Part 2

“This appeal furnished Edward with the occasion he had long desired, of laying claim to the sovereignty of Scotland. He endeavoured, in vain, to establish his right by precedents, arguments, and diplomatic reasonings. None of these availed to produce conviction in the minds of the Scotch, till they were backed by a powerful army! Judgment was at last given in favour of Baliol, though clogged with the condition, that he should take the oath of allegiance to the king of England. But this unhappy prince soon found, that, instead of being a sovereign, he was really a slave. To remind him of his dependance on the crown of England, Edward cited him, on every trifling occasion, to his court, and required him to renew his homage continually. This royal vassal was summoned six times in the course of the year, to appear before the king in parliament, and answer to complaints lodged against him; and, on some of these occasions, he was treated with the greatest indignity. Averse as was this prince from war, he could not submit to such degradation, but secretly prepared to shake off a yoke which had proved so galling. An open rupture would probably have immediately ensued, had not the attention of Edward been withdrawn from the affairs of Scotland, by a war with France, in which he found himself suddenly involved. A scuffle which had taken place between the crew of a Norman and English vessel, involved the nations to which they belonged in a destructive war, which raged with great fury for a considerable time, and in which torrents of human blood were wantonly shed.

“In order to avert the storm of war from his own dominions, the French king made common cause with Baliol of Scotland, and encouraged him to assert his independence; and Edward immediately suspended his continental operations, that he might lend his whole strength to the conquest of Scotland, and the subjection or expulsion of its sovereign.

“The Scottish chiefs, who had witnessed with indignation the degradation of their king and country, gathered all their forces; and every thing indicated the approach of a tremendous conflict. But as yet they wanted a leader of sufficient courage and patriotism, around whose banner they might rally with confidence. Baliol made a feeble effort to preserve his crown; but was at length utterly defeated by the earl of Warienne, in the battle of Dunbar, after which he surrendered himself to Edward, who committed him to the Tower of London, where the unfortunate prince languished several years in solitary confinement.

“Nor was the severity of the king confined to the person of the fallen monarch. Many of the nobility of Scotland were sent into England, and immured in different castles; the ensigns of royalty were carried off, with all the contents of the Scottish treasury; and the most important affairs, both civil and military, confided to Englishmen.

“Thus Scotland wore, for a time, the appearance of a conquered country; and it is not improbable that Edward flattered himself, that these hardy sons of the north were completely brought into subjection. If such, however, were his expectations, he was soon undeceived; for whilst the king was carrying on the continental war, for the recovery of those possessions which had formerly belonged to the English crown, a revolution suddenly broke out in Scotland, which was stirred up by a chief of great intrepidity and inflexible patriotism. This celebrated chieftain was Sir William Wallace, whose virtues and heroic deeds make so conspicuous a figure in the annals of Scotland, and whose name well deserves to be enrolled amongst the patriots and martyrs of former generations.

“This generous chief, feeling yet more acutely for the oppressed state of his country, than for his personal wrongs, gathered around him a small but valiant band, which harassed the English army in all its movements, and not unfrequently attacked, with success, detachments of the army, far superior in number to themselves. The reputation, and consequently the followers of Wallace, increased daily; until, at length, he was able to give battle to the earl of Surry, who commanded an army of forty thousand veteran soldiers, and he defeated him, with great loss, in the celebrated battle of Stirling. Following the tide of success, which had set in so strongly in his favour, Wallace drove the English before him, out of Scotland, penetrated into the border counties, took possession of several English fortresses of great strength, and returned laden with the spoils of victory. Edward was informed of these disasters, while prosecuting a war in Flanders, and lost no time in repairing to the north of England, with all the troops he could collect. In a short time he found himself at the head of an army, containing upwards of eighty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry. Thus powerfully reinforced, he marched forward to meet the enemy, who were encamped near Falkirk. A tremendous battle ensued, in which, after prodigies of valour performed on both sides, the English were completely victorious. But notwithstanding the overwhelming forces of the English monarch, and the divided state of their own country, the Scottish patriots were not deterred from persisting in the attempt to regain their independence, however hopeless it might appear. They rallied again and again, after repeated defeats and losses, until, at length, the principal nobility of Scotland, moved by jealousy of each other, and corrupted by the flatteries of Edward, deserted, and finally betrayed, their gallant leader. The satisfaction of Edward was too great to be concealed, when he learned that Wallace had been delivered into his hands, by the treachery of Sir John Monteith, one of his own countrymen: unmindful of the generosity which had distinguished his youth, he now breathed revenge against his fallen adversary, and ordered him to be conducted to London, where he was publicly executed as a traitor, though he had never been a subject of the English crown.”

“Oh, how unjust,” said Susan. “Do tell us some more anecdotes.” “Oh, pray do,” said Ann.

