Chancellors during the Wars of the Roses

CHAPTER VIII. **

Of The Chancellors Of Ireland During The Wars Of The Roses. **

The Wars of the Roses, which deluged England with the blood of the noblest and bravest of her sons, involved Ireland to a very considerable extent Henry VI nominated successive Chancellors for Ireland since the time Archbishop Talbot held the Seals. Master Thomas Chase [Pat. 1441, Rot. Cl. 20 Henry VI. C. R 24.] was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1441 He held office for five years, and was succeeded by an ecclesiastic named Richard Wogan [Pat. 1446.] in 1446, who held the Seal when Richard Duke of York became Viceroy of Ireland; William Chevers was his deputy or Vice-Chancellor. Ireland has had so little of the sunshine of Royal favour, and the career of the Duke of York as Viceroy was so exceedingly creditable to his memory, I very willingly devote more space to the life of his son, the Earl of Rutland, infant Chancellor of Ireland (who, of course, was Chancellor only in name), than otherwise I would feel justified in doing.

Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, descended paternally from Edward of Langley, youngest son of King Edward II. He was born at Rouen in the year 1443, and besides his English, had an Irish title - Earl of Cork. His father was Richard Duke of York; and his mother, Lady Cecilia Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland. From this lady’s extreme beauty she was generally called ‘the Rose of Raby,’ and two of her sons ascended to the throne under the titles of Edward IV. and Richard III.

In 1449, Richard Duke of York was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, and, accompanied by the Duchess and his children, landed at Howth (for many centuries the chief port of Dublin) on the 14th of July of that year. He gave early indications of a better policy towards the Irish than was usually observed. Instead of attacking the native chiefs, as was the usual practice of lately appointed deputies to show their activity, the Duke employed the arts of peace, and soon contracted ‘most friendly relations with Maginnis of Iveagh, MacMahon of Farney, MacArtan, O’Reilly, and other Irish noblemen. He brought the turbulent Wicklow clan of O’Byrne to subjection. This chief engaged to permit the laws of England to be observed in his district; that he, his wife, and family should wear the English dress and learn the English language. The reputation for gentle ruling which the Duke gained, in a short time caused the popular belief ‘that the wildest Irishman in Ireland would, before twelve months, be sworn English.’ On the birth of his son, George of York, Duke of Clarence, in Dublin Castle, on October 12, 1449, the policy of the Viceroy was manifested; for, knowing the tie of gossipred was regarded as very binding in Ireland, he procured the chiefs of the rival families - Geraldine of Desmond and Butler of Ormond - to be the sponsors at the font.

This politic and propitiatory conduct of the Duke of York succeeded in endearing himself and his family, not only to the English in Ireland, but also to the natives, ever grateful for kindness. Meantime the great party who regarded him as their head in England were dissatisfied at his absence, and looked on his protracted stay in Ireland as though it were an exile, if not banishment. The surrender of Caen to the French, despite the remonstrance of the Governor of that town, Sir Davy Hall, who was appointed by its English owner, the Duke of York, also much displeased the Yorkists. The rebellion of Jack Cade, and more especially the nonpayment of the vice-regal allowance, caused very serious embarrassment to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Some English rebels and Irish enemies taking advantage of the state of affairs, and the few men at the Viceroy’s disposal, attacked his Meath estates, burned Rathmore and some adjacent villages, and caused him to send an urgent letter to the King as well as to his brother-in-law, the Earl of Salisbury, requesting prompt assistance. In this letter he says, ‘I write at this time unto the King’s Highness, and beseech his good grace for to hasten my payment for this land, according to his letters of warrant, and late directed unto the Treasurer of England, to the intent I may wage men in sufficient number, for to resist the malice of the same enemies, and punish them in such wise, that other which would do the same, for lack of resistance in time, may take example; for doubtless, but if my payment be not had in haste, for to have men of war in defence and safeguard of this land, my power cannot stretch to keep it in the King’s obeisance. And very necessity will compel me to come into England to live there upon my poor livelihood, for I had liever be dead than any inconvenience should fall thereunto in my default; for it shall never be chronicled, nor remain in scripture by the grace of God, that Ireland was lost by my negligence. Therefore I beseech you, right worshipful brother, that you will hold to your hands instantly, that any payment may be had at this time in eschewing all inconveniences, for I have example in other places, more pity it is for to dread shame, and for to acquit my truth unto the King’s Highness as my duty.’ [Hollinshed’s Chron. Ir., vol. vi. p. 267.]

