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LECTURE XXXIII.-HENRY OF LANCASTER.

The Lollards. Persecution. Prince Harry. The Border Wars. Percy and Douglas. Owen Glendower. Battle of Shrewsbury. The King of Scotland.

title.

1. Ir might appear that the choice of parliament and of the nation gave Henry IV. a very good title to be king; and if our monarchy were an elective one, no one could have Henry's wished for a better. But, from of old, it could neither be said to be strictly elective nor strictly hereditary. According to the old custom, when the country used to elect its king out of the royal family, Henry would have been in as good a position as King Alfred himself had Richard been dead. But since the feudal system had grown up people had come to think less of election and more of the hereditary right of the king, and Henry had not that right.

2. Thus from the very first he had two great fears and rivals. As long as King Richard was alive no one could tell that his friends and the people might not rise in his favour, and restore him to his throne. We might feel sure then that poor Richard would not lie long in prison. Just as when the Duke of Gloucester had been imprisoned by him and never appeared again, but died no one knew how, so it was with himself now his turn was come. It was soon announced that he was dead, and of course it was believed (most likely truly) that he was privately murdered by the king's order, or permission, though for a long time after reports used to be spread abroad that he was alive, which kept Henry in constant alarm.

3. Then, too, there was the young Mortimer, who according to the laws of inheritance was the real heir, and who was as yet quite a child. Henry had taken possession of him, and kept him as a sort of honourable prisoner in the court, where he received a good education, and was very well treated. Still, this was another danger, for any day Henry's enemies might try to take him away and make him king, as indeed they did after a time.

4. Thus it was by no means a bed of roses that Henry prepared for himself when he aspired to be King of England, and he had to try to please and conciliate all parties in order to secure his position. Above all, through his whole reign he took great care never to get into any disputes with the parliament, to which he owed his crown.

5. Almost the first act of his reign was one which is very pleasant to hear of; it was a mark of kindness and favour bestowed upon the aged poet Chaucer, whom he had doubtless known well all his life, from the time when his father used to patronize him long ago. Richard was deposed on the 30th of September, and on the 3rd of October the new king doubled Chaucer's pension, giving him a sum which would have made him very comfortable for the rest of his life, though he only lived one year to enjoy it.

The

Lollards.

6. Though he showed himself thus generous and grateful to his father's old friend and his country's great glory, he had no such kind feelings to the other famous man, whom John of Gaunt had at one time protected, John Wycliffe. The worst thing in all his reign is that he most cruelly persecuted his disciples. Wycliffe himself, as we saw, died a peaceful death, but he had left many followers, whom the Church of Rome desired to suppress and punish. These followers of Wycliffe were called the Lollards. No one is quite sure what that word meant, but it was doubtless a term of contempt. It probably came from the word "loll," and at first meant a sluggard or lazy person who lived at other people's expense rather than by his own labour, though this would have been a most unjust charge against Wycliffe's disciples. Great numbers of people agreed with Wycliffe in his indignation against the tyranny of the Pope, the worldliness of the clergy, and the covetousness of the friars. Some, though not so many, agreed with him in his protest against the doctrines of the Roman Church, and in his efforts to promote true religion, humility, and charity. This is part of a description which I have read of them, said to be written not by one of their friends, but by a Roman inquisitor. "The disciples of Wycliffe are men of a serious, modest deportment, they avoid all ostentation in dress, mix little with the busy world, and complain of the wickedness of mankind. They maintain themselves entirely by their own labour, despising wealth, being fully content with mere necessaries . . they are chaste and temperate, never seen in taverns nor amused by vain pleasures. You find them always employed either learning

or teaching. They never swear, they speak little; in public preaching they lay the chief stress upon charity."

7. Nevertheless, though Wycliffe's teaching bore such fruit as this, the archbishops, bishops, and other high dignitaries did all they could to stop it, and to oppress these harmless Persecution. men. Henry, perhaps, in order to propitiate them and win their favour in his difficult position, was very ready to help them. One of the first laws passed in his reign was a shameful one, commanding that "heretics" should be burned alive. Before Henry had been king two years the first of these "heretics" as they called them, "martyrs as we call them, was burned in Smithfield. He was a London clergyman named William Sawtre, and the principal charge brought against him, was denying the doctrine of transubstantiation and the worship of the cross. He said that he would not worship the cross on which Christ suffered, but Christ who suffered on the cross.

