XXI. 1450. hand, with those of Mortimer on the other: Which CHA P, last inheritance had before been augmented by an union of the estates of Clarence and Ulster with the patrimonial possessions of the family of Marche. The alliances too of Richard, by his marrying the daughter of Ralph Nevil earl of Westmoreland, had widely extended his interest among the nobi lity, and had procured him many connexions in that formidable order. THE family of Nevil was, perhaps, at this time the most potent, both from their opulent possessions, and from the characters of the men, that has ever appeared in England. For, besides the earl of Westmoreland, and the lords Latimer, Fauconberg, and Abergavenny; the earls of Salisbury and Warwic were of that family, and were of themselves, on many accounts, the greatest noblemen in the kingdom. The earl of Salisbury, brother-inlaw to the duke of York, was the eldest son by a second marriage of the earl of Westmoreland; and inherited by his wife, daughter and heir of Montacute earl of Salisbury, killed before Orleans, the possessions and title of that great family. His eldest son, Richard, had married Anne, the daughter and heir of Beauchamp earl of Warwic, who died governor of France; and by this alliance he enjoyed the possessions, and had acquired the title, of that other family, one of the most opulent, most ancient, and most illustrious in England. The personal qua- The earl of lities also of these two earls, especially of Warwic, Warwic. enhanced the splendour of their nobility, and increased their influence over the people. This latter nobleman, commonly known, from the subsequent events, by the appellation of the King-maker, had distinguished himself by his gallantry in the field, by the hospitality of his table, by the magnificence, and still more by the generosity of his expence, and by the spirited and bold manner which attended him in all his actions. The undesigning frankness and XXI. 1450. CHA P. and openness of his character rendered his conquest over men's affections the more certain and infallible: His presents were regarded as sure testimonies of esteem and friendship; and his professions as the overflowings of his genuine sentiments. No less than 30,000 persons are said to have daily lived at his board in the different manors and castles which he possessed in England: The military men allured by his munificence and hospitality, as well as by his bravery, were zealously attached to his interests, The people in general bore him an unlimited affection: His numerous retainers were more devoted to his will, than to the prince or to the laws: And he was the greatest, as well as the last, of those mighty barons, who formerly overawed the crown, and rendered the people incapable of any regular system of civil government, BUT the duke of York, besides the family of Nevil, had many other partisans among the great nobility. Courtney earl of Devonshire, descended from a very noble family of that name in France, was attached to his interests: Moubray duke of Norfolk had, from his hereditary hatred to the family of Lancaster, embraced the same party: And the discontents, which universally prevailed among the people, rendered every combination of the great the more dangerous to the established govern ment. THOUGH the people were never willing to grant the supplies necessary for keeping possession of the conquered provinces in France, they repined extremely at the loss of these boasted acquisitions; and fancied, because a sudden irruption could make conquests, that without steady counsels, and a uniform expence, it was possible to maintain them. The voluntary cession of Maine to the queen's uncle had made them suspect treachery in the loss of Normandy and Guienne. They still considered Margaret as a French woman and a latent enemy of the kingdom, XXI. kingdom. And when they saw her father and all CHA P. her relations active in promoting the success of the French, they could not be persuaded that she, who was all powerful in the English council, would very zealously oppose them in their enterprises. BUT the most fatal blow given to the popularity of the crown, and to the interests of the house of Lancaster, was by the assassination of the virtuous duke of Glocester, whose character, had he been alive, would have intimidated the partisans of York; but whose memory, being extremely cherished by the people, served to throw an odium on all his murderers. By this crime the reigning family suffered a double prejudice: It was deprived of its firmest support; and it was loaded with all the infamy of that imprudent and barbarous assassination. As the duke of Suffolk was known to have had an active hand in the crime, he partook deeply of the hatred attending it; and the clamours, which necessarily rose against him, as prime minister, and declared favourite of the queen, were thereby augmented to a tenfold pitch, and became absolutely uncontrollable. The great nobility could ill brook to see a subject exalted above them; much more one who was only great grandson to a merchant, and who was of a birth so much inferior to theirs. The people complained of his arbitrary measures; which were, in some degree, a necessary consequence of the irregular power then possessed by the prince, but which the least disaffection easily magnified into tyranny. The great acquisitions which he daily made were the object of envy; and as they were gained at the expence of the crown, which was itself reduced to poverty, they appeared, on that account, to all indifferent persons, the more exceptionable and invidious. THE revenues of the crown, which had long been disproportioned to its power and dignity, had been extremely 1450. XXI. CHA P. extremely dilapidated during the minority of Henry; both by the rapacity of the courtiers, which 1450, the king's uncles could not control, and by the necessary expences of the French war, which had always been very ill supplied by the grants of parliament. The royal demesnes were dissipated; and at the same time the king was loaded with a debt of 372,000 pounds, a sum so great, that the parliament could never think of discharging it. This unhappy situation forced the ministers upon many arbitrary measures: The household itself could not be supported without stretching to the utmost the right of purveyance, and rendering it a kind of universal robbery upon the people: The public clamour rose high upon this occasion, and no one had the equity to make allowance for the necessity of the king's situation. Suffolk once become odious, bore the blame of the whole; and every grievance, in every part of the administration, was universally imputed to his tyranny and injustice. Impeachment of the duke THIS nobleman, sensible of the public hatred under which he laboured, and foreseeing an attack of Suffolk, from the commons, endeavoured to overawe his enemies by boldly presenting himself to the charge, and by insisting upon his own innocence, and even upon his merits, and those of his family, in the public service. He rose in the house of peers; took notice of the clamours propagated against him; and complained, that after serving the crown in thirty-four campaigns; after living abroad seventeen years without once returning to his native country; after losing a father and three brothers in the wars with France; after being himself a prisoner, and purchasing his liberty by a great ransom; it should yet be suspected, that he had been debauched from his allegiance by that enemy whom he had ever opposed with such zeal and fortitude, and a Cotton, p. 609. XXI. 1450. and that he had betrayed his prince, who had re- CHA P. warded his services by the highest honours and greatest offices that it was in his power to confer.' This speech did not answer the purpose intended. The commons, rather provoked at his challenge, opened their charge against him, and sent up to the peers an accusation of high treason, divided into several articles. They insisted, that he had persuaded the French king to invade England with an armed force, in order to depose the king, and to place on the throne his own son, John de la Pole, whom he intended to marry to Margaret, the only daughter of the late John duke of Somerset, and to whom, he imagined, he would by that means acquire a title to the crown: That he had contributed to the release of the duke of Orleans, in hopes that that_prince would assist king Charles in expelling the English from France, and recovering full possession of his kingdom: That he had afterwards encouraged that monarch to make open war on Normandy and Guienne, and had promoted his conquests by betraying the secrets of England, and obstructing the succours intended to be sent to those provinces: And that he had, without any powers or commission, promised by treaty to cede the province of Maine to Charles of Anjou, and had accordingly ceded it; which proved in the issue the chief cause of the loss of Normandy." IT is evident, from a review of these articles, that the commons adopted, without inquiry, all the popular clamours against the duke of Suffolk, and charged him with crimes, of which none but the vulgar could seriously believe him guilty. Nothing can be more incredible, than that a nobleman, so little eminent by his birth and character, could think of acquiring the crown to his family, and of deposing Henry by foreign force, and, together г with Gotton, p. 641. Ibid. p. 642. Hall, fol. 157. Holingshed, p. 631. Grafton, p. 607. |