I cannot say what answer was given to this pressing letter, but infer no money was forwarded, for the Duke declared ‘that, for lack of payment of his wages, he was compelled to sell much of his substance, to pledge his plate and great jewels, and borrow from most of his friends.’ He returned to England in 1450, and found that country torn by civil broils. He left as his deputy in Ireland Sir James Butler, eldest son of the Earl of Ormond. He was not long absent; on the breaking up of the Yorkist camp at Ludlow, in Shropshire, the Duke, accompanied by his son and Chancellor, Edmund Earl of Rutland, sailed from Wales for Ireland, where he was enthusiastically received by the chiefs of the Geraldines, the Earls of Kildare and Desmond, who expressed their joy at his arrival again in Ireland. His coming also rejoiced the Anglo-Irish of his lordship of Meath, ‘whose hearts,’ says the historian, ‘he had exceedingly tied unto him.’ While the Lancastrian party were pillaging and destroying the Yorkists in England, the Irish Parliament formally upheld the authority of the Duke as Viceroy, and established a Mint in his castle at Trim. They likewise ratified the appointment of his son Edmund as Chancellor of Ireland.

At this period the Irish Parliament first asserted its independence. Mr. Gilbert, in his History of the Viceroys of Ireland, [Page 369.] states: ‘Stimulated by the presence and position of the Duke, the Parliament publicly enunciated the independence of the legislature in Ireland, and affirmed rights which had hitherto been suffered to lie in abeyance owing to the relations of the colonists with England. Having asserted the right of the King’s subjects in Ireland to their own coinage, distinct from that of England, the Parliament formally declared, that as Normandy and Guienne, when under the obedience of England, were separate from its laws and statutes, so also in Ireland, though under the obedience of the same realm, was nevertheless separate from its laws and statutes, except such as were by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of Ireland, freely admitted and accepted in their Parliaments and Great Councils.’ [Rot Stat. Hib. 38 Hen. VI] In further vindication of independent rights, the Parliament declared, that according to ancient prescription, the King’s subjects in Ireland were not bound to answer writs except those under the Great Seal of Ireland; and that any officer attempting to put decrees from England into force in Ireland, should incur forfeiture of all his Irish property, and be fined one thousand marks. It was also ordained, that every appeal of treason in Ireland should be determined solely in the Court of the Constable and Marshal of Ireland; that death should be inflicted on those who groundlessly accused others of treason there; and that no pardon should avail in such cases. This Parliament also enacted that, while the Duke of York, as Lieutenant, resided in Ireland, any man who, directly or indirectly, sought to compass his death, or to provoke rebellion or disobedience towards him, should stand attainted of high treason against the King’s person.

This stringent enactment was rigidly enforced. The Lancastrian party, then in the ascendant, wished to remove the Chancellor’s father from the Viceroyalty of Ireland, and resolved to make him a prisoner. They despatched a squire of the Earl of Ormond, named Overy, with a writ for the Duke’s apprehension, on the grounds of his being an attainted traitor in open rebellion against the King, and illegally claiming to be his Viceroy in Ireland. They little counted on the fate in store for their messenger. Overy was himself made prisoner, tried under the recent penal statute, found guilty of high treason, and suffered the ignominious death of a traitor. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered.

