Herbert. 1509. to more dangerous employments b. He was only fon of queen Elizabeth, heirefs of the house of York. Confequently, he might have given the king his father fome trouble, had he thought of afferting his right as heir to his mother. However, Henry having taken a relish for learning in his younger years, preferved it ever after. He always delighted in perufing good books, and converfing with the learned, even when the multitude of his affairs feemed to divert him from fuch kind of employments. By that means he made advances in the fciences very uncommon to great princes. Francis I. his cotemporary, ftiled by the French hiftorians, the father of the mufes, was in learning much his inferior. He spoke French and Latin very well and readily. He was perfectly fkilled in mufick, as two entire maffes compofed by himself, and often fung in his chapel, do abundantly witnefs. He was excercifed in the most abftrufe points of the Ariftotelian philosophy, which alone was in vogue in those days But he applied himself chiefly to the study of divinity, as it was then taught in the universities, all-ftuffed with useless queftions. Thomas Aquinas's fummary was his favourite book. Hollingfh. Henry has good of This knowledge, which was confidered as a great acccomplishment, even in ordinary perfons, had upon the young prince an effect which is not unufual. It gave him a good opinion of himself, which had but too much influence upon all the actions of his life. The exceffive commendations beftowed upon him by all, helped to confirm him in He is often this conceit. When he was yet unexperienced in the affairs of the ftate, he fancied himself very able; and this prefumption was the cause of his being often the dupe of those princes with whom he was concerned, as will more amply appear in the courfe of his reign. impofed upon. His good But in remarking that this prince had a great deal of selfquatics. conceit, I don't pretend to rob him of, or any ways leffen, the noble qualities he had from nature or education. In his youth he was very handfome, and expert in all bodily exercises, as much as, or more than, any prince of his time. Accordingly, he was paffionately fond of all those diverfions, which gave him an opportunity to fhew his activity. He was courageous without oftentation, of a free and open temper, an enemy to fraud and infincerity, fcorn Burnet fays, his father had given orders, that both his elder brother and he fhould be well inftructed in matters of knowledge, not with defign to make him archbishop of Canterbury, for he had made small progrefs when his brother died. ing ing to use indirect means to compafs his ends. His libe- 1509. rality perhaps was as much too great as the king his father's avarice. Henry VII. feemed to have been folicitous to accumulate riches, only to afford his fon the pleasure to fquander them away without any discretion. As Henry VIII. when he mounted the throne, was little His firft experienced in the affairs of the government, he made ufe counsellors. at firft of the king his father's minifters and counfellors. Stow. Hollingh. The principal were, William Warham archbishop of Can-Herbert. terbury, and lord chancellor of England (of whom honour- Pol, Virg. able mention is made by Erafmus fomewhere in his writings); Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester, fecretary and lord privy feal, who had been employed in the late reign, in the niceft affairs; Thomas Howard earl of Surry, lord treasurer of England, fon of the duke of Norfolk, flain at Bofworth field, fighting for Richard III. George Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, lord steward of the king's houshold; Thomas Ruthal, doctor of law; fir Edward Poynings, knight of the garter, controller, whofe name is still famous for a statute enacted in Ireland in the former reign, whilst he had the government of that ifland; fir Charles Somerfet, lord Herbert of Gower, Chepstow, and Ragland, lord chamberlain d. Hall. Hollin th. Henry VII's funeral was celebrated with great magnifi- Henry VII's cence a few days after his death. His body was interred funeral. at Westminster in the chapel built by himself, and for the adorning whereof he had spared no coft. This chapel paf- Stow. fed then for one of the ftatelieft in Christendom. Henry Herbert. VII. covetous as he was, laid out fourteen thoufand, fome fay, twenty thousand pounds fterling, a very confiderable fum in those days, when money was much fcarcer in Europe than at prefent. Erafmus of Rotterdam came over into England, in 14)7, and studied fome time in Oxford and Cambridge. His inftructions mightily promoted the new learning, and particularly the knowledge of the Greek tongue. He bore that title upon marrying a daughter of William Herbert, earl of Huntingdon. He was natural fon to Henry Beaufort, duke of Somerset, killed at Henham. To thefe counfellors the lord Herbert adds, fir Thomas Lovel, mafter of the wards, and conftable of the Tower, fir Henry Wyat, fir Henry Marney, afterwards (1532) lord Marney, fir Thomas Darcy, e His tomb, perfected by his execu- a p. 2. 1509. Herbert, The lord While the obfequies were preparing, the new king privately retired from his palace of Richmond to the Tower of London, under colour of withdrawing on account of the king his father's death. But it was rather to fettle with his ministers some affairs which would not admit of delay. Whilst Stafford fent he was thought in his retirement to be employed in devotion, he ordered Henry lord Stafford, brother of the duke of Buckingham, to be apprehended, probably upon fome groundlefs fufpicion, which foon vanished, fince, fhortly after, he was created earl of Wiltshire. to the Tower. Hall. Ruthal is The fee of Durham, vacant by the tranflation of Chriftomade bishop pher Bambridge, to the archbishoprick of York, was conof Durham. ferred on Thomas Ruthal, doctor of law, and one of the privy council f. A&t. Pub. XIII. p. 256, 258. General Courage the A few days after, the king confirmed his father's genepardon. But all offenders ral pardon granted before his death &. Proclama- had not the benefit thereof. A proclamation quickly aption to en- peared, wherein the king faid, that, being informed his people to good fubjects had been oppreffed under the fpecious precomplain. tence of preferving the prerogatives of the crown, he gave them leave to bring their complaints, and promised them fatisfaction. The defign of the proclamation was not to restore to his fubjects the fums unjustly extorted by the late king, but only to encourage them to exhibit their complaints against Empfon and Dudley, the inftruments made ufe of by Henry VII. and to give them fome fort of fatiffaction, by punishing these two