t

Cotton, p. 380. Walsingham, p. 356.

u

Tyrrel, vol. iii. part 2. p. 991, from the records.

w

Walsingham, p. 343.

x

He levied fines upon those who had ten years before joined the duke of Glocester and his party: They were obliged to pay him money, before he would allow them to enjoy the benefit of the indemnity; and in the articles of charge against him, it is asserted, that the payment of one fine did not suffice. It is indeed likely, that his ministers would abuse the power put into their hands; and this grievance extended to very many people. Historians agree in representing this practice as a great oppression. See Otterburne, p. 199.

y

Walsingham.

z

Knyghton, p. 2744. Otterburne, p. 212.

a

Tyrrel, vol. iii. part 2. p. 1008, from the records. Knyghton, p. 2746. Otterburne, p. 214.

b

Art. 16, 26.

c

Art. 13, 17, 18.

d

Art. 22.

e

Art. 27.

f

Art. 14.

g

Art. 16.

h

We learn from Cotton, p. 362, that the king, by his chancellor, told the commons, that they were sunderly bound to him, and namely in forbearing to charge them with dismes and fifteens, the which he meant no more to charge them in his own person. These words no more allude to the practice of his predecessors: He had not himself imposed any arbitrary taxes: Even the parliament, in the articles of his deposition, though they complain of heavy taxes, affirm not, that they were imposed illegally or by arbitrary will.

i

See note [O] at the end of the volume.

[O], p. 319

To show how little credit is to be given to this charge against Richard, we may observe, that a law in the 13 Edw. III. had been enacted against the continuance of sheriffs for more than one year: But the inconvenience of changes having afterwards appeared from experience, the commons in the twentieth of this king, applied by petition that the sheriffs might be continued; though that petition had not been enacted into a statute, by reason of other disagreeable circumstances, which attended it. See Cotton, p. 361. It was certainly a very moderate exercise of the dispensing power in the king to continue the sheriffs, after he found that that practice would be acceptable to his subjects, and had been applied for by one house of parliament: Yet is this made an article of charge against him by the present parliament. See art. 18. Walsingham, speaking of a period early in Richard’s minority, says, But what do acts of parliament signify, when, after they are made, they take no effect; since the king, by the advice of the privy council, takes upon him to alter or wholly set aside, all those things, which by general consent had been ordained in parliament? If Richard, therefore, exercised the dispensing power, he was warranted by the examples of his uncles and grandfather, and indeed of all his predecessors from the time of Henry III, inclusive.

k

Sir John Heywarde, p. 101.

l

Cotton, p. 389.

m

Knyghton, p. 2757.

n

Knyghton, p. 2759. Otterborn, p. 220.

o

Cotton, p. 390.

p

Henry iv. cap. 14.

q

Peruse, in this view, the abridgment of the records, by Sir Robert Cotton, during these two reigns.

r

See note [P] at the end of the volume.

[P], p. 325

The following passage in Cotton’s Abridgment, p. 196, shows a strange prejudice against the church and churchmen. The commons afterwards coming into the parliament, and making their protestation, shewed, that for want of good redress about the king’s person in his household, in all his courts, touching maintainers in every county, and purveyors, the commons were daily pilled, and nothing defended against the enemy, and that it should shortly deprive the king and undo the state. Wherefore in the same government, they entirely require redress. Whereupon the king appointed sundry bishops, lords and nobles, to sit in privy-council about these matters: Who since that they must begin at the head, and go at the request of the commons, they in the presence of the king charged his confessor not to come into the court but upon the four principal festivals. We should little expect that a popish privy-council, in order to preserve the king’s morals, should order his confessor to be kept at a distance from him. This incident happened in the minority of Richard. As the popes had for a long time resided at Avignon, and the majority of the sacred college were Frenchmen, this circumstance naturally encreased the aversion of the nation to the papal power: But the prejudice against the English clergy cannot be accounted for from that cause.

s

Walsingham, p. 191, 208, 283, 284. Spelman Concil. vol. ii. p. 630. Knyghton, p. 2657.

t

Harpsfield, p. 668, 673, 674. Waldens. tom. i. lib. 3. art. I. cap. 8.

u

Spelm. Conc. vol. ii. p. 621. Walsingham, p. 201, 202, 203.

w

Harpsfield in Hist. Wickl. p. 683.

