal more than he was worth. In +the course of King Edward's reign he was engaged, besides, in a war +with France. To make these quarrels clearer, we will separate +their histories and take them thus. Wales, first. France, second. +Scotland, third. + + +LLEWELLYN was the Prince of Wales. He had been on the side of the +Barons in the reign of the stupid old King, but had afterwards +sworn allegiance to him. When King Edward came to the throne, +Llewellyn was required to swear allegiance to him also; which he +refused to do. The King, being crowned and in his own dominions, +three times more required Llewellyn to come and do homage; and +three times more Llewellyn said he would rather not. He was going +to be married to ELEANOR DE MONTFORT, a young lady of the family +mentioned in the last reign; and it chanced that this young lady, +coming from France with her youngest brother, EMERIC, was taken by +an English ship, and was ordered by the English King to be +detained. Upon this, the quarrel came to a head. The King went, +with his fleet, to the coast of Wales, where, so encompassing +Llewellyn, that he could only take refuge in the bleak mountain +region of Snowdon in which no provisions could reach him, he was +soon starved into an apology, and into a treaty of peace, and into +paying the expenses of the war. The King, however, forgave him +some of the hardest conditions of the treaty, and consented to his +marriage. And he now thought he had reduced Wales to obedience. + +But the Welsh, although they were naturally a gentle, quiet, +pleasant people, who liked to receive strangers in their cottages +among the mountains, and to set before them with free hospitality +whatever they had to eat and drink, and to play to them on their +harps, and sing their native ballads to them, were a people of +great spirit when their blood was up. Englishmen, after this +affair, began to be insolent in Wales, and to assume the air of +masters; and the Welsh pride could not bear it. Moreover, they +believed in that unlucky old Merlin, some of whose unlucky old +prophecies somebody always seemed doomed to remember when there was +a chance of its doing harm; and just at this time some blind old +gentleman with a harp and a long white beard, who was an excellent +person, but had become of an unknown age and tedious, burst out +with a declaration that Merlin had predicted that when English +money had become round, a Prince of Wales would be crowned in +London. Now, King Edward had recently forbidden the English penny +to be cut into halves and quarters for halfpence and farthings, and +had actually introduced a round coin; therefore, the Welsh people +said this was the time Merlin meant, and rose accordingly. + +King Edward had bought over PRINCE DAVID, Llewellyn's brother, by +heaping favours upon him; but he was the first to revolt, being +perhaps troubled in his conscience. One stormy night, he surprised +the Castle of Hawarden, in possession of which an English nobleman +had been left; killed the whole garrison, and carried off the +nobleman a prisoner to Snowdon. Upon this, the Welsh people rose +like one man. King Edward, with his army, marching from Worcester +to the Menai Strait, crossed it - near to where the wonderful +tubular iron bridge now, in days so different, makes a passage for +railway trains - by a bridge of boats that enabled forty men to +march abreast. He subdued the Island of Anglesea, and sent his men +forward to observe the enemy. The sudden appearance of the Welsh +created a panic among them, and they fell back to the bridge. The +tide had in the meantime risen and separated the boats; the Welsh +pursuing them, they were driven into the sea, and there they sunk, +in their heavy iron armour, by thousands. After this victory +Llewellyn, helped by the severe winter-weather of Wales, gained +another battle; but the King ordering a portion of his English army +to advance through South Wales, and catch him between two foes, and +Llewellyn bravely turning to meet this new enemy, he was surprised +and killed - very meanly, for he was unarmed and defenceless. His +head was struck off and sent to London, where it was fixed upon the +Tower, encircled with a wreath, some say of ivy, some say of +willow, some say of silver, to make it look like a ghastly coin in +ridicule of the prediction. + +David, however, still held out for six months, though eagerly +sought after by the King, and hunted by his own countrymen. One of +them finally betrayed him with his wife and children. He was +sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered; and from that time +this became the established punishment of Traitors in England - a +punishment wholly without excuse, as being revolting, vile, and +cruel, after its object is dead; and which has no sense in it, as +its only real degradation (and that nothing can blot out) is to the +country that permits on any consideration such abominable +barbarity. + +Wales was now subdued. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in +the Castle of Carnarvon, the King showed him to the Welsh people as +their countryman, and called him Prince of Wales; a title that has +ever since been borne by the heir-apparent to the English throne - +which that little Prince soon became, by the death of his elder +brother. The King did better things for the Welsh than that, by +improving their laws and encouraging their trade. Disturbances +still took place, chiefly occasioned by the avarice and pride of +the English Lords, on whom Welsh lands and castles had been +bestowed; but they were subdued, and the country never rose again. +There is a legend that to prevent the people from being incited to +rebellion by the songs of their bards and harpers, Edward had them +all put to death. Some of them may have fallen among other men who +held out against the King; but this general slaughter is, I think, +a fancy of the harpers themselves, who, I dare say, made a song +about it many years afterwards, and sang it by the Welsh firesides +until it came to be believed. + +The foreign war of the reign of Edward the First arose in this way. +The crews of two vessels, one a Norman ship, and the other an +English ship, happened to go to the same place in their boats to +fill their casks with fresh water. Being rough angry fellows, they +began to quarrel, and then to fight - the English with their fists; +the Normans with their knives - and, in the fight, a Norman was +killed. The Norman crew, instead of revenging themselves upon +those English sailors with whom they had quarrelled (who were too +strong for them, I suspect), took to their ship again in a great +rage, attacked the first English ship they met, laid hold of an +unoffending merchant who happened to be on board, and brutally +hanged him in the rigging of their own vessel with a dog at his +feet. This so enraged the English sailors that there was no +restraining them; and whenever, and wherever, English sailors met +Norman sailors, they fell upon each other tooth and nail. The +Irish and Dutch sailors took part with the English; the French and +Genoese sailors helped the Normans; and thus the greater part of +the mariners sailing over the sea became, in their way, as violent +and raging as the sea itself when it is disturbed. + +King Edward's fame had been so high abroad that he had been chosen +to decide a difference between France and another foreign power, +and had lived upon the Continent three years. At first, neither he +nor the French King PHILIP (the good Louis had been dead some time) +interfered in these quarrels; but when a fleet of eighty English +ships engaged and utterly defeated a Norman fleet of two hundred, +in a pitched battle fought round a ship at anchor, in which no +quarter was given, the matter became too serious to be passed over. +King Edward, as Duke of Guienne, was summoned to present himself +before the King of France, at Paris, and answer for the damage done +by his sailor subjects. At first, he sent the Bishop of London as +his representative, and then his brother EDMUND, who was married to +the French Queen's mother. I am afraid Edmund was an easy man, and +allowed himself to be talked over by his charming relations, the +French court ladies; at all events, he was induced to give up his +brother's dukedom for forty days - as a mere form, the French King +said, to satisfy his honour - and he was so very much astonished, +when the time was out, to find that the French King had no idea of +giving it up again, that I should not wonder if it hastened his +death: which soon took place. + +King Edward was a King to win his foreign dukedom back again, if it +could be won by energy and valour. He raised a large army, +renounced his allegiance as Duke of Guienne, and crossed the sea to +carry war into France. Before any important battle was fought, +however, a truce was agreed upon for two years; and in the course +of that time, the Pope effected a reconciliation. King Edward, who +was now a widower, having lost his affectionate and good wife, +Eleanor, married the French King's sister, MARGARET; and the Prince +of Wales was contracted to the French King's daughter ISABELLA. + +Out of bad things, good things sometimes arise. Out of this +hanging of the innocent merchant, and the bloodshed and strife it +caused, there came to be established one of the greatest powers +that the English people now possess. The preparations for the war +being very expensive, and King Edward greatly wanting money, and +being very arbitrary in his ways of raising it, some of the Barons +began firmly to oppose him. Two of them, in particular, HUMPHREY +BOHUN, Earl of Hereford, and ROGER BIGOD, Earl of Norfolk, were so +stout against him, that they maintained he had no right to command +them to head his forces in Guienne, and flatly refused to go there. +'By Heaven, Sir Earl,' said the King to the Earl of Hereford, in a +great passion, 'you shall either go or be hanged!' 'By Heaven, Sir +King,' replied the Earl, 'I will neither go nor yet will I be +hanged!' and both he and the other Earl sturdily left the court, +attended by many Lords. The King tried every means of raising +money. He taxed the clergy, in spite of all the Pope said to the +contrary; and when they refused to pay, reduced them to submission, +by saying Very well, then they had no claim upon the government for +protection, and any man might plunder them who would - which a good +many men were very ready to do, and very readily did, and which the +clergy found too losing a game to be played at long. He seized all +the wool and leather in the hands of the merchants, promising to +pay for it some fine day; and he set a tax upon the exportation of +wool, which was so unpopular among the traders that it was called +'The evil toll.' But all would not do. The Barons, led by those +two great Earls, declared any taxes imposed without the consent of +Parliament, unlawful; and the Parliament refused to impose taxes, +until the King should confirm afresh the two Great Charters, and +should solemnly declare in writing, that there was no power in the +country to raise money from the people, evermore, but the power of +Parliament representing all ranks of the people. The King was very +unwilling to diminish his own power by allowing this great +privilege in the Parliament; but there was no help for it, and he +at last complied. We shall come to another King by-and-by, who +might have saved his head from rolling off, if he had profited by +this example. + +The people gained other benefits in Parliament from the good sense +and wisdom of this King. Many of the laws were much improved; +provision was made for the greater safety of travellers, and the +apprehension of thieves and murderers; the priests were prevented +from holding too much land, and so becoming too powerful; and +Justices of the Peace were first appointed (though not at first +under that name) in various parts of the country. + + +And now we come to Scotland, which was the great and lasting +trouble of the reign of King Edward the First. + +About thirteen years after King Edward's coronation, Alexander the +Third, the King of Scotland, died of a fall from his horse. He had +been married to Margaret, King Edward's sister. All their children +being dead, the Scottish crown became the right of a young Princess +only eight years old, the daughter of ERIC, King of Norway, who had +married a daughter of the deceased sovereign. King Edward +proposed, that the Maiden of Norway, as this Princess was called, +should be engaged to be married to his eldest son; but, +unfortunately, as she was coming over to England she fell sick, and +landing on one of the Orkney Islands, died there. A great +commotion immediately began in Scotland, where as many as thirteen +noisy claimants to the vacant throne started up and made a general +confusion. + +King Edward being much renowned for his sagacity and justice, it +seems to have been agreed to refer the dispute to him. He accepted +the trust, and went, with an army, to the Border-land where England +and Scotland joined. There, he called upon the Scottish gentlemen +to meet him at the Castle of Norham, on the English side of the +river Tweed; and to that Castle they came. But, before he would +take any step in the business, he required those Scottish +gentlemen, one and all, to do homage to him as their superior Lord; +and when they hesitated, he said, 'By holy Edward, whose crown I +wear, I will have my rights, or I will die in maintaining them!' +The Scottish gentlemen, who had not expected this, were +disconcerted, and asked for three weeks to think about it. + +At the end of the three weeks, another meeting took place, on a +green plain on the Scottish side of the river. Of all the +competitors for the Scottish throne, there were only two who had +any real claim, in right of their near kindred to the Royal Family. +These were JOHN BALIOL and ROBERT BRUCE: and the right was, I have +no doubt, on the side of John Baliol. At this particular meeting +John Baliol was not present, but Robert Bruce was; and on Robert +Bruce being formally asked whether he acknowledged the King of +England for his superior lord, he answered, plainly and distinctly, +Yes, he did. Next day, John Baliol appeared, and said the same. +This point settled, some arrangements were made for inquiring into +their titles. + +The inquiry occupied a pretty long time - more than a year. While +it was going on, King Edward took the opportunity of making a +journey through Scotland, and calling upon the Scottish people of +all degrees to acknowledge themselves his vassals, or be imprisoned +until they did. In the meanwhile, Commissioners were appointed to +conduct the inquiry, a Parliament was held at Berwick about it, the +two claimants were heard at full length, and there was a vast +amount of talking. At last, in the great hall of the Castle of +Berwick, the King gave judgment in favour of John Baliol: who, +consenting to receive his crown by the King of England's favour and +permission, was crowned at Scone, in an old stone chair which had +been used for ages in the abbey there, at the coronations of +Scottish Kings. Then, King Edward caused the great seal of +Scotland, used since the late King's death, to be broken in four +pieces, and placed in the English Treasury; and considered that he +now had Scotland (according to the common saying) under his thumb. + +Scotland had a strong will of its own yet, however. King Edward, +determined that the Scottish King should not forget he was his +vassal, summoned him repeatedly to come and defend himself and his +judges before the English Parliament when appeals from the +decisions of Scottish courts of justice were being heard. At +length, John Baliol, who had no great heart of his own, had so much +heart put into him by the brave spirit of the Scottish people, who +took this as a national insult, that he refused to come any more. +Thereupon, the King further required him to help him in his war +abroad (which was then in progress), and to give up, as security +for his good behaviour in future, the three strong Scottish Castles +of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick. Nothing of this being done; on +the contrary, the Scottish people concealing their King among their +mountains in the Highlands and showing a determination to resist; +Edward marched to Berwick with an army of thirty thousand foot, and +four thousand horse; took the Castle, and slew its whole garrison, +and the inhabitants of the town as well - men, women, and children. +LORD WARRENNE, Earl of Surrey, then went on to the Castle of +Dunbar, before which a battle was fought, and the whole Scottish +army defeated with great slaughter. The victory being complete, +the Earl of Surrey was left as guardian of Scotland; the principal +offices in that kingdom were given to Englishmen; the more powerful +Scottish Nobles were obliged to come and live in England; the +Scottish crown and sceptre were brought away; and even the old +stone chair was carried off and placed in Westminster Abbey, where +you may see it now. Baliol had the Tower of London lent him for a +residence, with permission to range about within a circle of twenty +miles. Three years afterwards he was allowed to go to Normandy, +where he had estates, and where he passed the remaining six years +of his life: far more happily, I dare say, than he had lived for a +long while in angry Scotland. + +Now, there was, in the West of Scotland, a gentleman of small +fortune, named WILLIAM WALLACE, the second son of a Scottish +knight. He was a man of great size and great strength; he was very +brave and daring; when he spoke to a body of his countrymen, he +could rouse them in a wonderful manner by the power of his burning +words; he loved Scotland dearly, and he hated England with his +utmost might. The domineering conduct of the English who now held +the places of trust in Scotland made them as intolerable to the +proud Scottish people as they had been, under similar +circumstances, to the Welsh; and no man in all Scotland regarded +them with so much smothered rage as William Wallace. One day, an +Englishman in office, little knowing what he was, affronted HIM. +Wallace instantly struck him dead, and taking refuge among the +rocks and hills, and there joining with his countryman, SIR WILLIAM +DOUGLAS, who was also in arms against King Edward, became the most +resolute and undaunted champion of a people struggling for their +independence that ever lived upon the earth. + +The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled before him, and, thus +encouraged, the Scottish people revolted everywhere, and fell upon +the English without mercy. The Earl of Surrey, by the King's +commands, raised all the power of the Border-counties, and two +English armies poured into Scotland. Only one Chief, in the face +of those armies, stood by Wallace, who, with a force of forty +thousand men, awaited the invaders at a place on the river Forth, +within two miles of Stirling. Across the river there was only one +poor wooden bridge, called the bridge of Kildean - so narrow, that +but two men could cross it abreast. With his eyes upon this +bridge, Wallace posted the greater part of his men among some +rising grounds, and waited calmly. When the English army came up +on the opposite bank of the river, messengers were sent forward to +offer terms. Wallace sent them back with a defiance, in the name +of the freedom of Scotland. Some of the officers of the Earl of +Surrey in command of the English, with THEIR eyes also on the +bridge, advised him to be discreet and not hasty. He, however, +urged to immediate battle by some other officers, and particularly +by CRESSINGHAM, King Edward's treasurer, and a rash man, gave the +word of command to advance. One thousand English crossed the +bridge, two abreast; the Scottish troops were as motionless as +stone images. Two thousand English crossed; three thousand, four +thousand, five. Not a feather, all this time, had been seen to +stir among the Scottish bonnets. Now, they all fluttered. +'Forward, one party, to the foot of the Bridge!' cried Wallace, +'and let no more English cross! The rest, down with me on the five +thousand who have come over, and cut them all to pieces!' It was +done, in the sight of the whole remainder of the English army, who +could give no help. Cressingham himself was killed, and the Scotch +made whips for their horses of his skin. + +King Edward was abroad at this time, and during the successes on +the Scottish side which followed, and which enabled bold Wallace to +win the whole country back again, and even to ravage the English +borders. But, after a few winter months, the King returned, and +took the field with more than his usual energy. One night, when a +kick from his horse as they both lay on the ground together broke +two of his ribs, and a cry arose that he was killed, he leaped into +his saddle, regardless of the pain he suffered, and rode through +the camp. Day then appearing, he gave the word (still, of course, +in that bruised and aching state) Forward! and led his army on to +near Falkirk, where the Scottish forces were seen drawn up on some +stony ground, behind a morass. Here, he defeated Wallace, and +killed fifteen thousand of his men. With the shattered remainder, +Wallace drew back to Stirling; but, being pursued, set fire to the +town that it might give no help to the English, and escaped. The +inhabitants of Perth afterwards set fire to their houses for the +same reason, and the King, unable to find provisions, was forced to +withdraw his army. + +Another ROBERT BRUCE, the grandson of him who had disputed the +Scottish crown with Baliol, was now in arms against the King (that +elder Bruce being dead), and also JOHN COMYN, Baliol's nephew. +These two young men might agree in opposing Edward, but could agree +in nothing else, as they were rivals for the throne of Scotland. +Probably it was because they knew this, and knew what troubles must +arise even if they could hope to get the better of the great +English King, that the principal Scottish people applied to the +Pope for his interference. The Pope, on the principle of losing +nothing for want of trying to get it, very coolly claimed that +Scotland belonged to him; but this was a little too much, and the +Parliament in a friendly manner told him so. + +In the spring time of the year one thousand three hundred and +three, the King sent SIR JOHN SEGRAVE, whom he made Governor of +Scotland, with twenty thousand men, to reduce the rebels. Sir John +was not as careful as he should have been, but encamped at Rosslyn, +near Edinburgh, with his army divided into three parts. The +Scottish forces saw their advantage; fell on each part separately; +defeated each; and killed all the prisoners. Then, came the King +himself once more, as soon as a great army could be raised; he +passed through the whole north of Scotland, laying waste whatsoever +came in his way; and he took up his winter quarters at Dunfermline. +The Scottish cause now looked so hopeless, that Comyn and the other +nobles made submission and received their pardons. Wallace alone +stood out. He was invited to surrender, though on no distinct +pledge that his life should be spared; but he still defied the +ireful King, and lived among the steep crags of the Highland glens, +where the eagles made their nests, and where the mountain torrents +roared, and the white snow was deep, and the bitter winds blew +round his unsheltered head, as he lay through many a pitch-dark +night wrapped up in his plaid. Nothing could break his spirit; +nothing could lower his courage; nothing could induce him to forget +or to forgive his country's wrongs. Even when the Castle of +Stirling, which had long held out, was besieged by the King with +every kind of military engine then in use; even when the lead upon +cathedral roofs was taken down to help to make them; even when the +King, though an old man, commanded in the siege as if he were a +youth, being so resolved to conquer; even when the brave garrison +(then found with amazement to be not two hundred people, including +several ladies) were starved and beaten out and were made to submit +on their knees, and with every form of disgrace that could +aggravate their sufferings; even then, when there was not a ray of +hope in Scotland, William Wallace was as proud and firm as if he +had beheld the powerful and relentless Edward lying dead at his +feet. + +Who betrayed William Wallace in the end, is not quite certain. +That he was betrayed - probably by an attendant - is too true. He +was taken to the Castle of Dumbarton, under SIR JOHN MENTEITH, and +thence to London, where the great fame of his bravery and +resolution attracted immense concourses of people to behold him. +He was tried in Westminster Hall, with a crown of laurel on his +head - it is supposed because he was reported to have said that he +ought to wear, or that he would wear, a crown there and was found +guilty as a robber, a murderer, and a traitor. What they called a +robber (he said to those who tried him) he was, because he had +taken spoil from the King's men. What they called a murderer, he +was, because he had slain an insolent Englishman. What they called +a traitor, he was not, for he had never sworn allegiance to the +King, and had ever scorned to do it. He was dragged at the tails +of horses to West Smithfield, and there hanged on a high gallows, +torn open before he was dead, beheaded, and quartered. His head +was set upon a pole on London Bridge, his right arm was sent to +Newcastle, his left arm to Berwick, his legs to Perth and Aberdeen. +But, if King Edward had had his body cut into inches, and had sent +every separate inch into a separate town, he could not have +dispersed it half so far and wide as his fame. Wallace will be +remembered in songs and stories, while there are songs and stories +in the English tongue, and Scotland will hold him dear while her +lakes and mountains last. + +Released from this dreaded enemy, the King made a fairer plan of +Government for Scotland, divided the offices of honour among +Scottish gentlemen and English gentlemen, forgave past offences, +and thought, in his old age, that his work was done. + +But he deceived himself. Comyn and Bruce conspired, and made an +appointment to meet at Dumfries, in the church of the Minorites. +There is a story that Comyn was false to Bruce, and had informed +against him to the King; that Bruce was warned of his danger and +the necessity of flight, by receiving, one night as he sat at +supper, from his friend the Earl of Gloucester, twelve pennies and +a pair of spurs; that as he was riding angrily to keep his +appointment (through a snow-storm, with his horse's shoes reversed +that he might not be tracked), he met an evil-looking serving man, +a messenger of Comyn, whom he killed, and concealed in whose dress +he found letters that proved Comyn's treachery. However this may +be, they were likely enough to quarrel in any case, being hot- +headed rivals; and, whatever they quarrelled about, they certainly +did quarrel in the church where they met, and Bruce drew his dagger +and stabbed Comyn, who fell upon the pavement. When Bruce came +out, pale and disturbed, the friends who were waiting for him asked +what was the matter? 'I think I have killed Comyn,' said he. 'You +only think so?' returned one of them; 'I will make sure!' and going +into the church, and finding him alive, stabbed him again and +again. Knowing that the King would never forgive this new deed of +violence, the party then declared Bruce King of Scotland: got him +crowned at Scone - without the chair; and set up the rebellious +standard once again. + +When the King heard of it he kindled with fiercer anger than he had +ever shown yet. He caused the Prince of Wales and two hundred and +seventy of the young nobility to be knighted - the trees in the +Temple Gardens were cut down to make room for their tents, and they +watched their armour all night, according to the old usage: some +in the Temple Church: some in Westminster Abbey - and at the +public Feast which then took place, he swore, by Heaven, and by two +swans covered with gold network which his minstrels placed upon the +table, that he would avenge the death of Comyn, and would punish +the false Bruce. And before all the company, he charged the Prince +his son, in case that he should die before accomplishing his vow, +not to bury him until it was fulfilled. Next morning the Prince +and the rest of the young Knights rode away to the Border-country +to join the English army; and the King, now weak and sick, followed +in a horse-litter. + +Bruce, after losing a battle and undergoing many dangers and much +misery, fled to Ireland, where he lay concealed through the winter. +That winter, Edward passed in hunting down and executing Bruce's +relations and adherents, sparing neither youth nor age, and showing +no touch of pity or sign of mercy. In the following spring, Bruce +reappeared and gained some victories. In these frays, both sides +were grievously cruel. For instance - Bruce's two brothers, being +taken captives desperately wounded, were ordered by the King to +instant execution. Bruce's friend Sir John Douglas, taking his own +Castle of Douglas out of the hands of an English Lord, roasted the +dead bodies of the slaughtered garrison in a great fire made of +every movable within it; which dreadful cookery his men called the +Douglas Larder. Bruce, still successful, however, drove the Earl +of Pembroke and the Earl of Gloucester into the Castle of Ayr and +laid siege to it. + +The King, who had been laid up all the winter, but had directed the +army from his sick-bed, now advanced to Carlisle, and there, +causing the litter in which he had travelled to be placed in the +Cathedral as an offering to Heaven, mounted his horse once more, +and for the last time. He was now sixty-nine years old, and had +reigned thirty-five years. He was so ill, that in four days he +could go no more than six miles; still, even at that pace, he went +on and resolutely kept his face towards the Border. At length, he +lay down at the village of Burgh-upon-Sands; and there, telling +those around him to impress upon the Prince that he was to remember +his father's vow, and was never to rest until he had thoroughly +subdued Scotland, he yielded up his last breath. + + + +CHAPTER XVII - ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND + + + +KING Edward the Second, the first Prince of Wales, was twenty-three +years old when his father died. There was a certain favourite of +his, a young man from Gascony, named PIERS GAVESTON, of whom his +father had so much disapproved that he had ordered him out of +England, and had made his son swear by the side of his sick-bed, +never to bring him back. But, the Prince no sooner found himself +King, than he broke his oath, as so many other Princes and Kings +did (they were far too ready to take oaths), and sent for his dear +friend immediately. + +Now, this same Gaveston was handsome enough, but was a reckless, +insolent, audacious fellow. He was detested by the proud English +Lords: not only because he had such power over the King, and made +the Court such a dissipated place, but, also, because he could ride +better than they at tournaments, and was used, in his impudence, to +cut very bad jokes on them; calling one, the old hog; another, the +stage-player; another, the Jew; another, the black dog of Ardenne. +This was as poor wit as need be, but it made those Lords very +wroth; and the surly Earl of Warwick, who was the black dog, swore +that the time should come when Piers Gaveston should feel the black +dog's teeth. + +It was not come yet, however, nor did it seem to be coming. The +King made him Earl of Cornwall, and gave him vast riches; and, when +the King went over to France to marry the French Princess, +ISABELLA, daughter of PHILIP LE BEL: who was said to be the most +beautiful woman in the world: he made Gaveston, Regent of the +Kingdom. His splendid marriage-ceremony in the Church of Our Lady +at Boulogne, where there were four Kings and three Queens present +(quite a pack of Court Cards, for I dare say the Knaves were not +wanting), being over, he seemed to care little or nothing for his +beautiful wife; but was wild with impatience to meet Gaveston +again. + +When he landed at home, he paid no attention to anybody else, but +ran into the favourite's arms before a great concourse of people, +and hugged him, and kissed him, and called him his brother. At the +coronation which soon followed, Gaveston was the richest and +brightest of all the glittering company there, and had the honour +of carrying the crown. This made the proud Lords fiercer than +ever; the people, too, despised the favourite, and would never call +him Earl of Cornwall, however much he complained to the King and +asked him to punish them for not doing so, but persisted in styling +him plain Piers Gaveston. + +The Barons were so unceremonious with the King in giving him to +understand that they would not bear this favourite, that the King +was obliged to send him out of the country. The favourite himself +was made to take an oath (more oaths!) that he would never come +back, and the Barons supposed him to be banished in disgrace, until +they heard that he was appointed Governor of Ireland. Even this +was not enough for the besotted King, who brought him home again in +a year's time, and not only disgusted the Court and the people by +his doting folly, but offended his beautiful wife too, who never +liked him afterwards. + +He had now the old Royal want - of money - and the Barons had the +new power of positively refusing to let him raise any. He summoned +a Parliament at York; the Barons refused to make one, while the +favourite was near him. He summoned another Parliament at +Westminster, and sent Gaveston away. Then, the Barons came, +completely armed, and appointed a committee of themselves to +correct abuses in the state and in the King's household. He got +some money on these conditions, and directly set off with Gaveston +to the Border-country, where they spent it in idling away the time, +and feasting, while Bruce made ready to drive the English out of +Scotland. For, though the old King had even made this poor weak +son of his swear (as some say) that he would not bury his bones, +but would have them boiled clean in a caldron, and carried before +the English army until Scotland was entirely subdued, the second +Edward was so unlike the first that Bruce gained strength and power +every day. + +The committee of Nobles, after some months of deliberation, +ordained that the King should henceforth call a Parliament +together, once every year, and even twice if necessary, instead of +summoning it only when he chose. Further, that Gaveston should +once more be banished, and, this time, on pain of death if he ever +came back. The King's tears were of no avail; he was obliged to +send his favourite to Flanders. As soon as he had done so, +however, he dissolved the Parliament, with the low cunning of a +mere fool, and set off to the North of England, thinking to get an +army about him to oppose the Nobles. And once again he brought +Gaveston home, and heaped upon him all the riches and titles of +which the Barons had deprived him. + +The Lords saw, now, that there was nothing for it but to put the +favourite to death. They could have done so, legally, according to +the terms of his banishment; but they did so, I am sorry to say, in +a shabby manner. Led by the Earl of Lancaster, the King's cousin, +they first of all attacked the King and Gaveston at Newcastle. +They had time to escape by sea, and the mean King, having his +precious Gaveston with him, was quite content to leave his lovely +wife behind. When they were comparatively safe, they separated; +the King went to York to collect a force of soldiers; and the +favourite shut himself up, in the meantime, in Scarborough Castle +overlooking the sea. This was what the Barons wanted. They knew +that the Castle could not hold out; they attacked it, and made +Gaveston surrender. He delivered himself up to the Earl of +Pembroke - that Lord whom he had called the Jew - on the Earl's +pledging his faith and knightly word, that no harm should happen to +him and no violence be done him. + +Now, it was agreed with Gaveston that he should be taken to the +Castle of Wallingford, and there kept in honourable custody. They +travelled as far as Dedington, near Banbury, where, in the Castle +of that place, they stopped for a night to rest. Whether the Earl +of Pembroke left his prisoner there, knowing what would happen, or +really left him thinking no harm, and only going (as he pretended) +to visit his wife, the Countess, who was in the neighbourhood, is +no great matter now; in any case, he was bound as an honourable +gentleman to protect his prisoner, and he did not do it. In the +morning, while the favourite was yet in bed, he was required to +dress himself and come down into the court-yard. He did so without +any mistrust, but started and turned pale when he found it full of +strange armed men. 'I think you know me?' said their leader, also +armed from head to foot. 'I am the black dog of Ardenne!' The +time was come when Piers Gaveston was to feel the black dog's teeth +indeed. They set him on a mule, and carried him, in mock state and +with military music, to the black dog's kennel - Warwick Castle - +where a hasty council, composed of some great noblemen, considered +what should be done with him. Some were for sparing him, but one +loud voice - it was the black dog's bark, I dare say - sounded +through the Castle Hall, uttering these words: 'You have the fox +in your power. Let him go now, and you must hunt him again.' + +They sentenced him to death. He threw himself at the feet of the +Earl of Lancaster - the old hog - but the old hog was as savage as +the dog. He was taken out upon the pleasant road, leading from +Warwick to Coventry, where the beautiful river Avon, by which, long +afterwards, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE was born and now lies buried, +sparkled in the bright landscape of the beautiful May-day; and +there they struck off his wretched head, and stained the dust with +his blood. + +When the King heard of this black deed, in his grief and rage he +denounced relentless war against his Barons, and both sides were in +arms for half a year. But, it then became necessary for them to +join their forces against Bruce, who had used the time well while +they were divided, and had now a great power in Scotland. + +Intelligence was brought that Bruce was then besieging Stirling +Castle, and that the Governor had been obliged to pledge himself to +surrender it, unless he should be relieved before a certain day. +Hereupon, the King ordered the nobles and their fighting-men to +meet him at Berwick; but, the nobles cared so little for the King, +and so neglected the summons, and lost time, that only on the day +before that appointed for the surrender, did the King find himself +at Stirling, and even then with a smaller force than he had +expected. However, he had, altogether, a hundred thousand men, and +Bruce had not more than forty thousand; but, Bruce's army was +strongly posted in three square columns, on the ground lying +between the Burn or Brook of Bannock and the walls of Stirling +Castle. + +On the very evening, when the King came up, Bruce did a brave act +that encouraged his men. He was seen by a certain HENRY DE BOHUN, +an English Knight, riding about before his army on a little horse, +with a light battle-axe in his hand, and a crown of gold on his +head. This English Knight, who was mounted on a strong war-horse, +cased in steel, strongly armed, and able (as he thought) to +overthrow Bruce by crushing him with his mere weight, set spurs to +his great charger, rode on him, and made a thrust at him with his +heavy spear. Bruce parried the thrust, and with one blow of his +battle-axe split his skull. + +The Scottish men did not forget this, next day when the battle +raged. RANDOLPH, Bruce's valiant Nephew, rode, with the small body +of men he commanded, into such a host of the English, all shining +in polished armour in the sunlight, that they seemed to be +swallowed up and lost, as if they had plunged into the sea. But, +they fought so well, and did such dreadful execution, that the +English staggered. Then came Bruce himself upon them, with all the +rest of his army. While they were thus hard pressed and amazed, +there appeared upon the hills what they supposed to be a new +Scottish army, but what were really only the camp followers, in +number fifteen thousand: whom Bruce had taught to show themselves +at that place and time. The Earl of Gloucester, commanding the +English horse, made a last rush to change the fortune of the day; +but Bruce (like Jack the Giant-killer in the story) had had pits +dug in the ground, and covered over with turfs and stakes. Into +these, as they gave way beneath the weight of the horses, riders +and horses rolled by hundreds. The English were completely routed; +all their treasure, stores, and engines, were taken by the Scottish +men; so many waggons and other wheeled vehicles were seized, that +it is related that they would have reached, if they had been drawn +out in a line, one hundred and eighty miles. The fortunes of +Scotland were, for the time, completely changed; and never was a +battle won, more famous upon Scottish ground, than this great +battle of BANNOCKBURN. + +Plague and famine succeeded in England; and still the powerless +King and his disdainful Lords were always in contention. Some of +the turbulent chiefs of Ireland made proposals to Bruce, to accept +the rule of that country. He sent his brother Edward to them, who +was crowned King of Ireland. He afterwards went himself to help +his brother in his Irish wars, but his brother was defeated in the +end and killed. Robert Bruce, returning to Scotland, still +increased his strength there. + +As the King's ruin had begun in a favourite, so it seemed likely to +end in one. He was too poor a creature to rely at all upon +himself; and his new favourite was one HUGH LE DESPENSER, the son +of a gentleman of ancient family. Hugh was handsome and brave, but +he was the favourite of a weak King, whom no man cared a rush for, +and that was a dangerous place to hold. The Nobles leagued against +him, because the King liked him; and they lay in wait, both for his +ruin and his father's. Now, the King had married him to the +daughter of the late Earl of Gloucester, and had given both him and +his father great possessions in Wales. In their endeavours to +extend these, they gave violent offence to an angry Welsh +gentleman, named JOHN DE MOWBRAY, and to divers other angry Welsh +gentlemen, who resorted to arms, took their castles, and seized +their estates. The Earl of Lancaster had first placed the +favourite (who was a poor relation of his own) at Court, and he +considered his own dignity offended by the preference he received +and the honours he acquired; so he, and the Barons who were his +friends, joined the Welshmen, marched on London, and sent a message +to the King demanding to have the favourite and his father +banished. At first, the King unaccountably took it into his head +to be spirited, and to send them a bold reply; but when they +quartered themselves around Holborn and Clerkenwell, and went down, +armed, to the Parliament at Westminster, he gave way, and complied +with their demands. + +His turn of triumph came sooner than he expected. It arose out of +an accidental circumstance. The beautiful Queen happening to be +travelling, came one night to one of the royal castles, and +demanded to be lodged and entertained there until morning. The +governor of this castle, who was one of the enraged lords, was +away, and in his absence, his wife refused admission to the Queen; +a scuffle took place among the common men on either side, and some +of the royal attendants were killed. The people, who cared nothing +for the King, were very angry that their beautiful Queen should be +thus rudely treated in her own dominions; and the King, taking +advantage of this feeling, besieged the castle, took it, and then +called the two Despensers home. Upon this, the confederate lords +and the Welshmen went over to Bruce. The King encountered them at +Boroughbridge, gained the victory, and took a number of +distinguished prisoners; among them, the Earl of Lancaster, now an +old man, upon whose destruction he was resolved. This Earl was +taken to his own castle of Pontefract, and there tried and found +guilty by an unfair court appointed for the purpose; he was not +even allowed to speak in his own defence. He was insulted, pelted, +mounted on a starved pony without saddle or bridle, carried out, +and beheaded. Eight-and-twenty knights were hanged, drawn, and +quartered. When the King had despatched this bloody work, and had +made a fresh and a long truce with Bruce, he took the Despensers +into greater favour than ever, and made the father Earl of +Winchester. + +One prisoner, and an important one, who was taken at Boroughbridge, +made his escape, however, and turned the tide against the King. +This was ROGER MORTIMER, always resolutely opposed to him, who was +sentenced to death, and placed for safe custody in the Tower of +London. He treated his guards to a quantity of wine into which he +had put a sleeping potion; and, when they were insensible, broke +out of his dungeon, got into a kitchen, climbed up the chimney, let +himself down from the roof of the building with a rope-ladder, +passed the sentries, got down to the river, and made away in a boat +to where servants and horses were waiting for him. He finally +escaped to France, where CHARLES LE BEL, the brother of the +beautiful Queen, was King. Charles sought to quarrel with the King +of England, on pretence of his not having come to do him homage at +his coronation. It was proposed that the beautiful Queen should go +over to arrange the dispute; she went, and wrote home to the King, +that as he was sick and could not come to France himself, perhaps +it would be better to send over the young Prince, their son, who +was only twelve years old, who could do homage to her brother in +his stead, and in whose company she would immediately return. The +King sent him: but, both he and the Queen remained at the French +Court, and Roger Mortimer became the Queen's lover. + +When the King wrote, again and again, to the Queen to come home, +she did not reply that she despised him too much to live with him +any more (which was the truth), but said she was afraid of the two +Despensers. In short, her design was to overthrow the favourites' +power, and the King's power, such as it was, and invade England. +Having obtained a French force of two thousand men, and being +joined by all the English exiles then in France, she landed, within +a year, at Orewell, in Suffolk, where she was immediately joined by +the Earls of Kent and Norfolk, the King's two brothers; by other +powerful noblemen; and lastly, by the first English general who was +despatched to check her: who went over to her with all his men. +The people of London, receiving these tidings, would do nothing for +the King, but broke open the Tower, let out all his prisoners, and +threw up their caps and hurrahed for the beautiful Queen. + +The King, with his two favourites, fled to Bristol, where he left +old Despenser in charge of the town and castle, while he went on +with the son to Wales. The Bristol men being opposed to the King, +and it being impossible to hold the town with enemies everywhere +within the walls, Despenser yielded it up on the third day, and was +instantly brought to trial for having traitorously influenced what +was called 'the King's mind' - though I doubt if the King ever had +any. He was a venerable old man, upwards of ninety years of age, +but his age gained no respect or mercy. He was hanged, torn open +while he was yet alive, cut up into pieces, and thrown to the dogs. +His son was soon taken, tried at Hereford before the same judge on +a long series of foolish charges, found guilty, and hanged upon a +gallows fifty feet high, with a chaplet of nettles round his head. +His poor old father and he were innocent enough of any worse crimes +than the crime of having been friends of a King, on whom, as a mere +man, they would never have deigned to cast a favourable look. It +is a bad crime, I know, and leads to worse; but, many lords and +gentlemen - I even think some ladies, too, if I recollect right - +have committed it in England, who have neither been given to the +dogs, nor hanged up fifty feet high. + +The wretched King was running here and there, all this time, and +never getting anywhere in particular, until he gave himself up, and +was taken off to Kenilworth Castle. When he was safely lodged +there, the Queen went to London and met the Parliament. And the +Bishop of Hereford, who was the most skilful of her friends, said, +What was to be done now? Here was an imbecile, indolent, miserable +King upon the throne; wouldn't it be better to take him off, and +put his son there instead? I don't know whether the Queen really +pitied him at this pass, but she began to cry; so, the Bishop said, +Well, my Lords and Gentlemen, what do you think, upon the whole, of +sending down to Kenilworth, and seeing if His Majesty (God bless +him, and forbid we should depose him!) won't resign? + +My Lords and Gentlemen thought it a good notion, so a deputation of +them went down to Kenilworth; and there the King came into the +great hall of the Castle, commonly dressed in a poor black gown; +and when he saw a certain bishop among them, fell down, poor +feeble-headed man, and made a wretched spectacle of himself. +Somebody lifted him up, and then SIR WILLIAM TRUSSEL, the Speaker +of the House of Commons, almost frightened him to death by making +him a tremendous speech to the effect that he was no longer a King, +and that everybody renounced allegiance to him. After which, SIR +THOMAS BLOUNT, the Steward of the Household, nearly finished him, +by coming forward and breaking his white wand - which was a +ceremony only performed at a King's death. Being asked in this +pressing manner what he thought of resigning, the King said he +thought it was the best thing he could do. So, he did it, and they +proclaimed his son next day. + +I wish I could close his history by saying that he lived a harmless +life in the Castle and the Castle gardens at Kenilworth, many years +- that he had a favourite, and plenty to eat and drink - and, +having that, wanted nothing. But he was shamefully humiliated. He +was outraged, and slighted, and had dirty water from ditches given +him to shave with, and wept and said he would have clean warm +water, and was altogether very miserable. He was moved from this +castle to that castle, and from that castle to the other castle, +because this lord or that lord, or the other lord, was too kind to +him: until at last he came to Berkeley Castle, near the River +Severn, where (the Lord Berkeley being then ill and absent) he fell +into the hands of two black ruffians, called THOMAS GOURNAY and +WILLIAM OGLE. + +One night - it was the night of September the twenty-first, one +thousand three hundred and twenty-seven - dreadful screams were +heard, by the startled people in the neighbouring town, ringing +through the thick walls of the Castle, and the dark, deep night; +and they said, as they were thus horribly awakened from their +sleep, 'May Heaven be merciful to the King; for those cries forbode +that no good is being done to him in his dismal prison!' Next +morning he was dead - not bruised, or stabbed, or marked upon the +body, but much distorted in the face; and it was whispered +afterwards, that those two villains, Gournay and Ogle, had burnt up +his inside with a red-hot iron. + +If you ever come near Gloucester, and see the centre tower of its +beautiful Cathedral, with its four rich pinnacles, rising lightly +in the air; you may remember that the wretched Edward the Second +was buried in the old abbey of that ancient city, at forty-three +years old, after being for nineteen years and a half a perfectly +incapable King. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII - ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD + + + +ROGER MORTIMER, the Queen's lover (who escaped to France in the +last chapter), was far from profiting by the examples he had had of +the fate of favourites. Having, through the Queen's influence, +come into possession of the estates of the two Despensers, he +became extremely proud and ambitious, and sought to be the real +ruler of England. The young King, who was crowned at fourteen +years of age with all the usual solemnities, resolved not to bear +this, and soon pursued Mortimer to his ruin. + +The people themselves were not fond of Mortimer - first, because he +was a Royal favourite; secondly, because he was supposed to have +helped to make a peace with Scotland which now took place, and in +virtue of which the young King's sister Joan, only seven years old, +was promised in marriage to David, the son and heir of Robert +Bruce, who was only five years old. The nobles hated Mortimer +because of his pride, riches, and power. They went so far as to +take up arms against him; but were obliged to submit. The Earl of +Kent, one of those who did so, but who afterwards went over to +Mortimer and the Queen, was made an example of in the following +cruel manner: + +He seems to have been anything but a wise old earl; and he was +persuaded by the agents of the favourite and the Queen, that poor +King Edward the Second was not really dead; and thus was betrayed +into writing letters favouring his rightful claim to the throne. +This was made out to be high treason, and he was tried, found +guilty, and sentenced to be executed. They took the poor old lord +outside the town of Winchester, and there kept him waiting some +three or four hours until they could find somebody to cut off his +head. At last, a convict said he would do it, if the government +would pardon him in return; and they gave him the pardon; and at +one blow he put the Earl of Kent out of his last suspense. + +While the Queen was in France, she had found a lovely and good +young lady, named Philippa, who she thought would make an excellent +wife for her son. The young King married this lady, soon after he +came to the throne; and her first child, Edward, Prince of Wales, +afterwards became celebrated, as we shall presently see, under the +famous title of EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. + +The young King, thinking the time ripe for the downfall of +Mortimer, took counsel with Lord Montacute how he should proceed. +A Parliament was going to be held at Nottingham, and that lord +recommended that the favourite should be seized by night in +Nottingham Castle, where he was sure to be. Now, this, like many +other things, was more easily said than done; because, to guard +against treachery, the great gates of the Castle were locked every +night, and the great keys were carried up-stairs to the Queen, who +laid them under her own pillow. But the Castle had a governor, and +the governor being Lord Montacute's friend, confided to him how he +knew of a secret passage underground, hidden from observation by +the weeds and brambles with which it was overgrown; and how, +through that passage, the conspirators might enter in the dead of +the night, and go straight to Mortimer's room. Accordingly, upon a +certain dark night, at midnight, they made their way through this +dismal place: startling the rats, and frightening the owls and +bats: and came safely to the bottom of the main tower of the +Castle, where the King met them, and took them up a profoundly-dark +staircase in a deep silence. They soon heard the voice of Mortimer +in council with some friends; and bursting into the room with a +sudden noise, took him prisoner. The Queen cried out from her bed- +chamber, 'Oh, my sweet son, my dear son, spare my gentle Mortimer!' +They carried him off, however; and, before the next Parliament, +accused him of having made differences between the young King and +his mother, and of having brought about the death of the Earl of +Kent, and even of the late King; for, as you know by this time, +when they wanted to get rid of a man in those old days, they were +not very particular of what they accused him. Mortimer was found +guilty of all this, and was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn. The +King shut his mother up in genteel confinement, where she passed +the rest of her life; and now he became King in earnest. + +The first effort he made was to conquer Scotland. The English +lords who had lands in Scotland, finding that their rights were not +respected under the late peace, made war on their own account: +choosing for their general, Edward, the son of John Baliol, who +made such a vigorous fight, that in less than two months he won the +whole Scottish Kingdom. He was joined, when thus triumphant, by +the King and Parliament; and he and the King in person besieged the +Scottish forces in Berwick. The whole Scottish army coming to the +assistance of their countrymen, such a furious battle ensued, that +thirty thousand men are said to have been killed in it. Baliol was +then crowned King of Scotland, doing homage to the King of England; +but little came of his successes after all, for the Scottish men +rose against him, within no very long time, and David Bruce came +back within ten years and took his kingdom. + +France was a far richer country than Scotland, and the King had a +much greater mind to conquer it. So, he let Scotland alone, and +pretended that he had a claim to the French throne in right of his +mother. He had, in reality, no claim at all; but that mattered +little in those times. He brought over to his cause many little +princes and sovereigns, and even courted the alliance of the people +of Flanders - a busy, working community, who had very small respect +for kings, and whose head man was a brewer. With such forces as he +raised by these means, Edward invaded France; but he did little by +that, except run into debt in carrying on the war to the extent of +three hundred thousand pounds. The next year he did better; +gaining a great sea-fight in the harbour of Sluys. This success, +however, was very shortlived, for the Flemings took fright at the +siege of Saint Omer and ran away, leaving their weapons and baggage +behind them. Philip, the French King, coming up with his army, and +Edward being very anxious to decide the war, proposed to settle the +difference by single combat with him, or by a fight of one hundred +knights on each side. The French King said, he thanked him; but +being very well as he was, he would rather not. So, after some +skirmishing and talking, a short peace was made. + +It was soon broken by King Edward's favouring the cause of John, +Earl of Montford; a French nobleman, who asserted a claim of his +own against the French King, and offered to do homage to England +for the Crown of France, if he could obtain it through England's +help. This French lord, himself, was soon defeated by the French +King's son, and shut up in a tower in Paris; but his wife, a +courageous and beautiful woman, who is said to have had the courage +of a man, and the heart of a lion, assembled the people of +Brittany, where she then was; and, showing them her infant son, +made many pathetic entreaties to them not to desert her and their +young Lord. They took fire at this appeal, and rallied round her +in the strong castle of Hennebon. Here she was not only besieged +without by the French under Charles de Blois, but was endangered +within by a dreary old bishop, who was always representing to the +people what horrors they must undergo if they were faithful - first +from famine, and afterwards from fire and sword. But this noble +lady, whose heart never failed her, encouraged her soldiers by her +own example; went from post to post like a great general; even +mounted on horseback fully armed, and, issuing from the castle by a +by-path, fell upon the French camp, set fire to the tents, and +threw the whole force into disorder. This done, she got safely +back to Hennebon again, and was received with loud shouts of joy by +the defenders of the castle, who had given her up for lost. As +they were now very short of provisions, however, and as they could +not dine off enthusiasm, and as the old bishop was always saying, +'I told you what it would come to!' they began to lose heart, and +to talk of yielding the castle up. The brave Countess retiring to +an upper room and looking with great grief out to sea, where she +expected relief from England, saw, at this very time, the English +ships in the distance, and was relieved and rescued! Sir Walter +Manning, the English commander, so admired her courage, that, being +come into the castle with the English knights, and having made a +feast there, he assaulted the French by way of dessert, and beat +them off triumphantly. Then he and the knights came back to the +castle with great joy; and the Countess who had watched them from a +high tower, thanked them with all her heart, and kissed them every +one. + +This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight +with the French off Guernsey, when she was on her way to England to +ask for more troops. Her great spirit roused another lady, the +wife of another French lord (whom the French King very barbarously +murdered), to distinguish herself scarcely less. The time was fast +coming, however, when Edward, Prince of Wales, was to be the great +star of this French and English war. + +It was in the month of July, in the year one thousand three hundred +and forty-six, when the King embarked at Southampton for France, +with an army of about thirty thousand men in all, attended by the +Prince of Wales and by several of the chief nobles. He landed at +La Hogue in Normandy; and, burning and destroying as he went, +according to custom, advanced up the left bank of the River Seine, +and fired the small towns even close to Paris; but, being watched +from the right bank of the river by the French King and all his +army, it came to this at last, that Edward found himself, on +Saturday the twenty-sixth of August, one thousand three hundred and +forty-six, on a rising ground behind the little French village of +Crecy, face to face with the French King's force. And, although +the French King had an enormous army - in number more than eight +times his - he there resolved to beat him or be beaten. + +The young Prince, assisted by the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of +Warwick, led the first division of the English army; two other +great Earls led the second; and the King, the third. When the +morning dawned, the King received the sacrament, and heard prayers, +and then, mounted on horseback with a white wand in his hand, rode +from company to company, and rank to rank, cheering and encouraging +both officers and men. Then the whole army breakfasted, each man +sitting on the ground where he had stood; and then they remained +quietly on the ground with their weapons ready. + +Up came the French King with all his great force. It was dark and +angry weather; there was an eclipse of the sun; there was a +thunder-storm, accompanied with tremendous rain; the frightened +birds flew screaming above the soldiers' heads. A certain captain +in the French army advised the French King, who was by no means +cheerful, not to begin the battle until the morrow. The King, +taking this advice, gave the word to halt. But, those behind not +understanding it, or desiring to be foremost with the rest, came +pressing on. The roads for a great distance were covered with this +immense army, and with the common people from the villages, who +were flourishing their rude weapons, and making a great noise. +Owing to these circumstances, the French army advanced in the +greatest confusion; every French lord doing what he liked with his +own men, and putting out the men of every other French lord. + +Now, their King relied strongly upon a great body of cross-bowmen +from Genoa; and these he ordered to the front to begin the battle, +on finding that he could not stop it. They shouted once, they +shouted twice, they shouted three times, to alarm the English +archers; but, the English would have heard them shout three +thousand times and would have never moved. At last the cross- +bowmen went forward a little, and began to discharge their bolts; +upon which, the English let fly such a hail of arrows, that the +Genoese speedily made off - for their cross-bows, besides being +heavy to carry, required to be wound up with a handle, and +consequently took time to re-load; the English, on the other hand, +could discharge their arrows almost as fast as the arrows could +fly. + +When the French King saw the Genoese turning, he cried out to his +men to kill those scoundrels, who were doing harm instead of +service. This increased the confusion. Meanwhile the English +archers, continuing to shoot as fast as ever, shot down great +numbers of the French soldiers and knights; whom certain sly +Cornish-men and Welshmen, from the English army, creeping along the +ground, despatched with great knives. + +The Prince and his division were at this time so hard-pressed, that +the Earl of Warwick sent a message to the King, who was overlooking +the battle from a windmill, beseeching him to send more aid. + +'Is my son killed?' said the King. + +'No, sire, please God,' returned the messenger. + +'Is he wounded?' said the King. + +'No, sire.' + +'Is he thrown to the ground?' said the King. + +'No, sire, not so; but, he is very hard-pressed.' + +'Then,' said the King, 'go back to those who sent you, and tell +them I shall send no aid; because I set my heart upon my son +proving himself this day a brave knight, and because I am resolved, +please God, that the honour of a great victory shall be his!' + +These bold words, being reported to the Prince and his division, so +raised their spirits, that they fought better than ever. The King +of France charged gallantly with his men many times; but it was of +no use. Night closing in, his horse was killed under him by an +English arrow, and the knights and nobles who had clustered thick +about him early in the day, were now completely scattered. At +last, some of his few remaining followers led him off the field by +force since he would not retire of himself, and they journeyed away +to Amiens. The victorious English, lighting their watch-fires, +made merry on the field, and the King, riding to meet his gallant +son, took him in his arms, kissed him, and told him that he had +acted nobly, and proved himself worthy of the day and of the crown. +While it was yet night, King Edward was hardly aware of the great +victory he had gained; but, next day, it was discovered that eleven +princes, twelve hundred knights, and thirty thousand common men lay +dead upon the French side. Among these was the King of Bohemia, an +old blind man; who, having been told that his son was wounded in +the battle, and that no force could stand against the Black Prince, +called to him two knights, put himself on horse-back between them, +fastened the three bridles together, and dashed in among the +English, where he was presently slain. He bore as his crest three +white ostrich feathers, with the motto ICH DIEN, signifying in +English 'I serve.' This crest and motto were taken by the Prince +of Wales in remembrance of that famous day, and have been borne by +the Prince of Wales ever since. + +Five days after this great battle, the King laid siege to Calais. +This siege - ever afterwards memorable - lasted nearly a year. In +order to starve the inhabitants out, King Edward built so many +wooden houses for the lodgings of his troops, that it is said their +quarters looked like a second Calais suddenly sprung around the +first. Early in the siege, the governor of the town drove out what +he called the useless mouths, to the number of seventeen hundred +persons, men and women, young and old. King Edward allowed them to +pass through his lines, and even fed them, and dismissed them with +money; but, later in the siege, he was not so merciful - five +hundred more, who were afterwards driven out, dying of starvation +and misery. The garrison were so hard-pressed at last, that they +sent a letter to King Philip, telling him that they had eaten all +the horses, all the dogs, and all the rats and mice that could be +found in the place; and, that if he did not relieve them, they must +either surrender to the English, or eat one another. Philip made +one effort to give them relief; but they were so hemmed in by the +English power, that he could not succeed, and was fain to leave the +place. Upon this they hoisted the English flag, and surrendered to +King Edward. 'Tell your general,' said he to the humble messengers +who came out of the town, 'that I require to have sent here, six of +the most distinguished citizens, bare-legged, and in their shirts, +with ropes about their necks; and let those six men bring with them +the keys of the castle and the town.' + +When the Governor of Calais related this to the people in the +Market-place, there was great weeping and distress; in the midst of +which, one worthy citizen, named Eustace de Saint Pierre, rose up +and said, that if the six men required were not sacrificed, the +whole population would be; therefore, he offered himself as the +first. Encouraged by this bright example, five other worthy +citizens rose up one after another, and offered themselves to save +the rest. The Governor, who was too badly wounded to be able to +walk, mounted a poor old horse that had not been eaten, and +conducted these good men to the gate, while all the people cried +and mourned. + +Edward received them wrathfully, and ordered the heads of the whole +six to be struck off. However, the good Queen fell upon her knees, +and besought the King to give them up to her. The King replied, 'I +wish you had been somewhere else; but I cannot refuse you.' So she +had them properly dressed, made a feast for them, and sent them +back with a handsome present, to the great rejoicing of the whole +camp. I hope the people of Calais loved the daughter to whom she +gave birth soon afterwards, for her gentle mother's sake. + +Now came that terrible disease, the Plague, into Europe, hurrying +from the heart of China; and killed the wretched people - +especially the poor - in such enormous numbers, that one-half of +the inhabitants of England are related to have died of it. It +killed the cattle, in great numbers, too; and so few working men +remained alive, that there were not enough left to till the ground. + +After eight years of differing and quarrelling, the Prince of Wales +again invaded France with an army of sixty thousand men. He went +through the south of the country, burning and plundering +wheresoever he went; while his father, who had still the Scottish +war upon his hands, did the like in Scotland, but was harassed and +worried in his retreat from that country by the Scottish men, who +repaid his cruelties with interest. + +The French King, Philip, was now dead, and was succeeded by his son +John. The Black Prince, called by that name from the colour of the +armour he wore to set off his fair complexion, continuing to burn +and destroy in France, roused John into determined opposition; and +so cruel had the Black Prince been in his campaign, and so severely +had the French peasants suffered, that he could not find one who, +for love, or money, or the fear of death, would tell him what the +French King was doing, or where he was. Thus it happened that he +came upon the French King's forces, all of a sudden, near the town +of Poitiers, and found that the whole neighbouring country was +occupied by a vast French army. 'God help us!' said the Black +Prince, 'we must make the best of it.' + +So, on a Sunday morning, the eighteenth of September, the Prince +whose army was now reduced to ten thousand men in all - prepared to +give battle to the French King, who had sixty thousand horse alone. +While he was so engaged, there came riding from the French camp, a +Cardinal, who had persuaded John to let him offer terms, and try to +save the shedding of Christian blood. 