Whose death when swift-wing'd Fame at full convey'd
To this disturbed queen, misdoubting nought;
Despite and sorrow such affliction laid
Upon her soul, as wondrous passions wrought.
"And art thou Suffolk, thus," said she, "betray'd?
And have my favours thy destruction brought?
Is this their gain whom highness favoureth;
Who chief preferr'd, stand as preferr'd to death?
"O fatal grace! without which men complain,
And with it perish-what prevails, that we
Must wear the crown, and other men must reign;
And cannot stand to be, that which we be?
Must our own subjects limit and constrain
Our favours, whereas they themselves decree?
Must we our love at their appointment place?
Do we command, and they direct our grace?
"Must they our pow'r thus from our will divide?
And have we might, but must not use our might?
Poor majesty, which other men must guide;
Whose discontent can never look aright.
For evermore we see, those who abide
Gracious in ours, are odious in their sight,
Who would all-mast'ring majesty defeat
Of her best grace; that is, to make men great.
"But well;-we see, although the king be head,
The state will be the heart. This sov'reignty
Is but in place, not pow'r; and governed
By th' equal sceptre of necessity.
And we have seen more princes ruined
By their immod'rate fav'ring privately,
Than by severity in general:
For best he 's lik'd, that is alike to all."
Thus storms this lady, all disquieted;
When as far greater tumults 23 now burst out;
Which close and cunningly were practised,
By such as sought great hopes to bring about.
For up in arms in Kent were gathered
A mighty, insolent, rebellious rout,
Under a dang'rous head; who to deter
The state the more, himself nam'd Mortimer.
The duke of York, that did not idle stand,
(But seeks to work on all advantages)
Had likewise in this course a secret hand,
And hearten'd on their chiefest 'complices;
To try how here the people of the land
Would (if occasion serv'd) be in readiness
To aid that line, if one should come indeed
To move his right, and in due course proceed:
Knowing himself to be the only one
That must attempt the thing, if any should;
And therefore lets the rebel now run on,
With that false name, t' effect the best he could;
To make a way for him to work upon,
Who but on certain ground adventure would.
For if the traitor sped, the gain were his;
If not, yet he stands safe, and blameless is.
23 The commons of Kent assembled themselves in great number; and had to their captain Jack Cade, who named himself Mortimer, cousin to the duke of York; with purpose to redress the abuses of the government.
T'attempt with others' dangers, not his own,
He counts it wisdom if it could be wrought;
And t' have the humour of the people known,
Was now that which was chiefly to be sought.
For with the best he knew himself was grown
In such account, as made him take no thought;
Having observ'd in those he meant to prove,
Their wit, their wealth, their carriage, and their love.
With whom, and with his own alliances,
He first begins to open (in some wise)
The right he had; yet with such doubtfulness,
As rather sorrow than his drift descries:
Complaining of his country's wretchedness,
In what a miserable case it lies;
And how much it imports them to provide
For their defence, against this woman's pride.
Then with the discontented he doth deal,
In sounding theirs, not utt'ring his intent;
As being advis'd not so much to reveal,
Whereby they might be made again content:
But when they grieved for the commonweal,
He doth persuade them to be patient,
And to endure-there was no other course:
Yet so persuades, as makes their malice worse.
And then with such as with the time did run,
In most upright opinion he doth stand;
As one that never cross'd what they begun,
But seem'd to like that which they took in hand:
Seeking all causes of offence to shun,
Praises the rule, and blames the unruly land;
Works so with gifts and kindly offices,
That ev'n of them he serves his turn no less.
Then as for those who were his followers,
(Being all choice men for virtues, or deserts)
He so with grace and benefits prefers,
That he becomes the monarch of their hearts.
He gets the learned for his counsellors,
And cherishes all men of rarest parts:
"To whom good done doth an impression strike
Of joy and love, in all that are alike.”
And now by means of th' intermitted war,
Many most valiant men impov'rished,
Only by him fed and relieved are;
Only respected, grac'd, and honoured.