x

Wood’s Ant. Oxon. lib. I. p. 191, c. Walsingham, p. 201.

y

Cotton’s abridgment, p. 285.

z

5 Rich. II chap. 5.

a

Walsingham, p. 206. Knyghton, p. 2655, 2656.

b

Walsingham, p. 312. Ypod. Neust. p. 337.

c

Knyghton, p. 2663.

d

13 Rich. II. cap. 3. 16 Rich. II. cap. 4.

e

Rymer, vol. vii. p. 672.

f

Knyghton, p. 27, 38. Cotton, p. 355.

g

Cotton, p. 355.

h

Froissard, lib. 2. chap. 133, 134. Walsingham, p. 298, 299, 300, c. Knyghton, p. 2671.

i

Rich. II. chap. 7.

k

13 Rich. II. chap. 1.

l

Harding: This poet says, that he speaks from the authority of a clerk of the green cloth.

m

Dugdale, vol. i. p. 151.

n

Walsingham, p. 362. Otterbourne, p. 224.

o

Walsingham, p. 363. Ypod. Neust. 556.

p

Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 171.

q

2 Henry IV. chap. vii.

r

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 178.

s

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 123.

t

Ibid. vol. viii. p. 142, 152, 219.

u

Ibid. vol. viii. p. 110, 111.

w

Vita Ric. sec. p. 171, 172.

x

Walsingham, p. 364.

y

Vita Ric. sec. p. 172, 173.

z

Dugdale, vol. i. p. 150.

a

Ibid. vol. i. p. 151.

b

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 125, 126.

c

Ibid. p. 125.

d

Ibid. p. 155, 156, c.

e

Walsingham, p. 336. Vita Ric. sec. p. 180. Chron. Otterbourne, p. 237.

f

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 89.

g

Hall, fol. 21, 22, c.

h

T Livii, p. 3.

i

Walsingham, p. 366, 367. Hall, fol. 22.

k

Chron. Otterbourne, p. 224. Ypod. Neust. p. 560.

l

Chron. Otterbourne, p. 225.

m

Rymer. vol. viii. p. 353.

n

Walsingham, p. 373. Otterbourne, p. 255.

o

Walsingham, p. 374.

p

Ibid. p. 377. Chron. Otterb. p. 261.

q

Buchanan, lib. 10.

r

Walsingham, p. 380.

s

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 715, 738.

t

Cotton, p. 429.

u

Cotton, p. 364.

w

Ibid. p. 406.

x

Ibid. p. 426.

y

Ibid. p. 438.

z

Ibid. p. 456, 457.

a

Ibid. p. 462.

b

Cotton, p. 454.

c

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 462.

d

Walsingham.

e

Walsingham, p. 371. Ypod. Neust. p. 563.

f

Walsingham, p. 379. Tit. Livius.

g

Rymer, vol. viii. p. 627. Otterbourne, p. 267.

h

4 Hen. IV. cap. 15. and 5 Hen. IV. cap. 9.

i

Rymer, tom. viii. p. 610.

k

Hall, fol. 33.

l

Walsing. p. 382.

m

Hall, fol. 33. Holingshed, p. 543. Goodwin’s Life of Henry V. p. 1.

n

Hist. Croyland. contin. Hall, fol. 34. Holingshed, p. 544.

o

Holingshed, p. 545.

p

Walsingham, p. 382.

q

Walsingham, p. 382.

r

Fox’s Acts and Monuments, p. 513.

s

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 61. Walsingham, p. 383.

t

Walsingham, p. 385.

u

Cotton, p. 554. Hall, fol. 35. Holingshed, p. 544.

w

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 119, 129, 193.

x

Walsingham, p. 400. Otterbourne, p. 280, Holingshed, p. 561.

y

Hen. V. chap. 7.

z

Hall, fol. 35.

a

Hall, fol. 35, 36.

b

Le Laboureur, liv. xxvii. chap. 23, 24.

c

Ibid. liv. 27. chap. 27. Monstrelet, chap. 39.

d

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 208.

e

Ibid. p. 211. It is reported by some historians (see Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 500) that the Dauphin, in derision of Henry’s claims and dissolute character, sent him a box of tennis balls; intimating that these implements of play were better adapted to him than the instruments of war. But this story is by no means credible; the great offers made by the court of France, show that they had already entertained a just idea of Henry’s character, as well as of their own situation.

