PART III. FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII. TO THE PRESENT TIME. 1.—THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE. 1536 A.D. [Henry VIII. succeeded Henry VII. in 1509. His breach with the Papal power began in 1529, owing to his disappointment with the way in which the Papal court acted in his divorce case. Out of this personal quarrel grew the Reformation in England. In 1534 the king was declared the head of the Church in England. This was followed in 1536 by the suppression of the smaller monasteries, and the appropriation of their property and revenues by the king. This act, regarded as sacrilege by the Roman Catholics, led to risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. The former was easily suppressed; but the latter assumed serious dimensions. It was headed by Robert Aske, a gentleman of Doncaster. The insurgents were accompanied by excited priests, and they gave to their enterprise the name of the Pilgrimage of Grace.] 1. On Sunday, October the 15th, the main army crossed the Derwent, moving direct for York. On Monday they were before the gates. The citizens were all in the interest of the rebellion, and the mayor was allowed only to take precautions for the security of property and life. The engagements which he exacted from Aske, and which were punctually observed, speak well for the discipline of the insurgents. No pillage was to be admitted, or injury of any kind. The prices which were to be paid for victuals and horse-meat were published in the camp by proclamation. The infantry, as composed of the most dangerous materials, were to remain in the field. On these terms the gates were opened, and Aske, with the horse, rode in and took possession. 2. His first act on entering York was to fix a proclamation on the doors of the cathedral, inviting all monks and nuns 'dispossessed from their houses to report their names and conditions, with a view to their immediate restoration. Work is done rapidly by willing hands in the midst of a willing people. In the week which followed, by a common impulse, the king's tenants were universally expelled. The vacant dormitories were again peopled, the 'refectories were again filled with exulting faces. "Though it were never so late when they returned, the friars sang matins the same night." 3. Orders were next issued in Aske's name commanding all lords, knights, and gentlemen in the northern counties to repair to his presence. And now, at last, Lord Darcy1 believed that the time was come when he might commit himself with safety, or rather-since the secrets of men's minds must not be lightly conjectured-he must be heard, first in his own defence, and afterwards his actions must speak for him. 3 4. On the night of the surrender of York he sent his steward from Pomfret 2 with a request for a copy of the oath and of the articles of the rising, promising, if they pleased him, to join the confederacy. The Archbishop of York, Dr. Magnus, an old diplomatic servant of the crown, Sir Robert Constable, Lord Neville, and Sir Nicholas Babthorpe were by this time with him in the castle. His own compliance would involve the compliance of these, and would partially involve their sanction. 5. On the morning of the 16th or 17th he received a third letter from the king, written in grave displeasure. The truth had not been told. The king had heard, to his surprise, that Lord Darcy, instead of raising a force and taking the field, had shut himself up, with no more than twelve servants, in Pomfret. "If this be so," he said, "it is negligently passed." Lord Darcy excused himself by replying that he was not to blame; that he had done his best; but that there were sixty thousand men in arms, forty thousand in harness. They took what they pleased,-- horses, plate, and cattle. The whole population was with them; he could not trust his own retainers; and, preparing the king for what he was next to hear, he informed him that Pomfret itself was defenceless. passage so The castle is in 6. "The town," he said, "nor any other town, will not victual us for our money; and of such provision as we ourselves have made, the commons do stop the straitly that no victual can come to us. danger to be taken, or we to lose our lives." The defence may have been partially true. It may have been merely plausible. At all events it was necessary for him to come to some swift resolution. 