Which let him in unto their hearts so far,
As they by him were wholly to be led.
"He only treads the sure and perfect path
To greatness, who love and opinion hath."
And to have one some certain province his,
As the main body that must work the feat;
Yorkshire he chose, the place wherein he is
By title, livings, and possessions great.
No country he prefers so much as this;
Here hath his bounty her abiding seat;
Here is his justice and relieving hand,
Ready to all that in distress do stand.
What with his tenants, servants, followers, friends,
And their alliances and amities;
All that shire universally attends
His hand, held up to any enterprise.
And thus far Virtue with her pow'r extends;
The rest, touching th' event, in Fortune lies.
With which accomplements so mighty grown,
Forward he tends with hope t' attain a crown.
HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR.
The bad success of Cade's rebellion.
York's open practice, and conspiracy:
His coming in; and his submission.
Th' effect of printing, and artillery.
Bourdeaux revolts; craves our protection.
Talbot, defending ours, dies gloriously.
The French wars end-and York begins again;
And at St. Alban's Somerset is slain.
THE furious train of that tumultuous rout',
Whom close sub-aiding pow'r, and good success,
Had made unwisely proud, and fondly stout,
Thrust headlong on, oppression to oppress;
And now to fulness grown, boldly give out,
That they the public wrongs meant to redress.
"Formless themselves, reforming do pretend;
As if confusion could disorder mend."
And on they march with their false-named head,
Of base and vulgar birth, though noble feign'd;
Who puff'd with vain desires, to London led
His rash, abused troops, with shadows train'd.
When as the king thereof ascertained,
Supposing some small pow'r would have restrain'd
Disorder'd rage; sends with a simple crew,
Sir Humphrey Stafford, whom they overthrew.
Which so increas'd th' opinion of their might,
That much it gave to do, and much it wrought;
Confirm'd their rage, drew on the vulgar wight,
Call'd forth the tim'rous, fresh partakers brought.
For many, though most glad their wrongs to right,
Yet durst not venture their estates for nought:
But seeing the cause had such advantage got,
Occasion makes them stir, that else would not.
The commons of Kent, with their leader, Jack Cade, divulge their many grievances: amongst which, that the king was driven to live only on his commons, and other men to enjoy the revenues of the crown; which caused poverty in his majesty, and the great payments of the people, now late granted to the king in parliament. Also they desire, that the king would remove all the false progeny and affinity of the late duke of Suffolk, which be openly known; and them to punish: and to take about his person the true lords of his royal blood; to wit, the mighty prince, the duke
of York, late exiled by the traitorous motion of the false duke of Suffolk, and his affinity, &c. Also they crave, that they who contrived the death of the high and mighty prince, Humphrey duke of Glocester, might have punishment.
So much he errs that scorns, or else neglects
The small beginnings of arising broils;
And censures others, not his own defects,
And with a self-conceit himself beguiles:
Thinking small force will compass great effects,
And spares at first to buy more costly toils:
"When true-observing Providence, in war,
Still makes her foes far stronger than they are."
Yet this good fortune all their fortune marr'd;
"Which fools by helping ever doth suppress:"
For wareless insolence (whilst undebarr'd
Of bounding awe) runs on to such excess,
That following lust, and spoil, and blood so hard,
Sees not how they procure their own distress.
The better, loathing courses so impure,
Rather will like their wounds than such a cure.
For whilst this wild, unreined multitude
(Led with an unforeseeing, greedy mind,
Of an imagin'd good, that did delude
Their ignorance, in their desires made blind)
Ransack the city, and (with hands embru'd)
Run to all outrage in th' extremest kind;
Heaping up wrath and horrour more and more,
They add fresh guilt to mischiefs done before.
And yet seeing all this sorting to no end,
But to their own; no promis'd aid t' appear;
No such partakers as they did attend,
Nor such successes as imagin'd were;
Good men resolv'd the present to defend ;
Justice against them, with a brow severe;
Themselves fear'd of themselves; tir'd with excess,
"Found mischief was no fit way to redress."