f

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 300. T. Livii, p. 8.

g

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 303.

h

St. Remi, chap. lv. Goodwin, p. 65.

i

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 137, 138.

k

Le Laboureur, liv. 35. chap. 6.

l

T. Livii, p. 12.

m

St. Remi, chap. 58.

n

T. Livii, p. 13.

o

St. Remi, chap. 62.

p

Walsingham, p. 392. T. Livii, p. 19. Le Laboureur, liv. 35. chap. 7. Monstrelet, chap. 147.

q

Walsingham, p. 393. Ypod. Neust. p. 584.

r

Le Laboureur, liv. 35. chap. 10.

s

St. Remi, chap. 74. Monstrelet, chap. 167.

t

St. Remi, chap. 79.

u

Ibid. chap. 81. Monstrelet, chap. 178, 179.

w

St. Remi, chap. 85, 86. Monstrelet, chap. 118.

x

Walsingham, p. 400.

y

St. Remi, chap. 91.

z

Juvenal des Ursins.

a

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 717, 749.

b

Ibid. p. 626, c.

c

Ibid. p. 762.

d

Ibid. p. 776. St. Remi, chap. 95.

e

St. Remi, chap. 97. Monstrelet, chap. 211.

f

T. Livii, p. 69. Monstrelet, chap. 201.

g

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 895. St. Remi, chap. 101. Monstrelet, chap. 223.

h

Holingshed, p. 577.

i

Monstrelet, chap. 242.

k

His name was John, and he was afterwards created duke of Somerset. He was grandson of John of Gaunt duke of Lancaster. The earl of Dorset was brother to Somerset, and succeeded him in that title.

l

St. Remi, chap. 110. Monstrelet, chap. 239. Hall, fol. 76.

m

St. Remi, chap. 3.

n

Rymer, vol. x. p. 212. T. Livii, p. 92, 93. St. Remi, chap. 116. Monstrelet, chap. 260.

o

Monstrelet, chap. 265. Hall, fol. 80.

p

St. Remi, chap. 118. Monstrelet, chap. 265.

q

T. Livii, p. 4.

r

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 254, 255.

s

Rymer, vol. x. p. 113.

t

Ibid. p. 190.

u

Parliamentary History, vol. ii. p. 168.

w

It appears from many passages of Rymer, particularly vol. ix. p. 258, that the king paid 20 marks a-year for an archer, which is a good deal above sixpence a-day. The price had risen, as is natural, by raising the denomination of money.

x

Rymer, vol. x. p. 114.

y

Liv. iv. chap. 86.

z

Rymer, vol. x. p. 113.

a

Fleetwood’s Chronicon Preciosum, p. 52.

b

Rymer, vol. x. p. 261. Cotton, p. 564.

c

Cotton, p. 564.

d

Hall, fol. 83. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 27.

e

Hall, fol. 84. Monstrelet, vol. i. p. 4. Stowe, p. 364.

f

Hall, fol. 86. Stowe, p. 364. Grafton, p. 501.

g

Rymer, vol. x. p. 299, 300, 326.

h

Hall, fol. 85. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 8. Holingshed, p. 586. Grafton, p. 500.

i

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 14. Grafton, p. 504.

k

Hall, fol. 88, 89, 90. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 15. Stowe, p. 365. Hollings[chhed, p. 588.

l

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 15.

m

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 19, 20, 21.

n

Monstrelet, p. 18.

o

Stowe, p. 368. Hollingshed, p. 590.

p

Hall, fol. 98, 99. Hollingshed, p. 593, 594. Polydore Virgil, p. 466. Grafton, p. 512, 519.

q

Stowe, p. 367.

r

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 32, 33. Hollingshed, p. 597.

s

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 35, 36.

t

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 38, 39. Polyd. Virg. p. 468.

u

Hall, fol. 105. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 39. Stowe, p. 369. Hollingshed, p. 599. Grafton, p. 531.

w

Hall, fol. 106. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 41, 42. Stowe, p. 369. Hollingshed, p. 600. Polyd. Virg. p. 469. Grafton, p. 532.

x

Hall, fol. 106. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 42. Stowe, p. 369. Grafton, p. 533.

y

Hall, fol. 107. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 42. Grafton, p. 534.

z

Hall, fol. 107. Hollingshed, p. 600.

a

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 45.