This attempt against the person of the Viceroy being signally defeated, an effort was next made to create an Irish party hostile to him, and as the Geraldines sided with the White Rose of York, the powerful influence of the House of Ormond was enlisted on behalf of the Lancastrians. The King, Henry VI., was induced to write letters, under his Privy Seal, to various Irish chiefs, who were usually ranked as Irish enemies, and these letters were forwarded to the Duke of York; but all was of no avail, the Duke, as stated by Hall, [Union of Two Noble Houses, 1548.] ‘got him such love and favour of the country and the inhabitants, that their sincere love and friendly affection could never be separated from him and his lineage.’ Poets, as well as prose writers, attested the success of his Irish administration. In the ‘Mirrour for Magistrates ’ [Vol ii. p. 189.] he is made to state:-

‘I twice bare rule in Normandy and France,

And last Lieutenant in Ireland, where my hart

Found remedy for every kind of smart;

For through the love my doings there did breede,

I had their helps at all times in my needs.’

The Duke and his son, the Lord Chancellor, attracted to their side the powerful nobles of the Geraldine party, which, as I have already observed, caused the Ormond party, their hereditary opponents, to side with the opponents of the White Rose. The Earls of Kildare and Desmond, the heads of the Fitz Geralds, with the Prestons, and Barnewalls, secured to the Duke the Government of Ireland despite the power of the potent Butlers, the influence of the Crown and Parliament of England.

Meanwhile the Duke’s eldest son, afterwards Edward IV., and his nephew, Richard Earl of Warwick, held possession of Calais. Thence occurred Lord Warwick’s hasty visit to Ireland narrated by Samuel Daniel:- [Poetical works of S. Daniel, Lond. 1718, vol. ii. p. 231.]

Where shipping and provisions Warwick takes

For Ireland, with his chieftain to confer;

And within thirty days this voyage makes,

And back returns ere known to have been there:

So that the heavens, the sea, the wind partakes

With him, as if they of his faction were;

Or that his spirit and valour were combined

With destiny, t’effect what he designed.

The fortunes of the Yorkists were again in the ascendant. They defeated the King’s forces at Northampton, made King Henry prisoner, and obtained possession of London. This news was quickly communicated to the Viceroy of Ireland, who, accompanied by the Lord Chancellor, started for England, leaving the Earl of Kildare his deputy. On his arrival in London he was received with enthusiasm, solemnly proclaimed heir to the Crown, and Protector of the realm. Alas! the Protector soon stood in need of protection. Within a month be was besieged in his Castle of Sandal, near Wakefield, by Queen Margaret at the head of a powerful army, superior by four to one to the forces of the Duke. Notwithstanding this immense majority, the Duke of York was resolved to try the fortune of battle, but Sir Davy Hall, his old comrade in arms, his faithful servant and counsellor, tried to dissuade him. He advised the Duke to have a little patience, for succour would swiftly come, that Prince Edward with his March men and the Welsh troops were on the road towards him. Yet the impetuous Duke would not be counselled, but replied with much vehemence, ‘Ah, Davy! Davy! hast thou loved me so long, and now wouldst have me dishonoured. Thou never saw me keep fortress when I was Regent in Normandy, when the Dauphin himself with his puissance, came to besiege me, but like a man, and not like a bird included in a cage, I issued and fought with mine enemies to their loss, ever, I thank God, and to mine honour. If I have not kept myself within walls for fear of a great and strong Prince, nor hid my face from any man living, wouldst thou that I, for dread of a scolding woman, should incarcerate myself and shut my gates; then all men might of me wonder, and all creatures might of me report dishonour, a woman hath made me a dastard, whom no man ever to this day could yet prove a coward. My mind is rather to die with honour than to live with shame. Their great number shall not appal my spirits, but encourage them; for surely I think that I have there as many friends as enemies, which, at joining, will either fly or take my part. Therefore advance my banner in, the name of God and St. George, for surely I will fight with them, though I should fight alone.”