And as they stand in desp'rate comberment,
Environ'd round with horrour, blood, and shame;
Cross'd of their course, despairing of th' event,
A pardon (that smooth bait for baseness) came;
Which as a snare to catch the impotent, [same:
Being once pronounc'd, they straight embrace the
And as huge snowy mountains melt with heat,
So they dissolv'd with hope, and home they get;
Leaving their captain' to discharge alone
The shot of blood, consumed in their heat;
Was one man's breath, which thousands did defeat,
Too small a sacrifice for mischiefs done,
"Unrighteous Death, why art thou but all one
Unto the small offender and the great?
Why aft thou not more than thou art, to those
That thousands spoil, and thousands lives do lose?”
This fury passing with so quick an end,
Disclos'd not those that on th' advantage lay;
Who seeing the course to such disorder tend,
Withdrew their foot, asham'd to take that way;
Or else prevented whilst they did attend
Some mightier force, or for occasion stay:
But what they meant, ill fortune must not tell;
Mischief being oft made good by speeding well.
Put by from this, the duke of York' designs
Another course to bring his hopes about;
And with those friends affinity combines
In surest bonds, his thoughts he poureth out;
3 The duke of York, who at this time was in Ireland, (sent thither to appease a rebellion; which
And closely feels and closely undermines
The faith of whom he had both hope and doubt;
Meaning in more apparent, open course,
To try his right, his fortune, and his force.
Love and alliance had most firmly join'd
Unto his part that mighty family,
The far distended stock of Nevil's kind;
Great by their many-issu'd progeny;
But greater by their worth, that clearly shin'd,
And gave fair light to their nobility;
So that each corner of the land became
Enrich'd with some great worthy of that name.
But greatest in renown doth Warwick sit;
That brave king-maker, Warwick, so far grown
In grace with Fortune, that he governs it,
And monarchs makes; and made, again puts down.
What revolutions his first-moving wit
Here brought about, are more than too well known;
The fatal kindle-fire of those hot days;
Whose worth I may, whose work I cannot praise.
With him, with Richard earl of Salisbury,
Courtney and Brooke, and other his dear friends,
He intimates his mind; and openly
The present bad proceedings discommends;
Laments the state, the people's misery,
And (that which such a pitier seldom mends)
Oppression, that sharp two-edged sword,
That others wounds, and wounds likewise his lord.
"And seem to cry, 'What! can you thus behold
Their hateful feet upon our graves should tread?
Your fathers' graves; who gloriously did hold
That which your shame hath left recovered?
Redeem our tombs, O spirits too too cold;
Pull back these tow'rs our arms have honoured:
These tow'rs are yours: these forts we built for you:
These walls do bear our names, and are your due.'
"Thus well they may upbraid our wretchlessness,
Whilst we (as if at league with infamy)
Riot away for nought whole provinces;
Give up as nothing worth all Normandy;
Traffic important holds, sell fortresses
So long, that nought is left but misery,
Poor Calais, and these water-walls about,
That basely pound us in from breaking out.
"And (which is worse) I fear we shall in th' end
(Thrown from the glory of invading war)
Be forc'd our proper limits to defend ;
Wherever men are not the same they are;
The hope of conquest doth their spirits extend
Beyond the usual pow'rs of valour far.
For more is he that ventureth for more,
Than who fights but for what he had before.
"Put to your hands, therefore, to rescue now
Th' endanger'd state (dear lords) from this disgrace;
And let us in our honour labour how
To bring this scorned land in better case.
No doubt but God our action will allow,
That knows my right, and how they rule the place,
Whose weakness calls up our unwillingness,
"My lords," saith he, "how things are carry'd here, As op'ning ev'n the door to our redress.
In this corrupted state, you plainly see;
What burden our abused shoulders bear,
Charg'd with the weight of imbecility:
And in what base account all we appear,
That stand without their grace that all must be;
And who they be, and how their course succeeds,
Our shame reports, and time bewrays their deeds.
