diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/achoe10.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/achoe10.txt | 15953 |
1 files changed, 15953 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/achoe10.txt b/old/achoe10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..909a24d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/achoe10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15953 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Child's History of England** +#11 in our series by Charles Dickens + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +A Child's History of England + +by Charles Dickens + +October, 1996 [Etext #699] + + +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Child's History of England** +*****This file should be named achoe10.txt or achoe10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, achoe11.txt. +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, achoe10a.txt. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two text +files per month: or 400 more Etexts in 1996 for a total of 800. +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach 80 billion Etexts. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by the December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only 10% of the present number of computer users. 2001 +should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so it +will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in 2001. + + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/BU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (BU = Benedictine +University). (Subscriptions to our paper newsletter go to BU.) + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +We would prefer to send you this information by email +(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail). + +****** +If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please +FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives: +[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type] + +ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd etext/etext90 through /etext96 +or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information] +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET INDEX?00.GUT +for a list of books +and +GET NEW GUT for general information +and +MGET GUT* for newsletters. + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Benedictine University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Benedictine + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Benedictine University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! 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 + |