ever, only showed itself when, as in these instances, his policy made the indulgence of his feelings little costly, appears abundantly manifest from his conduct towards the captive King of Scots, affording, as it did, a contrast to his treatment of young Percy and March. James I. had, when a boy, fallen into the late

1405.

King's hands, by the accident of an English cruizer capturing the vessel which was conveying him to be educated in France. As there was a truce then subsisting between the two kingdoms, no pretext could be framed for detaining the young prince; and the captivity to which he was immediately consigned by the cold-blooded, calculating policy of Henry, broke the heart of the boy's father, Robert the Third. His brother Albany became Regent on his decease, and entered into an agreement with the English King, that on condition his nephew should be detained, the crafty usurper would have nothing to fear on the side of Scotland. Accordingly, James remained in confinement during the remaining seven years of Henry the Fourth's reign. His son, at his succession, found the royal captive still in close custody; and though the good treatment which had been bestowed on him, and the excellent education which he received, mitigated in some sort the evils of his confinement, the touching memorials of the sorrow which he endured remain in his compositions, and attest, if indeed any testimony were wanted, the hardship of such an infliction to a feeling and an honourable mind. But Henry had succeeded to his

father's policy as well as to his crown, and no consideration could induce him to give up so convenient a hostage, or allow the Scottish monarch, thus detained against all law and all justice, to recover his liberty and his throne. James was detained during the whole of this reign, and only suffered to depart in 1424, after a captivity of almost nineteen years, the first twelve of which were passed in close confinement at Nottingham, Windsor, and other places of strength.'

But, however blameable we may hold Henry for persisting in the harsh and unjust policy of his father towards the captive prince, he, at least, had the excuse that he only followed in the footsteps of his predecessor; and certainly the strong prejudices of the nation with regard to Scotland and Scotchmen secured him against any censure, if they did not even insure him applause, for not extending to James the same generosity which he had displayed towards others. It thus was his fortune to begin a reign, resting on no hereditary right, with such general favour towards his personal conduct, as seemed to cast into the shade all the defects of his title; and the just claims of his competitor were as entirely forgotten as the indiscretions of his own earlier years, both being alike lost in admiration of his undoubted accomplishments, and esteem for his supposed virtues.

The first difficulties which he had to encounter arose from the conflict between the church and the 1 Note XXV.

Lollards, followers of the new or reformed doctrines. He had already, before his accession, taken part with the churchmen; and had even been persuaded to join in the petition of 1407, against the mischievous doctrines of which the Lords accused the new sect.' The Primate Arundel, who had some years before succeeded Courtney, as well in his extraordinary zeal against heretics as in the primacy, conceiving that he could turn this favourable inclination to benefit the cause of intolerance, set his engines to work in the first year of Henry's reign.

Since the death of Wycliffe, though the numbers of his followers went on increasing, and the cruel law of Henry IV. had not been rigorously executed, yet two examples had been made, as we have seen, those of Sawtré and Bradbie: there was a growing disposition to enforce the statute; and the Reformers, though they retained even with stronger attachment than ever their particular tenets, were inclined to shun public observation, reading their favourite books at home, and hearing their chosen preachers either in the privacy of their families, or in places remote from the concourse of men. But they had still protectors of eminent station, even of considerable influence. Among these was a person of extraordinary virtue, of high rank, and of such accomplishments also as are apt to fix the regards of the vulgar-Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, a knight greatly distinguished in the wars, a gentleman of unsullied reputa

tion for honour, the head of an ancient house, and by right of marriage a peer of the realm. But these qualities, or accidental illustrations, fade away by the side of his noble courage and unshaken faithfulness to his opinions upon the most momentous of all subjects; opinions gravely taken up, conscientiously cherished, maintained to the death. He had in early life been, like others of his rank, given to the indulgences which fortune placed within his reach; but, having become acquainted with the doctrines of Wycliffe, he had ceased to regard anything as important compared with the pursuit of religious truth, the cultivation of a pure morality, and the helping to free mankind from the thraldom of popery, and to cleanse the church of Christ from its pollutions. Filled with kindly feelings, his generous nature could ill bear to see his humbler brethren in the true faith suffering under oppression, and as if afraid of openly testifying to the doctrines which, in common with them, he heartily believed. Endued with a dauntless spirit, and himself incapable of submission where he felt he was in the right, he held forth a helping hand to others less capable of resisting unaided the force of the ruling powers.

His mansion of Cowling Castle, in Kent, thus became the resort of the reformed teachers. Whoever dreaded persecution was sure of a shelter under his roof; and the books of Wycliffe, the gospel treasures unlocked by him to the people, the traditions of his wisdom, the commemoration of his virtues, formed

the habitual subjects of meditation or converse within his hospitable walls.'

The steady friendship and the important protection which he thus extended to the sect, as well as the influence of his example, so useful to the progress of the reformed doctrines, not unnaturally excited the jealousy of the church party; and the Primate Arundel was among the first disposed to take the alarm—if he might hope for success, to take counsel also against the formidable adversary. It was resolved to assail him by the new law, to question him closely upon his opinions, and to require an abjuration of all Wycliffe's tenets, under the penalty now denounced against recusants. The crafty prelate saw that his enemy would thus be delivered into his hands; for a refusal to abjure called down the extreme vengeance of the secular arm, while a denial or a recantation ensured the triumph of the orthodox in the disgrace of the dissenter. The Primate's scheme, therefore, seemed skilfully devised; but there lay one serious obstacle in his way. The King, though he leaned strongly against the new sect, and, following in his father's footsteps, was disposed to court the church, had yet so much personal kindness towards Cobham, from early intimacy as well as his natural relish for a character open and fearless like his own, that there seemed no little risk of his support being withheld from the meditated proceeding, if it did not even give him offence. Arundel, therefore, prudently

1 Note XXVI,