This valorous speech was more indicative of the chivalry of a knight-errant than the wisdom of a prudent general. For five thousand men to leave a strong fortress and engage twenty thousand on the open plain, could only be regarded as the height of rashness. Besides Sir Davy Hall, the Earl of Salisbury and other prudent counsellors advised the Duke to remain in the fortress until his son, who was levying forces on the borders of Wales, would advance to his assistance. [Hume’s History of England, vol. iii, p. 04.] All was urged in vain, the Duke vowed he would fight, though he should fight alone, and with heavy hearts the gallant little band resolved to perish with him. There was, indeed, the chance which he had glanced at in his speech of numbering friends in Queen Margaret’s camp, who, in the hour of need, would either join him or draw away from the battle. On the eve of Christmas, December 24, 1460, the Duke’s army marched out of the castle and offered the Lancastrians battle. By the side of the Duke fought his second son, the young Chancellor of Ireland, whose years had not past their teens, but who, under a fair and almost effeminate appearance, carried a brave and intrepid spirit. The forces of the Queen resolved to annihilate their audacious foes, and soon the Duke found how little reason be had to ‘hope of finding friends in the camp of Queen Margaret. The historian Hume says, [Ibid.] ‘the great inequality of numbers was sufficient alone to decide the victory, but the Queen, by sending a detachment, who fell on the back of the Duke’s army, rendered her advantage still more certain and undisputed. The Duke himself was killed in the action; and when his body was found among the slain the head was cut off by Margaret’s orders and fixed on the gates of York, with a paper crown upon it, in derision of his pretended title.’

The fate of the young Chancellor was soon over. Urged by his tutor, a priest named Robert Aspell, he was no sooner aware that the field was lost than he sought safety by flight. Their movements were intercepted by the Lancastrians, and Lord Clifford made him prisoner, but did not then know his rank. Struck with the richness of his armour and equipment, Lord Clifford demanded his name. ‘Save him,’ implored the Chaplain; ‘for he is the Prince’s son, and peradventure may do you good hereafter.’

This was au impolitic appeal, for it denoted hopes of the House of York being again in the ascendant, which the Lancastrians, flushed with recent victory, regarded as impossible. The ruthless noble swore a solemn oath:- ‘Thy father,’ said he, ‘slew mine; and so will I do thee and all thy kin;’ and with these words be rushed on the hapless youth, and drove his dagger to the hilt in his heart. Thus fell, at the early age of seventeen, Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

While these deplorable events were taking place, the duties of Chancellor of Ireland were performed by deputy, and that deputy was Edmund Goldhall, or Ouldhall, who is named in the Liber Munerum Publicorum Hiberniae as Chancellor, in 1451. [Part ii. p. 202. This is the date assigned for the appointment of the young Earl of Rutland.] He is enumerated among the Bishops of Meath, [Ware’s Bishops.] and was brother of Sir William Ouldhall, Chamberlain to Richard Duke of York, who probably recommended him as the most eligible person to be Vice-Chancellor to the Duke’s son. He held the Great Seal for three years, and was succeeded, in 1454, by Sir John Talbot, son and heir of John Earl of Shrewsbury, and nephew of the Chancellor Talbot, whose ‘Life’ I have so fully given. Sir John held the Seal for six years, until 1460, when John Dynham, Esq., had the Great Seal. This Chancellor appointed Sir Robert Preston, Lord Gormanton, his Deputy Chancellor.

This arrangement did not long endure. The following year the King sent a praecipe, dated at Bristol, 1461, to Thomas Fitz Morice, Earl of Kildare; Sir Robert Preston, Sir Christopher St. Lawrence; Sir Rowland Fitz Eustace, Sir Nicholas Barnewall, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench; Sir Robert Dowedale, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; Sir Thomas Plunkett, and others, his liege people, signifying them that he sent over for Ireland a new Great Seal, by Sir William Welles, Knight, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and enjoining them to obey the said Chancellor, whom he had sworn into office before himself in Chancery, at Westminster, and to make use of that Seal, and no other. And that all grants under any other Seal, from the first day of his reign, should be vacated, and of no force, which, by the tenor of this writ or preacipe, be cancelled. [Lib. Munerum Pub. Hib., Part ii. p. 203.] This Sir William was son of Lionel Lord Welles, and had his appointment for life confirmed by Act of Parliament [2 Edward IV.] but he only held it one year, when he was succeeded by a nobleman whose career is very tragical, John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

The ancestor of John Tiptoft, or Tibetot, Earl of Worcester, had claims upon the manors of Inchiquin and Youghal, part of the extensive territories of the Fitz Geralds of Desmond. He was of illustrious descent, nearly related to King Edward IV., and possessed of ample fortune, was well fitted to occupy a high place in the public gaze. How he fulfilled the promise of his youth we learn as we proceed.