b

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 46.

c

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 48.

d

Rymer, vol. x. p. 459, 472.

e

Ibid. vol. x. p. 421.

f

Rymer, vol. x. p. 432.

g

Stowe, p. 371.

h

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 100.

i

Ibid. p. 87.

k

Stowe, p. 323. Grafton, p. 554.

l

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 90. Grafton, p. 561.

m

Rymer, vol. x. p. 611, 612.

n

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 112. Grafton, p. 565.

o

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 120. Hollingshed, p. 612.

p

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 105. Hollingshed, p. 610.

q

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 127. Grafton, p. 568.

r

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 126, 130, 132. Hollingshed, p. 613. Grafton, p. 571.

s

Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 136. Hollingshed, p. 614.

t

Grafton, p. 562.

u

Fortescue, who, soon after this period, visited France, in the train of prince Henry, speaks of that kingdom as a desert in comparison of England. See his Treatise de laudibus Angliae. Though we make allowance for the partialities of Fortescue, there must have been some foundation for his account; and these destructive wars are the most likely reason to be assigned for the difference remarked by this author.

w

Grafton, p. 573.

x

Rymer, vol. x. p. 764, 776, 782, 795, 796. This sum was equal to 36,000 pounds sterling of our present money. A subsidy of a tenth and fifteenth was fixed by Edward III. at 29,000 pounds, which, in the reign of Henry VI. made only 58,000 pounds of our present money. The parliament granted only one subsidy during the course of seven years, from 1437 to 1444.

y

Grafton, p. 578.

z

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 101, 108, 206, 214.

a

Ibid. p. 53.

b

Grafton, p. 590.

c

Cotton, p. 630.

d

Hollingshed, p. 626.

e

Stowe, p. 381. Hollingshed, p. 622. Grafton, p. 587.

f

Grafton, p. 597.

g

Fabian Chron. anno 1447.

h

Grafton, p. 597.

i

Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 6.

k

Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 7. Hollingshed, p. 629.

l

Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 21. Grafton, p. 643.

m

Hollingshed, p. 631.

n

Grafton, p. 646.

o

Stowe, p. 387.

p

Cotton, p. 609.

q

Cotton, p. 641.

r

Cotton, p. 642. Hall, fol. 157. Hollingshed, p. 631. Grafton, p. 607.

s

Cotton, p. 643.

t

Cotton, p. 643.

u

Hall, fol. 158. Hist. Croyland, contin. p. 525. Stowe, p. 388. Grafton, p. 610.

w

Stowe, p. 364. Cotton, p. 564. This author admires, that such a piece of injustice should have been committed in peaceable times: He might have added, and by such virtuous princes as Bedford and Glocester. But it is to be presumed, that Mortimer was guilty, though his condemnation was highly irregular and illegal. The people had at this time a very feeble sense of law and a constitution; and power was very imperfectly restrained by these limits. When the proceedings of a parliament were so irregular, it is easy to imagine, that those of a king would be more so.

x

Hall, fol. 159. Hollingshed, p. 634.

y

Stowe, p. 388, 389. Hollingshed, p. 633.

z

Grafton, p. 612.

a

Hall, fol. 160.

b

Hist. Croyland, contin. p. 526.

c

Rymer, vol. ix. p. 275.

d

Cotton, p. 661. Stowe, p. 391.

e

Stowe, p. 394.

f

Parliamentary History, vol. ii. p. 263.

g

Stowe, p. 394.

h

Grafton, p. 620.

i

Hollingshed, p. 640.

k

Polyd. Virg. p. 501. Grafton, p. 623.

l

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 344.

m

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 361. Hollingshed, p. 642. Grafton, p. 626.

n

Stowe, p. 309. Hollingshed, p. 643.

o

Fabian Chron. anno 1458. The author says that some lords brought 900 retainers, some 600, none less than 400. See also Grafton, p. 633.

p

Hollingshed, p. 649. Grafton, p. 936.

q

Hollingshed, p. 650. Grafton, p. 537.

r

Stowe, p. 409.

s

Hall, fol. 169. Grafton, p. 195.

t

Hollingshed, p. 655.

u

Cotton, p. 665. Grafton, p. 643.

w

Hollingshed, p. 657. Grafton, p. 645.

x

Cotton, p. 666.

y

Cotton, p. 666. Grafton, p. 647.