minifters. Stow. Pol, Virg. When the proclamation was published, numberless petitions were prefented against them. This was what the court wanted, not only because these men were odious to the whole nation, but moreover to how the people the new king intended to rule in a very different manner from Empfon and the king his father. Upon all these petitions, Empfom Dudley are and Dudley were called before the council, where they called before were briefly told the principal articles alledged against them. the council. f And pope Julius fent him the form of the oath he was to take to the holy fee, of which, the curious reader may fee a copy in Rymer's Feed. tom. XIII. p. 256. About this time, the king confirmed to John, earl of Oxford, the poffeffion of the caftle of Colchester, granted to his ancestor Alberic de Vere, by the empress Maud; and appointed fir Edward Howard, ftandard bearer, with a falary of forty pounds a year; and fir Thomas Boleyn, warden of the exchange at Calais, with a falary of thirty pounds fix fhillings and eight pence. Ibid. p. 251, 258. g Out of which were excepted all perfons guilty of murder, felony, and treafon. In the fame pardon, all vagabonds and fturdy beggars were ordered to depart out of London, and repair to the feveral places where they were born. Stow, p. 486.. Empfon ་་ defence. Empfon answered for both, "That the accufation was of 1509. a very new and ftrange nature: that usually men were "profecuted for acting against the laws, or difobeying their Empfon's fovereign; but for their part, they were accufed by the Herbert. "people of executing the laws, of which they themselves Hall. were the authors: that, on the other hand, the king Pol. Virg. "called them to an account for obeying his father's ex 66 prefs orders, unheard-of-crime! the punishment whereof "would be apt to throw all his fubjects into rebellion: "that if they must be punished for fuch offences, he de"fired it might not be divulged to foreign nations, left But it is Hollingfh. fent to the Stow. they fhould infer, that the final diffolution of the Eng"lish government was approaching." To this it was briefly replied, "That he had fpoke with great freedom; but Herbert. "his eloquence was fruitless and unfeasonable: that they "were not accused of executing the laws, or of obeying "the king, but of ftretching the laws beyond their due "bounds, and exceeding their fovereign's commiffion, "which accufations they had reafon to fear were too "well proved." Then they were both committed to the They are Tower. The king was refolved to make them an ex- Tower. ample, in order to content the people, who were extremely Hall. incenfed against them. Thus their condemnation was re- Hollingh. folved before their appearance, though it was not yet Herbert. known on what to ground their procefs. In any other country, an act of fovereignty to fend these two men to the gallows, would have been feen with joy. not the fame in England, where the greatest criminals have privileges, of which they cannot be debarred, without giving the people occafion to think, the court is forming defigns against liberty. It was neceflary therefore to search for fome exprefs law to condemn them. But upon examining the accufation, already brought againft them, great difficulties occurred. It appeared, that though they were accused of numberlefs offences, nothing could be proved but their merciless execution of the laws. But notwithstanding they had stretched thefe fame laws as far as the words would bear, it could not be charged to them as a crime, fince they had the king's warrant, in whom the execution of the laws is lodged. It is true, Henry VII, contrary to the custom of his predeceffors, had acted according to the utmost rigour of the ftatutes. But he might Their promoters and inftruments were alfo apprehended, and put in the pillory. Hall, fol. 1. Stow, p. 487. Be 1509. do it, and if the former kings had done otherwise, it was more out of condefcenfion than juftice. These two minifters, therefore, could not be tried for obeying him. fides, to condemn them for executing their master's orders, was publickly to difhonour that prince's memory, and renew the remembrance of his feverities upon his fubjects. It was refolved therefore to put them to death upon a false accufation, of intending to withdraw their allegiance from Slight accu-the king fince his acceffion to the throne. It is evident, For how could fation a- the accufation was entirely groundless. two perfons, fo odious to the whole nation, and deprived Hollingh. of all credit by the death of Henry VII. think of fuch a Mean while, it defign, and still lefs put it in execution i ! gainst them. Herbert. Stow. They are to die. was not fcrupled to take away their lives for a forged crime, because they were believed worthy of death, though not condemned by the letter of the law. Upon this fricondemned volous accufation, they were brought before their proper judges, and found guilty, whether falfe witnesses were fuborned against them, or by a mental refervation, hitherto Dudley unknown in England in judgments of this nature. was tried at London the 16th of July, but Empson was not condemned till the 14th of October at Northampton. Henry, either out of fcruple, or fome other motive, fufpended their execution till the next year *. Hall. Debate Herbert. Whilst means were contriving to difpatch these two miabout the nifters, the king and the council had a much more imporking's mar- tant affair to take into confideration. We have feen, in the' riage with Catherine of former reign, prince Arthur's marriage with Catherine of Arragon. Arragon: that prince's death without iffue; the reafons inducing king Henry VII. to defire, that prince Henry, become his heir apparent, fhould marry his brother's widow; the confent of Ferdinand and Ifabella, father and mother of the princefs; and pope Julius's difpenfation for the marriage. The true reafon why Henry VII. proposed this match was, his unwillingness to reftore the hundred thou-" He fand crowns received in part of Catherine's dower. was alfo afraid of lofing the other half, which remained to be paid. In short, he forefaw, that after the receipt of the They were accufed, as appears in their indictments upon record, of a confpiracy against the king and ftate, of fummoning, during the late king's fickness, certain of their friends to be in arms at an hour's warning; and upon the king's death to haften to London, from whence it was inferred by the jury, that they intended either to feize the king's perfon, or to destroy him. Herbert, p. 4. King Henry the VIIth's execuof great tors made reftitution, this year, fums of money extorted from many perfons by thofe two oppreffors. Hall, fol. 7. whole, |