VI. family, Henry had devoted a part of his attention CHAP. to the pacification of that island. He nominally intrusted the government, with the title of Duke of York, to his second son Henry: but as the prince was only four years old, sir Edward Poynings was appointed his deputy, and took possession with a small army of one thousand men. Poynings was soon called into the field by the turbulence of O'Hanlan, an Irish chieftain but the natives retired before him into their woods, and thence by sudden and repeated sallies inflicted severe injuries on their opponents. The deputy, attributing his bad success. to the jealousy or perfidy of the earl of Kildare, arrested that nobleman, sent him to England, and summoned a parliament. In that assembly several statutes were enacted to free the lower classes of inhabitants from the grievous impositions of coyne and livery; to break the power of the great lords by the prohibition of maintenance; to preserve the English ascendency within the pale by the revival of the statutes of Kilkenny;70 and to provide for the good government of the English domains by giving to all statutes "lately made in England, and belonging to the public weal of the same," the force of law in Ireland. As the people had been harassed by frequent parliaments, in which ordi .66 70 That forbidding the use of the Irish language was excepted: a proof that the English settlers had by this time generally adopted it. CHAP. VI. Warbeck attempts to land. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. nances were repeatedly made for the sole profit of the chief governor, or of the party which he espoused, it was enacted that for the future no parliament should be holden, till the king had been informed, by the lieutenant and council, of the necessity of the same, and of the acts intended to be passed in it, and had previously given his licence and approbation under the great seal." In these provisions the deputy appears to have had no other object than the welfare of the state: but he was thought to have been swayed by private considerations in the act of attainder which he procured against the earl of Kildare, his family and adherents. Henry, however, whose object it was to strengthen his interest in the sister island, condemned the precipitancy of Poynings, and reversed the attainder in the English parliament. The earl of Desmond, whose guilt was less ambiguous, had previously submitted, had given one of his sons as a hostage for his fidelity, and had taken a second time the oath of allegiance. A free pardon was afterwards granted to the rest of the natives, with the exception of lord Barry and O'Water: and tranquillity was fully restored in the island."2 Three years had now elapsed since the pretender first set forth his claim: and yet, during 71 On Poynings' law, I have followed the opinion of Leland, ii. App. 512--516. 7a Rot. Parl. vi. 482. Rym. xii. 558–562. 567. 634. VI. that long interval, he had never made any at- CHAP. tempt to establish it by legal proof, or to enforce it by an appeal to the sword. This protracted delay, the accounts which had been published of his country and parentage, the punishment of his friends in England, and the pacification of Ireland, made his cause appear desperate: and both the Flemish, whose commerce had been suspended on his account, and the archduke, whose treasury suffered from the deficiency of the customs, began to complain of the countenance which he had hitherto received from the dutchess Margaret. In this emergency he sailed from the coast of Flanders with a few hundreds of adventurers attached to his fortunes, and, while Henry was on a visit to his mother at Latham in Lancashire, made a descent in the neighbourhood of Deal. But the inhabitants, July 3. either believing him an impostor, or urged by the fear of incurring the royal displeasure, attacked the invaders, made one hundred and sixty-nine prisoners, and drove the remainder into their boats. All the captives were hanged by the order of Henry, some in London, and others in different parts of the coast. Warbeck returned in despair to Flanders.73 In autumn the parliament assembled, and at Proceedthe king's request passed a bill of attainder ings in against twenty-one gentlemen who had suffered, ment. 73 Fab. 530. Hall, 37. Stow, 479. Rot. Parl. vi, 504. parlia CHAP. Oct. 27. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. or had been condemned, for their adhesion to the pretender. The other acts of the session were to ratify the peace of Estaples, according to one of the articles of the treaty ;" and to enact the penalty of forfeiture against all persons holding fees, annuities, or offices from the crown (and to these were afterwards added, all possessing lands, hereditaments, and honours by letters patent75), who should neglect to attend in person the king in his wars. But the nation had now grown weary of civil dissension. The extinction or beggary of so many noble and opulent families had proved a useful lesson to the existing generation; and men betrayed a reluctance to engage in contests, in which they knew from experience, that they must either gain the ascendency, or lose their lives or their fortunes. To obviate these disastrous consequences a statute was made, declaring, that no one, who should attend on the king and sovereign lord for the time being, to do him faithful service in his wars, should hereafter, on that account, whatever might be the fortune of battle, be attainted of treason, or incur the penalty of forfeiture. That this act might be set aside by the avarice or the resentment of a successful competitor, was indeed evident: yet it was perhaps the best remedy that could be 74 Rot, Parl. vi. 503-508. Rym, xii. 710. 75 Ibid. vi. 525. HENRY VII. VI. devised for the evil; and a hope was cherished CHAP. both from the reasonableness of the measure, and from the benefits which it promised to all parties, that in future contests it would be generally respected.76 is received The repulse of Warbeck in his late expedition, Warbeck and the complaint of the Flemish merchants, in Scotinduced the archduke to solicit a reconcilia- 1496. tion with Henry: and, after a few conferences Feb. 24, between their respective envoys, the "great 68 treaty of commerce between England and "the Netherlands" was signed. By it every facility was afforded to the trade of the two countries; but there was appended to it a provision, which from this period Henry inserted in every treaty with foreign sovereigns, that each of the contracting parties should banish from his dominions the known enemies of the other: and to preclude the possibility of evasion in the present instance, it was expressly stipulated that Philip should not permit the dutchess to aid or harbour the king's rebels, but should deprive her of her domains, if she acted in opposition to this engagement." Warbeck could no longer remain in Flanders. He sailed to Cork: but the Irish refused to venture their lives in his service. From Cork he passed to Scotland, and exhibited, it was said, to the king, recommendatory letters from Charles VIII. and his friend 76 Stat. 10 Hen, VII, c. 118. "Rym, xii, 579-591, |