8. Before he could be put to death it was necessary formally to degrade him from his position as a clergyman. The secular courts were not allowed to punish a Churchman, and the ecclesiastical courts could not punish with death. The priest then had to be made into a layman before the cruel purpose could be executed. The archbishop and six bishops met in St. Paul's Church, and the "heretic" was brought before them. Step by step he was degraded from one office after another which he had held in the Church. First the priestly vestment and the sacramental cup were taken from him, and he was no longer a priest but a deacon; then the New Testament and the deacon's stole were taken, and he was only a sub-deacon; one sacred thing after another, the alb, the candlestick, the taper, the lectionary, were taken away, till he stood only as a sacristan or sexton, wearing a surplice, and holding the church key in his hand. These also were removed, the marks of the "tonsure or shaven crown of his head were done away with, and he was now a mere layman. What did he feel, what did those pitiless bishops feel, as the terrible ceremony went slowly on? We do not know, but we know the dishonoured and discrowned victim was faithful unto death. The archbishop handed him over to the secular power, to the high constable and marshall of England, with the hypocritical entreaty that they would receive him favourably, for the Roman Church always delivered over its victims with a recommendation to mercy, and William Sawtre was burnt at the stake. We all know how many noble and brave men suffered the

1401.

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like in after times; but we ought not to forget this first one, who died for conscience' sake.

Prince
Harry.

9. Henry IV. had several sons, the eldest of whom is a very famous character. He is often called "Harry Madcap," on account of the gay, wild life he led when he was young. It is not known quite certainly whether he really was as "madcap" as he is reputed to have been, for it is mostly in Shakespeare's plays that we find this description of him, and many historians doubt if it is true. But as long as people read Shakespeare, and that will be as long as the English language lasts, nobody will ever be able to think of Prince Harry except as a wild, witty, dissipated prince, with some touches of better things about him, which gave a sort of promise of his future glory.

10. There is one very famous story about him which shows both sides of his character, and which is well told by Sir John Elyot, but as he lived more than 100 years later, it is by no means certain that the story is true. It is, however, too interesting and characteristic to be omitted. "The most renowned prince, King Henry V., during the life of his father was noted to be fierce, and of wanton courage; it happened that one of his servants whom he well favoured was, for felony by him committed, arraigned at the King's Bench. Whereof the prince being advertised, and incensed by light persons about him, in furious rage came hastily to the bar, where his servant stood as a prisoner, and commanded him to be ungyved and set at liberty; whereat all men were abashed, saving the chief justice, who humbly exhorted the prince that his servant might be ordered according to the ancient laws of this realm; or if he would have him saved from the rigour of the laws, that he should obtain, if he might, of the king his father, his gracious pardon, whereby no law or justice should be derogate. With which answer the prince, nothing appeased, but rather more inflamed, endeavoured himself to take away his servant.

"The judge, considering the perilous example and inconvenience that might ensue, with a valiant spirit and courage, commanded the prince, upon his allegiance, to leave the prisoner, and depart his way. With which commandment the prince, being set all in a fury, all chafed and in a terrible manner came up to the place of judgment, men thinking that he would have slain the judge, or have done to him some damage. But the judge, sitting still without moving, declaring the majesty of the king's place of judgment, and with an assured and bold countenance, said to the

prince these words following: 'Sir, remember yourself: I keep here the place of the king, your sovereign lord and father, to whom ye owe double obedience; wherefore eftsoone, in his name, I charge you, desist of your wilfulness, and unlawful enterprise, and from henceforth give good example to those which hereafter shall be your own subjects. . . . And now, for your contempt and disobedience, go you to the prison of the King's Bench, where unto I commit you, and remain ye there prisoner, until the pleasure of the king your father be farther known.' With which words being abashed, and also wondering at the marvellous gravity of the worshipful justice, the noble prince, laying his weapon apart, doing reverence, departed, and went to the King's Bench as he was commanded.

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"Whereat his servants, disdaining, came and showed to the king all the whole affair; whereat he, awhile studying, after, as a man all ravished with gladness, holding his eyes and hands up to heaven, abraided, saying with a loud voice, 'O merciful God, how much am I, above all other men, bound to your infinite goodness, specially for that ye have given me a judge who feareth not to minister justice, and also a son who can suffer semblably, and obey justice.

11. Other storms speedily arose to trouble Henry's reign. The first began in Wales. It was more than 100 years since Edward I. had conquered that little country; but Troubles in the people had not submitted willingly, nor ceased Wales. to hate their conquerors. A Welsh gentleman, named Owen Glendower, who was said to be descended from the last Welsh king, Llewellyn, and who took offence at what he considered ill-treatment from Henry, rose in rebellion, roused up the people, and made war on the English. He had at first great success, and took prisoner Edward Mortimer, the uncle of the little heir. Henry marched against him; but Wales, with its mountains and marshes, was a very difficult country for English soldiers to fight in; and this being the autumn season, there were so many storms and so much snow that the king had to draw back. The snow and the storms came in so well to help the Welsh that Owen gained the character of a great magician, who could govern the weather as it suited him.

12. Besides the Welsh, Henry had enemies both in the French and the Scotch. To please the English nobles, he had, indeed, determined to carry on the war with the the borders. French, which Richard had tried to put an end to; and the Scotch, as usual, were on the side of France.

Troubles on

abraided, broke suddenly into speech.

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