'Save my honour,' said the +Prince to this good priest, 'and save the honour of my army, and I +will make any reasonable terms.' He offered to give up all the +towns, castles, and prisoners, he had taken, and to swear to make +no war in France for seven years; but, as John would hear of +nothing but his surrender, with a hundred of his chief knights, the +treaty was broken off, and the Prince said quietly - 'God defend +the right; we shall fight to-morrow.' + +Therefore, on the Monday morning, at break of day, the two armies +prepared for battle. The English were posted in a strong place, +which could only be approached by one narrow lane, skirted by +hedges on both sides. The French attacked them by this lane; but +were so galled and slain by English arrows from behind the hedges, +that they were forced to retreat. Then went six hundred English +bowmen round about, and, coming upon the rear of the French army, +rained arrows on them thick and fast. The French knights, thrown +into confusion, quitted their banners and dispersed in all +directions. Said Sir John Chandos to the Prince, 'Ride forward, +noble Prince, and the day is yours. The King of France is so +valiant a gentleman, that I know he will never fly, and may be +taken prisoner.' Said the Prince to this, 'Advance, English +banners, in the name of God and St. George!' and on they pressed +until they came up with the French King, fighting fiercely with his +battle-axe, and, when all his nobles had forsaken him, attended +faithfully to the last by his youngest son Philip, only sixteen +years of age. Father and son fought well, and the King had already +two wounds in his face, and had been beaten down, when he at last +delivered himself to a banished French knight, and gave him his +right-hand glove in token that he had done so. + +The Black Prince was generous as well as brave, and he invited his +royal prisoner to supper in his tent, and waited upon him at table, +and, when they afterwards rode into London in a gorgeous +procession, mounted the French King on a fine cream-coloured horse, +and rode at his side on a little pony. This was all very kind, but +I think it was, perhaps, a little theatrical too, and has been made +more meritorious than it deserved to be; especially as I am +inclined to think that the greatest kindness to the King of France +would have been not to have shown him to the people at all. +However, it must be said, for these acts of politeness, that, in +course of time, they did much to soften the horrors of war and the +passions of conquerors. It was a long, long time before the common +soldiers began to have the benefit of such courtly deeds; but they +did at last; and thus it is possible that a poor soldier who asked +for quarter at the battle of Waterloo, or any other such great +fight, may have owed his life indirectly to Edward the Black +Prince. + +At this time there stood in the Strand, in London, a palace called +the Savoy, which was given up to the captive King of France and his +son for their residence. As the King of Scotland had now been King +Edward's captive for eleven years too, his success was, at this +time, tolerably complete. The Scottish business was settled by the +prisoner being released under the title of Sir David, King of +Scotland, and by his engaging to pay a large ransom. The state of +France encouraged England to propose harder terms to that country, +where the people rose against the unspeakable cruelty and barbarity +of its nobles; where the nobles rose in turn against the people; +where the most frightful outrages were committed on all sides; and +where the insurrection of the peasants, called the insurrection of +the Jacquerie, from Jacques, a common Christian name among the +country people of France, awakened terrors and hatreds that have +scarcely yet passed away. A treaty called the Great Peace, was at +last signed, under which King Edward agreed to give up the greater +part of his conquests, and King John to pay, within six years, a +ransom of three million crowns of gold. He was so beset by his own +nobles and courtiers for having yielded to these conditions - +though they could help him to no better - that he came back of his +own will to his old palace-prison of the Savoy, and there died. + +There was a Sovereign of Castile at that time, called PEDRO THE +CRUEL, who deserved the name remarkably well: having committed, +among other cruelties, a variety of murders. This amiable monarch +being driven from his throne for his crimes, went to the province +of Bordeaux, where the Black Prince - now married to his cousin +JOAN, a pretty widow - was residing, and besought his help. The +Prince, who took to him much more kindly than a prince of such fame +ought to have taken to such a ruffian, readily listened to his fair +promises, and agreeing to help him, sent secret orders to some +troublesome disbanded soldiers of his and his father's, who called +themselves the Free Companions, and who had been a pest to the +French people, for some time, to aid this Pedro. The Prince, +himself, going into Spain to head the army of relief, soon set +Pedro on his throne again - where he no sooner found himself, than, +of course, he behaved like the villain he was, broke his word +without the least shame, and abandoned all the promises he had made +to the Black Prince. + +Now, it had cost the Prince a good deal of money to pay soldiers to +support this murderous King; and finding himself, when he came back +disgusted to Bordeaux, not only in bad health, but deeply in debt, +he began to tax his French subjects to pay his creditors. They +appealed to the French King, CHARLES; war again broke out; and the +French town of Limoges, which the Prince had greatly benefited, +went over to the French King. Upon this he ravaged the province of +which it was the capital; burnt, and plundered, and killed in the +old sickening way; and refused mercy to the prisoners, men, women, +and children taken in the offending town, though he was so ill and +so much in need of pity himself from Heaven, that he was carried in +a litter. He lived to come home and make himself popular with the +people and Parliament, and he died on Trinity Sunday, the eighth of +June, one thousand three hundred and seventy-six, at forty-six +years old. + +The whole nation mourned for him as one of the most renowned and +beloved princes it had ever had; and he was buried with great +lamentations in Canterbury Cathedral. Near to the tomb of Edward +the Confessor, his monument, with his figure, carved in stone, and +represented in the old black armour, lying on its back, may be seen +at this day, with an ancient coat of mail, a helmet, and a pair of +gauntlets hanging from a beam above it, which most people like to +believe were once worn by the Black Prince. + +King Edward did not outlive his renowned son, long. He was old, +and one Alice Perrers, a beautiful lady, had contrived to make him +so fond of her in his old age, that he could refuse her nothing, +and made himself ridiculous. She little deserved his love, or - +what I dare say she valued a great deal more - the jewels of the +late Queen, which he gave her among other rich presents. She took +the very ring from his finger on the morning of the day when he +died, and left him to be pillaged by his faithless servants. Only +one good priest was true to him, and attended him to the last. + +Besides being famous for the great victories I have related, the +reign of King Edward the Third was rendered memorable in better +ways, by the growth of architecture and the erection of Windsor +Castle. In better ways still, by the rising up of WICKLIFFE, +originally a poor parish priest: who devoted himself to exposing, +with wonderful power and success, the ambition and corruption of +the Pope, and of the whole church of which he was the head. + +Some of those Flemings were induced to come to England in this +reign too, and to settle in Norfolk, where they made better woollen +cloths than the English had ever had before. The Order of the +Garter (a very fine thing in its way, but hardly so important as +good clothes for the nation) also dates from this period. The King +is said to have picked 'up a lady's garter at a ball, and to have +said, HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE - in English, 'Evil be to him who +evil thinks of it.' The courtiers were usually glad to imitate +what the King said or did, and hence from a slight incident the +Order of the Garter was instituted, and became a great dignity. So +the story goes. + + + +CHAPTER XIX - ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND + + + +RICHARD, son of the Black Prince, a boy eleven years of age, +succeeded to the Crown under the title of King Richard the Second. +The whole English nation were ready to admire him for the sake of +his brave father. As to the lords and ladies about the Court, they +declared him to be the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best - +even of princes - whom the lords and ladies about the Court, +generally declare to be the most beautiful, the wisest, and the +best of mankind. To flatter a poor boy in this base manner was not +a very likely way to develop whatever good was in him; and it +brought him to anything but a good or happy end. + +The Duke of Lancaster, the young King's uncle - commonly called +John of Gaunt, from having been born at Ghent, which the common +people so pronounced - was supposed to have some thoughts of the +throne himself; but, as he was not popular, and the memory of the +Black Prince was, he submitted to his nephew. + +The war with France being still unsettled, the Government of +England wanted money to provide for the expenses that might arise +out of it; accordingly a certain tax, called the Poll-tax, which +had originated in the last reign, was ordered to be levied on the +people. This was a tax on every person in the kingdom, male and +female, above the age of fourteen, of three groats (or three four- +penny pieces) a year; clergymen were charged more, and only beggars +were exempt. + +I have no need to repeat that the common people of England had long +been suffering under great oppression. They were still the mere +slaves of the lords of the land on which they lived, and were on +most occasions harshly and unjustly treated. But, they had begun +by this time to think very seriously of not bearing quite so much; +and, probably, were emboldened by that French insurrection I +mentioned in the last chapter. + +The people of Essex rose against the Poll-tax, and being severely +handled by the government officers, killed some of them. At this +very time one of the tax-collectors, going his rounds from house to +house, at Dartford in Kent came to the cottage of one WAT, a tiler +by trade, and claimed the tax upon his daughter. Her mother, who +was at home, declared that she was under the age of fourteen; upon +that, the collector (as other collectors had already done in +different parts of England) behaved in a savage way, and brutally +insulted Wat Tyler's daughter. The daughter screamed, the mother +screamed. Wat the Tiler, who was at work not far off, ran to the +spot, and did what any honest father under such provocation might +have done - struck the collector dead at a blow. + +Instantly the people of that town uprose as one man. They made Wat +Tyler their leader; they joined with the people of Essex, who were +in arms under a priest called JACK STRAW; they took out of prison +another priest named JOHN BALL; and gathering in numbers as they +went along, advanced, in a great confused army of poor men, to +Blackheath. It is said that they wanted to abolish all property, +and to declare all men equal. I do not think this very likely; +because they stopped the travellers on the roads and made them +swear to be true to King Richard and the people. Nor were they at +all disposed to injure those who had done them no harm, merely +because they were of high station; for, the King's mother, who had +to pass through their camp at Blackheath, on her way to her young +son, lying for safety in the Tower of London, had merely to kiss a +few dirty-faced rough-bearded men who were noisily fond of royalty, +and so got away in perfect safety. Next day the whole mass marched +on to London Bridge. + +There was a drawbridge in the middle, which WILLIAM WALWORTH the +Mayor caused to be raised to prevent their coming into the city; +but they soon terrified the citizens into lowering it again, and +spread themselves, with great uproar, over the streets. They broke +open the prisons; they burned the papers in Lambeth Palace; they +destroyed the DUKE OF LANCASTER'S Palace, the Savoy, in the Strand, +said to be the most beautiful and splendid in England; they set +fire to the books and documents in the Temple; and made a great +riot. Many of these outrages were committed in drunkenness; since +those citizens, who had well-filled cellars, were only too glad to +throw them open to save the rest of their property; but even the +drunken rioters were very careful to steal nothing. They were so +angry with one man, who was seen to take a silver cup at the Savoy +Palace, and put it in his breast, that they drowned him in the +river, cup and all. + +The young King had been taken out to treat with them before they +committed these excesses; but, he and the people about him were so +frightened by the riotous shouts, that they got back to the Tower +in the best way they could. This made the insurgents bolder; so +they went on rioting away, striking off the heads of those who did +not, at a moment's notice, declare for King Richard and the people; +and killing as many of the unpopular persons whom they supposed to +be their enemies as they could by any means lay hold of. In this +manner they passed one very violent day, and then proclamation was +made that the King would meet them at Mile-end, and grant their +requests. + +The rioters went to Mile-end to the number of sixty thousand, and +the King met them there, and to the King the rioters peaceably +proposed four conditions. First, that neither they, nor their +children, nor any coming after them, should be made slaves any +more. Secondly, that the rent of land should be fixed at a certain +price in money, instead of being paid in service. Thirdly, that +they should have liberty to buy and sell in all markets and public +places, like other free men. Fourthly, that they should be +pardoned for past offences. Heaven knows, there was nothing very +unreasonable in these proposals! The young King deceitfully +pretended to think so, and kept thirty clerks up, all night, +writing out a charter accordingly. + +Now, Wat Tyler himself wanted more than this. He wanted the entire +abolition of the forest laws. He was not at Mile-end with the +rest, but, while that meeting was being held, broke into the Tower +of London and slew the archbishop and the treasurer, for whose +heads the people had cried out loudly the day before. He and his +men even thrust their swords into the bed of the Princess of Wales +while the Princess was in it, to make certain that none of their +enemies were concealed there. + +So, Wat and his men still continued armed, and rode about the city. +Next morning, the King with a small train of some sixty gentlemen - +among whom was WALWORTH the Mayor - rode into Smithfield, and saw +Wat and his people at a little distance. Says Wat to his men, +'There is the King. I will go speak with him, and tell him what we +want.' + +Straightway Wat rode up to him, and began to talk. 'King,' says +Wat, 'dost thou see all my men there?' + +'Ah,' says the King. 'Why?' + +'Because,' says Wat, 'they are all at my command, and have sworn to +do whatever I bid them.' + +Some declared afterwards that as Wat said this, he laid his hand on +the King's bridle. Others declared that he was seen to play with +his own dagger. I think, myself, that he just spoke to the King +like a rough, angry man as he was, and did nothing more. At any +rate he was expecting no attack, and preparing for no resistance, +when Walworth the Mayor did the not very valiant deed of drawing a +short sword and stabbing him in the throat. He dropped from his +horse, and one of the King's people speedily finished him. So fell +Wat Tyler. Fawners and flatterers made a mighty triumph of it, and +set up a cry which will occasionally find an echo to this day. But +Wat was a hard-working man, who had suffered much, and had been +foully outraged; and it is probable that he was a man of a much +higher nature and a much braver spirit than any of the parasites +who exulted then, or have exulted since, over his defeat. + +Seeing Wat down, his men immediately bent their bows to avenge his +fall. If the young King had not had presence of mind at that +dangerous moment, both he and the Mayor to boot, might have +followed Tyler pretty fast. But the King riding up to the crowd, +cried out that Tyler was a traitor, and that he would be their +leader. They were so taken by surprise, that they set up a great +shouting, and followed the boy until he was met at Islington by a +large body of soldiers. + +The end of this rising was the then usual end. As soon as the King +found himself safe, he unsaid all he had said, and undid all he had +done; some fifteen hundred of the rioters were tried (mostly in +Essex) with great rigour, and executed with great cruelty. Many of +them were hanged on gibbets, and left there as a terror to the +country people; and, because their miserable friends took some of +the bodies down to bury, the King ordered the rest to be chained up +- which was the beginning of the barbarous custom of hanging in +chains. The King's falsehood in this business makes such a pitiful +figure, that I think Wat Tyler appears in history as beyond +comparison the truer and more respectable man of the two. + +Richard was now sixteen years of age, and married Anne of Bohemia, +an excellent princess, who was called 'the good Queen Anne.' She +deserved a better husband; for the King had been fawned and +flattered into a treacherous, wasteful, dissolute, bad young man. + +There were two Popes at this time (as if one were not enough!), and +their quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. +Scotland was still troublesome too; and at home there was much +jealousy and distrust, and plotting and counter-plotting, because +the King feared the ambition of his relations, and particularly of +his uncle, the Duke of Lancaster, and the duke had his party +against the King, and the King had his party against the duke. Nor +were these home troubles lessened when the duke went to Castile to +urge his claim to the crown of that kingdom; for then the Duke of +Gloucester, another of Richard's uncles, opposed him, and +influenced the Parliament to demand the dismissal of the King's +favourite ministers. The King said in reply, that he would not for +such men dismiss the meanest servant in his kitchen. But, it had +begun to signify little what a King said when a Parliament was +determined; so Richard was at last obliged to give way, and to +agree to another Government of the kingdom, under a commission of +fourteen nobles, for a year. His uncle of Gloucester was at the +head of this commission, and, in fact, appointed everybody +composing it. + +Having done all this, the King declared as soon as he saw an +opportunity that he had never meant to do it, and that it was all +illegal; and he got the judges secretly to sign a declaration to +that effect. The secret oozed out directly, and was carried to the +Duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Gloucester, at the head of forty +thousand men, met the King on his entering into London to enforce +his authority; the King was helpless against him; his favourites +and ministers were impeached and were mercilessly executed. Among +them were two men whom the people regarded with very different +feelings; one, Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice, who was hated for +having made what was called 'the bloody circuit' to try the +rioters; the other, Sir Simon Burley, an honourable knight, who had +been the dear friend of the Black Prince, and the governor and +guardian of the King. For this gentleman's life the good Queen +even begged of Gloucester on her knees; but Gloucester (with or +without reason) feared and hated him, and replied, that if she +valued her husband's crown, she had better beg no more. All this +was done under what was called by some the wonderful - and by +others, with better reason, the merciless - Parliament. + +But Gloucester's power was not to last for ever. He held it for +only a year longer; in which year the famous battle of Otterbourne, +sung in the old ballad of Chevy Chase, was fought. When the year +was out, the King, turning suddenly to Gloucester, in the midst of +a great council said, 'Uncle, how old am I?' 'Your highness,' +returned the Duke, 'is in your twenty-second year.' 'Am I so +much?' said the King; 'then I will manage my own affairs! I am +much obliged to you, my good lords, for your past services, but I +need them no more.' He followed this up, by appointing a new +Chancellor and a new Treasurer, and announced to the people that he +had resumed the Government. He held it for eight years without +opposition. Through all that time, he kept his determination to +revenge himself some day upon his uncle Gloucester, in his own +breast. + +At last the good Queen died, and then the King, desiring to take a +second wife, proposed to his council that he should marry Isabella, +of France, the daughter of Charles the Sixth: who, the French +courtiers said (as the English courtiers had said of Richard), was +a marvel of beauty and wit, and quite a phenomenon - of seven years +old. The council were divided about this marriage, but it took +place. It secured peace between England and France for a quarter +of a century; but it was strongly opposed to the prejudices of the +English people. The Duke of Gloucester, who was anxious to take +the occasion of making himself popular, declaimed against it +loudly, and this at length decided the King to execute the +vengeance he had been nursing so long. + +He went with a gay company to the Duke of Gloucester's house, +Pleshey Castle, in Essex, where the Duke, suspecting nothing, came +out into the court-yard to receive his royal visitor. While the +King conversed in a friendly manner with the Duchess, the Duke was +quietly seized, hurried away, shipped for Calais, and lodged in the +castle there. His friends, the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, were +taken in the same treacherous manner, and confined to their +castles. A few days after, at Nottingham, they were impeached of +high treason. The Earl of Arundel was condemned and beheaded, and +the Earl of Warwick was banished. Then, a writ was sent by a +messenger to the Governor of Calais, requiring him to send the Duke +of Gloucester over to be tried. In three days he returned an +answer that he could not do that, because the Duke of Gloucester +had died in prison. The Duke was declared a traitor, his property +was confiscated to the King, a real or pretended confession he had +made in prison to one of the Justices of the Common Pleas was +produced against him, and there was an end of the matter. How the +unfortunate duke died, very few cared to know. Whether he really +died naturally; whether he killed himself; whether, by the King's +order, he was strangled, or smothered between two beds (as a +serving-man of the Governor's named Hall, did afterwards declare), +cannot be discovered. There is not much doubt that he was killed, +somehow or other, by his nephew's orders. Among the most active +nobles in these proceedings were the King's cousin, Henry +Bolingbroke, whom the King had made Duke of Hereford to smooth down +the old family quarrels, and some others: who had in the family- +plotting times done just such acts themselves as they now condemned +in the duke. They seem to have been a corrupt set of men; but such +men were easily found about the court in such days. + +The people murmured at all this, and were still very sore about the +French marriage. The nobles saw how little the King cared for law, +and how crafty he was, and began to be somewhat afraid for +themselves. The King's life was a life of continued feasting and +excess; his retinue, down to the meanest servants, were dressed in +the most costly manner, and caroused at his tables, it is related, +to the number of ten thousand persons every day. He himself, +surrounded by a body of ten thousand archers, and enriched by a +duty on wool which the Commons had granted him for life, saw no +danger of ever being otherwise than powerful and absolute, and was +as fierce and haughty as a King could be. + +He had two of his old enemies left, in the persons of the Dukes of +Hereford and Norfolk. Sparing these no more than the others, he +tampered with the Duke of Hereford until he got him to declare +before the Council that the Duke of Norfolk had lately held some +treasonable talk with him, as he was riding near Brentford; and +that he had told him, among other things, that he could not believe +the King's oath - which nobody could, I should think. For this +treachery he obtained a pardon, and the Duke of Norfolk was +summoned to appear and defend himself. As he denied the charge and +said his accuser was a liar and a traitor, both noblemen, according +to the manner of those times, were held in custody, and the truth +was ordered to be decided by wager of battle at Coventry. This +wager of battle meant that whosoever won the combat was to be +considered in the right; which nonsense meant in effect, that no +strong man could ever be wrong. A great holiday was made; a great +crowd assembled, with much parade and show; and the two combatants +were about to rush at each other with their lances, when the King, +sitting in a pavilion to see fair, threw down the truncheon he +carried in his hand, and forbade the battle. The Duke of Hereford +was to be banished for ten years, and the Duke of Norfolk was to be +banished for life. So said the King. The Duke of Hereford went to +France, and went no farther. The Duke of Norfolk made a pilgrimage +to the Holy Land, and afterwards died at Venice of a broken heart. + +Faster and fiercer, after this, the King went on in his career. +The Duke of Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of Hereford, +died soon after the departure of his son; and, the King, although +he had solemnly granted to that son leave to inherit his father's +property, if it should come to him during his banishment, +immediately seized it all, like a robber. The judges were so +afraid of him, that they disgraced themselves by declaring this +theft to be just and lawful. His avarice knew no bounds. He +outlawed seventeen counties at once, on a frivolous pretence, +merely to raise money by way of fines for misconduct. In short, he +did as many dishonest things as he could; and cared so little for +the discontent of his subjects - though even the spaniel favourites +began to whisper to him that there was such a thing as discontent +afloat - that he took that time, of all others, for leaving England +and making an expedition against the Irish. + +He was scarcely gone, leaving the DUKE OF YORK Regent in his +absence, when his cousin, Henry of Hereford, came over from France +to claim the rights of which he had been so monstrously deprived. +He was immediately joined by the two great Earls of Northumberland +and Westmoreland; and his uncle, the Regent, finding the King's +cause unpopular, and the disinclination of the army to act against +Henry, very strong, withdrew with the Royal forces towards Bristol. +Henry, at the head of an army, came from Yorkshire (where he had +landed) to London and followed him. They joined their forces - how +they brought that about, is not distinctly understood - and +proceeded to Bristol Castle, whither three noblemen had taken the +young Queen. The castle surrendering, they presently put those +three noblemen to death. The Regent then remained there, and Henry +went on to Chester. + +All this time, the boisterous weather had prevented the King from +receiving intelligence of what had occurred. At length it was +conveyed to him in Ireland, and he sent over the EARL OF SALISBURY, +who, landing at Conway, rallied the Welshmen, and waited for the +King a whole fortnight; at the end of that time the Welshmen, who +were perhaps not very warm for him in the beginning, quite cooled +down and went home. When the King did land on the coast at last, +he came with a pretty good power, but his men cared nothing for +him, and quickly deserted. Supposing the Welshmen to be still at +Conway, he disguised himself as a priest, and made for that place +in company with his two brothers and some few of their adherents. +But, there were no Welshmen left - only Salisbury and a hundred +soldiers. In this distress, the King's two brothers, Exeter and +Surrey, offered to go to Henry to learn what his intentions were. +Surrey, who was true to Richard, was put into prison. Exeter, who +was false, took the royal badge, which was a hart, off his shield, +and assumed the rose, the badge of Henry. After this, it was +pretty plain to the King what Henry's intentions were, without +sending any more messengers to ask. + +The fallen King, thus deserted - hemmed in on all sides, and +pressed with hunger - rode here and rode there, and went to this +castle, and went to that castle, endeavouring to obtain some +provisions, but could find none. He rode wretchedly back to +Conway, and there surrendered himself to the Earl of +Northumberland, who came from Henry, in reality to take him +prisoner, but in appearance to offer terms; and whose men were +hidden not far off. By this earl he was conducted to the castle of +Flint, where his cousin Henry met him, and dropped on his knee as +if he were still respectful to his sovereign. + +'Fair cousin of Lancaster,' said the King, 'you are very welcome' +(very welcome, no doubt; but he would have been more so, in chains +or without a head). + +'My lord,' replied Henry, 'I am come a little before my time; but, +with your good pleasure, I will show you the reason. Your people +complain with some bitterness, that you have ruled them rigorously +for two-and-twenty years. Now, if it please God, I will help you +to govern them better in future.' + +'Fair cousin,' replied the abject King, 'since it pleaseth you, it +pleaseth me mightily.' + +After this, the trumpets sounded, and the King was stuck on a +wretched horse, and carried prisoner to Chester, where he was made +to issue a proclamation, calling a Parliament. From Chester he was +taken on towards London. At Lichfield he tried to escape by +getting out of a window and letting himself down into a garden; it +was all in vain, however, and he was carried on and shut up in the +Tower, where no one pitied him, and where the whole people, whose +patience he had quite tired out, reproached him without mercy. +Before he got there, it is related, that his very dog left him and +departed from his side to lick the hand of Henry. + +The day before the Parliament met, a deputation went to this +wrecked King, and told him that he had promised the Earl of +Northumberland at Conway Castle to resign the crown. He said he +was quite ready to do it, and signed a paper in which he renounced +his authority and absolved his people from their allegiance to him. +He had so little spirit left that he gave his royal ring to his +triumphant cousin Henry with his own hand, and said, that if he +could have had leave to appoint a successor, that same Henry was +the man of all others whom he would have named. Next day, the +Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall, where Henry sat at the +side of the throne, which was empty and covered with a cloth of +gold. The paper just signed by the King was read to the multitude +amid shouts of joy, which were echoed through all the streets; when +some of the noise had died away, the King was formally deposed. +Then Henry arose, and, making the sign of the cross on his forehead +and breast, challenged the realm of England as his right; the +archbishops of Canterbury and York seated him on the throne. + +The multitude shouted again, and the shouts re-echoed throughout +all the streets. No one remembered, now, that Richard the Second +had ever been the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best of +princes; and he now made living (to my thinking) a far more sorry +spectacle in the Tower of London, than Wat Tyler had made, lying +dead, among the hoofs of the royal horses in Smithfield. + +The Poll-tax died with Wat. The Smiths to the King and Royal +Family, could make no chains in which the King could hang the +people's recollection of him; so the Poll-tax was never collected. + + + +CHAPTER XX - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE + + + +DURING the last reign, the preaching of Wickliffe against the pride +and cunning of the Pope and all his men, had made a great noise in +England. Whether the new King wished to be in favour with the +priests, or whether he hoped, by pretending to be very religious, +to cheat Heaven itself into the belief that he was not a usurper, I +don't know. Both suppositions are likely enough. It is certain +that he began his reign by making a strong show against the +followers of Wickliffe, who were called Lollards, or heretics - +although his father, John of Gaunt, had been of that way of +thinking, as he himself had been more than suspected of being. It +is no less certain that he first established in England the +detestable and atrocious custom, brought from abroad, of burning +those people as a punishment for their opinions. It was the +importation into England of one of the practices of what was called +the Holy Inquisition: which was the most UNholy and the most +infamous tribunal that ever disgraced mankind, and made men more +like demons than followers of Our Saviour. + +No real right to the crown, as you know, was in this King. Edward +Mortimer, the young Earl of March - who was only eight or nine +years old, and who was descended from the Duke of Clarence, the +elder brother of Henry's father - was, by succession, the real heir +to the throne. However, the King got his son declared Prince of +Wales; and, obtaining possession of the young Earl of March and his +little brother, kept them in confinement (but not severely) in +Windsor Castle. He then required the Parliament to decide what was +to be done with the deposed King, who was quiet enough, and who +only said that he hoped his cousin Henry would be 'a good lord' to +him. The Parliament replied that they would recommend his being +kept in some secret place where the people could not resort, and +where his friends could not be admitted to see him. Henry +accordingly passed this sentence upon him, and it now began to be +pretty clear to the nation that Richard the Second would not live +very long. + +It was a noisy Parliament, as it was an unprincipled one, and the +Lords quarrelled so violently among themselves as to which of them +had been loyal and which disloyal, and which consistent and which +inconsistent, that forty gauntlets are said to have been thrown +upon the floor at one time as challenges to as many battles: the +truth being that they were all false and base together, and had +been, at one time with the old King, and at another time with the +new one, and seldom true for any length of time to any one. They +soon began to plot again. A conspiracy was formed to invite the +King to a tournament at Oxford, and then to take him by surprise +and kill him. This murderous enterprise, which was agreed upon at +secret meetings in the house of the Abbot of Westminster, was +betrayed by the Earl of Rutland - one of the conspirators. The +King, instead of going to the tournament or staying at Windsor +(where the conspirators suddenly went, on finding themselves +discovered, with the hope of seizing him), retired to London, +proclaimed them all traitors, and advanced upon them with a great +force. They retired into the west of England, proclaiming Richard +King; but, the people rose against them, and they were all slain. +Their treason hastened the death of the deposed monarch. Whether +he was killed by hired assassins, or whether he was starved to +death, or whether he refused food on hearing of his brothers being +killed (who were in that plot), is very doubtful. He met his death +somehow; and his body was publicly shown at St. Paul's Cathedral +with only the lower part of the face uncovered. I can scarcely +doubt that he was killed by the King's orders. + +The French wife of the miserable Richard was now only ten years +old; and, when her father, Charles of France, heard of her +misfortunes and of her lonely condition in England, he went mad: +as he had several times done before, during the last five or six +years. The French Dukes of Burgundy and Bourbon took up the poor +girl's cause, without caring much about it, but on the chance of +getting something out of England. The people of Bordeaux, who had +a sort of superstitious attachment to the memory of Richard, +because he was born there, swore by the Lord that he had been the +best man in all his kingdom - which was going rather far - and +promised to do great things against the English. Nevertheless, +when they came to consider that they, and the whole people of +France, were ruined by their own nobles, and that the English rule +was much the better of the two, they cooled down again; and the two +dukes, although they were very great men, could do nothing without +them. Then, began negotiations between France and England for the +sending home to Paris of the poor little Queen with all her jewels +and her fortune of two hundred thousand francs in gold. The King +was quite willing to restore the young lady, and even the jewels; +but he said he really could not part with the money. So, at last +she was safely deposited at Paris without her fortune, and then the +Duke of Burgundy (who was cousin to the French King) began to +quarrel with the Duke of Orleans (who was brother to the French +King) about the whole matter; and those two dukes made France even +more wretched than ever. + +As the idea of conquering Scotland was still popular at home, the +King marched to the river Tyne and demanded homage of the King of +that country. This being refused, he advanced to Edinburgh, but +did little there; for, his army being in want of provisions, and +the Scotch being very careful to hold him in check without giving +battle, he was obliged to retire. It is to his immortal honour +that in this sally he burnt no villages and slaughtered no people, +but was particularly careful that his army should be merciful and +harmless. It was a great example in those ruthless times. + +A war among the border people of England and Scotland went on for +twelve months, and then the Earl of Northumberland, the nobleman +who had helped Henry to the crown, began to rebel against him - +probably because nothing that Henry could do for him would satisfy +his extravagant expectations. There was a certain Welsh gentleman, +named OWEN GLENDOWER, who had been a student in one of the Inns of +Court, and had afterwards been in the service of the late King, +whose Welsh property was taken from him by a powerful lord related +to the present King, who was his neighbour. Appealing for redress, +and getting none, he took up arms, was made an outlaw, and declared +himself sovereign of Wales. He pretended to be a magician; and not +only were the Welsh people stupid enough to believe him, but, even +Henry believed him too; for, making three expeditions into Wales, +and being three times driven back by the wildness of the country, +the bad weather, and the skill of Glendower, he thought he was +defeated by the Welshman's magic arts. However, he took Lord Grey +and Sir Edmund Mortimer, prisoners, and allowed the relatives of +Lord Grey to ransom him, but would not extend such favour to Sir +Edmund Mortimer. Now, Henry Percy, called HOTSPUR, son of the Earl +of Northumberland, who was married to Mortimer's sister, is +supposed to have taken offence at this; and, therefore, in +conjunction with his father and some others, to have joined Owen +Glendower, and risen against Henry. It is by no means clear that +this was the real cause of the conspiracy; but perhaps it was made +the pretext. It was formed, and was very powerful; including +SCROOP, Archbishop of York, and the EARL OF DOUGLAS, a powerful and +brave Scottish nobleman. The King was prompt and active, and the +two armies met at Shrewsbury. + +There were about fourteen thousand men in each. The old Earl of +Northumberland being sick, the rebel forces were led by his son. +The King wore plain armour to deceive the enemy; and four noblemen, +with the same object, wore the royal arms. The rebel charge was so +furious, that every one of those gentlemen was killed, the royal +standard was beaten down, and the young Prince of Wales was +severely wounded in the face. But he was one of the bravest and +best soldiers that ever lived, and he fought so well, and the +King's troops were so encouraged by his bold example, that they +rallied immediately, and cut the enemy's forces all to pieces. +Hotspur was killed by an arrow in the brain, and the rout was so +complete that the whole rebellion was struck down by this one blow. +The Earl of Northumberland surrendered himself soon after hearing +of the death of his son, and received a pardon for all his +offences. + +There were some lingerings of rebellion yet: Owen Glendower being +retired to Wales, and a preposterous story being spread among the +ignorant people that King Richard was still alive. How they could +have believed such nonsense it is difficult to imagine; but they +certainly did suppose that the Court fool of the late King, who was +something like him, was he, himself; so that it seemed as if, after +giving so much trouble to the country in his life, he was still to +trouble it after his death. This was not the worst. The young +Earl of March and his brother were stolen out of Windsor Castle. +Being retaken, and being found to have been spirited away by one +Lady Spencer, she accused her own brother, that Earl of Rutland who +was in the former conspiracy and was now Duke of York, of being in +the plot. For this he was ruined in fortune, though not put to +death; and then another plot arose among the old Earl of +Northumberland, some other lords, and that same Scroop, Archbishop +of York, who was with the rebels before. These conspirators caused +a writing to be posted on the church doors, accusing the King of a +variety of crimes; but, the King being eager and vigilant to oppose +them, they were all taken, and the Archbishop was executed. This +was the first time that a great churchman had been slain by the law +in England; but the King was resolved that it should be done, and +done it was. + +The next most remarkable event of this time was the seizure, by +Henry, of the heir to the Scottish throne - James, a boy of nine +years old. He had been put aboard-ship by his father, the Scottish +King Robert, to save him from the designs of his uncle, when, on +his way to France, he was accidentally taken by some English +cruisers. He remained a prisoner in England for nineteen years, +and became in his prison a student and a famous poet. + +With the exception of occasional troubles with the Welsh and with +the French, the rest of King Henry's reign was quiet enough. But, +the King was far from happy, and probably was troubled in his +conscience by knowing that he had usurped the crown, and had +occasioned the death of his miserable cousin. The Prince of Wales, +though brave and generous, is said to have been wild and +dissipated, and even to have drawn his sword on GASCOIGNE, the +Chief Justice of the King's Bench, because he was firm in dealing +impartially with one of his dissolute companions. Upon this the +Chief Justice is said to have ordered him immediately to prison; +the Prince of Wales is said to have submitted with a good grace; +and the King is said to have exclaimed, 'Happy is the monarch who +has so just a judge, and a son so willing to obey the laws.' This +is all very doubtful, and so is another story (of which Shakespeare +has made beautiful use), that the Prince once took the crown out of +his father's chamber as he was sleeping, and tried it on his own +head. + +The King's health sank more and more, and he became subject to +violent eruptions on the face and to bad epileptic fits, and his +spirits sank every day. At last, as he was praying before the +shrine of St. Edward at Westminster Abbey, he was seized with a +terrible fit, and was carried into the Abbot's chamber, where he +presently died. It had been foretold that he would die at +Jerusalem, which certainly is not, and never was, Westminster. +But, as the Abbot's room had long been called the Jerusalem +chamber, people said it was all the same thing, and were quite +satisfied with the prediction. + +The King died on the 20th of March, 1413, in the forty-seventh year +of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. He was buried in +Canterbury Cathedral. He had been twice married, and had, by his +first wife, a family of four sons and two daughters. Considering +his duplicity before he came to the throne, his unjust seizure of +it, and above all, his making that monstrous law for the burning of +what the priests called heretics, he was a reasonably good king, as +kings went. + + + +CHAPTER XXI - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH + + + +FIRST PART + + +THE Prince of Wales began his reign like a generous and honest man. +He set the young Earl of March free; he restored their estates and +their honours to the Percy family, who had lost them by their +rebellion against his father; he ordered the imbecile and +unfortunate Richard to be honourably buried among the Kings of +England; and he dismissed all his wild companions, with assurances +that they should not want, if they would resolve to be steady, +faithful, and true. + +It is much easier to burn men than to burn their opinions; and +those of the Lollards were spreading every day. The Lollards were +represented by the priests - probably falsely for the most part - +to entertain treasonable designs against the new King; and Henry, +suffering himself to be worked upon by these representations, +sacrificed his friend Sir John Oldcastle, the Lord Cobham, to them, +after trying in vain to convert him by arguments. He was declared +guilty, as the head of the sect, and sentenced to the flames; but +he escaped from the Tower before the day of execution (postponed +for fifty days by the King himself), and summoned the Lollards to +meet him near London on a certain day. So the priests told the +King, at least. I doubt whether there was any conspiracy beyond +such as was got up by their agents. On the day appointed, instead +of five-and-twenty thousand men, under the command of Sir John +Oldcastle, in the meadows of St. Giles, the King found only eighty +men, and no Sir John at all. There was, in another place, an +addle-headed brewer, who had gold trappings to his horses, and a +pair of gilt spurs in his breast - expecting to be made a knight +next day by Sir John, and so to gain the right to wear them - but +there was no Sir John, nor did anybody give information respecting +him, though the King offered great rewards for such intelligence. +Thirty of these unfortunate Lollards were hanged and drawn +immediately, and were then burnt, gallows and all; and the various +prisons in and around London were crammed full of others. Some of +these unfortunate men made various confessions of treasonable +designs; but, such confessions were easily got, under torture and +the fear of fire, and are very little to be trusted. To finish the +sad story of Sir John Oldcastle at once, I may mention that he +escaped into Wales, and remained there safely, for four years. +When discovered by Lord Powis, it is very doubtful if he would have +been taken alive - so great was the old soldier's bravery - if a +miserable old woman had not come behind him and broken his legs +with a stool. He was carried to London in a horse-litter, was +fastened by an iron chain to a gibbet, and so roasted to death. + +To make the state of France as plain as I can in a few words, I +should tell you that the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Burgundy, +commonly called 'John without fear,' had had a grand reconciliation +of their quarrel in the last reign, and had appeared to be quite in +a heavenly state of mind. Immediately after which, on a Sunday, in +the public streets of Paris, the Duke of Orleans was murdered by a +party of twenty men, set on by the Duke of Burgundy - according to +his own deliberate confession. The widow of King Richard had been +married in France to the eldest son of the Duke of Orleans. The +poor mad King was quite powerless to help her, and the Duke of +Burgundy became the real master of France. Isabella dying, her +husband (Duke of Orleans since the death of his father) married the +daughter of the Count of Armagnac, who, being a much abler man than +his young son-in-law, headed his party; thence called after him +Armagnacs. Thus, France was now in this terrible condition, that +it had in it the party of the King's son, the Dauphin Louis; the +party of the Duke of Burgundy, who was the father of the Dauphin's +ill-used wife; and the party of the Armagnacs; all hating each +other; all fighting together; all composed of the most depraved +nobles that the earth has ever known; and all tearing unhappy +France to pieces. + +The late King had watched these dissensions from England, sensible +(like the French people) that no enemy of France could injure her +more than her own nobility. The present King now advanced a claim +to the French throne. His demand being, of course, refused, he +reduced his proposal to a certain large amount of French territory, +and to demanding the French princess, Catherine, in marriage, with +a fortune of two millions of golden crowns. He was offered less +territory and fewer crowns, and no princess; but he called his +ambassadors home and prepared for war. Then, he proposed to take +the princess with one million of crowns. The French Court replied +that he should have the princess with two hundred thousand crowns +less; he said this would not do (he had never seen the princess in +his life), and assembled his army at Southampton. There was a +short plot at home just at that time, for deposing him, and making +the Earl of March king; but the conspirators were all speedily +condemned and executed, and the King embarked for France. + +It is dreadful to observe how long a bad example will be followed; +but, it is encouraging to know that a good example is never thrown +away. The King's first act on disembarking at the mouth of the +river Seine, three miles from Harfleur, was to imitate his father, +and to proclaim his solemn orders that the lives and property of +the peaceable inhabitants should be respected on pain of death. It +is agreed by French writers, to his lasting renown, that even while +his soldiers were suffering the greatest distress from want of +food, these commands were rigidly obeyed. + +With an army in all of thirty thousand men, he besieged the town of +Harfleur both by sea and land for five weeks; at the end of which +time the town surrendered, and the inhabitants were allowed to +depart with only fivepence each, and a part of their clothes. All +the rest of their possessions was divided amongst the English army. +But, that army suffered so much, in spite of its successes, from +disease and privation, that it was already reduced one half. +Still, the King was determined not to retire until he had struck a +greater blow. Therefore, against the advice of all his +counsellors, he moved on with his little force towards Calais. +When he came up to the river Somme he was unable to cross, in +consequence of the fort being fortified; and, as the English moved +up the left bank of the river looking for a crossing, the French, +who had broken all the bridges, moved up the right bank, watching +them, and waiting to attack them when they should try to pass it. +At last the English found a crossing and got safely over. The +French held a council of war at Rouen, resolved to give the English +battle, and sent heralds to King Henry to know by which road he was +going. 'By the road that will take me straight to Calais!' said +the King, and sent them away with a present of a hundred crowns. + +The English moved on, until they beheld the French, and then the +King gave orders to form in line of battle. The French not coming +on, the army broke up after remaining in battle array till night, +and got good rest and refreshment at a neighbouring village. The +French were now all lying in another village, through which they +knew the English must pass. They were resolved that the English +should begin the battle. The English had no means of retreat, if +their King had any such intention; and so the two armies passed the +night, close together. + +To understand these armies well, you must bear in mind that the +immense French army had, among its notable persons, almost the +whole of that wicked nobility, whose debauchery had made France a +desert; and so besotted were they by pride, and by contempt for the +common people, that they had scarcely any bowmen (if indeed they +had any at all) in their whole enormous number: which, compared +with the English army, was at least as six to one. For these proud +fools had said that the bow was not a fit weapon for knightly +hands, and that France must be defended by gentlemen only. We +shall see, presently, what hand the gentlemen made of it. + +Now, on the English side, among the little force, there was a good +proportion of men who were not gentlemen by any means, but who were +good stout archers for all that. Among them, in the morning - +having slept little at night, while the French were carousing and +making sure of victory - the King rode, on a grey horse; wearing on +his head a helmet of shining steel, surmounted by a crown of gold, +sparkling with precious stones; and bearing over his armour, +embroidered together, the arms of England and the arms of France. +The archers looked at the shining helmet and the crown of gold and +the sparkling jewels, and admired them all; but, what they admired +most was the King's cheerful face, and his bright blue eye, as he +told them that, for himself, he had made up his mind to conquer +there or to die there, and that England should never have a ransom +to pay for HIM. There was one brave knight who chanced to say that +he wished some of the many gallant gentlemen and good soldiers, who +were then idle at home in England, were there to increase their +numbers. But the King told him that, for his part, he did not wish +for one more man. 'The fewer we have,' said he, 'the greater will +be the honour we shall win!' His men, being now all in good heart, +were refreshed with bread and wine, and heard prayers, and waited +quietly for the French. The King waited for the French, because +they were drawn up thirty deep (the little English force was only +three deep), on very difficult and heavy ground; and he knew that +when they moved, there must be confusion among them. + +As they did not move, he sent off two parties:- one to lie +concealed in a wood on the left of the French: the other, to set +fire to some houses behind the French after the battle should be +begun. This was scarcely done, when three of the proud French +gentlemen, who were to defend their country without any help from +the base peasants, came riding out, calling upon the English to +surrender. The King warned those gentlemen himself to retire with +all speed if they cared for their lives, and ordered the English +banners to advance. Upon that, Sir Thomas Erpingham, a great +English general, who commanded the archers, threw his truncheon +into the air, joyfully, and all the English men, kneeling down upon +the ground and biting it as if they took possession of the country, +rose up with a great shout and fell upon the French. + +Every archer was furnished with a great stake tipped with iron; and +his orders were, to thrust this stake into the ground, to discharge +his arrow, and then to fall back, when the French horsemen came on. +As the haughty French gentlemen, who were to break the English +archers and utterly destroy them with their knightly lances, came +riding up, they were received with such a blinding storm of arrows, +that they broke and turned. Horses and men rolled over one +another, and the confusion was terrific. Those who rallied and +charged the archers got among the stakes on slippery and boggy +ground, and were so bewildered that the English archers - who wore +no armour, and even took off their leathern coats to be more active +- cut them to pieces, root and branch. Only three French horsemen +got within the stakes, and those were instantly despatched. All +this time the dense French army, being in armour, were sinking +knee-deep into the mire; while the light English archers, half- +naked, were as fresh and active as if they were fighting on a +marble floor. + +But now, the second division of the French coming to the relief of +the first, closed up in a firm mass; the English, headed by the +King, attacked them; and the deadliest part of the battle began. +The King's brother, the Duke of Clarence, was struck down, and +numbers of the French surrounded him; but, King Henry, standing +over the body, fought like a lion until they were beaten off. + +Presently, came up a band of eighteen French knights, bearing the +banner of a certain French lord, who had sworn to kill or take the +English King. One of them struck him such a blow with a battle-axe +that he reeled and fell upon his knees; but, his faithful men, +immediately closing round him, killed every one of those eighteen +knights, and so that French lord never kept his oath. + +The French Duke of Alen‡on, seeing this, made a desperate charge, +and cut his way close up to the Royal Standard of England. He beat +down the Duke of York, who was standing near it; and, when the King +came to his rescue, struck off a piece of the crown he wore. But, +he never struck another blow in this world; for, even as he was in +the act of saying who he was, and that he surrendered to the King; +and even as the King stretched out his hand to give him a safe and +honourable acceptance of the offer; he fell dead, pierced by +innumerable wounds. + +The death of this nobleman decided the battle. The third division +of the French army, which had never struck a blow yet, and which +was, in itself, more than double the whole English power, broke and +fled. At this time of the fight, the English, who as yet had made +no prisoners, began to take them in immense numbers, and were still +occupied in doing so, or in killing those who would not surrender, +when a great noise arose in the rear of the French - their flying +banners were seen to stop - and King Henry, supposing a great +reinforcement to have arrived, gave orders that all the prisoners +should be put to death. As soon, however, as it was found that the +noise was only occasioned by a body of plundering peasants, the +terrible massacre was stopped. + +Then King Henry called to him the French herald, and asked him to +whom the victory belonged. + +The herald replied, 'To the King of England.' + +'WE have not made this havoc and slaughter,' said the King. 'It is +the wrath of Heaven on the sins of France. What is the name of +that castle yonder?' + +The herald answered him, 'My lord, it is the castle of Azincourt.' +Said the King, 'From henceforth this battle shall be known to +posterity, by the name of the battle of Azincourt.' + +Our English historians have made it Agincourt; but, under that +name, it will ever be famous in English annals. + +The loss upon the French side was enormous. Three Dukes were +killed, two more were taken prisoners, seven Counts were killed, +three more were taken prisoners, and ten thousand knights and +gentlemen were slain upon the field. The English loss amounted to +sixteen hundred men, among whom were the Duke of York and the Earl +of Suffolk. + +War is a dreadful thing; and it is appalling to know how the +English were obliged, next morning, to kill those prisoners +mortally wounded, who yet writhed in agony upon the ground; how the +dead upon the French side were stripped by their own countrymen and +countrywomen, and afterwards buried in great pits; how the dead +upon the English side were piled up in a great barn, and how their +bodies and the barn were all burned together. It is in such +things, and in many more much too horrible to relate, that the real +desolation and wickedness of war consist. Nothing can make war +otherwise than horrible. But the dark side of it was little +thought of and soon forgotten; and it cast no shade of trouble on +the English people, except on those who had lost friends or +relations in the fight. They welcomed their King home with shouts +of rejoicing, and plunged into the water to bear him ashore on +their shoulders, and flocked out in crowds to welcome him in every +town through which he passed, and hung rich carpets and tapestries +out of the windows, and strewed the streets with flowers, and made +the fountains run with wine, as the great field of Agincourt had +run with blood. + + +SECOND PART + + +THAT proud and wicked French nobility who dragged their country to +destruction, and who were every day and every year regarded with +deeper hatred and detestation in the hearts of the French people, +learnt nothing, even from the defeat of Agincourt. So far from +uniting against the common enemy, they became, among themselves, +more violent, more bloody, and more false - if that were possible - +than they had been before. The Count of Armagnac persuaded the +French king to plunder of her treasures Queen Isabella of Bavaria, +and to make her a prisoner. She, who had hitherto been the bitter +enemy of the Duke of Burgundy, proposed to join him, in revenge. +He carried her off to Troyes, where she proclaimed herself Regent +of France, and made him her lieutenant. The Armagnac party were at +that time possessed of Paris; but, one of the gates of the city +being secretly opened on a certain night to a party of the duke's +men, they got into Paris, threw into the prisons all the Armagnacs +upon whom they could lay their hands, and, a few nights afterwards, +with the aid of a furious mob of sixty thousand people, broke the +prisons open, and killed them all. The former Dauphin was now +dead, and the King's third son bore the title. Him, in the height +of this murderous scene, a French knight hurried out of bed, +wrapped in a sheet, and bore away to Poitiers. So, when the +revengeful Isabella and the Duke of Burgundy entered Paris in +triumph after the slaughter of their enemies, the Dauphin was +proclaimed at Poitiers as the real Regent. + +King Henry had not been idle since his victory of Agincourt, but +had repulsed a brave attempt of the French to recover Harfleur; had +gradually conquered a great part of Normandy; and, at this crisis +of affairs, took the important town of Rouen, after a siege of half +a year. This great loss so alarmed the French, that the Duke of +Burgundy proposed that a meeting to treat of peace should be held +between the French and the English kings in a plain by the river +Seine. On the appointed day, King Henry appeared there, with his +two brothers, Clarence and Gloucester, and a thousand men. The +unfortunate French King, being more mad than usual that day, could +not come; but the Queen came, and with her the Princess Catherine: +who was a very lovely creature, and who made a real impression on +King Henry, now that he saw her for the first time. This was the +most important circumstance that arose out of the meeting. + +As if it were impossible for a French nobleman of that time to be +true to his word of honour in anything, Henry discovered that the +Duke of Burgundy was, at that very moment, in secret treaty with +the Dauphin; and he therefore abandoned the negotiation. + +The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, each of whom with the best +reason distrusted the other as a noble ruffian surrounded by a +party of noble ruffians, were rather at a loss how to proceed after +this; but, at length they agreed to meet, on a bridge over the +river Yonne, where it was arranged that there should be two strong +gates put up, with an empty space between them; and that the Duke +of Burgundy should come into that space by one gate, with ten men +only; and that the Dauphin should come into that space by the other +gate, also with ten men, and no more. + +So far the Dauphin kept his word, but no farther. When the Duke of +Burgundy was on his knee before him in the act of speaking, one of +the Dauphin's noble ruffians cut the said duke down with a small +axe, and others speedily finished him. + +It was in vain for the Dauphin to pretend that this base murder was +not done with his consent; it was too bad, even for France, and +caused a general horror. The duke's heir hastened to make a treaty +with King Henry, and the French Queen engaged that her husband +should consent to it, whatever it was. Henry made peace, on +condition of receiving the Princess Catherine in marriage, and +being made Regent of France during the rest of the King's lifetime, +and succeeding to the French crown at his death. He was soon +married to the beautiful Princess, and took her proudly home to +England, where she was crowned with great honour and glory. + +This peace was called the Perpetual Peace; we shall soon see how +long it lasted. It gave great satisfaction to the French people, +although they were so poor and miserable, that, at the time of the +celebration of the Royal marriage, numbers of them were dying with +starvation, on the dunghills in the streets of Paris. There was +some resistance on the part of the Dauphin in some few parts of +France, but King Henry beat it all down. + +And now, with his great possessions in France secured, and his +beautiful wife to cheer him, and a son born to give him greater +happiness, all appeared bright before him. But, in the fulness of +his triumph and the height of his power, Death came upon him, and +his day was done. When he fell ill at Vincennes, and found that he +could not recover, he was very calm and quiet, and spoke serenely +to those who wept around his bed. His wife and child, he said, he +left to the loving care of his brother the Duke of Bedford, and his +other faithful nobles. He gave them his advice that England should +establish a friendship with the new Duke of Burgundy, and offer him +the regency of France; that it should not set free the royal +princes who had been taken at Agincourt; and that, whatever quarrel +might arise with France, England should never make peace without +holding Normandy. Then, he laid down his head, and asked the +attendant priests to chant the penitential psalms. Amid which +solemn sounds, on the thirty-first of August, one thousand four +hundred and twenty-two, in only the thirty-fourth year of his age +and the tenth of his reign, King Henry the Fifth passed away. + +Slowly and mournfully they carried his embalmed body in a +procession of great state to Paris, and thence to Rouen where his +Queen was: from whom the sad intelligence of his death was +concealed until he had been dead some days. Thence, lying on a bed +of crimson and gold, with a golden crown upon the head, and a +golden ball and sceptre lying in the nerveless hands, they carried +it to Calais, with such a great retinue as seemed to dye the road +black. The King of Scotland acted as chief mourner, all the Royal +Household followed, the knights wore black armour and black plumes +of feathers, crowds of men bore torches, making the night as light +as day; and the widowed Princess followed last of all. At Calais +there was a fleet of ships to bring the funeral host to Dover. And +so, by way of London Bridge, where the service for the dead was +chanted as it passed along, they brought the body to Westminster +Abbey, and there buried it with great respect. + + + +CHAPTER XXII - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH + + + +PART THE FIRST + + +IT had been the wish of the late King, that while his infant son +KING HENRY THE SIXTH, at this time only nine months old, was under +age, the Duke of Gloucester should be appointed Regent. The +English Parliament, however, preferred to appoint a Council of +Regency, with the Duke of Bedford at its head: to be represented, +in his absence only, by the Duke of Gloucester. The Parliament +would seem to have been wise in this, for Gloucester soon showed +himself to be ambitious and troublesome, and, in the gratification +of his own personal schemes, gave dangerous offence to the Duke of +Burgundy, which was with difficulty adjusted. + +As that duke declined the Regency of France, it was bestowed by the +poor French King upon the Duke of Bedford. But, the French King +dying within two months, the Dauphin instantly asserted his claim +to the French throne, and was actually crowned under the title of +CHARLES THE SEVENTH. The Duke of Bedford, to be a match for him, +entered into a friendly league with the Dukes of Burgundy and +Brittany, and gave them his two sisters in marriage. War with +France was immediately renewed, and the Perpetual Peace came to an +untimely end. + +In the first campaign, the English, aided by this alliance, were +speedily successful. As Scotland, however, had sent the French +five thousand men, and might send more, or attack the North of +England while England was busy with France, it was considered that +it would be a good thing to offer the Scottish King, James, who had +been so long imprisoned, his liberty, on his paying forty thousand +pounds for his board and lodging during nineteen years, and +engaging to forbid his subjects from serving under the flag of +France. It is pleasant to know, not only that the amiable captive +at last regained his freedom upon these terms, but, that he married +a noble English lady, with whom he had been long in love, and +became an excellent King. I am afraid we have met with some Kings +in this history, and shall meet with some more, who would have been +very much the better, and would have left the world much happier, +if they had been imprisoned nineteen years too. + +In the second campaign, the English gained a considerable victory +at Verneuil, in a battle which was chiefly remarkable, otherwise, +for their resorting to the odd expedient of tying their baggage- +horses together by the heads and tails, and jumbling them up with +the baggage, so as to convert them into a sort of live +fortification - which was found useful to the troops, but which I +should think was not agreeable to the horses. For three years +afterwards very little was done, owing to both sides being too poor +for war, which is a very expensive entertainment; but, a council +was then held in Paris, in which it was decided to lay siege to the +town of Orleans, which was a place of great importance to the +Dauphin's cause. An English army of ten thousand men was +despatched on this service, under the command of the Earl of +Salisbury, a general of fame. He being unfortunately killed early +in the siege, the Earl of Suffolk took his place; under whom +(reinforced by SIR JOHN FALSTAFF, who brought up four hundred +waggons laden with salt herrings and other provisions for the +troops, and, beating off the French who tried to intercept him, +came victorious out of a hot skirmish, which was afterwards called +in jest the Battle of the Herrings) the town of Orleans was so +completely hemmed in, that the besieged proposed to yield it up to +their countryman the Duke of Burgundy. The English general, +however, replied that his English men had won it, so far, by their +blood and valour, and that his English men must have it. There +seemed to be no hope for the town, or for the Dauphin, who was so +dismayed that he even thought of flying to Scotland or to Spain - +when a peasant girl rose up and changed the whole state of affairs. + +The story of this peasant girl I have now to tell. + + +PART THE SECOND: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC + + +IN a remote village among some wild hills in the province of +Lorraine, there lived a countryman whose name was JACQUES D'ARC. +He had a daughter, JOAN OF ARC, who was at this time in her +twentieth year. She had been a solitary girl from her childhood; +she had often tended sheep and cattle for whole days where no human +figure was seen or human voice heard; and she had often knelt, for +hours together, in the gloomy, empty, little village chapel, +looking up at the altar and at the dim lamp burning before it, +until she fancied that she saw shadowy figures standing there, and +even that she heard them speak to her. The people in that part of +France were very ignorant and superstitious, and they had many +ghostly tales to tell about what they had dreamed, and what they +saw among the lonely hills when the clouds and the mists were +resting on them. So, they easily believed that Joan saw strange +sights, and they whispered among themselves that angels and spirits +talked to her. + +At last, Joan told her father that she had one day been surprised +by a great unearthly light, and had afterwards heard a solemn +voice, which said it was Saint Michael's voice, telling her that +she was to go and help the Dauphin. Soon after this (she said), +Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret had appeared to her with +sparkling crowns upon their heads, and had encouraged her to be +virtuous and resolute. These visions had returned sometimes; but +the Voices very often; and the voices always said, 'Joan, thou art +appointed by Heaven to go and help the Dauphin!' She almost always +heard them while the chapel bells were ringing. + +There is no doubt, now, that Joan believed she saw and heard these +things. It is very well known that such delusions are a disease +which is not by any means uncommon. It is probable enough that +there were figures of Saint Michael, and Saint Catherine, and Saint +Margaret, in the little chapel (where they would be very likely to +have shining crowns upon their heads), and that they first gave +Joan the idea of those three personages. She had long been a +moping, fanciful girl, and, though she was a very good girl, I dare +say she was a little vain, and wishful for notoriety. + +Her father, something wiser than his neighbours, said, 'I tell +thee, Joan, it is thy fancy. Thou hadst better have a kind husband +to take care of thee, girl, and work to employ thy mind!' But Joan +told him in reply, that she had taken a vow never to have a +husband, and that she must go as Heaven directed her, to help the +Dauphin. + +It happened, unfortunately for her father's persuasions, and most +unfortunately for the poor girl, too, that a party of the Dauphin's +enemies found their way into the village while Joan's disorder was +at this point, and burnt the chapel, and drove out the inhabitants. +The cruelties she saw committed, touched Joan's heart and made her +worse. She said that the voices and the figures were now +continually with her; that they told her she was the girl who, +according to an old prophecy, was to deliver France; and she must +go and help the Dauphin, and must remain with him until he should +be crowned at Rheims: and that she must travel a long way to a +certain lord named BAUDRICOURT, who could and would, bring her into +the Dauphin's presence. + +As her father still said, 'I tell thee, Joan, it is thy fancy,' she +set off to find out this lord, accompanied by an uncle, a poor +village wheelwright and cart-maker, who believed in the reality of +her visions. They travelled a long way and went on and on, over a +rough country, full of the Duke of Burgundy's men, and of all kinds +of robbers and marauders, until they came to where this lord was. + +When his servants told him that there was a poor peasant girl named +Joan of Arc, accompanied by nobody but an old village wheelwright +and cart-maker, who wished to see him because she was commanded to +help the Dauphin and save France, Baudricourt burst out a-laughing, +and bade them send the girl away. But, he soon heard so much about +her lingering in the town, and praying in the churches, and seeing +visions, and doing harm to no one, that he sent for her, and +questioned her. As she said the same things after she had been +well sprinkled with holy water as she had said before the +sprinkling, Baudricourt began to think there might be something in +it. At all events, he thought it worth while to send her on to the +town of Chinon, where the Dauphin was. So, he bought her a horse, +and a sword, and gave her two squires to conduct her. As the +Voices had told Joan that she was to wear a man's dress, now, she +put one on, and girded her sword to her side, and bound spurs to +her heels, and mounted her horse and rode away with her two +squires. As to her uncle the wheelwright, he stood staring at his +niece in wonder until she was out of sight - as well he might - and +then went home again. The best place, too. + +Joan and her two squires rode on and on, until they came to Chinon, +where she was, after some doubt, admitted into the Dauphin's +presence. Picking him out immediately from all his court, she told +him that she came commanded by Heaven to subdue his enemies and +conduct him to his coronation at Rheims. She also told him (or he +pretended so afterwards, to make the greater impression upon his +soldiers) a number of his secrets known only to himself, and, +furthermore, she said there was an old, old sword in the cathedral +of Saint Catherine at Fierbois, marked with five old crosses on the +blade, which Saint Catherine had ordered her to wear. + +Now, nobody knew anything about this old, old sword, but when the +cathedral came to be examined - which was immediately done - there, +sure enough, the sword was found! The Dauphin then required a +number of grave priests and bishops to give him their opinion +whether the girl derived her power from good spirits or from evil +spirits, which they held prodigiously long debates about, in the +course of which several learned men fell fast asleep and snored +loudly. At last, when one gruff old gentleman had said to Joan, +'What language do your Voices speak?' and when Joan had replied to +the gruff old gentleman, 'A pleasanter language than yours,' they +agreed that it was all correct, and that Joan of Arc was inspired +from Heaven. This wonderful circumstance put new heart into the +Dauphin's soldiers when they heard of it, and dispirited the +English army, who took Joan for a witch. + +So Joan mounted horse again, and again rode on and on, until she +came to Orleans. But she rode now, as never peasant girl had +ridden yet. She rode upon a white war-horse, in a suit of +glittering armour; with the old, old sword from the cathedral, +newly burnished, in her belt; with a white flag carried before her, +upon which were a picture of God, and the words JESUS MARIA. In +this splendid state, at the head of a great body of troops +escorting provisions of all kinds for the starving inhabitants of +Orleans, she appeared before that beleaguered city. + +When the people on the walls beheld her, they cried out 'The Maid +is come! The Maid of the Prophecy is come to deliver us!' And +this, and the sight of the Maid fighting at the head of their men, +made the French so bold, and made the English so fearful, that the +English line of forts was soon broken, the troops and provisions +were got into the town, and Orleans was saved. + +Joan, henceforth called THE MAID OF ORLEANS, remained within the +walls for a few days, and caused letters to be thrown over, +ordering Lord Suffolk and his Englishmen to depart from before the +town according to the will of Heaven. As the English general very +positively declined to believe that Joan knew anything about the +will of Heaven (which did not mend the matter with his soldiers, +for they stupidly said if she were not inspired she was a witch, +and it was of no use to fight against a witch), she mounted her +white war-horse again, and ordered her white banner to advance. + +The besiegers held the bridge, and some strong towers upon the +bridge; and here the Maid of Orleans attacked them. The fight was +fourteen hours long. She planted a scaling ladder with her own +hands, and mounted a tower wall, but was struck by an English arrow +in the neck, and fell into the trench. She was carried away and +the arrow was taken out, during which operation she screamed and +cried with the pain, as any other girl might have done; but +presently she said that the Voices were speaking to her and +soothing her to rest. After a while, she got up, and was again +foremost in the fight. When the English who had seen her fall and +supposed her dead, saw this, they were troubled with the strangest +fears, and some of them cried out that they beheld Saint Michael on +a white horse (probably Joan herself) fighting for the French. +They lost the bridge, and lost the towers, and next day set their +chain of forts on fire, and left the place. + +But as Lord Suffolk himself retired no farther than the town of +Jargeau, which was only a few miles off, the Maid of Orleans +besieged him there, and he was taken prisoner. As the white banner +scaled the wall, she was struck upon the head with a stone, and was +again tumbled down into the ditch; but, she only cried all the +more, as she lay there, 'On, on, my countrymen! And fear nothing, +for the Lord hath delivered them into our hands!' After this new +success of the Maid's, several other fortresses and places which +had previously held out against the Dauphin were delivered up +without a battle; and at Patay she defeated the remainder of the +English army, and set up her victorious white banner on a field +where twelve hundred Englishmen lay dead. + +She now urged the Dauphin (who always kept out of the way when +there was any fighting) to proceed to Rheims, as the first part of +her mission was accomplished; and to complete the whole by being +crowned there. The Dauphin was in no particular hurry to do this, +as Rheims was a long way off, and the English and the Duke of +Burgundy were still strong in the country through which the road +lay. However, they set forth, with ten thousand men, and again the +Maid of Orleans rode on and on, upon her white war-horse, and in +her shining armour. Whenever they came to a town which yielded +readily, the soldiers believed in her; but, whenever they came to a +town which gave them any trouble, they began to murmur that she was +an impostor. The latter was particularly the case at Troyes, which +finally yielded, however, through the persuasion of one Richard, a +friar of the place. Friar Richard was in the old doubt about the +Maid of Orleans, until he had sprinkled her well with holy water, +and had also well sprinkled the threshold of the gate by which she +came into the city. Finding that it made no change in her or the +gate, he said, as the other grave old gentlemen had said, that it +was all right, and became her great ally. + +So, at last, by dint of riding on and on, the Maid of Orleans, and +the Dauphin, and the ten thousand sometimes believing and sometimes +unbelieving men, came to Rheims. And in the great cathedral of +Rheims, the Dauphin actually was crowned Charles the Seventh in a +great assembly of the people. Then, the Maid, who with her white +banner stood beside the King in that hour of his triumph, kneeled +down upon the pavement at his feet, and said, with tears, that what +she had been inspired to do, was done, and that the only recompense +she asked for, was, that she should now have leave to go back to +her distant home, and her sturdily incredulous father, and her +first simple escort the village wheelwright and cart-maker. But +the King said 'No!' and made her and her family as noble as a King +could, and settled upon her the income of a Count. + +Ah! happy had it been for the Maid of Orleans, if she had resumed +her rustic dress that day, and had gone home to the little chapel +and the wild hills, and had forgotten all these things, and had +been a good man's wife, and had heard no stranger voices than the +voices of little children! + +It was not to be, and she continued helping the King (she did a +world for him, in alliance with Friar Richard), and trying to +improve the lives of the coarse soldiers, and leading a religious, +an unselfish, and a modest life, herself, beyond any doubt. Still, +many times she prayed the King to let her go home; and once she +even took off her bright armour and hung it up in a church, meaning +never to wear it more. But, the King always won her back again - +while she was of any use to him - and so she went on and on and on, +to her doom. + +When the Duke of Bedford, who was a very able man, began to be +active for England, and, by bringing the war back into France and +by holding the Duke of Burgundy to his faith, to distress and +disturb Charles very much, Charles sometimes asked the Maid of +Orleans what the Voices said about it? But, the Voices had become +(very like ordinary voices in perplexed times) contradictory and +confused, so that now they said one thing, and now said another, +and the Maid lost credit every day. Charles marched on Paris, +which was opposed to him, and attacked the suburb of Saint Honore. +In this fight, being again struck down into the ditch, she was +abandoned by the whole army. She lay unaided among a heap of dead, +and crawled out how she could. Then, some of her believers went +over to an opposition Maid, Catherine of La Rochelle, who said she +was inspired to tell where there were treasures of buried money - +though she never did - and then Joan accidentally broke the old, +old sword, and others said that her power was broken with it. +Finally, at the siege of CompiŠgne, held by the Duke of Burgundy, +where she did valiant service, she was basely left alone in a +retreat, though facing about and fighting to the last; and an +archer pulled her off her horse. + +O the uproar that was made, and the thanksgivings that were sung, +about the capture of this one poor country-girl! O the way in +which she was demanded to be tried for sorcery and heresy, and +anything else you like, by the Inquisitor-General of France, and by +this great man, and by that great man, until it is wearisome to +think of! She was bought at last by the Bishop of Beauvais for ten +thousand francs, and was shut up in her narrow prison: plain Joan +of Arc again, and Maid of Orleans no more. + +I should never have done if I were to tell you how they had Joan +out to examine her, and cross-examine her, and re-examine her, and +worry her into saying anything and everything; and how all sorts of +scholars and doctors bestowed their utmost tediousness upon her. +Sixteen times she was brought out and shut up again, and worried, +and entrapped, and argued with, until she was heart-sick of the +dreary business. On the last occasion of this kind she was brought +into a burial-place at Rouen, dismally decorated with a scaffold, +and a stake and faggots, and the executioner, and a pulpit with a +friar therein, and an awful sermon ready. It is very affecting to +know that even at that pass the poor girl honoured the mean vermin +of a King, who had so used her for his purposes and so abandoned +her; and, that while she had been regardless of reproaches heaped +upon herself, she spoke out courageously for him. + +It was natural in one so young to hold to life. To save her life, +she signed a declaration prepared for her - signed it with a cross, +for she couldn't write - that all her visions and Voices had come +from the Devil. Upon her recanting the past, and protesting that +she would never wear a man's dress in future, she was condemned to +imprisonment for life, 'on the bread of sorrow and the water of +affliction.' + +But, on the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction, the +visions and the Voices soon returned. It was quite natural that +they should do so, for that kind of disease is much aggravated by +fasting, loneliness, and anxiety of mind. It was not only got out +of Joan that she considered herself inspired again, but, she was +taken in a man's dress, which had been left - to entrap her - in +her prison, and which she put on, in her solitude; perhaps, in +remembrance of her past glories, perhaps, because the imaginary +Voices told her. For this relapse into the sorcery and heresy and +anything else you like, she was sentenced to be burnt to death. +And, in the market-place of Rouen, in the hideous dress which the +monks had invented for such spectacles; with priests and bishops +sitting in a gallery looking on, though some had the Christian +grace to go away, unable to endure the infamous scene; this +shrieking girl - last seen amidst the smoke and fire, holding a +crucifix between her hands; last heard, calling upon Christ - was +burnt to ashes. They threw her ashes into the river Seine; but +they will rise against her murderers on the last day. + +From the moment of her capture, neither the French King nor one +single man in all his court raised a finger to save her. It is no +defence of them that they may have never really believed in her, or +that they may have won her victories by their skill and bravery. +The more they pretended to believe in her, the more they had caused +her to believe in herself; and she had ever been true to them, ever +brave, ever nobly devoted. But, it is no wonder, that they, who +were in all things false to themselves, false to one another, false +to their country, false to Heaven, false to Earth, should be +monsters of ingratitude and treachery to a helpless peasant girl. + +In the picturesque old town of Rouen, where weeds and grass grow +high on the cathedral towers, and the venerable Norman streets are +still warm in the blessed sunlight though the monkish fires that +once gleamed horribly upon them have long grown cold, there is a +statue of Joan of Arc, in the scene of her last agony, the square +to which she has given its present name. I know some statues of +modern times - even in the World's metropolis, I think - which +commemorate less constancy, less earnestness, smaller claims upon +the world's attention, and much greater impostors. + + +PART THE THIRD + + +BAD deeds seldom prosper, happily for mankind; and the English +cause gained no advantage from the cruel death of Joan of Arc. For +a long time, the war went heavily on. The Duke of Bedford died; +the alliance with the Duke of Burgundy was broken; and Lord Talbot +became a great general on the English side in France. But, two of +the consequences of wars are, Famine - because the people cannot +peacefully cultivate the ground - and Pestilence, which comes of +want, misery, and suffering. Both these horrors broke out in both +countries, and lasted for two wretched years. Then, the war went +on again, and came by slow degrees to be so badly conducted by the +English government, that, within twenty years from the execution of +the Maid of Orleans, of all the great French conquests, the town of +Calais alone remained in English hands. + +While these victories and defeats were taking place in the course +of time, many strange things happened at home. The young King, as +he grew up, proved to be very unlike his great father, and showed +himself a miserable puny creature. There was no harm in him - he +had a great aversion to shedding blood: which was something - but, +he was a weak, silly, helpless young man, and a mere shuttlecock to +the great lordly battledores about the Court. + +Of these battledores, Cardinal Beaufort, a relation of the King, +and the Duke of Gloucester, were at first the most powerful. The +Duke of Gloucester had a wife, who was nonsensically accused of +practising witchcraft to cause the King's death and lead to her +husband's coming to the throne, he being the next heir. She was +charged with having, by the help of a ridiculous old woman named +Margery (who was called a witch), made a little waxen doll in the +King's likeness, and put it before a slow fire that it might +gradually melt away. It was supposed, in such cases, that the +death of the person whom the doll was made to represent, was sure +to happen. Whether the duchess was as ignorant as the rest of +them, and really did make such a doll with such an intention, I +don't know; but, you and I know very well that she might have made +a thousand dolls, if she had been stupid enough, and might have +melted them all, without hurting the King or anybody else. +However, she was tried for it, and so was old Margery, and so was +one of the duke's chaplains, who was charged with having assisted +them. Both he and Margery were put to death, and the duchess, +after being taken on foot and bearing a lighted candle, three times +round the City, as a penance, was imprisoned for life. The duke, +himself, took all this pretty quietly, and made as little stir +about the matter as if he were rather glad to be rid of the +duchess. + +But, he was not destined to keep himself out of trouble long. The +royal shuttlecock being three-and-twenty, the battledores were very +anxious to get him married. The Duke of Gloucester wanted him to +marry a daughter of the Count of Armagnac; but, the Cardinal and +the Earl of Suffolk were all for MARGARET, the daughter of the King +of Sicily, who they knew was a resolute, ambitious woman and would +govern the King as she chose. To make friends with this lady, the +Earl of Suffolk, who went over to arrange the match, consented to +accept her for the King's wife without any fortune, and even to +give up the two most valuable possessions England then had in +France. So, the marriage was arranged, on terms very advantageous +to the lady; and Lord Suffolk brought her to England, and she was +married at Westminster. On what pretence this queen and her party +charged the Duke of Gloucester with high treason within a couple of +years, it is impossible to make out, the matter is so confused; +but, they pretended that the King's life was in danger, and they +took the duke prisoner. A fortnight afterwards, he was found dead +in bed (they said), and his body was shown to the people, and Lord +Suffolk came in for the best part of his estates. You know by this +time how strangely liable state prisoners were to sudden death. + +If Cardinal Beaufort had any hand in this matter, it did him no +good, for he died within six weeks; thinking it very hard and +curious - at eighty years old! - that he could not live to be Pope. + +This was the time when England had completed her loss of all her +great French conquests. The people charged the loss principally +upon the Earl of Suffolk, now a duke, who had made those easy terms +about the Royal Marriage, and who, they believed, had even been +bought by France. So he was impeached as a traitor, on a great +number of charges, but chiefly on accusations of having aided the +French King, and of designing to make his own son King of England. +The Commons and the people being violent against him, the King was +made (by his friends) to interpose to save him, by banishing him +for five years, and proroguing the Parliament. The duke had much +ado to escape from a London mob, two thousand strong, who lay in +wait for him in St. Giles's fields; but, he got down to his own +estates in Suffolk, and sailed away from Ipswich. Sailing across +the Channel, he sent into Calais to know if he might land there; +but, they kept his boat and men in the harbour, until an English +ship, carrying a hundred and fifty men and called the Nicholas of +the Tower, came alongside his little vessel, and ordered him on +board. 