z

Stowe, p. 412.

a

Polyd. Virg. p. 510.

b

Hollingshed, p. 660. Grafton, p. 650.

c

Hollingshed, p. 660.

d

Grafton, p. 652.

e

Stowe, p. 415. Hollingshed, p. 661.

f

Grafton, p. 653.

g

Statutes at large, 7 Henry IV. cap. 15.

h

Ibid. 8 Henry VI. cap. 7. 10 Henry VI. cap. 2.

i

Cotton, p. 664.

k

Statutes at large, 39 Henry VI. cap. I.

l

Cotton, p. 585.

m

Burnet’s Collection of Records, vol. i. p. 99.

n

Cotton, p. 593.

o

Statutes at large, 15 Henry VI. cap. 2. 23 Henry VI. cap. 6.

p

Cotton, p. 625.

q

Ibid. p. 626.

r

Ibid. p. 593, 614, 638.

s

Habington in Kennet, p. 431. Grafton, p. 791.

t

W. Wyrcester, p. 489. Hall, fol. 186. Holingshed, p. 664.

u

Habington, p. 432.

w

Hollingshed, p. 664.

x

Hist. Croyl. contin. p. 532.

y

Hall, fol. 186.

z

Habington, p. 432.

a

Holingshed, p. 665. Grafton, p. 656. Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 533.

b

Hall, fol. 187. Habington, p. 433.

c

Hall, fol. 137. Habington, p. 434.

d

Cotton, p. 670.

e

Cotton, p. 672. Statutes at large, 1 Edw. IV. cap. I.

f

Cotton, p. 670. W. Wyrcester, p. 490.

g

W. de Wyrcester p. 492. Hall, fol. 189. Grafton, p. 658. Fabian, fol. 215. Fragm. ad finem T. Sproti.

h

See note [Q] at the end of the volume.

[Q], p. 460

That we may judge how arbitrary a court, that of the constable of England was, we may peruse the patent granted to the earl of Rivers in this reign, as it is to be found in Spellman’s Glossary in verb. Constabularius; as also, more fully in Rymer, vol. xi. p. 581. Here is a clause of it: Et ulterius de uberiori gratia nostra eidem comiti de Rivers plenam potestatem damus ad cognoscendum, procedendum, in omnibus, singulis, causis et negotiis, de et super crimine lesae majestatis, seu super occasione caeterisque causis, quibuscunque per praefatum comitem de Rivers, ut constabularium Angliae—quae in curia constabularii Angliae ab antiquo, viz. tempore dicti domini Gulielmi conquestoris seu aliquo tempore citra tractari, audiri, examinari, aut decidi consueverant, aut jure debuerant, aut debent, causasque et negotia praedicta cum omnibus et singulis emergentibus, incidentibus connexis, audiendum, examinandum, et fine debito terminandum, etiam summarie et de plano, sine strepitu et figura justitiae, sola facti veritate inspecta, ac etiam manu regia, si opportunum visum fuerit eidem comiti de Rivers, vices nostras, appellatione remota. The office of constable was perpetual in the monarchy; its jurisdiction was not limited to times of war, as appears from this patent, and as we learn from Spellman: Yet its authority was in direct contradiction to Magna Charta; and it is evident, that no regular liberty could subsist with it. It involved a full dictatorial power, continually subsisting in the state. The only check on the crown, besides the want of force to support all its prerogatives, was, that the office of constable was commonly either hereditary or during life; and the person invested with it, was, for that reason, not so proper an instrument of arbitrary power in the king. Accordingly the office was suppressed by Henry VIII. the most arbitrary of all the English princes. The practice, however, of exercising martial law, still subsisted; and was not abolished till the petition of Right under Charles I. This was the epoch of true liberty, confirmed by the Restoration, and enlarged and secured by the Revolution.

i

Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 95.

k

Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 96.

l

Hall, fol. 191. Fragm. ad finem Sproti.

m

Polyd. Virg. p. 513. Biondi.

n

Hall, fol. 193. Fabian, fol. 216.

o

Hall, fol. 193. Habington, p. 437. Holingshed, p. 667. Grafton, p. 665. Polyd. Virg. p. 513.

p

W. Wyrcester, p. 506.

q

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 581.

r

W. Wyrcester, p. 505.

s

Ibid. p. 506.

t

Liv. 3. chap. 4.

u

Polyd. Virg. p. 514.

w

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 539.

x

W. Wyrcester, p. 508.

y

Grafton, p. 673.

z

W. Wyrcester, p. 511. Hall, fol. 200. Habington, p. 439. Hollingshed, p. 671. Polyd. Virg. p. 515.

a

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 4, 6.

b

Hall, fol. 169, 197.

c

W. Wyrcester, p. 5. Parliament. Hist. vol. ii. p. 332.

d

Fabian, fol. 217.

e

See note [R] at the end of the volume.

