A brief survey (historical and political) of the life and reign of Henry the III, King of England dedicated to His Most Sacred Majesty.

A brief survey (historical and political) of the life and reign of Henry the III, King of England dedicated to His Most Sacred Majesty.

Table of contents

Title page

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A BRIEF SURVEY, OF THE LIFE and REIGN OF Henry the III, etc.

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A BRIEF SURVEY, OF THE LIFE and REIGN OF Henry the III, etc.

OPpress'd with the insupportable Calamities of Civil Arms, and affrighted at the sodain fall of a Licentious Sovereign, who was reported to have been Poyson'd by a Monk; all men stood at gaze, expecting Peace, (the Event of their long Desires) and Benefit, as the Issue of their new Hopes: Experience telling us that, in every Shift of Princes, there are very few either so Mean, or so Inopinionative, as not to please themselves with some probable Object of Preferment. To content all, (October 19. 1216.) a Child ascends the Throne, Mild and Gracious, but Easie of Nature, whose Innocency, and natural Goodness protected him throughout the various Perils of his Father's Reign. Happy was he in his Uncle William Earl of Pembroke (the Guide of his Infancy;) [Page] and no less fortunate, for thirty years after, whilst Hubert de Burgh (Earl of Kent) that Fast Servant of King John's against the French, both in Normandy, and England, together with Bygot Earl of Norfolk, and others of like Gravity, and Abilities, had the management of Affairs. Publick Distempers were then very few, and such only as are incident to all States, the Commons greedy and tenacious of Liberty, and the Nobility of Rule: One violent Storm, 'tis true, was rais'd, by some old, constant Followers of his Father; as Foulk de Brent who, (though a Forreigner, yet) held at one time the Earldoms of Nottingham, Oxford, Bedford and Buckingham; Brian de Lisle, and some others. These being men of turbulent Spirits, and that could only Thrive by the Wars, were very ill at ease in those days of Sloth; (as they term'd that Calm of King Henry's Government) Beside that, the Justice of Peaceable Times urg'd from them, to the lawful owners, such Lands and Castles, as the fury of War had unjustly given them. Now perceiving by the Uprightness of the King, that Power of Protection should not be made a wrong-doer; they broke forth into such a Rebellion as ended not but with their Lives; declaring that those their Swords which had set the Crown upon their Sovereign's Head when neither Law nor Majesty could, should now secure those Acquests to their Masters, when Majesty or Law would not. Thus we see how dangerous are too great Benefits of Subjects to their Princes; as rendring the Mind incapable of any other sense than that of Merit. This Blast being over, the Government felt no other affliction than the Common and Invidious Malevolence to Authority: Good and Great Men may preserve themselves from Guilt, but not from Envy; being still shot at, by the Aspiring of those that look upon themselves as less in Employment than they are in Desert. These Vapours, however, did ever vanish, without much trouble, so long as the Helm was steered by [Page] Temperate Spirits, and the King squar'd his Actions by the Rule of Good Counsel, and not of Young, Passionate, or single Advice.

Thirty years being now past and gone, and none of the old Guides of the Kings Youth left alive, but de Burgh; (a man in whom nothing of Worth was wanting, save Moderation) his length of days gave him the advantage of Sole Power, his Ambition furnishing Desire and Art, to keep out others. This drew upon him the implacable malice of a great many, which was yet further augmented by the fresh Honours, and Offices, that the King was then pleas'd to confer upon him. Time had now wrought a Revolution, as in it self, so in the Hearts of the People, who had forgotten the late Sufferings of their Fathers, and labour'd under the surfeit of a long Peace; which having, probably, let in some Abuses, the Commons (to whom the Present seems ever worst) take the Alarm, fall to commending the past Ages they never remembred, and condemning the Present; though equally ignorant of the Disease of it, and of the Remedy. With these idle and usual Humours, struck in some of the young Nobility, that were warm and over weening, though altogether as unskilful as the rest: these fall to sullying the Wisdom and Integrity of the Court-Officers, by magnifying each casual mishap into a Crime, and exposing every Blemish in Government; and then having their Heads fill'd with certain Ideas and Phantastick Forms of Commonwealths, they flatter themselves that they are able to mold any State according to these general Rules, which in particular Application do still appear to be but idle and gross Absurdities. Being thus puft up in Opinion of their own worth, they begin to cast about how to get into Employment, a thing they had long desired▪ and now do sue for; and probable it is that the farthest of their Aim, as yet, was to be quiet Instruments in serving [Page] the Crown, had they then been look'd upon as fit, and well deserving. But the King, having been tutor'd into a just veneration for the Counsels of the Aged States-Men, and reflecting that such Green Heads were fitter for disordering than setling Affairs; either deny'd, or delay'd their Requests: for Princes will ever chuse their Ministers, Equal to, not above their Business, Creatures that are only theirs, out of meer Election; otherwise, without Friends or Power. Amongst this unequal Medly, there were, of the Nobility, the Earls of Pembroke, Glocester and Hertford, darlings of the Rabble; some of them upon the score of their Fathers Merits, whose memories were held Sacred, as pretended Pillars of Publick Liberty, and opposers of encroaching Monarchy. Of the Gentry were Fitz-Geoffrey, Bardolph, Grisley and Fitz-John; Spirits of as much Arrogance, and A [...]imony, as Camp, Court, Country, (the places from whence they were Elected) could afford any: These were for attempting by open Force, what the other sought to effect by Artifice; but yet they were all of them equally Impatient to behold their Ends thus frustrated; and that so long as the King followed the Advice of the Earl of Kent, there would be no hopes of obtaining their desires. Wherefore they became frequent in their Consults and Cabals, day and night; and at last Sommery; and Spencer, two that were far in Opinion with the rest, as being Gentlemen of Forreign Education, and b [...] qualifi'd than was usual for men of those times; gave it as their Advice, that the surest way to remove de Burgh (that great, and good Obstacle) out of the way of their Advancement, would be, to pry narrowly into his Actions, and side with his Opposite, Peter Bishop of Winchester; (an ill man, but in favour with the King) backing the Motion with this suggestion, that the worthiest being driven out by the worst, they should be able either to mate him with his own Vice, (which the higher he advanc'd [Page] would still be the more visible) and so remove him at pleasure; or else, by suffering the King to deliver himself up to such bad Ministers, as would lose him the Hearts, and Affections, of his People; they might thus plain the way to their own Preferment: Thus they projected the compassing of that by troubling the State, which, so long as it was at quiet, they despair'd of obtaining; and so far did the success answer Expectation, that Spencer dy'd in actual Rebellion, Justiciarius Angliae, against his Master. This advice now being approv'd, and put in Practice; the corrupt and ambitious Bishop is by money and address easily brought over to the Party; and Articles are in all hast forged, and presented against the Earl; charging him with wasting the Royal Treasure, the sale of Crown-Lands, and (what these doubtful times held Capital) his allowing any thing that might create a Rupture between King and People; as his prevailing upon the King to revoke all Patents granted in his Non-age, and enforcing the People not to pay according to their Ability or the merit of the Grant, but whatever the Minister himself should think fit to extort.