'Welcome, traitor, as men say,' was the captain's grim and +not very respectful salutation. He was kept on board, a prisoner, +for eight-and-forty hours, and then a small boat appeared rowing +toward the ship. As this boat came nearer, it was seen to have in +it a block, a rusty sword, and an executioner in a black mask. The +duke was handed down into it, and there his head was cut off with +six strokes of the rusty sword. Then, the little boat rowed away +to Dover beach, where the body was cast out, and left until the +duchess claimed it. By whom, high in authority, this murder was +committed, has never appeared. No one was ever punished for it. + +There now arose in Kent an Irishman, who gave himself the name of +Mortimer, but whose real name was JACK CADE. Jack, in imitation of +Wat Tyler, though he was a very different and inferior sort of man, +addressed the Kentish men upon their wrongs, occasioned by the bad +government of England, among so many battledores and such a poor +shuttlecock; and the Kentish men rose up to the number of twenty +thousand. Their place of assembly was Blackheath, where, headed by +Jack, they put forth two papers, which they called 'The Complaint +of the Commons of Kent,' and 'The Requests of the Captain of the +Great Assembly in Kent.' They then retired to Sevenoaks. The +royal army coming up with them here, they beat it and killed their +general. Then, Jack dressed himself in the dead general's armour, +and led his men to London. + +Jack passed into the City from Southwark, over the bridge, and +entered it in triumph, giving the strictest orders to his men not +to plunder. Having made a show of his forces there, while the +citizens looked on quietly, he went back into Southwark in good +order, and passed the night. Next day, he came back again, having +got hold in the meantime of Lord Say, an unpopular nobleman. Says +Jack to the Lord Mayor and judges: 'Will you be so good as to make +a tribunal in Guildhall, and try me this nobleman?' The court +being hastily made, he was found guilty, and Jack and his men cut +his head off on Cornhill. They also cut off the head of his son- +in-law, and then went back in good order to Southwark again. + +But, although the citizens could bear the beheading of an unpopular +lord, they could not bear to have their houses pillaged. And it +did so happen that Jack, after dinner - perhaps he had drunk a +little too much - began to plunder the house where he lodged; upon +which, of course, his men began to imitate him. Wherefore, the +Londoners took counsel with Lord Scales, who had a thousand +soldiers in the Tower; and defended London Bridge, and kept Jack +and his people out. This advantage gained, it was resolved by +divers great men to divide Jack's army in the old way, by making a +great many promises on behalf of the state, that were never +intended to be performed. This DID divide them; some of Jack's men +saying that they ought to take the conditions which were offered, +and others saying that they ought not, for they were only a snare; +some going home at once; others staying where they were; and all +doubting and quarrelling among themselves. + +Jack, who was in two minds about fighting or accepting a pardon, +and who indeed did both, saw at last that there was nothing to +expect from his men, and that it was very likely some of them would +deliver him up and get a reward of a thousand marks, which was +offered for his apprehension. So, after they had travelled and +quarrelled all the way from Southwark to Blackheath, and from +Blackheath to Rochester, he mounted a good horse and galloped away +into Sussex. But, there galloped after him, on a better horse, one +Alexander Iden, who came up with him, had a hard fight with him, +and killed him. Jack's head was set aloft on London Bridge, with +the face looking towards Blackheath, where he had raised his flag; +and Alexander Iden got the thousand marks. + +It is supposed by some, that the Duke of York, who had been removed +from a high post abroad through the Queen's influence, and sent out +of the way, to govern Ireland, was at the bottom of this rising of +Jack and his men, because he wanted to trouble the government. He +claimed (though not yet publicly) to have a better right to the +throne than Henry of Lancaster, as one of the family of the Earl of +March, whom Henry the Fourth had set aside. Touching this claim, +which, being through female relationship, was not according to the +usual descent, it is enough to say that Henry the Fourth was the +free choice of the people and the Parliament, and that his family +had now reigned undisputed for sixty years. The memory of Henry +the Fifth was so famous, and the English people loved it so much, +that the Duke of York's claim would, perhaps, never have been +thought of (it would have been so hopeless) but for the unfortunate +circumstance of the present King's being by this time quite an +idiot, and the country very ill governed. These two circumstances +gave the Duke of York a power he could not otherwise have had. + +Whether the Duke knew anything of Jack Cade, or not, he came over +from Ireland while Jack's head was on London Bridge; being secretly +advised that the Queen was setting up his enemy, the Duke of +Somerset, against him. He went to Westminster, at the head of four +thousand men, and on his knees before the King, represented to him +the bad state of the country, and petitioned him to summon a +Parliament to consider it. This the King promised. When the +Parliament was summoned, the Duke of York accused the Duke of +Somerset, and the Duke of Somerset accused the Duke of York; and, +both in and out of Parliament, the followers of each party were +full of violence and hatred towards the other. At length the Duke +of York put himself at the head of a large force of his tenants, +and, in arms, demanded the reformation of the Government. Being +shut out of London, he encamped at Dartford, and the royal army +encamped at Blackheath. According as either side triumphed, the +Duke of York was arrested, or the Duke of Somerset was arrested. +The trouble ended, for the moment, in the Duke of York renewing his +oath of allegiance, and going in peace to one of his own castles. + +Half a year afterwards the Queen gave birth to a son, who was very +ill received by the people, and not believed to be the son of the +King. It shows the Duke of York to have been a moderate man, +unwilling to involve England in new troubles, that he did not take +advantage of the general discontent at this time, but really acted +for the public good. He was made a member of the cabinet, and the +King being now so much worse that he could not be carried about and +shown to the people with any decency, the duke was made Lord +Protector of the kingdom, until the King should recover, or the +Prince should come of age. At the same time the Duke of Somerset +was committed to the Tower. So, now the Duke of Somerset was down, +and the Duke of York was up. By the end of the year, however, the +King recovered his memory and some spark of sense; upon which the +Queen used her power - which recovered with him - to get the +Protector disgraced, and her favourite released. So now the Duke +of York was down, and the Duke of Somerset was up. + +These ducal ups and downs gradually separated the whole nation into +the two parties of York and Lancaster, and led to those terrible +civil wars long known as the Wars of the Red and White Roses, +because the red rose was the badge of the House of Lancaster, and +the white rose was the badge of the House of York. + +The Duke of York, joined by some other powerful noblemen of the +White Rose party, and leading a small army, met the King with +another small army at St. Alban's, and demanded that the Duke of +Somerset should be given up. The poor King, being made to say in +answer that he would sooner die, was instantly attacked. The Duke +of Somerset was killed, and the King himself was wounded in the +neck, and took refuge in the house of a poor tanner. Whereupon, +the Duke of York went to him, led him with great submission to the +Abbey, and said he was very sorry for what had happened. Having +now the King in his possession, he got a Parliament summoned and +himself once more made Protector, but, only for a few months; for, +on the King getting a little better again, the Queen and her party +got him into their possession, and disgraced the Duke once more. +So, now the Duke of York was down again. + +Some of the best men in power, seeing the danger of these constant +changes, tried even then to prevent the Red and the White Rose +Wars. They brought about a great council in London between the two +parties. The White Roses assembled in Blackfriars, the Red Roses +in Whitefriars; and some good priests communicated between them, +and made the proceedings known at evening to the King and the +judges. They ended in a peaceful agreement that there should be no +more quarrelling; and there was a great royal procession to St. +Paul's, in which the Queen walked arm-in-arm with her old enemy, +the Duke of York, to show the people how comfortable they all were. +This state of peace lasted half a year, when a dispute between the +Earl of Warwick (one of the Duke's powerful friends) and some of +the King's servants at Court, led to an attack upon that Earl - who +was a White Rose - and to a sudden breaking out of all old +animosities. So, here were greater ups and downs than ever. + +There were even greater ups and downs than these, soon after. +After various battles, the Duke of York fled to Ireland, and his +son the Earl of March to Calais, with their friends the Earls of +Salisbury and Warwick; and a Parliament was held declaring them all +traitors. Little the worse for this, the Earl of Warwick presently +came back, landed in Kent, was joined by the Archbishop of +Canterbury and other powerful noblemen and gentlemen, engaged the +King's forces at Northampton, signally defeated them, and took the +King himself prisoner, who was found in his tent. Warwick would +have been glad, I dare say, to have taken the Queen and Prince too, +but they escaped into Wales and thence into Scotland. + +The King was carried by the victorious force straight to London, +and made to call a new Parliament, which immediately declared that +the Duke of York and those other noblemen were not traitors, but +excellent subjects. Then, back comes the Duke from Ireland at the +head of five hundred horsemen, rides from London to Westminster, +and enters the House of Lords. There, he laid his hand upon the +cloth of gold which covered the empty throne, as if he had half a +mind to sit down in it - but he did not. On the Archbishop of +Canterbury, asking him if he would visit the King, who was in his +palace close by, he replied, 'I know no one in this country, my +lord, who ought not to visit ME.' None of the lords present spoke +a single word; so, the duke went out as he had come in, established +himself royally in the King's palace, and, six days afterwards, +sent in to the Lords a formal statement of his claim to the throne. +The lords went to the King on this momentous subject, and after a +great deal of discussion, in which the judges and the other law +officers were afraid to give an opinion on either side, the +question was compromised. It was agreed that the present King +should retain the crown for his life, and that it should then pass +to the Duke of York and his heirs. + +But, the resolute Queen, determined on asserting her son's right, +would hear of no such thing. She came from Scotland to the north +of England, where several powerful lords armed in her cause. The +Duke of York, for his part, set off with some five thousand men, a +little time before Christmas Day, one thousand four hundred and +sixty, to give her battle. He lodged at Sandal Castle, near +Wakefield, and the Red Roses defied him to come out on Wakefield +Green, and fight them then and there. His generals said, he had +best wait until his gallant son, the Earl of March, came up with +his power; but, he was determined to accept the challenge. He did +so, in an evil hour. He was hotly pressed on all sides, two +thousand of his men lay dead on Wakefield Green, and he himself was +taken prisoner. They set him down in mock state on an ant-hill, +and twisted grass about his head, and pretended to pay court to him +on their knees, saying, 'O King, without a kingdom, and Prince +without a people, we hope your gracious Majesty is very well and +happy!' They did worse than this; they cut his head off, and +handed it on a pole to the Queen, who laughed with delight when she +saw it (you recollect their walking so religiously and comfortably +to St. Paul's!), and had it fixed, with a paper crown upon its +head, on the walls of York. The Earl of Salisbury lost his head, +too; and the Duke of York's second son, a handsome boy who was +flying with his tutor over Wakefield Bridge, was stabbed in the +heart by a murderous, lord - Lord Clifford by name - whose father +had been killed by the White Roses in the fight at St. Alban's. +There was awful sacrifice of life in this battle, for no quarter +was given, and the Queen was wild for revenge. When men +unnaturally fight against their own countrymen, they are always +observed to be more unnaturally cruel and filled with rage than +they are against any other enemy. + +But, Lord Clifford had stabbed the second son of the Duke of York - +not the first. The eldest son, Edward Earl of March, was at +Gloucester; and, vowing vengeance for the death of his father, his +brother, and their faithful friends, he began to march against the +Queen. He had to turn and fight a great body of Welsh and Irish +first, who worried his advance. These he defeated in a great fight +at Mortimer's Cross, near Hereford, where he beheaded a number of +the Red Roses taken in battle, in retaliation for the beheading of +the White Roses at Wakefield. The Queen had the next turn of +beheading. Having moved towards London, and falling in, between +St. Alban's and Barnet, with the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of +Norfolk, White Roses both, who were there with an army to oppose +her, and had got the King with them; she defeated them with great +loss, and struck off the heads of two prisoners of note, who were +in the King's tent with him, and to whom the King had promised his +protection. Her triumph, however, was very short. She had no +treasure, and her army subsisted by plunder. This caused them to +be hated and dreaded by the people, and particularly by the London +people, who were wealthy. As soon as the Londoners heard that +Edward, Earl of March, united with the Earl of Warwick, was +advancing towards the city, they refused to send the Queen +supplies, and made a great rejoicing. + +The Queen and her men retreated with all speed, and Edward and +Warwick came on, greeted with loud acclamations on every side. The +courage, beauty, and virtues of young Edward could not be +sufficiently praised by the whole people. He rode into London like +a conqueror, and met with an enthusiastic welcome. A few days +afterwards, Lord Falconbridge and the Bishop of Exeter assembled +the citizens in St. John's Field, Clerkenwell, and asked them if +they would have Henry of Lancaster for their King? To this they +all roared, 'No, no, no!' and 'King Edward! King Edward!' Then, +said those noblemen, would they love and serve young Edward? To +this they all cried, 'Yes, yes!' and threw up their caps and +clapped their hands, and cheered tremendously. + +Therefore, it was declared that by joining the Queen and not +protecting those two prisoners of note, Henry of Lancaster had +forfeited the crown; and Edward of York was proclaimed King. He +made a great speech to the applauding people at Westminster, and +sat down as sovereign of England on that throne, on the golden +covering of which his father - worthy of a better fate than the +bloody axe which cut the thread of so many lives in England, +through so many years - had laid his hand. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII - ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH + + + +KING EDWARD THE FOURTH was not quite twenty-one years of age when +he took that unquiet seat upon the throne of England. The +Lancaster party, the Red Roses, were then assembling in great +numbers near York, and it was necessary to give them battle +instantly. But, the stout Earl of Warwick leading for the young +King, and the young King himself closely following him, and the +English people crowding round the Royal standard, the White and the +Red Roses met, on a wild March day when the snow was falling +heavily, at Towton; and there such a furious battle raged between +them, that the total loss amounted to forty thousand men - all +Englishmen, fighting, upon English ground, against one another. +The young King gained the day, took down the heads of his father +and brother from the walls of York, and put up the heads of some of +the most famous noblemen engaged in the battle on the other side. +Then, he went to London and was crowned with great splendour. + +A new Parliament met. No fewer than one hundred and fifty of the +principal noblemen and gentlemen on the Lancaster side were +declared traitors, and the King - who had very little humanity, +though he was handsome in person and agreeable in manners - +resolved to do all he could, to pluck up the Red Rose root and +branch. + +Queen Margaret, however, was still active for her young son. She +obtained help from Scotland and from Normandy, and took several +important English castles. But, Warwick soon retook them; the +Queen lost all her treasure on board ship in a great storm; and +both she and her son suffered great misfortunes. Once, in the +winter weather, as they were riding through a forest, they were +attacked and plundered by a party of robbers; and, when they had +escaped from these men and were passing alone and on foot through a +thick dark part of the wood, they came, all at once, upon another +robber. So the Queen, with a stout heart, took the little Prince +by the hand, and going straight up to that robber, said to him, 'My +friend, this is the young son of your lawful King! I confide him +to your care.' The robber was surprised, but took the boy in his +arms, and faithfully restored him and his mother to their friends. +In the end, the Queen's soldiers being beaten and dispersed, she +went abroad again, and kept quiet for the present. + +Now, all this time, the deposed King Henry was concealed by a Welsh +knight, who kept him close in his castle. But, next year, the +Lancaster party recovering their spirits, raised a large body of +men, and called him out of his retirement, to put him at their +head. They were joined by some powerful noblemen who had sworn +fidelity to the new King, but who were ready, as usual, to break +their oaths, whenever they thought there was anything to be got by +it. One of the worst things in the history of the war of the Red +and White Roses, is the ease with which these noblemen, who should +have set an example of honour to the people, left either side as +they took slight offence, or were disappointed in their greedy +expectations, and joined the other. Well! Warwick's brother soon +beat the Lancastrians, and the false noblemen, being taken, were +beheaded without a moment's loss of time. The deposed King had a +narrow escape; three of his servants were taken, and one of them +bore his cap of estate, which was set with pearls and embroidered +with two golden crowns. However, the head to which the cap +belonged, got safely into Lancashire, and lay pretty quietly there +(the people in the secret being very true) for more than a year. +At length, an old monk gave such intelligence as led to Henry's +being taken while he was sitting at dinner in a place called +Waddington Hall. He was immediately sent to London, and met at +Islington by the Earl of Warwick, by whose directions he was put +upon a horse, with his legs tied under it, and paraded three times +round the pillory. Then, he was carried off to the Tower, where +they treated him well enough. + +The White Rose being so triumphant, the young King abandoned +himself entirely to pleasure, and led a jovial life. But, thorns +were springing up under his bed of roses, as he soon found out. +For, having been privately married to ELIZABETH WOODVILLE, a young +widow lady, very beautiful and very captivating; and at last +resolving to make his secret known, and to declare her his Queen; +he gave some offence to the Earl of Warwick, who was usually called +the King-Maker, because of his power and influence, and because of +his having lent such great help to placing Edward on the throne. +This offence was not lessened by the jealousy with which the Nevil +family (the Earl of Warwick's) regarded the promotion of the +Woodville family. For, the young Queen was so bent on providing +for her relations, that she made her father an earl and a great +officer of state; married her five sisters to young noblemen of the +highest rank; and provided for her younger brother, a young man of +twenty, by marrying him to an immensely rich old duchess of eighty. +The Earl of Warwick took all this pretty graciously for a man of +his proud temper, until the question arose to whom the King's +sister, MARGARET, should be married. The Earl of Warwick said, 'To +one of the French King's sons,' and was allowed to go over to the +French King to make friendly proposals for that purpose, and to +hold all manner of friendly interviews with him. But, while he was +so engaged, the Woodville party married the young lady to the Duke +of Burgundy! Upon this he came back in great rage and scorn, and +shut himself up discontented, in his Castle of Middleham. + +A reconciliation, though not a very sincere one, was patched up +between the Earl of Warwick and the King, and lasted until the Earl +married his daughter, against the King's wishes, to the Duke of +Clarence. While the marriage was being celebrated at Calais, the +people in the north of England, where the influence of the Nevil +family was strongest, broke out into rebellion; their complaint +was, that England was oppressed and plundered by the Woodville +family, whom they demanded to have removed from power. As they +were joined by great numbers of people, and as they openly declared +that they were supported by the Earl of Warwick, the King did not +know what to do. At last, as he wrote to the earl beseeching his +aid, he and his new son-in-law came over to England, and began to +arrange the business by shutting the King up in Middleham Castle in +the safe keeping of the Archbishop of York; so England was not only +in the strange position of having two kings at once, but they were +both prisoners at the same time. + +Even as yet, however, the King-Maker was so far true to the King, +that he dispersed a new rising of the Lancastrians, took their +leader prisoner, and brought him to the King, who ordered him to be +immediately executed. He presently allowed the King to return to +London, and there innumerable pledges of forgiveness and friendship +were exchanged between them, and between the Nevils and the +Woodvilles; the King's eldest daughter was promised in marriage to +the heir of the Nevil family; and more friendly oaths were sworn, +and more friendly promises made, than this book would hold. + +They lasted about three months. At the end of that time, the +Archbishop of York made a feast for the King, the Earl of Warwick, +and the Duke of Clarence, at his house, the Moor, in Hertfordshire. +The King was washing his hands before supper, when some one +whispered him that a body of a hundred men were lying in ambush +outside the house. Whether this were true or untrue, the King took +fright, mounted his horse, and rode through the dark night to +Windsor Castle. Another reconciliation was patched up between him +and the King-Maker, but it was a short one, and it was the last. A +new rising took place in Lincolnshire, and the King marched to +repress it. Having done so, he proclaimed that both the Earl of +Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were traitors, who had secretly +assisted it, and who had been prepared publicly to join it on the +following day. In these dangerous circumstances they both took +ship and sailed away to the French court. + +And here a meeting took place between the Earl of Warwick and his +old enemy, the Dowager Queen Margaret, through whom his father had +had his head struck off, and to whom he had been a bitter foe. +But, now, when he said that he had done with the ungrateful and +perfidious Edward of York, and that henceforth he devoted himself +to the restoration of the House of Lancaster, either in the person +of her husband or of her little son, she embraced him as if he had +ever been her dearest friend. She did more than that; she married +her son to his second daughter, the Lady Anne. However agreeable +this marriage was to the new friends, it was very disagreeable to +the Duke of Clarence, who perceived that his father-in-law, the +King-Maker, would never make HIM King, now. So, being but a weak- +minded young traitor, possessed of very little worth or sense, he +readily listened to an artful court lady sent over for the purpose, +and promised to turn traitor once more, and go over to his brother, +King Edward, when a fitting opportunity should come. + +The Earl of Warwick, knowing nothing of this, soon redeemed his +promise to the Dowager Queen Margaret, by invading England and +landing at Plymouth, where he instantly proclaimed King Henry, and +summoned all Englishmen between the ages of sixteen and sixty, to +join his banner. Then, with his army increasing as he marched +along, he went northward, and came so near King Edward, who was in +that part of the country, that Edward had to ride hard for it to +the coast of Norfolk, and thence to get away in such ships as he +could find, to Holland. Thereupon, the triumphant King-Maker and +his false son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence, went to London, took +the old King out of the Tower, and walked him in a great procession +to Saint Paul's Cathedral with the crown upon his head. This did +not improve the temper of the Duke of Clarence, who saw himself +farther off from being King than ever; but he kept his secret, and +said nothing. The Nevil family were restored to all their honours +and glories, and the Woodvilles and the rest were disgraced. The +King-Maker, less sanguinary than the King, shed no blood except +that of the Earl of Worcester, who had been so cruel to the people +as to have gained the title of the Butcher. Him they caught hidden +in a tree, and him they tried and executed. No other death stained +the King-Maker's triumph. + +To dispute this triumph, back came King Edward again, next year, +landing at Ravenspur, coming on to York, causing all his men to cry +'Long live King Henry!' and swearing on the altar, without a blush, +that he came to lay no claim to the crown. Now was the time for +the Duke of Clarence, who ordered his men to assume the White Rose, +and declare for his brother. The Marquis of Montague, though the +Earl of Warwick's brother, also declining to fight against King +Edward, he went on successfully to London, where the Archbishop of +York let him into the City, and where the people made great +demonstrations in his favour. For this they had four reasons. +Firstly, there were great numbers of the King's adherents hiding in +the City and ready to break out; secondly, the King owed them a +great deal of money, which they could never hope to get if he were +unsuccessful; thirdly, there was a young prince to inherit the +crown; and fourthly, the King was gay and handsome, and more +popular than a better man might have been with the City ladies. +After a stay of only two days with these worthy supporters, the +King marched out to Barnet Common, to give the Earl of Warwick +battle. And now it was to be seen, for the last time, whether the +King or the King-Maker was to carry the day. + +While the battle was yet pending, the fainthearted Duke of Clarence +began to repent, and sent over secret messages to his father-in- +law, offering his services in mediation with the King. But, the +Earl of Warwick disdainfully rejected them, and replied that +Clarence was false and perjured, and that he would settle the +quarrel by the sword. The battle began at four o'clock in the +morning and lasted until ten, and during the greater part of the +time it was fought in a thick mist - absurdly supposed to be raised +by a magician. The loss of life was very great, for the hatred was +strong on both sides. The King-Maker was defeated, and the King +triumphed. Both the Earl of Warwick and his brother were slain, +and their bodies lay in St. Paul's, for some days, as a spectacle +to the people. + +Margaret's spirit was not broken even by this great blow. Within +five days she was in arms again, and raised her standard in Bath, +whence she set off with her army, to try and join Lord Pembroke, +who had a force in Wales. But, the King, coming up with her +outside the town of Tewkesbury, and ordering his brother, the DUKE +OF GLOUCESTER, who was a brave soldier, to attack her men, she +sustained an entire defeat, and was taken prisoner, together with +her son, now only eighteen years of age. The conduct of the King +to this poor youth was worthy of his cruel character. He ordered +him to be led into his tent. 'And what,' said he, 'brought YOU to +England?' 'I came to England,' replied the prisoner, with a spirit +which a man of spirit might have admired in a captive, 'to recover +my father's kingdom, which descended to him as his right, and from +him descends to me, as mine.' The King, drawing off his iron +gauntlet, struck him with it in the face; and the Duke of Clarence +and some other lords, who were there, drew their noble swords, and +killed him. + +His mother survived him, a prisoner, for five years; after her +ransom by the King of France, she survived for six years more. +Within three weeks of this murder, Henry died one of those +convenient sudden deaths which were so common in the Tower; in +plainer words, he was murdered by the King's order. + +Having no particular excitement on his hands after this great +defeat of the Lancaster party, and being perhaps desirous to get +rid of some of his fat (for he was now getting too corpulent to be +handsome), the King thought of making war on France. As he wanted +more money for this purpose than the Parliament could give him, +though they were usually ready enough for war, he invented a new +way of raising it, by sending for the principal citizens of London, +and telling them, with a grave face, that he was very much in want +of cash, and would take it very kind in them if they would lend him +some. It being impossible for them safely to refuse, they +complied, and the moneys thus forced from them were called - no +doubt to the great amusement of the King and the Court - as if they +were free gifts, 'Benevolences.' What with grants from Parliament, +and what with Benevolences, the King raised an army and passed over +to Calais. As nobody wanted war, however, the French King made +proposals of peace, which were accepted, and a truce was concluded +for seven long years. The proceedings between the Kings of France +and England on this occasion, were very friendly, very splendid, +and very distrustful. They finished with a meeting between the two +Kings, on a temporary bridge over the river Somme, where they +embraced through two holes in a strong wooden grating like a lion's +cage, and made several bows and fine speeches to one another. + +It was time, now, that the Duke of Clarence should be punished for +his treacheries; and Fate had his punishment in store. He was, +probably, not trusted by the King - for who could trust him who +knew him! - and he had certainly a powerful opponent in his brother +Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who, being avaricious and ambitious, +wanted to marry that widowed daughter of the Earl of Warwick's who +had been espoused to the deceased young Prince, at Calais. +Clarence, who wanted all the family wealth for himself, secreted +this lady, whom Richard found disguised as a servant in the City of +London, and whom he married; arbitrators appointed by the King, +then divided the property between the brothers. This led to ill- +will and mistrust between them. Clarence's wife dying, and he +wishing to make another marriage, which was obnoxious to the King, +his ruin was hurried by that means, too. At first, the Court +struck at his retainers and dependents, and accused some of them of +magic and witchcraft, and similar nonsense. Successful against +this small game, it then mounted to the Duke himself, who was +impeached by his brother the King, in person, on a variety of such +charges. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be publicly +executed. He never was publicly executed, but he met his death +somehow, in the Tower, and, no doubt, through some agency of the +King or his brother Gloucester, or both. It was supposed at the +time that he was told to choose the manner of his death, and that +he chose to be drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. I hope the story +may be true, for it would have been a becoming death for such a +miserable creature. + +The King survived him some five years. He died in the forty-second +year of his life, and the twenty-third of his reign. He had a very +good capacity and some good points, but he was selfish, careless, +sensual, and cruel. He was a favourite with the people for his +showy manners; and the people were a good example to him in the +constancy of their attachment. He was penitent on his death-bed +for his 'benevolences,' and other extortions, and ordered +restitution to be made to the people who had suffered from them. +He also called about his bed the enriched members of the Woodville +family, and the proud lords whose honours were of older date, and +endeavoured to reconcile them, for the sake of the peaceful +succession of his son and the tranquillity of England. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV - ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH + + + +THE late King's eldest son, the Prince of Wales, called EDWARD +after him, was only thirteen years of age at his father's death. +He was at Ludlow Castle with his uncle, the Earl of Rivers. The +prince's brother, the Duke of York, only eleven years of age, was +in London with his mother. The boldest, most crafty, and most +dreaded nobleman in England at that time was their uncle RICHARD, +Duke of Gloucester, and everybody wondered how the two poor boys +would fare with such an uncle for a friend or a foe. + +The Queen, their mother, being exceedingly uneasy about this, was +anxious that instructions should be sent to Lord Rivers to raise an +army to escort the young King safely to London. But, Lord +Hastings, who was of the Court party opposed to the Woodvilles, and +who disliked the thought of giving them that power, argued against +the proposal, and obliged the Queen to be satisfied with an escort +of two thousand horse. The Duke of Gloucester did nothing, at +first, to justify suspicion. He came from Scotland (where he was +commanding an army) to York, and was there the first to swear +allegiance to his nephew. He then wrote a condoling letter to the +Queen-Mother, and set off to be present at the coronation in +London. + +Now, the young King, journeying towards London too, with Lord +Rivers and Lord Gray, came to Stony Stratford, as his uncle came to +Northampton, about ten miles distant; and when those two lords +heard that the Duke of Gloucester was so near, they proposed to the +young King that they should go back and greet him in his name. The +boy being very willing that they should do so, they rode off and +were received with great friendliness, and asked by the Duke of +Gloucester to stay and dine with him. In the evening, while they +were merry together, up came the Duke of Buckingham with three +hundred horsemen; and next morning the two lords and the two dukes, +and the three hundred horsemen, rode away together to rejoin the +King. Just as they were entering Stony Stratford, the Duke of +Gloucester, checking his horse, turned suddenly on the two lords, +charged them with alienating from him the affections of his sweet +nephew, and caused them to be arrested by the three hundred +horsemen and taken back. Then, he and the Duke of Buckingham went +straight to the King (whom they had now in their power), to whom +they made a show of kneeling down, and offering great love and +submission; and then they ordered his attendants to disperse, and +took him, alone with them, to Northampton. + +A few days afterwards they conducted him to London, and lodged him +in the Bishop's Palace. But, he did not remain there long; for, +the Duke of Buckingham with a tender face made a speech expressing +how anxious he was for the Royal boy's safety, and how much safer +he would be in the Tower until his coronation, than he could be +anywhere else. So, to the Tower he was taken, very carefully, and +the Duke of Gloucester was named Protector of the State. + +Although Gloucester had proceeded thus far with a very smooth +countenance - and although he was a clever man, fair of speech, and +not ill-looking, in spite of one of his shoulders being something +higher than the other - and although he had come into the City +riding bare-headed at the King's side, and looking very fond of him +- he had made the King's mother more uneasy yet; and when the Royal +boy was taken to the Tower, she became so alarmed that she took +sanctuary in Westminster with her five daughters. + +Nor did she do this without reason, for, the Duke of Gloucester, +finding that the lords who were opposed to the Woodville family +were faithful to the young King nevertheless, quickly resolved to +strike a blow for himself. Accordingly, while those lords met in +council at the Tower, he and those who were in his interest met in +separate council at his own residence, Crosby Palace, in +Bishopsgate Street. Being at last quite prepared, he one day +appeared unexpectedly at the council in the Tower, and appeared to +be very jocular and merry. He was particularly gay with the Bishop +of Ely: praising the strawberries that grew in his garden on +Holborn Hill, and asking him to have some gathered that he might +eat them at dinner. The Bishop, quite proud of the honour, sent +one of his men to fetch some; and the Duke, still very jocular and +gay, went out; and the council all said what a very agreeable duke +he was! In a little time, however, he came back quite altered - +not at all jocular - frowning and fierce - and suddenly said, - + +'What do those persons deserve who have compassed my destruction; I +being the King's lawful, as well as natural, protector?' + +To this strange question, Lord Hastings replied, that they deserved +death, whosoever they were. + +'Then,' said the Duke, 'I tell you that they are that sorceress my +brother's wife;' meaning the Queen: 'and that other sorceress, +Jane Shore. Who, by witchcraft, have withered my body, and caused +my arm to shrink as I now show you.' + +He then pulled up his sleeve and showed them his arm, which was +shrunken, it is true, but which had been so, as they all very well +knew, from the hour of his birth. + +Jane Shore, being then the lover of Lord Hastings, as she had +formerly been of the late King, that lord knew that he himself was +attacked. So, he said, in some confusion, 'Certainly, my Lord, if +they have done this, they be worthy of punishment.' + +'If?' said the Duke of Gloucester; 'do you talk to me of ifs? I +tell you that they HAVE so done, and I will make it good upon thy +body, thou traitor!' + +With that, he struck the table a great blow with his fist. This +was a signal to some of his people outside to cry 'Treason!' They +immediately did so, and there was a rush into the chamber of so +many armed men that it was filled in a moment. + +'First,' said the Duke of Gloucester to Lord Hastings, 'I arrest +thee, traitor! And let him,' he added to the armed men who took +him, 'have a priest at once, for by St. Paul I will not dine until +I have seen his head of!' + +Lord Hastings was hurried to the green by the Tower chapel, and +there beheaded on a log of wood that happened to be lying on the +ground. Then, the Duke dined with a good appetite, and after +dinner summoning the principal citizens to attend him, told them +that Lord Hastings and the rest had designed to murder both himself +and the Duke if Buckingham, who stood by his side, if he had not +providentially discovered their design. He requested them to be so +obliging as to inform their fellow-citizens of the truth of what he +said, and issued a proclamation (prepared and neatly copied out +beforehand) to the same effect. + +On the same day that the Duke did these things in the Tower, Sir +Richard Ratcliffe, the boldest and most undaunted of his men, went +down to Pontefract; arrested Lord Rivers, Lord Gray, and two other +gentlemen; and publicly executed them on the scaffold, without any +trial, for having intended the Duke's death. Three days afterwards +the Duke, not to lose time, went down the river to Westminster in +his barge, attended by divers bishops, lords, and soldiers, and +demanded that the Queen should deliver her second son, the Duke of +York, into his safe keeping. The Queen, being obliged to comply, +resigned the child after she had wept over him; and Richard of +Gloucester placed him with his brother in the Tower. Then, he +seized Jane Shore, and, because she had been the lover of the late +King, confiscated her property, and got her sentenced to do public +penance in the streets by walking in a scanty dress, with bare +feet, and carrying a lighted candle, to St. Paul's Cathedral, +through the most crowded part of the City. + +Having now all things ready for his own advancement, he caused a +friar to preach a sermon at the cross which stood in front of St. +Paul's Cathedral, in which he dwelt upon the profligate manners of +the late King, and upon the late shame of Jane Shore, and hinted +that the princes were not his children. 'Whereas, good people,' +said the friar, whose name was SHAW, 'my Lord the Protector, the +noble Duke of Gloucester, that sweet prince, the pattern of all the +noblest virtues, is the perfect image and express likeness of his +father.' There had been a little plot between the Duke and the +friar, that the Duke should appear in the crowd at this moment, +when it was expected that the people would cry 'Long live King +Richard!' But, either through the friar saying the words too soon, +or through the Duke's coming too late, the Duke and the words did +not come together, and the people only laughed, and the friar +sneaked off ashamed. + +The Duke of Buckingham was a better hand at such business than the +friar, so he went to the Guildhall the next day, and addressed the +citizens in the Lord Protector's behalf. A few dirty men, who had +been hired and stationed there for the purpose, crying when he had +done, 'God save King Richard!' he made them a great bow, and +thanked them with all his heart. Next day, to make an end of it, +he went with the mayor and some lords and citizens to Bayard +Castle, by the river, where Richard then was, and read an address, +humbly entreating him to accept the Crown of England. Richard, who +looked down upon them out of a window and pretended to be in great +uneasiness and alarm, assured them there was nothing he desired +less, and that his deep affection for his nephews forbade him to +think of it. To this the Duke of Buckingham replied, with +pretended warmth, that the free people of England would never +submit to his nephew's rule, and that if Richard, who was the +lawful heir, refused the Crown, why then they must find some one +else to wear it. The Duke of Gloucester returned, that since he +used that strong language, it became his painful duty to think no +more of himself, and to accept the Crown. + +Upon that, the people cheered and dispersed; and the Duke of +Gloucester and the Duke of Buckingham passed a pleasant evening, +talking over the play they had just acted with so much success, and +every word of which they had prepared together. + + + +CHAPTER XXV - ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD + + + +KING RICHARD THE THIRD was up betimes in the morning, and went to +Westminster Hall. In the Hall was a marble seat, upon which he sat +himself down between two great noblemen, and told the people that +he began the new reign in that place, because the first duty of a +sovereign was to administer the laws equally to all, and to +maintain justice. He then mounted his horse and rode back to the +City, where he was received by the clergy and the crowd as if he +really had a right to the throne, and really were a just man. The +clergy and the crowd must have been rather ashamed of themselves in +secret, I think, for being such poor-spirited knaves. + +The new King and his Queen were soon crowned with a great deal of +show and noise, which the people liked very much; and then the King +set forth on a royal progress through his dominions. He was +crowned a second time at York, in order that the people might have +show and noise enough; and wherever he went was received with +shouts of rejoicing - from a good many people of strong lungs, who +were paid to strain their throats in crying, 'God save King +Richard!' The plan was so successful that I am told it has been +imitated since, by other usurpers, in other progresses through +other dominions. + +While he was on this journey, King Richard stayed a week at +Warwick. And from Warwick he sent instructions home for one of the +wickedest murders that ever was done - the murder of the two young +princes, his nephews, who were shut up in the Tower of London. + +Sir Robert Brackenbury was at that time Governor of the Tower. To +him, by the hands of a messenger named JOHN GREEN, did King Richard +send a letter, ordering him by some means to put the two young +princes to death. But Sir Robert - I hope because he had children +of his own, and loved them - sent John Green back again, riding and +spurring along the dusty roads, with the answer that he could not +do so horrible a piece of work. The King, having frowningly +considered a little, called to him SIR JAMES TYRREL, his master of +the horse, and to him gave authority to take command of the Tower, +whenever he would, for twenty-four hours, and to keep all the keys +of the Tower during that space of time. Tyrrel, well knowing what +was wanted, looked about him for two hardened ruffians, and chose +JOHN DIGHTON, one of his own grooms, and MILES FOREST, who was a +murderer by trade. Having secured these two assistants, he went, +upon a day in August, to the Tower, showed his authority from the +King, took the command for four-and-twenty hours, and obtained +possession of the keys. And when the black night came he went +creeping, creeping, like a guilty villain as he was, up the dark, +stone winding stairs, and along the dark stone passages, until he +came to the door of the room where the two young princes, having +said their prayers, lay fast asleep, clasped in each other's arms. +And while he watched and listened at the door, he sent in those +evil demons, John Dighton and Miles Forest, who smothered the two +princes with the bed and pillows, and carried their bodies down the +stairs, and buried them under a great heap of stones at the +staircase foot. And when the day came, he gave up the command of +the Tower, and restored the keys, and hurried away without once +looking behind him; and Sir Robert Brackenbury went with fear and +sadness to the princes' room, and found the princes gone for ever. + +You know, through all this history, how true it is that traitors +are never true, and you will not be surprised to learn that the +Duke of Buckingham soon turned against King Richard, and joined a +great conspiracy that was formed to dethrone him, and to place the +crown upon its rightful owner's head. Richard had meant to keep +the murder secret; but when he heard through his spies that this +conspiracy existed, and that many lords and gentlemen drank in +secret to the healths of the two young princes in the Tower, he +made it known that they were dead. The conspirators, though +thwarted for a moment, soon resolved to set up for the crown +against the murderous Richard, HENRY Earl of Richmond, grandson of +Catherine: that widow of Henry the Fifth who married Owen Tudor. +And as Henry was of the house of Lancaster, they proposed that he +should marry the Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the +late King, now the heiress of the house of York, and thus by +uniting the rival families put an end to the fatal wars of the Red +and White Roses. All being settled, a time was appointed for Henry +to come over from Brittany, and for a great rising against Richard +to take place in several parts of England at the same hour. On a +certain day, therefore, in October, the revolt took place; but +unsuccessfully. Richard was prepared, Henry was driven back at sea +by a storm, his followers in England were dispersed, and the Duke +of Buckingham was taken, and at once beheaded in the market-place +at Salisbury. + +The time of his success was a good time, Richard thought, for +summoning a Parliament and getting some money. So, a Parliament +was called, and it flattered and fawned upon him as much as he +could possibly desire, and declared him to be the rightful King of +England, and his only son Edward, then eleven years of age, the +next heir to the throne. + +Richard knew full well that, let the Parliament say what it would, +the Princess Elizabeth was remembered by people as the heiress of +the house of York; and having accurate information besides, of its +being designed by the conspirators to marry her to Henry of +Richmond, he felt that it would much strengthen him and weaken +them, to be beforehand with them, and marry her to his son. With +this view he went to the Sanctuary at Westminster, where the late +King's widow and her daughter still were, and besought them to come +to Court: where (he swore by anything and everything) they should +be safely and honourably entertained. They came, accordingly, but +had scarcely been at Court a month when his son died suddenly - or +was poisoned - and his plan was crushed to pieces. + +In this extremity, King Richard, always active, thought, 'I must +make another plan.' And he made the plan of marrying the Princess +Elizabeth himself, although she was his niece. There was one +difficulty in the way: his wife, the Queen Anne, was alive. But, +he knew (remembering his nephews) how to remove that obstacle, and +he made love to the Princess Elizabeth, telling her he felt +perfectly confident that the Queen would die in February. The +Princess was not a very scrupulous young lady, for, instead of +rejecting the murderer of her brothers with scorn and hatred, she +openly declared she loved him dearly; and, when February came and +the Queen did not die, she expressed her impatient opinion that she +was too long about it. However, King Richard was not so far out in +his prediction, but, that she died in March - he took good care of +that - and then this precious pair hoped to be married. But they +were disappointed, for the idea of such a marriage was so unpopular +in the country, that the King's chief counsellors, RATCLIFFE and +CATESBY, would by no means undertake to propose it, and the King +was even obliged to declare in public that he had never thought of +such a thing. + +He was, by this time, dreaded and hated by all classes of his +subjects. His nobles deserted every day to Henry's side; he dared +not call another Parliament, lest his crimes should be denounced +there; and for want of money, he was obliged to get Benevolences +from the citizens, which exasperated them all against him. It was +said too, that, being stricken by his conscience, he dreamed +frightful dreams, and started up in the night-time, wild with +terror and remorse. Active to the last, through all this, he +issued vigorous proclamations against Henry of Richmond and all his +followers, when he heard that they were coming against him with a +Fleet from France; and took the field as fierce and savage as a +wild boar - the animal represented on his shield. + +Henry of Richmond landed with six thousand men at Milford Haven, +and came on against King Richard, then encamped at Leicester with +an army twice as great, through North Wales. On Bosworth Field the +two armies met; and Richard, looking along Henry's ranks, and +seeing them crowded with the English nobles who had abandoned him, +turned pale when he beheld the powerful Lord Stanley and his son +(whom he had tried hard to retain) among them. But, he was as +brave as he was wicked, and plunged into the thickest of the fight. +He was riding hither and thither, laying about him in all +directions, when he observed the Earl of Northumberland - one of +his few great allies - to stand inactive, and the main body of his +troops to hesitate. At the same moment, his desperate glance +caught Henry of Richmond among a little group of his knights. +Riding hard at him, and crying 'Treason!' he killed his standard- +bearer, fiercely unhorsed another gentleman, and aimed a powerful +stroke at Henry himself, to cut him down. But, Sir William Stanley +parried it as it fell, and before Richard could raise his arm +again, he was borne down in a press of numbers, unhorsed, and +killed. Lord Stanley picked up the crown, all bruised and +trampled, and stained with blood, and put it upon Richmond's head, +amid loud and rejoicing cries of 'Long live King Henry!' + +That night, a horse was led up to the church of the Grey Friars at +Leicester; across whose back was tied, like some worthless sack, a +naked body brought there for burial. It was the body of the last +of the Plantagenet line, King Richard the Third, usurper and +murderer, slain at the battle of Bosworth Field in the thirty- +second year of his age, after a reign of two years. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH + + + +KING HENRY THE SEVENTH did not turn out to be as fine a fellow as +the nobility and people hoped, in the first joy of their +deliverance from Richard the Third. He was very cold, crafty, and +calculating, and would do almost anything for money. He possessed +considerable ability, but his chief merit appears to have been that +he was not cruel when there was nothing to be got by it. + +The new King had promised the nobles who had espoused his cause +that he would marry the Princess Elizabeth. The first thing he +did, was, to direct her to be removed from the castle of Sheriff +Hutton in Yorkshire, where Richard had placed her, and restored to +the care of her mother in London. The young Earl of Warwick, +Edward Plantagenet, son and heir of the late Duke of Clarence, had +been kept a prisoner in the same old Yorkshire Castle with her. +This boy, who was now fifteen, the new King placed in the Tower for +safety. Then he came to London in great state, and gratified the +people with a fine procession; on which kind of show he often very +much relied for keeping them in good humour. The sports and feasts +which took place were followed by a terrible fever, called the +Sweating Sickness; of which great numbers of people died. Lord +Mayors and Aldermen are thought to have suffered most from it; +whether, because they were in the habit of over-eating themselves, +or because they were very jealous of preserving filth and nuisances +in the City (as they have been since), I don't know. + +The King's coronation was postponed on account of the general ill- +health, and he afterwards deferred his marriage, as if he were not +very anxious that it should take place: and, even after that, +deferred the Queen's coronation so long that he gave offence to the +York party. However, he set these things right in the end, by +hanging some men and seizing on the rich possessions of others; by +granting more popular pardons to the followers of the late King +than could, at first, be got from him; and, by employing about his +Court, some very scrupulous persons who had been employed in the +previous reign. + +As this reign was principally remarkable for two very curious +impostures which have become famous in history, we will make those +two stories its principal feature. + +There was a priest at Oxford of the name of Simons, who had for a +pupil a handsome boy named Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker. +Partly to gratify his own ambitious ends, and partly to carry out +the designs of a secret party formed against the King, this priest +declared that his pupil, the boy, was no other than the young Earl +of Warwick; who (as everybody might have known) was safely locked +up in the Tower of London. The priest and the boy went over to +Ireland; and, at Dublin, enlisted in their cause all ranks of the +people: who seem to have been generous enough, but exceedingly +irrational. The Earl of Kildare, the governor of Ireland, declared +that he believed the boy to be what the priest represented; and the +boy, who had been well tutored by the priest, told them such things +of his childhood, and gave them so many descriptions of the Royal +Family, that they were perpetually shouting and hurrahing, and +drinking his health, and making all kinds of noisy and thirsty +demonstrations, to express their belief in him. Nor was this +feeling confined to Ireland alone, for the Earl of Lincoln - whom +the late usurper had named as his successor - went over to the +young Pretender; and, after holding a secret correspondence with +the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy - the sister of Edward the Fourth, +who detested the present King and all his race - sailed to Dublin +with two thousand German soldiers of her providing. In this +promising state of the boy's fortunes, he was crowned there, with a +crown taken off the head of a statue of the Virgin Mary; and was +then, according to the Irish custom of those days, carried home on +the shoulders of a big chieftain possessing a great deal more +strength than sense. Father Simons, you may be sure, was mighty +busy at the coronation. + +Ten days afterwards, the Germans, and the Irish, and the priest, +and the boy, and the Earl of Lincoln, all landed in Lancashire to +invade England. The King, who had good intelligence of their +movements, set up his standard at Nottingham, where vast numbers +resorted to him every day; while the Earl of Lincoln could gain but +very few. With his small force he tried to make for the town of +Newark; but the King's army getting between him and that place, he +had no choice but to risk a battle at Stoke. It soon ended in the +complete destruction of the Pretender's forces, one half of whom +were killed; among them, the Earl himself. The priest and the +baker's boy were taken prisoners. The priest, after confessing the +trick, was shut up in prison, where he afterwards died - suddenly +perhaps. The boy was taken into the King's kitchen and made a +turnspit. He was afterwards raised to the station of one of the +King's falconers; and so ended this strange imposition. + +There seems reason to suspect that the Dowager Queen - always a +restless and busy woman - had had some share in tutoring the +baker's son. The King was very angry with her, whether or no. He +seized upon her property, and shut her up in a convent at +Bermondsey. + +One might suppose that the end of this story would have put the +Irish people on their guard; but they were quite ready to receive a +second impostor, as they had received the first, and that same +troublesome Duchess of Burgundy soon gave them the opportunity. +All of a sudden there appeared at Cork, in a vessel arriving from +Portugal, a young man of excellent abilities, of very handsome +appearance and most winning manners, who declared himself to be +Richard, Duke of York, the second son of King Edward the Fourth. +'O,' said some, even of those ready Irish believers, 'but surely +that young Prince was murdered by his uncle in the Tower!' - 'It IS +supposed so,' said the engaging young man; 'and my brother WAS +killed in that gloomy prison; but I escaped - it don't matter how, +at present - and have been wandering about the world for seven long +years.' This explanation being quite satisfactory to numbers of +the Irish people, they began again to shout and to hurrah, and to +drink his health, and to make the noisy and thirsty demonstrations +all over again. And the big chieftain in Dublin began to look out +for another coronation, and another young King to be carried home +on his back. + +Now, King Henry being then on bad terms with France, the French +King, Charles the Eighth, saw that, by pretending to believe in the +handsome young man, he could trouble his enemy sorely. So, he +invited him over to the French Court, and appointed him a body- +guard, and treated him in all respects as if he really were the +Duke of York. Peace, however, being soon concluded between the two +Kings, the pretended Duke was turned adrift, and wandered for +protection to the Duchess of Burgundy. She, after feigning to +inquire into the reality of his claims, declared him to be the very +picture of her dear departed brother; gave him a body-guard at her +Court, of thirty halberdiers; and called him by the sounding name +of the White Rose of England. + +The leading members of the White Rose party in England sent over an +agent, named Sir Robert Clifford, to ascertain whether the White +Rose's claims were good: the King also sent over his agents to +inquire into the Rose's history. The White Roses declared the +young man to be really the Duke of York; the King declared him to +be PERKIN WARBECK, the son of a merchant of the city of Tournay, +who had acquired his knowledge of England, its language and +manners, from the English merchants who traded in Flanders; it was +also stated by the Royal agents that he had been in the service of +Lady Brompton, the wife of an exiled English nobleman, and that the +Duchess of Burgundy had caused him to be trained and taught, +expressly for this deception. The King then required the Archduke +Philip - who was the sovereign of Burgundy - to banish this new +Pretender, or to deliver him up; but, as the Archduke replied that +he could not control the Duchess in her own land, the King, in +revenge, took the market of English cloth away from Antwerp, and +prevented all commercial intercourse between the two countries. + +He also, by arts and bribes, prevailed on Sir Robert Clifford to +betray his employers; and he denouncing several famous English +noblemen as being secretly the friends of Perkin Warbeck, the King +had three of the foremost executed at once. Whether he pardoned +the remainder because they were poor, I do not know; but it is only +too probable that he refused to pardon one famous nobleman against +whom the same Clifford soon afterwards informed separately, because +he was rich. This was no other than Sir William Stanley, who had +saved the King's life at the battle of Bosworth Field. It is very +doubtful whether his treason amounted to much more than his having +said, that if he were sure the young man was the Duke of York, he +would not take arms against him. Whatever he had done he admitted, +like an honourable spirit; and he lost his head for it, and the +covetous King gained all his wealth. + +Perkin Warbeck kept quiet for three years; but, as the Flemings +began to complain heavily of the loss of their trade by the +stoppage of the Antwerp market on his account, and as it was not +unlikely that they might even go so far as to take his life, or +give him up, he found it necessary to do something. Accordingly he +made a desperate sally, and landed, with only a few hundred men, on +the coast of Deal. But he was soon glad to get back to the place +from whence he came; for the country people rose against his +followers, killed a great many, and took a hundred and fifty +prisoners: who were all driven to London, tied together with +ropes, like a team of cattle. Every one of them was hanged on some +part or other of the sea-shore; in order, that if any more men +should come over with Perkin Warbeck, they might see the bodies as +a warning before they landed. + +Then the wary King, by making a treaty of commerce with the +Flemings, drove Perkin Warbeck out of that country; and, by +completely gaining over the Irish to his side, deprived him of that +asylum too. He wandered away to Scotland, and told his story at +that Court. King James the Fourth of Scotland, who was no friend +to King Henry, and had no reason to be (for King Henry had bribed +his Scotch lords to betray him more than once; but had never +succeeded in his plots), gave him a great reception, called him his +cousin, and gave him in marriage the Lady Catherine Gordon, a +beautiful and charming creature related to the royal house of +Stuart. + +Alarmed by this successful reappearance of the Pretender, the King +still undermined, and bought, and bribed, and kept his doings and +Perkin Warbeck's story in the dark, when he might, one would +imagine, have rendered the matter clear to all England. But, for +all this bribing of the Scotch lords at the Scotch King's Court, he +could not procure the Pretender to be delivered up to him. James, +though not very particular in many respects, would not betray him; +and the ever-busy Duchess of Burgundy so provided him with arms, +and good soldiers, and with money besides, that he had soon a +little army of fifteen hundred men of various nations. With these, +and aided by the Scottish King in person, he crossed the border +into England, and made a proclamation to the people, in which he +called the King 'Henry Tudor;' offered large rewards to any who +should take or distress him; and announced himself as King Richard +the Fourth come to receive the homage of his faithful subjects. +His faithful subjects, however, cared nothing for him, and hated +his faithful troops: who, being of different nations, quarrelled +also among themselves. Worse than this, if worse were possible, +they began to plunder the country; upon which the White Rose said, +that he would rather lose his rights, than gain them through the +miseries of the English people. The Scottish King made a jest of +his scruples; but they and their whole force went back again +without fighting a battle. + +The worst consequence of this attempt was, that a rising took place +among the people of Cornwall, who considered themselves too heavily +taxed to meet the charges of the expected war. Stimulated by +Flammock, a lawyer, and Joseph, a blacksmith, and joined by Lord +Audley and some other country gentlemen, they marched on all the +way to Deptford Bridge, where they fought a battle with the King's +army. They were defeated - though the Cornish men fought with +great bravery - and the lord was beheaded, and the lawyer and the +blacksmith were hanged, drawn, and quartered. The rest were +pardoned. The King, who believed every man to be as avaricious as +himself, and thought that money could settle anything, allowed them +to make bargains for their liberty with the soldiers who had taken +them. + +Perkin Warbeck, doomed to wander up and down, and never to find +rest anywhere - a sad fate: almost a sufficient punishment for an +imposture, which he seems in time to have half believed himself - +lost his Scottish refuge through a truce being made between the two +Kings; and found himself, once more, without a country before him +in which he could lay his head. But James (always honourable and +true to him, alike when he melted down his plate, and even the +great gold chain he had been used to wear, to pay soldiers in his +cause; and now, when that cause was lost and hopeless) did not +conclude the treaty, until he had safely departed out of the +Scottish dominions. He, and his beautiful wife, who was faithful +to him under all reverses, and left her state and home to follow +his poor fortunes, were put aboard ship with everything necessary +for their comfort and protection, and sailed for Ireland. + +But, the Irish people had had enough of counterfeit Earls of +Warwick and Dukes of York, for one while; and would give the White +Rose no aid. So, the White Rose - encircled by thorns indeed - +resolved to go with his beautiful wife to Cornwall as a forlorn +resource, and see what might be made of the Cornish men, who had +risen so valiantly a little while before, and who had fought so +bravely at Deptford Bridge. + +To Whitsand Bay, in Cornwall, accordingly, came Perkin Warbeck and +his wife; and the lovely lady he shut up for safety in the Castle +of St. Michael's Mount, and then marched into Devonshire at the +head of three thousand Cornishmen. These were increased to six +thousand by the time of his arrival in Exeter; but, there the +people made a stout resistance, and he went on to Taunton, where he +came in sight of the King's army. The stout Cornish men, although +they were few in number, and badly armed, were so bold, that they +never thought of retreating; but bravely looked forward to a battle +on the morrow. Unhappily for them, the man who was possessed of so +many engaging qualities, and who attracted so many people to his +side when he had nothing else with which to tempt them, was not as +brave as they. In the night, when the two armies lay opposite to +each other, he mounted a swift horse and fled. When morning +dawned, the poor confiding Cornish men, discovering that they had +no leader, surrendered to the King's power. Some of them were +hanged, and the rest were pardoned and went miserably home. + +Before the King pursued Perkin Warbeck to the sanctuary of Beaulieu +in the New Forest, where it was soon known that he had taken +refuge, he sent a body of horsemen to St. Michael's Mount, to seize +his wife. She was soon taken and brought as a captive before the +King. But she was so beautiful, and so good, and so devoted to the +man in whom she believed, that the King regarded her with +compassion, treated her with great respect, and placed her at +Court, near the Queen's person. And many years after Perkin +Warbeck was no more, and when his strange story had become like a +nursery tale, SHE was called the White Rose, by the people, in +remembrance of her beauty. + +The sanctuary at Beaulieu was soon surrounded by the King's men; +and the King, pursuing his usual dark, artful ways, sent pretended +friends to Perkin Warbeck to persuade him to come out and surrender +himself. This he soon did; the King having taken a good look at +the man of whom he had heard so much - from behind a screen - +directed him to be well mounted, and to ride behind him at a little +distance, guarded, but not bound in any way. So they entered +London with the King's favourite show - a procession; and some of +the people hooted as the Pretender rode slowly through the streets +to the Tower; but the greater part were quiet, and very curious to +see him. From the Tower, he was taken to the Palace at +Westminster, and there lodged like a gentleman, though closely +watched. He was examined every now and then as to his imposture; +but the King was so secret in all he did, that even then he gave it +a consequence, which it cannot be supposed to have in itself +deserved. + +At last Perkin Warbeck ran away, and took refuge in another +sanctuary near Richmond in Surrey. From this he was again +persuaded to deliver himself up; and, being conveyed to London, he +stood in the stocks for a whole day, outside Westminster Hall, and +there read a paper purporting to be his full confession, and +relating his history as the King's agents had originally described +it. He was then shut up in the Tower again, in the company of the +Earl of Warwick, who had now been there for fourteen years: ever +since his removal out of Yorkshire, except when the King had had +him at Court, and had shown him to the people, to prove the +imposture of the Baker's boy. It is but too probable, when we +consider the crafty character of Henry the Seventh, that these two +were brought together for a cruel purpose. A plot was soon +discovered between them and the keepers, to murder the Governor, +get possession of the keys, and proclaim Perkin Warbeck as King +Richard the Fourth. That there was some such plot, is likely; that +they were tempted into it, is at least as likely; that the +unfortunate Earl of Warwick - last male of the Plantagenet line - +was too unused to the world, and too ignorant and simple to know +much about it, whatever it was, is perfectly certain; and that it +was the King's interest to get rid of him, is no less so. He was +beheaded on Tower Hill, and Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn. + +Such was the end of the pretended Duke of York, whose shadowy +history was made more shadowy - and ever will be - by the mystery +and craft of the King. If he had turned his great natural +advantages to a more honest account, he might have lived a happy +and respected life, even in those days. But he died upon a gallows +at Tyburn, leaving the Scottish lady, who had loved him so well, +kindly protected at the Queen's Court. After some time she forgot +her old loves and troubles, as many people do with Time's merciful +assistance, and married a Welsh gentleman. Her second husband, SIR +MATTHEW CRADOC, more honest and more happy than her first, lies +beside her in a tomb in the old church of Swansea. + +The ill-blood between France and England in this reign, arose out +of the continued plotting of the Duchess of Burgundy, and disputes +respecting the affairs of Brittany. The King feigned to be very +patriotic, indignant, and warlike; but he always contrived so as +never to make war in reality, and always to make money. His +taxation of the people, on pretence of war with France, involved, +at one time, a very dangerous insurrection, headed by Sir John +Egremont, and a common man called John a Chambre. But it was +subdued by the royal forces, under the command of the Earl of +Surrey. The knighted John escaped to the Duchess of Burgundy, who +was ever ready to receive any one who gave the King trouble; and +the plain John was hanged at York, in the midst of a number of his +men, but on a much higher gibbet, as being a greater traitor. Hung +high or hung low, however, hanging is much the same to the person +hung. + +Within a year after her marriage, the Queen had given birth to a +son, who was called Prince Arthur, in remembrance of the old +British prince of romance and story; and who, when all these events +had happened, being then in his fifteenth year, was married to +CATHERINE, the daughter of the Spanish monarch, with great +rejoicings and bright prospects; but in a very few months he +sickened and died. As soon as the King had recovered from his +grief, he thought it a pity that the fortune of the Spanish +Princess, amounting to two hundred thousand crowns, should go out +of the family; and therefore arranged that the young widow should +marry his second son HENRY, then twelve years of age, when he too +should be fifteen. There were objections to this marriage on the +part of the clergy; but, as the infallible Pope was gained over, +and, as he MUST be right, that settled the business for the time. +The King's eldest daughter was provided for, and a long course of +disturbance was considered to be set at rest, by her being married +to the Scottish King. + +And now the Queen died. When the King had got over that grief too, +his mind once more reverted to his darling money for consolation, +and he thought of marrying the Dowager Queen of Naples, who was +immensely rich: but, as it turned out not to be practicable to +gain the money however practicable it might have been to gain the +lady, he gave up the idea. He was not so fond of her but that he +soon proposed to marry the Dowager Duchess of Savoy; and, soon +afterwards, the widow of the King of Castile, who was raving mad. +But he made a money-bargain instead, and married neither. + +The Duchess of Burgundy, among the other discontented people to +whom she had given refuge, had sheltered EDMUND DE LA POLE (younger +brother of that Earl of Lincoln who was killed at Stoke), now Earl +of Suffolk. The King had prevailed upon him to return to the +marriage of Prince Arthur; but, he soon afterwards went away again; +and then the King, suspecting a conspiracy, resorted to his +favourite plan of sending him some treacherous friends, and buying +of those scoundrels the secrets they disclosed or invented. Some +arrests and executions took place in consequence. In the end, the +King, on a promise of not taking his life, obtained possession of +the person of Edmund de la Pole, and shut him up in the Tower. + +This was his last enemy. If he had lived much longer he would have +made many more among the people, by the grinding exaction to which +he constantly exposed them, and by the tyrannical acts of his two +prime favourites in all money-raising matters, EDMUND DUDLEY and +RICHARD EMPSON. But Death - the enemy who is not to be bought off +or deceived, and on whom no money, and no treachery has any effect +- presented himself at this juncture, and ended the King's reign. +He died of the gout, on the twenty-second of April, one thousand +five hundred and nine, and in the fifty-third year of his age, +after reigning twenty-four years; he was buried in the beautiful +Chapel of Westminster Abbey, which he had himself founded, and +which still bears his name. + +It was in this reign that the great CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, on behalf +of Spain, discovered what was then called The New World. Great +wonder, interest, and hope of wealth being awakened in England +thereby, the King and the merchants of London and Bristol fitted +out an English expedition for further discoveries in the New World, +and entrusted it to SEBASTIAN CABOT, of Bristol, the son of a +Venetian pilot there. He was very successful in his voyage, and +gained high reputation, both for himself and England. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING +HAL AND BURLY KING HARRY + + + +PART THE FIRST + + +WE now come to King Henry the Eighth, whom it has been too much the +fashion to call 'Bluff King Hal,' and 'Burly King Harry,' and other +fine names; but whom I shall take the liberty to call, plainly, one +of the most detestable villains that ever drew breath. You will be +able to judge, long before we come to the end of his life, whether +he deserves the character. + +He was just eighteen years of age when he came to the throne. +People said he was handsome then; but I don't believe it. He was a +big, burly, noisy, small-eyed, large-faced, double-chinned, +swinish-looking fellow in later life (as we know from the +likenesses of him, painted by the famous HANS HOLBEIN), and it is +not easy to believe that so bad a character can ever have been +veiled under a prepossessing appearance. + +He was anxious to make himself popular; and the people, who had +long disliked the late King, were very willing to believe that he +deserved to be so. He was extremely fond of show and display, and +so were they. Therefore there was great rejoicing when he married +the Princess Catherine, and when they were both crowned. And the +King fought at tournaments and always came off victorious - for the +courtiers took care of that - and there was a general outcry that +he was a wonderful man. Empson, Dudley, and their supporters were +accused of a variety of crimes they had never committed, instead of +the offences of which they really had been guilty; and they were +pilloried, and set upon horses with their faces to the tails, and +knocked about and beheaded, to the satisfaction of the people, and +the enrichment of the King. + +The Pope, so indefatigable in getting the world into trouble, had +mixed himself up in a war on the continent of Europe, occasioned by +the reigning Princes of little quarrelling states in Italy having +at various times married into other Royal families, and so led to +THEIR claiming a share in those petty Governments. The King, who +discovered that he was very fond of the Pope, sent a herald to the +King of France, to say that he must not make war upon that holy +personage, because he was the father of all Christians. As the +French King did not mind this relationship in the least, and also +refused to admit a claim King Henry made to certain lands in +France, war was declared between the two countries. Not to perplex +this story with an account of the tricks and designs of all the +sovereigns who were engaged in it, it is enough to say that England +made a blundering alliance with Spain, and got stupidly taken in by +that country; which made its own terms with France when it could +and left England in the lurch. SIR EDWARD HOWARD, a bold admiral, +son of the Earl of Surrey, distinguished himself by his bravery +against the French in this business; but, unfortunately, he was +more brave than wise, for, skimming into the French harbour of +Brest with only a few row-boats, he attempted (in revenge for the +defeat and death of SIR THOMAS KNYVETT, another bold English +admiral) to take some strong French ships, well defended with +batteries of cannon. The upshot was, that he was left on board of +one of them (in consequence of its shooting away from his own +boat), with not more than about a dozen men, and was thrown into +the sea and drowned: though not until he had taken from his breast +his gold chain and gold whistle, which were the signs of his +office, and had cast them into the sea to prevent their being made +a boast of by the enemy. After this defeat - which was a great +one, for Sir Edward Howard was a man of valour and fame - the King +took it into his head to invade France in person; first executing +that dangerous Earl of Suffolk whom his father had left in the +Tower, and appointing Queen Catherine to the charge of his kingdom +in his absence. He sailed to Calais, where he was joined by +MAXIMILIAN, Emperor of Germany, who pretended to be his soldier, +and who took pay in his service: with a good deal of nonsense of +that sort, flattering enough to the vanity of a vain blusterer. +The King might be successful enough in sham fights; but his idea of +real battles chiefly consisted in pitching silken tents of bright +colours that were ignominiously blown down by the wind, and in +making a vast display of gaudy flags and golden curtains. Fortune, +however, favoured him better than he deserved; for, after much +waste of time in tent pitching, flag flying, gold curtaining, and +other such masquerading, he gave the French battle at a place +called Guinegate: where they took such an unaccountable panic, and +fled with such swiftness, that it was ever afterwards called by the +English the Battle of Spurs. Instead of following up his +advantage, the King, finding that he had had enough of real +fighting, came home again. + +The Scottish King, though nearly related to Henry by marriage, had +taken part against him in this war. The Earl of Surrey, as the +English general, advanced to meet him when he came out of his own +dominions and crossed the river Tweed. The two armies came up with +one another when the Scottish King had also crossed the river Till, +and was encamped upon the last of the Cheviot Hills, called the +Hill of Flodden. Along the plain below it, the English, when the +hour of battle came, advanced. The Scottish army, which had been +drawn up in five great bodies, then came steadily down in perfect +silence. So they, in their turn, advanced to meet the English +army, which came on in one long line; and they attacked it with a +body of spearmen, under LORD HOME. At first they had the best of +it; but the English recovered themselves so bravely, and fought +with such valour, that, when the Scottish King had almost made his +way up to the Royal Standard, he was slain, and the whole Scottish +power routed. Ten thousand Scottish men lay dead that day on +Flodden Field; and among them, numbers of the nobility and gentry. +For a long time afterwards, the Scottish peasantry used to believe +that their King had not been really killed in this battle, because +no Englishman had found an iron belt he wore about his body as a +penance for having been an unnatural and undutiful son. But, +whatever became of his belt, the English had his sword and dagger, +and the ring from his finger, and his body too, covered with +wounds. There is no doubt of it; for it was seen and recognised by +English gentlemen who had known the Scottish King well. + +When King Henry was making ready to renew the war in France, the +French King was contemplating peace. His queen, dying at this +time, he proposed, though he was upwards of fifty years old, to +marry King Henry's sister, the Princess Mary, who, besides being +only sixteen, was betrothed to the Duke of Suffolk. As the +inclinations of young Princesses were not much considered in such +matters, the marriage was concluded, and the poor girl was escorted +to France, where she was immediately left as the French King's +bride, with only one of all her English attendants. That one was a +pretty young girl named ANNE BOLEYN, niece of the Earl of Surrey, +who had been made Duke of Norfolk, after the victory of Flodden +Field. Anne Boleyn's is a name to be remembered, as you will +presently find. + +And now the French King, who was very proud of his young wife, was +preparing for many years of happiness, and she was looking forward, +I dare say, to many years of misery, when he died within three +months, and left her a young widow. The new French monarch, +FRANCIS THE FIRST, seeing how important it was to his interests +that she should take for her second husband no one but an +Englishman, advised her first lover, the Duke of Suffolk, when King +Henry sent him over to France to fetch her home, to marry her. The +Princess being herself so fond of that Duke, as to tell him that he +must either do so then, or for ever lose her, they were wedded; and +Henry afterwards forgave them. In making interest with the King, +the Duke of Suffolk had addressed his most powerful favourite and +adviser, THOMAS WOLSEY - a name very famous in history for its rise +and downfall. + +Wolsey was the son of a respectable butcher at Ipswich, in Suffolk +and received so excellent an education that he became a tutor to +the family of the Marquis of Dorset, who afterwards got him +appointed one of the late King's chaplains. On the accession of +Henry the Eighth, he was promoted and taken into great favour. He +was now Archbishop of York; the Pope had made him a Cardinal +besides; and whoever wanted influence in England or favour with the +King - whether he were a foreign monarch or an English nobleman - +was obliged to make a friend of the great Cardinal Wolsey. + +He was a gay man, who could dance and jest, and sing and drink; and +those were the roads to so much, or rather so little, of a heart as +King Henry had. He was wonderfully fond of pomp and glitter, and +so was the King. He knew a good deal of the Church learning of +that time; much of which consisted in finding artful excuses and +pretences for almost any wrong thing, and in arguing that black was +white, or any other colour. This kind of learning pleased the King +too. For many such reasons, the Cardinal was high in estimation +with the King; and, being a man of far greater ability, knew as +well how to manage him, as a clever keeper may know how to manage a +wolf or a tiger, or any other cruel and uncertain beast, that may +turn upon him and tear him any day. Never had there been seen in +England such state as my Lord Cardinal kept. His wealth was +enormous; equal, it was reckoned, to the riches of the Crown. His +palaces were as splendid as the King's, and his retinue was eight +hundred strong. He held his Court, dressed out from top to toe in +flaming scarlet; and his very shoes were golden, set with precious +stones. His followers rode on blood horses; while he, with a +wonderful affectation of humility in the midst of his great +splendour, ambled on a mule with a red velvet saddle and bridle and +golden stirrups. + +Through the influence of this stately priest, a grand meeting was +arranged to take place between the French and English Kings in +France; but on ground belonging to England. A prodigious show of +friendship and rejoicing was to be made on the occasion; and +heralds were sent to proclaim with brazen trumpets through all the +principal cities of Europe, that, on a certain day, the Kings of +France and England, as companions and brothers in arms, each +attended by eighteen followers, would hold a tournament against all +knights who might choose to come. + +CHARLES, the new Emperor of Germany (the old one being dead), +wanted to prevent too cordial an alliance between these sovereigns, +and came over to England before the King could repair to the place +of meeting; and, besides making an agreeable impression upon him, +secured Wolsey's interest by promising that his influence should +make him Pope when the next vacancy occurred. On the day when the +Emperor left England, the King and all the Court went over to +Calais, and thence to the place of meeting, between Ardres and +Guisnes, commonly called the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Here, all +manner of expense and prodigality was lavished on the decorations +of the show; many of the knights and gentlemen being so superbly +dressed that it was said they carried their whole estates upon +their shoulders. + +There were sham castles, temporary chapels, fountains running wine, +great cellars full of wine free as water to all comers, silk tents, +gold lace and foil, gilt lions, and such things without end; and, +in the midst of all, the rich Cardinal out-shone and out-glittered +all the noblemen and gentlemen assembled. After a treaty made +between the two Kings with as much solemnity as if they had +intended to keep it, the lists - nine hundred feet long, and three +hundred and twenty broad - were opened for the tournament; the +Queens of France and England looking on with great array of lords +and ladies. Then, for ten days, the two sovereigns fought five +combats every day, and always beat their polite adversaries; though +they DO write that the King of England, being thrown in a wrestle +one day by the King of France, lost his kingly temper with his +brother-in-arms, and wanted to make a quarrel of it. Then, there +is a great story belonging to this Field of the Cloth of Gold, +showing how the English were distrustful of the French, and the +French of the English, until Francis rode alone one morning to +Henry's tent; and, going in before he was out of bed, told him in +joke that he was his prisoner; and how Henry jumped out of bed and +embraced Francis; and how Francis helped Henry to dress, and warmed +his linen for him; and how Henry gave Francis a splendid jewelled +collar, and how Francis gave Henry, in return, a costly bracelet. +All this and a great deal more was so written about, and sung +about, and talked about at that time (and, indeed, since that time +too), that the world has had good cause to be sick of it, for ever. + +Of course, nothing came of all these fine doings but a speedy +renewal of the war between England and France, in which the two +Royal companions and brothers in arms longed very earnestly to +damage one another. But, before it broke out again, the Duke of +Buckingham was shamefully executed on Tower Hill, on the evidence +of a discharged servant - really for nothing, except the folly of +having believed in a friar of the name of HOPKINS, who had +pretended to be a prophet, and who had mumbled and jumbled out some +nonsense about the Duke's son being destined to be very great in +the land. It was believed that the unfortunate Duke had given +offence to the great Cardinal by expressing his mind freely about +the expense and absurdity of the whole business of the Field of the +Cloth of Gold. At any rate, he was beheaded, as I have said, for +nothing. And the people who saw it done were very angry, and cried +out that it was the work of 'the butcher's son!' + +The new war was a short one, though the Earl of Surrey invaded +France again, and did some injury to that country. It ended in +another treaty of peace between the two kingdoms, and in the +discovery that the Emperor of Germany was not such a good friend to +England in reality, as he pretended to be. Neither did he keep his +promise to Wolsey to make him Pope, though the King urged him. Two +Popes died in pretty quick succession; but the foreign priests were +too much for the Cardinal, and kept him out of the post. So the +Cardinal and King together found out that the Emperor of Germany +was not a man to keep faith with; broke off a projected marriage +between the King's daughter MARY, Princess of Wales, and that +sovereign; and began to consider whether it might not be well to +marry the young lady, either to Francis himself, or to his eldest +son. + +There now arose at Wittemberg, in Germany, the great leader of the +mighty change in England which is called The Reformation, and which +set the people free from their slavery to the priests. This was a +learned Doctor, named MARTIN LUTHER, who knew all about them, for +he had been a priest, and even a monk, himself. The preaching and +writing of Wickliffe had set a number of men thinking on this +subject; and Luther, finding one day to his great surprise, that +there really was a book called the New Testament which the priests +did not allow to be read, and which contained truths that they +suppressed, began to be very vigorous against the whole body, from +the Pope downward. It happened, while he was yet only beginning +his vast work of awakening the nation, that an impudent fellow +named TETZEL, a friar of very bad character, came into his +neighbourhood selling what were called Indulgences, by wholesale, +to raise money for beautifying the great Cathedral of St. Peter's, +at Rome. Whoever bought an Indulgence of the Pope was supposed to +buy himself off from the punishment of Heaven for his offences. +Luther told the people that these Indulgences were worthless bits +of paper, before God, and that Tetzel and his masters were a crew +of impostors in selling them. + +The King and the Cardinal were mightily indignant at this +presumption; and the King (with the help of SIR THOMAS MORE, a wise +man, whom he afterwards repaid by striking off his head) even wrote +a book about it, with which the Pope was so well pleased that he +gave the King the title of Defender of the Faith. The King and the +Cardinal also issued flaming warnings to the people not to read +Luther's books, on pain of excommunication. But they did read them +for all that; and the rumour of what was in them spread far and +wide. + +When this great change was thus going on, the King began to show +himself in his truest and worst colours. Anne Boleyn, the pretty +little girl who had gone abroad to France with his sister, was by +this time grown up to be very beautiful, and was one of the ladies +in attendance on Queen Catherine. Now, Queen Catherine was no +longer young or handsome, and it is likely that she was not +particularly good-tempered; having been always rather melancholy, +and having been made more so by the deaths of four of her children +when they were very young. So, the King fell in love with the fair +Anne Boleyn, and said to himself, 'How can I be best rid of my own +troublesome wife whom I am tired of, and marry Anne?' + +You recollect that Queen Catherine had been the wife of Henry's +brother. What does the King do, after thinking it over, but calls +his favourite priests about him, and says, O! his mind is in such a +dreadful state, and he is so frightfully uneasy, because he is +afraid it was not lawful for him to marry the Queen! Not one of +those priests had the courage to hint that it was rather curious he +had never thought of that before, and that his mind seemed to have +been in a tolerably jolly condition during a great many years, in +which he certainly had not fretted himself thin; but, they all +said, Ah! that was very true, and it was a serious business; and +perhaps the best way to make it right, would be for his Majesty to +be divorced! The King replied, Yes, he thought that would be the +best way, certainly; so they all went to work. + +If I were to relate to you the intrigues and plots that took place +in the endeavour to get this divorce, you would think the History +of England the most tiresome book in the world. So I shall say no +more, than that after a vast deal of negotiation and evasion, the +Pope issued a commission to Cardinal Wolsey and CARDINAL CAMPEGGIO +(whom he sent over from Italy for the purpose), to try the whole +case in England. It is supposed - and I think with reason - that +Wolsey was the Queen's enemy, because she had reproved him for his +proud and gorgeous manner of life. But, he did not at first know +that the King wanted to marry Anne Boleyn; and when he did know it, +he even went down on his knees, in the endeavour to dissuade him. + +The Cardinals opened their court in the Convent of the Black +Friars, near to where the bridge of that name in London now stands; +and the King and Queen, that they might be near it, took up their +lodgings at the adjoining palace of Bridewell, of which nothing now +remains but a bad prison. On the opening of the court, when the +King and Queen were called on to appear, that poor ill-used lady, +with a dignity and firmness and yet with a womanly affection worthy +to be always admired, went and kneeled at the King's feet, and said +that she had come, a stranger, to his dominions; that she had been +a good and true wife to him for twenty years; and that she could +acknowledge no power in those Cardinals to try whether she should +be considered his wife after all that time, or should be put away. +With that, she got up and left the court, and would never +afterwards come back to it. + +The King pretended to be very much overcome, and said, O! my lords +and gentlemen, what a good woman she was to be sure, and how +delighted he would be to live with her unto death, but for that +terrible uneasiness in his mind which was quite wearing him away! +So, the case went on, and there was nothing but talk for two +months. Then Cardinal Campeggio, who, on behalf of the Pope, +wanted nothing so much as delay, adjourned it for two more months; +and before that time was elapsed, the Pope himself adjourned it +indefinitely, by requiring the King and Queen to come to Rome and +have it tried there. But by good luck for the King, word was +brought to him by some of his people, that they had happened to +meet at supper, THOMAS CRANMER, a learned Doctor of Cambridge, who +had proposed to urge the Pope on, by referring the case to all the +learned doctors and bishops, here and there and everywhere, and +getting their opinions that the King's marriage was unlawful. The +King, who was now in a hurry to marry Anne Boleyn, thought this +such a good idea, that he sent for Cranmer, post haste, and said to +LORD ROCHFORT, Anne Boleyn's father, 'Take this learned Doctor down +to your country-house, and there let him have a good room for a +study, and no end of books out of which to prove that I may marry +your daughter.' Lord Rochfort, not at all reluctant, made the +learned Doctor as comfortable as he could; and the learned Doctor +went to work to prove his case. All this time, the King and Anne +Boleyn were writing letters to one another almost daily, full of +impatience to have the case settled; and Anne Boleyn was showing +herself (as I think) very worthy of the fate which afterwards befel +her. + +It was bad for Cardinal Wolsey that he had left Cranmer to render +this help. It was worse for him that he had tried to dissuade the +King from marrying Anne Boleyn. Such a servant as he, to such a +master as Henry, would probably have fallen in any case; but, +between the hatred of the party of the Queen that was, and the +hatred of the party of the Queen that was to be, he fell suddenly +and heavily. Going down one day to the Court of Chancery, where he +now presided, he was waited upon by the Dukes of Norfolk and +Suffolk, who told him that they brought an order to him to resign +that office, and to withdraw quietly to a house he had at Esher, in +Surrey. The Cardinal refusing, they rode off to the King; and next +day came back with a letter from him, on reading which, the +Cardinal submitted. An inventory was made out of all the riches in +his palace at York Place (now Whitehall), and he went sorrowfully +up the river, in his barge, to Putney. An abject man he was, in +spite of his pride; for being overtaken, riding out of that place +towards Esher, by one of the King's chamberlains who brought him a +kind message and a ring, he alighted from his mule, took off his +cap, and kneeled down in the dirt. His poor Fool, whom in his +prosperous days he had always kept in his palace to entertain him, +cut a far better figure than he; for, when the Cardinal said to the +chamberlain that he had nothing to send to his lord the King as a +present, but that jester who was a most excellent one, it took six +strong yeomen to remove the faithful fool from his master. + +The once proud Cardinal was soon further disgraced, and wrote the +most abject letters to his vile sovereign; who humbled him one day +and encouraged him the next, according to his humour, until he was +at last ordered to go and reside in his diocese of York. He said +he was too poor; but I don't know how he made that out, for he took +a hundred and sixty servants with him, and seventy-two cart-loads +of furniture, food, and wine. He remained in that part of the +country for the best part of a year, and showed himself so improved +by his misfortunes, and was so mild and so conciliating, that he +won all hearts. And indeed, even in his proud days, he had done +some magnificent things for learning and education. At last, he +was arrested for high treason; and, coming slowly on his journey +towards London, got as far as Leicester. Arriving at Leicester +Abbey after dark, and very ill, he said - when the monks came out +at the gate with lighted torches to receive him - that he had come +to lay his bones among them. He had indeed; for he was taken to a +bed, from which he never rose again. His last words were, 'Had I +but served God as diligently as I have served the King, He would +not have given me over, in my grey hairs. Howbeit, this is my just +reward for my pains and diligence, not regarding my service to God, +but only my duty to my prince.' The news of his death was quickly +carried to the King, who was amusing himself with archery in the +garden of the magnificent Palace at Hampton Court, which that very +Wolsey had presented to him. The greatest emotion his royal mind +displayed at the loss of a servant so faithful and so ruined, was a +particular desire to lay hold of fifteen hundred pounds which the +Cardinal was reported to have hidden somewhere. + +The opinions concerning the divorce, of the learned doctors and +bishops and others, being at last collected, and being generally in +the King's favour, were forwarded to the Pope, with an entreaty +that he would now grant it. The unfortunate Pope, who was a timid +man, was half distracted between his fear of his authority being +set aside in England if he did not do as he was asked, and his +dread of offending the Emperor of Germany, who was Queen +Catherine's nephew. In this state of mind he still evaded and did +nothing. Then, THOMAS CROMWELL, who had been one of Wolsey's +faithful attendants, and had remained so even in his decline, +advised the King to take the matter into his own hands, and make +himself the head of the whole Church. This, the King by various +artful means, began to do; but he recompensed the clergy by +allowing them to burn as many people as they pleased, for holding +Luther's opinions. You must understand that Sir Thomas More, the +wise man who had helped the King with his book, had been made +Chancellor in Wolsey's place. But, as he was truly attached to the +Church as it was even in its abuses, he, in this state of things, +resigned. + +Being now quite resolved to get rid of Queen Catherine, and to +marry Anne Boleyn without more ado, the King made Cranmer +Archbishop of Canterbury, and directed Queen Catherine to leave the +Court. She obeyed; but replied that wherever she went, she was +Queen of England still, and would remain so, to the last. The King +then married Anne Boleyn privately; and the new Archbishop of +Canterbury, within half a year, declared his marriage with Queen +Catherine void, and crowned Anne Boleyn Queen. + +She might have known that no good could ever come from such wrong, +and that the corpulent brute who had been so faithless and so cruel +to his first wife, could be more faithless and more cruel to his +second. She might have known that, even when he was in love with +her, he had been a mean and selfish coward, running away, like a +frightened cur, from her society and her house, when a dangerous +sickness broke out in it, and when she might easily have taken it +and died, as several of the household did. But, Anne Boleyn +arrived at all this knowledge too late, and bought it at a dear +price. Her bad marriage with a worse man came to its natural end. +Its natural end was not, as we shall too soon see, a natural death +for her. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII - ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH + + + +PART THE SECOND + + +THE Pope was thrown into a very angry state of mind when he heard +of the King's marriage, and fumed exceedingly. Many of the English +monks and friars, seeing that their order was in danger, did the +same; some even declaimed against the King in church before his +face, and were not to be stopped until he himself roared out +'Silence!' The King, not much the worse for this, took it pretty +quietly; and was very glad when his Queen gave birth to a daughter, +who was christened ELIZABETH, and declared Princess of Wales as her +sister Mary had already been. + +One of the most atrocious features of this reign was that Henry the +Eighth was always trimming between the reformed religion and the +unreformed one; so that the more he quarrelled with the Pope, the +more of his own subjects he roasted alive for not holding the +Pope's opinions. Thus, an unfortunate student named John Frith, +and a poor simple tailor named Andrew Hewet who loved him very +much, and said that whatever John Frith believed HE believed, were +burnt in Smithfield - to show what a capital Christian the King +was. + +But, these were speedily followed by two much greater victims, Sir +Thomas More, and John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. The latter, +who was a good and amiable old man, had committed no greater +offence than believing in Elizabeth Barton, called the Maid of Kent +- another of those ridiculous women who pretended to be inspired, +and to make all sorts of heavenly revelations, though they indeed +uttered nothing but evil nonsense. For this offence - as it was +pretended, but really for denying the King to be the supreme Head +of the Church - he got into trouble, and was put in prison; but, +even then, he might have been suffered to die naturally (short work +having been made of executing the Kentish Maid and her principal +followers), but that the Pope, to spite the King, resolved to make +him a cardinal. Upon that the King made a ferocious joke to the +effect that the Pope might send Fisher a red hat - which is the way +they make a cardinal - but he should have no head on which to wear +it; and he was tried with all unfairness and injustice, and +sentenced to death. He died like a noble and virtuous old man, and +left a worthy name behind him. The King supposed, I dare say, that +Sir Thomas More would be frightened by this example; but, as he was +not to be easily terrified, and, thoroughly believing in the Pope, +had made up his mind that the King was not the rightful Head of the +Church, he positively refused to say that he was. For this crime +he too was tried and sentenced, after having been in prison a whole +year. When he was doomed to death, and came away from his trial +with the edge of the executioner's axe turned towards him - as was +always done in those times when a state prisoner came to that +hopeless pass - he bore it quite serenely, and gave his blessing to +his son, who pressed through the crowd in Westminster Hall and +kneeled down to receive it. But, when he got to the Tower Wharf on +his way back to his prison, and his favourite daughter, MARGARET +ROPER, a very good woman, rushed through the guards again and +again, to kiss him and to weep upon his neck, he was overcome at +last. He soon recovered, and never more showed any feeling but +cheerfulness and courage. When he was going up the steps of the +scaffold to his death, he said jokingly to the Lieutenant of the +Tower, observing that they were weak and shook beneath his tread, +'I pray you, master Lieutenant, see me safe up; and, for my coming +down, I can shift for myself.' Also he said to the executioner, +after he had laid his head upon the block, 'Let me put my beard out +of the way; for that, at least, has never committed any treason.' +Then his head was struck off at a blow. These two executions were +worthy of King Henry the Eighth. Sir Thomas More was one of the +most virtuous men in his dominions, and the Bishop was one of his +oldest and truest friends. But to be a friend of that fellow was +almost as dangerous as to be his wife. + +When the news of these two murders got to Rome, the Pope raged +against the murderer more than ever Pope raged since the world +began, and prepared a Bull, ordering his subjects to take arms +against him and dethrone him. The King took all possible +precautions to keep that document out of his dominions, and set to +work in return to suppress a great number of the English +monasteries and abbeys. + +This destruction was begun by a body of commissioners, of whom +Cromwell (whom the King had taken into great favour) was the head; +and was carried on through some few years to its entire completion. +There is no doubt that many of these religious establishments were +religious in nothing but in name, and were crammed with lazy, +indolent, and sensual monks. There is no doubt that they imposed +upon the people in every possible way; that they had images moved +by wires, which they pretended were miraculously moved by Heaven; +that they had among them a whole tun measure full of teeth, all +purporting to have come out of the head of one saint, who must +indeed have been a very extraordinary person with that enormous +allowance of grinders; that they had bits of coal which they said +had fried Saint Lawrence, and bits of toe-nails which they said +belonged to other famous saints; penknives, and boots, and girdles, +which they said belonged to others; and that all these bits of +rubbish were called Relics, and adored by the ignorant people. +But, on the other hand, there is no doubt either, that the King's +officers and men punished the good monks with the bad; did great +injustice; demolished many beautiful things and many valuable +libraries; destroyed numbers of paintings, stained glass windows, +fine pavements, and carvings; and that the whole court were +ravenously greedy and rapacious for the division of this great +spoil among them. The King seems to have grown almost mad in the +ardour of this pursuit; for he declared Thomas a Becket a traitor, +though he had been dead so many years, and had his body dug up out +of his grave. He must have been as miraculous as the monks +pretended, if they had told the truth, for he was found with one +head on his shoulders, and they had shown another as his undoubted +and genuine head ever since his death; it had brought them vast +sums of money, too. The gold and jewels on his shrine filled two +great chests, and eight men tottered as they carried them away. +How rich the monasteries were you may infer from the fact that, +when they were all suppressed, one hundred and thirty thousand +pounds a year - in those days an immense sum - came to the Crown. + +These things were not done without causing great discontent among +the people. The monks had been good landlords and hospitable +entertainers of all travellers, and had been accustomed to give +away a great deal of corn, and fruit, and meat, and other things. +In those days it was difficult to change goods into money, in +consequence of the roads being very few and very bad, and the +carts, and waggons of the worst description; and they must either +have given away some of the good things they possessed in enormous +quantities, or have suffered them to spoil and moulder. So, many +of the people missed what it was more agreeable to get idly than to +work for; and the monks who were driven out of their homes and +wandered about encouraged their discontent; and there were, +consequently, great risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. These +were put down by terrific executions, from which the monks +themselves did not escape, and the King went on grunting and +growling in his own fat way, like a Royal pig. + +I have told all this story of the religious houses at one time, to +make it plainer, and to get back to the King's domestic affairs. + +The unfortunate Queen Catherine was by this time dead; and the King +was by this time as tired of his second Queen as he had been of his +first. As he had fallen in love with Anne when she was in the +service of Catherine, so he now fell in love with another lady in +the service of Anne. See how wicked deeds are punished, and how +bitterly and self-reproachfully the Queen must now have thought of +her own rise to the throne! The new fancy was a LADY JANE SEYMOUR; +and the King no sooner set his mind on her, than he resolved to +have Anne Boleyn's head. So, he brought a number of charges +against Anne, accusing her of dreadful crimes which she had never +committed, and implicating in them her own brother and certain +gentlemen in her service: among whom one Norris, and Mark Smeaton +a musician, are best remembered. As the lords and councillors were +as afraid of the King and as subservient to him as the meanest +peasant in England was, they brought in Anne Boleyn guilty, and the +other unfortunate persons accused with her, guilty too. Those +gentlemen died like men, with the exception of Smeaton, who had +been tempted by the King into telling lies, which he called +confessions, and who had expected to be pardoned; but who, I am +very glad to say, was not. There was then only the Queen to +dispose of. She had been surrounded in the Tower with women spies; +had been monstrously persecuted and foully slandered; and had +received no justice. But her spirit rose with her afflictions; +and, after having in vain tried to soften the King by writing an +affecting letter to him which still exists, 'from her doleful +prison in the Tower,' she resigned herself to death. She said to +those about her, very cheerfully, that she had heard say the +executioner was a good one, and that she had a little neck (she +laughed and clasped it with her hands as she said that), and would +soon be out of her pain. And she WAS soon out of her pain, poor +creature, on the Green inside the Tower, and her body was flung +into an old box and put away in the ground under the chapel. + +There is a story that the King sat in his palace listening very +anxiously for the sound of the cannon which was to announce this +new murder; and that, when he heard it come booming on the air, he +rose up in great spirits and ordered out his dogs to go a-hunting. +He was bad enough to do it; but whether he did it or not, it is +certain that he married Jane Seymour the very next day. + +I have not much pleasure in recording that she lived just long +enough to give birth to a son who was christened EDWARD, and then +to die of a fever: for, I cannot but think that any woman who +married such a ruffian, and knew what innocent blood was on his +hands, deserved the axe that would assuredly have fallen on the +neck of Jane Seymour, if she had lived much longer. + +Cranmer had done what he could to save some of the Church property +for purposes of religion and education; but, the great families had +been so hungry to get hold of it, that very little could be rescued +for such objects. Even MILES COVERDALE, who did the people the +inestimable service of translating the Bible into English (which +the unreformed religion never permitted to be done), was left in +poverty while the great families clutched the Church lands and +money. The people had been told that when the Crown came into +possession of these funds, it would not be necessary to tax them; +but they were taxed afresh directly afterwards. It was fortunate +for them, indeed, that so many nobles were so greedy for this +wealth; since, if it had remained with the Crown, there might have +been no end to tyranny for hundreds of years. One of the most +active writers on the Church's side against the King was a member +of his own family - a sort of distant cousin, REGINALD POLE by name +- who attacked him in the most violent manner (though he received a +pension from him all the time), and fought for the Church with his +pen, day and night. As he was beyond the King's reach - being in +Italy - the King politely invited him over to discuss the subject; +but he, knowing better than to come, and wisely staying where he +was, the King's rage fell upon his brother Lord Montague, the +Marquis of Exeter, and some other gentlemen: who were tried for +high treason in corresponding with him and aiding him - which they +probably did - and were all executed. The Pope made Reginald Pole +a cardinal; but, so much against his will, that it is thought he +even aspired in his own mind to the vacant throne of England, and +had hopes of marrying the Princess Mary. His being made a high +priest, however, put an end to all that. His mother, the venerable +Countess of Salisbury - who was, unfortunately for herself, within +the tyrant's reach - was the last of his relatives on whom his +wrath fell. When she was told to lay her grey head upon the block, +she answered the executioner, 'No! My head never committed +treason, and if you want it, you shall seize it.' So, she ran +round and round the scaffold with the executioner striking at her, +and her grey hair bedabbled with blood; and even when they held her +down upon the block she moved her head about to the last, resolved +to be no party to her own barbarous murder. All this the people +bore, as they had borne everything else. + +Indeed they bore much more; for the slow fires of Smithfield were +continually burning, and people were constantly being roasted to +death - still to show what a good Christian the King was. He +defied the Pope and his Bull, which was now issued, and had come +into England; but he burned innumerable people whose only offence +was that they differed from the Pope's religious opinions. There +was a wretched man named LAMBERT, among others, who was tried for +this before the King, and with whom six bishops argued one after +another. When he was quite exhausted (as well he might be, after +six bishops), he threw himself on the King's mercy; but the King +blustered out that he had no mercy for heretics. So, HE too fed +the fire. + +All this the people bore, and more than all this yet. The national +spirit seems to have been banished from the kingdom at this time. +The very people who were executed for treason, the very wives and +friends of the 'bluff' King, spoke of him on the scaffold as a good +prince, and a gentle prince - just as serfs in similar +circumstances have been known to do, under the Sultan and Bashaws +of the East, or under the fierce old tyrants of Russia, who poured +boiling and freezing water on them alternately, until they died. +The Parliament were as bad as the rest, and gave the King whatever +he wanted; among other vile accommodations, they gave him new +powers of murdering, at his will and pleasure, any one whom he +might choose to call a traitor. But the worst measure they passed +was an Act of Six Articles, commonly called at the time 'the whip +with six strings;' which punished offences against the Pope's +opinions, without mercy, and enforced the very worst parts of the +monkish religion. Cranmer would have modified it, if he could; +but, being overborne by the Romish party, had not the power. As +one of the articles declared that priests should not marry, and as +he was married himself, he sent his wife and children into Germany, +and began to tremble at his danger; none the less because he was, +and had long been, the King's friend. This whip of six strings was +made under the King's own eye. It should never be forgotten of him +how cruelly he supported the worst of the Popish doctrines when +there was nothing to be got by opposing them. + +This amiable monarch now thought of taking another wife. He +proposed to the French King to have some of the ladies of the +French Court exhibited before him, that he might make his Royal +choice; but the French King answered that he would rather not have +his ladies trotted out to be shown like horses at a fair. He +proposed to the Dowager Duchess of Milan, who replied that she +might have thought of such a match if she had had two heads; but, +that only owning one, she must beg to keep it safe. At last +Cromwell represented that there was a Protestant Princess in +Germany - those who held the reformed religion were called +Protestants, because their leaders had Protested against the abuses +and impositions of the unreformed Church - named ANNE OF CLEVES, +who was beautiful, and would answer the purpose admirably. The +King said was she a large woman, because he must have a fat wife? +'O yes,' said Cromwell; 'she was very large, just the thing.' On +hearing this the King sent over his famous painter, Hans Holbein, +to take her portrait. Hans made her out to be so good-looking that +the King was satisfied, and the marriage was arranged. But, +whether anybody had paid Hans to touch up the picture; or whether +Hans, like one or two other painters, flattered a princess in the +ordinary way of business, I cannot say: all I know is, that when +Anne came over and the King went to Rochester to meet her, and +first saw her without her seeing him, he swore she was 'a great +Flanders mare,' and said he would never marry her. Being obliged +to do it now matters had gone so far, he would not give her the +presents he had prepared, and would never notice her. He never +forgave Cromwell his part in the affair. His downfall dates from +that time. + +It was quickened by his enemies, in the interests of the unreformed +religion, putting in the King's way, at a state dinner, a niece of +the Duke of Norfolk, CATHERINE HOWARD, a young lady of fascinating +manners, though small in stature and not particularly beautiful. +Falling in love with her on the spot, the King soon divorced Anne +of Cleves after making her the subject of much brutal talk, on +pretence that she had been previously betrothed to some one else - +which would never do for one of his dignity - and married +Catherine. It is probable that on his wedding day, of all days in +the year, he sent his faithful Cromwell to the scaffold, and had +his head struck off. He further celebrated the occasion by burning +at one time, and causing to be drawn to the fire on the same +hurdles, some Protestant prisoners for denying the Pope's +doctrines, and some Roman Catholic prisoners for denying his own +supremacy. Still the people bore it, and not a gentleman in +England raised his hand. + +But, by a just retribution, it soon came out that Catherine Howard, +before her marriage, had been really guilty of such crimes as the +King had falsely attributed to his second wife Anne Boleyn; so, +again the dreadful axe made the King a widower, and this Queen +passed away as so many in that reign had passed away before her. +As an appropriate pursuit under the circumstances, Henry then +applied himself to superintending the composition of a religious +book called 'A necessary doctrine for any Christian Man.' He must +have been a little confused in his mind, I think, at about this +period; for he was so false to himself as to be true to some one: +that some one being Cranmer, whom the Duke of Norfolk and others of +his enemies tried to ruin; but to whom the King was steadfast, and +to whom he one night gave his ring, charging him when he should +find himself, next day, accused of treason, to show it to the +council board. This Cranmer did to the confusion of his enemies. +I suppose the King thought he might want him a little longer. + +He married yet once more. Yes, strange to say, he found in England +another woman who would become his wife, and she was CATHERINE +PARR, widow of Lord Latimer. She leaned towards the reformed +religion; and it is some comfort to know, that she tormented the +King considerably by arguing a variety of doctrinal points with him +on all possible occasions. She had very nearly done this to her +own destruction. After one of these conversations the King in a +very black mood actually instructed GARDINER, one of his Bishops +who favoured the Popish opinions, to draw a bill of accusation +against her, which would have inevitably brought her to the +scaffold where her predecessors had died, but that one of her +friends picked up the paper of instructions which had been dropped +in the palace, and gave her timely notice. She fell ill with +terror; but managed the King so well when he came to entrap her +into further statements - by saying that she had only spoken on +such points to divert his mind and to get some information from his +extraordinary wisdom - that he gave her a kiss and called her his +sweetheart. And, when the Chancellor came next day actually to +take her to the Tower, the King sent him about his business, and +honoured him with the epithets of a beast, a knave, and a fool. So +near was Catherine Parr to the block, and so narrow was her escape! + +There was war with Scotland in this reign, and a short clumsy war +with France for favouring Scotland; but, the events at home were so +dreadful, and leave such an enduring stain on the country, that I +need say no more of what happened abroad. + +A few more horrors, and this reign is over. There was a lady, ANNE +ASKEW, in Lincolnshire, who inclined to the Protestant opinions, +and whose husband being a fierce Catholic, turned her out of his +house. She came to London, and was considered as offending against +the six articles, and was taken to the Tower, and put upon the rack +- probably because it was hoped that she might, in her agony, +criminate some obnoxious persons; if falsely, so much the better. +She was tortured without uttering a cry, until the Lieutenant of +the Tower would suffer his men to torture her no more; and then two +priests who were present actually pulled off their robes, and +turned the wheels of the rack with their own hands, so rending and +twisting and breaking her that she was afterwards carried to the +fire in a chair. She was burned with three others, a gentleman, a +clergyman, and a tailor; and so the world went on. + +Either the King became afraid of the power of the Duke of Norfolk, +and his son the Earl of Surrey, or they gave him some offence, but +he resolved to pull THEM down, to follow all the rest who were +gone. The son was tried first - of course for nothing - and +defended himself bravely; but of course he was found guilty, and of +course he was executed. Then his father was laid hold of, and left +for death too. + +But the King himself was left for death by a Greater King, and the +earth was to be rid of him at last. He was now a swollen, hideous +spectacle, with a great hole in his leg, and so odious to every +sense that it was dreadful to approach him. When he was found to +be dying, Cranmer was sent for from his palace at Croydon, and came +with all speed, but found him speechless. Happily, in that hour he +perished. He was in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the +thirty-eighth of his reign. + +Henry the Eighth has been favoured by some Protestant writers, +because the Reformation was achieved in his time. But the mighty +merit of it lies with other men and not with him; and it can be +rendered none the worse by this monster's crimes, and none the +better by any defence of them. The plain truth is, that he was a +most intolerable ruffian, a disgrace to human nature, and a blot of +blood and grease upon the History of England. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX - ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH + + + +HENRY THE EIGHTH had made a will, appointing a council of sixteen +to govern the kingdom for his son while he was under age (he was +now only ten years old), and another council of twelve to help +them. The most powerful of the first council was the EARL OF +HERTFORD, the young King's uncle, who lost no time in bringing his +nephew with great state up to Enfield, and thence to the Tower. It +was considered at the time a striking proof of virtue in the young +King that he was sorry for his father's death; but, as common +subjects have that virtue too, sometimes, we will say no more about +it. + +There was a curious part of the late King's will, requiring his +executors to fulfil whatever promises he had made. Some of the +court wondering what these might be, the Earl of Hertford and the +other noblemen interested, said that they were promises to advance +and enrich THEM. So, the Earl of Hertford made himself DUKE OF +SOMERSET, and made his brother EDWARD SEYMOUR a baron; and there +were various similar promotions, all very agreeable to the parties +concerned, and very dutiful, no doubt, to the late King's memory. +To be more dutiful still, they made themselves rich out of the +Church lands, and were very comfortable. The new Duke of Somerset +caused himself to be declared PROTECTOR of the kingdom, and was, +indeed, the King. + +As young Edward the Sixth had been brought up in the principles of +the Protestant religion, everybody knew that they would be +maintained. But Cranmer, to whom they were chiefly entrusted, +advanced them steadily and temperately. Many superstitious and +ridiculous practices were stopped; but practices which were +harmless were not interfered with. + +The Duke of Somerset, the Protector, was anxious to have the young +King engaged in marriage to the young Queen of Scotland, in order +to prevent that princess from making an alliance with any foreign +power; but, as a large party in Scotland were unfavourable to this +plan, he invaded that country. His excuse for doing so was, that +the Border men - that is, the Scotch who lived in that part of the +country where England and Scotland joined - troubled the English +very much. But there were two sides to this question; for the +English Border men troubled the Scotch too; and, through many long +years, there were perpetual border quarrels which gave rise to +numbers of old tales and songs. However, the Protector invaded +Scotland; and ARRAN, the Scottish Regent, with an army twice as +large as his, advanced to meet him. They encountered on the banks +of the river Esk, within a few miles of Edinburgh; and there, after +a little skirmish, the Protector made such moderate proposals, in +offering to retire if the Scotch would only engage not to marry +their princess to any foreign prince, that the Regent thought the +English were afraid. But in this he made a horrible mistake; for +the English soldiers on land, and the English sailors on the water, +so set upon the Scotch, that they broke and fled, and more than ten +thousand of them were killed. It was a dreadful battle, for the +fugitives were slain without mercy. The ground for four miles, all +the way to Edinburgh, was strewn with dead men, and with arms, and +legs, and heads. Some hid themselves in streams and were drowned; +some threw away their armour and were killed running, almost naked; +but in this battle of Pinkey the English lost only two or three +hundred men. They were much better clothed than the Scotch; at the +poverty of whose appearance and country they were exceedingly +astonished. + +A Parliament was called when Somerset came back, and it repealed +the whip with six strings, and did one or two other good things; +though it unhappily retained the punishment of burning for those +people who did not make believe to believe, in all religious +matters, what the Government had declared that they must and should +believe. It also made a foolish law (meant to put down beggars), +that any man who lived idly and loitered about for three days +together, should be burned with a hot iron, made a slave, and wear +an iron fetter. But this savage absurdity soon came to an end, and +went the way of a great many other foolish laws. + +The Protector was now so proud that he sat in Parliament before all +the nobles, on the right hand of the throne. Many other noblemen, +who only wanted to be as proud if they could get a chance, became +his enemies of course; and it is supposed that he came back +suddenly from Scotland because he had received news that his +brother, LORD SEYMOUR, was becoming dangerous to him. This lord +was now High Admiral of England; a very handsome man, and a great +favourite with the Court ladies - even with the young Princess +Elizabeth, who romped with him a little more than young princesses +in these times do with any one. He had married Catherine Parr, the +late King's widow, who was now dead; and, to strengthen his power, +he secretly supplied the young King with money. He may even have +engaged with some of his brother's enemies in a plot to carry the +boy off. On these and other accusations, at any rate, he was +confined in the Tower, impeached, and found guilty; his own +brother's name being - unnatural and sad to tell - the first signed +to the warrant of his execution. He was executed on Tower Hill, +and died denying his treason. One of his last proceedings in this +world was to write two letters, one to the Princess Elizabeth, and +one to the Princess Mary, which a servant of his took charge of, +and concealed in his shoe. These letters are supposed to have +urged them against his brother, and to revenge his death. What +they truly contained is not known; but there is no doubt that he +had, at one time, obtained great influence over the Princess +Elizabeth. + +All this while, the Protestant religion was making progress. The +images which the people had gradually come to worship, were removed +from the churches; the people were informed that they need not +confess themselves to priests unless they chose; a common prayer- +book was drawn up in the English language, which all could +understand, and many other improvements were made; still +moderately. For Cranmer was a very moderate man, and even +restrained the Protestant clergy from violently abusing the +unreformed religion - as they very often did, and which was not a +good example. But the people were at this time in great distress. +The rapacious nobility who had come into possession of the Church +lands, were very bad landlords. They enclosed great quantities of +ground for the feeding of sheep, which was then more profitable +than the growing of crops; and this increased the general distress. +So the people, who still understood little of what was going on +about them, and still readily believed what the homeless monks told +them - many of whom had been their good friends in their better +days - took it into their heads that all this was owing to the +reformed religion, and therefore rose, in many parts of the +country. + +The most powerful risings were in Devonshire and Norfolk. In +Devonshire, the rebellion was so strong that ten thousand men +united within a few days, and even laid siege to Exeter. But LORD +RUSSELL, coming to the assistance of the citizens who defended that +town, defeated the rebels; and, not only hanged the Mayor of one +place, but hanged the vicar of another from his own church steeple. +What with hanging and killing by the sword, four thousand of the +rebels are supposed to have fallen in that one county. In Norfolk +(where the rising was more against the enclosure of open lands than +against the reformed religion), the popular leader was a man named +ROBERT KET, a tanner of Wymondham. The mob were, in the first +instance, excited against the tanner by one JOHN FLOWERDEW, a +gentleman who owed him a grudge: but the tanner was more than a +match for the gentleman, since he soon got the people on his side, +and established himself near Norwich with quite an army. There was +a large oak-tree in that place, on a spot called Moushold Hill, +which Ket named the Tree of Reformation; and under its green +boughs, he and his men sat, in the midsummer weather, holding +courts of justice, and debating affairs of state. They were even +impartial enough to allow some rather tiresome public speakers to +get up into this Tree of Reformation, and point out their errors to +them, in long discourses, while they lay listening (not always +without some grumbling and growling) in the shade below. At last, +one sunny July day, a herald appeared below the tree, and +proclaimed Ket and all his men traitors, unless from that moment +they dispersed and went home: in which case they were to receive a +pardon. But, Ket and his men made light of the herald and became +stronger than ever, until the Earl of Warwick went after them with +a sufficient force, and cut them all to pieces. A few were hanged, +drawn, and quartered, as traitors, and their limbs were sent into +various country places to be a terror to the people. Nine of them +were hanged upon nine green branches of the Oak of Reformation; and +so, for the time, that tree may be said to have withered away. + +The Protector, though a haughty man, had compassion for the real +distresses of the common people, and a sincere desire to help them. +But he was too proud and too high in degree to hold even their +favour steadily; and many of the nobles always envied and hated +him, because they were as proud and not as high as he. He was at +this time building a great Palace in the Strand: to get the stone +for which he blew up church steeples with gunpowder, and pulled +down bishops' houses: thus making himself still more disliked. At +length, his principal enemy, the Earl of Warwick - Dudley by name, +and the son of that Dudley who had made himself so odious with +Empson, in the reign of Henry the Seventh - joined with seven other +members of the Council against him, formed a separate Council; and, +becoming stronger in a few days, sent him to the Tower under +twenty-nine articles of accusation. After being sentenced by the +Council to the forfeiture of all his offices and lands, he was +liberated and pardoned, on making a very humble submission. He was +even taken back into the Council again, after having suffered this +fall, and married his daughter, LADY ANNE SEYMOUR, to Warwick's +eldest son. But such a reconciliation was little likely to last, +and did not outlive a year. Warwick, having got himself made Duke +of Northumberland, and having advanced the more important of his +friends, then finished the history by causing the Duke of Somerset +and his friend LORD GREY, and others, to be arrested for treason, +in having conspired to seize and dethrone the King. They were also +accused of having intended to seize the new Duke of Northumberland, +with his friends LORD NORTHAMPTON and LORD PEMBROKE; to murder them +if they found need; and to raise the City to revolt. All this the +fallen Protector positively denied; except that he confessed to +having spoken of the murder of those three noblemen, but having +never designed it. He was acquitted of the charge of treason, and +found guilty of the other charges; so when the people - who +remembered his having been their friend, now that he was disgraced +and in danger, saw him come out from his trial with the axe turned +from him - they thought he was altogether acquitted, and sent up a +loud shout of joy. + +But the Duke of Somerset was ordered to be beheaded on Tower Hill, +at eight o'clock in the morning, and proclamations were issued +bidding the citizens keep at home until after ten. They filled the +streets, however, and crowded the place of execution as soon as it +was light; and, with sad faces and sad hearts, saw the once +powerful Protector ascend the scaffold to lay his head upon the +dreadful block. While he was yet saying his last words to them +with manly courage, and telling them, in particular, how it +comforted him, at that pass, to have assisted in reforming the +national religion, a member of the Council was seen riding up on +horseback. They again thought that the Duke was saved by his +bringing a reprieve, and again shouted for joy. But the Duke +himself told them they were mistaken, and laid down his head and +had it struck off at a blow. + +Many of the bystanders rushed forward and steeped their +handkerchiefs in his blood, as a mark of their affection. He had, +indeed, been capable of many good acts, and one of them was +discovered after he was no more. The Bishop of Durham, a very good +man, had been informed against to the Council, when the Duke was in +power, as having answered a treacherous letter proposing a +rebellion against the reformed religion. As the answer could not +be found, he could not be declared guilty; but it was now +discovered, hidden by the Duke himself among some private papers, +in his regard for that good man. The Bishop lost his office, and +was deprived of his possessions. + +It is not very pleasant to know that while his uncle lay in prison +under sentence of death, the young King was being vastly +entertained by plays, and dances, and sham fights: but there is no +doubt of it, for he kept a journal himself. It is pleasanter to +know that not a single Roman Catholic was burnt in this reign for +holding that religion; though two wretched victims suffered for +heresy. One, a woman named JOAN BOCHER, for professing some +opinions that even she could only explain in unintelligible jargon. +The other, a Dutchman, named VON PARIS, who practised as a surgeon +in London. Edward was, to his credit, exceedingly unwilling to +sign the warrant for the woman's execution: shedding tears before +he did so, and telling Cranmer, who urged him to do it (though +Cranmer really would have spared the woman at first, but for her +own determined obstinacy), that the guilt was not his, but that of +the man who so strongly urged the dreadful act. We shall see, too +soon, whether the time ever came when Cranmer is likely to have +remembered this with sorrow and remorse. + +Cranmer and RIDLEY (at first Bishop of Rochester, and afterwards +Bishop of London) were the most powerful of the clergy of this +reign. Others were imprisoned and deprived of their property for +still adhering to the unreformed religion; the most important among +whom were GARDINER Bishop of Winchester, HEATH Bishop of Worcester, +DAY Bishop of Chichester, and BONNER that Bishop of London who was +superseded by Ridley. The Princess Mary, who inherited her +mother's gloomy temper, and hated the reformed religion as +connected with her mother's wrongs and sorrows - she knew nothing +else about it, always refusing to read a single book in which it +was truly described - held by the unreformed religion too, and was +the only person in the kingdom for whom the old Mass was allowed to +be performed; nor would the young King have made that exception +even in her favour, but for the strong persuasions of Cranmer and +Ridley. He always viewed it with horror; and when he fell into a +sickly condition, after having been very ill, first of the measles +and then of the small-pox, he was greatly troubled in mind to think +that if he died, and she, the next heir to the throne, succeeded, +the Roman Catholic religion would be set up again. + +This uneasiness, the Duke of Northumberland was not slow to +encourage: for, if the Princess Mary came to the throne, he, who +had taken part with the Protestants, was sure to be disgraced. +Now, the Duchess of Suffolk was descended from King Henry the +Seventh; and, if she resigned what little or no right she had, in +favour of her daughter LADY JANE GREY, that would be the succession +to promote the Duke's greatness; because LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY, one +of his sons, was, at this very time, newly married to her. So, he +worked upon the King's fears, and persuaded him to set aside both +the Princess Mary and the Princess Elizabeth, and assert his right +to appoint his successor. Accordingly the young King handed to the +Crown lawyers a writing signed half a dozen times over by himself, +appointing Lady Jane Grey to succeed to the Crown, and requiring +them to have his will made out according to law. They were much +against it at first, and told the King so; but the Duke of +Northumberland - being so violent about it that the lawyers even +expected him to beat them, and hotly declaring that, stripped to +his shirt, he would fight any man in such a quarrel - they yielded. +Cranmer, also, at first hesitated; pleading that he had sworn to +maintain the succession of the Crown to the Princess Mary; but, he +was a weak man in his resolutions, and afterwards signed the +document with the rest of the council. + +It was completed none too soon; for Edward was now sinking in a +rapid