"Anjou and Main, (the maim that foul appears;
Th' eternal scar of our dismember'd land)
Guien, all lost; that did three hundred years
Remain subjected under our command.
From whence methinks there sounds unto our ears
The voice of those dear ghosts, whose living hand
Got it with sweat, and kept it with their blood,
To do us (thankless us) their offspring good:
he effected in such sort, as got him and his lineage exceeding love and liking with that people ever after) returning home, and pretending great injuries to be offered him, both whilst he was in the king's service, and likewise upon his landing in North Wales; combines himself with Richard Nevil, earl of Salisbury, second son to Ralph, earl of Westmorland, (whose daughter he had married) and with Richard Nevil (the son) earl of Warwick, with other his especial friends; with whom he consults for the reformation of the government, after he had complained of the great disorders therein laying the blame, for the loss of Normandy, upon the duke of Somerset; whom, upon his returning thence, he caused to be arrested and committed.
"Though I protest, it is not for a crown
My soul is mov'd; (yet if it be my right,
I have no reason to refuse mine own)
But only these indignities to right.
And what if God (whose judgments are unknown)
Hath me ordain'd the man; that by my might
My country shall be bless'd? If so it be;
By helping me, you raise yourselves with me."
Those in whom zeal and amity had bred
A fore impression of the right he had,
These stirring words so much encouraged,
That (with desire of innovation mad)
They seem'd to run afore, not to be led,
And to his fire do quicker fuel add:
For where such humours are prepar'd before,
The op'ning them makes them abound the more.
Then counsel take they, fitting their desire :
(For nought that fits not their desire is weigh'd)
The duke is straight advised to retire
Into the bounds of Wales, to levy aid:
Which, under smooth pretence, he doth require;
T' amove such persons as the state betray'd;
And to redress th' oppression of the land;
The charm which weakness seldom doth withstand.
* The duke of York raiseth an army in the Marches of Wales, under pretext to remove divers counsellors about the king; and to revenge the manifest injuries done to the commonwealth: and withal he publisheth a declaration of his loyalty, and the wrongs done him by his adversaries; offer
Ten thousand straight caught with this bait of | No noise of tumult ever wak'd them all;
Are towards greater look'd-for forces led; [breath,
Whose pow'r the king by all means travaileth,
In their arising to have ruined:
But their preventing head so compasseth, That all ambushments warily are fled; Refusing ought to hazard by the way, Keeping his greatness for a greater day.
And to the city straight directs his course;
The city, seat of kings, and king's chief grace!
Where having found his entertainment worse
By far than he expected in that place;
Much disappointed, draws from thence his force,
And towards better trust marcheth apace;
And down in Kent, (fatal for discontents)
Near to thy banks, fair Thames, doth pitch his tents.
And there, intrench'd, plants his artillery;
Artillery, th' infernal instrument"
New brought from Hell, to scourge mortality
With hideous roaring and astonishment.
Engine of horrour! fram'd to terrify
And tear the Earth, and strongest tow'rs to rent:
Torment of thunder! made to mock the skies,
As more of pow'r in our calamities.
If that first fire subtle Prometheus brought,
Stol'n out of Heav'n, did so afflict mankind,
That ever since plagu'd with a curious thought
Of stirring search, could never quiet find;
What hath he done, who now by stealth hath got
Lightning and thunder both, in wondrous kind?
What plague deserves so proud an enterprise?
Tell, Muse; and how it came; and in what wise.
It was the time when fair Europa' sat
With many goodly diadems address'd,
And all her parts (in flourishing estate)
Lay beautiful, in order, at their rest.
No swelling member, unproportionate,
Grown out of form, sought to disturb the rest:
The less subsisting by the greaters's might;
The greater by the lesser kept upright.
ing to take his oath upon the blessed sacrament, to have been ever true liege-man to the king, and so ever to continue. Which declaration was written from his castle of Ludlow, January 9, anno reg. 30. Feb. 16, the king, with the duke of Somerset, and other lords, set forward towards the Marches; but the duke of York took other ways, and made up towards London.