De Burgh clear'd himself of all the Branches of this Accusation, save only the Last; under which he worthily perish'd; for such Acts as fill the Princes Coffers, are still the destruction of their first Inventers; Bad times, we see, corrupt good Counsels, and prevail upon the best Ministers to truckle to the Lusts of their Masters: Therefore this King is not wholly to be excused, that could so easily give way to the blasting the former Services of so faithful an Officer, for that wherein himself was chief in fault. But Princes are naturally more variable, and sooner cloyed, than other men; their favours are more transitory, and as their minds are Large, so they without much difficulty overlook their first [Page] Choice, limiting their Affections to their Satisfactions.

Winchester is now mounted into the Saddle, and Governs all; taking for his Prime Instrument Peter de Rivallis; (such another as himself) displaces the Natives, and advances (his Country-men) Poictovins and Britains, into Offices of the greatest Trust and Benefit; and draws the King into an ill Opinion of his People: Nothing touching the English so much to the Quick, as to be domineer'd over by Forreigners. Here it was that Injustice became the Arbiter of Common Equity, the Law lay gasping at the foot of Faction, Peace at the mercy of the Seditious, and Oppression stept into the Bench to pronounce upon points of Right and Honesty, so that the Plot of the tumultuous Barons, by this means, advanc'd it self without so much as a Rub: And had not the Loyal Part of the Bishops calm'd all, by humble and dutiful Perswasions, and by representing to his Majesty, that his supporting the Power of a Person whose insolent Carriage had but lately lost to King John his Father, Normandy, the Love of his People, and in that his Crown; and who at that very season was no less industrious in tempting himself to reject in Passion, the just Petitions of his faithful Subjects; the Case (amongst many others) of Pembroke the Earl Marshal, the Common Rights of whose Office were unjustly with-held from him; would inevitably provoke Discontents, and endanger the Weal of the Kingdom; the Rebellious Lords had, questionless, gain'd their End, by exasperating, and emproving this Distemper into a Civil War. Denials of Princes are ever to be suppli'd with gracious Usage, thereby, if not to cure the sore, yet, at least, to mitigate the Sense of it: But it is best of all, that all Favours proceed directly from themselves; and only Refusals, and things of Bitterness, from their Ministers.

[Page]Thus now are the Strangers all remov'd and banish'd; Rivallis's Extortions examin'd, by many strict Commissions of Enquiry; the proud Bishop of Winchester (turn'd off in disgrace) is brought to experiment that Power founded upon Injustice is but short-liv'd, and that in the Favour of Princes there is no Medium or Subsistence betwixt the Highest of all, and Precipitation. But the Lords finding themselves still (by this Reformation) frustrated of their evil Designs, began again to cherish the late grounds of the Peoples Disgusts, by scattering querulous and ambiguous Speeches against his Majesty, depraving and questioning his Discretion, and Government; and seeking by all the means, and arts imaginable, to ingratiate and glorifie themselves with the sordid Rabble: Insomuch that the King (whose Nature was too mild for such turbulent Spirits) was oblig'd afresh, to cast himself upon the Advice and Love of Forreigners, since no condescentions could purchase it at Home, where many demean'd themselves like Tutors and Controllers; few like Subjects and Counsellers.