[R], p. 469

We shall give an instance: Almost all the historians, even Comines, and the continuator of the annals of Croyland, assert that Edward was about this time taken prisoner by Clarence and Warwic, and was committed to the custody of the archbishop of York, brother to the earl; but being allowed to take the diversion of hunting by this prelate, he made his escape, and afterwards chaced the rebels out of the kingdom. But that all the story is false appears from Rymer, where we find, that the king, throughout all this period, continually exercised his authority, and never was interrupted in his government. On the 7th of March 1470, he gives a commission of array to Clarence, whom he then imagined a good subject; and on the 23d of the same month, we find him issuing an order for apprehending him. Besides, in the king’s manifesto against the duke and earl, (Claus. 10 Edward IV. m. 7, 8.) where he enumerates all their treasons, he mentions no such fact: He does not so much as accuse them of exciting young Welles’s rebellion: He only says, that they exhorted him to continue in his rebellion. We may judge how smaller facts will be misrepresented by historians, who can in the most material transactions mistake so grossly. There may even some doubt arise with regard to the proposal of marriage made to Bona of Savoy; though almost all the historians concur in it, and the fact be very likely in itself: For there are no traces in Rymer of any such embassy of Warwic’s to France. The chief certainty in this and the preceding reign arises either from public records, or from the notice taken of certain passages by the French historians. On the contrary, for some centuries after the conquest, the French history is not complete without the assistance of English authors. We may conjecture, that the reason of the scarcity of historians during this period, was the destruction of the convents, which ensued so soon after: Copies of the more recent historians not being yet sufficiently dispersed, these histories have perished.

f

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 647, 649, 650.

g

Cotton, p. 702.

h

Fragm. Ed. IV. ad. fin. Sprotti.

i

Hall, fol. 204. Fabrian, fol. 218. Habington, p. 442. Hollingshed, p. 674.

k

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 652.

l

The king offered by proclamation a reward of 1000 pounds, or 100 pounds a year in land, to any that would seize them. Whence we may learn that land was at that time sold for about ten years purchase. See Rymer, vol. xi. p. 654.

m

Comines, liv. 3. cap. 4. Hall, fol. 205.

n

Polyd. Virg. p. 519.

o

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 207. Hollingshed, p. 675.

p

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 4. Hall, fol. 207.

q

Grafton, p. 687.

r

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 208.

s

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 5.

t

Hall, fol. 205.

u

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 208.

w

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 5.

x

Hall, fol. 210. Stowe, p. 422.

y

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 7.

z

Hall, fol. 210. Stowe, p. 423. Holingshed, p. 677. Grafton, p. 690.

a

Liv. 3. chap. 4.

b

Grafton, p. 692. Polyd. Virg. p. 522.

c

Hall, fol. 205.

d

Comines, liv. 1. chap. 6.

e

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 6.

f

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 7.

g

Grafton, p. 702.

h

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 7.

i

Grafton, p. 700. Comines, liv. 3. chap. 7. Leland’s collect. vol. ii. p. 505.

k

Habington, p. 449.

l

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 7.

m

Hall, fol. 218.

n

Leland’s Collect. vol. ii. p. 505.

o

Hall, fol. 219. Habington, p. 451. Grafton, p. 706. Polyd. Virg. p. 528.

p

Hall, fol. 221. Habington, p. 453. Hollingshed, p. 688. Polyd. Virg. p. 530.

q

Comines, Hall, fol. 223. Grafton. p. 703.

r

Habington, p. 454. Polyd. Virg. p. 531.

s

Hollingshed, p. 689, 690, 691. Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 554.

t

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 7.

u

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 806, 807, 808, c.

w

Cotton, p. 696, 700. Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 558.

x

Hall, fol. 226. Habington, p. 461. Grafton, p. 719. Fabian, fol. 221.

