'Tis strange those times which brought such hands for blood,

Had not bred tongues to make good any side;
And that no prostituted conscience stood,
Any injustice to have justify'd;

(As men of the forlorn hope, only good
In desperatest acts to be employ'd)

And that none in th' assembly there was found,
That would t' ambitious descant give a ground:
That ev'n himself (forc'd of necessity)
Must be the orator of his own cause.
For having view'd them all, and could espy
None proff'ring once to speak; (all in a pause)
On this friend looks with an inviting eye,
And then on that, (as if he woo'd applause)
Holding the cloth of state still in his hand;
The sign which he would have them understand.
But see'ng none move; with an imperial port
Gath'ring his spir'ts, he rises from his seat;
Doth with such pow'r of words his cause support,
As seems all others' causes to defeat.

"And sure, who works his greatness in that sort,
Must have more pow'rs than those that are born great.
Such revolutions are not wrought, but when
Those spir'ts do work, which must be more than men."

He argues first his right, so long withheld
By th' usurpation of the Lancasters;
"The right of a direct line, always held
The sacred course of blood; our ancestors,
Our laws, our rev'rent customs have upheld
With holy hands. Whence when disorder errs,
What horrours, what confusion do we see ;
Until it be reduc'd where it should be?

"And how it prospers with this wretched land,
Witness the universal misery,

Wherein (as if accurs'd) the realm doth stand;
Depriv'd of state, wealth, honour, dignity:
The church, and commons, underneath the hand
Of violence, extortion, robbery.

No face of order, no respect of laws :

And thus complains of what himself is cause;

"Accusing others' insolence, that they
Exhausted the revenues of the crown;
So that the king was forc'd only to prey
Upon his subjects, poor and wretched grown:
And that they now sought Ireland to betray,
And Calais to the French; which he had known
By th' intercepted notes of their own hand,
Who were the only traitors of the land;
"And yet procur'd th' attainders most unjust
Of others' guiltless and unspotted blood,
Who evermore had labour'd in their trust,
And faithful service for their country's good;
And who with extreme violence were thrust
Quite out of all, spoil'd of their livelihood,
Expos'd to all the miseries of life;
Which they endur'd, to put off blood and strife.
"But since," saith he, "their malice hath no end,
But t' end us all, and to undo the land;
(For which the hateful French gladly attend,
And at this instant have their swords in hand)
And that the God of Heav'n doth seem to bend
Unto our cause, whereto the best men stand;
And that this blood of mine so long time sought,
Reserved seems for something to be wrought:

"It rests within your judgments to upright
Or else to ruin utterly the land:

For this be sure, I must pursue my right
Whilst I have breath, or I and mine can stand.
Think whether this poor state, b'ing in this plight,
Stands not in need of some up-raising hand;
Or whether 't is not time we should have rest,
And this confusion and our wounds redress'd."

This said, he turns aside, and out he goes;
Leaves them to counsel what was to be done :
Where though the most part gather'd were of those
Who with no opposition sure would run;
Yet some, more temp'rate, offer'd to propose
That which was fit to be consider'd on :
Who, though they knew his claim was fair in sight,
Yet thought it now lack'd the right face of right:

Since for the space of threescore years, the crown
Had been in act possess'd, in three descents;
Confirm'd by all the nobles of renown 28,
The people's suffrages, oaths, parli'ments;
So many acts of state, both of our own,
And of all other foreign governments:
"That wrong, by order, may grow right by this;
Sith right th' observer but of order is.

"And then consid'ring first how Bolingbroke,
Landing in Yorkshire but with threescore men,
By the consent of all the kingdom, took
The crown upon him, held for lawful then:
His uncle York, and all the peers betook
Themselves to him, as to their sov'reign; when
King Richard's wrongs, and his propinquity,
Did seem to make no distance in their eye.

"Nor was without example in those days;
Wherein (as in all ages) states do take
The side of public peace, to counterpaise
The weight of wrong, which time may rightful make.
No elderhood Rufus and Henry 29 stays
Th' imperial crown of England t' undertake:
And John before his nephew Arthur speeds;
Whom, though depriv'd, Henry his sou succeeds.

"Edward the Third made sov'reign of the state Upon his father's deprivation was.