God, we know, governs the Hearts of Princes, and sends them such Ministers, as the quality of the Subject meriteth: for Montford (a French-man) became the next Object of the Kings Delight; being a Gentleman of choice Blood, Education and Feature: And to so fond a degree did the heady affection of the Sovereign dote upon him, that, in his very Entrance into Grace, he made him Earl of Leicester, to the general dissatisfaction of the Nobility; and gave him (to the no less offence of the Clergy, by violating the Rights of the Church) his Vow'd, Vail'd Sister, to Wife. Some have denied this Act of the Kings to be more than common Policy, as making the Tie of his Favorites Dependency the strength of his Assurance, so Both at his will. But Montford growing wanton, upon this dallyance of his Master; forgets Moderation; Discretion, in [Page] Youth, seldom attending great and sodain Fortunes. He takes the manage of all Publick Affairs into his own hand, and engrosseth the disposal of all Favours and Preferments; so that all suites are address'd to him, and the King becomes (in effect) but as a Cipher set to add to this Figure the more of Number. Great is the Errour of a Prince when the Hope of the Subject comes to recognize it self beholden to the Servant, for that, which ought to be acknowledg'd as the immediate Bounty and Goodness of himself: And though they are not to be deny'd the privilege of advancing above the rest, some trusty Friend, to whom they may communicate their nearest Passions, yet ought they so to temper the Current of Favour, as not to darken the Lustre of their Regalities.

The Great and Gravest Men beholding the unworthy thus to deal alone, in that which ought of Right, to have pass'd through their hands; and to step over all their heads, to the greatest Honours and Offices; began to repine; but upon second thoughts, they ran along with the rising Grace of the Kings Half-Brethren, though Strangers, hoping, by this way of proceeding, to divide that Power which, otherwise, they saw it impossible to Break. Yet Leicester, being confident of his Masters Love, and impatient of bearing either Rival in Favour, or Partner in Rule, opposeth them all: But he found, at length, in his Ebb of kindness, the fortune of others; and that the King could with as much ease transfer his Phansie, as he had settled his Affections. And in truth, extraordinary must needs be the Artifice and Address of that man, that is able to keep himself aflote in the stream of a Monarchs good Opinion; in regard that the change of his Will, (which for the most part is strongly influenc'd by Phansie, and soon cloyed) is hardly to be arrested. To effect this, the Favorite must solely attend the Honour and Service of his Master; [Page] and (abandoning all other Considerations) insinuate himself into his inward Inclinations; winding into a necessity of Employment, by discharging the Offices of most Secrecy, in reference either to publick Service, or the Princes peculiar Pleasures: He must also be careful to suppress Competitors, by the hands of others, conceal in Publick, his own Greatness, by counterfeit Affectations of Humility; and in his persute of Authority, he is to cast a shew as if his Promotions were the work of others, or of Conveniency, rather than of any great Ambition of his own.

But now, upon this Advantage, the Reines of Rule were possess'd by the ambitious Lords and entrusted (as Henry Knighton says) in the hands of the Kings Half-Brethren, Adam, Guido, Godfrey, and William; the King contenting himself (being left to act his own part, as before) with the Shadow only, and License of a great Fortune. And to say the truth, he was ever Wyer-drawn, when he was so happy as to have about him such worthy Servants as would urge and suggest things that were for his Honour. But these Masters, on the contrary, being puff'd up with the conceit of having no Superiour; made it their business by gentle Words and Flatteries, to seduce the unsteady mind of the King from the Path of Reason; thereby to gain to themselves the privilege of doing what they list. So that they fell immediately to filling the Courts of Justice, and Places of Trust, with their own Country-men; exacting of whom, how, and what they would; wasting the Publick Treasure, and Crown Lands, to the enriching of themselves, and dependents; setting Prices upon all Offences; and squaring the Law according to the Rul [...] of their own Breasts: And upon any Complaint of the Subject the usual Reply of their Servants was, How'le ye help your self; for the Kings Pleasure's in my Masters Pocket? Nay to so insupportable a degree of Licentiousness did these Strangers proceed; that [Page] they seem'd rather to have entr'd the Land by Conquest, [...]han upon Invitation: they enforc'd upon the great men not Obedience only, but Servitude and reduced the meaner sort to so wretched a degree of Poverty, that they might justly say they had nothing. Yet lest the Groanes of his People, and the wickedness of his Ministers, should come to the King's Ear, by the means of good and able Men; they deny all such the least Access: Suspicion (being the best preserver of her own Deserts) still keeps a strict eye upon those that have a due sense of Honour and Virtue; as fearing them most. Thus by the Inhability of the Prince, the Government becomes a Prey to these Lawless Minions; which occasions infinite Corruptions and Disorders in all the Members of the State; all presuming upon his weakness, do endeavour to grasp at an Arbitrary Authority, that they may make Profit of it, and easily permit the encreasing of Ill, as the ready way to make their own Fortunes.

These Confusions were usher'd in by a Famine, and that so violent an one, that the king is forc'd to direct Writs to the several Counties, to bury their Dead, they were so Numerous: The Dearth continues, and then fell the Sword to raging so terribly, that no man durst walk abroad without Arms; all the Villages being left as a Prey to the tumultuous Rabble; who raving up and down, by the Connivance of such as ought to have suppress'd them; it plainly appear'd, that the Factious Lords, whom the King suspected, had fomented and given Life to the Commotion; Seditious Peers ever bringing Fewel to such Popular Fires.