The University destined to mature the capacity of the future Chancellor of Ireland, was Oxford; and the classic College of Baliol is associated with his name. The place whence he derived his title, in the humorous lay of the ‘Oxford Commemoration,’ is described as not far distant from the celebrated University. In the words of the lively writer -

From legendary Christchurch,

Where booms the far-famed bell,

Reared by the hand of Wolsey,

But when I cannot tell;

From classic quads of Baliol,

Whence third-floor men descry,

The smoky roofs of Worcester,

Fringing the western sky,

the young Earl received stores of knowledge..

The youthful student was no idle one: this may be inferred from the incident recorded, that while on his travels to Jerusalem, having visited the Holy Father in Rome (the Pope was then the learned Aeneas Silvius, Pius II.), he delivered a Latin oration of such pathos that he moved the Pope to tears. The Earl’s reputation for learning caused him to be regarded as the most accomplished English nobleman of his day.

When he became an adherent of the House of York, his talents were sure to put him into high offices. He was accordingly appointed Justice of North Wales, Treasurer and Constable of England, Chancellor during life for Ireland, and Steward of the King’s Household. The impossibility of one man filling so many offices, unless by deputy, is apparent, so, as in duty bound, I follow his fortunes in Ireland, of which he was nominally Chancellor.

He landed at Howth, in 1467, escorted by a strong military force. Beside the offices I have enumerated, he was Deputy-Governor of Ireland, under the Duke of Clarence, then Viceroy. Shortly after his arrival he assembled a Parliament, and this legislative body proceeded at once to attaint the Earls of Kildare and Desmond, also Edward Plunkett, for treason. This was a most ungrateful return for the support which those noblemen had given the York party. The grounds for their impeachment were ostensibly alliances and fosterage with the King’s Irish enemies. Other breaches of the statute of Kilkenny were also charged in furnishing the said enemies with horses and armour, and supporting them against the loyal subjects of the King. The penalties of the statute were pressed most severely against the Earl of Desmond; his estates were declared confiscated, and, on February 14, 1467, the Earl, by the command of the Earl of Worcester, was beheaded at Drogheda. The real cause of this severity is probably that given by tradition. Desmond was greatly beloved by King Edward IV. on account of his prowess in the field, and for having fought no less than nine battles against the Lancastrians. The King listened with attention to his counsels, and asked his advice as to his future conduct on the throne. The Earl strongly recommended his Majesty’s strengthening, his position by an alliance with a foreign princess; and when the King disclosed his marriage with the widow. of Sir John Grey, of Groby, Desmond replied, ‘that he might obtain a divorce.’ The King refused to adopt this course, but on an occasion of some connubial dissension with the Queen, imprudently communicated to her the advice he had received; saying to her Majesty, ‘her pride would be humbled, had he taken the advice of his cousin of Desmond.’ Woe betide the man who comes between husband and wife. The beautiful Queen Elizabeth took these words to heart, and when their little quarrel was made up exerted those fascinations which secured her the Crown, and which the amorous King was unable to resist, to learn the exact words Desmond used. The consequence was fatal to the Earl. The Queen enlisted the services of Worcester in her design to be revenged on this unfortunate Lord. At her instigation, Worcester was sent to supplant Desmond as Deputy for Ireland; and by assembling the Parliament at Drogheda, remote from the province of Munster, the portion of Ireland in which Desmond’s power and influence lay, caused him to be attainted and executed. Irish historians describe Desmond as excelling in personal grace and intellect most men of his time. At the period of his execution he was but forty-two years of age, and no praise bestowed on, him exceeded his merits. They added that Erin suffered deeply by his death, the sorrow and affliction for which was felt equally by strangers and Gaels. [Gilbert’s Viceroys ‘of Ireland, p. 87. Richard III. wrote of the Earl of Desmond’s fate, seventeen years after it occurred, ‘That he had been extortiously slain and murdered by colour of laws, within Ireland, by certain persons, then having the government and rule there, against all manhood, reason, and good conscience.’ - Ibid.]