The use of guns, and great ordnance, began
about this time, or not long before.
This principal part of Europe, which contained the most flourishing state of Christendom, was at this time in the hands of many several princes and commonwealths, which quietly governed the same: for being so many, and none over-great, they were less attemptive to disturb others, and more careful to keep their own, with a mutual correspondence of amity. As Italy had then many more principalities and commonwealths than it hath. Spain was divided into many kingdoms. France consisted of divers free princes. Both the Germanies, of many more governments.
Only perhaps some private jar within,
For titles, or for confines, might befall;
Which ended, soon made better love begin;
But no eruption did in general
Break down their rest with universal sin:
No public shock disjointed this fair frame,
Till Nemesis from out the Orient came;
Fierce Nemesis, mother of Fate and Change!
Sword-bearer of th' eternal Providence!
(That had so long with such afflictions strange
Confounded Asia's proud magnificence,
And brought foul impious Barbarism to range
On all the glory of her excellence)
Turns her stern look at last unto the West,
As griev'd to see on Earth such happy rest.
And for Pandora calleth presently;
Pandora, Jove's fair gift, that first deceiv'd
Poor Epimetheus imbecility,
That thought he had a wondrous boon receiv'd;
By means whereof curious Mortality
Was of all former quiet quite bereav'd:
To whom being come, deck'd with all qualities,
The wrathful goddess breaks out in this wise:
"Dost thou not see in what secure estate
Those flourishing fair western parts remain ?
As if they had made covenant with Fate,
To be exempted free from others' pain;
At one with their desires, friends with debate;
In peace with pride, content with their own gain;
Their bounds contain their minds, their minds ap-
To have their bounds with plenty beautify'd. [ply'd
"Devotion (mother of Obedience)
Bears such a hand on their credulity,
That it abates the spirit of eminence,
And busies them with humble piety.
For see what works, what infinite expen se,
What monuments of zeal they edify!
As if they would (so that no stop were found)
Fill all with temples, make all holy ground.
"But we must cool this all-believing zeal,
That hath enjoy'd so fair a turn so long;
Other desires, other designs among:
And other revolutions must reveal,
Dislike of this first by degrees shall steal
Upon the souls of men, persuaded wrong;
And that abused pow'r which thus hath wrought,
Shall give herself the sword to cut her throat.
"Go therefore thou, with all thy stirring train
Of swelling sciences, the gifts of grief;
Go loose the links of that soul-binding chain,
Enlarge this uninquisitive belief:
Call up men's spirits, that simpleness retain;
Enter their hearts, and knowledge make the thief,
To open all the doors, to let in light;
That all may all things see, but what is right.
"Opinion arm against opinion grown;
Make new-born contradiction still to rise,
As if Thebes' founder (Cadmus) tongues had sown
Instead of teeth, for greater mutinies.
Bring new-defended faith against faith known;
Weary the soul with contrarieties;
Till all religion become retrograde,
And that fair 'tire the mask of sin be made.
"And better to effect a speedy end,
Let there be found two fatal instruments;
The one to publish, th' other to defend
Impious contention, and proud discontents:
Make, that instamped characters may send
Abroad to thousands, thousand men's intent;
And in a moment may dispatch much more,
Than could a world of pens perform before.
"Whereby all quarrels, titles, secrecies,
May unto all be presently made known;
Factions prepar'd, parties allur'd to rise;
Sedition under fair pretensions sown ;
Whereby the vulgar may become so wise,
That (with a self-presumption over-grown)
They may of deepest mysteries debate,
Control their betters, censure acts of state.
"And then when this dispersed mischief shall
Have brought confusion in each mystery,
Call'd up contempt of states in general,
Ripen'd the humour of impiety;
Then have they th' other engine, wherewithal
They may torment their self-wrought misery,
And scourge each other in so strange a wise,
As time or tyrants never could devise.