“I am sorry to refuse you,” answered Mr. Wilmot; “but it is two o’clock, and it is time to join your mamma. Besides,” continued he, smiling, “we should even use our rational pleasures with moderation, if we mean to continue the enjoyment of them.”

“Well, then, dear Mr. Wilmot, you will let us come soon again,” cried the girls.

“Yes, my dears,” he replied. “But see, the sun is shining: we can take a little walk before dinner: it will refresh you.”

The party then left the gallery.

CHAP. III.

AS it is not my intention to enter so fully into the history of Susan and Ann, as it is to relate the _true stories_ they heard from Mr. Wilmot, I shall only just tell my young readers, that the following day proving fine, they enjoyed the promised excursion on the water. The weather now becoming very sultry, and the children unable to take their morning walks, their mother and Mr. Wilmot, who sought to mingle instruction with amusement, proposed that they should spend an hour or two, in the middle of every day, in the picture gallery.

The two little girls were delighted with this proposition, and followed with alacrity their good-humoured conductor, as he kindly led the way.

When they had entered the room, Mr. Wilmot stopped before a fine sketch of an entrance into Oxford; and whilst pointing out to the children the college at which he had been educated, he enquired whether they had ever been told who were the first founders of the university.

The children answering in the negative, Mr. Wilmot proceeded to tell them that it was founded in the year 886[1], in the second year after St. Grimbald’s coming over to England. Its first regents and readers in divinity were, St. Neot, an abbot and eminent professor of theology; and St. Grimbald, an eloquent and most excellent interpreter of the Holy Scriptures; grammar and rhetoric were taught by Asser, a monk of extraordinary learning; logic, music, and arithmetic, by John, a monk of St. David’s; and geometry and astronomy by another John, a monk and a colleague of St. Grimbald, a man of acute wit and immense erudition. “These lectures,” says the annalist, “were often honoured with the presence of the most illustrious and invincible king Alfred, whose memory, to every judicious taste, shall be sweeter than honey.” From this small beginning arose this now celebrated university, which is at once the ornament and pride of the land.

Footnote 1:

See Camden’s Britannica.

A few observations made by Mrs. Spencer, who had joined the party, led Mr. Wilmot to give the following sketch of the progress of Christianity, from its first introduction into this country, together with the origin and establishment of the protestant religion.

“Various are the opinions,” said he, “entertained respecting the precise period when, or by whom, Christianity was first introduced into this happy island. Nor can it tend to our improvement, though it might gratify our curiosity, to know, whether St. Paul, when he visited the ‘western isles,’ included England; or whether his immediate predecessors, or followers, preached the ‘glad tidings of salvation’ to the natives. It is sufficient for us to know, that the gospel found its way hither some time in the _first_ century; since, in the persecution of the Christians, by the cruel and tyrannical Nero, in the year 64, many of them fled hither for an asylum. Its progress in Great Britain, during the _three_ first centuries, is certainly involved in some obscurity; though it probably increased during the _fourth_ century, as we find three English bishops present, at the council held at Arminium, respecting the Arian controversy.

“About this period the Saxons, having subdued the country, pursued, with unrelenting cruelty, the Christians: multitudes of whom were put to death, and thousands sought and found a refuge in the mountains of Wales. History has stamped the character of our countrymen in this age with infamy. From the sovereign to the meanest of his subjects, licentiousness and gross immorality abounded; and it is cheering to turn from this darkened era, to the labours of the celebrated St. Augustine, and forty other monks, who, having been sent from Rome, for the purpose of converting our island to the faith, succeeded in persuading the Anglo Saxons to embrace Christianity, about the year 590. On Christmas-day, king Ethelbert and ten thousand of his subjects were baptized; and though, amongst this crowd of professed converts, there is reason to fear that few possessed more than the name of Christian, we may yet believe there were some on whom the ‘day-star’ had not risen in vain.

“In the _seventh_ century our island had almost universally received the Christian religion: popish superstition had, however, unhappily mixed itself with the pure faith, and increased rapidly. One great source of corruption in the clergy, was the practice that now prevailed of persuading people to relinquish their property to them, and go on pilgrimage.

“On the death of Augustine, who had been consecrated the first archbishop of Canterbury, Laurentius succeeded to the vacant see; and, through his instrumentality, king Edbald was not only converted, but promoted the gospel by every means in his power.

“The first Saxon king who completely cast _all_ his ‘idols to the moles and to the bats,’ was Ercombert, the son of Edbald, who reigned in 640.

“It is impossible to contemplate this era of our national history, without regretting the superstitious, and even idolatrous rites, which were interwoven with the profession of the gospel made by our forefathers: yet there is no doubt that genuine religion was possessed by many, and Great Britain, at this period, was allowed the honour of enlightening several of the neighbouring northern nations.