decline; and, by way of making him better, they handed him +over to a woman-doctor who pretended to be able to cure it. He +speedily got worse. On the sixth of July, in the year one thousand +five hundred and fifty-three, he died, very peaceably and piously, +praying God, with his last breath, to protect the reformed +religion. + +This King died in the sixteenth year of his age, and in the seventh +of his reign. It is difficult to judge what the character of one +so young might afterwards have become among so many bad, ambitious, +quarrelling nobles. But, he was an amiable boy, of very good +abilities, and had nothing coarse or cruel or brutal in his +disposition - which in the son of such a father is rather +surprising. + + + +CHAPTER XXX - ENGLAND UNDER MARY + + + +THE Duke of Northumberland was very anxious to keep the young +King's death a secret, in order that he might get the two +Princesses into his power. But, the Princess Mary, being informed +of that event as she was on her way to London to see her sick +brother, turned her horse's head, and rode away into Norfolk. The +Earl of Arundel was her friend, and it was he who sent her warning +of what had happened. + +As the secret could not be kept, the Duke of Northumberland and the +council sent for the Lord Mayor of London and some of the aldermen, +and made a merit of telling it to them. Then, they made it known +to the people, and set off to inform Lady Jane Grey that she was to +be Queen. + +She was a pretty girl of only sixteen, and was amiable, learned, +and clever. When the lords who came to her, fell on their knees +before her, and told her what tidings they brought, she was so +astonished that she fainted. On recovering, she expressed her +sorrow for the young King's death, and said that she knew she was +unfit to govern the kingdom; but that if she must be Queen, she +prayed God to direct her. She was then at Sion House, near +Brentford; and the lords took her down the river in state to the +Tower, that she might remain there (as the custom was) until she +was crowned. But the people were not at all favourable to Lady +Jane, considering that the right to be Queen was Mary's, and +greatly disliking the Duke of Northumberland. They were not put +into a better humour by the Duke's causing a vintner's servant, one +Gabriel Pot, to be taken up for expressing his dissatisfaction +among the crowd, and to have his ears nailed to the pillory, and +cut off. Some powerful men among the nobility declared on Mary's +side. They raised troops to support her cause, had her proclaimed +Queen at Norwich, and gathered around her at the castle of +Framlingham, which belonged to the Duke of Norfolk. For, she was +not considered so safe as yet, but that it was best to keep her in +a castle on the sea-coast, from whence she might be sent abroad, if +necessary. + +The Council would have despatched Lady Jane's father, the Duke of +Suffolk, as the general of the army against this force; but, as +Lady Jane implored that her father might remain with her, and as he +was known to be but a weak man, they told the Duke of +Northumberland that he must take the command himself. He was not +very ready to do so, as he mistrusted the Council much; but there +was no help for it, and he set forth with a heavy heart, observing +to a lord who rode beside him through Shoreditch at the head of the +troops, that, although the people pressed in great numbers to look +at them, they were terribly silent. + +And his fears for himself turned out to be well founded. While he +was waiting at Cambridge for further help from the Council, the +Council took it into their heads to turn their backs on Lady Jane's +cause, and to take up the Princess Mary's. This was chiefly owing +to the before-mentioned Earl of Arundel, who represented to the +Lord Mayor and aldermen, in a second interview with those sagacious +persons, that, as for himself, he did not perceive the Reformed +religion to be in much danger - which Lord Pembroke backed by +flourishing his sword as another kind of persuasion. The Lord +Mayor and aldermen, thus enlightened, said there could be no doubt +that the Princess Mary ought to be Queen. So, she was proclaimed +at the Cross by St. Paul's, and barrels of wine were given to the +people, and they got very drunk, and danced round blazing bonfires +- little thinking, poor wretches, what other bonfires would soon be +blazing in Queen Mary's name. + +After a ten days' dream of royalty, Lady Jane Grey resigned the +Crown with great willingness, saying that she had only accepted it +in obedience to her father and mother; and went gladly back to her +pleasant house by the river, and her books. Mary then came on +towards London; and at Wanstead in Essex, was joined by her half- +sister, the Princess Elizabeth. They passed through the streets of +London to the Tower, and there the new Queen met some eminent +prisoners then confined in it, kissed them, and gave them their +liberty. Among these was that Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who +had been imprisoned in the last reign for holding to the unreformed +religion. Him she soon made chancellor. + +The Duke of Northumberland had been taken prisoner, and, together +with his son and five others, was quickly brought before the +Council. He, not unnaturally, asked that Council, in his defence, +whether it was treason to obey orders that had been issued under +the great seal; and, if it were, whether they, who had obeyed them +too, ought to be his judges? But they made light of these points; +and, being resolved to have him out of the way, soon sentenced him +to death. He had risen into power upon the death of another man, +and made but a poor show (as might be expected) when he himself lay +low. He entreated Gardiner to let him live, if it were only in a +mouse's hole; and, when he ascended the scaffold to be beheaded on +Tower Hill, addressed the people in a miserable way, saying that he +had been incited by others, and exhorting them to return to the +unreformed religion, which he told them was his faith. There seems +reason to suppose that he expected a pardon even then, in return +for this confession; but it matters little whether he did or not. +His head was struck off. + +Mary was now crowned Queen. She was thirty-seven years of age, +short and thin, wrinkled in the face, and very unhealthy. But she +had a great liking for show and for bright colours, and all the +ladies of her Court were magnificently dressed. She had a great +liking too for old customs, without much sense in them; and she was +oiled in the oldest way, and blessed in the oldest way, and done +all manner of things to in the oldest way, at her coronation. I +hope they did her good. + +She soon began to show her desire to put down the Reformed +religion, and put up the unreformed one: though it was dangerous +work as yet, the people being something wiser than they used to be. +They even cast a shower of stones - and among them a dagger - at +one of the royal chaplains who attacked the Reformed religion in a +public sermon. But the Queen and her priests went steadily on. +Ridley, the powerful bishop of the last reign, was seized and sent +to the Tower. LATIMER, also celebrated among the Clergy of the +last reign, was likewise sent to the Tower, and Cranmer speedily +followed. Latimer was an aged man; and, as his guards took him +through Smithfield, he looked round it, and said, 'This is a place +that hath long groaned for me.' For he knew well, what kind of +bonfires would soon be burning. Nor was the knowledge confined to +him. The prisons were fast filled with the chief Protestants, who +were there left rotting in darkness, hunger, dirt, and separation +from their friends; many, who had time left them for escape, fled +from the kingdom; and the dullest of the people began, now, to see +what was coming. + +It came on fast. A Parliament was got together; not without strong +suspicion of unfairness; and they annulled the divorce, formerly +pronounced by Cranmer between the Queen's mother and King Henry the +Eighth, and unmade all the laws on the subject of religion that had +been made in the last King Edward's reign. They began their +proceedings, in violation of the law, by having the old mass said +before them in Latin, and by turning out a bishop who would not +kneel down. They also declared guilty of treason, Lady Jane Grey +for aspiring to the Crown; her husband, for being her husband; and +Cranmer, for not believing in the mass aforesaid. They then prayed +the Queen graciously to choose a husband for herself, as soon as +might be. + +Now, the question who should be the Queen's husband had given rise +to a great deal of discussion, and to several contending parties. +Some said Cardinal Pole was the man - but the Queen was of opinion +that he was NOT the man, he being too old and too much of a +student. Others said that the gallant young COURTENAY, whom the +Queen had made Earl of Devonshire, was the man - and the Queen +thought so too, for a while; but she changed her mind. At last it +appeared that PHILIP, PRINCE OF SPAIN, was certainly the man - +though certainly not the people's man; for they detested the idea +of such a marriage from the beginning to the end, and murmured that +the Spaniard would establish in England, by the aid of foreign +soldiers, the worst abuses of the Popish religion, and even the +terrible Inquisition itself. + +These discontents gave rise to a conspiracy for marrying young +Courtenay to the Princess Elizabeth, and setting them up, with +popular tumults all over the kingdom, against the Queen. This was +discovered in time by Gardiner; but in Kent, the old bold county, +the people rose in their old bold way. SIR THOMAS WYAT, a man of +great daring, was their leader. He raised his standard at +Maidstone, marched on to Rochester, established himself in the old +castle there, and prepared to hold out against the Duke of Norfolk, +who came against him with a party of the Queen's guards, and a body +of five hundred London men. The London men, however, were all for +Elizabeth, and not at all for Mary. They declared, under the +castle walls, for Wyat; the Duke retreated; and Wyat came on to +Deptford, at the head of fifteen thousand men. + +But these, in their turn, fell away. When he came to Southwark, +there were only two thousand left. Not dismayed by finding the +London citizens in arms, and the guns at the Tower ready to oppose +his crossing the river there, Wyat led them off to Kingston-upon- +Thames, intending to cross the bridge that he knew to be in that +place, and so to work his way round to Ludgate, one of the old +gates of the City. He found the bridge broken down, but mended it, +came across, and bravely fought his way up Fleet Street to Ludgate +Hill. Finding the gate closed against him, he fought his way back +again, sword in hand, to Temple Bar. Here, being overpowered, he +surrendered himself, and three or four hundred of his men were +taken, besides a hundred killed. Wyat, in a moment of weakness +(and perhaps of torture) was afterwards made to accuse the Princess +Elizabeth as his accomplice to some very small extent. But his +manhood soon returned to him, and he refused to save his life by +making any more false confessions. He was quartered and +distributed in the usual brutal way, and from fifty to a hundred of +his followers were hanged. The rest were led out, with halters +round their necks, to be pardoned, and to make a parade of crying +out, 'God save Queen Mary!' + +In the danger of this rebellion, the Queen showed herself to be a +woman of courage and spirit. She disdained to retreat to any place +of safety, and went down to the Guildhall, sceptre in hand, and +made a gallant speech to the Lord Mayor and citizens. But on the +day after Wyat's defeat, she did the most cruel act, even of her +cruel reign, in signing the warrant for the execution of Lady Jane +Grey. + +They tried to persuade Lady Jane to accept the unreformed religion; +but she steadily refused. On the morning when she was to die, she +saw from her window the bleeding and headless body of her husband +brought back in a cart from the scaffold on Tower Hill where he had +laid down his life. But, as she had declined to see him before his +execution, lest she should be overpowered and not make a good end, +so, she even now showed a constancy and calmness that will never be +forgotten. She came up to the scaffold with a firm step and a +quiet face, and addressed the bystanders in a steady voice. They +were not numerous; for she was too young, too innocent and fair, to +be murdered before the people on Tower Hill, as her husband had +just been; so, the place of her execution was within the Tower +itself. She said that she had done an unlawful act in taking what +was Queen Mary's right; but that she had done so with no bad +intent, and that she died a humble Christian. She begged the +executioner to despatch her quickly, and she asked him, 'Will you +take my head off before I lay me down?' He answered, 'No, Madam,' +and then she was very quiet while they bandaged her eyes. Being +blinded, and unable to see the block on which she was to lay her +young head, she was seen to feel about for it with her hands, and +was heard to say, confused, 'O what shall I do! Where is it?' +Then they guided her to the right place, and the executioner struck +off her head. You know too well, now, what dreadful deeds the +executioner did in England, through many, many years, and how his +axe descended on the hateful block through the necks of some of the +bravest, wisest, and best in the land. But it never struck so +cruel and so vile a blow as this. + +The father of Lady Jane soon followed, but was little pitied. +Queen Mary's next object was to lay hold of Elizabeth, and this was +pursued with great eagerness. Five hundred men were sent to her +retired house at Ashridge, by Berkhampstead, with orders to bring +her up, alive or dead. They got there at ten at night, when she +was sick in bed. But, their leaders followed her lady into her +bedchamber, whence she was brought out betimes next morning, and +put into a litter to be conveyed to London. She was so weak and +ill, that she was five days on the road; still, she was so resolved +to be seen by the people that she had the curtains of the litter +opened; and so, very pale and sickly, passed through the streets. +She wrote to her sister, saying she was innocent of any crime, and +asking why she was made a prisoner; but she got no answer, and was +ordered to the Tower. They took her in by the Traitor's Gate, to +which she objected, but in vain. One of the lords who conveyed her +offered to cover her with his cloak, as it was raining, but she put +it away from her, proudly and scornfully, and passed into the +Tower, and sat down in a court-yard on a stone. They besought her +to come in out of the wet; but she answered that it was better +sitting there, than in a worse place. At length she went to her +apartment, where she was kept a prisoner, though not so close a +prisoner as at Woodstock, whither she was afterwards removed, and +where she is said to have one day envied a milkmaid whom she heard +singing in the sunshine as she went through the green fields. +Gardiner, than whom there were not many worse men among the fierce +and sullen priests, cared little to keep secret his stern desire +for her death: being used to say that it was of little service to +shake off the leaves, and lop the branches of the tree of heresy, +if its root, the hope of heretics, were left. He failed, however, +in his benevolent design. Elizabeth was, at length, released; and +Hatfield House was assigned to her as a residence, under the care +of one SIR THOMAS POPE. + +It would seem that Philip, the Prince of Spain, was a main cause of +this change in Elizabeth's fortunes. He was not an amiable man, +being, on the contrary, proud, overbearing, and gloomy; but he and +the Spanish lords who came over with him, assuredly did +discountenance the idea of doing any violence to the Princess. It +may have been mere prudence, but we will hope it was manhood and +honour. The Queen had been expecting her husband with great +impatience, and at length he came, to her great joy, though he +never cared much for her. They were married by Gardiner, at +Winchester, and there was more holiday-making among the people; but +they had their old distrust of this Spanish marriage, in which even +the Parliament shared. Though the members of that Parliament were +far from honest, and were strongly suspected to have been bought +with Spanish money, they would pass no bill to enable the Queen to +set aside the Princess Elizabeth and appoint her own successor. + +Although Gardiner failed in this object, as well as in the darker +one of bringing the Princess to the scaffold, he went on at a great +pace in the revival of the unreformed religion. A new Parliament +was packed, in which there were no Protestants. Preparations were +made to receive Cardinal Pole in England as the Pope's messenger, +bringing his holy declaration that all the nobility who had +acquired Church property, should keep it - which was done to enlist +their selfish interest on the Pope's side. Then a great scene was +enacted, which was the triumph of the Queen's plans. Cardinal Pole +arrived in great splendour and dignity, and was received with great +pomp. The Parliament joined in a petition expressive of their +sorrow at the change in the national religion, and praying him to +receive the country again into the Popish Church. With the Queen +sitting on her throne, and the King on one side of her, and the +Cardinal on the other, and the Parliament present, Gardiner read +the petition aloud. The Cardinal then made a great speech, and was +so obliging as to say that all was forgotten and forgiven, and that +the kingdom was solemnly made Roman Catholic again. + +Everything was now ready for the lighting of the terrible bonfires. +The Queen having declared to the Council, in writing, that she +would wish none of her subjects to be burnt without some of the +Council being present, and that she would particularly wish there +to be good sermons at all burnings, the Council knew pretty well +what was to be done next. So, after the Cardinal had blessed all +the bishops as a preface to the burnings, the Chancellor Gardiner +opened a High Court at Saint Mary Overy, on the Southwark side of +London Bridge, for the trial of heretics. Here, two of the late +Protestant clergymen, HOOPER, Bishop of Gloucester, and ROGERS, a +Prebendary of St. Paul's, were brought to be tried. Hooper was +tried first for being married, though a priest, and for not +believing in the mass. He admitted both of these accusations, and +said that the mass was a wicked imposition. Then they tried +Rogers, who said the same. Next morning the two were brought up to +be sentenced; and then Rogers said that his poor wife, being a +German woman and a stranger in the land, he hoped might be allowed +to come to speak to him before he died. To this the inhuman +Gardiner replied, that she was not his wife. 'Yea, but she is, my +lord,' said Rogers, 'and she hath been my wife these eighteen +years.' His request was still refused, and they were both sent to +Newgate; all those who stood in the streets to sell things, being +ordered to put out their lights that the people might not see them. +But, the people stood at their doors with candles in their hands, +and prayed for them as they went by. Soon afterwards, Rogers was +taken out of jail to be burnt in Smithfield; and, in the crowd as +he went along, he saw his poor wife and his ten children, of whom +the youngest was a little baby. And so he was burnt to death. + +The next day, Hooper, who was to be burnt at Gloucester, was +brought out to take his last journey, and was made to wear a hood +over his face that he might not be known by the people. But, they +did know him for all that, down in his own part of the country; +and, when he came near Gloucester, they lined the road, making +prayers and lamentations. His guards took him to a lodging, where +he slept soundly all night. At nine o'clock next morning, he was +brought forth leaning on a staff; for he had taken cold in prison, +and was infirm. The iron stake, and the iron chain which was to +bind him to it, were fixed up near a great elm-tree in a pleasant +open place before the cathedral, where, on peaceful Sundays, he had +been accustomed to preach and to pray, when he was bishop of +Gloucester. This tree, which had no leaves then, it being +February, was filled with people; and the priests of Gloucester +College were looking complacently on from a window, and there was a +great concourse of spectators in every spot from which a glimpse of +the dreadful sight could be beheld. When the old man kneeled down +on the small platform at the foot of the stake, and prayed aloud, +the nearest people were observed to be so attentive to his prayers +that they were ordered to stand farther back; for it did not suit +the Romish Church to have those Protestant words heard. His +prayers concluded, he went up to the stake and was stripped to his +shirt, and chained ready for the fire. One of his guards had such +compassion on him that, to shorten his agonies, he tied some +packets of gunpowder about him. Then they heaped up wood and straw +and reeds, and set them all alight. But, unhappily, the wood was +green and damp, and there was a wind blowing that blew what flame +there was, away. Thus, through three-quarters of an hour, the good +old man was scorched and roasted and smoked, as the fire rose and +sank; and all that time they saw him, as he burned, moving his lips +in prayer, and beating his breast with one hand, even after the +other was burnt away and had fallen off. + +Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, were taken to Oxford to dispute with +a commission of priests and doctors about the mass. They were +shamefully treated; and it is recorded that the Oxford scholars +hissed and howled and groaned, and misconducted themselves in an +anything but a scholarly way. The prisoners were taken back to +jail, and afterwards tried in St. Mary's Church. They were all +found guilty. On the sixteenth of the month of October, Ridley and +Latimer were brought out, to make another of the dreadful bonfires. + +The scene of the suffering of these two good Protestant men was in +the City ditch, near Baliol College. On coming to the dreadful +spot, they kissed the stakes, and then embraced each other. And +then a learned doctor got up into a pulpit which was placed there, +and preached a sermon from the text, 'Though I give my body to be +burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.' When you +think of the charity of burning men alive, you may imagine that +this learned doctor had a rather brazen face. Ridley would have +answered his sermon when it came to an end, but was not allowed. +When Latimer was stripped, it appeared that he had dressed himself +under his other clothes, in a new shroud; and, as he stood in it +before all the people, it was noted of him, and long remembered, +that, whereas he had been stooping and feeble but a few minutes +before, he now stood upright and handsome, in the knowledge that he +was dying for a just and a great cause. Ridley's brother-in-law +was there with bags of gunpowder; and when they were both chained +up, he tied them round their bodies. Then, a light was thrown upon +the pile to fire it. 'Be of good comfort, Master Ridley,' said +Latimer, at that awful moment, 'and play the man! We shall this +day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust +shall never be put out.' And then he was seen to make motions with +his hands as if he were washing them in the flames, and to stroke +his aged face with them, and was heard to cry, 'Father of Heaven, +receive my soul!' He died quickly, but the fire, after having +burned the legs of Ridley, sunk. There he lingered, chained to the +iron post, and crying, 'O! I cannot burn! O! for Christ's sake +let the fire come unto me!' And still, when his brother-in-law had +heaped on more wood, he was heard through the blinding smoke, still +dismally crying, 'O! I cannot burn, I cannot burn!' At last, the +gunpowder caught fire, and ended his miseries. + +Five days after this fearful scene, Gardiner went to his tremendous +account before God, for the cruelties he had so much assisted in +committing. + +Cranmer remained still alive and in prison. He was brought out +again in February, for more examining and trying, by Bonner, Bishop +of London: another man of blood, who had succeeded to Gardiner's +work, even in his lifetime, when Gardiner was tired of it. Cranmer +was now degraded as a priest, and left for death; but, if the Queen +hated any one on earth, she hated him, and it was resolved that he +should be ruined and disgraced to the utmost. There is no doubt +that the Queen and her husband personally urged on these deeds, +because they wrote to the Council, urging them to be active in the +kindling of the fearful fires. As Cranmer was known not to be a +firm man, a plan was laid for surrounding him with artful people, +and inducing him to recant to the unreformed religion. Deans and +friars visited him, played at bowls with him, showed him various +attentions, talked persuasively with him, gave him money for his +prison comforts, and induced him to sign, I fear, as many as six +recantations. But when, after all, he was taken out to be burnt, +he was nobly true to his better self, and made a glorious end. + +After prayers and a sermon, Dr. Cole, the preacher of the day (who +had been one of the artful priests about Cranmer in prison), +required him to make a public confession of his faith before the +people. This, Cole did, expecting that he would declare himself a +Roman Catholic. 'I will make a profession of my faith,' said +Cranmer, 'and with a good will too.' + +Then, he arose before them all, and took from the sleeve of his +robe a written prayer and read it aloud. That done, he kneeled and +said the Lord's Prayer, all the people joining; and then he arose +again and told them that he believed in the Bible, and that in what +he had lately written, he had written what was not the truth, and +that, because his right hand had signed those papers, he would burn +his right hand first when he came to the fire. As for the Pope, he +did refuse him and denounce him as the enemy of Heaven. Hereupon +the pious Dr. Cole cried out to the guards to stop that heretic's +mouth and take him away. + +So they took him away, and chained him to the stake, where he +hastily took off his own clothes to make ready for the flames. And +he stood before the people with a bald head and a white and flowing +beard. He was so firm now when the worst was come, that he again +declared against his recantation, and was so impressive and so +undismayed, that a certain lord, who was one of the directors of +the execution, called out to the men to make haste! When the fire +was lighted, Cranmer, true to his latest word, stretched out his +right hand, and crying out, 'This hand hath offended!' held it +among the flames, until it blazed and burned away. His heart was +found entire among his ashes, and he left at last a memorable name +in English history. Cardinal Pole celebrated the day by saying his +first mass, and next day he was made Archbishop of Canterbury in +Cranmer's place. + +The Queen's husband, who was now mostly abroad in his own +dominions, and generally made a coarse jest of her to his more +familiar courtiers, was at war with France, and came over to seek +the assistance of England. England was very unwilling to engage in +a French war for his sake; but it happened that the King of France, +at this very time, aided a descent upon the English coast. Hence, +war was declared, greatly to Philip's satisfaction; and the Queen +raised a sum of money with which to carry it on, by every +unjustifiable means in her power. It met with no profitable +return, for the French Duke of Guise surprised Calais, and the +English sustained a complete defeat. The losses they met with in +France greatly mortified the national pride, and the Queen never +recovered the blow. + +There was a bad fever raging in England at this time, and I am glad +to write that the Queen took it, and the hour of her death came. +'When I am dead and my body is opened,' she said to those around +those around her, 'ye shall find CALAIS written on my heart.' I +should have thought, if anything were written on it, they would +have found the words - JANE GREY, HOOPER, ROGERS, RIDLEY, LATIMER, +CRANMER, AND THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE BURNT ALIVE WITHIN FOUR YEARS OF +MY WICKED REIGN, INCLUDING SIXTY WOMEN AND FORTY LITTLE CHILDREN. +But it is enough that their deaths were written in Heaven. + +The Queen died on the seventeenth of November, fifteen hundred and +fifty-eight, after reigning not quite five years and a half, and in +the forty-fourth year of her age. Cardinal Pole died of the same +fever next day. + +As BLOODY QUEEN MARY, this woman has become famous, and as BLOODY +QUEEN MARY, she will ever be justly remembered with horror and +detestation in Great Britain. Her memory has been held in such +abhorrence that some writers have arisen in later years to take her +part, and to show that she was, upon the whole, quite an amiable +and cheerful sovereign! 'By their fruits ye shall know them,' said +OUR SAVIOUR. The stake and the fire were the fruits of this reign, +and you will judge this Queen by nothing else. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI - ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH + + + +THERE was great rejoicing all over the land when the Lords of the +Council went down to Hatfield, to hail the Princess Elizabeth as +the new Queen of England. Weary of the barbarities of Mary's +reign, the people looked with hope and gladness to the new +Sovereign. The nation seemed to wake from a horrible dream; and +Heaven, so long hidden by the smoke of the fires that roasted men +and women to death, appeared to brighten once more. + +Queen Elizabeth was five-and-twenty years of age when she rode +through the streets of London, from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, +to be crowned. Her countenance was strongly marked, but on the +whole, commanding and dignified; her hair was red, and her nose +something too long and sharp for a woman's. She was not the +beautiful creature her courtiers made out; but she was well enough, +and no doubt looked all the better for coming after the dark and +gloomy Mary. She was well educated, but a roundabout writer, and +rather a hard swearer and coarse talker. She was clever, but +cunning and deceitful, and inherited much of her father's violent +temper. I mention this now, because she has been so over-praised +by one party, and so over-abused by another, that it is hardly +possible to understand the greater part of her reign without first +understanding what kind of woman she really was. + +She began her reign with the great advantage of having a very wise +and careful Minister, SIR WILLIAM CECIL, whom she afterwards made +LORD BURLEIGH. Altogether, the people had greater reason for +rejoicing than they usually had, when there were processions in the +streets; and they were happy with some reason. All kinds of shows +and images were set up; GOG and MAGOG were hoisted to the top of +Temple Bar, and (which was more to the purpose) the Corporation +dutifully presented the young Queen with the sum of a thousand +marks in gold - so heavy a present, that she was obliged to take it +into her carriage with both hands. The coronation was a great +success; and, on the next day, one of the courtiers presented a +petition to the new Queen, praying that as it was the custom to +release some prisoners on such occasions, she would have the +goodness to release the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and +John, and also the Apostle Saint Paul, who had been for some time +shut up in a strange language so that the people could not get at +them. + +To this, the Queen replied that it would be better first to inquire +of themselves whether they desired to be released or not; and, as a +means of finding out, a great public discussion - a sort of +religious tournament - was appointed to take place between certain +champions of the two religions, in Westminster Abbey. You may +suppose that it was soon made pretty clear to common sense, that +for people to benefit by what they repeat or read, it is rather +necessary they should understand something about it. Accordingly, +a Church Service in plain English was settled, and other laws and +regulations were made, completely establishing the great work of +the Reformation. The Romish bishops and champions were not harshly +dealt with, all things considered; and the Queen's Ministers were +both prudent and merciful. + +The one great trouble of this reign, and the unfortunate cause of +the greater part of such turmoil and bloodshed as occurred in it, +was MARY STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS. We will try to understand, in as +few words as possible, who Mary was, what she was, and how she came +to be a thorn in the royal pillow of Elizabeth. + +She was the daughter of the Queen Regent of Scotland, MARY OF +GUISE. She had been married, when a mere child, to the Dauphin, +the son and heir of the King of France. The Pope, who pretended +that no one could rightfully wear the crown of England without his +gracious permission, was strongly opposed to Elizabeth, who had not +asked for the said gracious permission. And as Mary Queen of Scots +would have inherited the English crown in right of her birth, +supposing the English Parliament not to have altered the +succession, the Pope himself, and most of the discontented who were +followers of his, maintained that Mary was the rightful Queen of +England, and Elizabeth the wrongful Queen. Mary being so closely +connected with France, and France being jealous of England, there +was far greater danger in this than there would have been if she +had had no alliance with that great power. And when her young +husband, on the death of his father, became FRANCIS THE SECOND, +King of France, the matter grew very serious. For, the young +couple styled themselves King and Queen of England, and the Pope +was disposed to help them by doing all the mischief he could. + +Now, the reformed religion, under the guidance of a stern and +powerful preacher, named JOHN KNOX, and other such men, had been +making fierce progress in Scotland. It was still a half savage +country, where there was a great deal of murdering and rioting +continually going on; and the Reformers, instead of reforming those +evils as they should have done, went to work in the ferocious old +Scottish spirit, laying churches and chapels waste, pulling down +pictures and altars, and knocking about the Grey Friars, and the +Black Friars, and the White Friars, and the friars of all sorts of +colours, in all directions. This obdurate and harsh spirit of the +Scottish Reformers (the Scotch have always been rather a sullen and +frowning people in religious matters) put up the blood of the +Romish French court, and caused France to send troops over to +Scotland, with the hope of setting the friars of all sorts of +colours on their legs again; of conquering that country first, and +England afterwards; and so crushing the Reformation all to pieces. +The Scottish Reformers, who had formed a great league which they +called The Congregation of the Lord, secretly represented to +Elizabeth that, if the reformed religion got the worst of it with +them, it would be likely to get the worst of it in England too; and +thus, Elizabeth, though she had a high notion of the rights of +Kings and Queens to do anything they liked, sent an army to +Scotland to support the Reformers, who were in arms against their +sovereign. All these proceedings led to a treaty of peace at +Edinburgh, under which the French consented to depart from the +kingdom. By a separate treaty, Mary and her young husband engaged +to renounce their assumed title of King and Queen of England. But +this treaty they never fulfilled. + +It happened, soon after matters had got to this state, that the +young French King died, leaving Mary a young widow. She was then +invited by her Scottish subjects to return home and reign over +them; and as she was not now happy where she was, she, after a +little time, complied. + +Elizabeth had been Queen three years, when Mary Queen of Scots +embarked at Calais for her own rough, quarrelling country. As she +came out of the harbour, a vessel was lost before her eyes, and she +said, 'O! good God! what an omen this is for such a voyage!' She +was very fond of France, and sat on the deck, looking back at it +and weeping, until it was quite dark. When she went to bed, she +directed to be called at daybreak, if the French coast were still +visible, that she might behold it for the last time. As it proved +to be a clear morning, this was done, and she again wept for the +country she was leaving, and said many times, ' Farewell, France! +Farewell, France! I shall never see thee again!' All this was +long remembered afterwards, as sorrowful and interesting in a fair +young princess of nineteen. Indeed, I am afraid it gradually came, +together with her other distresses, to surround her with greater +sympathy than she deserved. + +When she came to Scotland, and took up her abode at the palace of +Holyrood in Edinburgh, she found herself among uncouth strangers +and wild uncomfortable customs very different from her experiences +in the court of France. The very people who were disposed to love +her, made her head ache when she was tired out by her voyage, with +a serenade of discordant music - a fearful concert of bagpipes, I +suppose - and brought her and her train home to her palace on +miserable little Scotch horses that appeared to be half starved. +Among the people who were not disposed to love her, she found the +powerful leaders of the Reformed Church, who were bitter upon her +amusements, however innocent, and denounced music and dancing as +works of the devil. John Knox himself often lectured her, +violently and angrily, and did much to make her life unhappy. All +these reasons confirmed her old attachment to the Romish religion, +and caused her, there is no doubt, most imprudently and dangerously +both for herself and for England too, to give a solemn pledge to +the heads of the Romish Church that if she ever succeeded to the +English crown, she would set up that religion again. In reading +her unhappy history, you must always remember this; and also that +during her whole life she was constantly put forward against the +Queen, in some form or other, by the Romish party. + +That Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not inclined to like her, is +pretty certain. Elizabeth was very vain and jealous, and had an +extraordinary dislike to people being married. She treated Lady +Catherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Lady Jane, with such +shameful severity, for no other reason than her being secretly +married, that she died and her husband was ruined; so, when a +second marriage for Mary began to be talked about, probably +Elizabeth disliked her more. Not that Elizabeth wanted suitors of +her own, for they started up from Spain, Austria, Sweden, and +England. Her English lover at this time, and one whom she much +favoured too, was LORD ROBERT DUDLEY, Earl of Leicester - himself +secretly married to AMY ROBSART, the daughter of an English +gentleman, whom he was strongly suspected of causing to be +murdered, down at his country seat, Cumnor Hall in Berkshire, that +he might be free to marry the Queen. Upon this story, the great +writer, SIR WALTER SCOTT, has founded one of his best romances. +But if Elizabeth knew how to lead her handsome favourite on, for +her own vanity and pleasure, she knew how to stop him for her own +pride; and his love, and all the other proposals, came to nothing. +The Queen always declared in good set speeches, that she would +never be married at all, but would live and die a Maiden Queen. It +was a very pleasant and meritorious declaration, I suppose; but it +has been puffed and trumpeted so much, that I am rather tired of it +myself. + +Divers princes proposed to marry Mary, but the English court had +reasons for being jealous of them all, and even proposed as a +matter of policy that she should marry that very Earl of Leicester +who had aspired to be the husband of Elizabeth. At last, LORD +DARNLEY, son of the Earl of Lennox, and himself descended from the +Royal Family of Scotland, went over with Elizabeth's consent to try +his fortune at Holyrood. He was a tall simpleton; and could dance +and play the guitar; but I know of nothing else he could do, unless +it were to get very drunk, and eat gluttonously, and make a +contemptible spectacle of himself in many mean and vain ways. +However, he gained Mary's heart, not disdaining in the pursuit of +his object to ally himself with one of her secretaries, DAVID +RIZZIO, who had great influence with her. He soon married the +Queen. This marriage does not say much for her, but what followed +will presently say less. + +Mary's brother, the EARL OF MURRAY, and head of the Protestant +party in Scotland, had opposed this marriage, partly on religious +grounds, and partly perhaps from personal dislike of the very +contemptible bridegroom. When it had taken place, through Mary's +gaining over to it the more powerful of the lords about her, she +banished Murray for his pains; and, when he and some other nobles +rose in arms to support the reformed religion, she herself, within +a month of her wedding day, rode against them in armour with loaded +pistols in her saddle. Driven out of Scotland, they presented +themselves before Elizabeth - who called them traitors in public, +and assisted them in private, according to her crafty nature. + +Mary had been married but a little while, when she began to hate +her husband, who, in his turn, began to hate that David Rizzio, +with whom he had leagued to gain her favour, and whom he now +believed to be her lover. He hated Rizzio to that extent, that he +made a compact with LORD RUTHVEN and three other lords to get rid +of him by murder. This wicked agreement they made in solemn +secrecy upon the first of March, fifteen hundred and sixty-six, and +on the night of Saturday the ninth, the conspirators were brought +by Darnley up a private staircase, dark and steep, into a range of +rooms where they knew that Mary was sitting at supper with her +sister, Lady Argyle, and this doomed man. When they went into the +room, Darnley took the Queen round the waist, and Lord Ruthven, who +had risen from a bed of sickness to do this murder, came in, gaunt +and ghastly, leaning on two men. Rizzio ran behind the Queen for +shelter and protection. 'Let him come out of the room,' said +Ruthven. 'He shall not leave the room,' replied the Queen; 'I read +his danger in your face, and it is my will that he remain here.' +They then set upon him, struggled with him, overturned the table, +dragged him out, and killed him with fifty-six stabs. When the +Queen heard that he was dead, she said, 'No more tears. I will +think now of revenge!' + +Within a day or two, she gained her husband over, and prevailed on +the tall idiot to abandon the conspirators and fly with her to +Dunbar. There, he issued a proclamation, audaciously and falsely +denying that he had any knowledge of the late bloody business; and +there they were joined by the EARL BOTHWELL and some other nobles. +With their help, they raised eight thousand men; returned to +Edinburgh, and drove the assassins into England. Mary soon +afterwards gave birth to a son - still thinking of revenge. + +That she should have had a greater scorn for her husband after his +late cowardice and treachery than she had had before, was natural +enough. There is little doubt that she now began to love Bothwell +instead, and to plan with him means of getting rid of Darnley. +Bothwell had such power over her that he induced her even to pardon +the assassins of Rizzio. The arrangements for the Christening of +the young Prince were entrusted to him, and he was one of the most +important people at the ceremony, where the child was named JAMES: +Elizabeth being his godmother, though not present on the occasion. +A week afterwards, Darnley, who had left Mary and gone to his +father's house at Glasgow, being taken ill with the small-pox, she +sent her own physician to attend him. But there is reason to +apprehend that this was merely a show and a pretence, and that she +knew what was doing, when Bothwell within another month proposed to +one of the late conspirators against Rizzio, to murder Darnley, +'for that it was the Queen's mind that he should be taken away.' +It is certain that on that very day she wrote to her ambassador in +France, complaining of him, and yet went immediately to Glasgow, +feigning to be very anxious about him, and to love him very much. +If she wanted to get him in her power, she succeeded to her heart's +content; for she induced him to go back with her to Edinburgh, and +to occupy, instead of the palace, a lone house outside the city +called the Kirk of Field. Here, he lived for about a week. One +Sunday night, she remained with him until ten o'clock, and then +left him, to go to Holyrood to be present at an entertainment given +in celebration of the marriage of one of her favourite servants. +At two o'clock in the morning the city was shaken by a great +explosion, and the Kirk of Field was blown to atoms. + +Darnley's body was found next day lying under a tree at some +distance. How it came there, undisfigured and unscorched by +gunpowder, and how this crime came to be so clumsily and strangely +committed, it is impossible to discover. The deceitful character +of Mary, and the deceitful character of Elizabeth, have rendered +almost every part of their joint history uncertain and obscure. +But, I fear that Mary was unquestionably a party to her husband's +murder, and that this was the revenge she had threatened. The +Scotch people universally believed it. Voices cried out in the +streets of Edinburgh in the dead of the night, for justice on the +murderess. Placards were posted by unknown hands in the public +places denouncing Bothwell as the murderer, and the Queen as his +accomplice; and, when he afterwards married her (though himself +already married), previously making a show of taking her prisoner +by force, the indignation of the people knew no bounds. The women +particularly are described as having been quite frantic against the +Queen, and to have hooted and cried after her in the streets with +terrific vehemence. + +Such guilty unions seldom prosper. This husband and wife had lived +together but a month, when they were separated for ever by the +successes of a band of Scotch nobles who associated against them +for the protection of the young Prince: whom Bothwell had vainly +endeavoured to lay hold of, and whom he would certainly have +murdered, if the EARL OF MAR, in whose hands the boy was, had not +been firmly and honourably faithful to his trust. Before this +angry power, Bothwell fled abroad, where he died, a prisoner and +mad, nine miserable years afterwards. Mary being found by the +associated lords to deceive them at every turn, was sent a prisoner +to Lochleven Castle; which, as it stood in the midst of a lake, +could only be approached by boat. Here, one LORD LINDSAY, who was +so much of a brute that the nobles would have done better if they +had chosen a mere gentleman for their messenger, made her sign her +abdication, and appoint Murray, Regent of Scotland. Here, too, +Murray saw her in a sorrowing and humbled state. + +She had better have remained in the castle of Lochleven, dull +prison as it was, with the rippling of the lake against it, and the +moving shadows of the water on the room walls; but she could not +rest there, and more than once tried to escape. The first time she +had nearly succeeded, dressed in the clothes of her own washer- +woman, but, putting up her hand to prevent one of the boatmen from +lifting her veil, the men suspected her, seeing how white it was, +and rowed her back again. A short time afterwards, her fascinating +manners enlisted in her cause a boy in the Castle, called the +little DOUGLAS, who, while the family were at supper, stole the +keys of the great gate, went softly out with the Queen, locked the +gate on the outside, and rowed her away across the lake, sinking +the keys as they went along. On the opposite shore she was met by +another Douglas, and some few lords; and, so accompanied, rode away +on horseback to Hamilton, where they raised three thousand men. +Here, she issued a proclamation declaring that the abdication she +had signed in her prison was illegal, and requiring the Regent to +yield to his lawful Queen. Being a steady soldier, and in no way +discomposed although he was without an army, Murray pretended to +treat with her, until he had collected a force about half equal to +her own, and then he gave her battle. In one quarter of an hour he +cut down all her hopes. She had another weary ride on horse-back +of sixty long Scotch miles, and took shelter at Dundrennan Abbey, +whence she fled for safety to Elizabeth's dominions. + +Mary Queen of Scots came to England - to her own ruin, the trouble +of the kingdom, and the misery and death of many - in the year one +thousand five hundred and sixty-eight. How she left it and the +world, nineteen years afterwards, we have now to see. + + +SECOND PART + + +WHEN Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England, without money and even +without any other clothes than those she wore, she wrote to +Elizabeth, representing herself as an innocent and injured piece of +Royalty, and entreating her assistance to oblige her Scottish +subjects to take her back again and obey her. But, as her +character was already known in England to be a very different one +from what she made it out to be, she was told in answer that she +must first clear herself. Made uneasy by this condition, Mary, +rather than stay in England, would have gone to Spain, or to +France, or would even have gone back to Scotland. But, as her +doing either would have been likely to trouble England afresh, it +was decided that she should be detained here. She first came to +Carlisle, and, after that, was moved about from castle to castle, +as was considered necessary; but England she never left again. + +After trying very hard to get rid of the necessity of clearing +herself, Mary, advised by LORD HERRIES, her best friend in England, +agreed to answer the charges against her, if the Scottish noblemen +who made them would attend to maintain them before such English +noblemen as Elizabeth might appoint for that purpose. Accordingly, +such an assembly, under the name of a conference, met, first at +York, and afterwards at Hampton Court. In its presence Lord +Lennox, Darnley's father, openly charged Mary with the murder of +his son; and whatever Mary's friends may now say or write in her +behalf, there is no doubt that, when her brother Murray produced +against her a casket containing certain guilty letters and verses +which he stated to have passed between her and Bothwell, she +withdrew from the inquiry. Consequently, it is to be supposed that +she was then considered guilty by those who had the best +opportunities of judging of the truth, and that the feeling which +afterwards arose in her behalf was a very generous but not a very +reasonable one. + +However, the DUKE OF NORFOLK, an honourable but rather weak +nobleman, partly because Mary was captivating, partly because he +was ambitious, partly because he was over-persuaded by artful +plotters against Elizabeth, conceived a strong idea that he would +like to marry the Queen of Scots - though he was a little +frightened, too, by the letters in the casket. This idea being +secretly encouraged by some of the noblemen of Elizabeth's court, +and even by the favourite Earl of Leicester (because it was +objected to by other favourites who were his rivals), Mary +expressed her approval of it, and the King of France and the King +of Spain are supposed to have done the same. It was not so quietly +planned, though, but that it came to Elizabeth's ears, who warned +the Duke 'to be careful what sort of pillow he was going to lay his +head upon.' He made a humble reply at the time; but turned sulky +soon afterwards, and, being considered dangerous, was sent to the +Tower. + +Thus, from the moment of Mary's coming to England she began to be +the centre of plots and miseries. + +A rise of the Catholics in the north was the next of these, and it +was only checked by many executions and much bloodshed. It was +followed by a great conspiracy of the Pope and some of the Catholic +sovereigns of Europe to depose Elizabeth, place Mary on the throne, +and restore the unreformed religion. It is almost impossible to +doubt that Mary knew and approved of this; and the Pope himself was +so hot in the matter that he issued a bull, in which he openly +called Elizabeth the 'pretended Queen' of England, excommunicated +her, and excommunicated all her subjects who should continue to +obey her. A copy of this miserable paper got into London, and was +found one morning publicly posted on the Bishop of London's gate. +A great hue and cry being raised, another copy was found in the +chamber of a student of Lincoln's Inn, who confessed, being put +upon the rack, that he had received it from one JOHN FELTON, a rich +gentleman who lived across the Thames, near Southwark. This John +Felton, being put upon the rack too, confessed that he had posted +the placard on the Bishop's gate. For this offence he was, within +four days, taken to St. Paul's Churchyard, and there hanged and +quartered. As to the Pope's bull, the people by the reformation +having thrown off the Pope, did not care much, you may suppose, for +the Pope's throwing off them. It was a mere dirty piece of paper, +and not half so powerful as a street ballad. + +On the very day when Felton was brought to his trial, the poor Duke +of Norfolk was released. It would have been well for him if he had +kept away from the Tower evermore, and from the snares that had +taken him there. But, even while he was in that dismal place he +corresponded with Mary, and as soon as he was out of it, he began +to plot again. Being discovered in correspondence with the Pope, +with a view to a rising in England which should force Elizabeth to +consent to his marriage with Mary and to repeal the laws against +the Catholics, he was re-committed to the Tower and brought to +trial. He was found guilty by the unanimous verdict of the Lords +who tried him, and was sentenced to the block. + +It is very difficult to make out, at this distance of time, and +between opposite accounts, whether Elizabeth really was a humane +woman, or desired to appear so, or was fearful of shedding the +blood of people of great name who were popular in the country. +Twice she commanded and countermanded the execution of this Duke, +and it did not take place until five months after his trial. The +scaffold was erected on Tower Hill, and there he died like a brave +man. He refused to have his eyes bandaged, saying that he was not +at all afraid of death; and he admitted the justice of his +sentence, and was much regretted by the people. + +Although Mary had shrunk at the most important time from disproving +her guilt, she was very careful never to do anything that would +admit it. All such proposals as were made to her by Elizabeth for +her release, required that admission in some form or other, and +therefore came to nothing. Moreover, both women being artful and +treacherous, and neither ever trusting the other, it was not likely +that they could ever make an agreement. So, the Parliament, +aggravated by what the Pope had done, made new and strong laws +against the spreading of the Catholic religion in England, and +declared it treason in any one to say that the Queen and her +successors were not the lawful sovereigns of England. It would +have done more than this, but for Elizabeth's moderation. + +Since the Reformation, there had come to be three great sects of +religious people - or people who called themselves so - in England; +that is to say, those who belonged to the Reformed Church, those +who belonged to the Unreformed Church, and those who were called +the Puritans, because they said that they wanted to have everything +very pure and plain in all the Church service. These last were for +the most part an uncomfortable people, who thought it highly +meritorious to dress in a hideous manner, talk through their noses, +and oppose all harmless enjoyments. But they were powerful too, +and very much in earnest, and they were one and all the determined +enemies of the Queen of Scots. The Protestant feeling in England +was further strengthened by the tremendous cruelties to which +Protestants were exposed in France and in the Netherlands. Scores +of thousands of them were put to death in those countries with +every cruelty that can be imagined, and at last, in the autumn of +the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-two, one of the +greatest barbarities ever committed in the world took place at +Paris. + +It is called in history, THE MASSACRE OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, because +it took place on Saint Bartholomew's Eve. The day fell on Saturday +the twenty-third of August. On that day all the great leaders of +the Protestants (who were there called HUGUENOTS) were assembled +together, for the purpose, as was represented to them, of doing +honour to the marriage of their chief, the young King of Navarre, +with the sister of CHARLES THE NINTH: a miserable young King who +then occupied the French throne. This dull creature was made to +believe by his mother and other fierce Catholics about him that the +Huguenots meant to take his life; and he was persuaded to give +secret orders that, on the tolling of a great bell, they should be +fallen upon by an overpowering force of armed men, and slaughtered +wherever they could be found. When the appointed hour was close at +hand, the stupid wretch, trembling from head to foot, was taken +into a balcony by his mother to see the atrocious work begun. The +moment the bell tolled, the murderers broke forth. During all that +night and the two next days, they broke into the houses, fired the +houses, shot and stabbed the Protestants, men, women, and children, +and flung their bodies into the streets. They were shot at in the +streets as they passed along, and their blood ran down the gutters. +Upwards of ten thousand Protestants were killed in Paris alone; in +all France four or five times that number. To return thanks to +Heaven for these diabolical murders, the Pope and his train +actually went in public procession at Rome, and as if this were not +shame enough for them, they had a medal struck to commemorate the +event. But, however comfortable the wholesale murders were to +these high authorities, they had not that soothing effect upon the +doll-King. I am happy to state that he never knew a moment's peace +afterwards; that he was continually crying out that he saw the +Huguenots covered with blood and wounds falling dead before him; +and that he died within a year, shrieking and yelling and raving to +that degree, that if all the Popes who had ever lived had been +rolled into one, they would not have afforded His guilty Majesty +the slightest consolation. + +When the terrible news of the massacre arrived in England, it made +a powerful impression indeed upon the people. If they began to run +a little wild against the Catholics at about this time, this +fearful reason for it, coming so soon after the days of bloody +Queen Mary, must be remembered in their excuse. The Court was not +quite so honest as the people - but perhaps it sometimes is not. +It received the French ambassador, with all the lords and ladies +dressed in deep mourning, and keeping a profound silence. +Nevertheless, a proposal of marriage which he had made to Elizabeth +only two days before the eve of Saint Bartholomew, on behalf of the +Duke of Alen‡on, the French King's brother, a boy of seventeen, +still went on; while on the other hand, in her usual crafty way, +the Queen secretly supplied the Huguenots with money and weapons. + +I must say that for a Queen who made all those fine speeches, of +which I have confessed myself to be rather tired, about living and +dying a Maiden Queen, Elizabeth was 'going' to be married pretty +often. Besides always having some English favourite or other whom +she by turns encouraged and swore at and knocked about - for the +maiden Queen was very free with her fists - she held this French +Duke off and on through several years. When he at last came over +to England, the marriage articles were actually drawn up, and it +was settled that the wedding should take place in six weeks. The +Queen was then so bent upon it, that she prosecuted a poor Puritan +named STUBBS, and a poor bookseller named PAGE, for writing and +publishing a pamphlet against it. Their right hands were chopped +off for this crime; and poor Stubbs - more loyal than I should have +been myself under the circumstances - immediately pulled off his +hat with his left hand, and cried, 'God save the Queen!' Stubbs +was cruelly treated; for the marriage never took place after all, +though the Queen pledged herself to the Duke with a ring from her +own finger. He went away, no better than he came, when the +courtship had lasted some ten years altogether; and he died a +couple of years afterwards, mourned by Elizabeth, who appears to +have been really fond of him. It is not much to her credit, for he +was a bad enough member of a bad family. + +To return to the Catholics. There arose two orders of priests, who +were very busy in England, and who were much dreaded. These were +the JESUITS (who were everywhere in all sorts of disguises), and +the SEMINARY PRIESTS. The people had a great horror of the first, +because they were known to have taught that murder was lawful if it +were done with an object of which they approved; and they had a +great horror of the second, because they came to teach the old +religion, and to be the successors of 'Queen Mary's priests,' as +those yet lingering in England were called, when they should die +out. The severest laws were made against them, and were most +unmercifully executed. Those who sheltered them in their houses +often suffered heavily for what was an act of humanity; and the +rack, that cruel torture which tore men's limbs asunder, was +constantly kept going. What these unhappy men confessed, or what +was ever confessed by any one under that agony, must always be +received with great doubt, as it is certain that people have +frequently owned to the most absurd and impossible crimes to escape +such dreadful suffering. But I cannot doubt it to have been proved +by papers, that there were many plots, both among the Jesuits, and +with France, and with Scotland, and with Spain, for the destruction +of Queen Elizabeth, for the placing of Mary on the throne, and for +the revival of the old religion. + +If the English people were too ready to believe in plots, there +were, as I have said, good reasons for it. When the massacre of +Saint Bartholomew was yet fresh in their recollection, a great +Protestant Dutch hero, the PRINCE OF ORANGE, was shot by an +assassin, who confessed that he had been kept and trained for the +purpose in a college of Jesuits. The Dutch, in this surprise and +distress, offered to make Elizabeth their sovereign, but she +declined the honour, and sent them a small army instead, under the +command of the Earl of Leicester, who, although a capital Court +favourite, was not much of a general. He did so little in Holland, +that his campaign there would probably have been forgotten, but for +its occasioning the death of one of the best writers, the best +knights, and the best gentlemen, of that or any age. This was SIR +PHILIP SIDNEY, who was wounded by a musket ball in the thigh as he +mounted a fresh horse, after having had his own killed under him. +He had to ride back wounded, a long distance, and was very faint +with fatigue and loss of blood, when some water, for which he had +eagerly asked, was handed to him. But he was so good and gentle +even then, that seeing a poor badly wounded common soldier lying on +the ground, looking at the water with longing eyes, he said, 'Thy +necessity is greater than mine,' and gave it up to him. This +touching action of a noble heart is perhaps as well known as any +incident in history - is as famous far and wide as the blood- +stained Tower of London, with its axe, and block, and murders out +of number. So delightful is an act of true humanity, and so glad +are mankind to remember it. + +At home, intelligence of plots began to thicken every day. I +suppose the people never did live under such continual terrors as +those by which they were possessed now, of Catholic risings, and +burnings, and poisonings, and I don't know what. Still, we must +always remember that they lived near and close to awful realities +of that kind, and that with their experience it was not difficult +to believe in any enormity. The government had the same fear, and +did not take the best means of discovering the truth - for, besides +torturing the suspected, it employed paid spies, who will always +lie for their own profit. It even made some of the conspiracies it +brought to light, by sending false letters to disaffected people, +inviting them to join in pretended plots, which they too readily +did. + +But, one great real plot was at length discovered, and it ended the +career of Mary, Queen of Scots. A seminary priest named BALLARD, +and a Spanish soldier named SAVAGE, set on and encouraged by +certain French priests, imparted a design to one ANTONY BABINGTON - +a gentleman of fortune in Derbyshire, who had been for some time a +secret agent of Mary's - for murdering the Queen. Babington then +confided the scheme to some other Catholic gentlemen who were his +friends, and they joined in it heartily. They were vain, weak- +headed young men, ridiculously confident, and preposterously proud +of their plan; for they got a gimcrack painting made, of the six +choice spirits who were to murder Elizabeth, with Babington in an +attitude for the centre figure. Two of their number, however, one +of whom was a priest, kept Elizabeth's wisest minister, SIR FRANCIS +WALSINGHAM, acquainted with the whole project from the first. The +conspirators were completely deceived to the final point, when +Babington gave Savage, because he was shabby, a ring from his +finger, and some money from his purse, wherewith to buy himself new +clothes in which to kill the Queen. Walsingham, having then full +evidence against the whole band, and two letters of Mary's besides, +resolved to seize them. Suspecting something wrong, they stole out +of the city, one by one, and hid themselves in St. John's Wood, and +other places which really were hiding places then; but they were +all taken, and all executed. When they were seized, a gentleman +was sent from Court to inform Mary of the fact, and of her being +involved in the discovery. Her friends have complained that she +was kept in very hard and severe custody. It does not appear very +likely, for she was going out a hunting that very morning. + +Queen Elizabeth had been warned long ago, by one in France who had +good information of what was secretly doing, that in holding Mary +alive, she held 'the wolf who would devour her.' The Bishop of +London had, more lately, given the Queen's favourite minister the +advice in writing, 'forthwith to cut off the Scottish Queen's +head.' The question now was, what to do with her? The Earl of +Leicester wrote a little note home from Holland, recommending that +she should be quietly poisoned; that noble favourite having +accustomed his mind, it is possible, to remedies of that nature. +His black advice, however, was disregarded, and she was brought to +trial at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, before a tribunal +of forty, composed of both religions. There, and in the Star +Chamber at Westminster, the trial lasted a fortnight. She defended +herself with great ability, but could only deny the confessions +that had been made by Babington and others; could only call her own +letters, produced against her by her own secretaries, forgeries; +and, in short, could only deny everything. She was found guilty, +and declared to have incurred the penalty of death. The Parliament +met, approved the sentence, and prayed the Queen to have it +executed. The Queen replied that she requested them to consider +whether no means could be found of saving Mary's life without +endangering her own. The Parliament rejoined, No; and the citizens +illuminated their houses and lighted bonfires, in token of their +joy that all these plots and troubles were to be ended by the death +of the Queen of Scots. + +She, feeling sure that her time was now come, wrote a letter to the +Queen of England, making three entreaties; first, that she might be +buried in France; secondly, that she might not be executed in +secret, but before her servants and some others; thirdly, that +after her death, her servants should not be molested, but should be +suffered to go home with the legacies she left them. It was an +affecting letter, and Elizabeth shed tears over it, but sent no +answer. Then came a special ambassador from France, and another +from Scotland, to intercede for Mary's life; and then the nation +began to clamour, more and more, for her death. + +What the real feelings or intentions of Elizabeth were, can never +be known now; but I strongly suspect her of only wishing one thing +more than Mary's death, and that was to keep free of the blame of +it. On the first of February, one thousand five hundred and +eighty-seven, Lord Burleigh having drawn out the warrant for the +execution, the Queen sent to the secretary DAVISON to bring it to +her, that she might sign it: which she did. Next day, when +Davison told her it was sealed, she angrily asked him why such +haste was necessary? Next day but one, she joked about it, and +swore a little. Again, next day but one, she seemed to complain +that it was not yet done, but still she would not be plain with +those about her. So, on the seventh, the Earls of Kent and +Shrewsbury, with the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, came with the +warrant to Fotheringay, to tell the Queen of Scots to prepare for +death. + +When those messengers of ill omen were gone, Mary made a frugal +supper, drank to her servants, read over her will, went to bed, +slept for some hours, and then arose and passed the remainder of +the night saying prayers. In the morning she dressed herself in +her best clothes; and, at eight o'clock when the sheriff came for +her to her chapel, took leave of her servants who were there +assembled praying with her, and went down-stairs, carrying a Bible +in one hand and a crucifix in the other. Two of her women and four +of her men were allowed to be present in the hall; where a low +scaffold, only two feet from the ground, was erected and covered +with black; and where the executioner from the Tower, and his +assistant, stood, dressed in black velvet. The hall was full of +people. While the sentence was being read she sat upon a stool; +and, when it was finished, she again denied her guilt, as she had +done before. The Earl of Kent and the Dean of Peterborough, in +their Protestant zeal, made some very unnecessary speeches to her; +to which she replied that she died in the Catholic religion, and +they need not trouble themselves about that matter. When her head +and neck were uncovered by the executioners, she said that she had +not been used to be undressed by such hands, or before so much +company. Finally, one of her women fastened a cloth over her face, +and she laid her neck upon the block, and repeated more than once +in Latin, 'Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!' Some say +her head was struck off in two blows, some say in three. However +that be, when it was held up, streaming with blood, the real hair +beneath the false hair she had long worn was seen to be as grey as +that of a woman of seventy, though she was at that time only in her +forty-sixth year. All her beauty was gone. + +But she was beautiful enough to her little dog, who cowered under +her dress, frightened, when she went upon the scaffold, and who lay +down beside her headless body when all her earthly sorrows were +over. + + +THIRD PART + + +ON its being formally made known to Elizabeth that the sentence had +been executed on the Queen of Scots, she showed the utmost grief +and rage, drove her favourites from her with violent indignation, +and sent Davison to the Tower; from which place he was only +released in the end by paying an immense fine which completely +ruined him. Elizabeth not only over-acted her part in making these +pretences, but most basely reduced to poverty one of her faithful +servants for no other fault than obeying her commands. + +James, King of Scotland, Mary's son, made a show likewise of being +very angry on the occasion; but he was a pensioner of England to +the amount of five thousand pounds a year, and he had known very +little of his mother, and he possibly regarded her as the murderer +of his father, and he soon took it quietly. + +Philip, King of Spain, however, threatened to do greater things +than ever had been done yet, to set up the Catholic religion and +punish Protestant England. Elizabeth, hearing that he and the +Prince of Parma were making great preparations for this purpose, in +order to be beforehand with them sent out ADMIRAL DRAKE (a famous +navigator, who had sailed about the world, and had already brought +great plunder from Spain) to the port of Cadiz, where he burnt a +hundred vessels full of stores. This great loss obliged the +Spaniards to put off the invasion for a year; but it was none the +less formidable for that, amounting to one hundred and thirty +ships, nineteen thousand soldiers, eight thousand sailors, two +thousand slaves, and between two and three thousand great guns. +England was not idle in making ready to resist this great force. +All the men between sixteen years old and sixty, were trained and +drilled; the national fleet of ships (in number only thirty-four at +first) was enlarged by public contributions and by private ships, +fitted out by noblemen; the city of London, of its own accord, +furnished double the number of ships and men that it was required +to provide; and, if ever the national spirit was up in England, it +was up all through the country to resist the Spaniards. Some of +the Queen's advisers were for seizing the principal English +Catholics, and putting them to death; but the Queen - who, to her +honour, used to say, that she would never believe any ill of her +subjects, which a parent would not believe of her own children - +rejected the advice, and only confined a few of those who were the +most suspected, in the fens in Lincolnshire. The great body of +Catholics deserved this confidence; for they behaved most loyally, +nobly, and bravely. + +So, with all England firing up like one strong, angry man, and with +both sides of the Thames fortified, and with the soldiers under +arms, and with the sailors in their ships, the country waited for +the coming of the proud Spanish fleet, which was called THE +INVINCIBLE ARMADA. The Queen herself, riding in armour on a white +horse, and the Earl of Essex and the Earl of Leicester holding her +bridal rein, made a brave speech to the troops at Tilbury Fort +opposite Gravesend, which was received with such enthusiasm as is +seldom known. Then came the Spanish Armada into the English +Channel, sailing along in the form of a half moon, of such great +size that it was seven miles broad. But the English were quickly +upon it, and woe then to all the Spanish ships that dropped a +little out of the half moon, for the English took them instantly! +And it soon appeared that the great Armada was anything but +invincible, for on a summer night, bold Drake sent eight blazing +fire-ships right into the midst of it. In terrible consternation +the Spaniards tried to get out to sea, and so became dispersed; the +English pursued them at a great advantage; a storm came on, and +drove the Spaniards among rocks and shoals; and the swift end of +the Invincible fleet was, that it lost thirty great ships and ten +thousand men, and, defeated and disgraced, sailed home again. +Being afraid to go by the English Channel, it sailed all round +Scotland and Ireland; some of the ships getting cast away on the +latter coast in bad weather, the Irish, who were a kind of savages, +plundered those vessels and killed their crews. So ended this +great attempt to invade and conquer England. And I think it will +be a long time before any other invincible fleet coming to England +with the same object, will fare much better than the Spanish +Armada. + +Though the Spanish king had had this bitter taste of English +bravery, he was so little the wiser for it, as still to entertain +his old designs, and even to conceive the absurd idea of placing +his daughter on the English throne. But the Earl of Essex, SIR +WALTER RALEIGH, SIR THOMAS HOWARD, and some other distinguished +leaders, put to sea from Plymouth, entered the port of Cadiz once +more, obtained a complete victory over the shipping assembled +there, and got possession of the town. In obedience to the Queen's +express instructions, they behaved with great humanity; and the +principal loss of the Spaniards was a vast sum of money which they +had to pay for ransom. This was one of many gallant achievements +on the sea, effected in this reign. Sir Walter Raleigh himself, +after marrying a maid of honour and giving offence to the Maiden +Queen thereby, had already sailed to South America in search of +gold. + +The Earl of Leicester was now dead, and so was Sir Thomas +Walsingham, whom Lord Burleigh was soon to follow. The principal +favourite was the EARL OF ESSEX, a spirited and handsome man, a +favourite with the people too as well as with the Queen, and +possessed of many admirable qualities. It was much debated at +Court whether there should be peace with Spain or no, and he was +very urgent for war. He also tried hard to have his own way in the +appointment of a deputy to govern in Ireland. One day, while this +question was in dispute, he hastily took offence, and turned his +back upon the Queen; as a gentle reminder of which impropriety, the +Queen gave him a tremendous box on the ear, and told him to go to +the devil. He went home instead, and did not reappear at Court for +half a year or so, when he and the Queen were reconciled, though +never (as some suppose) thoroughly. + +From this time the fate of the Earl of Essex and that of the Queen +seemed to be blended together. The Irish were still perpetually +quarrelling and fighting among themselves, and he went over to +Ireland as Lord Lieutenant, to the great joy of his enemies (Sir +Walter Raleigh among the rest), who were glad to have so dangerous +a rival far off. Not being by any means successful there, and +knowing that his enemies would take advantage of that circumstance +to injure him with the Queen, he came home again, though against +her orders. The Queen being taken by surprise when he appeared +before her, gave him her hand to kiss, and he was overjoyed - +though it was not a very lovely hand by this time - but in the +course of the same day she ordered him to confine himself to his +room, and two or three days afterwards had him taken into custody. +With the same sort of caprice - and as capricious an old woman she +now was, as ever wore a crown or a head either - she sent him broth +from her own table on his falling ill from anxiety, and cried about +him. + +He was a man who could find comfort and occupation in his books, +and he did so for a time; not the least happy time, I dare say, of +his life. But it happened unfortunately for him, that he held a +monopoly in sweet wines: which means that nobody could sell them +without purchasing his permission. This right, which was only for +a term, expiring, he applied to have it renewed. The Queen +refused, with the rather strong observation - but she DID make +strong observations - that an unruly beast must be stinted in his +food. Upon this, the angry Earl, who had been already deprived of +many offices, thought himself in danger of complete ruin, and +turned against the Queen, whom he called a vain old woman who had +grown as crooked in her mind as she had in her figure. These +uncomplimentary expressions the ladies of the Court immediately +snapped up and carried to the Queen, whom they did not put in a +better tempter, you may believe. The same Court ladies, when they +had beautiful dark hair of their own, used to wear false red hair, +to be like the Queen. So they were not very high-spirited ladies, +however high in rank. + +The worst object of the Earl of Essex, and some friends of his who +used to meet at LORD SOUTHAMPTON'S house, was to obtain possession +of the Queen, and oblige her by force to dismiss her ministers and +change her favourites. On Saturday the seventh of February, one +thousand six hundred and one, the council suspecting this, summoned +the Earl to come before them. He, pretending to be ill, declined; +it was then settled among his friends, that as the next day would +be Sunday, when many of the citizens usually assembled at the Cross +by St. Paul's Cathedral, he should make one bold effort to induce +them to rise and follow him to the Palace. + +So, on the Sunday morning, he and a small body of adherents started +out of his house - Essex House by the Strand, with steps to the +river - having first shut up in it, as prisoners, some members of +the council who came to examine him - and hurried into the City +with the Earl at their head crying out 'For the Queen! For the +Queen! A plot is laid for my life!' No one heeded them, however, +and when they came to St. Paul's there were no citizens there. In +the meantime the prisoners at Essex House had been released by one +of the Earl's own friends; he had been promptly proclaimed a +traitor in the City itself; and the streets were barricaded with +carts and guarded by soldiers. The Earl got back to his house by +water, with difficulty, and after an attempt to defend his house +against the troops and cannon by which it was soon surrounded, gave +himself up that night. He was brought to trial on the nineteenth, +and found guilty; on the twenty-fifth, he was executed on Tower +Hill, where he died, at thirty-four years old, both courageously +and penitently. His step-father suffered with him. His enemy, Sir +Walter Raleigh, stood near the scaffold all the time - but not so +near it as we shall see him stand, before we finish his history. + +In this case, as in the cases of the Duke of Norfolk and Mary Queen +of Scots, the Queen had commanded, and countermanded, and again +commanded, the execution. It is probable that the death of her +young and gallant favourite in the prime of his good qualities, was +never off her mind afterwards, but she held out, the same vain, +obstinate and capricious woman, for another year. Then she danced +before her Court on a state occasion - and cut, I should think, a +mighty ridiculous figure, doing so in an immense ruff, stomacher +and wig, at seventy years old. For another year still, she held +out, but, without any more dancing, and as a moody, sorrowful, +broken creature. At last, on the tenth of March, one thousand six +hundred and three, having been ill of a very bad cold, and made +worse by the death of the Countess of Nottingham who was her +intimate friend, she fell into a stupor and was supposed to be +dead. She recovered her consciousness, however, and then nothing +would induce her to go to bed; for she said that she knew that if +she did, she should never get up again. There she lay for ten +days, on cushions on the floor, without any food, until the Lord +Admiral got her into bed at last, partly by persuasions and partly +by main force. When they asked her who should succeed her, she +replied that her seat had been the seat of Kings, and that she +would have for her successor, 'No rascal's son, but a King's.' +Upon this, the lords present stared at one another, and took the +liberty of asking whom she meant; to which she replied, 'Whom +should I mean, but our cousin of Scotland!' This was on the +twenty-third of March. They asked her once again that day, after +she was speechless, whether she was still in the same mind? She +struggled up in bed, and joined her hands over her head in the form +of a crown, as the only reply she could make. At three o'clock +next morning, she very quietly died, in the forty-fifth year of her +reign. + +That reign had been a glorious one, and is made for ever memorable +by the distinguished men who flourished in it. Apart from the +great voyagers, statesmen, and scholars, whom it produced, the +names of BACON, SPENSER, and SHAKESPEARE, will always be remembered +with pride and veneration by the civilised world, and will always +impart (though with no great reason, perhaps) some portion of their +lustre to the name of Elizabeth herself. It was a great reign for +discovery, for commerce, and for English enterprise and spirit in +general. It was a great reign for the Protestant religion and for +the Reformation which made England free. The Queen was very +popular, and in her progresses, or journeys about her dominions, +was everywhere received with the liveliest joy. I think the truth +is, that she was not half so good as she has been made out, and not +half so bad as she has been made out. She had her fine qualities, +but she was coarse, capricious, and treacherous, and had all the +faults of an excessively vain young woman long after she was an old +one. On the whole, she had a great deal too much of her father in +her, to please me. + +Many improvements and luxuries were introduced in the course of +these five-and-forty years in the general manner of living; but +cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and bear-baiting, were still the +national amusements; and a coach was so rarely seen, and was such +an ugly and cumbersome affair when it was seen, that even the Queen +herself, on many high occasions, rode on horseback on a pillion +behind the Lord Chancellor. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII - ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST + + + +'OUR cousin of Scotland' was ugly, awkward, and shuffling both in +mind and person. His tongue was much too large for his mouth, his +legs were much too weak for his body, and his dull goggle-eyes +stared and rolled like an idiot's. He was cunning, covetous, +wasteful, idle, drunken, greedy, dirty, cowardly, a great swearer, +and the most conceited man on earth. His figure - what is commonly +called rickety from his birth - presented a most ridiculous +appearance, dressed in thick padded clothes, as a safeguard against +being stabbed (of which he lived in continual fear), of a grass- +green colour from head to foot, with a hunting-horn dangling at his +side instead of a sword, and his hat and feather sticking over one +eye, or hanging on the back of his head, as he happened to toss it +on. He used to loll on the necks of his favourite courtiers, and +slobber their faces, and kiss and pinch their cheeks; and the +greatest favourite he ever had, used to sign himself in his letters +to his royal master, His Majesty's 'dog and slave,' and used to +address his majesty as 'his Sowship.' His majesty was the worst +rider ever seen, and thought himself the best. He was one of the +most impertinent talkers (in the broadest Scotch) ever heard, and +boasted of being unanswerable in all manner of argument. He wrote +some of the most wearisome treatises ever read - among others, a +book upon witchcraft, in which he was a devout believer - and +thought himself a prodigy of authorship. He thought, and wrote, +and said, that a king had a right to make and unmake what laws he +pleased, and ought to be accountable to nobody on earth. This is +the plain, true character of the personage whom the greatest men +about the court praised and flattered to that degree, that I doubt +if there be anything much more shameful in the annals of human +nature. + +He came to the English throne with great ease. The miseries of a +disputed succession had been felt so long, and so dreadfully, that +he was proclaimed within a few hours of Elizabeth's death, and was +accepted by the nation, even without being asked to give any pledge +that he would govern well, or that he would redress crying +grievances. He took a month to come from Edinburgh to London; and, +by way of exercising his new power, hanged a pickpocket on the +journey without any trial, and knighted everybody he could lay hold +of. He made two hundred knights before he got to his palace in +London, and seven hundred before he had been in it three months. +He also shovelled sixty-two new peers into the House of Lords - and +there was a pretty large sprinkling of Scotchmen among them, you +may believe. + +His Sowship's prime Minister, CECIL (for I cannot do better than +call his majesty what his favourite called him), was the enemy of +Sir Walter Raleigh, and also of Sir Walter's political friend, LORD +COBHAM; and his Sowship's first trouble was a plot originated by +these two, and entered into by some others, with the old object of +seizing the King and keeping him in imprisonment until he should +change his ministers. There were Catholic priests in the plot, and +there were Puritan noblemen too; for, although the Catholics and +Puritans were strongly opposed to each other, they united at this +time against his Sowship, because they knew that he had a design +against both, after pretending to be friendly to each; this design +being to have only one high and convenient form of the Protestant +religion, which everybody should be bound to belong to, whether +they liked it or not. This plot was mixed up with another, which +may or may not have had some reference to placing on the throne, at +some time, the LADY ARABELLA STUART; whose misfortune it was, to be +the daughter of the younger brother of his Sowship's father, but +who was quite innocent of any part in the scheme. Sir Walter +Raleigh was accused on the confession of Lord Cobham - a miserable +creature, who said one thing at one time, and another thing at +another time, and could be relied upon in nothing. The trial of +Sir Walter Raleigh lasted from eight in the morning until nearly +midnight; he defended himself with such eloquence, genius, and +spirit against all accusations, and against the insults of COKE, +the Attorney-General - who, according to the custom of the time, +foully abused him - that those who went there detesting the +prisoner, came away admiring him, and declaring that anything so +wonderful and so captivating was never heard. He was found guilty, +nevertheless, and sentenced to death. Execution was deferred, and +he was taken to the Tower. The two Catholic priests, less +fortunate, were executed with the usual atrocity; and Lord Cobham +and two others were pardoned on the scaffold. His Sowship thought +it wonderfully knowing in him to surprise the people by pardoning +these three at the very block; but, blundering, and bungling, as +usual, he had very nearly overreached himself. For, the messenger +on horseback who brought the pardon, came so late, that he was +pushed to the outside of the crowd, and was obliged to shout and +roar out what he came for. The miserable Cobham did not gain much +by being spared that day. He lived, both as a prisoner and a +beggar, utterly despised, and miserably poor, for thirteen years, +and then died in an old outhouse belonging to one of his former +servants. + +This plot got rid of, and Sir Walter Raleigh safely shut up in the +Tower, his Sowship held a great dispute with the Puritans on their +presenting a petition to him, and had it all his own way - not so +very wonderful, as he would talk continually, and would not hear +anybody else - and filled the Bishops with admiration. It was +comfortably settled that there was to be only one form of religion, +and that all men were to think exactly alike. But, although this +was arranged two centuries and a half ago, and although the +arrangement was supported by much fining and imprisonment, I do not +find that it is quite successful, even yet. + +His Sowship, having that uncommonly high opinion of himself as a +king, had a very low opinion of Parliament as a power that +audaciously wanted to control him. When he called his first +Parliament after he had been king a year, he accordingly thought he +would take pretty high ground with them, and told them that he +commanded them 'as an absolute king.' The Parliament thought those +strong words, and saw the necessity of upholding their authority. +His Sowship had three children: Prince Henry, Prince Charles, and +the Princess Elizabeth. It would have been well for one of these, +and we shall too soon see which, if he had learnt a little wisdom +concerning Parliaments from his father's obstinacy. + +Now, the people still labouring under their old dread of the +Catholic religion, this Parliament revived and strengthened the +severe laws against it. And this so angered ROBERT CATESBY, a +restless Catholic gentleman of an old family, that he formed one of +the most desperate and terrible designs ever conceived in the mind +of man; no less a scheme than the Gunpowder Plot. + +His object was, when the King, lords, and commons, should be +assembled at the next opening of Parliament, to blow them up, one +and all, with a great mine of gunpowder. The first person to whom +he confided this horrible idea was THOMAS WINTER, a Worcestershire +gentleman who had served in the army abroad, and had been secretly +employed in Catholic projects. While Winter was yet undecided, and +when he had gone over to the Netherlands, to learn from the Spanish +Ambassador there whether there was any hope of Catholics being +relieved through the intercession of the King of Spain with his +Sowship, he found at Ostend a tall, dark, daring man, whom he had +known when they were both soldiers abroad, and whose name was GUIDO +- or GUY - FAWKES. Resolved to join the plot, he proposed it to +this man, knowing him to be the man for any desperate deed, and +they two came back to England together. Here, they admitted two +other conspirators; THOMAS PERCY, related to the Earl of +Northumberland, and JOHN WRIGHT, his brother-in-law. All these met +together in a solitary house in the open fields which were then +near Clement's Inn, now a closely blocked-up part of London; and +when they had all taken a great oath of secrecy, Catesby told the +rest what his plan was. They then went up-stairs into a garret, +and received the Sacrament from FATHER GERARD, a Jesuit, who is +said not to have known actually of the Gunpowder Plot, but who, I +think, must have had his suspicions that there was something +desperate afoot. + +Percy was a Gentleman Pensioner, and as he had occasional duties to +perform about the Court, then kept at Whitehall, there would be +nothing suspicious in his living at Westminster. So, having looked +well about him, and having found a house to let, the back of which +joined the Parliament House, he hired it of a person named FERRIS, +for the purpose of undermining the wall. Having got possession of +this house, the conspirators hired another on the Lambeth side of +the Thames, which they used as a storehouse for wood, gunpowder, +and other combustible matters. These were to be removed at night +(and afterwards were removed), bit by bit, to the house at +Westminster; and, that there might be some trusty person to keep +watch over the Lambeth stores, they admitted another conspirator, +by name ROBERT KAY, a very poor Catholic gentleman. + +All these arrangements had been made some months, and it was a +dark, wintry, December night, when the conspirators, who had been +in the meantime dispersed to avoid observation, met in the house at +Westminster, and began to dig. They had laid in a good stock of +eatables, to avoid going in and out, and they dug and dug with +great ardour. But, the wall being tremendously thick, and the work +very severe, they took into their plot CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, a +younger brother of John Wright, that they might have a new pair of +hands to help. And Christopher Wright fell to like a fresh man, +and they dug and dug by night and by day, and Fawkes stood sentinel +all the time. And if any man's heart seemed to fail him at all, +Fawkes said, 'Gentlemen, we have abundance of powder and shot here, +and there is no fear of our being taken alive, even if discovered.' +The same Fawkes, who, in the capacity of sentinel, was always +prowling about, soon picked up the intelligence that the King had +prorogued the Parliament again, from the seventh of February, the +day first fixed upon, until the third of October. When the +conspirators knew this, they agreed to separate until after the +Christmas holidays, and to take no notice of each other in the +meanwhile, and never to write letters to one another on any +account. So, the house in Westminster was shut up again, and I +suppose the neighbours thought that those strange-looking men who +lived there so gloomily, and went out so seldom, were gone away to +have a merry Christmas somewhere. + +It was the beginning of February, sixteen hundred and five, when +Catesby met his fellow-conspirators again at this Westminster +house. He had now admitted three more; JOHN GRANT, a Warwickshire +gentleman of a melancholy temper, who lived in a doleful house near +Stratford-upon-Avon, with a frowning wall all round it, and a deep +moat; ROBERT WINTER, eldest brother of Thomas; and Catesby's own +servant, THOMAS BATES, who, Catesby thought, had had some suspicion +of what his master was about. These three had all suffered more or +less for their religion in Elizabeth's time. And now, they all +began to dig again, and they dug and dug by night and by day. + +They found it dismal work alone there, underground, with such a +fearful secret on their minds, and so many murders before them. +They were filled with wild fancies. Sometimes, they thought they +heard a great bell tolling, deep down in the earth under the +Parliament House; sometimes, they thought they heard low voices +muttering about the Gunpowder Plot; once in the morning, they +really did hear a great rumbling noise over their heads, as they +dug and sweated in their mine. Every man stopped and looked aghast +at his neighbour, wondering what had happened, when that bold +prowler, Fawkes, who had been out to look, came in and told them +that it was only a dealer in coals who had occupied a cellar under +the Parliament House, removing his stock in trade to some other +place. Upon this, the conspirators, who with all their digging and +digging had not yet dug through the tremendously thick wall, +changed their plan; hired that cellar, which was directly under the +House of Lords; put six-and-thirty barrels of gunpowder in it, and +covered them over with fagots and coals. Then they all dispersed +again till September, when the following new conspirators were +admitted; SIR EDWARD BAYNHAM, of Gloucestershire; SIR EVERARD +DIGBY, of Rutlandshire; AMBROSE ROOKWOOD, of Suffolk; FRANCIS +TRESHAM, of Northamptonshire. Most of these were rich, and were to +assist the plot, some with money and some with horses on which the +conspirators were to ride through the country and rouse the +Catholics after the Parliament should be blown into air. + +Parliament being again prorogued from the third of October to the +fifth of November, and the conspirators being uneasy lest their +design should have been found out, Thomas Winter said he would go +up into the House of Lords on the day of the prorogation, and see +how matters looked. Nothing could be better. The unconscious +Commissioners were walking about and talking to one another, just +over the six-and-thirty barrels of gunpowder. He came back and +told the rest so, and they went on with their preparations. They +hired a ship, and kept it ready in the Thames, in which Fawkes was +to sail for Flanders after firing with a slow match the train that +was to explode the powder. A number of Catholic gentlemen not in +the secret, were invited, on pretence of a hunting party, to meet +Sir Everard Digby at Dunchurch on the fatal day, that they might be +ready to act together. And now all was ready. + +But, now, the great wickedness and danger which had been all along +at the bottom of this wicked plot, began to show itself. As the +fifth of November drew near, most of the conspirators, remembering +that they had friends and relations who would be in the House of +Lords that day, felt some natural relenting, and a wish to warn +them to keep away. They were not much comforted by Catesby's +declaring that in such a cause he would blow up his own son. LORD +MOUNTEAGLE, Tresham's brother-in-law, was certain to be in the +house; and when Tresham found that he could not prevail upon the +rest to devise any means of sparing their friends, he wrote a +mysterious letter to this lord and left it at his lodging in the +dusk, urging him to keep away from the opening of Parliament, +'since God and man had concurred to punish the wickedness of the +times.' It contained the words 'that the Parliament should receive +a terrible blow, and yet should not see who hurt them.' And it +added, 'the danger is past, as soon as you have burnt the letter.' + +The ministers and courtiers made out that his Sowship, by a direct +miracle from Heaven, found out what this letter meant. The truth +is, that they were not long (as few men would be) in finding out +for themselves; and it was decided to let the conspirators alone, +until the very day before the opening of Parliament. That the +conspirators had their fears, is certain; for, Tresham himself said +before them all, that they were every one dead men; and, although +even he did not take flight, there is reason to suppose that he had +warned other persons besides Lord Mounteagle. However, they were +all firm; and Fawkes, who was a man of iron, went down every day +and night to keep watch in the cellar as usual. He was there about +two in the afternoon of the fourth, when the Lord Chamberlain and +Lord Mounteagle threw open the door and looked in. 'Who are you, +friend?' said they. 'Why,' said Fawkes, 'I am Mr. Percy's servant, +and am looking after his store of fuel here.' 'Your master has +laid in a pretty good store,' they returned, and shut the door, and +went away. Fawkes, upon this, posted off to the other conspirators +to tell them all was quiet, and went back and shut himself up in +the dark, black cellar again, where he heard the bell go twelve +o'clock and usher in the fifth of November. About two hours +afterwards, he slowly opened the door, and came out to look about +him, in his old prowling way. He was instantly seized and bound, +by a party of soldiers under SIR THOMAS KNEVETT. He had a watch +upon him, some touchwood, some tinder, some slow matches; and there +was a dark lantern with a candle in it, lighted, behind the door. +He had his boots and spurs on - to ride to the ship, I suppose - +and it was well for the soldiers that they took him so suddenly. +If they had left him but a moment's time to light a match, he +certainly would have tossed it in among the powder, and blown up +himself and them. + +They took him to the King's bed-chamber first of all, and there the +King (causing him to be held very tight, and keeping a good way +off), asked him how he could have the heart to intend to destroy so +many innocent people? 'Because,' said Guy Fawkes, 'desperate +diseases need desperate remedies.' To a little Scotch favourite, +with a face like a terrier, who asked him (with no particular +wisdom) why he had collected so much gunpowder, he replied, because +he had meant to blow Scotchmen back to Scotland, and it would take +a deal of powder to do that. Next day he was carried to the Tower, +but would make no confession. Even after being horribly tortured, +he confessed nothing that the Government did not already know; +though he must have been in a fearful state - as his signature, +still preserved, in contrast with his natural hand-writing before +he was put upon the dreadful rack, most frightfully shows. Bates, +a very different man, soon said the Jesuits had had to do with the +plot, and probably, under the torture, would as readily have said +anything. Tresham, taken and put in the Tower too, made +confessions and unmade them, and died of an illness that was heavy +upon him. Rookwood, who had stationed relays of his own horses all +the way to Dunchurch, did not mount to escape until the middle of +the day, when the news of the plot was all over London. On the +road, he came up with the two Wrights, Catesby, and Percy; and they +all galloped together into Northamptonshire. Thence to Dunchurch, +where they found the proposed party assembled. Finding, however, +that there had been a plot, and that it had been discovered, the +party disappeared in the course of the night, and left them alone +with Sir Everard Digby. Away they all rode again, through +Warwickshire and Worcestershire, to a house called Holbeach, on the +borders of Staffordshire. They tried to raise the Catholics on +their way, but were indignantly driven off by them. All this time +they were hotly pursued by the sheriff of Worcester, and a fast +increasing concourse of riders. At last, resolving to defend +themselves at Holbeach, they shut themselves up in the house, and +put some wet powder before the fire to dry. But it blew up, and +Catesby was singed and blackened, and almost killed, and some of +the others were sadly hurt. Still, knowing that they must die, +they resolved to die there, and with only their swords in their +hands appeared at the windows to be shot at by the sheriff and his +assistants. Catesby said to Thomas Winter, after Thomas had been +hit in the right arm which dropped powerless by his side, 'Stand by +me, Tom, and we will die together!' - which they did, being shot +through the body by two bullets from one gun. John Wright, and +Christopher Wright, and Percy, were also shot. Rookwood and Digby +were taken: the former with a broken arm and a wound in his body +too. + +It was the fifteenth of January, before the trial of Guy Fawkes, +and such of the other conspirators as were left alive, came on. +They were all found guilty, all hanged, drawn, and quartered: +some, in St. Paul's Churchyard, on the top of Ludgate-hill; some, +before the Parliament House. A Jesuit priest, named HENRY GARNET, +to whom the dreadful design was said to have been communicated, was +taken and tried; and two of his servants, as well as a poor priest +who was taken with him, were tortured without mercy. He himself +was not tortured, but was surrounded in the Tower by tamperers and +traitors, and so was made unfairly to convict himself out of his +own mouth. He said, upon his trial, that he had done all he could +to prevent the deed, and that he could not make public what had +been told him in confession - though I am afraid he knew of the +plot in other ways. He was found guilty and executed, after a +manful defence, and the Catholic Church made a saint of him; some +rich and powerful persons, who had had nothing to do with the +project, were fined and imprisoned for it by the Star Chamber; the +Catholics, in general, who had recoiled with horror from the idea +of the infernal contrivance, were unjustly put under more severe +laws than before; and this was the end of the Gunpowder Plot. + + +SECOND PART + + +His Sowship would pretty willingly, I think, have blown the House +of Commons into the air himself; for, his dread and jealousy of it +knew no bounds all through his reign. When he was hard pressed for +money he was obliged to order it to meet, as he could get no money +without it; and when it asked him first to abolish some of the +monopolies in necessaries of life which were a great grievance to +the people, and to redress other public wrongs, he flew into a rage +and got rid of it again. At one time he wanted it to consent to +the Union of England with Scotland, and quarrelled about that. At +another time it wanted him to put down a most infamous Church +abuse, called the High Commission Court, and he quarrelled with it +about that. At another time it entreated him not to be quite so +fond of his archbishops and bishops who made speeches in his praise +too awful to be related, but to have some little consideration for +the poor Puritan clergy who were persecuted for preaching in their +own way, and not according to the archbishops and bishops; and they +quarrelled about that. In short, what with hating the House of +Commons, and pretending not to hate it; and what with now sending +some of its members who opposed him, to Newgate or to the Tower, +and now telling the rest that they must not presume to make +speeches about the public affairs which could not possibly concern +them; and what with cajoling, and bullying, and fighting, and being +frightened; the House of Commons was the plague of his Sowship's +existence. It was pretty firm, however, in maintaining its rights, +and insisting that the Parliament should make the laws, and not the +King by his own single proclamations (which he tried hard to do); +and his Sowship was so often distressed for money, in consequence, +that he sold every sort of title and public office as if they were +merchandise, and even invented a new dignity called a Baronetcy, +which anybody could buy for a thousand pounds. + +These disputes with his Parliaments, and his hunting, and his +drinking, and his lying in bed - for he was a great sluggard - +occupied his Sowship pretty well. The rest of his time he chiefly +passed in hugging and slobbering his favourites. The first of +these was SIR PHILIP HERBERT, who had no knowledge whatever, except +of dogs, and horses, and hunting, but whom he soon made EARL OF +MONTGOMERY. The next, and a much more famous one, was ROBERT CARR, +or KER (for it is not certain which was his right name), who came +from the Border country, and whom he soon made VISCOUNT ROCHESTER, +and afterwards, EARL OF SOMERSET. The way in which his Sowship +doted on this handsome young man, is even more odious to think of, +than the way in which the really great men of England condescended +to bow down before him. The favourite's great friend was a certain +SIR THOMAS OVERBURY, who wrote his love-letters for him, and +assisted him in the duties of his many high places, which his own +ignorance prevented him from discharging. But this same Sir Thomas +having just manhood enough to dissuade the favourite from a wicked +marriage with the beautiful Countess of Essex, who was to get a +divorce from her husband for the purpose, the said Countess, in her +rage, got Sir Thomas put into the Tower, and there poisoned him. +Then the favourite and this bad woman were publicly married by the +King's pet bishop, with as much to-do and rejoicing, as if he had +been the best man, and she the best woman, upon the face of the +earth. + +But, after a longer sunshine than might have been expected - of +seven years or so, that is to say - another handsome young man +started up and eclipsed the EARL OF SOMERSET. This was GEORGE +VILLIERS, the youngest son of a Leicestershire gentleman: who came +to Court with all the Paris fashions on him, and could dance as +well as the best mountebank that ever was seen. He soon danced +himself into the good graces of his Sowship, and danced the other +favourite out of favour. Then, it was all at once discovered that +the Earl and Countess of Somerset had not deserved all those great +promotions and mighty rejoicings, and they were separately tried +for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and for other crimes. But, +the King was so afraid of his late favourite's publicly telling +some disgraceful things he knew of him - which he darkly threatened +to do - that he was even examined with two men standing, one on +either side of him, each with a cloak in his hand, ready to throw +it over his head and stop his mouth if he should break out with +what he had it in his power to tell. So, a very lame affair was +purposely made of the trial, and his punishment was an allowance of +four thousand pounds a year in retirement, while the Countess was +pardoned, and allowed to pass into retirement too. They hated one +another by this time, and lived to revile and torment each other +some years. + +While these events were in progress, and while his Sowship was +making such an exhibition of himself, from day to day and from year +to year, as is not often seen in any sty, three remarkable deaths +took place in England. The first was that of the Minister, Robert +Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, who was past sixty, and had never been +strong, being deformed from his birth. He said at last that he had +no wish to live; and no Minister need have had, with his experience +of the meanness and wickedness of those disgraceful times. The +second was that of the Lady Arabella Stuart, who alarmed his +Sowship mightily, by privately marrying WILLIAM SEYMOUR, son of +LORD BEAUCHAMP, who was a descendant of King Henry the Seventh, and +who, his Sowship thought, might consequently increase and +strengthen any claim she might one day set up to the throne. She +was separated from her husband (who was put in the Tower) and +thrust into a boat to be confined at Durham. She escaped in a +man's dress to get away in a French ship from Gravesend to France, +but unhappily missed her husband, who had escaped too, and was soon +taken. She went raving mad in the miserable Tower, and died there +after four years. The last, and the most important of these three +deaths, was that of Prince Henry, the heir to the throne, in the +nineteenth year of his age. He was a promising young prince, and +greatly liked; a quiet, well-conducted youth, of whom two very good +things are known: first, that his father was jealous of him; +secondly, that he was the friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, languishing +through all those years in the Tower, and often said that no man +but his father would keep such a bird in such a cage. On the +occasion of the preparations for the marriage of his sister the +Princess Elizabeth with a foreign prince (and an unhappy marriage +it turned out), he came from Richmond, where he had been very ill, +to greet his new brother-in-law, at the palace at Whitehall. There +he played a great game at tennis, in his shirt, though it was very +cold weather, and was seized with an alarming illness, and died +within a fortnight of a putrid fever. For this young prince Sir +Walter Raleigh wrote, in his prison in the Tower, the beginning of +a History of the World: a wonderful instance how little his +Sowship could do to confine a great man's mind, however long he +might imprison his body. + +And this mention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had many faults, but +who never showed so many merits as in trouble and adversity, may +bring me at once to the end of his sad story. After an +imprisonment in the Tower of twelve long years, he proposed to +resume those old sea voyages of his, and to go to South America in +search of gold. His Sowship, divided between his wish to be on +good terms with the Spaniards through whose territory Sir Walter +must pass (he had long had an idea of marrying Prince Henry to a +Spanish Princess), and his avaricious eagerness to get hold of the +gold, did not know what to do. But, in the end, he set Sir Walter +free, taking securities for his return; and Sir Walter fitted out +an expedition at his own coast and, on the twenty-eighth of March, +one thousand six hundred and seventeen, sailed away in command of +one of its ships, which he ominously called the Destiny. The +expedition failed; the common men, not finding the gold they had +expected, mutinied; a quarrel broke out between Sir Walter and the +Spaniards, who hated him for old successes of his against them; and +he took and burnt a little town called SAINT THOMAS. For this he +was denounced to his Sowship by the Spanish Ambassador as a pirate; +and returning almost broken-hearted, with his hopes and fortunes +shattered, his company of friends dispersed, and his brave son (who +had been one of them) killed, he was taken - through the treachery +of SIR LEWIS STUKELY, his near relation, a scoundrel and a Vice- +Admiral - and was once again immured in his prison-home of so many +years. + +His Sowship being mightily disappointed in not getting any gold, +Sir Walter Raleigh was tried as unfairly, and with as many lies and +evasions as the judges and law officers and every other authority +in Church and State habitually practised under such a King. After +a great deal of prevarication on all parts but his own, it was +declared that he must die under his former sentence, now fifteen +years old. So, on the twenty-eighth of October, one thousand six +hundred and eighteen, he was shut up in the Gate House at +Westminster to pass his late night on earth, and there he took +leave of his good and faithful lady who was worthy to have lived in +better days. At eight o'clock next morning, after a cheerful +breakfast, and a pipe, and a cup of good wine, he was taken to Old +Palace Yard in Westminster, where the scaffold was set up, and +where so many people of high degree were assembled to see him die, +that it was a matter of some difficulty to get him through the +crowd. He behaved most nobly, but if anything lay heavy on his +mind, it was that Earl of Essex, whose head he had seen roll off; +and he solemnly said that he had had no hand in bringing him to the +block, and that he had shed tears for him when he died. As the +morning was very cold, the Sheriff said, would he come down to a +fire for a little space, and warm himself? But Sir Walter thanked +him, and said no, he would rather it were done at once, for he was +ill of fever and ague, and in another quarter of an hour his +shaking fit would come upon him if he were still alive, and his +enemies might then suppose that he trembled for fear. With that, +he kneeled and made a very beautiful and Christian prayer. Before +he laid his head upon the block he felt the edge of the axe, and +said, with a smile upon his face, that it was a sharp medicine, but +would cure the worst disease. When he was bent down ready for +death, he said to the executioner, finding that he hesitated, 'What +dost thou fear? Strike, man!' So, the axe came down and struck +his head off, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. + +The new favourite got on fast. He was made a viscount, he was made +Duke of Buckingham, he was made a marquis, he was made Master of +the Horse, he was made Lord High Admiral - and the Chief Commander +of the gallant English forces that had dispersed the Spanish +Armada, was displaced to make room for him. He had the whole +kingdom at his disposal, and his mother sold all the profits and +honours of the State, as if she had kept a shop. He blazed all +over with diamonds and other precious stones, from his hatband and +his earrings to his shoes. Yet he was an ignorant presumptuous, +swaggering compound of knave and fool, with nothing but his beauty +and his dancing to recommend him. This is the gentleman who called +himself his Majesty's dog and slave, and called his Majesty Your +Sowship. His Sowship called him STEENIE; it is supposed, because +that was a nickname for Stephen, and because St. Stephen was +generally represented in pictures as a handsome saint. + +His Sowship was driven sometimes to his wits'-end by his trimming +between the general dislike of the Catholic religion at home, and +his desire to wheedle and flatter it abroad, as his only means of +getting a rich princess for his son's wife: a part of whose +fortune he might cram into his greasy pockets. Prince Charles - or +as his Sowship called him, Baby Charles - being now PRINCE OF +WALES, the old project of a marriage with the Spanish King's +daughter had been revived for him; and as she could not marry a +Protestant without leave from the Pope, his Sowship himself +secretly and meanly wrote to his Infallibility, asking for it. The +negotiation for this Spanish marriage takes up a larger space in +great books, than you can imagine, but the upshot of it all is, +that when it had been held off by the Spanish Court for a long +time, Baby Charles and Steenie set off in disguise as Mr. Thomas +Smith and Mr. John Smith, to see the Spanish Princess; that Baby +Charles pretended to be desperately in love with her, and jumped +off walls to look at her, and made a considerable fool of himself +in a good many ways; that she was called Princess of Wales and that +the whole Spanish Court believed Baby Charles to be all but dying +for her sake, as he expressly told them he was; that Baby Charles +and Steenie came back to England, and were received with as much +rapture as if they had been a blessing to it; that Baby Charles had +actually fallen in love with HENRIETTA MARIA, the French King's +sister, whom he had seen in Paris; that he thought it a wonderfully +fine and princely thing to have deceived the Spaniards, all +through; and that he openly said, with a chuckle, as soon as he was +safe and sound at home again, that the Spaniards were great fools +to have believed him. + +Like most dishonest men, the Prince and the favourite complained +that the people whom they had deluded were dishonest. They made +such misrepresentations of the treachery of the Spaniards in this +business of the Spanish match, that the English nation became eager +for a war with them. Although the gravest Spaniards laughed at the +idea of his Sowship in a warlike attitude, the Parliament granted +money for the beginning of hostilities, and the treaties with Spain +were publicly declared to be at an end. The Spanish ambassador in +London - probably with the help of the fallen favourite, the Earl +of Somerset - being unable to obtain speech with his Sowship, +slipped a paper into his hand, declaring that he was a prisoner in +his own house, and was entirely governed by Buckingham and his +creatures. The first effect of this letter was that his Sowship +began to cry and whine, and took Baby Charles away from Steenie, +and went down to Windsor, gabbling all sorts of nonsense. The end +of it was that his Sowship hugged his dog and slave, and said he +was quite satisfied. + +He had given the Prince and the favourite almost unlimited power to +settle anything with the Pope as to the Spanish marriage; and he +now, with a view to the French one, signed a treaty that all Roman +Catholics in England should exercise their religion freely, and +should never be required to take any oath contrary thereto. In +return for this, and for other concessions much less to be +defended, Henrietta Maria was to become the Prince's wife, and was +to bring him a fortune of eight hundred thousand crowns. + +His Sowship's eyes were getting red with eagerly looking for the +money, when the end of a gluttonous life came upon him; and, after +a fortnight's illness, on Sunday the twenty-seventh of March, one +thousand six hundred and twenty-five, he died. He had reigned +twenty-two years, and was fifty-nine years old. I know of nothing +more abominable in history than the adulation that was lavished on +this King, and the vice and corruption that such a barefaced habit +of lying produced in his court. It is much to be doubted whether +one man of honour, and not utterly self-disgraced, kept his place +near James the First. Lord Bacon, that able and wise philosopher, +as the First Judge in the Kingdom in this reign, became a public +spectacle of dishonesty and corruption; and in his base flattery of +his Sowship, and in his crawling servility to his dog and slave, +disgraced himself even more. But, a creature like his Sowship set +upon a throne is like the Plague, and everybody receives infection +from him. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII - ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST + + + +BABY CHARLES became KING CHARLES THE FIRST, in the twenty-fifth +year of his age. Unlike his father, he was usually amiable in his +private character, and grave and dignified in his bearing; but, +like his father, he had monstrously exaggerated notions of the +rights of a king, and was evasive, and not to be trusted. If his +word could have been relied upon, his history might have had a +different end. + +His first care was to send over that insolent upstart, Buckingham, +to bring Henrietta Maria from Paris to be his Queen; upon which +occasion Buckingham - with his usual audacity - made love to the +young Queen of Austria, and was very indignant indeed with CARDINAL +RICHELIEU, the French Minister, for thwarting his intentions. The +English people were very well disposed to like their new Queen, and +to receive her with great favour when she came among them as a +stranger. But, she held the Protestant religion in great dislike, +and brought over a crowd of unpleasant priests, who made her do +some very ridiculous things, and forced themselves upon the public +notice in many disagreeable ways. Hence, the people soon came to +dislike her, and she soon came to dislike them; and she did so much +all through this reign in setting the King (who was dotingly fond +of her) against his subjects, that it would have been better for +him if she had never been born. + +Now, you are to understand that King Charles the First - of his own +determination to be a high and mighty King not to be called to +account by anybody, and urged on by his Queen besides - +deliberately set himself to put his Parliament down and to put +himself up. You are also to understand, that even in pursuit of +this wrong idea (enough in itself to have ruined any king) he never +took a straight course, but always took a crooked one. + +He was bent upon war with Spain, though neither the House of +Commons nor the people were quite clear as to the justice of that +war, now that they began to think a little more about the story of +the Spanish match. But the King rushed into it hotly, raised money +by illegal means to meet its expenses, and encountered a miserable +failure at Cadiz, in the very first year of his reign. An +expedition to Cadiz had been made in the hope of plunder, but as it +was not successful, it was necessary to get a grant of money from +the Parliament; and when they met, in no very complying humour, +the, King told them, 'to make haste to let him have it, or it would +be the worse for themselves.' Not put in a more complying humour +by this, they impeached the King's favourite, the Duke of +Buckingham, as the cause (which he undoubtedly was) of many great +public grievances and wrongs. The King, to save him, dissolved the +Parliament without getting the money he wanted; and when the Lords +implored him to consider and grant a little delay, he replied, 'No, +not one minute.' He then began to raise money for himself by the +following means among others. + +He levied certain duties called tonnage and poundage which had not +been granted by the Parliament, and could lawfully be levied by no +other power; he called upon the seaport towns to furnish, and to +pay all the cost for three months of, a fleet of armed ships; and +he required the people to unite in lending him large sums of money, +the repayment of which was very doubtful. If the poor people +refused, they were pressed as soldiers or sailors; if the gentry +refused, they were sent to prison. Five gentlemen, named SIR +THOMAS DARNEL, JOHN CORBET, WALTER EARL, JOHN HEVENINGHAM, and +EVERARD HAMPDEN, for refusing were taken up by a warrant of the +King's privy council, and were sent to prison without any cause but +the King's pleasure being stated for their imprisonment. Then the +question came to be solemnly tried, whether this was not a +violation of Magna Charta, and an encroachment by the King on the +highest rights of the English people. His lawyers contended No, +because to encroach upon the rights of the English people would be +to do wrong, and the King could do no wrong. The accommodating +judges decided in favour of this wicked nonsense; and here was a +fatal division between the King and the people. + +For all this, it became necessary to call another Parliament. The +people, sensible of the danger in which their liberties were, chose +for it those who were best known for their determined opposition to +the King; but still the King, quite blinded by his determination to +carry everything before him, addressed them when they met, in a +contemptuous manner, and just told them in so many words that he +had only called them together because he wanted money. The +Parliament, strong enough and resolute enough to know that they +would lower his tone, cared little for what he said, and laid +before him one of the great documents of history, which is called +the PETITION OF RIGHT, requiring that the free men of England +should no longer be called upon to lend the King money, and should +no longer be pressed or imprisoned for refusing to do so; further, +that the free men of England should no longer be seized by the +King's special mandate or warrant, it being contrary to their +rights and liberties and the laws of their country. At first the +King returned an answer to this petition, in which he tried to +shirk it altogether; but, the House of Commons then showing their +determination to go on with the impeachment of Buckingham, the King +in alarm returned an answer, giving his consent to all that was +required of him. He not only afterwards departed from his word and +honour on these points, over and over again, but, at this very +time, he did the mean and dissembling act of publishing his first +answer and not his second - merely that the people might suppose +that the Parliament had not got the better of him. + +That pestilent Buckingham, to gratify his own wounded vanity, had +by this time involved the country in war with France, as well as +with Spain. For such miserable causes and such miserable creatures +are wars sometimes made! But he was destined to do little more +mischief in this world. One morning, as he was going out of his +house to his carriage, he turned to speak to a certain Colonel +FRYER who was with him; and he was violently stabbed with a knife, +which the murderer left sticking in his heart. This happened in +his hall. He had had angry words up-stairs, just before, with some +French gentlemen, who were immediately suspected by his servants, +and had a close escape from being set upon and killed. In the +midst of the noise, the real murderer, who had gone to the kitchen +and might easily have got away, drew his sword and cried out, 'I am +the man!' His name was JOHN FELTON, a Protestant and a retired +officer in the army. He said he had had no personal ill-will to +the Duke, but had killed him as a curse to the country. He had +aimed his blow well, for Buckingham had only had time to cry out, +'Villain!' and then he drew out the knife, fell against a table, +and died. + +The council made a mighty business of examining John Felton about +this murder, though it was a plain case enough, one would think. +He had come seventy miles to do it, he told them, and he did it for +the reason he had declared; if they put him upon the rack, as that +noble MARQUIS OF DORSET whom he saw before him, had the goodness to +threaten, he gave that marquis warning, that he would accuse HIM as +his accomplice! The King was unpleasantly anxious to have him +racked, nevertheless; but as the judges now found out that torture +was contrary to the law of England - it is a pity they did not make +the discovery a little sooner - John Felton was simply executed for +the murder he had done. A murder it undoubtedly was, and not in +the least to be defended: though he had freed England from one of +the most profligate, contemptible, and base court favourites to +whom it has ever yielded. + +A very different man now arose. This was SIR THOMAS WENTWORTH, a +Yorkshire gentleman, who had sat in Parliament for a long time, and +who had favoured arbitrary and haughty principles, but who had gone +over to the people's side on receiving offence from Buckingham. +The King, much wanting such a man - for, besides being naturally +favourable to the King's cause, he had great abilities - made him +first a Baron, and then a Viscount, and gave him high employment, +and won him most completely. + +A Parliament, however, was still in existence, and was NOT to be +won. On the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and +twenty-nine, SIR JOHN ELIOT, a great man who had been active in the +Petition of Right, brought forward other strong resolutions against +the King's chief instruments, and called upon the Speaker to put +them to the vote. To this the Speaker answered, 'he was commanded +otherwise by the King,' and got up to leave the chair - which, +according to the rules of the House of Commons would have obliged +it to adjourn without doing anything more - when two members, named +Mr. HOLLIS and Mr. VALENTINE, held him down. A scene of great +confusion arose among the members; and while many swords were drawn +and flashing about, the King, who was kept informed of all that was +going on, told the captain of his guard to go down to the House and +force the doors. The resolutions were by that time, however, +voted, and the House adjourned. Sir John Eliot and those two +members who had held the Speaker down, were quickly summoned before +the council. As they claimed it to be their privilege not to +answer out of Parliament for anything they had said in it, they +were committed to the Tower. The King then went down and dissolved +the Parliament, in a speech wherein he made mention of these +gentlemen as 'Vipers' - which did not do him much good that ever I +have heard of. + +As they refused to gain their liberty by saying they were sorry for +what they had done, the King, always remarkably unforgiving, never +overlooked their offence. When they demanded to be brought up +before the court of King's Bench, he even resorted to the meanness +of having them moved about from prison to prison, so that the writs +issued for that purpose should not legally find them. At last they +came before the court and were sentenced to heavy fines, and to be +imprisoned during the King's pleasure. When Sir John Eliot's +health had quite given way, and he so longed for change of air and +scene as to petition for his release, the King sent back the answer +(worthy of his Sowship himself) that the petition was not humble +enough. When he sent another petition by his young son, in which +he pathetically offered to go back to prison when his health was +restored, if he might be released for its recovery, the King still +disregarded it. When he died in the Tower, and his children +petitioned to be allowed to take his body down to Cornwall, there +to lay it among the ashes of his forefathers, the King returned for +answer, 'Let Sir John Eliot's body be buried in the church of that +parish where he died.' All this was like a very little King +indeed, I think. + +And now, for twelve long years, steadily pursuing his design of +setting himself up and putting the people down, the King called no +Parliament; but ruled without one. If twelve thousand volumes were +written in his praise (as a good many have been) it would still +remain a fact, impossible to be denied, that for twelve years King +Charles the First reigned in England unlawfully and despotically, +seized upon his subjects' goods and money at his pleasure, and +punished according to his unbridled will all who ventured to oppose +him. It is a fashion with some people to think that this King's +career was cut short; but I must say myself that I think he ran a +pretty long one. + +WILLIAM LAUD, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the King's right-hand +man in the religious part of the putting down of the people's +liberties. Laud, who was a sincere man, of large learning but +small sense - for the two things sometimes go together in very +different quantities - though a Protestant, held opinions so near +those of the Catholics, that the Pope wanted to make a Cardinal of +him, if he would have accepted that favour. He looked upon vows, +robes, lighted candles, images, and so forth, as amazingly +important in religious ceremonies; and he brought in an immensity +of bowing and candle-snuffing. He also regarded archbishops and +bishops as a sort of miraculous persons, and was inveterate in the +last degree against any who thought otherwise. Accordingly, he +offered up thanks to Heaven, and was in a state of much pious +pleasure, when a Scotch clergyman, named LEIGHTON, was pilloried, +whipped, branded in the cheek, and had one of his ears cut off and +one of his nostrils slit, for calling bishops trumpery and the +inventions of men. He originated on a Sunday morning the +prosecution of WILLIAM PRYNNE, a barrister who was of similar +opinions, and who was fined a thousand pounds; who was pilloried; +who had his ears cut off on two occasions - one ear at a time - and +who was imprisoned for life. He highly approved of the punishment +of DOCTOR BASTWICK, a physician; who was also fined a thousand +pounds; and who afterwards had HIS ears cut off, and was imprisoned +for life. These were gentle methods of persuasion, some will tell +you: I think, they were rather calculated to be alarming to the +people. + +In the money part of the putting down of the people's liberties, +the King was equally gentle, as some will tell you: as I think, +equally alarming. He levied those duties of tonnage and poundage, +and increased them as he thought fit. He granted monopolies to +companies of merchants on their paying him for them, +notwithstanding the great complaints that had, for years and years, +been made on the subject of monopolies. He fined the people for +disobeying proclamations issued by his Sowship in direct violation +of law. He revived the detested Forest laws, and took private +property to himself as his forest right. Above all, he determined +to have what was called Ship Money; that is to say, money for the +support of the fleet - not only from the seaports, but from all the +counties of England: having found out that, in some ancient time +or other, all the counties paid it. The grievance of this ship +money being somewhat too strong, JOHN CHAMBERS, a citizen of +London, refused to pay his part of it. For this the Lord Mayor +ordered John Chambers to prison, and for that John Chambers brought +a suit against the Lord Mayor. LORD SAY, also, behaved like a real +nobleman, and declared he would not pay. But, the sturdiest and +best opponent of the ship money was JOHN HAMPDEN, a gentleman of +Buckinghamshire, who had sat among the 'vipers' in the House of +Commons when there was such a thing, and who had been the bosom +friend of Sir John Eliot. This case was tried before the twelve +judges in the Court of Exchequer, and again the King's lawyers said +it was impossible that ship money could be wrong, because the King +could do no wrong, however hard he tried - and he really did try +very hard during these twelve years. Seven of the judges said that +was quite true, and Mr. Hampden was bound to pay: five of the +judges said that was quite false, and Mr. Hampden was not bound to +pay. So, the King triumphed (as he thought), by making Hampden the +most popular man in England; where matters were getting to that +height now, that many honest Englishmen could not endure their +country, and sailed away across the seas to found a colony in +Massachusetts Bay in America. It is said that Hampden himself and +his relation OLIVER CROMWELL were going with a company of such +voyagers, and were actually on board ship, when they were stopped +by a proclamation, prohibiting sea captains to carry out such +passengers without the royal license. But O! it would have been +well for the King if he had let them go! This was the state of +England. If Laud had been a madman just broke loose, he could not +have done more mischief than he did in Scotland. In his endeavours +(in which he was seconded by the King, then in person in that part +of his dominions) to force his own ideas of bishops, and his own +religious forms and ceremonies upon the Scotch, he roused that +nation to a perfect frenzy. They formed a solemn league, which +they called The Covenant, for the preservation of their own +religious forms; they rose in arms throughout the whole country; +they summoned all their men to prayers and sermons twice a day by +beat of drum; they sang psalms, in which they compared their +enemies to all the evil spirits that ever were heard of; and they +solemnly vowed to smite them with the sword. At first the King +tried force, then treaty, then a Scottish Parliament which did not +answer at all. Then he tried the EARL OF STRAFFORD, formerly Sir +Thomas Wentworth; who, as LORD WENTWORTH, had been governing +Ireland. He, too, had carried it with a very high hand there, +though to the benefit and prosperity of that country. + +Strafford and Laud were for conquering the Scottish people by force +of arms. Other lords who were taken into council, recommended that +a Parliament should at last be called; to which the King +unwillingly consented. So, on the thirteenth of April, one +thousand six hundred and forty, that then strange sight, a +Parliament, was seen at Westminster. It is called the Short +Parliament, for it lasted a very little while. While the members +were all looking at one another, doubtful who would dare to speak, +MR. PYM arose and set forth all that the King had done unlawfully +during the past twelve years, and what was the position to which +England was reduced. This great example set, other members took +courage and spoke the truth freely, though with great patience and +moderation. The King, a little frightened, sent to say that if +they would grant him a certain sum on certain terms, no more ship +money should be raised. They debated the matter for two days; and +then, as they would not give him all he asked without promise or +inquiry, he dissolved them. + +But they knew very well that he must have a Parliament now; and he +began to make that discovery too, though rather late in the day. +Wherefore, on the twenty-fourth of September, being then at York +with an army collected against the Scottish people, but his own men +sullen and discontented like the rest of the nation, the King told +the great council of the Lords, whom he had called to meet him +there, that he would summon another Parliament to assemble on the +third of November. The soldiers of the Covenant had now forced +their way into England and had taken possession of the northern +counties, where the coals are got. As it would never do to be +without coals, and as the King's troops could make no head against +the Covenanters so full of gloomy zeal, a truce was made, and a +treaty with Scotland was taken into consideration. Meanwhile the +northern counties paid the Covenanters to leave the coals alone, +and keep quiet. + +We have now disposed of the Short Parliament. We have next to see +what memorable things were done by the Long one. + + +SECOND PART + + +THE Long Parliament assembled on the third of November, one +thousand six hundred and forty-one. That day week the Earl of +Strafford arrived from York, very sensible that the spirited and +determined men who formed that Parliament were no friends towards +him, who had not only deserted the cause of the people, but who had +on all occasions opposed himself to their liberties. The King told +him, for his comfort, that the Parliament 'should not hurt one hair +of his head.' But, on the very next day Mr. Pym, in the House of +Commons, and with great solemnity, impeached the Earl of Strafford +as a traitor. He was immediately taken into custody and fell from +his proud height. + +It was the twenty-second of March before he was brought to trial in +Westminster Hall; where, although he was very ill and suffered +great pain, he defended himself with such ability and majesty, that +it was doubtful whether he would not get the best of it. But on +the thirteenth day of the trial, Pym produced in the House of +Commons a copy of some notes of a council, found by young SIR HARRY +VANE in a red velvet cabinet belonging to his father (Secretary +Vane, who sat at the council-table with the Earl), in which +Strafford had distinctly told the King that he was free from all +rules and obligations of government, and might do with his people +whatever he liked; and in which he had added - 'You have an army in +Ireland that you may employ to reduce this kingdom to obedience.' +It was not clear whether by the words 'this kingdom,' he had really +meant England or Scotland; but the Parliament contended that he +meant England, and this was treason. At the same sitting of the +House of Commons it was resolved to bring in a bill of attainder +declaring the treason to have been committed: in preference to +proceeding with the trial by impeachment, which would have required +the treason to be proved. + +So, a bill was brought in at once, was carried through the House of +Commons by a large majority, and was sent up to the House of Lords. +While it was still uncertain whether the House of Lords would pass +it and the King consent to it, Pym disclosed to the House of +Commons that the King and Queen had both been plotting with the +officers of the army to bring up the soldiers and control the +Parliament, and also to introduce two hundred soldiers into the +Tower of London to effect the Earl's escape. The plotting with the +army was revealed by one GEORGE GORING, the son of a lord of that +name: a bad fellow who was one of the original plotters, and +turned traitor. The King had actually given his warrant for the +admission of the two hundred men into the Tower, and they would +have got in too, but for the refusal of the governor - a sturdy +Scotchman of the name of BALFOUR - to admit them. These matters +being made public, great numbers of people began to riot outside +the Houses of Parliament, and to cry out for the execution of the +Earl of Strafford, as one of the King's chief instruments against +them. The bill passed the House of Lords while the people were in +this state of agitation, and was laid before the King for his +assent, together with another bill declaring that the Parliament +then assembled should not be dissolved or adjourned without their +own consent. The King - not unwilling to save a faithful servant, +though he had no great attachment for him - was in some doubt what +to do; but he gave his consent to both bills, although he in his +heart believed that the bill against the Earl of Strafford was +unlawful and unjust. The Earl had written to him, telling him that +he was willing to die for his sake. But he had not expected that +his royal master would take him at his word quite so readily; for, +when he heard his doom, he laid his hand upon his heart, and said, +'Put not your trust in Princes!' + +The King, who never could be straightforward and plain, through one +single day or through one single sheet of paper, wrote a letter to +the Lords, and sent it by the young Prince of Wales, entreating +them to prevail with the Commons that 'that unfortunate man should +fulfil the natural course of his life in a close imprisonment.' In +a postscript to the very same letter, he added, 'If he must die, it +were charity to reprieve him till Saturday.' If there had been any +doubt of his fate, this weakness and meanness would have settled +it. The very next day, which was the twelfth of May, he was +brought out to be beheaded on Tower Hill. + +Archbishop Laud, who had been so fond of having people's ears +cropped off and their noses slit, was now confined in the Tower +too; and when the Earl went by his window to his death, he was +there, at his request, to give him his blessing. They had been +great friends in the King's cause, and the Earl had written to him +in the days of their power that he thought it would be an admirable +thing to have Mr. Hampden publicly whipped for refusing to pay the +ship money. However, those high and mighty doings were over now, +and the Earl went his way to death with dignity and heroism. The +governor wished him to get into a coach at the Tower gate, for fear +the people should tear him to pieces; but he said it was all one to +him whether he died by the axe or by the people's hands. So, he +walked, with a firm tread and a stately look, and sometimes pulled +off his hat to them as he passed along. They were profoundly +quiet. He made a speech on the scaffold from some notes he had +prepared (the paper was found lying there after his head was struck +off), and one blow of the axe killed him, in the forty-ninth year +of his age. + +This bold and daring act, the Parliament accompanied by other +famous measures, all originating (as even this did) in the King's +having so grossly and so long abused his power. The name of +DELINQUENTS was applied to all sheriffs and other officers who had +been concerned in raising the ship money, or any other money, from +the people, in an unlawful manner; the Hampden judgment was +reversed; the judges who had decided against Hampden were called +upon to give large securities that they would take such +consequences as Parliament might impose upon them; and one was +arrested as he sat in High Court, and carried off to prison. Laud +was impeached; the unfortunate victims whose ears had been cropped +and whose noses had been slit, were brought out of prison in +triumph; and a bill was passed declaring that a Parliament should +be called every third year, and that if the King and the King's +officers did not call it, the people should assemble of themselves +and summon it, as of their own right and power. Great +illuminations and rejoicings took place over all these things, and +the country was wildly excited. That the Parliament took advantage +of this excitement and stirred them up by every means, there is no +doubt; but you are always to remember those twelve long years, +during which the King had tried so hard whether he really could do +any wrong or not. + +All this time there was a great religious outcry against the right +of the Bishops to sit in Parliament; to which the Scottish people +particularly objected. The English were divided on this subject, +and, partly on this account and partly because they had had foolish +expectations that the Parliament would be able to take off nearly +all the taxes, numbers of them sometimes wavered and inclined +towards the King. + +I believe myself, that if, at this or almost any other period of +his life, the King could have been trusted by any man not out of +his senses, he might have saved himself and kept his throne. But, +on the English army being disbanded, he plotted with the officers +again, as he had done before, and established the fact beyond all +doubt by putting his signature of approval to a petition against +the Parliamentary leaders, which was drawn up by certain officers. +When the Scottish army was disbanded, he went to Edinburgh in four +days - which was going very fast at that time - to plot again, and +so darkly too, that it is difficult to decide what his whole object +was. Some suppose that he wanted to gain over the Scottish +Parliament, as he did in fact gain over, by presents and favours, +many Scottish lords and men of power. Some think that he went to +get proofs against the Parliamentary leaders in England of their +having treasonably invited the Scottish people to come and help +them. With whatever object he went to Scotland, he did little good +by going. At the instigation of the EARL OF MONTROSE, a desperate +man who was then in prison for plotting, he tried to kidnap three +Scottish lords who escaped. A committee of the Parliament at home, +who had followed to watch him, writing an account of this INCIDENT, +as it was called, to the Parliament, the Parliament made a fresh +stir about it; were, or feigned to be, much alarmed for themselves; +and wrote to the EARL OF ESSEX, the commander-in-chief, for a guard +to protect them. + +It is not absolutely proved that the King plotted in Ireland +besides, but it is very probable that he did, and that the Queen +did, and that he had some wild hope of gaining the Irish people +over to his side by favouring a rise among them. Whether or no, +they did rise in a most brutal and savage rebellion; in which, +encouraged by their priests, they committed such atrocities upon +numbers of the English, of both sexes and of all ages, as nobody +could believe, but for their being related on oath by eye- +witnesses. Whether one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand +Protestants were murdered in this outbreak, is uncertain; but, that +it was as ruthless and barbarous an outbreak as ever was known +among any savage people, is certain. + +The King came home from Scotland, determined to make a great +struggle for his lost power. He believed that, through his +presents and favours, Scotland would take no part against him; and +the Lord Mayor of London received him with such a magnificent +dinner that he thought he must have become popular again in +England. It would take a good many Lord Mayors, however, to make a +people, and the King soon found himself mistaken. + +Not so soon, though, but that there was a great opposition in the +Parliament to a celebrated paper put forth by Pym and Hampden and +the rest, called 'THE REMONSTRANCE,' which set forth all the +illegal acts that the King had ever done, but politely laid the +blame of them on his bad advisers. Even when it was passed and +presented to him, the King still thought himself strong enough to +discharge Balfour from his command in the Tower, and to put in his +place a man of bad character; to whom the Commons instantly +objected, and whom he was obliged to abandon. At this time, the +old outcry about the Bishops became louder than ever, and the old +Archbishop of York was so near being murdered as he went down to +the House of Lords - being laid hold of by the mob and violently +knocked about, in return for very foolishly scolding a shrill boy +who was yelping out 'No Bishops!' - that he sent for all the +Bishops who were in town, and proposed to them to sign a +declaration that, as they could no longer without danger to their +lives attend their duty in Parliament, they protested against the +lawfulness of everything done in their absence. This they asked +the King to send to the House of Lords, which he did. Then the +House of Commons impeached the whole party of Bishops and sent them +off to the Tower: + +Taking no warning from this; but encouraged by there being a +moderate party in the Parliament who objected to these strong +measures, the King, on the third of January, one thousand six +hundred and forty-two, took the rashest step that ever was taken by +mortal man. + +Of his own accord and without advice, he sent the Attorney-General +to the House of Lords, to accuse of treason certain members of +Parliament who as popular leaders were the most obnoxious to him; +LORD KIMBOLTON, SIR ARTHUR HASELRIG, DENZIL HOLLIS, JOHN PYM (they +used to call him King Pym, he possessed such power and looked so +big), JOHN HAMPDEN, and WILLIAM STRODE. The houses of those +members he caused to be entered, and their papers to be sealed up. +At the same time, he sent a messenger to the House of Commons +demanding to have the five gentlemen who were members of that House +immediately produced. To this the House replied that they should +appear as soon as there was any legal charge against them, and +immediately adjourned. + +Next day, the House of Commons send into the City to let the Lord +Mayor know that their privileges are invaded by the King, and that +there is no safety for anybody or anything. Then, when the five +members are gone out of the way, down comes the King himself, with +all his guard and from two to three hundred gentlemen and soldiers, +of whom the greater part were armed. These he leaves in the hall; +and then, with his nephew at his side, goes into the House, takes +off his hat, and walks up to the Speaker's chair. The Speaker +leaves it, the King stands in front of it, looks about him steadily +for a little while, and says he has come for those five members. +No one speaks, and then he calls John Pym by name. No one speaks, +and then he calls Denzil Hollis by name. No one speaks, and then +he asks the Speaker of the House where those five members