y

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 5. This author says, (chap. II.) that the king artfully brought over some of the richest of his subjects, who, he knew, would be soon tired of the war, and would promote all proposals of peace, which, he foresaw, would be soon necessary.

z

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 5.

a

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 227.

b

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 7.

c

Rymer, vol. xii. p. 17.

d

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 9.

e

Hall, fol. 235.

f

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 9. Hall, fol. 233.

g

Comines, liv. 4. chap. 10. Habington, p. 469.

h

Comines, liv. 3. chap. 10.

i

Comines, liv. 5. chap. 8.

k

Polyd. Virg. Hall, fol. 240. Hollingshed, p. 703. Habington, p. 474. Grafton, p. 742.

l

Hall, fol. 240.

m

Ibid. 241. Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 559.

n

Habington, p. 475. Hollingshed, p. 703. Sir Thomas More in Kennet, p. 498.

o

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 561.

p

Ibid. p. 562.

q

Stowe, p. 430.

r

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 562.

s

Stowe, p. 430. Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 562.

t

Hall, fol. 239. Holingshed, p. 703. Grafton, p. 741. Polyd. Virg. p. 537. Sir Thomas More in Kennet, p. 497.

u

Rymer, vol. xi. p. 110.

w

Sir Thomas More, p. 481.

x

This nobleman first introduced the noble art of printing into England. Caxton was recommended by him to the patronage of Edward IV. See Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors.

y

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 564, 565.

z

Sir T. More, p. 483.

a

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 564, 565.

b

Sir T. More, p. 484.

c

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 565.

d

Sir T. More, p. 491.

e

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 566.

f

Sir T. More, p. 493.

g

See note [S] at the end of the volume.

[S], p. 501

Sir Thomas More, who has been followed, or rather transcribed, by all the historians of this short reign, says, that Jane Shore had fallen into connexions with lord Hastings; and this account agrees best with the course of the events: But in a proclamation of Richard’s, to be found in Rymer, vol. xii. p. 204, the marquis of Dorset is reproached with these connexions. This reproach, however, might have been invented by Richard, or founded only on popular rumour; and is not sufficient to overbalance the authority of Sir Thomas More. The proclamation is remarkable for the hypocritical purity of manners affected by Richard: This bloody and treacherous tyrant upbraids the marquis and others, with their gallantries and intrigues as the most terrible enormities.

h

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 566.

i

Sir T. More, p. 496.

k

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 567. Comines. Sir Thom. More, p. 482.

l

Sir Thomas More, p. 496.

m

Sir T. More, p. 501.

n

Kennet, p. 551.

o

Dugdale’s Baron. vol. i. p. 168, 169.

p

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 568.

q

Hist. Croyl. cont. p. 568.

r

The lines were:

  • The Rat, the Cat, and Lovel that Dog,
  • Rule all England under the Hog.

Alluding to the names of Ratcliffe and Catesby; and to Richard’s arms, which were a boar.

s

See note [T] at the end of the volume.

[T], p. 518

Every one that has perused the ancient monkish writers, knows, that, however barbarous their own style, they are full of allusions to the Latin classics, especially the poets. There seems also in those middle ages to have remained many ancient books, that are now lost. Malmesbury, who flourished in the reign of Henry I. and king Stephen, quotes Livy’s description of Caesar’s passage over the Rubicon. Fitz-Stephen, who lived in the reign of Henry II. alludes to a passage in the larger history of Sallust. In the collection of letters, which passes under the name of Thomas a Becket, we see how familiar all the ancient history and ancient books were to the more ingenious and more dignified churchmen of that time, and consequently how much that order of men must have surpassed all the other members of the society. That prelate and his friends call each other Philosophers in all the course of their correspondence, and consider the rest of the world as sunk in total ignorance and barbarism.

t

There appear early symptoms of the jealousy, entertained by the barons against the progress of the arts, as destructive of their licentious power. A law was enacted, 7 Henry IV. chap. 17. prohibiting any one who did not possess twenty shillings a year in land from binding his sons apprentices to any trade. They found already that the cities began to drain the country of the labourers and husbandmen; and did not foresee how much the encrease of commerce would encrease the value of their estates. See farther, Cotton, p. 179. The kings, to encourage the boroughs, granted them this privilege, that any villain, who had lived a twelvemonth in any corporation and had been of the guild, should be thenceforth regarded as free.