Love and Freindship [sic]
satisfaction in the year 1399, after having prevailed on his cousin and
predecessor Richard the 2nd, to resign it to him, and to retire for the
rest of his life to Pomfret Castle, where he happened to be murdered.
It is to be supposed that Henry was married, since he had certainly
four sons, but it is not in my power to inform the Reader who was his
wife. Be this as it may, he did not live for ever, but falling ill, his
son the Prince of Wales came and took away the crown; whereupon the
King made a long speech, for which I must refer the Reader to
Shakespear’s Plays, and the Prince made a still longer. Things being
thus settled between them the King died, and was succeeded by his son
Henry who had previously beat Sir William Gascoigne.
HENRY the 5th
This Prince after he succeeded to the throne grew quite reformed and
amiable, forsaking all his dissipated companions, and never thrashing
Sir William again. During his reign, Lord Cobham was burnt alive, but I
forget what for. His Majesty then turned his thoughts to France, where
he went and fought the famous Battle of Agincourt. He afterwards
married the King’s daughter Catherine, a very agreable woman by
Shakespear’s account. In spite of all this however he died, and was
succeeded by his son Henry.
HENRY the 6th
I cannot say much for this Monarch’s sense. Nor would I if I could, for
he was a Lancastrian. I suppose you know all about the Wars between him
and the Duke of York who was of the right side; if you do not, you had
better read some other History, for I shall not be very diffuse in
this, meaning by it only to vent my spleen _against_, and shew my
Hatred _to_ all those people whose parties or principles do not suit
with mine, and not to give information. This King married Margaret of
Anjou, a Woman whose distresses and misfortunes were so great as almost
to make me who hate her, pity her. It was in this reign that Joan of
Arc lived and made such a _row_ among the English. They should not have
burnt her—but they did. There were several Battles between the Yorkists
and Lancastrians, in which the former (as they ought) usually
conquered. At length they were entirely overcome; The King was
murdered—The Queen was sent home—and Edward the 4th ascended the
Throne.
EDWARD the 4th
This Monarch was famous only for his Beauty and his Courage, of which
the Picture we have here given of him, and his undaunted Behaviour in
marrying one Woman while he was engaged to another, are sufficient
proofs. His Wife was Elizabeth Woodville, a Widow who, poor Woman! was
afterwards confined in a Convent by that Monster of Iniquity and
Avarice Henry the 7th. One of Edward’s Mistresses was Jane Shore, who
has had a play written about her, but it is a tragedy and therefore not
worth reading. Having performed all these noble actions, his Majesty
died, and was succeeded by his son.
EDWARD the 5th
This unfortunate Prince lived so little a while that nobody had him to
draw his picture. He was murdered by his Uncle’s Contrivance, whose
name was Richard the 3rd.
RICHARD the 3rd
The Character of this Prince has been in general very severely treated
by Historians, but as he was a _York_, I am rather inclined to suppose
him a very respectable Man. It has indeed been confidently asserted
that he killed his two Nephews and his Wife, but it has also been
declared that he did _not_ kill his two Nephews, which I am inclined to
beleive true; and if this is the case, it may also be affirmed that he
did not kill his Wife, for if Perkin Warbeck was really the Duke of
York, why might not Lambert Simnel be the Widow of Richard. Whether
innocent or guilty, he did not reign long in peace, for Henry Tudor E.
of Richmond as great a villain as ever lived, made a great fuss about
getting the Crown and having killed the King at the battle of Bosworth,
he succeeded to it.
HENRY the 7th
This Monarch soon after his accession married the Princess Elizabeth of
York, by which alliance he plainly proved that he thought his own right
inferior to hers, tho’ he pretended to the contrary. By this Marriage
he had two sons and two daughters, the elder of which Daughters was
married to the King of Scotland and had the happiness of being
grandmother to one of the first Characters in the World. But of _her_,
I shall have occasion to speak more at large in future. The youngest,
Mary, married first the King of France and secondly the D. of Suffolk,
by whom she had one daughter, afterwards the Mother of Lady Jane Grey,
who tho’ inferior to her lovely Cousin the Queen of Scots, was yet an
amiable young woman and famous for reading Greek while other people
were hunting. It was in the reign of Henry the 7th that Perkin Warbeck
and Lambert Simnel before mentioned made their appearance, the former
of whom was set in the stocks, took shelter in Beaulieu Abbey, and was
beheaded with the Earl of Warwick, and the latter was taken into the
Kings kitchen. His Majesty died and was succeeded by his son Henry
whose only merit was his not being _quite_ so bad as his daughter
Elizabeth.