Neither was the Church it self without a busie Part in this Tragical Scene: For the Bishops of Worcester and Lincoln (being well-wishers to Montford and his Faction) [Page] were far engaged. In such Designs Church-men are never wanting; and the distast of the establish'd Government as well Ecclesiastical as Civil, will ever be a Knot of Strength for such unquiet Spirits, who are as greedy after Innovations in the Church, as in the State; and ever crying up some new Model of Policy or other; such as is most relishing to the giddy Multitude, who (at this time) were mightily offended (and not without reason neither) at the new Courts of the Clergy, their Pomp, Rapaciousness, and the Extortions of the Pope. This was a fair pretext for the factious part of the Clergy so far to persue the Orders, Ceremonies and Constitutions of the Church with bitter Speeches and Invectives; that some of them incur'd the sentence of Excommunication at Rome, and of Treason at Home: they enjoyning the Earl of Leicester, as he tendered his Salvation, to maintain the Cause (meaning his Rebellion) to the very Death; and asserting, that the Peace of the English Church was never to be establish'd but by the Material Sword. But that could never (surely) be the soundest Doctrine (what ever might be pretended) which was only to be propagated by War and Licence; seeing the first Church (contrarywise) grew up, by Fasting and Prayer. True Piety obliges the Subject to desire a Good Sovereign, but to bear with a Bad one; and take the Burthen of Princes with a bended Knee; so, in time, to deserve Abatement; rather than resist Authority. Church-men ought not always, therefore, to be our Oracles, as to matters of Loyalty and Allegeance, they may safely inform us of our Duty in difficult Poynts of Religion; and where an humble ignorance is a secure knowledge, we may rely upon them; but they are not to be harken'd to in their clamorous Harangues against Authority.

Now to remedy all these Confusions, and supply the Kings necessities, a Parliament was call'd at last; much to [Page] the liking of those Lords, who as little meant to Relieve the King, as they did to Heal the State; their End, at that time, being only to lay open, at Home, the Poverty of their Master; lessen his Reputation, Abroad; and in those times of Privilege, to breath out their Passions freely. Here they began to twit him with the Wrong he had done to the Publick, in engrossing the choyce of the Chief Justice, Chancellour, and Treasurer; who ought not (they said) to have been Elected, but by the Common Counsel of the Realm; highly applauding the Resolution of the Bishop of Chichester, in refusing to surrender the Great Seal, but in Parliament, where he receiv'd it. Then they charge him with having conferr'd all the places of Trust and Profit, in his disposal, upon Forreigners; and leaving his English Subjects unrewarded; with having ruin'd the Merchants Trade by the introducing of Maletolts, and imposing of Heavy Customs; with having violated the Common Liberty, by Non obstantes in his Patents, thereby to secure Monopolies for his private Favorites; with having taken the Bread out of the Peoples mouths, and forced away their Horses from the very Plow; with sending his Justices into the Country, to oppress and fleece the People, by fob'd Actions, and false Accusations; telling him that Sr. Robert de Pursloe had extorted great Summs of money from the Borderers of his Forrests, upon pretence of Encroachments. So that they were amazed (they said) to hear, that he should now demand Relief of them; since the Commonalty was so miserably pill'd, pol'd, and empoverish'd, by the multitude of former Contributions, that they were incapable of making any sort of supply. And therefore they suggested to him, that, they being able to prove his needless Expences, since the Kingdom began to be oppress'd, to have amounted to above eight hundred thousand pound; it was but fitting that he should call to account, and pluck from his Favorites; who had gleaned the Treasure of the [Page] Kingdom, and shared the old Crown-Lands amongst themselves: Several of them having, in a short space, from the Inheritance of an Acre advanced into the Possession of an Earldom; instancing in the Case of one Mansel (an inferiour Clerk) who rose from Nothing, to spend at the rate of four thousand Marks (beside fifty Promotions that he had engross'd, in the Church) in annual Revenue; they being of Opinion, that more moderate Fees ought to have contented a Pen-man that was no better qualified than with the ordinary fruits of a Writing-School. Yet they assured his Majesty after all, that if a Reasonable Supply would suit with his Occasions; they were ready so far to testifie their Obedience in that particular, as his Behaviour should fairly merit: setting a day (says Matt. Paris) by which the King was to redress the Abuses and Corruptions of his Court, and work into the good Opinion of the Nobles.

The time being come, and he having ratified afresh the Great Charter, admitted into his Councel some persons of the Commons Election, and promised for the future to apply himself for Counsel to Natives, not Forreigners; they at length granted him such an Allowance as left him at their Devotion for a further Supply. Thus Parliaments, that (Before) were ever a Medicine to heal up any Rupture in the Princes Fortunes, grew (now) to be worse than the Disease; malignant Humours being more predominant in them than well-composed Tempers.