7. The occupation of Lincoln by the Duke of Suffolk had set Lord Shrewsbury at liberty. Arms had been sent down and money; and the midland counties, in recovered 'confidence, had furnished recruits, though in limited numbers. He was now at Newark, in a condition to advance; and on the same 17th of October on which this despairing letter was written he sent forward a post to Pomfret, telling Darcy to hold his ground, and that he would join him at the earliest moment possible. Neither the rebels nor Shrewsbury could afford to lose so important a position, and both made haste. 8. Again, on the same Tuesday, the 17th, couriers brought news to Aske, at York, that the commons of Durham were hasting to join him, bringing with them Lord Latimer, Lord Lumley, and the Earl of Westmoreland. Being thus secure in his rear, the rebel leader carried his answer to Lord Darcy in person, at the head of his forces. He reached Pomfret on the afternoon of Thursday the 19th, and finding the town on his side, and knowing or suspecting Darcy's 'disposition, he sent in a message that the castle must be delivered, or it should be immediately stormed. A 'conference was demanded and agreed to. Hostages were sent in by Aske. Lord Darcy, the archbishop, and the other noblemen, and gentlemen came out before the gate. 9. "And there and then the said Aske declared unto the said lords spiritual and temporal the griefs of the commons; and how first the lords spiritual had not done their duty, in that they had not been plain with the king's highness for the speedy remedy and punishing of heresy and the preachers thereof; and for the taking the ornaments of the churches and abbeys suppressed, and the violating of relics by the suppressors; the irreverent 'demeanour of the doers thereof; the abuse of the vestments taken extraordinary; and other their negligences in doing their duty, as well to their sovereign as to the commons. 10. "There were divers reasonings on both parts." Darcy asked for time. If not 'relieved, he said he would surrender on Saturday; but Aske, to whom Shrewsbury's position and intentions were well known, and who was informed privately that the few men who were in the castle would perhaps offer no resistance to an attack, “would not condescend thereto." He allowed Lord Darcy till eight o'clock the following morning, and no longer. 11. The night passed. At the hour appointed fresh delay was demanded, but with a certainty that it would not be allowed; and the 'alternative being an immediate storm, the draw-bridge was lowered. Pomfret Castle was in possession of the rebels, and Lord Darcy, the Archbishop of York, and every other man within the walls, high and low, were sworn to the common oath. 12. The extent of 'deliberate 'treachery on the part of Darcy may remain uncertain. His sympathies were wholly with the insurgents. It is not impossible that, when the moment came, he could not resign his loyalty without a struggle. He had taken no precautions to avert the catastrophe, if he had not consciously encouraged its approach. He saw it coming, and he waited in the most unfavourable position to be overwhelmed; and when the step was once taken, beyond any question he welcomed the excuse to his conscience, and passed instantly to the front rank, as among the chiefs of the enterprise. 13. The afternoon of the surrender the insurgent leaders were sitting at dinner at the great table in the hall. A letter was brought and given to Lord Darcy. He read it, dropped it on the cloth, and "suddenly gave a great sigh." Aske, who was sitting opposite to him, stretched his hand. for the paper across the board. It was brief, and carried no signature. Lord Shrewsbury, the writer merely said, would be at Pomfret the same night. A 14. The sigh may be easily construed; but if it was a symptom of repentance, Darcy showed no other. council of war was held when the dinner was over; and, bringing his military knowledge into use, he pointed out the dangerous spots, he marked the lines of defence, and told off the commanders to their posts. Before night all the passages of the Don by which Shrewsbury could advance were secured. [The insurrection lasted several months. It was suppressed partly by the negotiations of the Duke of Norfolk, and partly by the swelling of a stream which protected the royal army. Aske and Lord Darcy and several others were thrown into prison, and most of them were executed. Lord Darcy was beheaded on Tower Hill (1537).] J. A. FROUDE: History of England (Henry VIII.). al-ter-na-tive, other choice. 1 Lord Dar'cy, of Templehurst, a nobleman of great influence in Yorkshire, whose loyalty was wavering, but who had been deterred from joining the malcontents by the fear of failure. dis-pos-sessed', turned out. He was an old man, and had earned a high reputation as a soldier. In Parliament he had spoken strongly against the separation from Rome. 2 Pom/fret, properly Pontefract, a |