CHAP. II. July 8. July 9. July 11. Return of the duke of York. The offer, after some demur, was gratefully accepted, and the army immediately dispersed. Cade, however, two days later repenting of his credulity, again unfurled his banner, and found men prepared to rejoin it. But their number was too small to attack the city; they retired from Southwark through Dartford to Rochester, and there quarrelled among themselves respecting the partition of their plunder. The captain in despair mounted his horse, and fled towards Lewes in Sussex. He was followed by an esquire, called Alexander Iden, who discovered him in a garden, and slew him after an obstinate defence. Iden received from the king a thousand marks, the reward which had been offered by proclamation.142 Several of Cade's associates were taken and executed; of whom some, if we may believe a subsequent act of attainder against the duke of York, confessed on the scaffold, that it had been their intention to place that prince on the throne.143 During his absence the interests of the duke had been intrusted to the care of his friends: now it was deemed time that he should appear on the scene in person. Leaving his govern 142 That Cade accepted the pardon, but afterwards repented of it, is stated in the proclamation against him, dated July 10 (Apud Stow, p. 391). Hence in his attainder no mention is made of any act of treason committed by him before the 8th of July (Rot. Parl. v. 224). Iden's reward is noticed in Rym. xi. 275. 143 Rot. Parl. v. 346. II. ment of Ireland without permission, he landed CHAP. in England; and to the terror of the court hastened towards London with a retinue of four Sept. 1. thousand men. On his road through Northamptonshire he sent for William Tresham, the speaker of the late house of commons, a partisan who had distinguished himself by his zeal in the prosecution of Suffolk: but Tresham had hardly Sept. 22. left his own home, when he was intercepted and murdered by a party of armed men belonging to the lord Grey of Ruthyn, probably in revenge of the part which he had acted, in procuring the death of the late minister. York pursued his journey, was introduced to Henry, behaved with insolence in his presence, extorted a promise that he would summon a parliament, and in the interval before its meeting retired to his castle Sept. 30. of Fotheringay."' He was scarcely gone, when the duke of Somerset returned from France. The king and queen hailed his arrival as a blessing. He was the nearest of kin to Henry,115 and it was hoped that his fidelity and services would prove a counterpoise to the ambition of Richard. But unfortunately he came from the loss of 144 145 144 "Unto youre presence, and there bette down the speres and "walles in your chamber," &c. Ibid. Oct. II. CHAP. Normandy, and in the opinion of the people was already numbered among those, who were supposed to have sold to the enemy the inheritance of the crown.' Disputes in parliament. Nov. 6. 146 The session of parliament was unquiet and stormy. The rival leaders boldly opposed each other and though the life of Somerset was threatened, though his treasures were pillaged by the populace, his opponents could not obtain any decided advantage. Young, one of the members for Bristol, moved that as Henry was without children, the duke of York should be declared heir apparent: but the motion met with very feeble support, and the mover was afterwards committed to the Tower. A bill was carried through the lower house to attaint the memory of the duke of Suffolk, and another to remove from the court the duke of Somerset, the dutchess of Suffolk, and most of the king's friends but Henry refused his assent to the first,148 and replied to the other, that he could 148 In this bill was adopted 146 Will. Wyrcest. 473. Rot. Parl. v. 211. 147 Will. Wyrcest. 475. the language of the Kentish insurgents: that Suffolk had been the cause of the arrest and death of the duke of Glocester: and of 66 abridging the days of other princes of the blood." Rot. Parl. v. 226. Yet while he was alive, they never ventured to produce these charges: an omission, which, considering all the circumstances, is a proof of Suffolk's innocence. The other princes mentioned in Cade's memorial were, the duke of Warwick, who was descended from Edmund Langley duke of York, and died 11th June, 1445; cardinal Beaufort, who died April 11th, 1447; and Holand duke II. not dispense with the services of the lords, and CHAP. a few others who had for years been near his person, but would order the rest to absent themselves for twelve months, during which their conduct might be investigated, if any charge could be brought against them.149 At the same time the dutchess of Suffolk, and the persons indicted of treason at the Guildhall during the insurrection, demanded to be brought to trial, and were instantly acquitted.150 raises During the parliament the duke of York held York frequent consultations with his friends; the re- forces, and sult of which was a determination to appeal to submits. the sword on the first favourable occasion.151 For several months the nation was agitated by quarrels between the adherents of the two parties, by acts of violence and bloodshed, and by fruitless attempts to effect a reconciliation.152 of Exeter, who had married the grand-daughter of the duke of Glocester, and died the 5th of August, 1447. 149 Rot. Parl. v. 216. 150 The dutchess was tried before the peers, according to an act passed 1442 (Rot. Parl. v. 56) : the rest before the judges. Wil. Wyrcest. 475. The murderers of Tresham were outlawed. Rot. Parl. 211. 151 His chief friends were the duke of Norfolk, the three heads of the Nevil family, Richard earl of Salisbury, Richard earl of Warwick, and William lord Falconberg, the earl of Devon, and the lords Cromwell, Bergavenny, Latimer, and Cobham. 152 I have omitted in the text the three principal events of the year, as in our ignorance of their causes it is difficult to connect them together. 1. In the spring the earl of Devon besieged the castle of Taunton, held by the lord Bonville, a royalist. The duke of York joined the earl, and Bonville surrendered. Wyrcest. 475. 2. In August, Thomas Nevil, son of the earl of Salisbury, married a niece CHAP. 1452. Jan. 9. Feb. 16. At length the duke repaired to his castle at Ludlow; and, while he raised the tenants of the house of Mortimer in the marches of Wales, published a proclamation containing strong professions of loyalty, and offered to swear fealty to Henry on the sacrament before the bishop of Hereford, and the earl of Shrewsbury. The king at the head of an army immediately marched against him: but York, avoiding the direction of the royalists, advanced to London by a different road, and finding the gates shut against him, proceeded as far as Dartford, in the hope of alluring to his standard the men of Kent. Henry followed him, and from Blackheath sent the bishops of Winchester and Ely to demand an explanation of his conduct. The duke's answer began with the usual protestation ⚫ of his loyalty; complained that both before his departure to Ireland, and since his return to England, attempts had been made to arrest him for treason; and concluded with asserting that he was come to vindicate his innocence, and set of lord Cromwell. In returning from the marriage, Percy lord Egremont, quarrelled with the earl of Salisbury near York. It was, says the writer, the commencement of the greatest calamities to England. Id. p. 476. 3. A great council was held at Coventry. Several men were killed in an affray between the servants of Somerset and the armed townsmen. It was proposed to arrest the duke of York. The duke of Buckingham, a staunch loyalist, prevented it. It was agreed that all differences should be left to the decision of the peers. Id. 476. Fenn's Letters, i. 26. The editor appears to me to have affixed to this letter a wrong date. |