Mutual jealousy ‘and great dissensions existed among the State officials of the English settlement while the Earl of Worcester was Lord Chancellor. The Treasurer, Sir Roland Fitz Eustace, Baron of Portlester, whose daughter was married to the Earl of Kildare, was arraigned before the Lord Chancellor by Sir John Gilbert. The accusation against him was treason, in inciting the Earl of Desmond to assume the rank of Sovereign in Ireland, undertaking that he and all the land would prefer him to Edward IV. Fitz Eustace indignantly denied the charge, and expressed his willingness to appear to any indictment preferred against him. This bold denial by Lord Portlester, in the opinion of many, proved the falsehood of the accusation, and instead of bringing the charge to trial and sustaining it, Gilbert fled out of the reach of the injured noble. He joined the Irish who were at war with the Deputy, and had the tables turned on himself, being attainted a traitor by the very Parliament which acquitted Lord Portlester from his false impeachment.

The peerage of Baron of Ratoath, in the county of Meath, was conferred on Robert Bold, for his services to the King and his father, the Duke of York, at the recommendation of the Chancellor, Earl of Worcester. [Gilbert’s Viceroys of Ireland, p. 388.] He was assigned twenty marks yearly out of that manor, to be held by the service of one goshawk.

During the sitting of Parliament, convened by the Chancellor, a very important though rather crotchety point was settled, ‘Whether the Lieutenant, or Viceroy, vacated his office by passing from Ireland to any of the small islands on or near the coast?’ The Parliament ordained, ‘that if a Viceroy, or his Deputy, went into any island near Ireland, and returned, such passage should not render the office vacant, but that the Viceregal authority should still stand in full force and effect.’

The Island of Lambay, then uninhabited, was given by Parliament to the Chancellor, on consideration of his erecting thereon a fort, to prevent the Bretons, Spaniards, French, and Scots landing, and harbouring there, and making it a rendezvous when they issued forth to plunder the liege merchants passing the eastern coast of Ireland.

The English settlement was sorely pressed by the infuriated adherents of the late Earl of Desmond, who marched from the south to avenge his death, and by the ravages of the O’Reillys and other potent chiefs from the north. The townspeople of Drogheda did such effectual service in plundering and burning the mansion and monastery of the O’Reilly sept, that the Chancellor obtained for the Mayor the privilege of having a sword borne before him, as is the custom of the Lord Mayor of London; likewise a pension of 20l. out of the municipal rent to the Crown, for the maintenance of the dignity of that magistrate. The desperate state to which the colony was reduced, caused the Chancellor to recommend that the Earl of Kildare should be taken into Royal favour, provided he obtained proper bail for his future loyalty. Accordingly, on the Archbishop of Dublin and others entering into recognizance to the amount of a thousand marks, a Parliament held before Worcester, in 1468, ratified the pardon of the Earl of Kildare, and restored his estates. He joined the Earl and Countess of Worcester in re-establishing a perpetual chauntry to celebrate Divine service at the altar of St. Catherine the Virgin, in the church of St. Secundinus, or Sechnall, [This Saint is called a native saint; but the learned Irish writer, W. M. Hennessy, M.R.I.A., remarks, that as he is said to have been St. Patrick’s nephew, he therefore was not a native of Ireland.] at Dunshaughlin, in Meath, to the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin.