HENRY the 8th
It would be an affront to my Readers were I to suppose that they were
not as well acquainted with the particulars of this King’s reign as I
am myself. It will therefore be saving _them_ the task of reading again
what they have read before, and _myself_ the trouble of writing what I
do not perfectly recollect, by giving only a slight sketch of the
principal Events which marked his reign. Among these may be ranked
Cardinal Wolsey’s telling the father Abbott of Leicester Abbey that “he
was come to lay his bones among them,” the reformation in Religion and
the King’s riding through the streets of London with Anna Bullen. It is
however but Justice, and my Duty to declare that this amiable Woman was
entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, and of
which her Beauty, her Elegance, and her Sprightliness were sufficient
proofs, not to mention her solemn Protestations of Innocence, the
weakness of the Charges against her, and the King’s Character; all of
which add some confirmation, tho’ perhaps but slight ones when in
comparison with those before alledged in her favour. Tho’ I do not
profess giving many dates, yet as I think it proper to give some and
shall of course make choice of those which it is most necessary for the
Reader to know, I think it right to inform him that her letter to the
King was dated on the 6th of May. The Crimes and Cruelties of this
Prince, were too numerous to be mentioned, (as this history I trust has
fully shown;) and nothing can be said in his vindication, but that his
abolishing Religious Houses and leaving them to the ruinous
depredations of time has been of infinite use to the landscape of
England in general, which probably was a principal motive for his doing
it, since otherwise why should a Man who was of no Religion himself be
at so much trouble to abolish one which had for ages been established
in the Kingdom. His Majesty’s 5th Wife was the Duke of Norfolk’s Neice
who, tho’ universally acquitted of the crimes for which she was
beheaded, has been by many people supposed to have led an abandoned
life before her Marriage—of this however I have many doubts, since she
was a relation of that noble Duke of Norfolk who was so warm in the
Queen of Scotland’s cause, and who at last fell a victim to it. The
Kings last wife contrived to survive him, but with difficulty effected
it. He was succeeded by his only son Edward.
EDWARD the 6th
As this prince was only nine years old at the time of his Father’s
death, he was considered by many people as too young to govern, and the
late King happening to be of the same opinion, his mother’s Brother the
Duke of Somerset was chosen Protector of the realm during his minority.
This Man was on the whole of a very amiable Character, and is somewhat
of a favourite with me, tho’ I would by no means pretend to affirm that
he was equal to those first of Men Robert Earl of Essex, Delamere, or
Gilpin. He was beheaded, of which he might with reason have been proud,
had he known that such was the death of Mary Queen of Scotland; but as
it was impossible that he should be conscious of what had never
happened, it does not appear that he felt particularly delighted with
the manner of it. After his decease the Duke of Northumberland had the
care of the King and the Kingdom, and performed his trust of both so
well that the King died and the Kingdom was left to his daughter in law
the Lady Jane Grey, who has been already mentioned as reading Greek.
Whether she really understood that language or whether such a study
proceeded only from an excess of vanity for which I beleive she was
always rather remarkable, is uncertain. Whatever might be the cause,
she preserved the same appearance of knowledge, and contempt of what
was generally esteemed pleasure, during the whole of her life, for she
declared herself displeased with being appointed Queen, and while
conducting to the scaffold, she wrote a sentence in Latin and another
in Greek on seeing the dead Body of her Husband accidentally passing
that way.
MARY
This woman had the good luck of being advanced to the throne of
England, in spite of the superior pretensions, Merit, and Beauty of her
Cousins Mary Queen of Scotland and Jane Grey. Nor can I pity the
Kingdom for the misfortunes they experienced during her Reign, since
they fully deserved them, for having allowed her to succeed her
Brother—which was a double peice of folly, since they might have
foreseen that as she died without children, she would be succeeded by
that disgrace to humanity, that pest of society, Elizabeth. Many were
the people who fell martyrs to the protestant Religion during her
reign; I suppose not fewer than a dozen. She married Philip King of
Spain who in her sister’s reign was famous for building Armadas. She
died without issue, and then the dreadful moment came in which the
destroyer of all comfort, the deceitful Betrayer of trust reposed in
her, and the Murderess of her Cousin succeeded to the Throne.——
ELIZABETH
It was the peculiar misfortune of this Woman to have bad
Ministers—Since wicked as she herself was, she could not have committed
such extensive mischeif, had not these vile and abandoned Men connived
at, and encouraged her in her Crimes. I know that it has by many people
been asserted and beleived that Lord Burleigh, Sir Francis Walsingham,
and the rest of those who filled the cheif offices of State were
deserving, experienced, and able Ministers. But oh! how blinded such
writers and such Readers must be to true Merit, to Merit despised,
neglected and defamed, if they can persist in such opinions when they
reflect that these men, these boasted men were such scandals to their
Country and their sex as to allow and assist their Queen in confining
for the space of nineteen years, a _Woman_ who if the claims of
Relationship and Merit were of no avail, yet as a Queen and as one who
condescended to place confidence in her, had every reason to expect
assistance and protection; and at length in allowing Elizabeth to bring
this amiable Woman to an untimely, unmerited, and scandalous Death. Can
any one if he reflects but for a moment on this blot, this everlasting
blot upon their understanding and their Character, allow any praise to
Lord Burleigh or Sir Francis Walsingham? Oh! what must this bewitching
Princess whose only freind was then the Duke of Norfolk, and whose only
ones now Mr Whitaker, Mrs Lefroy, Mrs Knight and myself, who was
abandoned by her son, confined by her Cousin, abused, reproached and
vilified by all, what must not her most noble mind have suffered when
informed that Elizabeth had given orders for her Death! Yet she bore it