"For by this stratagem they shall confound
All th' ancient form and discipline of war;
Alter their camps, alter their fights, their ground;
Daunt mighty spirits, prowess and manhood mar:
For basest cowards from a-far shall wound
The most courageous, forc'd to fight a-far;
Valour wrapt up in smoke, (as in the night)
Shall perish without witness, without sight.
"But first, before this general disease
Break forth into so great extremity,
Prepare it by degrees: first kill this ease;
Spoil this proportion; mar this harmony:
Make greater states upon the lesser seize;
Join many kingdoms to one sov'reignty:
Raise a few great, that may (with greater pow'r)
Slaughter each other, and mankind devour.
"And first begin with factions to divide
The fairest land; that from her thrusts the rest,
As if she car'd not for the world beside:
A world within herself, with wonders bless'd!
Raise such a strife as time shall not decide,,
Till the dear blood of most of all her best
Be poured forth; and all her people toss'd
With unkind tumults, and almost all lost.
"Let her be made the sable stage, whereon
Shall first be acted bloody tragedies;
That all the neighbour-states gazing thereon,
May make their profit by her miseries:
And those whom she before had march'd upon,
(Having by this both time and mean to rise)
Made martial by her arms, should grow so great,
As (save their own) no force shall them defeat.
"Then when their pow'r, unable to sustain
And bear itself, upon itself shall fall,
She may (recover'd of her wounds again)
Sit and behold their parts as tragical,
For there must come a time, that shall obtain
Truce for distress; when make-peace Hymen shall
Bring the conjoined adverse pow'rs to bed,
And set the crown (made one) upon one head.
"Out of which blessed union shall arise
A sacred branch, (with grace and glory bless'd)
Whose virtue shall her land so patronize,
As all our pow'r shall not her days molest:
For she (fair she) the minion of the skies,
Shall purchase (of the high'st) to her's such rest,
(Standing between the wrath of Heav'n and them)
As no distress shall touch her diadem;
"And from the rocks of safety shall descry
The wondrous wrecks that wrath lays ruined:
All round about her blood and misery;
Powers betray'd, princes slain, kings massacred;
States all confus'd, brought to calamity,
And all the face of kingdoms altered:
Yet she the same inviolable stands,
Dear to her own, wonder to other lands.
"But let not her defence discourage thee,
For never one but she shall have this grace,
From all disturbs to be so long kept free,
And with such glory to discharge that place.
And therefore, if by such a pow'r thou be
Stopt of thy course; reckon it no disgrace;
Sith she alone (b'ing privileg'd from high)
Hath this large patent of her dignity."
This charge the goddess gave-when ready straight
The subtle messenger, accompany'd
With all her crew of arts that on her wait,
Hastes to effect what she was counselled:
And out she pours of her immense conceit,
Upon such searching spirits as travailed
In penetrating hidden secrecies;
Who soon these means of misery devise.
And boldly breaking with rebellious mind
Into their mother's close-lock'd treasury,
They minerals combustible do find,
Which (in stopt concaves placed cunningly)
They fire: and fire imprison'd against kind,
Tears out a way, thrusts out his enemy;
Barking with such a horrour, as if wroth
With man, that wrongs himself and nature both.
And this beginning had this cursed frame,
Which York now planted hath against his king;
Presuming by his pow'r, and by the same,
His purpose unto good effect to bring;
When divers of the gravest council came,
Sent from the king, to understand what thing
Had thrust him into these proceedings bad;
And what he sought, and what intent he had.
The duke of York being not admitted into the city, passed over Kingston Bridge, and so into Kent; and on Brent-Heath, near Dartford, pitched his field. The king makes after, and embatteled upon Black-Heath: from whence he sends the bishops of
The many states of Christendom reduced to a Winchester and Ely, with the earls of Salisbury and
Warwick, to mediate a peace.
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