“In the _eighth_ century, the pope had obtained such influence, that he exalted himself not only above every created being, but laid claim to prerogatives and powers which belong to Omnipotence alone. The distinguishing doctrines of the gospel were hid under a mass of ceremonious observances: pardon for sin was to be purchased at the hands of the priests; and immense sums were raised, by paying for masses, to deliver the souls of the dead from purgatory.

“Still more lamentable was the state of religion in the _ninth_ century. But Divine Providence, at this melancholy season, raised up a ‘nursing-father’ to the English church, in the person of king Alfred, who seems to have ‘feared the Lord from his youth,’ having early habituated himself to prayer. He was remarkable for his learning, as I have before told you. He died in the year 900, and was buried at Hyde Abbey in Winchester.

“Historians are all agreed that, in the _tenth_ century, scarcely a vestige of true piety could be found. It was called ‘an iron age, barren of all goodness—a leaden age, abounding in all wickedness.’ ‘Christianity,’ to borrow the words of Melancthon, ‘during the middle ages, was become a mere compound of philosophy and superstition.’ ‘What religion did survive,’ says an admirable author, ‘was confined to a few—was immured in cloisters—was exhausted in quibbles—was wasted in unprofitable subtleties—was exhibited with little speculative clearness, and less practical clearness.’ Yet, even in this dreary age, one faint spark of light is discoverable. Bernard and Guthebald, two of the natives of Britain, went as missionaries to Norway, where they successfully preached the gospel, which extended itself from thence to the Orkneys, Greenland, and Iceland.

“Religion and literature both rather improved in the _eleventh_ century. The celebrated speech of William the Conqueror, after he became king of England, has been often repeated. This dauntless monarch refused to be considered as the vassal of the pope. ‘I hold my kingdom,’ said he, ‘from none but God and my sword.’ This king was a great encourager of learning.

“In the _twelfth_ century Oxford became celebrated as the seat of learning. The clergy now boldly claimed exemption from civil jurisdiction, and their _right_ to appeal on all occasions to the pope. To these extravagant pretensions king Stephen readily assented; but they were resisted by his successor, Henry the Second. In spiritual affairs _he_ was, however, enslaved to the popedom; and instances of his persecutions are recorded, towards thirty men and women, who fled into this country, from Germany, to avoid similar cruelties.

“In this century Richard the First engaged in the Crusades, to recover the Holy Land from the Turks, but failed in his enterprise. His brother John, who succeeded him, not only ignominiously swore fealty to the pope, but stipulated for himself and his successors to pay an annual tribute to Rome for ever, on pain of forfeiture of his kingdom. Some idea may be formed of the thraldom in which this monarch was held, from the following anecdote, recorded with feelings of just indignation, by Holinshed, in his Chronicles.

“‘When,’ says he, ‘John, upon just occasion, had received some grudge against the ambitious behaviour of the Cistercian monks, in the second year of his reign; and, upon denial to pay such sums of money as was allotted unto them, had caused seizure to be made of such horses, swine, cows, and other things of theirs, which were maintained in his forests, they denounced him as fast among themselves, with bell, book, and candle, to be accursed and excommunicated. Thereto they so handled the matter with the pope and their friends, that the king was fain to yield to their good graces: insomuch that a meeting for pacification was appointed between them, at Lincoln, by means of the archbishop of Canterbury, who went often between him and the Cistercian commissioners, before the matter could be settled. In the end, the king himself came also unto the said commissioners, as they sat in their chapterhouse, and _fell down at their feet_; craving pardon for his offences unto them, and heartily requiring that they would, from thenceforth, commend him and his realm, in their prayers, unto the protection of the Almighty, and receive him into their fraternity: promising, moreover, full satisfaction of their damages sustained, and to build a house of their order, in whatsoever place of England it should please them to assign; and this he confirmed by charter.’

“The _thirteenth_ century commenced with the persecution of the Waldenses, one million of whom are said to have perished in France; and the duke of Alva boasted that he destroyed thirty-six thousand of these pious people in the Netherlands.

“The Dominican and Franciscan Friars arose about this time, and were in great repute amongst the people, on account of their sanctity. But their rapacity was unlimited; and the cloak of religion alone disguised their exactions. Such was the superstition of the age, that our countryman, Roger Bacon, was accused of magic, on account of his extraordinary literary attainments, and confined in prison a long time, for no other crime. He appears to have been a man not only of vast learning, but of a philosophical and inventive genius.

“In the _fourteenth_ century, true religion was scarcely to be recognized. The king and people of England were reduced to a state of almost complete vassalage to the pope. In the reign of Henry the Fifth, a law was passed against the perusal of the Scriptures in England. It was enacted, ‘That whatsoever they were, that should read the Scriptures in the mother tongue, they should forfeit land, cattle, life, and goods, from their heirs for ever; and so be condemned for heretics to God, enemies to the crown, and most errant traitors to the land.’