All which, though seeming wrongs, yet fairly sat
In their succeeders, and for right did pass."
And if they could so work, t' accommodate
And calm the peers, and please the populace;
They wish'd the crown might where it stood remain,
Succeeding inconvenience to restrain.

Thus th' ancient fathers of the law advise,
Grave baron Thorpe, and learned Fortescue;
Who though they could not fashion otherwise
Those strong-bent humours, which aversive grew;
Yet seem'd to qualify th' extremities,
And some respect more to their sov'reign drew;
That, during life, it was by all agreed
He should be king, and York should him succeed.

28 Non confirmatur tractu temporis, quod de jure ab initio non subsistit.

29 William Rufus and Henry I. preferred before their elder brother.

Thus for the sick preserving Nature strives
Against corruption and the loathsome grave,
When out of Death's cold hand she back reprieves
Th' almost confounded spir❜ts she fain would save;
And them cheers up, illightens, and revives,
Making faint sickness words of health to have,
With looks of life, as if the worst were past;
When straight comes dissolution, and his last.

So fares it with this late revived queen;
Whose victories thus fortunately won,
Have but as only light'ning motions been
Before th ruin that ensu'd thereon.
For now another springing pow'r is seen,
Whereto (as to the new-arising Sun)

All turn their faces, leaving those low rays Of setting fortune, which no climber weighs.

Now is young March more than a duke of York:
For youth, love, grace,and courage, make him more;
All which for Fortune's favour now do work,
Who graceth freshest actors evermore;
Making the first attempt the chiefest work
Of any man's designs that strives therefore.
"The after-seasons are not so well bless'd;
For those first spir'ts make their first actions best."

Now as the Lybian lion, when with pain
The weary hunter hath pursu'd his prey
From rocks to brakes, from thickets to the plain,
And at the point thereon his hands to lay
Hard by his hopes, his eye upon his gain,
Out-rushing from his den, rapts all away;
So comes young March their ends to disappoint,
Who now were grown so near unto the point.

The love of these important southern parts,
Of Essex, Surrey, Middlesex, and Kent,
The queen had wholly lost; as they whose hearts
Grew ill affected to her government,
Upon th' uncivil and presumptuous parts,
Play'd by the northern troops grown insolent;
Whom though she could not govern otherwise,
Yet th' ill that's wrought for her, upon her lies.

"So wretched is this execrable war,

This civil sword-wherein though all we see
Be foul, and all things miserable are,
Yet most distressfull is the victory;
Which is not only th' extreme ruiner
Of others, but her own calamity:

Where who obtains, what he would cannot do:
Their pow'r hath part, who help him thereunto."

The city 33, whose good-will they most desire, (Yet thereunto durst not commit their state) Sends them not those provisions they require; Which seem'd restrained by the people's hate: Yet March's help far off, and near this fire (To win them time) forc'd them to mediate

33 The queen, after the battle of St. Alban's, sent to the mayor of London for certain provisions: who, willing to furnish her therewithal, the commons of the city stayed the same, and would not permit the carts to pass. Whereupon the lord mayor sent to excuse himself, and to appease the displeasure of the queen.

A reconcilement: which well entertain❜d,
Was fairly now grown on, and nearly gain'd :

When with a thousand tongues swift-wing'd Fame
And tells of March's gallant victories; [comes,
Who what withstands subdues; all overcomes;
Making his way through fiercest enemies :
As having now to cast in greater sums
The reck'ning of his hopes, that mainly rise.
His father's death gives more life unto wrath;
And vexed valour greater courage hath.

And now, as for his last, his lab'ring worth
Works on the coast which on fair Severn lies;
Whereto his father (passing to the north)
Sent him to levy other fresh supplies:
But hearing now what Wakefield had brought forth,
Imploring aid against these injuries,
Obtains from Gloc'ster, Worc'ster, Shrewsbury,
Important pow'rs to work his remedy.

Which he against Pembroke and Ormond bends;
Whom Margret (now upon her victory)
With all speed possible from Wakefield sends,
With hope to have surpris'd him suddenly.
Wherein though she all means, all wit extends,
To th' utmost reach of wary policy;
Yet nothing her avails-no plots succeed,
T'avert those mischiefs which the Heav'ns decreed.