The King having by this, fully discovered the Drift of his rebellious Lords; and finding that they took advantage of his Necessities, to enslave him; begins now to act the good Husband, closeth his hand of Waste, and resolves (though too late) to bear himself upon his own Legs. But this Experience is still pernicious to the Private, and dangerous to the Publick Weal of a State; as not being [Page] able to do, but by undoing, nor to discern Order, till Disorder shews it. And yet still Alas! such was his easiness and flexibility, when he came to be prest hard by his French Minions; that he was not capable of witholding his hand from their insatiable Desires, and endless squanderings: Insomuch that it then became a By-word, Our Inheritance is possess'd by Aliens, and our Houses by Strangers. Dependents upon a King that is excessive in Largesses, become exorbitant in their Demands; measuring them not by Reason, but example: Past favours are never reckon'd upon, nor any Bounty valued but what is purely Future; and look how much a Prince disables himself by Giving, so much the poorer he is of True Friends: such Prodigality, in a Sovereign, ever concluding in the Spoyl and Plunder of his Subjects.

But before the King would again submit himself to so many bold and strict Inquiries of his Disloyal Subjects, as he had endured the last Parliament; he resolves to try and undergo all shifts, and extremities, that necessity and a great mind, could impose upon him. First therefore, he exposes the Crown-Lands, then his Jewels, to sale; pawns Gascoyn; and after That, his Imperial Crown: And when his Credit would serve him no longer, (having so often fail'd of his word) nor any thing of his own left to raise mony upon; he then pawns the Jewels and Ornaments of St. Edwards Shrine; and at the long run, (being destitute of means to defray the Charge of his Court) was forced to break up house, and with his Queen and Children to press upon the Charity of his Subjects for his Daily Bread.

Having thus, by Improvidence, again reduced himself to this low Ebb; the Rebellious Lords grew more and more intractable, in Confidence that the Sovereign Power would, [Page] now at last, inevitably fall a prey to their ambitious Machinations; which, that it might the sooner come to pass, they coveted nothing more passionately, than to drive the King into Want, that so they might constrain him to call a Parliament; as phansying to themselves that Subjects, at such times, seem more than they should be, Princes, less. In order hereunto, they take a great deal of pains to propagate false and seditious Rumours of the Kings intention to repair his broken Fortunes by the Ruine of those of his Subjects; and that having nothing left of his own, he might and intended to force from others; further insinuating, that Princes will never Want, so long as the people has the means of supplying them. This scandalous Aspersion had the wished for Effect; for it troubled the State; and the flame would questionless have advanced Higher, had not the King asswag'd it, by Proclamations; wherein he declared, that he was not insensible of the evil Arts that had been made use of to seduce his Liege People into an ill Opinion of his Person and Government, by false and groundless Suggestions and Surmises, of his designing to oppress them in their just Liberties and Proprieties; by such undue practises (he said) they laboured to withdraw them from their Duty and Allegeance: He caution'd them to give no heed to, and beware of such malicious Disturbers of the Publick Peace; and assured them, that he had made his Letters Patent purely to the end that they might be satisfied as to his readiness and resolution to defend them from the oppression of the Great Lords, and inviolably to maintain to them their lawful Customs, Privileges and Immunities, in every Branch of them. But for all this yet, he found that Majesty and Right were not to be kept aslote, without Purse and Power; and that himself wanted so much of Both, as was requisite for stopping the Breach in his own Revenue, and his Subjects Loyalty: Wherefore lie betakes himself, at [Page] length to the Bosom of his People for Relief and Counsel.

He called a Parliament at Oxford; where his necessities encountered so many undutiful Demands, that he was forced to surrender to their rebellious Will his Royal Power. For the Commons, looking upon themselves as the Patrons of the peoples Liberties, press'd the King to give way to the entrusting the Manage of the State in the hands of four and twenty; twelve of them to be of their own Election, and the rest to be chosen by himself; who, in all things else, was left a meer Cypher: Nay, and even in this Case, either through Fear or Negligence he fill'd up his number with Montford, Glocester and Spencer; which errour, over and above the weakening of his own Party, won to those his late Opposites an Opinion of having got a great Interest in his Favour. This Parliament it should seem, never dreamt of a Perpetuation; for otherwise, they might, probably, have had it for the asking. But yet they got what served their Turn; for by this one Act he parted with his Right of Electing either publick Officer or private Servant; and brought himself under a necessity of dispoyling his Half-Brethren and their Followers, banishing them the Realm by an Instrument under his own hand; and of commanding his Writ pro Transportatione Fratrum suorum to be directed to the Earles of Hartford and Surry, to prohibit their carrying on Board with them either Mony, Arms, or Ornaments, other than in the manner prescribed. After their departure, he ordered the men of Bristol not to suffer any Strangers, or Kinsmen of his, to land in their Port, but so to demean themselves in this particular, as they would answer it to his Lords and him. Thus we may see how easily mens Estates do change in an Instant; and how difficult a thing it is to enjoy quietly what was gotten unjustly. And now Richard Earl of Cornwal, and King of the Romans, (King Henrie's own Brother) being at this [Page] time beyond the Seas, is by Letter tamper'd with underhand, to make a shew of Ratifying, by Oath, and voluntary Consent, those former Restrictions of Regal Power: which, though he submitted to, yet would not the Lords suffer either the King, or him to enter Dover Castle; (the Key of the Kingdom) they having furnish'd it and most of the other Forts of Reputation and Strength in the Nation with Governours of their own Election, and Sworn respectively to the State. The like assurance did they also exact of all Sheriffs, Coroners, Bayliffs, and other Publick Ministers; examining the Behaviour of many, by strict Commission upon Oath; hereby to curry Favour with the Vulgar, who groaned under their late Extortions. But their Chief end in all this, was no other, (as it afterwards appear'd) than by displacing the faithful Servants of the King; upon pretence of their being teinted with Malignancy, to open a way for the introducing of their own Dependents.

