The Rebels doom, or, An historical account of the most remarkable rebellions from Edward the Confessor's reign to His present Majesties happy restauration : with the fatal consequences that have always attended such disloyal violations of allegiance.

HENRY IV.

Henry the fourth, while Duke of Lancaster, hav∣ing made his claim to the Crown, it was by all the States of the K ngdom with one consent grant∣ed, That the said Lord Duke should Reign over them: and thereupon he was first placed in the Royal Throne by the Arch-bishops of Canterbury and York, and afterwards solemnly Crowned and Anointed at W••stminster, which certainly invested him in all the Prerogatives of an English Monarch, and thereby the Fealty and Homage of all his Sub∣jects became due to him.

But scarce was he warm in his new Atchiev∣ed Soveraignty, when a Nes;t of powerful Enemies began to hatch his Destruction under the shadow of his own Wings. The chief in the Conspiracy, were the Earls of Huntington, Rutland, Kent, and Salisbury, the Bishop of Carl sle, and several others of great Quality. The main Point of the Plot was to Kill the King and his Son, and to restore depo∣sed Richard; But the Plot was Discovered first by the Earl of Rutland, and then by the Lord Mayor: tho' with so short a warning, that the King was scarce out of danger, when the Earls of Kent and Salisbury entred Windsor Castle with four hundred Men, with a Resolution to have seized upon the K ng.

The two Lords having thus missed their Prey, Marched away to Wallingford, thence to Abington, and so to Circester, giving out as they went, That King Richard was at Liberty, and at Pontfract, at the

Head of a hundred thousand Men. But this Re∣port not taking with the People, they suborn'd one Maunden, who had b••en one of Richards Chaplains, very like him in Features and Complexion, to take upon him the person of the King.

But the Event was not answerable to the Pro∣ject; for the Townsm••n of Cicest••r fell upon the two Earls with that Vigour, That they took 'em both Prisoners; and seeing their Town on Fire, which was procured by some of the Lords Followers, the better to rescue them again, while the people were busied in the quenching the Flames, they imme∣diately hal'd their Noble Prisoners forth, and with∣out more delay, according to the Method of Popu∣lar Justice, sever'd their Heads from their Bodies. The Earl of Huntington was Apprehended in Essex, and Beheaded at Pleshie, at the Instigation of the Widow of the late Duke of Glocester, put to Death at Callis by Richard. The Lord Spencer had the like Execution done upon him at Bristol: and Maunden the Counterfeit Richard, was Drawn, Hang'd, and Headed; there being no less then Nineteen in all that were put to Death for this Conspiracy, only the Bishop of Carlisle was preser∣ved alive by the Kings Clemency after Sentence of Condemnation. So far was Heaven from being propitious to Subjects in their Officious intermed∣ling with the Rights of Crowned Princes, who when once they come to be anointed, are the Sacred Wards and Pupils of God himself. Nor would God permit those rash Attempters against their Reigning Monarch to regain, what their former

Prince had been forced to lose and resign, through their unfaithful Conduct of his Prosperiy.

Several other Conspiracies there were of Per∣sons of meaner Rank, which being Discovered (as all Cland••stine Tr••acheries generally are) the first that fell under the Kings Justice was a Priest of Ware, who was Drawn and Hang'd; the same fate befel Walter Baldock Prior of Lawnd. A Fryer Minorite was likewise for concealment Hang'd in his Fryers Weeds; and not long after eight Franciscans for the same Confederacy ended their Days by the hand of the Common Executioner: as also did Sir Roger Clar nden, Reputed to be the Natural Son of the Black Prince. For the King being endanger'd in the Main, resolved to spare none upon whom the Crime or Concealment was found.

But if these had any pretence or colour while deposed Richard was yet alive, yet the Fiery Hot∣spur, the Earl of Northumberland's Son, and the Earl of Worcester his Fathers Brother after Ri∣chard's Decease, could alledge no excuse for those fatal Animosities which Armed them against their Sovereign, to both their Confusions.