For near the Cross" ally'd unto his name,
He cross'd those mighty forces of his foes,
And with a spir't ordain'd for deeds of fame -
Their eager-fighting army overthrows;
Making all clear behind from whence he came,
Bearing down wholly what before him rose,
Like to an all-confounding torrent seems;
And was made more by Warwick's mighty streams.

With th' inundation of which greatness, he
(Having no bounds of pow'r to keep him back)
March'd to the city: at whose entrance free,
No signs of joy, nor no applauding lack.
Whose near approach when this sad queen did see,
(T" avoid these rocks of her near threat'ning wreck)
With her griev'd troops northward she hence de-

parts,

And leaves to youth and fortune these south parts.

34 Jasper earl of Pembroke, and James Butler, earl of Ormond and Wiltshire.

36 The battle of Mortimer's Cross, where Owen Tudor, father to the earl of Pembroke, who had married king Henry's mother, was taken and be headed.

The earl of Warwick, after his overthrow at St. Alban's, retires with all the forces he could make, and joins with the young duke of York; who coming to London, and received with all joy, a great council was presently called of the lords spiritual and temporal; where king Henry was adjudged insufficient for the government of the realm, and to be deprived of all regal authority; and the duke of York elected for king, and after proclaimed by the name of Edward IV. March 4, 1460, at the age of eighteen. And so Henry Vl. after he had reigned thirty-eight years, eight months, was deposed.

Glory with admiration ent'ring now,
Open'd that easy door to his intent,

As that there needs not long time to allow
The right he had unto the government;
Nor Henry's injuries to disavow,
Against his oath, and th' act of parliament.
"For here the speedi'st way he takes t' accord
Diff'rence in law, that pleads it with the sword."

Gather'd to see his muster'd companies,
Stood all the flocking troops of London streets,
When Falconbridge (with gentle feeling) tries
How strong the pulse of their affection beats;
And reck'ning up the grievous miseries,
And desolation which the country threats, [king;
Ask'd them, "whom they would have to be their
To lead those troops, and state in form to bring ?"

Whereto, with such an universal shout,
"The earl of March," the multitude replies,
As the rebounding echo straight throughout
(From tow'r to tow'r reverberated) flies
To th' ears of those great lords, who sat about
The consultation for this enterprise.
Whose care is sav'd, which most they stood upon;
For what they counsel how to do, is done.

And nothing now, but to confirm him king,
Remains (which must not long remain) to do:
The present heat doth straight dispatch the thing,
With all those solemn rites that 'long thereto :
So that what York, with all his travailing,
Force and intrusion, could not get unto;
Is now thus freely laid upon his son,
Who must make fair what foully was begun.

Whose end attain'd, had it here made an end
Of foul destruction, and had stay'd the blood
Which Towton, Exham, Tewksbury did spend
With desp'rate hands, and deeper wounds withstood;
And that none other crown brought to contend
With that of his, had made his seem less good;
How had this long-afflicted land been bless'd!
Our sighs had ended, and my Muse had rest.

Which now (but little past half her long way)
Stands trembling at the horrours that succeed;
Weary with these embroilments, fain would stay
Her further course, unwilling to proceed:
And fain to see that glorious holiday
of union which this discord re-agreed,
Knows not as yet what to resolve upon,
Whether to leave off here, or else go on.

THE

HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. BOOK VIII.

THE ARGUMENT.

King Edward pow'r against king Henry led,
And hath at Towton-field the victory:
From whence king Henry into Scotland fled,
Where he attempts his state's recovery:

Steals into England; is discovered;
Brought pris'ner to the Tow'r disgracefully.
And Edward, whilst great Warwick doth assay
A match in France, marries the lady Grey.

ON yet, sad Verse-though those bright stars from whence

Thon had'st thy light, are set for evermore;
And that these times do not like grace dispense
To our endeavours, as those did before:
Yet on-since she, whose beams do re-incense
This sacred fire, seems as reserv'd in store
To raise this work, and here to have my last,
Who had the first of all my labours past.

On, with her blessed favour, and relate
With what new bloodshed this new-chosen lord
Made his first entry to th' afflicted state;
Pass'd his first act of public with the sword;
Engor'd his new-worn crown; and how he gat
Possession of affliction, and restor'd
His right unto a royal misery,
Maintained with as bloody dignity.