Having thus changed the Sole Power into the Rule of many, and those by popular Election too; they perswaded themselves, that by establishing this Form of limited Monarchy, they had wholly supprest all thoughts of hankering afresh after the whimsical humours of licentious Soveraignty. But it fell out quite otherwise; for now every man began to value himself upon his own Abilities, and to crack his Skull upon any Design that might probably enlarge the Boundarys of his Authority and Command. The Grandees also fell to rending and lopping off from the Revenues and Segniories of the Crown, all such Lands and Manours as bordered upon any of their own Seats; pressing upon the Kings Subjects, and Tenants, to a most insupportable degree of Servitude. Insomuch that by raising petite Annuities into great Honours, and tearing asunder the Royal Prerogative; they made themselves, (of [Page] Subjects, whilst they kept within the bounds of Duty,) so many Tyrants, upon the loss of their Loyalty; involving the people in an extremity of Slavery and Oppression: And yet they bore all with Patience; for Custom being the only case of Excess of Misery, men were contented to lay the foundation of Servitude by the length of Sufferance; which found neither End nor Abatement, until the quiet part of the Kings Reign.

Now Montford, Glocester, and Spencer (the Heads of this Conspiracy) having, by the late Provisions, drawn into the hands of the twenty four Tribunes of the People, the entire management of all Affairs; and finding this Power to be yet too much dispers'd, to answer their Expectations; compelled the King to call another Parliament; where they got the authority of the Twenty four assigned over to themselves, and erected a Triumvirate for their own ends only, and not for reforming Abuses, and settling the Nation, as they at first gave out. And thus by the Gratification of these Private Interests, the Publick was staid, for a time: But yet all this Juggle and Artifice, was only to make the way the smoother for one of them to become perpetual Dictator. Ambition is never so high, but that it still labours to advance a step further; and that Station which lately seemed Inaccessible, is now lookt upon but as a Cocks-Stride; that which was Great, in the Persute, seeming Inconsiderable, in the Possession. These Three Elect nine Counsellours (Three of them at least to make a Quorum) who were to dispose of and fortifie Castles, and transact other Affairs of the Realm. But the Chief Justice, Chancellour, Treasurer, and all other Officers, greater or less, they reserve the Choice of to themselves: binding the King so very strictly to this hard Bargain, that he submits to pass an Instrument to them under the Great Seal, and Oath, whereby he actually discharged them from their Allegiance [Page] when ever he should attempt to assume to himself the Royal Dignity; declaring it to be lawful (in such Case) for the whole Nation to rise up as one man, and, (having no Obligation to him) by force to reduce him into Order.

And yet not long after; this Prodigy of Fortune (whom she had made a wretched Example of her Inconstancy) finding no part of his Soveraignty left him, but the bare Title; and even that precarious too; craves Aid of Pope Urbane, the fourth, against his disloyal Subjects; who arm'd him with Excommunications against all that should not forthwith return to their Duty; and Cancell'd his Oath, and Contract; in regard that it was made when he could not properly say that he was at Liberty; Force having no power to create a just Interest.

But the Lords, having now imp'd their wings with Eagles Feathers, and liking no Game but what was rak'd out of the Ashes of Monarchy; boldly make head against their Soveraign: And that they might be the better able to cope with him, call in the French to their Assistance. Thus again did the Commonwealth turn her Sword against her own Breast; and invite her antient Enemy to the Funeral of her Liberty; so that it was a great Providence that she fell not, at this time, under a Forreign Yoke. Now though these men were much more apprehensive of their own Disgrace than of others Miseries; yet could they find no better Pretext for private Interest, than that of the Publick. Wherefore at the entry of this Rebellion they cryed out for Liberty; though when it drew near an end, they never spoke word of it. Well! at Lewis the Armies met, and the King endeavours a Reconciliation, but in vain; for Arguments are ever unprofitable, when Justice is inferiour to Force. Wherefore the Sword decides [Page] the Controversie, and makes the two Kings and their eldest Sons, Prisoners.