However, the colourable causes of their taking Armes, were the usual Paintings and Flourishes that set off such Attempts, the great care of the Com∣mon-wealths Reformation, and their own safety. But the Kernel of their Design was, to thrust Henry out of his Seat, and deprive him of his Life, and then to advance the Title of Mortimer, Earl of March, their nearest Kins-man. To this purpose, Pierce, Mortimer, and Owen Glendour of Wales, ha∣ving

entred into a Triple Confederacy, and divi∣ded England and Wales between them, Young Hot∣spur first makes Head about Chester and the Mar∣ches, to whom with the privity of his Father, re∣paired the Old Earl of Worcester, leaving the Go∣vernment of the Young Prince and his Houshold, over which the King had placed him.

On the other side the Kings Armies with all speed, and with the Prince his Son, Guarded by a considerable Force, advances towards Shrewsbury, before which Town Hotspur was sat down, and just ready to give the Assault; when the Royal Standard b••ing Discovered, he was forc'd to draw off from that Enterprize, so that now he thought of nothing more then to Embattle his Army, consisting of fourteen thousand strong and hardy Blades, to try the Fortune of War against an ap∣proved Souldier.

Nevertheless Peace was offer'd and had ensu'd, but that the mischievous Earl of Worcester, by misreporting and falsifying his Sovereigns words, precipated his Nephew into suddain Battle.

The Kings Courage was not small in the Fight, as neither was the Danger: The Young Prince of VVales being Wounded with an Arrow in the Face, the Lord Piercy, and Earl Douglass, then whom it is said, That the wide World had not two greater Champions, instead of spending them∣selves upon the Multitude, bent all their fierceness upon the King, in whose Person they were sure ten thousand fell. With this Resolution they most furiously rush'd forward with their Spears and

Swords, but the Earl of Dunbar discovering their purpose, drew the King from the place which he had design'd to make good, and thereby in likeli∣hood sav'd his Life; for the Standard was over∣thrown, the Standard Bearer slain, and ten other Knights Fighting to defend the Standard, all mor∣tally Wounded: besides that, Douglass with his own hand slew three that day that were severally in the Kings Coat-Armour, so that many thought that the King had been kill'd, and ran out of the Field.

Thus lasted a most obstinate and bloody Contest between a Sovereign and his Rebellious Subjects for above three hours, till at length Hotspur still Riding in the Head of the Battle in contempt of Death and Danger met with his match, and was slain by an unknown hand, with whose fall the Courages of all the rest fell into their Feet, of which they made the speediest use they could to save themselves.

Rebellion and Disloyalty thus vanquished in the Field, and Treason having by Providence lost her chief support, the Earl of VVorcester, Sir Richard Vernan, and the Baron of Kinderton, three of the most eminent Rebels, had their Heads chopt off the next day but one after the Battle; And as for the Earl of Northumberland, though his Life was pardoned, yet his Revenues were Confiscated, and himself reduced to a Pension of Necessary Mainte∣nance, which (however) the King, when he had sufficiently humbled him, out of a particular fa∣vour and compassion toward him, restored him

afterwards in Parliament, all which nevertheless did not save his Head at the long run.

No sooner was this Rebellion thus appeased, but Tho. Mowbray, E. Marshal, disliking it seems the Carriage of publick matters, draws R••chard le Scroope Arch-bishop of York into a new Conspi∣racy, in full hope that the Erl of Northumberland, the Lord B••rdolph, the Citizens of York and the common People would assist their Cause, which was glossed with the usual specious pretence of re∣dressing publick abuses. The Earl of Westmore∣land hearing of this Attempt, gathers a force to∣gether to encounter 'em, but perceiving himself too feeble, he betakes himself to stratagem, and by feigning to Embrace the Quarrel got both the Ring-leaders into his own Power, and presented them as an acceptable Oblation to the King, who Sacrificed the Traiterous Heads both of the Earl and the Arch-bishop, to his just Anger. Which done, the King pursued the Earl of Nor∣thumberland, who notwithstanding all his late fa∣vours was relapsed again into his former Disloy∣alty, and the Lord Bardolph, and forced them both to take Sanctuarie in Scotland, with the loss of his Castles and Mannors, which the King seized a se∣cond time into his own Hands. The said Earl and Lord, not long after endeavouring to raise new stirs in the North of England, were encountered by the Sheriff of Yorkshire, at what time the Earl was slain out right, and the Lord Bardolph mor∣tally wounded. The Head of the Earl was chopt from his dead Body, and being ignominiously car∣ried

through the City of London, was fixed upon London Bridge, so difficult a thing it is for Tray∣tors to be assured of rest and quiet in their Graves.