III. CHAP. left open to the invaders. The men of Kent had risen in arms in London Dr. Godard preached at St. Paul's cross in favour of the title of Henry VI.: Warwick proclaimed that monarch, ordered all men between sixteen and sixty to join his standard, and marched with an army, which increased every hour, in a direct line towards Nottingham. The thoughtless king affected to treat the invasion with his usual levity: he was happy that his enemies had at last put themselves in his power; and trusted that the duke of Burgundy would prevent their escape by sea. But the delusion was soon dissipated. Very few of those, who had been summoned, resorted to his quarters at Doncaster; and of these few many took the first opportunity to depart. As he sate at dinner or lay in bed, word was brought that Warwick continued to approach with the utmost expedition: nor had he recovered from his surprise, before a second messenger informed him that six thousand men, who had hitherto worn the white rose, had, at the instigation of Montague, thrown away that device, and tossing their bonnets into the air, had cried, "God bless king Harry." A battalion of guards was immediately dispatched to secure a neighbouring bridge, and the king, after a short consultation with his friends, mounting his horse, rode without stopping to the town of Lynn. He found in the harbour an English ship, and two Dutch brigs; and embarking in them with a few noblemen and about eight hun III. dred followers, compelled the sailors to weigh CHAP. anchor, and to steer immediately for the coast of Holland. The fugitives were descried by a fleet Oct. 3. of pirates from the Hanse towns: and to escape the pursuit of these unknown enemies, the king was compelled to run his vessel on shore. He landed near Alkmaar; was received with every token of respect by Grutuse, the governor of the province; and conducted by him to the Hague to meet the duke of Burgundy. Thus, by his presumption and inactivity, did Edward lose his crown, before he could strike one blow to preserve it.62 Oct. 1. Oct. 6. Queen Elizabeth with her family had remain- Henry is ed in the Tower: but perceiving that the tide of restored. loyalty had turned in favour of Henry, she left that fortress secretly, and fled with her mother and three daughters to the sanctuary of Westminster, where she was shortly afterwards delivered of a son.63 Within a few days Clarence and Warwick made their triumphal entry into the capital. Henry was immediately conducted from the Tower to the bishop's palace: and thence walked in solemn procession, with Oct. 13. the crown on his head, to the cathedral of St. Paul's. His friends attributed his restora 62 Cont. Croyl. 554. 422. Commines, iii, 5. Fragment, 306. Stow, Hall, 209. Edward after his restoration, rewarded Grutuse with the earldom of Winchester, which that nobleman was induced to resign by Henry VII. 43 Stow, 422, 423. Fenn, ii. 52. III. CHAP. tion to the undoubted interposition of heaven; by foreign nations it was viewed with wonder, or treated with ridicule; to himself it is doubtful whether it proved a source of joy or regret. He had been the captive of Edward; he was now become the slave of Warwick.65 Settlement of the succession. Nov. 26. By a parliament summoned in the name of the restored king, Edward was pronounced an usurper, his adherents were attainted, and all acts passed by his authority were repealed. The next step was to ratify the convention of Amboise. An act of settlement entailed the crown on the issue male of Henry VI., and in default of such issue on the duke of Clarence and the heirs of his body: and appointed that prince with his fatherin-law, protectors of the realm, during the minority of Edward, the present prince of Wales. All the lords, who had suffered for their attachment to the cause of Henry, recovered their titles and property: Clarence was made heir to his late father Richard duke of York, promoted to the lieutenancy of Ireland, and in place of some manors, which had belonged to Lancastrians, received other grants of equal, perhaps of 4 Cont. Croyl. 554, who adds, though himself a Yorkist, that the Lancastrians were at that period the more numerous party. Ibid. 63 A foreigner writing on the subject to the cardinal of Pavia, says: Ridebunt posteri, credo, aut ut miracula mirabuntur, cum audierint tantum esse hujus comitis ingenium ut indomitam gentem tam facile regat, novos reges fecerit, his denuo pulsis veteres revocarit, et ipse pulsus intra vertentem annum, multis intra et extra regnum adversantibus, in idem regnum redierit, &c. Hesdini, Oct. xi. 1470. Apud Raynal. eodem anno. superior, value: Warwick reassumed his offices CHAP. 66 foreign 1741 1471 Feb. 13. To no one did this sudden revolution afford Conduct of greater satisfaction than to Louis of France. By powers. his orders it was celebrated with public rejoicings for three days, and Margaret was received at Paris with the same distinction as a queen of France. To compliment Henry, a splendid embassy proceeded to London, and a treaty of peace and commerce for fifteen years cemented the union between the two crowns. 67 The duke of Burgundy on the contrary found himself placed in a most distressing dilemma. Edward had fled to him and solicited his aid. Could he refuse the brother of his consort? The dukes of 66 Cont. Croyl. 554. Rym. xi. 661–679. 693–696. 699–705. When the proceedings of Henry's parliament were afterwards repeal. ed, it is probable that they were also cancelled. They do not now appear on the rolls. Rot. Parl. vi, 191, CHAP. III. Edward lands in England, Exeter and Somerset had reached his court, and reminded him that he was descended from the same ancestor as Henry. Could he contribute to dethrone a prince of his own blood? By aiding Edward, he might provoke Henry to espouse the cause of Louis, who had already wrested from him a rich and populous territory; by refusing to aid him, he should expose himself to equal danger from the friendship between the two crowns. At last he adopted the crooked, but in this instance successful, policy, of rejecting in public, while he favoured in private, the cause of the exile. By proclamation he forbade under severe penalties any of his subjects to lend assistance to Edward: in secret he made him a present of fifty thousand florins; ordered four large ships to be equipped for his use at Vere in Holland; and hired fourteen vessels from the Hanse towns to transport him to England.6 About the middle of Lent the hostile fleet was descried off the coast of Suffolk: but the preparations which had been made, and the activity March 12. of a brother to the earl of Oxford, deterred it from approaching the land. Continuing his course to the north, Edward entered the Humber, and with fifteen hundred men disembarked March 14. at Ravenspur, the very place where Henry IV, 66 Commines, iii. 6. He had 900 English and 300 Flemings, "with hange guns," forte, hande guons. Lell, Coll, ii, 503. |