The Person and the Power being now both of them in the hands of Montford and Glocester; found no other means of Security, or expectation of Liberty, than what the emulous Competition of Greatness (which began to break forth between these two mighty Rivals) gave hope of: For Leicester designing, (by engrossing from his Partner the Person of the King, and securing to his Followers the best part of the Spoil) to draw more fruit from this Advantage, than, in Fellowship, it could yield, dissolv'd the Knot of all their Amity. Thus we may observe that equal Authority, with the same Power, is ever fatal to all great Actions; for to reduce minds to so even a pitch that they should not have some strings of Disagreement, is absolutely impossible. Montford having thus broken all faith with his Confederates, as well as Duty to his Sovereign; left the Path of Moderation and Wisdom, to approach the King by that of Haughtiness and Distrust; plying him with pretences that his Arms and Ends were evermore directed to the good of the Publick, and the ease of the People; that in all this he entertain'd no private Passion, in opposition to the sense of his Allegiance; but was capable of regulating his Desires according to his just Power, and consequently to his Majesties Satisfaction, in case he would be rul'd; that is to say, (as he explain'd himself) command the Forts and Castles of his now Opposite, Glocester, and the rest, to be deliver'd up into his hands. It was no easie matter, we may well imagine, for the King thus to be tutor'd by his inferiour, and Vassal: But Necessity, in such Cases, commonly bears down before it all Formalities: And therefore this poor Prince who (lying at the Victors Discretion) seem'd to have been rais'd, only to shew the Inconstancy of Fortune, and the Vanity of man; suited [Page] himself with incomparable Wisdom according to the Exigences of the Times: Neither could Humility injure Majesty, when the only means to contein Spirits so insolent within due bounds, was Dissimulation. Wherefore he summons, in Person, the Forts of his faithfullest Friends to yield to his greatest Enemies; entering them, in shew, as his Lodging, but, in effect, as his Prison; and sees himself forc'd to take Law from him, to whom he lately thought to have given it. Leicester is now become the Darling of the Rabble, who easily crouch and change to every new Master; but yet the Sober and considering part of the Nation durst not venture to sayl along with his Fortune, by the Light of his Glory; as knowing well that Crystal, though it fairly glitters, yet is soon broken; and that as the Ascent of Usurpation is slippery, so the Top is tottering, and the Fall dreadful. To account this man therefore at the very height of his false Felicity to be truly Happy, was but to give the name of the Image to the Mettle that was not yet molten: For by this time the imprison'd Prince had made an Escape, and was fast assur'd of Glocester upon the ty of his great Mind, and Discontent. Wherefore they both of them united with the shattered Remnant of the Loyal Army, and, by a speedy march, arriv'd unlookt for, upon the banks of the unarmed Troops of the secure Rebels quartering about Evesham; whom they instantly assayl'd; as knowing it to be no fit season to give time, when no time could assure so much as Expedition promis'd. Spencer, and other Lords of that Faction, made toward the King for Mercy; but could not get clear of the Press, being hurry'd along the Stream, and perished in the Confusion. We are to consider that Publick Motion depends in a great measure upon the Conduct of Fortune, Private on our own Carriage: And we must take heed how we run down steep Hills with heavy Bodies, which being once in motion, are hurry'd on by their own [Page] weight, and Stops are then no longer Voluntary. Now Leicester being at that instant with the King, and out of the Storm, might have got away; if his Hope, and Courage had not encreas'd his Resolution with his Misfortune: He could neither abandon his Followers, nor his Ambition; so that improving Adversity into an exercise of Virtue, he came, and fell.

The King being by this succesful Turn freed and obey'd; began to enquire into the ground of his former Miscarriages; and why that Virtue and Providence which had so long settled and supported the English Empire in the greatest Lustre and Reputation, throughout the Reign of his Glorious Ancestors; should now turn tail upon Him, and Confederate with his Enemies; to the almost absolute destruction of the State, and as if her Genius had quite forsook her: Upon due search, he finds his squandering hand to have made too bold with the Substance and Estates of his People; and that the rapacious Exorbitances of his Civil Ministers, the Licentiousness of his Martial Followers, his own harsh Demeanour and Inaccessibleness, and his neglect of keeping his Word, had lost him his Nobility at home: And that his Necessities, which forc'd him to make Merchandize of Peace and War, as his last Refuge; and to put himself into the power of Persons doubtful or injur'd; together with his giving himself up to a sensual Security, and entrusting with the management of the State, base, griping and unworthy Officers, whose Counsels were ever more subtle than Substantial, had wounded his Reputation abroad, and thrown down those Pillars of Soveraignty, Credit and Veneration. Wherefore he enters upon his regain'd Authority with Gentleness and Clemency; wholly passing over the faults of most of the Rebels: (A gracious kind of pardoning, not so much as to take notice of the Offence!) and so forgot the Rest, that they might live, [Page] but to the Glory of his Goodness; for the fewer kill'd, the more remain to adorn the Trophy. Tyrants indeed shed Blood for Pleasure, but Kings, out of Necessity; And yet lest his Justice and Power might suffer too much, by his Grace and Mercy, some few he punish'd with easie Fines, others, by Exile; as the two Guiltless, yet unpity'd Sons of the Arch-Traytor Leicester. So odious (we see) is Treason in the Head, that it involveth the innocent Children in an everlasting Distrust; and that which in others is but Suspicion, in them is Guilt. Then he proceeds to confer upon the constant adherers to his broken Fortunes, the Forfeitures of his Enemies; but with much more Wariness than before: as having found (by Experience) immoderate Liberality to be but a weak means to win Love; because it lost more in the Gathering than it gain'd in the Giving. A Bounty plac'd without Respect, is taken without Gratitude; discredits the Receiver, and detracts from the judgment of the Bestower; blunting the Appetites of such as draw their Hopes of Preferment from measures of Fidelity and Service. Thus at last he learn'd that Reward and Reprehension discreetly temper'd, do Ballance Government; and that it much importeth a Prince to keep that Hand steady and equal, that holds the Scale.