“In this century arose the order of Jesuits; an order which obtained a political influence almost unparalleled. Their founder, Ignatius Loyola, was born at the castle of Loyola, in the province of Guipuscoa, in Spain, in 1391: he was first page to Ferdinand the Fifth, king of Spain, and then an officer in his army; in which he signalized himself by his valour, and was wounded in both legs, at the siege of Pampeluna, in 1421.

“To this circumstance the Jesuits owe their origin; for, whilst he was under care of his wounds, a life of the Saints was put into his hands, which determined him to forsake the military for the ecclesiastical profession. His first devout exercise was to devote himself to the Virgin Mary, as her knight: he then went a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; and, on his return to Europe, he continued his theological studies in the universities of Spain, though he was then thirty-three years of age. After this he went to Paris; and in France laid the foundation of this new order, the Institutes of which he presented to pope Paul the Third, who made many objections to them; but Ignatius, adding to his three vows, of Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience, a fourth of implicit submission to the Holy See, the institution was at length confirmed; and its founder expired the following year, _viz._ in 1450.

“Whilst we cannot but consider Ignatius Loyola in error, and must most fully allow that the influence his followers obtained, was dangerous and destructive; ‘yet, perhaps, of all the remarkable men whose lives have been recorded, no one has displayed more ability in discovering his own deficiencies, and more perseverance in correcting them. By the rare union of unwearied patience and consummate prudence, with perfect enthusiasm, he accomplished the object of his ambition; and lived to see a wider range of success than his boldest hopes could have anticipated[2].’

Footnote 2:

Quarterly Review.

“But to return to my narration. No punishment appears to have been more frequently inflicted by the clergy, than that of public penance; and as a curious instance of it occurs in this century, in the reign of Henry the Fifth, I shall give you the particulars.

“In the afternoon of Easter day, a time which required devotion, at a sermon in the east of London, a great fray arose in the said church, between the Lord Strange and Sir John Trussel, on account of some misunderstanding subsisting between their wives. Many of the spectators interfering, in order to appease, if possible, the tumult, they were not only several of them badly wounded, but one man, named Thomas Petwardine, killed on the spot. The gentlemen were in consequence apprehended and committed to the Tower, and the service suspended.

“When information reached the archbishop of Canterbury respecting this outrageous profanation of the church, he caused the offenders to be excommunicated in St. Paul’s, and all other churches in London; and shortly after he sat at St. Magnus, in order to enquire into the authors of the offence, who were principally discovered to be Strange and his wife. On the following first of May, the offenders submitted themselves to do penance, and swore to do it agreeably as was enjoined, which was as follows: That, immediately, all their servants should, in their shirts, go before the parson of St. Dunstan’s, from St. Paul’s to the said St. Dunstan’s seat, and the Lord Strange and his lady bare-footed; Reginald Henwood, archdeacon of London, following them. Also it was appointed, at the consecrating or hallowing the said church, which they had profaned, the lady should fill all the vessels with water, and offer likewise to the altar an ornament of ten pounds; and the lord, her husband, a pix (or chest in which the Host is kept) of silver, value of five pounds: which done, by way of satisfactory expiation, they were absolved; but Lord Strange had first made the wife of the said Petwardine, killed in the fray, large amends.

“But, in the midst of this papal tyranny, loud complaints began to be heard; and, towards the latter end of this century, attempts were made to reform them. Thomas Bradwardine, archbishop of Canterbury, who devoted himself to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and whose writings display the soundness of his doctrines, flourished in this age. He may be justly termed one of the morning stars of the Reformation.

“About the year 1440, the art of printing was introduced; and this, under the divine blessing, opened the way for the promulgation of the sacred volume, with a rapidity unknown to manuscript editions. The first printed book with _moveable_ types, was a copy of the Bible, which made its appearance between the years 1450 and 1452. This discovery is certainly to be attributed to the Germans, whether it consisted in printing with blocks of wood, or types moveable at pleasure. John Guttenburgh, of Mentz, has the best claim to the honour of this invention. The introduction of this invaluable art into this country, in 1447, is justly ascribed to William Caxton, a merchant of London, who acquired a knowledge of it in his travels abroad. He is said to have been a native of Caxton, a village near Cambridge, towards the latter end of the reign of Edward the Fourth. The first book printed in the English tongue was ‘The Recuyell of the History of Troy;’ and is dated September the nineteenth, 1471, at Cologne. The ‘Game of Chess,’ dated in 1474, is allowed, by all typographical antiquaries, to have been the first specimen of the art among us. Mr. Caxton died in 1486, or, according to other accounts, in 1491.

“In this century, _viz._ in 1428, the bones of John Wickliffe, the rising sun of the Reformation, were taken up and burnt, by an order of the council of Constance; and his works were thrown publicly into the flames, at Oxford.