Show how our great Pharsalian field was fought
At Towton in the north; the greatest day
Of ruin that dissention ever brought
Unto this kingdom. Where two crowns did sway
The work of slaughter-two kings causes wrought
Destruction to one people, by the way
Of their affections, and their loyalties;
As if one for these ills could not suffice.

Where Lancaster, and that courageous side,
(That noble constant part) came furnished
With such a pow'r, as might have terrify'd
And over-run the Earth; had they been led
The way of glory, where they might have try'd
For th' empire of all Europe, as those did
The Macedonian led into the east ;
Their number being double at the least.

And where brave York comes as completely mann'd
With courage, valour, and with equal might;
Prepar'd to try with a resolved hand
The metal of his crown, and of his right:
Attended with his fatal fire-brand

Of war, Warwick, that blazing star of fight!
The comet of destruction! that portends
Confusion and distress, what way he tends.

What rage, what madness, England, do we see?
That this brave people, in such multitude
Run to confound themselves! and all to be
Thus mad for lords, and for mere servitude!
What might have been, if (Roman like, and free)
These gallant spirits had nobler ends pursu❜d,

Edward being proclaimed and acknowledged for king, presently sets forward towards the north, to encounter with king Heury VI. who, in Yorkshire had assembled a puissant army of near sixty thousand men; and at a place called Towton, about four miles from York, both their powers met; where was fought the greatest battle our stories mention in all these civil wars: where both the armies consisted of above one hundred thousand men, and all of our own nation.

Thus thou peculiar engine of our land! (Weapon of conquest! master of the field!) Renowned bow! (that mad'st this crown command

Hath in it honour, right, and honesty ;
Yet all as nothing is to be avow'd,
Unless withal we have the victory.
For justice is (we see) a virtue proud,

And cleaves to pow'r, and leaves weak misery:

And therefore seeing the case we now stand in, We must resolve either to die or win.

"So that if any here doth find his heart
To fail him for this noble work, or stands
Irresolute this day; let him depart,
And leave his arms behind, for worthier hands.
I know enow will stay to do their part;
Here to redeem themselves, wives, children, lands,
And have the glory that thereby shall rise,
To free their country from these miseries."

But here what needed words to blow the fire,
In flame already, and enkindl'd so,
As when it was proclaim'd they might retire,
Who found unwillingness to undergo
That vent'rous work; they all did so conspire
To stand out fortune, that not one would go,
To bear away a hand from blood; not one
Defraud the field of th' evil might be done?

Where Warwick too (producing in their sight
An argument whereby he did conclude
There was no hope of safety, but by fight)
Doth sacrifice his horse to fortitude;
And thereby did the least conceit of flight,
Or any succour by escape exclude;
"Seeing in the streight of a necessity,
The means to win, is t' have no means to fly."

2 The lord Clifford slain at Ferry-Briggs. The earl of Warwick, before the battle began, with his own hands killed his horse.

Art made at home to have th' especial hand
In our dissentions, by thy work upheld:
Thou first did'st conquer us; then rais'd our skill
To vanquish others; here ourselves to spill.

And now how com'st thou to be out of date,
And all-neglected leav'st us, and art gone;
And with thee th' ancient strength, the manly state
Of valour and of worth, that glory won?
Or else stay'st thou till new-priz'd shot abate?
(That never shall affect what thou hast done)
And only but attend'st some blessed reign,
When thou and virtue shall be grac'd again.

But this short tempest drave Northumberland
(Who led the van-guard of king Henry's side)
With eager heat join battle out of hand,
And this disorder with their swords to hide.
Where twice five hours these furious armies stand,
And Fortune's balance weigh'd on neither side;
Nor either did but equal bloodshed gain,
Till Henry's' chiefest leaders all were slain.

4 William Nevil, lord Falconbridge, after created earl of Kent.

In this battle of Towton, on king Henry's side were slain, Henry Piercy earl of Northumberland; the earls of Shrewsbury and Devonshire; John lord Clifford; the lords Beaumont, Nevil, Willoughby, Wells, Roos, Grey, Dacres, Fitz-Hugh, Molineux, Buckingham: knights, the two base sons of Henry Holland, duke of Exeter; Richard Piercy, Gervase Clifton, Andrew Trollop, &c.

The whole number slain were accounted by some thirty-three thousand, by others thirty-five thonsand and ninety-one.