In the next place he appli'd himself to the correcting of his own natural Infirmities: Wisely judging, that though the Princes Manners are only a mute Law, yet have they more of Life and Vigour in them, than those of Letters. So that though he might now and then touch upon the skirts of Vice, yet was he ever after cautious of entering the Circle. And whereas the Crimes and Enormities of the great Men of his Court were, at this this time, become so extravagantly numerous, that they were drawn into Example and Imitation: He purg'd this likewise with singular exactitude of Judgment and Severity; knowing full well [Page] that it was it that gave life to the Moderation or Intemperance of the Commonwealth.

He reduc'd the Expences of his House to the just Rule of his proper Revenue; and was often heard to say that his former excessive squanderings had torn open an Issue of his Subjects Blood. The Fury and Insolence of the Soldiery (now become Licentious, by means of the Civil Wars) he spent and corrected by forreign Expeditions: which he was the rather induc'd to do, upon finding that the peaceable (only) bore the Burthen of all the late Calamities; and that the other were never satisfi'd, but in the miseries of the Innocent; being as ready as ever, if they should find no Enemies abroad, to seek out some at Home. Neither did he forget to examine or redress, by strict Commission, the Rigour and Corruption of his Judicial Officers; as apprehending, that the sense of their Severity would raise a murmur of his own Cruelty.

He fill'd up the seats of Judgment and Councel with men of Noble Extraction. For such do with less offence attract generous Spirits to respect and Veneration. He no longer measureth their Abilities by Favour, or private Recommendation, as before; but by publick Vogue: For though every man in particular may deceive and be deceived, yet is not possible for one man to deceive all; or all, one.

And the better to set off his own Capacity, and to discover to the World what part he intended, hereafter, to bear in all deliberate Expeditions; he sits himself in Councel daily, disposing Affairs of most weight, in his own Person: for Councellers be they never so wise, or worthy, are only Accessaries, yet, not Principals, in the support of the Government; their business is Subjection, not Fellowship, in debates of moment; and they must be allow'd a Privilege [Page] to advise, but not authority to resolve. For as a particular Soul is essentially requisite to the Life of a Prince; so is a supreme and unaccountable Power, of like necessity: Without the one he cannot be truly a Man, and without the other he can never be securely a Prince. It doth also disturb both the Minister, and the People, to be forc'd to pay obedience to one that is Incompetent of his own Greatness, and unworthy of his Royal Fortunes.

This wonderful Change in the General State, which so far dispair'd (erewhile) of recovering her former Liberty, that she sought for nothing but the easiest kind of Servitude; brought over the People again (with admiration) to the Kings Devotion, and their own Duty. So that whoever designes to lay a Foundation of Greatness upon popular Love, must be careful of securing to them Ease and Justice; because they are ever prone to measure the band of their Obedience by the benefit that they daily receive.

Now this Calm attended (ever after) this Kings Age and Hearse; and he liv'd to train up his Successor, and make him a Participant of his own Experience and Authority: His hard Education wean'd him from those Intemperances which makes Men Inferiour to Beasts, and prompted him to affect Glory and Virtue, which gave him a Superiority over Men. Insomuch that all the Actions of his Future Reign were Exact Rules of Discipline, and Policy, and worthy the Imitation of his best of Successors; who, as he was the first of his Name (Edward) after the Conquest; so was he also the first that thoroughly reform'd the Abuses crept into the Law, and settled the Commonwealth; (justly meriting the Title of Englands Justinian) delivering the Nation out of the Thraldom of the Peers; and by all his Actions (afterward) approving himself capable [Page] himself of Governing not this Single Realm only▪ but the whole World.

Thus by the Injustice of our Enemies, more than by our own Discretions, do we many times become both Wise and Fortunate.

FINIS.

§

§

[Page]

A BRIEF SURVEY (HISTORICAL and POLITICAL) OF THE Life and Reign OF Henry the III. KING OF ENGLAND.

Dedicated to his most Sacred MAJESTY.

LONDON, Printed for James Vade, at the Cock and Sugar Loaf, near St. Dunstan's Church, in Fleet-street. 1680.

§

§

[Page]

[Page]

SACRO-SANCTAE MAJESTATI CAROLI SECUNDI, DEI GRATIA, MAGNAE BRITANNIAE, FRANCIAE, ET HIBERNIAE, REGIS; FIDEI PROPUGNATORIS CHRISTIANAE; PACIS PERPETUAE INSTAURATORIS; PUBLICAE AUCTORIS AUGUSTI SECURITATIS; ET NATI BRITANNICI AD AETERNITATEM NOMINIS ET IMPERII; QUAM HUMILLIME D. D. CONSECRATURQUE HOC OPUSCULUM.

Information about this book

Title statement

A brief survey (historical and political) of the life and reign of Henry the III, King of England dedicated to His Most Sacred Majesty.

Cotton, Robert, Sir, 1571-1631.

Edition statement

1680

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A29484

ID [STC]

Wing B4650

ID [STC]

ESTC R18954

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

12876859

ID [OCLC]

ocm 12876859

ID [VID]

94850

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Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A29484)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 94850)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 731:35)

Source

— A brief survey (historical and political) of the life and reign of Henry the III, King of England dedicated to His Most Sacred Majesty., Cotton, Robert, Sir, 1571-1631..

Extent

[4], 7-32 p.

Printed for James Vade ...,. London :: 1680.. (Attributed to Robert Bruce Cotton. cf. NUC pre-1956, v. 124, p. 504.) (Reproduction of original in Huntington Library.)

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