The Earl of Worcester left Ireland late in 148, and the Duke of Clarence, having been discharged from the Viceroyalty by Royal Proclamation, dated at York, March 23, 1470, the Earl was appointed in his place. He did not, however, personally discharge the duties, but nominated Edward Dudley as his deputy. It would have been better for the Earl’s reputation that he had. The Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick having conspired against Edward IV., fled from England to France, and Lord Scales captured many of their adherents, King Edward, on his arrival at Southampton, found a number of Lord Scale’s prisoners there, and ordered them for speedy trial before the Ex-chancellor of Ireland, the Earl of Worcester. As a matter of course they were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death. Not content with the customary barbarities sanctioned as punishment for the highest crime known to the laws of England - by Worcester’s sentence twenty gentlemen and yeomen were ordered to be hanged, drawn, quartered, and beheaded, and then suspended by the legs, and their heads impaled on sharp pointed stakes. For these atrocities Worcester was named, and rightly, if they be true, the butcher of England.

On the restoration of Henry VI. in 1470, the power of the Lancastrian was once more regained, and, we can easily suppose, considerable anxiety was felt to ascertain the whereabouts of ‘the Butcher.’ There was a heavy score against him which could only be paid by himself in person, and the broad realm of England was searched to requite the perpetrator of such cruelty as had been imputed to him. He dared not show himself in city or town, castle or hamlet sheltered him not; the most vigilant watch was kept at every port and creek so that he should not escape, by sea, and yet he could not be found! The last days of this intellectually gifted nobleman must have been miserable. Perfectly aware of the avidity with which his life was sought, he yet clung to the hope of escape, until another turn of Fortune’s changing wheel might restore his friends to power. Afraid to trust himself near the abodes of men, he fled to the lair of the wild beast, and the haunt of the wild fowl. Here be was sought and found. The Earl of Worcester was captured by a party of his deadly enemies, who found him concealed by the branches of a lofty tree in Havering Forest. With exultation and savage glee they consigned him to the gloomy dungeon of the Tower.

Seldom was a more desponding prisoner confined within these stern old walls. Since the days of William the Norman it had been a State prison, though, originally, a fortified residence for Kings desirous of having a wide ditch and deep moat between them and their subjects. Here in dejection and pining for freedom, the once powerful Earl of Worcester spent the last sad hours of life. Here he was speedily tried, and it so happened that the President at his trial was John Vere, Earl of Oxford, whose father had been sentenced and executed in the same place four years previously, when Worcester was the Judge. It was Lord Oxford’s turn now, and he took the verdict of guilty, and sentenced the Earl of Worcester to be beheaded on Tower hill.

We may hope the interval between Worcester’s sentence and his execution was well employed. He had seen enough of the mutability of earthly things to turn his thoughts on heaven, and if we can credit the accounts which have reached us, his last hours were piously spent. Caxton, the father of English printers, in his edition, in 1481, of Worcester’s translation of ‘Tullius his book of Friendship,’ relates, that the Earl ‘flowered in virtue and cunning,’ that ‘none was like unto him among the Lords of the temporality in science and moral virtue.’ ‘Oh! good blessed Lord,’ exclaims the mourning Caxton, ‘what great loss was it of that noble and virtuous and well-disposed Lord, and what worship had he in Rome, in the presence of our Holy Father the Pope, and so in all other places unto his death, every man there might learn to die and take his death patiently, wherein I hope and doubt not but that God received his soul into His everlasting bliss, for as I am informed he right advisedly ordained all his things, as well for his last will of worldly goods [Honest William Caxton was, no doubt, better acquainted with type than law. The penalty of treason causing forfeiture, left nothing for disposal by will.] as to his soul’s health, and patiently and holily without grudging in charity, before that he departed out of this world, I beseech Almighty God to have mercy on his soul, and pray all them that shall hear or read this little treatise, much virtuous of friendship, in likewise of your charity to remember his soul among your prayers.”

The Irish chroniclers would hardly endorse Caxton’s eulogy. They attributed the fate of Worcester to his cruelty in causing the Earl of Desmond to be beheaded. They asserted that the Ex-chancellor’s remains were quartered. The Irish Parliament decreed all his possessions in Ireland should be given to the Earl of Kildare, in compensation of his long imprisonment, and other injuries sustained at the hands of Worcester. Lambay Island which had been granted to him was restored to the Archbishop of Dublin.

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