are? The +Speaker, answering on his knee, nobly replies that he is the +servant of that House, and that he has neither eyes to see, nor +tongue to speak, anything but what the House commands him. Upon +this, the King, beaten from that time evermore, replies that he +will seek them himself, for they have committed treason; and goes +out, with his hat in his hand, amid some audible murmurs from the +members. + +No words can describe the hurry that arose out of doors when all +this was known. The five members had gone for safety to a house in +Coleman-street, in the City, where they were guarded all night; and +indeed the whole city watched in arms like an army. At ten o'clock +in the morning, the King, already frightened at what he had done, +came to the Guildhall, with only half a dozen lords, and made a +speech to the people, hoping they would not shelter those whom he +accused of treason. Next day, he issued a proclamation for the +apprehension of the five members; but the Parliament minded it so +little that they made great arrangements for having them brought +down to Westminster in great state, five days afterwards. The King +was so alarmed now at his own imprudence, if not for his own +safety, that he left his palace at Whitehall, and went away with +his Queen and children to Hampton Court. + +It was the eleventh of May, when the five members were carried in +state and triumph to Westminster. They were taken by water. The +river could not be seen for the boats on it; and the five members +were hemmed in by barges full of men and great guns, ready to +protect them, at any cost. Along the Strand a large body of the +train-bands of London, under their commander, SKIPPON, marched to +be ready to assist the little fleet. Beyond them, came a crowd who +choked the streets, roaring incessantly about the Bishops and the +Papists, and crying out contemptuously as they passed Whitehall, +'What has become of the King?' With this great noise outside the +House of Commons, and with great silence within, Mr. Pym rose and +informed the House of the great kindness with which they had been +received in the City. Upon that, the House called the sheriffs in +and thanked them, and requested the train-bands, under their +commander Skippon, to guard the House of Commons every day. Then, +came four thousand men on horseback out of Buckinghamshire, +offering their services as a guard too, and bearing a petition to +the King, complaining of the injury that had been done to Mr. +Hampden, who was their county man and much beloved and honoured. + +When the King set off for Hampton Court, the gentlemen and soldiers +who had been with him followed him out of town as far as Kingston- +upon-Thames; next day, Lord Digby came to them from the King at +Hampton Court, in his coach and six, to inform them that the King +accepted their protection. This, the Parliament said, was making +war against the kingdom, and Lord Digby fled abroad. The +Parliament then immediately applied themselves to getting hold of +the military power of the country, well knowing that the King was +already trying hard to use it against them, and that he had +secretly sent the Earl of Newcastle to Hull, to secure a valuable +magazine of arms and gunpowder that was there. In those times, +every county had its own magazines of arms and powder, for its own +train-bands or militia; so, the Parliament brought in a bill +claiming the right (which up to this time had belonged to the King) +of appointing the Lord Lieutenants of counties, who commanded these +train-bands; also, of having all the forts, castles, and garrisons +in the kingdom, put into the hands of such governors as they, the +Parliament, could confide in. It also passed a law depriving the +Bishops of their votes. The King gave his assent to that bill, but +would not abandon the right of appointing the Lord Lieutenants, +though he said he was willing to appoint such as might be suggested +to him by the Parliament. When the Earl of Pembroke asked him +whether he would not give way on that question for a time, he said, +'By God! not for one hour!' and upon this he and the Parliament +went to war. + +His young daughter was betrothed to the Prince of Orange. On +pretence of taking her to the country of her future husband, the +Queen was already got safely away to Holland, there to pawn the +Crown jewels for money to raise an army on the King's side. The +Lord Admiral being sick, the House of Commons now named the Earl of +Warwick to hold his place for a year. The King named another +gentleman; the House of Commons took its own way, and the Earl of +Warwick became Lord Admiral without the King's consent. The +Parliament sent orders down to Hull to have that magazine removed +to London; the King went down to Hull to take it himself. The +citizens would not admit him into the town, and the governor would +not admit him into the castle. The Parliament resolved that +whatever the two Houses passed, and the King would not consent to, +should be called an ORDINANCE, and should be as much a law as if he +did consent to it. The King protested against this, and gave +notice that these ordinances were not to be obeyed. The King, +attended by the majority of the House of Peers, and by many members +of the House of Commons, established himself at York. The +Chancellor went to him with the Great Seal, and the Parliament made +a new Great Seal. The Queen sent over a ship full of arms and +ammunition, and the King issued letters to borrow money at high +interest. The Parliament raised twenty regiments of foot and +seventy-five troops of horse; and the people willingly aided them +with their money, plate, jewellery, and trinkets - the married +women even with their wedding-rings. Every member of Parliament +who could raise a troop or a regiment in his own part of the +country, dressed it according to his taste and in his own colours, +and commanded it. Foremost among them all, OLIVER CROMWELL raised +a troop of horse - thoroughly in earnest and thoroughly well armed +- who were, perhaps, the best soldiers that ever were seen. + +In some of their proceedings, this famous Parliament passed the +bounds of previous law and custom, yielded to and favoured riotous +assemblages of the people, and acted tyrannically in imprisoning +some who differed from the popular leaders. But again, you are +always to remember that the twelve years during which the King had +had his own wilful way, had gone before; and that nothing could +make the times what they might, could, would, or should have been, +if those twelve years had never rolled away. + + +THIRD PART + + +I SHALL not try to relate the particulars of the great civil war +between King Charles the First and the Long Parliament, which +lasted nearly four years, and a full account of which would fill +many large books. It was a sad thing that Englishmen should once +more be fighting against Englishmen on English ground; but, it is +some consolation to know that on both sides there was great +humanity, forbearance, and honour. The soldiers of the Parliament +were far more remarkable for these good qualities than the soldiers +of the King (many of whom fought for mere pay without much caring +for the cause); but those of the nobility and gentry who were on +the King's side were so brave, and so faithful to him, that their +conduct cannot but command our highest admiration. Among them were +great numbers of Catholics, who took the royal side because the +Queen was so strongly of their persuasion. + +The King might have distinguished some of these gallant spirits, if +he had been as generous a spirit himself, by giving them the +command of his army. Instead of that, however, true to his old +high notions of royalty, he entrusted it to his two nephews, PRINCE +RUPERT and PRINCE MAURICE, who were of royal blood and came over +from abroad to help him. It might have been better for him if they +had stayed away; since Prince Rupert was an impetuous, hot-headed +fellow, whose only idea was to dash into battle at all times and +seasons, and lay about him. + +The general-in-chief of the Parliamentary army was the Earl of +Essex, a gentleman of honour and an excellent soldier. A little +while before the war broke out, there had been some rioting at +Westminster between certain officious law students and noisy +soldiers, and the shopkeepers and their apprentices, and the +general people in the streets. At that time the King's friends +called the crowd, Roundheads, because the apprentices wore short +hair; the crowd, in return, called their opponents Cavaliers, +meaning that they were a blustering set, who pretended to be very +military. These two words now began to be used to distinguish the +two sides in the civil war. The Royalists also called the +Parliamentary men Rebels and Rogues, while the Parliamentary men +called THEM Malignants, and spoke of themselves as the Godly, the +Honest, and so forth. + +The war broke out at Portsmouth, where that double traitor Goring +had again gone over to the King and was besieged by the +Parliamentary troops. Upon this, the King proclaimed the Earl of +Essex and the officers serving under him, traitors, and called upon +his loyal subjects to meet him in arms at Nottingham on the twenty- +fifth of August. But his loyal subjects came about him in scanty +numbers, and it was a windy, gloomy day, and the Royal Standard got +blown down, and the whole affair was very melancholy. The chief +engagements after this, took place in the vale of the Red Horse +near Banbury, at Brentford, at Devizes, at Chalgrave Field (where +Mr. Hampden was so sorely wounded while fighting at the head of his +men, that he died within a week), at Newbury (in which battle LORD +FALKLAND, one of the best noblemen on the King's side, was killed), +at Leicester, at Naseby, at Winchester, at Marston Moor near York, +at Newcastle, and in many other parts of England and Scotland. +These battles were attended with various successes. At one time, +the King was victorious; at another time, the Parliament. But +almost all the great and busy towns were against the King; and when +it was considered necessary to fortify London, all ranks of people, +from labouring men and women, up to lords and ladies, worked hard +together with heartiness and good will. The most distinguished +leaders on the Parliamentary side were HAMPDEN, SIR THOMAS FAIRFAX, +and, above all, OLIVER CROMWELL, and his son-in-law IRETON. + +During the whole of this war, the people, to whom it was very +expensive and irksome, and to whom it was made the more distressing +by almost every family being divided - some of its members +attaching themselves to one side and some to the other - were over +and over again most anxious for peace. So were some of the best +men in each cause. Accordingly, treaties of peace were discussed +between commissioners from the Parliament and the King; at York, at +Oxford (where the King held a little Parliament of his own), and at +Uxbridge. But they came to nothing. In all these negotiations, +and in all his difficulties, the King showed himself at his best. +He was courageous, cool, self-possessed, and clever; but, the old +taint of his character was always in him, and he was never for one +single moment to be trusted. Lord Clarendon, the historian, one of +his highest admirers, supposes that he had unhappily promised the +Queen never to make peace without her consent, and that this must +often be taken as his excuse. He never kept his word from night to +morning. He signed a cessation of hostilities with the blood- +stained Irish rebels for a sum of money, and invited the Irish +regiments over, to help him against the Parliament. In the battle +of Naseby, his cabinet was seized and was found to contain a +correspondence with the Queen, in which he expressly told her that +he had deceived the Parliament - a mongrel Parliament, he called it +now, as an improvement on his old term of vipers - in pretending to +recognise it and to treat with it; and from which it further +appeared that he had long been in secret treaty with the Duke of +Lorraine for a foreign army of ten thousand men. Disappointed in +this, he sent a most devoted friend of his, the EARL OF GLAMORGAN, +to Ireland, to conclude a secret treaty with the Catholic powers, +to send him an Irish army of ten thousand men; in return for which +he was to bestow great favours on the Catholic religion. And, when +this treaty was discovered in the carriage of a fighting Irish +Archbishop who was killed in one of the many skirmishes of those +days, he basely denied and deserted his attached friend, the Earl, +on his being charged with high treason; and - even worse than this +- had left blanks in the secret instructions he gave him with his +own kingly hand, expressly that he might thus save himself. + +At last, on the twenty-seventh day of April, one thousand six +hundred and forty-six, the King found himself in the city of +Oxford, so surrounded by the Parliamentary army who were closing in +upon him on all sides that he felt that if he would escape he must +delay no longer. So, that night, having altered the cut of his +hair and beard, he was dressed up as a servant and put upon a horse +with a cloak strapped behind him, and rode out of the town behind +one of his own faithful followers, with a clergyman of that country +who knew the road well, for a guide. He rode towards London as far +as Harrow, and then altered his plans and resolved, it would seem, +to go to the Scottish camp. The Scottish men had been invited over +to help the Parliamentary army, and had a large force then in +England. The King was so desperately intriguing in everything he +did, that it is doubtful what he exactly meant by this step. He +took it, anyhow, and delivered himself up to the EARL OF LEVEN, the +Scottish general-in-chief, who treated him as an honourable +prisoner. Negotiations between the Parliament on the one hand and +the Scottish authorities on the other, as to what should be done +with him, lasted until the following February. Then, when the King +had refused to the Parliament the concession of that old militia +point for twenty years, and had refused to Scotland the recognition +of its Solemn League and Covenant, Scotland got a handsome sum for +its army and its help, and the King into the bargain. He was +taken, by certain Parliamentary commissioners appointed to receive +him, to one of his own houses, called Holmby House, near Althorpe, +in Northamptonshire. + +While the Civil War was still in progress, John Pym died, and was +buried with great honour in Westminster Abbey - not with greater +honour than he deserved, for the liberties of Englishmen owe a +mighty debt to Pym and Hampden. The war was but newly over when +the Earl of Essex died, of an illness brought on by his having +overheated himself in a stag hunt in Windsor Forest. He, too, was +buried in Westminster Abbey, with great state. I wish it were not +necessary to add that Archbishop Laud died upon the scaffold when +the war was not yet done. His trial lasted in all nearly a year, +and, it being doubtful even then whether the charges brought +against him amounted to treason, the odious old contrivance of the +worst kings was resorted to, and a bill of attainder was brought in +against him. He was a violently prejudiced and mischievous person; +had had strong ear-cropping and nose-splitting propensities, as you +know; and had done a world of harm. But he died peaceably, and +like a brave old man. + + +FOURTH PART + + +WHEN the Parliament had got the King into their hands, they became +very anxious to get rid of their army, in which Oliver Cromwell had +begun to acquire great power; not only because of his courage and +high abilities, but because he professed to be very sincere in the +Scottish sort of Puritan religion that was then exceedingly popular +among the soldiers. They were as much opposed to the Bishops as to +the Pope himself; and the very privates, drummers, and trumpeters, +had such an inconvenient habit of starting up and preaching long- +winded discourses, that I would not have belonged to that army on +any account. + +So, the Parliament, being far from sure but that the army might +begin to preach and fight against them now it had nothing else to +do, proposed to disband the greater part of it, to send another +part to serve in Ireland against the rebels, and to keep only a +small force in England. But, the army would not consent to be +broken up, except upon its own conditions; and, when the Parliament +showed an intention of compelling it, it acted for itself in an +unexpected manner. A certain cornet, of the name of JOICE, arrived +at Holmby House one night, attended by four hundred horsemen, went +into the King's room with his hat in one hand and a pistol in the +other, and told the King that he had come to take him away. The +King was willing enough to go, and only stipulated that he should +be publicly required to do so next morning. Next morning, +accordingly, he appeared on the top of the steps of the house, and +asked Comet Joice before his men and the guard set there by the +Parliament, what authority he had for taking him away? To this +Cornet Joice replied, 'The authority of the army.' 'Have you a +written commission?' said the King. Joice, pointing to his four +hundred men on horseback, replied, 'That is my commission.' +'Well,' said the King, smiling, as if he were pleased, 'I never +before read such a commission; but it is written in fair and +legible characters. This is a company of as handsome proper +gentlemen as I have seen a long while.' He was asked where he +would like to live, and he said at Newmarket. So, to Newmarket he +and Cornet Joice and the four hundred horsemen rode; the King +remarking, in the same smiling way, that he could ride as far at a +spell as Cornet Joice, or any man there. + +The King quite believed, I think, that the army were his friends. +He said as much to Fairfax when that general, Oliver Cromwell, and +Ireton, went to persuade him to return to the custody of the +Parliament. He preferred to remain as he was, and resolved to +remain as he was. And when the army moved nearer and nearer London +to frighten the Parliament into yielding to their demands, they +took the King with them. It was a deplorable thing that England +should be at the mercy of a great body of soldiers with arms in +their hands; but the King certainly favoured them at this important +time of his life, as compared with the more lawful power that tried +to control him. It must be added, however, that they treated him, +as yet, more respectfully and kindly than the Parliament had done. +They allowed him to be attended by his own servants, to be +splendidly entertained at various houses, and to see his children - +at Cavesham House, near Reading - for two days. Whereas, the +Parliament had been rather hard with him, and had only allowed him +to ride out and play at bowls. + +It is much to be believed that if the King could have been trusted, +even at this time, he might have been saved. Even Oliver Cromwell +expressly said that he did believe that no man could enjoy his +possessions in peace, unless the King had his rights. He was not +unfriendly towards the King; he had been present when he received +his children, and had been much affected by the pitiable nature of +the scene; he saw the King often; he frequently walked and talked +with him in the long galleries and pleasant gardens of the Palace +at Hampton Court, whither he was now removed; and in all this +risked something of his influence with the army. But, the King was +in secret hopes of help from the Scottish people; and the moment he +was encouraged to join them he began to be cool to his new friends, +the army, and to tell the officers that they could not possibly do +without him. At the very time, too, when he was promising to make +Cromwell and Ireton noblemen, if they would help him up to his old +height, he was writing to the Queen that he meant to hang them. +They both afterwards declared that they had been privately informed +that such a letter would be found, on a certain evening, sewed up +in a saddle which would be taken to the Blue Boar in Holborn to be +sent to Dover; and that they went there, disguised as common +soldiers, and sat drinking in the inn-yard until a man came with +the saddle, which they ripped up with their knives, and therein +found the letter. I see little reason to doubt the story. It is +certain that Oliver Cromwell told one of the King's most faithful +followers that the King could not be trusted, and that he would not +be answerable if anything amiss were to happen to him. Still, even +after that, he kept a promise he had made to the King, by letting +him know that there was a plot with a certain portion of the army +to seize him. I believe that, in fact, he sincerely wanted the +King to escape abroad, and so to be got rid of without more trouble +or danger. That Oliver himself had work enough with the army is +pretty plain; for some of the troops were so mutinous against him, +and against those who acted with him at this time, that he found it +necessary to have one man shot at the head of his regiment to +overawe the rest. + +The King, when he received Oliver's warning, made his escape from +Hampton Court; after some indecision and uncertainty, he went to +Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight. At first, he was pretty +free there; but, even there, he carried on a pretended treaty with +the Parliament, while he was really treating with commissioners +from Scotland to send an army into England to take his part. When +he broke off this treaty with the Parliament (having settled with +Scotland) and was treated as a prisoner, his treatment was not +changed too soon, for he had plotted to escape that very night to a +ship sent by the Queen, which was lying off the island. + +He was doomed to be disappointed in his hopes from Scotland. The +agreement he had made with the Scottish Commissioners was not +favourable enough to the religion of that country to please the +Scottish clergy; and they preached against it. The consequence +was, that the army raised in Scotland and sent over, was too small +to do much; and that, although it was helped by a rising of the +Royalists in England and by good soldiers from Ireland, it could +make no head against the Parliamentary army under such men as +Cromwell and Fairfax. The King's eldest son, the Prince of Wales, +came over from Holland with nineteen ships (a part of the English +fleet having gone over to him) to help his father; but nothing came +of his voyage, and he was fain to return. The most remarkable +event of this second civil war was the cruel execution by the +Parliamentary General, of SIR CHARLES LUCAS and SIR GEORGE LISLE, +two grand Royalist generals, who had bravely defended Colchester +under every disadvantage of famine and distress for nearly three +months. When Sir Charles Lucas was shot, Sir George Lisle kissed +his body, and said to the soldiers who were to shoot him, 'Come +nearer, and make sure of me.' 'I warrant you, Sir George,' said +one of the soldiers, 'we shall hit you.' 'AY?' he returned with a +smile, 'but I have been nearer to you, my friends, many a time, and +you have missed me.' + +The Parliament, after being fearfully bullied by the army - who +demanded to have seven members whom they disliked given up to them +- had voted that they would have nothing more to do with the King. +On the conclusion, however, of this second civil war (which did not +last more than six months), they appointed commissioners to treat +with him. The King, then so far released again as to be allowed to +live in a private house at Newport in the Isle of Wight, managed +his own part of the negotiation with a sense that was admired by +all who saw him, and gave up, in the end, all that was asked of him +- even yielding (which he had steadily refused, so far) to the +temporary abolition of the bishops, and the transfer of their +church land to the Crown. Still, with his old fatal vice upon him, +when his best friends joined the commissioners in beseeching him to +yield all those points as the only means of saving himself from the +army, he was plotting to escape from the island; he was holding +correspondence with his friends and the Catholics in Ireland, +though declaring that he was not; and he was writing, with his own +hand, that in what he yielded he meant nothing but to get time to +escape. + +Matters were at this pass when the army, resolved to defy the +Parliament, marched up to London. The Parliament, not afraid of +them now, and boldly led by Hollis, voted that the King's +concessions were sufficient ground for settling the peace of the +kingdom. Upon that, COLONEL RICH and COLONEL PRIDE went down to +the House of Commons with a regiment of horse soldiers and a +regiment of foot; and Colonel Pride, standing in the lobby with a +list of the members who were obnoxious to the army in his hand, had +them pointed out to him as they came through, and took them all +into custody. This proceeding was afterwards called by the people, +for a joke, PRIDE'S PURGE. Cromwell was in the North, at the head +of his men, at the time, but when he came home, approved of what +had been done. + +What with imprisoning some members and causing others to stay away, +the army had now reduced the House of Commons to some fifty or so. +These soon voted that it was treason in a king to make war against +his parliament and his people, and sent an ordinance up to the +House of Lords for the King's being tried as a traitor. The House +of Lords, then sixteen in number, to a man rejected it. Thereupon, +the Commons made an ordinance of their own, that they were the +supreme government of the country, and would bring the King to +trial. + +The King had been taken for security to a place called Hurst +Castle: a lonely house on a rock in the sea, connected with the +coast of Hampshire by a rough road two miles long at low water. +Thence, he was ordered to be removed to Windsor; thence, after +being but rudely used there, and having none but soldiers to wait +upon him at table, he was brought up to St. James's Palace in +London, and told that his trial was appointed for next day. + +On Saturday, the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and +forty-nine, this memorable trial began. The House of Commons had +settled that one hundred and thirty-five persons should form the +Court, and these were taken from the House itself, from among the +officers of the army, and from among the lawyers and citizens. +JOHN BRADSHAW, serjeant-at-law, was appointed president. The place +was Westminster Hall. At the upper end, in a red velvet chair, sat +the president, with his hat (lined with plates of iron for his +protection) on his head. The rest of the Court sat on side +benches, also wearing their hats. The King's seat was covered with +velvet, like that of the president, and was opposite to it. He was +brought from St. James's to Whitehall, and from Whitehall he came +by water to his trial. + +When he came in, he looked round very steadily on the Court, and on +the great number of spectators, and then sat down: presently he +got up and looked round again. On the indictment 'against Charles +Stuart, for high treason,' being read, he smiled several times, and +he denied the authority of the Court, saying that there could be no +parliament without a House of Lords, and that he saw no House of +Lords there. Also, that the King ought to be there, and that he +saw no King in the King's right place. Bradshaw replied, that the +Court was satisfied with its authority, and that its authority was +God's authority and the kingdom's. He then adjourned the Court to +the following Monday. On that day, the trial was resumed, and went +on all the week. When the Saturday came, as the King passed +forward to his place in the Hall, some soldiers and others cried +for 'justice!' and execution on him. That day, too, Bradshaw, like +an angry Sultan, wore a red robe, instead of the black robe he had +worn before. The King was sentenced to death that day. As he went +out, one solitary soldier said, 'God bless you, Sir!' For this, +his officer struck him. The King said he thought the punishment +exceeded the offence. The silver head of his walking-stick had +fallen off while he leaned upon it, at one time of the trial. The +accident seemed to disturb him, as if he thought it ominous of the +falling of his own head; and he admitted as much, now it was all +over. + +Being taken back to Whitehall, he sent to the House of Commons, +saying that as the time of his execution might be nigh, he wished +he might be allowed to see his darling children. It was granted. +On the Monday he was taken back to St. James's; and his two +children then in England, the PRINCESS ELIZABETH thirteen years +old, and the DUKE OF GLOUCESTER nine years old, were brought to +take leave of him, from Sion House, near Brentford. It was a sad +and touching scene, when he kissed and fondled those poor children, +and made a little present of two diamond seals to the Princess, and +gave them tender messages to their mother (who little deserved +them, for she had a lover of her own whom she married soon +afterwards), and told them that he died 'for the laws and liberties +of the land.' I am bound to say that I don't think he did, but I +dare say he believed so. + +There were ambassadors from Holland that day, to intercede for the +unhappy King, whom you and I both wish the Parliament had spared; +but they got no answer. The Scottish Commissioners interceded too; +so did the Prince of Wales, by a letter in which he offered as the +next heir to the throne, to accept any conditions from the +Parliament; so did the Queen, by letter likewise. + +Notwithstanding all, the warrant for the execution was this day +signed. There is a story that as Oliver Cromwell went to the table +with the pen in his hand to put his signature to it, he drew his +pen across the face of one of the commissioners, who was standing +near, and marked it with ink. That commissioner had not signed his +own name yet, and the story adds that when he came to do it he +marked Cromwell's face with ink in the same way. + +The King slept well, untroubled by the knowledge that it was his +last night on earth, and rose on the thirtieth of January, two +hours before day, and dressed himself carefully. He put on two +shirts lest he should tremble with the cold, and had his hair very +carefully combed. The warrant had been directed to three officers +of the army, COLONEL HACKER, COLONEL HUNKS, and COLONEL PHAYER. At +ten o'clock, the first of these came to the door and said it was +time to go to Whitehall. The King, who had always been a quick +walker, walked at his usual speed through the Park, and called out +to the guard, with his accustomed voice of command, 'March on +apace!' When he came to Whitehall, he was taken to his own +bedroom, where a breakfast was set forth. As he had taken the +Sacrament, he would eat nothing more; but, at about the time when +the church bells struck twelve at noon (for he had to wait, through +the scaffold not being ready), he took the advice of the good +BISHOP JUXON who was with him, and ate a little bread and drank a +glass of claret. Soon after he had taken this refreshment, Colonel +Hacker came to the chamber with the warrant in his hand, and called +for Charles Stuart. + +And then, through the long gallery of Whitehall Palace, which he +had often seen light and gay and merry and crowded, in very +different times, the fallen King passed along, until he came to the +centre window of the Banqueting House, through which he emerged +upon the scaffold, which was hung with black. He looked at the two +executioners, who were dressed in black and masked; he looked at +the troops of soldiers on horseback and on foot, and all looked up +at him in silence; he looked at the vast array of spectators, +filling up the view beyond, and turning all their faces upon him; +he looked at his old Palace of St. James's; and he looked at the +block. He seemed a little troubled to find that it was so low, and +asked, 'if there were no place higher?' Then, to those upon the +scaffold, he said, 'that it was the Parliament who had begun the +war, and not he; but he hoped they might be guiltless too, as ill +instruments had gone between them. In one respect,' he said, 'he +suffered justly; and that was because he had permitted an unjust +sentence to be executed on another.' In this he referred to the +Earl of Strafford. + +He was not at all afraid to die; but he was anxious to die easily. +When some one touched the axe while he was speaking, he broke off +and called out, 'Take heed of the axe! take heed of the axe!' He +also said to Colonel Hacker, 'Take care that they do not put me to +pain.' He told the executioner, 'I shall say but very short +prayers, and then thrust out my hands' - as the sign to strike. + +He put his hair up, under a white satin cap which the bishop had +carried, and said, 'I have a good cause and a gracious God on my +side.' The bishop told him that he had but one stage more to +travel in this weary world, and that, though it was a turbulent and +troublesome stage, it was a short one, and would carry him a great +way - all the way from earth to Heaven. The King's last word, as +he gave his cloak and the George - the decoration from his breast - +to the bishop, was, 'Remember!' He then kneeled down, laid his +head on the block, spread out his hands, and was instantly killed. +One universal groan broke from the crowd; and the soldiers, who had +sat on their horses and stood in their ranks immovable as statues, +were of a sudden all in motion, clearing the streets. + +Thus, in the forty-ninth year of his age, falling at the same time +of his career as Strafford had fallen in his, perished Charles the +First. With all my sorrow for him, I cannot agree with him that he +died 'the martyr of the people;' for the people had been martyrs to +him, and to his ideas of a King's rights, long before. Indeed, I +am afraid that he was but a bad judge of martyrs; for he had called +that infamous Duke of Buckingham 'the Martyr of his Sovereign.' + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV - ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL + + + +BEFORE sunset on the memorable day on which King Charles the First +was executed, the House of Commons passed an act declaring it +treason in any one to proclaim the Prince of Wales - or anybody +else - King of England. Soon afterwards, it declared that the +House of Lords was useless and dangerous, and ought to be +abolished; and directed that the late King's statue should be taken +down from the Royal Exchange in the City and other public places. +Having laid hold of some famous Royalists who had escaped from +prison, and having beheaded the DUKE OF HAMILTON, LORD HOLLAND, and +LORD CAPEL, in Palace Yard (all of whom died very courageously), +they then appointed a Council of State to govern the country. It +consisted of forty-one members, of whom five were peers. Bradshaw +was made president. The House of Commons also re-admitted members +who had opposed the King's death, and made up its numbers to about +a hundred and fifty. + +But, it still had an army of more than forty thousand men to deal +with, and a very hard task it was to manage them. Before the +King's execution, the army had appointed some of its officers to +remonstrate between them and the Parliament; and now the common +soldiers began to take that office upon themselves. The regiments +under orders for Ireland mutinied; one troop of horse in the city +of London seized their own flag, and refused to obey orders. For +this, the ringleader was shot: which did not mend the matter, for, +both his comrades and the people made a public funeral for him, and +accompanied the body to the grave with sound of trumpets and with a +gloomy procession of persons carrying bundles of rosemary steeped +in blood. Oliver was the only man to deal with such difficulties +as these, and he soon cut them short by bursting at midnight into +the town of Burford, near Salisbury, where the mutineers were +sheltered, taking four hundred of them prisoners, and shooting a +number of them by sentence of court-martial. The soldiers soon +found, as all men did, that Oliver was not a man to be trifled +with. And there was an end of the mutiny. + +The Scottish Parliament did not know Oliver yet; so, on hearing of +the King's execution, it proclaimed the Prince of Wales King +Charles the Second, on condition of his respecting the Solemn +League and Covenant. Charles was abroad at that time, and so was +Montrose, from whose help he had hopes enough to keep him holding +on and off with commissioners from Scotland, just as his father +might have done. These hopes were soon at an end; for, Montrose, +having raised a few hundred exiles in Germany, and landed with them +in Scotland, found that the people there, instead of joining him, +deserted the country at his approach. He was soon taken prisoner +and carried to Edinburgh. There he was received with every +possible insult, and carried to prison in a cart, his officers +going two and two before him. He was sentenced by the Parliament +to be hanged on a gallows thirty feet high, to have his head set on +a spike in Edinburgh, and his limbs distributed in other places, +according to the old barbarous manner. He said he had always acted +under the Royal orders, and only wished he had limbs enough to be +distributed through Christendom, that it might be the more widely +known how loyal he had been. He went to the scaffold in a bright +and brilliant dress, and made a bold end at thirty-eight years of +age. The breath was scarcely out of his body when Charles +abandoned his memory, and denied that he had ever given him orders +to rise in his behalf. O the family failing was strong in that +Charles then! + +Oliver had been appointed by the Parliament to command the army in +Ireland, where he took a terrible vengeance for the sanguinary +rebellion, and made tremendous havoc, particularly in the siege of +Drogheda, where no quarter was given, and where he found at least a +thousand of the inhabitants shut up together in the great church: +every one of whom was killed by his soldiers, usually known as +OLIVER'S IRONSIDES. There were numbers of friars and priests among +them, and Oliver gruffly wrote home in his despatch that these were +'knocked on the head' like the rest. + +But, Charles having got over to Scotland where the men of the +Solemn League and Covenant led him a prodigiously dull life and +made him very weary with long sermons and grim Sundays, the +Parliament called the redoubtable Oliver home to knock the Scottish +men on the head for setting up that Prince. Oliver left his son- +in-law, Ireton, as general in Ireland in his stead (he died there +afterwards), and he imitated the example of his father-in-law with +such good will that he brought the country to subjection, and laid +it at the feet of the Parliament. In the end, they passed an act +for the settlement of Ireland, generally pardoning all the common +people, but exempting from this grace such of the wealthier sort as +had been concerned in the rebellion, or in any killing of +Protestants, or who refused to lay down their arms. Great numbers +of Irish were got out of the country to serve under Catholic powers +abroad, and a quantity of land was declared to have been forfeited +by past offences, and was given to people who had lent money to the +Parliament early in the war. These were sweeping measures; but, if +Oliver Cromwell had had his own way fully, and had stayed in +Ireland, he would have done more yet. + +However, as I have said, the Parliament wanted Oliver for Scotland; +so, home Oliver came, and was made Commander of all the Forces of +the Commonwealth of England, and in three days away he went with +sixteen thousand soldiers to fight the Scottish men. Now, the +Scottish men, being then - as you will generally find them now - +mighty cautious, reflected that the troops they had were not used +to war like the Ironsides, and would be beaten in an open fight. +Therefore they said, 'If we live quiet in our trenches in Edinburgh +here, and if all the farmers come into the town and desert the +country, the Ironsides will be driven out by iron hunger and be +forced to go away.' This was, no doubt, the wisest plan; but as +the Scottish clergy WOULD interfere with what they knew nothing +about, and would perpetually preach long sermons exhorting the +soldiers to come out and fight, the soldiers got it in their heads +that they absolutely must come out and fight. Accordingly, in an +evil hour for themselves, they came out of their safe position. +Oliver fell upon them instantly, and killed three thousand, and +took ten thousand prisoners. + +To gratify the Scottish Parliament, and preserve their favour, +Charles had signed a declaration they laid before him, reproaching +the memory of his father and mother, and representing himself as a +most religious Prince, to whom the Solemn League and Covenant was +as dear as life. He meant no sort of truth in this, and soon +afterwards galloped away on horseback to join some tiresome +Highland friends, who were always flourishing dirks and +broadswords. He was overtaken and induced to return; but this +attempt, which was called 'The Start,' did him just so much +service, that they did not preach quite such long sermons at him +afterwards as they had done before. + +On the first of January, one thousand six hundred and fifty-one, +the Scottish people crowned him at Scone. He immediately took the +chief command of an army of twenty thousand men, and marched to +Stirling. His hopes were heightened, I dare say, by the +redoubtable Oliver being ill of an ague; but Oliver scrambled out +of bed in no time, and went to work with such energy that he got +behind the Royalist army and cut it off from all communication with +Scotland. There was nothing for it then, but to go on to England; +so it went on as far as Worcester, where the mayor and some of the +gentry proclaimed King Charles the Second straightway. His +proclamation, however, was of little use to him, for very few +Royalists appeared; and, on the very same day, two people were +publicly beheaded on Tower Hill for espousing his cause. Up came +Oliver to Worcester too, at double quick speed, and he and his +Ironsides so laid about them in the great battle which was fought +there, that they completely beat the Scottish men, and destroyed +the Royalist army; though the Scottish men fought so gallantly that +it took five hours to do. + +The escape of Charles after this battle of Worcester did him good +service long afterwards, for it induced many of the generous +English people to take a romantic interest in him, and to think +much better of him than he ever deserved. He fled in the night, +with not more than sixty followers, to the house of a Catholic lady +in Staffordshire. There, for his greater safety, the whole sixty +left him. He cropped his hair, stained his face and hands brown as +if they were sunburnt, put on the clothes of a labouring +countryman, and went out in the morning with his axe in his hand, +accompanied by four wood-cutters who were brothers, and another man +who was their brother-in-law. These good fellows made a bed for +him under a tree, as the weather was very bad; and the wife of one +of them brought him food to eat; and the old mother of the four +brothers came and fell down on her knees before him in the wood, +and thanked God that her sons were engaged in saving his life. At +night, he came out of the forest and went on to another house which +was near the river Severn, with the intention of passing into +Wales; but the place swarmed with soldiers, and the bridges were +guarded, and all the boats were made fast. So, after lying in a +hayloft covered over with hay, for some time, he came out of his +place, attended by COLONEL CARELESS, a Catholic gentleman who had +met him there, and with whom he lay hid, all next day, up in the +shady branches of a fine old oak. It was lucky for the King that +it was September-time, and that the leaves had not begun to fall, +since he and the Colonel, perched up in this tree, could catch +glimpses of the soldiers riding about below, and could hear the +crash in the wood as they went about beating the boughs. + +After this, he walked and walked until his feet were all blistered; +and, having been concealed all one day in a house which was +searched by the troopers while he was there, went with LORD WILMOT, +another of his good friends, to a place called Bentley, where one +MISS LANE, a Protestant lady, had obtained a pass to be allowed to +ride through the guards to see a relation of hers near Bristol. +Disguised as a servant, he rode in the saddle before this young +lady to the house of SIR JOHN WINTER, while Lord Wilmot rode there +boldly, like a plain country gentleman, with dogs at his heels. It +happened that Sir John Winter's butler had been servant in Richmond +Palace, and knew Charles the moment he set eyes upon him; but, the +butler was faithful and kept the secret. As no ship could be found +to carry him abroad, it was planned that he should go - still +travelling with Miss Lane as her servant - to another house, at +Trent near Sherborne in Dorsetshire; and then Miss Lane and her +cousin, MR. LASCELLES, who had gone on horseback beside her all the +way, went home. I hope Miss Lane was going to marry that cousin, +for I am sure she must have been a brave, kind girl. If I had been +that cousin, I should certainly have loved Miss Lane. + +When Charles, lonely for the loss of Miss Lane, was safe at Trent, +a ship was hired at Lyme, the master of which engaged to take two +gentlemen to France. In the evening of the same day, the King - +now riding as servant before another young lady - set off for a +public-house at a place called Charmouth, where the captain of the +vessel was to take him on board. But, the captain's wife, being +afraid of her husband getting into trouble, locked him up and would +not let him sail. Then they went away to Bridport; and, coming to +the inn there, found the stable-yard full of soldiers who were on +the look-out for Charles, and who talked about him while they +drank. He had such presence of mind, that he led the horses of his +party through the yard as any other servant might have done, and +said, 'Come out of the way, you soldiers; let us have room to pass +here!' As he went along, he met a half-tipsy ostler, who rubbed +his eyes and said to him, 'Why, I was formerly servant to Mr. +Potter at Exeter, and surely I have sometimes seen you there, young +man?' He certainly had, for Charles had lodged there. His ready +answer was, 'Ah, I did live with him once; but I have no time to +talk now. We'll have a pot of beer together when I come back.' + +From this dangerous place he returned to Trent, and lay there +concealed several days. Then he escaped to Heale, near Salisbury; +where, in the house of a widow lady, he was hidden five days, until +the master of a collier lying off Shoreham in Sussex, undertook to +convey a 'gentleman' to France. On the night of the fifteenth of +October, accompanied by two colonels and a merchant, the King rode +to Brighton, then a little fishing village, to give the captain of +the ship a supper before going on board; but, so many people knew +him, that this captain knew him too, and not only he, but the +landlord and landlady also. Before he went away, the landlord came +behind his chair, kissed his hand, and said he hoped to live to be +a lord and to see his wife a lady; at which Charles laughed. They +had had a good supper by this time, and plenty of smoking and +drinking, at which the King was a first-rate hand; so, the captain +assured him that he would stand by him, and he did. It was agreed +that the captain should pretend to sail to Deal, and that Charles +should address the sailors and say he was a gentleman in debt who +was running away from his creditors, and that he hoped they would +join him in persuading the captain to put him ashore in France. As +the King acted his part very well indeed, and gave the sailors +twenty shillings to drink, they begged the captain to do what such +a worthy gentleman asked. He pretended to yield to their +entreaties, and the King got safe to Normandy. + +Ireland being now subdued, and Scotland kept quiet by plenty of +forts and soldiers put there by Oliver, the Parliament would have +gone on quietly enough, as far as fighting with any foreign enemy +went, but for getting into trouble with the Dutch, who in the +spring of the year one thousand six hundred and fifty-one sent a +fleet into the Downs under their ADMIRAL VAN TROMP, to call upon +the bold English ADMIRAL BLAKE (who was there with half as many +ships as the Dutch) to strike his flag. Blake fired a raging +broadside instead, and beat off Van Tromp; who, in the autumn, came +back again with seventy ships, and challenged the bold Blake - who +still was only half as strong - to fight him. Blake fought him all +day; but, finding that the Dutch were too many for him, got quietly +off at night. What does Van Tromp upon this, but goes cruising and +boasting about the Channel, between the North Foreland and the Isle +of Wight, with a great Dutch broom tied to his masthead, as a sign +that he could and would sweep the English of the sea! Within three +months, Blake lowered his tone though, and his broom too; for, he +and two other bold commanders, DEAN and MONK, fought him three +whole days, took twenty-three of his ships, shivered his broom to +pieces, and settled his business. + +Things were no sooner quiet again, than the army began to complain +to the Parliament that they were not governing the nation properly, +and to hint that they thought they could do it better themselves. +Oliver, who had now made up his mind to be the head of the state, +or nothing at all, supported them in this, and called a meeting of +officers and his own Parliamentary friends, at his lodgings in +Whitehall, to consider the best way of getting rid of the +Parliament. It had now lasted just as many years as the King's +unbridled power had lasted, before it came into existence. The end +of the deliberation was, that Oliver went down to the House in his +usual plain black dress, with his usual grey worsted stockings, but +with an unusual party of soldiers behind him. These last he left +in the lobby, and then went in and sat down. Presently he got up, +made the Parliament a speech, told them that the Lord had done with +them, stamped his foot and said, 'You are no Parliament. Bring +them in! Bring them in!' At this signal the door flew open, and +the soldiers appeared. 'This is not honest,' said Sir Harry Vane, +one of the members. 'Sir Harry Vane!' cried Cromwell; 'O, Sir +Harry Vane! The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane!' Then he +pointed out members one by one, and said this man was a drunkard, +and that man a dissipated fellow, and that man a liar, and so on. +Then he caused the Speaker to be walked out of his chair, told the +guard to clear the House, called the mace upon the table - which is +a sign that the House is sitting - 'a fool's bauble,' and said, +'here, carry it away!' Being obeyed in all these orders, he +quietly locked the door, put the key in his pocket, walked back to +Whitehall again, and told his friends, who were still assembled +there, what he had done. + +They formed a new Council of State after this extraordinary +proceeding, and got a new Parliament together in their own way: +which Oliver himself opened in a sort of sermon, and which he said +was the beginning of a perfect heaven upon earth. In this +Parliament there sat a well-known leather-seller, who had taken the +singular name of Praise God Barebones, and from whom it was called, +for a joke, Barebones's Parliament, though its general name was the +Little Parliament. As it soon appeared that it was not going to +put Oliver in the first place, it turned out to be not at all like +the beginning of heaven upon earth, and Oliver said it really was +not to be borne with. So he cleared off that Parliament in much +the same way as he had disposed of the other; and then the council +of officers decided that he must be made the supreme authority of +the kingdom, under the title of the Lord Protector of the +Commonwealth. + +So, on the sixteenth of December, one thousand six hundred and +fifty-three, a great procession was formed at Oliver's door, and he +came out in a black velvet suit and a big pair of boots, and got +into his coach and went down to Westminster, attended by the +judges, and the lord mayor, and the aldermen, and all the other +great and wonderful personages of the country. There, in the Court +of Chancery, he publicly accepted the office of Lord Protector. +Then he was sworn, and the City sword was handed to him, and the +seal was handed to him, and all the other things were handed to him +which are usually handed to Kings and Queens on state occasions. +When Oliver had handed them all back, he was quite made and +completely finished off as Lord Protector; and several of the +Ironsides preached about it at great length, all the evening. + + +SECOND PART + + +OLIVER CROMWELL - whom the people long called OLD NOLL - in +accepting the office of Protector, had bound himself by a certain +paper which was handed to him, called 'the Instrument,' to summon a +Parliament, consisting of between four and five hundred members, in +the election of which neither the Royalists nor the Catholics were +to have any share. He had also pledged himself that this +Parliament should not be dissolved without its own consent until it +had sat five months. + +When this Parliament met, Oliver made a speech to them of three +hours long, very wisely advising them what to do for the credit and +happiness of the country. To keep down the more violent members, +he required them to sign a recognition of what they were forbidden +by 'the Instrument' to do; which was, chiefly, to take the power +from one single person at the head of the state or to command the +army. Then he dismissed them to go to work. With his usual vigour +and resolution he went to work himself with some frantic preachers +- who were rather overdoing their sermons in calling him a villain +and a tyrant - by shutting up their chapels, and sending a few of +them off to prison. + +There was not at that time, in England or anywhere else, a man so +able to govern the country as Oliver Cromwell. Although he ruled +with a strong hand, and levied a very heavy tax on the Royalists +(but not until they had plotted against his life), he ruled wisely, +and as the times required. He caused England to be so respected +abroad, that I wish some lords and gentlemen who have governed it +under kings and queens in later days would have taken a leaf out of +Oliver Cromwell's book. He sent bold Admiral Blake to the +Mediterranean Sea, to make the Duke of Tuscany pay sixty thousand +pounds for injuries he had done to British subjects, and spoliation +he had committed on English merchants. He further despatched him +and his fleet to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, to have every English +ship and every English man delivered up to him that had been taken +by pirates in those parts. All this was gloriously done; and it +began to be thoroughly well known, all over the world, that England +was governed by a man in earnest, who would not allow the English +name to be insulted or slighted anywhere. + +These were not all his foreign triumphs. He sent a fleet to sea +against the Dutch; and the two powers, each with one hundred ships +upon its side, met in the English Channel off the North Foreland, +where the fight lasted all day long. Dean was killed in this +fight; but Monk, who commanded in the same ship with him, threw his +cloak over his body, that the sailors might not know of his death, +and be disheartened. Nor were they. The English broadsides so +exceedingly astonished the Dutch that they sheered off at last, +though the redoubtable Van Tromp fired upon them with his own guns +for deserting their flag. Soon afterwards, the two fleets engaged +again, off the coast of Holland. There, the valiant Van Tromp was +shot through the heart, and the Dutch gave in, and peace was made. + +Further than this, Oliver resolved not to bear the domineering and +bigoted conduct of Spain, which country not only claimed a right to +all the gold and silver that could be found in South America, and +treated the ships of all other countries who visited those regions, +as pirates, but put English subjects into the horrible Spanish +prisons of the Inquisition. So, Oliver told the Spanish ambassador +that English ships must be free to go wherever they would, and that +English merchants must not be thrown into those same dungeons, no, +not for the pleasure of all the priests in Spain. To this, the +Spanish ambassador replied that the gold and silver country, and +the Holy Inquisition, were his King's two eyes, neither of which he +could submit to have put out. Very well, said Oliver, then he was +afraid he (Oliver) must damage those two eyes directly. + +So, another fleet was despatched under two commanders, PENN and +VENABLES, for Hispaniola; where, however, the Spaniards got the +better of the fight. Consequently, the fleet came home again, +after taking Jamaica on the way. Oliver, indignant with the two +commanders who had not done what bold Admiral Blake would have +done, clapped them both into prison, declared war against Spain, +and made a treaty with France, in virtue of which it was to shelter +the King and his brother the Duke of York no longer. Then, he sent +a fleet abroad under bold Admiral Blake, which brought the King of +Portugal to his senses - just to keep its hand in - and then +engaged a Spanish fleet, sunk four great ships, and took two more, +laden with silver to the value of two millions of pounds: which +dazzling prize was brought from Portsmouth to London in waggons, +with the populace of all the towns and villages through which the +waggons passed, shouting with all their might. After this victory, +bold Admiral Blake sailed away to the port of Santa Cruz to cut off +the Spanish treasure-ships coming from Mexico. There, he found +them, ten in number, with seven others to take care of them, and a +big castle, and seven batteries, all roaring and blazing away at +him with great guns. Blake cared no more for great guns than for +pop-guns - no more for their hot iron balls than for snow-balls. +He dashed into the harbour, captured and burnt every one of the +ships, and came sailing out again triumphantly, with the victorious +English flag flying at his masthead. This was the last triumph of +this great commander, who had sailed and fought until he was quite +worn out. He died, as his successful ship was coming into Plymouth +Harbour amidst the joyful acclamations of the people, and was +buried in state in Westminster Abbey. Not to lie there, long. + +Over and above all this, Oliver found that the VAUDOIS, or +Protestant people of the valleys of Lucerne, were insolently +treated by the Catholic powers, and were even put to death for +their religion, in an audacious and bloody manner. Instantly, he +informed those powers that this was a thing which Protestant +England would not allow; and he speedily carried his point, through +the might of his great name, and established their right to worship +God in peace after their own harmless manner. + +Lastly, his English army won such admiration in fighting with the +French against the Spaniards, that, after they had assaulted the +town of Dunkirk together, the French King in person gave it up to +the English, that it might be a token to them of their might and +valour. + +There were plots enough against Oliver among the frantic +religionists (who called themselves Fifth Monarchy Men), and among +the disappointed Republicans. He had a difficult game to play, for +the Royalists were always ready to side with either party against +him. The 'King over the water,' too, as Charles was called, had no +scruples about plotting with any one against his life; although +there is reason to suppose that he would willingly have married one +of his daughters, if Oliver would have had such a son-in-law. +There was a certain COLONEL SAXBY of the army, once a great +supporter of Oliver's but now turned against him, who was a +grievous trouble to him through all this part of his career; and +who came and went between the discontented in England and Spain, +and Charles who put himself in alliance with Spain on being thrown +off by France. This man died in prison at last; but not until +there had been very serious plots between the Royalists and +Republicans, and an actual rising of them in England, when they +burst into the city of Salisbury, on a Sunday night, seized the +judges who were going to hold the assizes there next day, and would +have hanged them but for the merciful objections of the more +temperate of their number. Oliver was so vigorous and shrewd that +he soon put this revolt down, as he did most other conspiracies; +and it was well for one of its chief managers - that same Lord +Wilmot who had assisted in Charles's flight, and was now EARL OF +ROCHESTER - that he made his escape. Oliver seemed to have eyes +and ears everywhere, and secured such sources of information as his +enemies little dreamed of. There was a chosen body of six persons, +called the Sealed Knot, who were in the closest and most secret +confidence of Charles. One of the foremost of these very men, a +SIR RICHARD WILLIS, reported to Oliver everything that passed among +them, and had two hundred a year for it. + +MILES SYNDARCOMB, also of the old army, was another conspirator +against the Protector. He and a man named CECIL, bribed one of his +Life Guards to let them have good notice when he was going out - +intending to shoot him from a window. But, owing either to his +caution or his good fortune, they could never get an aim at him. +Disappointed in this design, they got into the chapel in Whitehall, +with a basketful of combustibles, which were to explode by means of +a slow match in six hours; then, in the noise and confusion of the +fire, they hoped to kill Oliver. But, the Life Guardsman himself +disclosed this plot; and they were seized, and Miles died (or +killed himself in prison) a little while before he was ordered for +execution. A few such plotters Oliver caused to be beheaded, a few +more to be hanged, and many more, including those who rose in arms +against him, to be sent as slaves to the West Indies. If he were +rigid, he was impartial too, in asserting the laws of England. +When a Portuguese nobleman, the brother of the Portuguese +ambassador, killed a London citizen in mistake for another man with +whom he had had a quarrel, Oliver caused him to be tried before a +jury of Englishmen and foreigners, and had him executed in spite of +the entreaties of all the ambassadors in London. + +One of Oliver's own friends, the DUKE OF OLDENBURGH, in sending him +a present of six fine coach-horses, was very near doing more to +please the Royalists than all the plotters put together. One day, +Oliver went with his coach, drawn by these six horses, into Hyde +Park, to dine with his secretary and some of his other gentlemen +under the trees there. After dinner, being merry, he took it into +his head to put his friends inside and to drive them home: a +postillion riding one of the foremost horses, as the custom was. +On account of Oliver's being too free with the whip, the six fine +horses went off at a gallop, the postillion got thrown, and Oliver +fell upon the coach-pole and narrowly escaped being shot by his own +pistol, which got entangled with his clothes in the harness, and +went off. He was dragged some distance by the foot, until his foot +came out of the shoe, and then he came safely to the ground under +the broad body of the coach, and was very little the worse. The +gentlemen inside were only bruised, and the discontented people of +all parties were much disappointed. + +The rest of the history of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell is a +history of his Parliaments. His first one not pleasing him at all, +he waited until the five months were out, and then dissolved it. +The next was better suited to his views; and from that he desired +to get - if he could with safety to himself - the title of King. +He had had this in his mind some time: whether because he thought +that the English people, being more used to the title, were more +likely to obey it; or whether because he really wished to be a king +himself, and to leave the succession to that title in his family, +is far from clear. He was already as high, in England and in all +the world, as he would ever be, and I doubt if he cared for the +mere name. However, a paper, called the 'Humble Petition and +Advice,' was presented to him by the House of Commons, praying him +to take a high title and to appoint his successor. That he would +have taken the title of King there is no doubt, but for the strong +opposition of the army. This induced him to forbear, and to assent +only to the other points of the petition. Upon which occasion +there was another grand show in Westminster Hall, when the Speaker +of the House of Commons formally invested him with a purple robe +lined with ermine, and presented him with a splendidly bound Bible, +and put a golden sceptre in his hand. The next time the Parliament +met, he called a House of Lords of sixty members, as the petition +gave him power to do; but as that Parliament did not please him +either, and would not proceed to the business of the country, he +jumped into a coach one morning, took six Guards with him, and sent +them to the right-about. I wish this had been a warning to +Parliaments to avoid long speeches, and do more work. + +It was the month of August, one thousand six hundred and fifty- +eight, when Oliver Cromwell's favourite daughter, ELIZABETH +CLAYPOLE (who had lately lost her youngest son), lay very ill, and +his mind was greatly troubled, because he loved her dearly. +Another of his daughters was married to LORD FALCONBERG, another to +the grandson of the Earl of Warwick, and he had made his son +RICHARD one of the Members of the Upper House. He was very kind +and loving to them all, being a good father and a good husband; but +he loved this daughter the best of the family, and went down to +Hampton Court to see her, and could hardly be induced to stir from +her sick room until she died. Although his religion had been of a +gloomy kind, his disposition had been always cheerful. He had been +fond of music in his home, and had kept open table once a week for +all officers of the army not below the rank of captain, and had +always preserved in his house a quiet, sensible dignity. He +encouraged men of genius and learning, and loved to have them about +him. MILTON was one of his great friends. He was good humoured +too, with the nobility, whose dresses and manners were very +different from his; and to show them what good information he had, +he would sometimes jokingly tell them when they were his guests, +where they had last drunk the health of the 'King over the water,' +and would recommend them to be more private (if they could) another +time. But he had lived in busy times, had borne the weight of +heavy State affairs, and had often gone in fear of his life. He +was ill of the gout and ague; and when the death of his beloved +child came upon him in addition, he sank, never to raise his head +again. He told his physicians on the twenty-fourth of August that +the Lord had assured him that he was not to die in that illness, +and that he would certainly get better. This was only his sick +fancy, for on the third of September, which was the anniversary of +the great battle of Worcester, and the day of the year which he +called his fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth year of his age. +He had been delirious, and had lain insensible some hours, but he +had been overheard to murmur a very good prayer the day before. +The whole country lamented his death. If you want to know the real +worth of Oliver Cromwell, and his real services to his country, you +can hardly do better than compare England under him, with England +under CHARLES THE SECOND. + +He had appointed his son Richard to succeed him, and after there +had been, at Somerset House in the Strand, a lying in state more +splendid than sensible - as all such vanities after death are, I +think - Richard became Lord Protector. He was an amiable country +gentleman, but had none of his father's great genius, and was quite +unfit for such a post in such a storm of parties. Richard's +Protectorate, which only lasted a year and a half, is a history of +quarrels between the officers of the army and the Parliament, and +between the officers among themselves; and of a growing discontent +among the people, who had far too many long sermons and far too few +amusements, and wanted a change. At last, General Monk got the +army well into his own hands, and then in pursuance of a secret +plan he seems to have entertained from the time of Oliver's death, +declared for the King's cause. He did not do this openly; but, in +his place in the House of Commons, as one of the members for +Devonshire, strongly advocated the proposals of one SIR JOHN +GREENVILLE, who came to the House with a letter from Charles, dated +from Breda, and with whom he had previously been in secret +communication. There had been plots and counterplots, and a recall +of the last members of the Long Parliament, and an end of the Long +Parliament, and risings of the Royalists that were made too soon; +and most men being tired out, and there being no one to head the +country now great Oliver was dead, it was readily agreed to welcome +Charles Stuart. Some of the wiser and better members said - what +was most true - that in the letter from Breda, he gave no real +promise to govern well, and that it would be best to make him +pledge himself beforehand as to what he should be bound to do for +the benefit of the kingdom. Monk said, however, it would be all +right when he came, and he could not come too soon. + +So, everybody found out all in a moment that the country MUST be +prosperous and happy, having another Stuart to condescend to reign +over it; and there was a prodigious firing off of guns, lighting of +bonfires, ringing of bells, and throwing up of caps. The people +drank the King's health by thousands in the open streets, and +everybody rejoiced. Down came the Arms of the Commonwealth, up +went the Royal Arms instead, and out came the public money. Fifty +thousand pounds for the King, ten thousand pounds for his brother +the Duke of York, five thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of +Gloucester. Prayers for these gracious Stuarts were put up in all +the churches; commissioners were sent to Holland (which suddenly +found out that Charles was a great man, and that it loved him) to +invite the King home; Monk and the Kentish grandees went to Dover, +to kneel down before him as he landed. He kissed and embraced +Monk, made him ride in the coach with himself and his brothers, +came on to London amid wonderful shoutings, and passed through the +army at Blackheath on the twenty-ninth of May (his birthday), in +the year one thousand six hundred and sixty. Greeted by splendid +dinners under tents, by flags and tapestry streaming from all the +houses, by delighted crowds in all the streets, by troops of +noblemen and gentlemen in rich dresses, by City companies, train- +bands, drummers, trumpeters, the great Lord Mayor, and the majestic +Aldermen, the King went on to Whitehall. On entering it, he +commemorated his Restoration with the joke that it really would +seem to have been his own fault that he had not come long ago, +since everybody told him that he had always wished for him with all +his heart. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV - ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY +MONARCH + + + +THERE never were such profligate times in England as under Charles +the Second. Whenever you see his portrait, with his swarthy, ill- +looking face and great nose, you may fancy him in his Court at +Whitehall, surrounded by some of the very worst vagabonds in the +kingdom (though they were lords and ladies), drinking, gambling, +indulging in vicious conversation, and committing every kind of +profligate excess. It has been a fashion to call Charles the +Second 'The Merry Monarch.' Let me try to give you a general idea +of some of the merry things that were done, in the merry days when +this merry gentleman sat upon his merry throne, in merry England. + +The first merry proceeding was - of course - to declare that he was +one of the greatest, the wisest, and the noblest kings that ever +shone, like the blessed sun itself, on this benighted earth. The +next merry and pleasant piece of business was, for the Parliament, +in the humblest manner, to give him one million two hundred +thousand pounds a year, and to settle upon him for life that old +disputed tonnage and poundage which had been so bravely fought for. +Then, General Monk being made EARL OF ALBEMARLE, and a few other +Royalists similarly rewarded, the law went to work to see what was +to be done to those persons (they were called Regicides) who had +been concerned in making a martyr of the late King. Ten of these +were merrily executed; that is to say, six of the judges, one of +the council, Colonel Hacker and another officer who had commanded +the Guards, and HUGH PETERS, a preacher who had preached against +the martyr with all his heart. These executions were so extremely +merry, that every horrible circumstance which Cromwell had +abandoned was revived with appalling cruelty. The hearts of the +sufferers were torn out of their living bodies; their bowels were +burned before their faces; the executioner cut jokes to the next +victim, as he rubbed his filthy hands together, that were reeking +with the blood of the last; and the heads of the dead were drawn on +sledges with the living to the place of suffering. Still, even so +merry a monarch could not force one of these dying men to say that +he was sorry for what he had done. Nay, the most memorable thing +said among them was, that if the thing were to do again they would +do it. + +Sir Harry Vane, who had furnished the evidence against Strafford, +and was one of the most staunch of the Republicans, was also tried, +found guilty, and ordered for execution. When he came upon the +scaffold on Tower Hill, after conducting his own defence with great +power, his notes of what he had meant to say to the people were +torn away from him, and the drums and trumpets were ordered to +sound lustily and drown his voice; for, the people had been so much +impressed by what the Regicides had calmly said with their last +breath, that it was the custom now, to have the drums and trumpets +always under the scaffold, ready to strike up. Vane said no more +than this: 'It is a bad cause which cannot bear the words of a +dying man:' and bravely died. + +These merry scenes were succeeded by another, perhaps even merrier. +On the anniversary of the late King's death, the bodies of Oliver +Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw, were torn out of their graves in +Westminster Abbey, dragged to Tyburn, hanged there on a gallows all +day long, and then beheaded. Imagine the head of Oliver Cromwell +set upon a pole to be stared at by a brutal crowd, not one of whom +would have dared to look the living Oliver in the face for half a +moment! Think, after you have read this reign, what England was +under Oliver Cromwell who was torn out of his grave, and what it +was under this merry monarch who sold it, like a merry Judas, over +and over again. + +Of course, the remains of Oliver's wife and daughter were not to be +spared either, though they had been most excellent women. The base +clergy of that time gave up their bodies, which had been buried in +the Abbey, and - to the eternal disgrace of England - they were +thrown into a pit, together with the mouldering bones of Pym and of +the brave and bold old Admiral Blake. + +The clergy acted this disgraceful part because they hoped to get +the nonconformists, or dissenters, thoroughly put down in this +reign, and to have but one prayer-book and one service for all +kinds of people, no matter what their private opinions were. This +was pretty well, I think, for a Protestant Church, which had +displaced the Romish Church because people had a right to their own +opinions in religious matters. However, they carried it with a +high hand, and a prayer-book was agreed upon, in which the +extremest opinions of Archbishop Laud were not forgotten. An Act +was passed, too, preventing any dissenter from holding any office +under any corporation. So, the regular clergy in their triumph +were soon as merry as the King. The army being by this time +disbanded, and the King crowned, everything was to go on easily for +evermore. + +I must say a word here about the King's family. He had not been +long upon the throne when his brother the Duke of Gloucester, and +his sister the PRINCESS OF ORANGE, died within a few months of each +other, of small-pox. His remaining sister, the PRINCESS HENRIETTA, +married the DUKE OF ORLEANS, the brother of LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH, +King of France. His brother JAMES, DUKE OF YORK, was made High +Admiral, and by-and-by became a Catholic. He was a gloomy, sullen, +bilious sort of man, with a remarkable partiality for the ugliest +women in the country. He married, under very discreditable +circumstances, ANNE HYDE, the daughter of LORD CLARENDON, then the +King's principal Minister - not at all a delicate minister either, +but doing much of the dirty work of a very dirty palace. It became +important now that the King himself should be married; and divers +foreign Monarchs, not very particular about the character of their +son-in-law, proposed their daughters to him. The KING OF PORTUGAL +offered his daughter, CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA, and fifty thousand +pounds: in addition to which, the French King, who was favourable +to that match, offered a loan of another fifty thousand. The King +of Spain, on the other hand, offered any one out of a dozen of +Princesses, and other hopes of gain. But the ready money carried +the day, and Catherine came over in state to her merry marriage. + +The whole Court was a great flaunting crowd of debauched men and +shameless women; and Catherine's merry husband insulted and +outraged her in every possible way, until she consented to receive +those worthless creatures as her very good friends, and to degrade +herself by their companionship. A MRS. PALMER, whom the King made +LADY CASTLEMAINE, and afterwards DUCHESS OF CLEVELAND, was one of +the most powerful of the bad women about the Court, and had great +influence with the King nearly all through his reign. Another +merry lady named MOLL DAVIES, a dancer at the theatre, was +afterwards her rival. So was NELL GWYN, first an orange girl and +then an actress, who really had good in her, and of whom one of the +worst things I know is, that actually she does seem to have been +fond of the King. The first DUKE OF ST. ALBANS was this orange +girl's child. In like manner the son of a merry waiting-lady, whom +the King created DUCHESS OF PORTSMOUTH, became the DUKE OF +RICHMOND. Upon the whole it is not so bad a thing to be a +commoner. + +The Merry Monarch was so exceedingly merry among these merry +ladies, and some equally merry (and equally infamous) lords and +gentlemen, that he soon got through his hundred thousand pounds, +and then, by way of raising a little pocket-money, made a merry +bargain. He sold Dunkirk to the French King for five millions of +livres. When I think of the dignity to which Oliver Cromwell +raised England in the eyes of foreign powers, and when I think of +the manner in which he gained for England this very Dunkirk, I am +much inclined to consider that if the Merry Monarch had been made +to follow his father for this action, he would have received his +just deserts. + +Though he was like his father in none of that father's greater +qualities, he was like him in being worthy of no trust. When he +sent that letter to the Parliament, from Breda, he did expressly +promise that all sincere religious opinions should be respected. +Yet he was no sooner firm in his power than he consented to one of +the worst Acts of Parliament ever passed. Under this law, every +minister who should not give his solemn assent to the Prayer-Book +by a certain day, was declared to be a minister no longer, and to +be deprived of his church. The consequence of this was that some +two thousand honest men were taken from their congregations, and +reduced to dire poverty and distress. It was followed by another +outrageous law, called the Conventicle Act, by which any person +above the age of sixteen who was present at any religious service +not according to the Prayer-Book, was to be imprisoned three months +for the first offence, six for the second, and to be transported +for the third. This Act alone filled the prisons, which were then +most dreadful dungeons, to overflowing. + +The Covenanters in Scotland had already fared no better. A base +Parliament, usually known as the Drunken Parliament, in consequence +of its principal members being seldom sober, had been got together +to make laws against the Covenanters, and to force all men to be of +one mind in religious matters. The MARQUIS OF ARGYLE, relying on +the King's honour, had given himself up to him; but, he was +wealthy, and his enemies wanted his wealth. He was tried for +treason, on the evidence of some private letters in which he had +expressed opinions - as well he might - more favourable to the +government of the late Lord Protector than of the present merry and +religious King. He was executed, as were two men of mark among the +Covenanters; and SHARP, a traitor who had once been the friend of +the Presbyterians and betrayed them, was made Archbishop of St. +Andrew's, to teach the Scotch how to like bishops. + +Things being in this merry state at home, the Merry Monarch +undertook a war with the Dutch; principally because they interfered +with an African company, established with the two objects of buying +gold-dust and slaves, of which the Duke of York was a leading +member. After some preliminary hostilities, the said Duke sailed +to the coast of Holland with a fleet of ninety-eight vessels of +war, and four fire-ships. This engaged with the Dutch fleet, of no +fewer than one hundred and thirteen ships. In the great battle +between the two forces, the Dutch lost eighteen ships, four +admirals, and seven thousand men. But, the English on shore were +in no mood of exultation when they heard the news. + +For, this was the year and the time of the Great Plague in London. +During the winter of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four it had +been whispered about, that some few people had died here and there +of the disease called the Plague, in some of the unwholesome +suburbs around London. News was not published at that time as it +is now, and some people believed these rumours, and some +disbelieved them, and they were soon forgotten. But, in the month +of May, one thousand six hundred and sixty-five, it began to be +said all over the town that the disease had burst out with great +violence in St. Giles's, and that the people were dying in great +numbers. This soon turned out to be awfully true. The roads out +of London were choked up by people endeavouring to escape from the +infected city, and large sums were paid for any kind of conveyance. +The disease soon spread so fast, that it was necessary to shut up +the houses in which sick people were, and to cut them off from +communication with the living. Every one of these houses was +marked on the outside of the door with a red cross, and the words, +Lord, have mercy upon us! The streets were all deserted, grass +grew in the public ways, and there was a dreadful silence in the +air. When night came on, dismal rumblings used to be heard, and +these were the wheels of the death-carts, attended by men with +veiled faces and holding cloths to their mouths, who rang doleful +bells and cried in a loud and solemn voice, 'Bring out your dead!' +The corpses put into these carts were buried by torchlight in great +pits; no service being performed over them; all men being afraid to +stay for a moment on the brink of the ghastly graves. In the +general fear, children ran away from their parents, and parents +from their children. Some who were taken ill, died alone, and +without any help. Some were stabbed or strangled by hired nurses +who robbed them of all their money, and stole the very beds on +which they lay. Some went mad, dropped from the windows, ran +through the streets, and in their pain and frenzy flung themselves +into the river. + +These were not all the horrors of the time. The wicked and +dissolute, in wild desperation, sat in the taverns singing roaring +songs, and were stricken as they drank, and went out and died. The +fearful and superstitious persuaded themselves that they saw +supernatural sights - burning swords in the sky, gigantic arms and +darts. Others pretended that at nights vast crowds of ghosts +walked round and round the dismal pits. One madman, naked, and +carrying a brazier full of burning coals upon his head, stalked +through the streets, crying out that he was a Prophet, commissioned +to denounce the vengeance of the Lord on wicked London. Another +always went to and fro, exclaiming, 'Yet forty days, and London +shall be destroyed!' A third awoke the echoes in the dismal +streets, by night and by day, and made the blood of the sick run +cold, by calling out incessantly, in a deep hoarse voice, 'O, the +great and dreadful God!' + +Through the months of July and August and September, the Great +Plague raged more and more. Great fires were lighted in the +streets, in the hope of stopping the infection; but there was a +plague of rain too, and it beat the fires out. At last, the winds +which usually arise at that time of the year which is called the +equinox, when day and night are of equal length all over the world, +began to blow, and to purify the wretched town. The deaths began +to decrease, the red crosses slowly to disappear, the fugitives to +return, the shops to open, pale frightened faces to be seen in the +streets. The Plague had been in every part of England, but in +close and unwholesome London it had killed one hundred thousand +people. + +All this time, the Merry Monarch was as merry as ever, and as +worthless as ever. All this time, the debauched lords and +gentlemen and the shameless ladies danced and gamed and drank, and +loved and hated one another, according to their merry ways. + +So little humanity did the government learn from the late +affliction, that one of the first things the Parliament did when it +met at Oxford (being as yet afraid to come to London), was to make +a law, called the Five Mile Act, expressly directed against those +poor ministers who, in the time of the Plague, had manfully come +back to comfort the unhappy people. This infamous law, by +forbidding them to teach in any school, or to come within five +miles of any city, town, or village, doomed them to starvation and +death. + +The fleet had been at sea, and healthy. The King of France was now +in alliance with the Dutch, though his navy was chiefly employed in +looking on while the English and Dutch fought. The Dutch gained +one victory; and the English gained another and a greater; and +Prince Rupert, one of the English admirals, was out in the Channel +one windy night, looking for the French Admiral, with the intention +of giving him something more to do than he had had yet, when the +gale increased to a storm, and blew him into Saint Helen's. That +night was the third of September, one thousand six hundred and +sixty-six, and that wind fanned the Great Fire of London. + +It broke out at a baker's shop near London Bridge, on the spot on +which the Monument now stands as a remembrance of those raging +flames. It spread and spread, and burned and burned, for three +days. The nights were lighter than the days; in the daytime there +was an immense cloud of smoke, and in the night-time there was a +great tower of fire mounting up into the sky, which lighted the +whole country landscape for ten miles round. Showers of hot ashes +rose into the air and fell on distant places; flying sparks carried +the conflagration to great distances, and kindled it in twenty new +spots at a time; church steeples fell down with tremendous crashes; +houses crumbled into cinders by the hundred and the thousand. The +summer had been intensely hot and dry, the streets were very +narrow, and the houses mostly built of wood and plaster. Nothing +could stop the tremendous fire, but the want of more houses to +burn; nor did it stop until the whole way from the Tower to Temple +Bar was a desert, composed of the ashes of thirteen thousand houses +and eighty-nine churches. + +This was a terrible visitation at the time, and occasioned great +loss and suffering to the two hundred thousand burnt-out people, +who were obliged to lie in the fields under the open night sky, or +in hastily-made huts of mud and straw, while the lanes and roads +were rendered impassable by carts which had broken down as they +tried to save their goods. But the Fire was a great blessing to +the City afterwards, for it arose from its ruins very much improved +- built more regularly, more widely, more cleanly and carefully, +and therefore much more healthily. It might be far more healthy +than it is, but there are some people in it still - even now, at +this time, nearly two hundred years later - so selfish, so pig- +headed, and so ignorant, that I doubt if even another Great Fire +would warm them up to do their duty. + +The Catholics were accused of having wilfully set London in flames; +one poor Frenchman, who had been mad for years, even accused +himself of having with his own hand fired the first house. There +is no reasonable doubt, however, that the fire was accidental. An +inscription on the Monument long attributed it to the Catholics; +but it is removed now, and was always a malicious and stupid +untruth. + + +SECOND PART + + +THAT the Merry Monarch might be very merry indeed, in the merry +times when his people were suffering under pestilence and fire, he +drank and gambled and flung away among his favourites the money +which the Parliament had voted for the war. The consequence of +this was that the stout-hearted English sailors were merrily +starving of want, and dying in the streets; while the Dutch, under +their admirals DE WITT and DE RUYTER, came into the River Thames, +and up the River Medway as far as Upnor, burned the guard-ships, +silenced the weak batteries, and did what they would to the English +coast for six whole weeks. Most of the English ships that could +have prevented them had neither powder nor shot on board; in this +merry reign, public officers made themselves as merry as the King +did with the public money; and when it was entrusted to them to +spend in national defences or preparations, they put it into their +own pockets with the merriest grace in the world. + +Lord Clarendon had, by this time, run as long a course as is +usually allotted to the unscrupulous ministers of bad kings. He +was impeached by his political opponents, but unsuccessfully. The +King then commanded him to withdraw from England and retire to +France, which he did, after defending himself in writing. He was +no great loss at home, and died abroad some seven years afterwards. + +There then came into power a ministry called the Cabal Ministry, +because it was composed of LORD CLIFFORD, the EARL OF ARLINGTON, +the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM (a great rascal, and the King's most +powerful favourite), LORD ASHLEY, and the DUKE OF LAUDERDALE, C. A. +B. A. L. As the French were making conquests in Flanders, the +first Cabal proceeding was to make a treaty with the Dutch, for +uniting with Spain to oppose the French. It was no sooner made +than the Merry Monarch, who always wanted to get money without +being accountable to a Parliament for his expenditure, apologised +to the King of France for having had anything to do with it, and +concluded a secret treaty with him, making himself his infamous +pensioner to the amount of two millions of livres down, and three +millions more a year; and engaging to desert that very Spain, to +make war against those very Dutch, and to declare himself a +Catholic when a convenient time should arrive. This religious king +had lately been crying to his Catholic brother on the subject of +his strong desire to be a Catholic; and now he merrily concluded +this treasonable conspiracy against the country he governed, by +undertaking to become one as soon as he safely could. For all of +which, though he had had ten merry heads instead of one, he richly +deserved to lose them by the headsman's axe. + +As his one merry head might have been far from safe, if these +things had been known, they were kept very quiet, and war was +declared by France and England against the Dutch. But, a very +uncommon man, afterwards most important to English history and to +the religion and liberty of this land, arose among them, and for +many long years defeated the whole projects of France. This was +WILLIAM OF NASSAU, PRINCE OF ORANGE, son of the last Prince of +Orange of the same name, who married the daughter of Charles the +First of England. He was a young man at this time, only just of +age; but he was brave, cool, intrepid, and wise. His father had +been so detested that, upon his death, the Dutch had abolished the +authority to which this son would have otherwise succeeded +(Stadtholder it was called), and placed the chief power in the +hands of JOHN DE WITT, who educated this young prince. Now, the +Prince became very popular, and John de Witt's brother CORNELIUS +was sentenced to banishment on a false accusation of conspiring to +kill him. John went to the prison where he was, to take him away +to exile, in his coach; and a great mob who collected on the +occasion, then and there cruelly murdered both the brothers. This +left the government in the hands of the Prince, who was really the +choice of the nation; and from this time he exercised it with the +greatest vigour, against the whole power of France, under its +famous generals CONDE and TURENNE, and in support of the Protestant +religion. It was full seven years before this war ended in a +treaty of peace made at Nimeguen, and its details would occupy a +very considerable space. It is enough to say that William of +Orange established a famous character with the whole world; and +that the Merry Monarch, adding to and improving on his former +baseness, bound himself to do everything the King of France liked, +and nothing the King of France did not like, for a pension of one +hundred thousand pounds a year, which was afterwards doubled. +Besides this, the King of France, by means of his corrupt +ambassador - who wrote accounts of his proceedings in England, +which are not always to be believed, I think - bought our English +members of Parliament, as he wanted them. So, in point of fact, +during a considerable portion of this merry reign, the King of +France was the real King of this country. + +But there was a better time to come, and it was to come (though his +royal uncle little thought so) through that very William, Prince of +Orange. He came over to England, saw Mary, the elder daughter of +the Duke of York, and married her. We shall see by-and-by what +came of that marriage, and why it is never to be forgotten. + +This daughter was a Protestant, but her mother died a Catholic. +She and her sister ANNE, also a Protestant, were the only survivors +of eight children. Anne afterwards married GEORGE, PRINCE OF +DENMARK, brother to the King of that country. + +Lest you should do the Merry Monarch the injustice of supposing +that he was even good humoured (except when he had everything his +own way), or that he was high spirited and honourable, I will +mention here what was done to a member of the House of Commons, SIR +JOHN COVENTRY. He made a remark in a debate about taxing the +theatres, which gave the King offence. The King agreed with his +illegitimate son, who had been born abroad, and whom he had made +DUKE OF MONMOUTH, to take the following merry vengeance. To waylay +him at night, fifteen armed men to one, and to slit his nose with a +penknife. Like master, like man. The King's favourite, the Duke +of Buckingham, was strongly suspected of setting on an assassin to +murder the DUKE OF ORMOND as he was returning home from a dinner; +and that Duke's spirited son, LORD OSSORY, was so persuaded of his +guilt, that he said to him at Court, even as he stood beside the +King, 'My lord, I know very well that you are at the bottom of this +late attempt upon my father. But I give you warning, if he ever +come to a violent end, his blood shall be upon you, and wherever I +meet you I will pistol you! I will do so, though I find you +standing behind the King's chair; and I tell you this in his +Majesty's presence, that you may be quite sure of my doing what I +threaten.' Those were merry times indeed. + +There was a fellow named BLOOD, who was seized for making, with two +companions, an audacious attempt to steal the crown, the globe, and +sceptre, from the place where the jewels were kept in the Tower. +This robber, who was a swaggering ruffian, being taken, declared +that he was the man who had endeavoured to kill the Duke of Ormond, +and that he had meant to kill the King too, but was overawed by the +majesty of his appearance, when he might otherwise have done it, as +he was bathing at Battersea. The King being but an ill-looking +fellow, I don't believe a word of this. Whether he was flattered, +or whether he knew that Buckingham had really set Blood on to +murder the Duke, is uncertain. But it is quite certain that he +pardoned this thief, gave him an estate of five hundred a year in +Ireland (which had had the honour of giving him birth), and +presented him at Court to the debauched lords and the shameless +ladies, who made a great deal of him - as I have no doubt they +would have made of the Devil himself, if the King had introduced +him. + +Infamously pensioned as he was, the King still wanted money, and +consequently was obliged to call Parliaments. In these, the great +object of the Protestants was to thwart the Catholic Duke of York, +who married a second time; his new wife being a young lady only +fifteen years old, the Catholic sister of the DUKE OF MODENA. In +this they were seconded by the Protestant Dissenters, though to +their own disadvantage: since, to exclude Catholics from power, +they were even willing to exclude themselves. The King's object +was to pretend to be a Protestant, while he was really a Catholic; +to swear to the bishops that he was devoutly attached to the +English Church, while he knew he had bargained it away to the King +of France; and by cheating and deceiving them, and all who were +attached to royalty, to become despotic and be powerful enough to +confess what a rascal he was. Meantime, the King of France, +knowing his merry pensioner well, intrigued with the King's +opponents in Parliament, as well as with the King and his friends. + +The fears that the country had of the Catholic religion being +restored, if the Duke of York should come to the throne, and the +low cunning of the King in pretending to share their alarms, led to +some very terrible results. A certain DR. TONGE, a dull clergyman +in the City, fell into the hands of a certain TITUS OATES, a most +infamous character, who pretended to have acquired among the +Jesuits abroad a knowledge of a great plot for the murder of the +King, and the re-establishment if the Catholic religion. Titus +Oates, being produced by this unlucky Dr. Tonge and solemnly +examined before the council, contradicted himself in a thousand +ways, told the most ridiculous and improbable stories, and +implicated COLEMAN, the Secretary of the Duchess of York. Now, +although what he charged against Coleman was not true, and although +you and I know very well that the real dangerous Catholic plot was +that one with the King of France of which the Merry Monarch was +himself the head, there happened to be found among Coleman's +papers, some letters, in which he did praise the days of Bloody +Queen Mary, and abuse the Protestant religion. This was great good +fortune for Titus, as it seemed to confirm him; but better still +was in store. SIR EDMUNDBURY GODFREY, the magistrate who had first +examined him, being unexpectedly found dead near Primrose Hill, was +confidently believed to have been killed by the Catholics. I think +there is no doubt that he had been melancholy mad, and that he +killed himself; but he had a great Protestant funeral, and Titus +was called the Saver of the Nation, and received a pension of +twelve hundred pounds a year. + +As soon as Oates's wickedness had met with this success, up started +another villain, named WILLIAM BEDLOE, who, attracted by a reward +of five hundred pounds offered for the apprehension of the +murderers of Godfrey, came forward and charged two Jesuits and some +other persons with having committed it at the Queen's desire. +Oates, going into partnership with this new informer, had the +audacity to accuse the poor Queen herself of high treason. Then +appeared a third informer, as bad as either of the two, and accused +a Catholic banker named STAYLEY of having said that the King was +the greatest rogue in the world (which would not have been far from +the truth), and that he would kill him with his own hand. This +banker, being at once tried and executed, Coleman and two others +were tried and executed. Then, a miserable wretch named PRANCE, a +Catholic silversmith, being accused by Bedloe, was tortured into +confessing that he had taken part in Godfrey's murder, and into +accusing three other men of having committed it. Then, five +Jesuits were accused by Oates, Bedloe, and Prance together, and +were all found guilty, and executed on the same kind of +contradictory and absurd evidence. The Queen's physician and three +monks were next put on their trial; but Oates and Bedloe had for +the time gone far enough and these four were acquitted. The public +mind, however, was so full of a Catholic plot, and so strong +against the Duke of York, that James consented to obey a written +order from his brother, and to go with his family to Brussels, +provided that his rights should never be sacrificed in his absence +to the Duke of Monmouth. The House of Commons, not satisfied with +this as the King hoped, passed a bill to exclude the Duke from ever +succeeding to the throne. In return, the King dissolved the +Parliament. He had deserted his old favourite, the Duke of +Buckingham, who was now in the opposition. + +To give any sufficient idea of the miseries of Scotland in this +merry reign, would occupy a hundred pages. Because the people +would not have bishops, and were resolved to stand by their solemn +League and Covenant, such cruelties were inflicted upon them as +make the blood run cold. Ferocious dragoons galloped through the +country to punish the peasants for deserting the churches; sons +were hanged up at their fathers' doors for refusing to disclose +where their fathers were concealed; wives were tortured to death +for not betraying their husbands; people were taken out of their +fields and gardens, and shot on the public roads without trial; +lighted matches were tied to the fingers of prisoners, and a most +horrible torment called the Boot was invented, and constantly +applied, which ground and mashed the victims' legs with iron +wedges. Witnesses were tortured as well as prisoners. All the +prisons were full; all the gibbets were heavy with bodies; murder +and plunder devastated the whole country. In spite of all, the +Covenanters were by no means to be dragged into the churches, and +persisted in worshipping God as they thought right. A body of +ferocious Highlanders, turned upon them from the mountains of their +own country, had no greater effect than the English dragoons under +GRAHAME OF CLAVERHOUSE, the most cruel and rapacious of all their +enemies, whose name will ever be cursed through the length and +breadth of Scotland. Archbishop Sharp had ever aided and abetted +all these outrages. But he fell at last; for, when the injuries of +the Scottish people were at their height, he was seen, in his +coach-and-six coming across a moor, by a body of men, headed by one +JOHN BALFOUR, who were waiting for another of their oppressors. +Upon this they cried out that Heaven had delivered him into their +hands, and killed him with many wounds. If ever a man deserved +such a death, I think Archbishop Sharp did. + +It made a great noise directly, and the Merry Monarch - strongly +suspected of having goaded the Scottish people on, that he might +have an excuse for a greater army than the Parliament were willing +to give him - sent down his son, the Duke of Monmouth, as +commander-in-chief, with instructions to attack the Scottish +rebels, or Whigs as they were called, whenever he came up with +them. Marching with ten thousand men from Edinburgh, he found +them, in number four or five thousand, drawn up at Bothwell Bridge, +by the Clyde. They were soon dispersed; and Monmouth showed a more +humane character towards them, than he had shown towards that +Member of Parliament whose nose he had caused to be slit with a +penknife. But the Duke of Lauderdale was their bitter foe, and +sent Claverhouse to finish them. + +As the Duke of York became more and more unpopular, the Duke of +Monmouth became more and more popular. It would have been decent +in the latter not to have voted in favour of the renewed bill for +the exclusion of James from the throne; but he did so, much to the +King's amusement, who used to sit in the House of Lords by the +fire, hearing the debates, which he said were as good as a play. +The House of Commons passed the bill by a large majority, and it +was carried up to the House of Lords by LORD RUSSELL, one of the +best of the leaders on the Protestant side. It was rejected there, +chiefly because the bishops helped the King to get rid of it; and +the fear of Catholic plots revived again. There had been another +got up, by a fellow out of Newgate, named DANGERFIELD, which is +more famous than it deserves to be, under the name of the MEAL-TUB +PLOT. This jail-bird having been got out of Newgate by a MRS. +CELLIER, a Catholic nurse, had turned Catholic himself, and +pretended that he knew of a plot among the Presbyterians against +the King's life. This was very pleasant to the Duke of York, who +hated the Presbyterians, who returned the compliment. He gave +Dangerfield twenty guineas, and sent him to the King his brother. +But Dangerfield, breaking down altogether in his charge, and being +sent back to Newgate, almost astonished the Duke out of his five +senses by suddenly swearing that the Catholic nurse had put that +false design into his head, and that what he really knew about, +was, a Catholic plot against the King; the evidence of which would +be found in some papers, concealed in a meal-tub in Mrs. Cellier's +house. There they were, of course - for he had put them there +himself - and so the tub gave the name to the plot. But, the nurse +was acquitted on her trial, and it came to nothing. + +Lord Ashley, of the Cabal, was now Lord Shaftesbury, and was strong +against the succession of the Duke of York. The House of Commons, +aggravated to the utmost extent, as we may well suppose, by +suspicions of the King's conspiracy with the King of France, made a +desperate point of the exclusion, still, and were bitter against +the Catholics generally. So unjustly bitter were they, I grieve to +say, that they impeached the venerable Lord Stafford, a Catholic +nobleman seventy years old, of a design to kill the King. The +witnesses were that atrocious Oates and two other birds of the same +feather. He was found guilty, on evidence quite as foolish as it +was false, and was beheaded on Tower Hill. The people were opposed +to him when he first appeared upon the scaffold; but, when he had +addressed them and shown them how innocent he was and how wickedly +he was sent there, their better nature was aroused, and they said, +'We believe you, my Lord. God bless you, my Lord!' + +The House of Commons refused to let the King have any money until +he should consent to the Exclusion Bill; but, as he could get it +and did get it from his master the King of France, he could afford +to hold them very cheap. He called a Parliament at Oxford, to +which he went down with a great show of being armed and protected +as if he were in danger of his life, and to which the opposition +members also went armed and protected, alleging that they were in +fear of the Papists, who were numerous among the King's guards. +However, they went on with the Exclusion Bill, and were so earnest +upon it that they would have carried it again, if the King had not +popped his crown and state robes into a sedan-chair, bundled +himself into it along with them, hurried down to the chamber where +the House of Lords met, and dissolved the Parliament. After which +he scampered home, and the members of Parliament scampered home +too, as fast as their legs could carry them. + +The Duke of York, then residing in Scotland, had, under the law +which excluded Catholics from public trust, no right whatever to +public employment. Nevertheless, he was openly employed as the +King's representative in Scotland, and there gratified his sullen +and cruel nature to his heart's content by directing the dreadful +cruelties against the Covenanters. There were two ministers named +CARGILL and CAMERON who had escaped from the battle of Bothwell +Bridge, and who returned to Scotland, and raised the miserable but +still brave and unsubdued Covenanters afresh, under the name of +Cameronians. As Cameron publicly posted a declaration that the +King was a forsworn tyrant, no mercy was shown to his unhappy +followers after he was slain in battle. The Duke of York, who was +particularly fond of the Boot and derived great pleasure from +having it applied, offered their lives to some of these people, if +they would cry on the scaffold 'God save the King!' But their +relations, friends, and countrymen, had been so barbarously +tortured and murdered in this merry reign, that they preferred to +die, and did die. The Duke then obtained his merry brother's +permission to hold a Parliament in Scotland, which first, with most +shameless deceit, confirmed the laws for securing the Protestant +religion against Popery, and then declared that nothing must or +should prevent the succession of the Popish Duke. After this +double-faced beginning, it established an oath which no human being +could understand, but which everybody was to take, as a proof that +his religion was the lawful religion. The Earl of Argyle, taking +it with the explanation that he did not consider it to prevent him +from favouring any alteration either in the Church or State which +was not inconsistent with the Protestant religion or with his +loyalty, was tried for high treason before a Scottish jury of which +the MARQUIS OF MONTROSE was foreman, and was found guilty. He +escaped the scaffold, for that time, by getting away, in the +disguise of a page, in the train of his daughter, LADY SOPHIA +LINDSAY. It was absolutely proposed, by certain members of the +Scottish Council, that this lady should be whipped through the +streets of Edinburgh. But this was too much even for the Duke, who +had the manliness then (he had very little at most times) to remark +that Englishmen were not accustomed to treat ladies in that manner. +In those merry times nothing could equal the brutal servility of +the Scottish fawners, but the conduct of similar degraded beings in +England. + +After the settlement of these little affairs, the Duke returned to +England, and soon resumed his place at the Council, and his office +of High Admiral - all this by his brother's favour, and in open +defiance of the law. It would have been no loss to the country, if +he had been drowned when his ship, in going to Scotland to fetch +his family, struck on a sand-bank, and was lost with two hundred +souls on board. But he escaped in a boat with some friends; and +the sailors were so brave and unselfish, that, when they saw him +rowing away, they gave three cheers, while they themselves were +going down for ever. + +The Merry Monarch, having got rid of his Parliament, went to work +to make himself despotic, with all speed. Having had the villainy +to order the execution of OLIVER PLUNKET, BISHOP OF ARMAGH, falsely +accused of a plot to establish Popery in that country by means of a +French army - the very thing this royal traitor was himself trying +to do at home - and having tried to ruin Lord Shaftesbury, and +failed - he turned his hand to controlling the corporations all +over the country; because, if he could only do that, he could get +what juries he chose, to bring in perjured verdicts, and could get +what members he chose returned to Parliament. These merry times +produced, and made Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, a +drunken ruffian of the name of JEFFREYS; a red-faced, swollen, +bloated, horrible creature, with a bullying, roaring voice, and a +more savage nature perhaps than was ever lodged in any human +breast. This monster was the Merry Monarch's especial favourite, +and he testified his admiration of him by giving him a ring from +his own finger, which the people used to call Judge Jeffreys's +Bloodstone. Him the King employed to go about and bully the +corporations, beginning with London; or, as Jeffreys himself +elegantly called it, 'to give them a lick with the rough side of +his tongue.' And he did it so thoroughly, that they soon became +the basest and most sycophantic bodies in the kingdom - except the +University of Oxford, which, in that respect, was quite pre-eminent +and unapproachable. + +Lord Shaftesbury (who died soon after the King's failure against +him), LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, the Duke of Monmouth, LORD HOWARD, LORD +JERSEY, ALGERNON SIDNEY, JOHN HAMPDEN (grandson of the great +Hampden), and some others, used to hold a council together after +the dissolution of the Parliament, arranging what it might be +necessary to do, if the King carried his Popish plot to the utmost +height. Lord Shaftesbury having been much the most violent of this +party, brought two violent men into their secrets - RUMSEY, who had +been a soldier in the Republican army; and WEST, a lawyer. These +two knew an old officer of CROMWELL'S, called RUMBOLD, who had +married a maltster's widow, and so had come into possession of a +solitary dwelling called the Rye House, near Hoddesdon, in +Hertfordshire. Rumbold said to them what a capital place this +house of his would be from which to shoot at the King, who often +passed there going to and fro from Newmarket. They liked the idea, +and entertained it. But, one of their body gave information; and +they, together with SHEPHERD a wine merchant, Lord Russell, +Algernon Sidney, LORD ESSEX, LORD HOWARD, and Hampden, were all +arrested. + +Lord Russell might have easily escaped, but scorned to do so, being +innocent of any wrong; Lord Essex might have easily escaped, but +scorned to do so, lest his flight should prejudice Lord Russell. +But it weighed upon his mind that he had brought into their +council, Lord Howard - who now turned a miserable traitor - against +a great dislike Lord Russell had always had of him. He could not +bear the reflection, and destroyed himself before Lord Russell was +brought to trial at the Old Bailey. + +He knew very well that he had nothing to hope, having always been +manful in the Protestant cause against the two false brothers, the +one on the throne, and the other standing next to it. He had a +wife, one of the noblest and best of women, who acted as his +secretary on his trial, who comforted him in his prison, who supped +with him on the night before he died, and whose love and virtue and +devotion have made her name imperishable. Of course, he was found +guilty, and was sentenced to be beheaded in Lincoln's Inn-fields, +not many yards from his own house. When he had parted from his +children on the evening before his death, his wife still stayed +with him until ten o'clock at night; and when their final +separation in this world was over, and he had kissed her many +times, he still sat for a long while in his prison, talking of her +goodness. Hearing the rain fall fast at that time, he calmly said, +'Such a rain to-morrow will spoil a great show, which is a dull +thing on a rainy day.' At midnight he went to bed, and slept till +four; even when his servant called him, he fell asleep again while +his clothes were being made ready. He rode to the scaffold in his +own carriage, attended by two famous clergymen, TILLOTSON and +BURNET, and sang a psalm to himself very softly, as he went along. +He was as quiet and as steady as if he had been going out for an +ordinary ride. After saying that he was surprised to see so great +a crowd, he laid down his head upon the block, as if upon the +pillow of his bed, and had it struck off at the second blow. His +noble wife was busy for him even then; for that true-hearted lady +printed and widely circulated his last words, of which he had given +her a copy. They made the blood of all the honest men in England +boil. + +The University of Oxford distinguished itself on the very same day +by pretending to believe that the accusation against Lord Russell +was true, and by calling the King, in a written paper, the Breath +of their Nostrils and the Anointed of the Lord. This paper the +Parliament afterwards caused to be burned by the common hangman; +which I am sorry for, as I wish it had been framed and glazed and +hung up in some public place, as a monument of baseness for the +scorn of mankind. + +Next, came the trial of Algernon Sidney, at which Jeffreys +presided, like a great crimson toad, sweltering and swelling with +rage. 'I pray God, Mr. Sidney,' said this Chief Justice of a merry +reign, after passing sentence, 'to work in you a temper fit to go +to the other world, for I see you are not fit for this.' 'My +lord,' said the prisoner, composedly holding out his arm, 'feel my +pulse, and see if I be disordered. I thank Heaven I never was in +better temper than I am now.' Algernon Sidney was executed on +Tower Hill, on the seventh of December, one thousand six hundred +and eighty-three. He died a hero, and died, in his own words, 'For +that good old cause in which he had been engaged from his youth, +and for which God had so often and so wonderfully declared +himself.' + +The Duke of Monmouth had been making his uncle, the Duke of York, +very jealous, by going about the country in a royal sort of way, +playing at the people's games, becoming godfather to their +children, and even touching for the King's evil, or stroking the +faces of the sick to cure them - though, for the matter of that, I +should say he did them about as much good as any crowned king could +have done. His father had got him to write a letter, confessing +his having had a part in the conspiracy, for which Lord Russell had +been beheaded; but he was ever a weak man, and as soon as he had +written it, he was ashamed of it and got it back again. For this, +he was banished to the Netherlands; but he soon returned and had an +interview with his father, unknown to his uncle. It would seem +that he was coming into the Merry Monarch's favour again, and that +the Duke of York was sliding out of it, when Death appeared to the +merry galleries at Whitehall, and astonished the debauched lords +and gentlemen, and the shameless ladies, very considerably. + +On Monday, the second of February, one thousand six hundred and +eighty-five, the merry pensioner and servant of the King of France +fell down in a fit of apoplexy. By the Wednesday his case was +hopeless, and on the Thursday he was told so. As he made a +difficulty about taking the sacrament from the Protestant Bishop of +Bath, the Duke of York got all who were present away from the bed, +and asked his brother, in a whisper, if he should send for a +Catholic priest? The King replied, 'For God's sake, brother, do!' +The Duke smuggled in, up the back stairs, disguised in a wig and +gown, a priest named HUDDLESTON, who had saved the King's life +after the battle of Worcester: telling him that this worthy man in +the wig had once saved his body, and was now come to save his soul. + +The Merry Monarch lived through that night, and died before noon on +the next day, which was Friday, the sixth. Two of the last things +he said were of a human sort, and your remembrance will give him +the full benefit of them. When the Queen sent to say she was too +unwell to attend him and to ask his pardon, he said, 'Alas! poor +woman, SHE beg MY pardon! I beg hers with all my heart. Take back +that answer to her.' And he also said, in reference to Nell Gwyn, +'Do not let poor Nelly starve.' + +He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of +his reign. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI - ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND + + + +KING JAMES THE SECOND was a man so very disagreeable, that even the +best of historians has favoured his brother Charles, as becoming, +by comparison, quite a pleasant character. The one object of his +short reign was to re-establish the Catholic religion in England; +and this he doggedly pursued with such a stupid obstinacy, that his +career very soon came to a close. + +The first thing he did, was, to assure his council that he would +make it his endeavour to preserve the Government, both in Church +and State, as it was by law established; and that he would always +take care to defend and support the Church. Great public +acclamations were raised over this fair speech, and a great deal +was said, from the pulpits and elsewhere, about the word of a King +which was never broken, by credulous people who little supposed +that he had formed a secret council for Catholic affairs, of which +a mischievous Jesuit, called FATHER PETRE, was one of the chief +members. With tears of joy in his eyes, he received, as the +beginning of HIS pension from the King of France, five hundred +thousand livres; yet, with a mixture of meanness and arrogance that +belonged to his contemptible character, he was always jealous of +making some show of being independent of the King of France, while +he pocketed his money. As - notwithstanding his publishing two +papers in favour of Popery (and not likely to do it much service, I +should think) written by the King, his brother, and found in his +strong-box; and his open display of himself attending mass - the +Parliament was very obsequious, and granted him a large sum of +money, he began his reign with a belief that he could do what he +pleased, and with a determination to do it. + +Before we proceed to its principal events, let us dispose of Titus +Oates. He was tried for perjury, a fortnight after the coronation, +and besides being very heavily fined, was sentenced to stand twice +in the pillory, to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate one day, and +from Newgate to Tyburn two days afterwards, and to stand in the +pillory five times a year as long as he lived. This fearful +sentence was actually inflicted on the rascal. Being unable to +stand after his first flogging, he was dragged on a sledge from +Newgate to Tyburn, and flogged as he was drawn along. He was so +strong a villain that he did not die under the torture, but lived +to be afterwards pardoned and rewarded, though not to be ever +believed in any more. Dangerfield, the only other one of that crew +left alive, was not so fortunate. He was almost killed by a +whipping from Newgate to Tyburn, and, as if that were not +punishment enough, a ferocious barrister of Gray's Inn gave him a +poke in the eye with his cane, which caused his death; for which +the ferocious barrister was deservedly tried and executed. + +As soon as James was on the throne, Argyle and Monmouth went from +Brussels to Rotterdam, and attended a meeting of Scottish exiles +held there, to concert measures for a rising in England. It was +agreed that Argyle should effect a landing in Scotland, and +Monmouth in England; and that two Englishmen should be sent with +Argyle to be in his confidence, and two Scotchmen with the Duke of +Monmouth. + +Argyle was the first to act upon this contract. But, two of his +men being taken prisoners at the Orkney Islands, the Government +became aware of his intention, and was able to act against him with +such vigour as to prevent his raising more than two or three +thousand Highlanders, although he sent a fiery cross, by trusty +messengers, from clan to clan and from glen to glen, as the custom +then was when those wild people were to be excited by their chiefs. +As he was moving towards Glasgow with his small force, he was +betrayed by some of his followers, taken, and carried, with his +hands tied behind his back, to his old prison in Edinburgh Castle. +James ordered him to be executed, on his old shamefully unjust +sentence, within three days; and he appears to have been anxious +that his legs should have been pounded with his old favourite the +boot. However, the boot was not applied; he was simply beheaded, +and his head was set upon the top of Edinburgh Jail. One of those +Englishmen who had been assigned to him was that old soldier +Rumbold, the master of the Rye House. He was sorely wounded, and +within a week after Argyle had suffered with great courage, was +brought up for trial, lest he should die and disappoint the King. +He, too, was executed, after defending himself with great spirit, +and saying that he did not believe that God had made the greater +part of mankind to carry saddles on their backs and bridles in +their mouths, and to be ridden by a few, booted and spurred for the +purpose - in which I thoroughly agree with Rumbold. + +The Duke of Monmouth, partly through being detained and partly +through idling his time away, was five or six weeks behind his +friend when he landed at Lyme, in Dorset: having at his right hand +an unlucky nobleman called LORD GREY OF WERK, who of himself would +have ruined a far more promising expedition. He immediately set up +his standard in the market-place, and proclaimed the King a tyrant, +and a Popish usurper, and I know not what else; charging him, not +only with what he had done, which was bad enough, but with what +neither he nor anybody else had done, such as setting fire to +London, and poisoning the late King. Raising some four thousand +men by these means, he marched on to Taunton, where there were many +Protestant dissenters who were strongly opposed to the Catholics. +Here, both the rich and poor turned out to receive him, ladies +waved a welcome to him from all the windows as he passed along the +streets, flowers were strewn in his way, and every compliment and +honour that could be devised was showered upon him. Among the +rest, twenty young ladies came forward, in their best clothes, and +in their brightest beauty, and gave him a Bible ornamented with +their own fair hands, together with other presents. + +Encouraged by this homage, he proclaimed himself King, and went on +to Bridgewater. But, here the Government troops, under the EARL OF +FEVERSHAM, were close at hand; and he was so dispirited at finding +that he made but few powerful friends after all, that it was a +question whether he should disband his army and endeavour to +escape. It was resolved, at the instance of that unlucky Lord +Grey, to make a night attack on the King's army, as it lay encamped +on the edge of a morass called Sedgemoor. The horsemen were +commanded by the same unlucky lord, who was not a brave man. He +gave up the battle almost at the first obstacle - which was a deep +drain; and although the poor countrymen, who had turned out for +Monmouth, fought bravely with scythes, poles, pitchforks, and such +poor weapons as they had, they were soon dispersed by the trained +soldiers, and fled in all directions. When the Duke of Monmouth +himself fled, was not known in the confusion; but the unlucky Lord +Grey was taken early next day, and then another of the party was +taken, who confessed that he had parted from the Duke only four +hours before. Strict search being made, he was found disguised as +a peasant, hidden in a ditch under fern and nettles, with a few +peas in his pocket which he had gathered in the fields to eat. The +only other articles he had upon him were a few papers and little +books: one of the latter being a strange jumble, in his own +writing, of charms, songs, recipes, and prayers. He was completely +broken. He wrote a miserable letter to the King, beseeching and +entreating to be allowed to see him. When he was taken to London, +and conveyed bound into the King's presence, he crawled to him on +his knees, and made a most degrading exhibition. As James never +forgave or relented towards anybody, he was not likely to soften +towards the issuer of the Lyme proclamation, so he told the +suppliant to prepare for death. + +On the fifteenth of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, +this unfortunate favourite of the people was brought out to die on +Tower Hill. The crowd was immense, and the tops of all the houses +were covered with gazers. He had seen his wife, the daughter of +the Duke of Buccleuch, in the Tower, and had talked much of a lady +whom he loved far better - the LADY HARRIET WENTWORTH - who was one +of the last persons he remembered in this life. Before laying down +his head upon the block he felt the edge of the axe, and told the +executioner that he feared it was not sharp enough, and that the +axe was not heavy enough. On the executioner replying that it was +of the proper kind, the Duke said, 'I pray you have a care, and do +not use me so awkwardly as you used my Lord Russell.' The +executioner, made nervous by this, and trembling, struck once and +merely gashed him in the neck. Upon this, the Duke of Monmouth +raised his head and looked the man reproachfully in the face. Then +he struck twice, and then thrice, and then threw down the axe, and +cried out in a voice of horror that he could not finish that work. +The sheriffs, however, threatening him with what should be done to +himself if he did not, he took it up again and struck a fourth time +and a fifth time. Then the wretched head at last fell off, and +James, Duke of Monmouth, was dead, in the thirty-sixth year of his +age. He was a showy, graceful man, with many popular qualities, +and had found much favour in the open hearts of the English. + +The atrocities, committed by the Government, which followed this +Monmouth rebellion, form the blackest and most lamentable page in +English history. The poor peasants, having been dispersed with +great loss, and their leaders having been taken, one would think +that the implacable King might have been satisfied. But no; he let +loose upon them, among other intolerable monsters, a COLONEL KIRK, +who had served against the Moors, and whose soldiers - called by +the people Kirk's lambs, because they bore a lamb upon their flag, +as the emblem of Christianity - were worthy of their leader. The +atrocities committed by these demons in human shape are far too +horrible to be related here. It is enough to say, that besides +most ruthlessly murdering and robbing them, and ruining them by +making them buy their pardons at the price of all they possessed, +it was one of Kirk's favourite amusements, as he and his officers +sat drinking after dinner, and toasting the King, to have batches +of prisoners hanged outside the windows for the company's +diversion; and that when their feet quivered in the convulsions of +death, he used to swear that they should have music to their +dancing, and would order the drums to beat and the trumpets to +play. The detestable King informed him, as an acknowledgment of +these services, that he was 'very well satisfied with his +proceedings.' But the King's great delight was in the proceedings +of Jeffreys, now a peer, who went down into the west, with four +other judges, to try persons accused of having had any share in the +rebellion. The King pleasantly called this 'Jeffreys's campaign.' +The people down in that part of the country remember it to this day +as The Bloody Assize. + +It began at Winchester, where a poor deaf old lady, MRS. ALICIA +LISLE, the widow of one of the judges of Charles the First (who had +been murdered abroad by some Royalist assassins), was charged with +having given shelter in her house to two fugitives from Sedgemoor. +Three times the jury refused to find her guilty, until Jeffreys +bullied and frightened them into that false verdict. When he had +extorted it from them, he said, 'Gentlemen, if I had been one of +you, and she had been my own mother, I would have found her +guilty;' - as I dare say he would. He sentenced her to be burned +alive, that very afternoon. The clergy of the cathedral and some +others interfered in her favour, and she was beheaded within a +week. As a high mark of his approbation, the King made Jeffreys +Lord Chancellor; and he then went on to Dorchester, to Exeter, to +Taunton, and to Wells. It is astonishing, when we read of the +enormous injustice and barbarity of this beast, to know that no one +struck him dead on the judgment-seat. It was enough for any man or +woman to be accused by an enemy, before Jeffreys, to be found +guilty of high treason. One man who pleaded not guilty, he ordered +to be taken out of court upon the instant, and hanged; and this so +terrified the prisoners in general that they mostly pleaded guilty +at once. At Dorchester alone, in the course of a few days, +Jeffreys hanged eighty people; besides whipping, transporting, +imprisoning, and selling as slaves, great numbers. He executed, in +all, two hundred and fifty, or three hundred. + +These executions took place, among the neighbours and friends of +the sentenced, in thirty-six towns and villages. Their bodies were +mangled, steeped in caldrons of boiling pitch and tar, and hung up +by the roadsides, in the streets, over the very churches. The +sight and smell of heads and limbs, the hissing and bubbling of the +infernal caldrons, and the tears and terrors of the people, were +dreadful beyond all description. One rustic, who was forced to +steep the remains in the black pot, was ever afterwards called 'Tom +Boilman.' The hangman has ever since been called Jack Ketch, +because a man of that name went hanging and hanging, all day long, +in the train of Jeffreys. You will hear much of the horrors of the +great French Revolution. Many and terrible they were, there is no +doubt; but I know of nothing worse, done by the maddened people of +France in that awful time, than was done by the highest judge in +England, with the express approval of the King of England, in The +Bloody Assize. + +Nor was even this all. Jeffreys was as fond of money for himself +as of misery for others, and he sold pardons wholesale to fill his +pockets. The King ordered, at one time, a thousand prisoners to be +given to certain of his favourites, in order that they might +bargain with them for their pardons. The young ladies of Taunton +who had presented the Bible, were bestowed upon the maids of honour +at court; and those precious ladies made very hard bargains with +them indeed. When The Bloody Assize was at its most dismal height, +the King was diverting himself with horse-races in the very place +where Mrs. Lisle had been executed. When Jeffreys had done his +worst, and came home again, he was particularly complimented in the +Royal Gazette; and when the King heard that through drunkenness and +raging he was very ill, his odious Majesty remarked that such +another man could not easily be found in England. Besides all +this, a former sheriff of London, named CORNISH, was hanged within +sight of his own house, after an abominably conducted trial, for +having had a share in the Rye House Plot, on evidence given by +Rumsey, which that villain was obliged to confess was directly +opposed to the evidence he had given on the trial of Lord Russell. +And on the very same day, a worthy widow, named ELIZABETH GAUNT, +was burned alive at Tyburn, for having sheltered a wretch who +himself gave evidence against her. She settled the fuel about +herself with her own hands, so that the flames should reach her +quickly: and nobly said, with her last breath, that she had obeyed +the sacred command of God, to give refuge to the outcast, and not +to betray the wanderer. + +After all this hanging, beheading, burning, boiling, mutilating, +exposing, robbing, transporting, and selling into slavery, of his +unhappy subjects, the King not unnaturally thought that he could do +whatever he would. So, he went to work to change the religion of +the country with all possible speed; and what he did was this. + +He first of all tried to get rid of what was called the Test Act - +which prevented the Catholics from holding public employments - by +his own power of dispensing with the penalties. He tried it in one +case, and, eleven of the twelve judges deciding in his favour, he +exercised it in three others, being those of three dignitaries of +University College, Oxford, who had become Papists, and whom he +kept in their places and sanctioned. He revived the hated +Ecclesiastical Commission, to get rid of COMPTON, Bishop of London, +who manfully opposed him. He solicited the Pope to favour England +with an ambassador, which the Pope (who was a sensible man then) +rather unwillingly did. He flourished Father Petre before the eyes +of the people on all possible occasions. He favoured the +establishment of convents in several parts of London. He was +delighted to have the streets, and even the court itself, filled +with Monks and Friars in the habits of their orders. He constantly +endeavoured to make Catholics of the Protestants about him. He +held private interviews, which he called 'closetings,' with those +Members of Parliament who held offices, to persuade them to consent +to the design he had in view. When they did not consent, they were +removed, or resigned of themselves, and their places were given to +Catholics. He displaced Protestant officers from the army, by +every means in his power, and got Catholics into their places too. +He tried the same thing with the corporations, and also (though not +so successfully) with the Lord Lieutenants of counties. To terrify +the people into the endurance of all these measures, he kept an +army of fifteen thousand men encamped on Hounslow Heath, where mass +was openly performed in the General's tent, and where priests went +among the soldiers endeavouring to persuade them to become +Catholics. For circulating a paper among those men advising them +to be true to their religion, a Protestant clergyman, named +JOHNSON, the chaplain of the late Lord Russell, was actually +sentenced to stand three times in the pillory, and was actually +whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. He dismissed his own brother-in- +law from his Council because he was a Protestant, and made a Privy +Councillor of the before-mentioned Father Petre. He handed Ireland +over to RICHARD TALBOT, EARL OF TYRCONNELL, a worthless, dissolute +knave, who played the same game there for his master, and who +played the deeper game for himself of one day putting it under the +protection of the French King. In going to these extremities, +every man of sense and judgment among the Catholics, from the Pope +to a porter, knew that the King was a mere bigoted fool, who would +undo himself and the cause he sought to advance; but he was deaf to +all reason, and, happily for England ever afterwards, went tumbling +off his throne in his own blind way. + +A spirit began to arise in the country, which the besotted +blunderer little expected. He first found it out in the University +of Cambridge. Having made a Catholic a dean at Oxford without any +opposition, he tried to make a monk a master of arts at Cambridge: +which attempt the University resisted, and defeated him. He then +went back to his favourite Oxford. On the death of the President +of Magdalen College, he commanded that there should be elected to +succeed him, one MR. ANTHONY FARMER, whose only recommendation was, +that he was of the King's religion. The University plucked up +courage at last, and refused. The King substituted another man, +and it still refused, resolving to stand by its own election of a +MR. HOUGH. The dull tyrant, upon this, punished Mr. Hough, and +five-and-twenty more, by causing them to be expelled and declared +incapable of holding any church preferment; then he proceeded to +what he supposed to be his highest step, but to what was, in fact, +his last plunge head-foremost in his tumble off his throne. + +He had issued a declaration that there should be no religious tests +or penal laws, in order to let in the Catholics more easily; but +the Protestant dissenters, unmindful of themselves, had gallantly +joined the regular church in opposing it tooth and nail. The King +and Father Petre now resolved to have this read, on a certain +Sunday, in all the churches, and to order it to be circulated for +that purpose by the bishops. The latter took counsel with the +Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in disgrace; and they resolved +that the declaration should not be read, and that they would +petition the King against it. The Archbishop himself wrote out the +petition, and six bishops went into the King's bedchamber the same +night to present it, to his infinite astonishment. Next day was +the Sunday fixed for the reading, and it was only read by two +hundred clergymen out of ten thousand. The King resolved against +all advice to prosecute the bishops in the Court of King's Bench, +and within three weeks they were summoned before the Privy Council, +and committed to the Tower. As the six bishops were taken to that +dismal place, by water, the people who were assembled in immense +numbers fell upon their knees, and wept for them, and prayed for +them. When they got to the Tower, the officers and soldiers on +guard besought them for their blessing. While they were confined +there, the soldiers every day drank to their release with loud +shouts. When they were brought up to the Court of King's Bench for +their trial, which the Attorney-General said was for the high +offence of censuring the Government, and giving their opinion about +affairs of state, they were attended by similar multitudes, and +surrounded by a throng of noblemen and gentlemen. When the jury +went out at seven o'clock at night to consider of their verdict, +everybody (except the King) knew that they would rather starve than +yield to the King's brewer, who was one of them, and wanted a +verdict for his customer. When they came into court next morning, +after resisting the brewer all night, and gave a verdict of not +guilty, such a shout rose up in Westminster Hall as it had never +heard before; and it was passed on among the people away to Temple +Bar, and away again to the Tower. It did not pass only to the +east, but passed to the west too, until it reached the camp at +Hounslow, where the fifteen thousand soldiers took it up and echoed +it. And still, when the dull King, who was then with Lord +Feversham, heard the mighty roar, asked in alarm what it was, and +was told that it was 'nothing but the acquittal of the bishops,' he +said, in his dogged way, 'Call you that nothing? It is so much the +worse for them.' + +Between the petition and the trial, the Queen had given birth to a +son, which Father Petre rather thought was owing to Saint Winifred. +But I doubt if Saint Winifred had much to do with it as the King's +friend, inasmuch as the entirely new prospect of a Catholic +successor (for both the King's daughters were Protestants) +determined the EARLS OF SHREWSBURY, DANBY, and DEVONSHIRE, LORD +LUMLEY, the BISHOP OF LONDON, ADMIRAL RUSSELL, and COLONEL SIDNEY, +to invite the Prince of Orange over to England. The Royal Mole, +seeing his danger at last, made, in his fright, many great +concessions, besides raising an army of forty thousand men; but the +Prince of Orange was not a man for James the Second to cope with. +His preparations were extraordinarily vigorous, and his mind was +resolved. + +For a fortnight after the Prince was ready to sail for England, a +great wind from the west prevented the departure of his fleet. +Even when the wind lulled, and it did sail, it was dispersed by a +storm, and was obliged to put back to refit. At last, on the first +of November, one thousand six hundred and eighty-eight, the +Protestant east wind, as it was long called, began to blow; and on +the third, the people of Dover and the people of Calais saw a fleet +twenty miles long sailing gallantly by, between the two places. On +Monday, the fifth, it anchored at Torbay in Devonshire, and the +Prince, with a splendid retinue of officers and men, marched into +Exeter. But the people in that western part of the country had +suffered so much in The Bloody Assize, that they had lost heart. +Few people joined him; and he began to think of returning, and +publishing the invitation he had received from those lords, as his +justification for having come at all. At this crisis, some of the +gentry joined him; the Royal army began to falter; an engagement +was signed, by which all who set their hand to it declared that +they would support one another in defence of the laws and liberties +of the three Kingdoms, of the Protestant religion, and of the +Prince of Orange. From that time, the cause received no check; the +greatest towns in England began, one after another, to declare for +the Prince; and he knew that it was all safe with him when the +University of Oxford offered to melt down its plate, if he wanted +any money. + +By this time the King was running about in a pitiable way, touching +people for the King's evil in one place, reviewing his troops in +another, and bleeding from the nose in a third. The young Prince +was sent to Portsmouth, Father Petre went off like a shot to +France, and there was a general and swift dispersal of all the +priests and friars. One after another, the King's most important +officers and friends deserted him and went over to the Prince. In +the night, his daughter Anne fled from Whitehall Palace; and the +Bishop of London, who had once been a soldier, rode before her with +a drawn sword in his hand, and pistols at his saddle. 'God help +me,' cried the miserable King: 'my very children have forsaken +me!' In his wildness, after debating with such lords as were in +London, whether he should or should not call a Parliament, and +after naming three of them to negotiate with the Prince, he +resolved to fly to France. He had the little Prince of Wales +brought back from Portsmouth; and the child and the Queen crossed +the river to Lambeth in an open boat, on a miserable wet night, and +got safely away. This was on the night of the ninth of December. + +At one o'clock on the morning of the eleventh, the King, who had, +in the meantime, received a letter from the Prince of Orange, +stating his objects, got out of bed, told LORD NORTHUMBERLAND who +lay in his room not to open the door until the usual hour in the +morning, and went down the back stairs (the same, I suppose, by +which the priest in the wig and gown had come up to his brother) +and crossed the river in a small boat: sinking the great seal of +England by the way. Horses having been provided, he rode, +accompanied by SIR EDWARD HALES, to Feversham, where he embarked in +a Custom House Hoy. The master of this Hoy, wanting more ballast, +ran into the Isle of Sheppy to get it, where the fishermen and +smugglers crowded about the boat, and informed the King of their +suspicions that he was a 'hatchet-faced Jesuit.' As they took his +money and would not let him go, he told them who he was, and that +the Prince of Orange wanted to take his life; and he began to +scream for a boat - and then to cry, because he had lost a piece of +wood on his ride which he called a fragment of Our Saviour's cross. +He put himself into the hands of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, +and his detention was made known to the Prince of Orange at Windsor +- who, only wanting to get rid of him, and not caring where he +went, so that he went away, was very much disconcerted that they +did not let him go. However, there was nothing for it but to have +him brought back, with some state in the way of Life Guards, to +Whitehall. And as soon as he got there, in his infatuation, he +heard mass, and set a Jesuit to say grace at his public dinner. + +The people had been thrown into the strangest state of confusion by +his flight, and had taken it into their heads that the Irish part +of the army were going to murder the Protestants. Therefore, they +set the bells a ringing, and lighted watch-fires, and burned +Catholic Chapels, and looked about in all directions for Father +Petre and the Jesuits, while the Pope's ambassador was running away +in the dress of a footman. They found no Jesuits; but a man, who +had once been a frightened witness before Jeffreys in court, saw a +swollen, drunken face looking through a window down at Wapping, +which he well remembered. The face was in a sailor's dress, but he +knew it to be the face of that accursed judge, and he seized him. +The people, to their lasting honour, did not tear him to pieces. +After knocking him about a little, they took him, in the basest +agonies of terror, to the Lord Mayor, who sent him, at his own +shrieking petition, to the Tower for safety. There, he died. + +Their bewilderment continuing, the people now lighted bonfires and +made rejoicings, as if they had any reason to be glad to have the +King back again. But, his stay was very short, for the English +guards were removed from Whitehall, Dutch guards were marched up to +it, and he was told by one of his late ministers that the Prince +would enter London, next day, and he had better go to Ham. He +said, Ham was a cold, damp place, and he would rather go to +Rochester. He thought himself very cunning in this, as he meant to +escape from Rochester to France. The Prince of Orange and his +friends knew that, perfectly well, and desired nothing more. So, +he went to Gravesend, in his royal barge, attended by certain +lords, and watched by Dutch troops, and pitied by the generous +people, who were far more forgiving than he had ever been, when +they saw him in his humiliation. On the night of the twenty-third +of December, not even then understanding that everybody wanted to +get rid of him, he went out, absurdly, through his Rochester +garden, down to the Medway, and got away to France, where he +rejoined the Queen. + +There had been a council in his absence, of the lords, and the +authorities of London. When the Prince came, on the day after the +King's departure, he summoned the Lords to meet him, and soon +afterwards, all those who had served in any of the Parliaments of +King Charles the Second. It was finally resolved by these +authorities that the throne was vacant by the conduct of King James +the Second; that it was inconsistent with the safety and welfare of +this Protestant kingdom, to be governed by a Popish prince; that +the Prince and Princess of Orange should be King and Queen during +their lives and the life of the survivor of them; and that their +children should succeed them, if they had any. That if they had +none, the Princess Anne and her children should succeed; that if +she had none, the heirs of the Prince of Orange should succeed. + +On the thirteenth of January, one thousand six hundred and eighty- +nine, the Prince and Princess, sitting on a throne in Whitehall, +bound themselves to these conditions. The Protestant religion was +established in England, and England's great and glorious Revolution +was complete. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + + +I HAVE now arrived at the close of my little history. The events +which succeeded the famous Revolution of one thousand six hundred +and eighty-eight, would neither be easily related nor easily +understood in such a book as this. + +William and Mary reigned together, five years. After the death of +his good wife, William occupied the throne, alone, for seven years +longer. During his reign, on the sixteenth of September, one +thousand seven hundred and one, the poor weak creature who had once +been James the Second of England, died in France. In the meantime +he had done his utmost (which was not much) to cause William to be +assassinated, and to regain his lost dominions. James's son was +declared, by the French King, the rightful King of England; and was +called in France THE CHEVALIER SAINT GEORGE, and in England THE +PRETENDER. Some infatuated people in England, and particularly in +Scotland, took up the Pretender's cause from time to time - as if +the country had not had Stuarts enough! - and many lives were +sacrificed, and much misery was occasioned. King William died on +Sunday, the seventh of March, one thousand seven hundred and two, +of the consequences of an accident occasioned by his horse +stumbling with him. He was always a brave, patriotic Prince, and a +man of remarkable abilities. His manner was cold, and he made but +few friends; but he had truly loved his queen. When he was dead, a +lock of her hair, in a ring, was found tied with a black ribbon +round his left arm. + +He was succeeded by the PRINCESS ANNE, a popular Queen, who reigned +twelve years. In her reign, in the month of May, one thousand +seven hundred and seven, the Union between England and Scotland was +effected, and the two countries were incorporated under the name of +GREAT BRITAIN. Then, from the year one thousand seven hundred and +fourteen to the year one thousand, eight hundred and thirty, +reigned the four GEORGES. + +It was in the reign of George the Second, one thousand seven +hundred and forty-five, that the Pretender did his last mischief, +and made his last appearance. Being an old man by that time, he +and the Jacobites - as his friends were called - put forward his +son, CHARLES EDWARD, known as the young Chevalier. The Highlanders +of Scotland, an extremely troublesome and wrong-headed race on the +subject of the Stuarts, espoused his cause, and he joined them, and +there was a Scottish rebellion to make him king, in which many +gallant and devoted gentlemen lost their lives. It was a hard +matter for Charles Edward to escape abroad again, with a high price +on his head; but the Scottish people were extraordinarily faithful +to him, and, after undergoing many romantic adventures, not unlike +those of Charles the Second, he escaped to France. A number of +charming stories and delightful songs arose out of the Jacobite +feelings, and belong to the Jacobite times. Otherwise I think the +Stuarts were a public nuisance altogether. + +It was in the reign of George the Third that England lost North +America, by persisting in taxing her without her own consent. That +immense country, made independent under WASHINGTON, and left to +itself, became the United States; one of the greatest nations of +the earth. In these times in which I write, it is honourably +remarkable for protecting its subjects, wherever they may travel, +with a dignity and a determination which is a model for England. +Between you and me, England has rather lost ground in this respect +since the days of Oliver Cromwell. + +The Union of Great Britain with Ireland - which had been getting on +very ill by itself - took place in the reign of George the Third, +on the second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. + +WILLIAM THE FOURTH succeeded George the Fourth, in the year one +thousand eight hundred and thirty, and reigned seven years. QUEEN +VICTORIA, his niece, the only child of the Duke of Kent, the fourth +son of George the Third, came to the throne on the twentieth of +June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven. She was married +to PRINCE ALBERT of Saxe Gotha on the tenth of February, one +thousand eight hundred and forty. She is very good, and much +beloved. So I end, like the crier, with + +GOD SAVE THE QUEEN! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg eText A Child's History of England + diff --git a/old/achoe10.zip b/old/achoe10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d015b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/achoe10.zip |
