594 ENGLAND. 
their forces. Their firfl meafure was to require the king 
to difmifs his favourite, the young Spenfer ; menacing 
him, in cafe of a ffefufal, with a determination to obtain 
by force what fhould be denied to their importunities. 
To thow tbemfelves in earned, they began by pillaging 
the lands of young Spenfer, and burning his houfes. The 
eftates of the father foon‘ (hared the fame fate ; and the 
infurgents having thus wreaked their vengeance, marched 
to London, to iriflift a fimilar punifhment on their adver- 
faries. Finding a free entrance into the city, they fo in¬ 
timidated the parliament that was then fitting, that a fen- 
tence was procured of perpetual exile againft: the two 
Spenfers, and a forfeiture of their fortune and eftates. 
But an aft of this kind, extorted by violence, was not 
likely to bind the king any longer than neccfiity compel¬ 
led him. Some time after, having aflembled a fmall army 
to punifh one of the barons, who had offered an indignity 
to the queen, lie thought it a convenient opportunity to 
take revenge on all his enemies at once, and to recall the 
two Spenfers, who had been fo unjuftly expelled their 
native country. In this manner the civil war was kindled 
afrefh, and the kingdom involved in all the horrors of 
daughter and devaluation. 
Edward had now got the ftart of his adverfaries, and 
haftened, by forced marches, towards the borders of 
Wales, where the enemy’s chief power lay. Lar,carter, 
however, was not flew in making head againfl: him : he 
fummoned together all his vaflals and retainers, and was 
quickly joined by the earl of Hereford. Still farther to 
ftrengthen his party, he formed an alliance with the king 
of Scotland, with whom he had long been privately con- 
nefted. But his diligence proved ineffeftual; the king, 
at the head of thirty thoufand men, prerted him fo clol'e- 
ly, that he had not time to colleft his forces together; 
and, flying from one place to another, he was at laft at¬ 
tacked in his way to Scotland by fir Andrew Harcla, who 
repulfed his forces in a fkirmifii, in which the earl of 
Hereford was (lain, and Lancafter himfelf taken prifoner. 
As he had formerly fhewn fo little mercy to Gaveftone, 
the fame meafure of punifhment was meted to him. He 
was condemned by the court-martial; and led, mounted 
on a lean horfe, to an eminence near Pomfret, in circum- 
ftances of the greateft indignity, where he was beheaded. 
The people, with whom he had juft before been a favou¬ 
rite, feemed to have quite forfaken him in his difgracC ; 
they reviled him, as he was parted along to execution, 
with every kind of opprobrious language. About eigh¬ 
teen more of the principal infurgents were afterwards 
condemned and executed in a more legal manner, while 
others confulted their fafety by efcaping to the continent. 
This feverity only ferved to increafe the pride and rapa¬ 
city of young Spenfer ; mod of the forfeitures were feized 
for his ufe ; and, in his promptitude to punirti the delin¬ 
quents, he was guilty of many afts of rapine and injuftice. 
Thus he laid the train for his own future misfortunes. 
The king of France, A. D. 1324, taking advantage of 
Edward’s imbecility, refolved to confifcate all his foreign 
dominions. After a fruitlefs embafty from Edward, the 
queen of England defired to negotiate the bufinefs with 
her brother Charles the Fair, then king of France, in or¬ 
der to avert the ftorm. The French king, though he 
gave his fiflex the kindeft reception, was refolved to liften 
to no accommodation, unlefs Edward in perfon fhould 
appear, and do him feudal homage for the dominions he 
held under him. This was confidered as a very dange¬ 
rous ftep ; and what the king of England fhould not think 
of complying with. In this exigence the queen ftarted a 
new expedient, which feemed calculated to get rid of all 
difficulties. It was, that Edward fhould refign the domi¬ 
nion of Guienne to his fon, then about thirteen years of 
of age; and that the young prince fhould go with the 
queen to Paris, to pay that homage which had been re¬ 
quired of the father. With this propofal all parties ac- 
quiefeed ; young Edward was lent to Paris; and the 
queen, a haughty and imperious woman, having thus got 
her fon in her power, was refolved to detain him abroad 
till her own defires were complied with. The principal 
of thefe was the expulfion of the Spenfers, againft whom (he 
had conceived a raofl implacable hatred. In confequence 
of this refolution, the protrafted the negociation at her 
brother’s court for fome time ; and, being at laft required 
by the king to return, fhe replied that (he would never 
again appear in England till Spenfer was removed from 
the royal prefence, and banifhed the kingdom. By this 
reply fhe gained two points fhe became popular in Eng¬ 
land where Spenfer was defpifed ; and (he could indulge 
in the fociety of a young nobleman, whofe name was 
Mortimer, upon whom fhe had caft her affeftions. This 
yputh had, in fome former infurreftion, been condemned 
for high treafon, but bad the fentence commuted into 
perpetual imprifonment in the Tower. From thence he 
had the good fortune to efcape to France, and foon be¬ 
came diftinguifhed for his violent antipathy to Spenfer. 
The graces of his perfon, and his abhorrence of the fa¬ 
vourite, rendered him very acceptable to the queen; fo 
that, from being a partizan, lie became a lover, and in¬ 
dulged in all the voluptuous pleafures her criminal paf- 
fion could confer. The queen’s court in Guienne became 
a fanftuary for all the malcontents who were banifhed 
their country ; a correfpondence was fecretly carried on 
with the difeontented at home ; and a combination form¬ 
ed to deftroy the favourites, and dethrone the king. 
To fecond the queen’s efforts, many of the principal 
nobles prepared their vaflals, and openly declared againft 
the favourite. The king’s brother, the earl of Kent, 
joined the party ; the eaT of Norfolk was prevailed upon 
to enter fecretly into the confpiracy ; the brother and 
heir to the earl of Lancafter was from principle attached 
to the caufe; the archbilhop of Canterbury expreti'ed his 
approbation of the queen’s meafures; and the minds of 
the people were inflamed by all thofe arts which the de- 
figning and vindiftive praftife upon the weak and igno¬ 
rant. In this univerfal defeftion, the queen prepared 
for her return to England ; and, accompanied by three 
thoufand men at arms, fet out from Dort harbour, and 
landed, without oppofition, on the coaft of Suffolk, Sep¬ 
tember 24, 1326. She no fooner appeared, than a gene¬ 
ral revolt in her favour took place ; three prelates, the 
bifhops of Ely, Lincoln, and Hereford, brought in all 
their vaflals; and Robert de Watteville, who bad been 
detached to oppofe her progrefs, went over to her with 
all his forces. In this exigence the unfortunate Edward 
vainly attempted to colleft his friends; he was obliged 
to quit the capital for fafety ; and the populace, imme¬ 
diately on his flight, broke out into thofe violent ex- 
cefles which are the fure confequence of unreftrained 
liberty and licentioufnefs. They feized the biftiop of 
Exeter, as he was palling through the city, beheaded 
him without any form of trial, and threw his body into 
the Thames. They feized upon the Tower, and (hewed 
mercy to none who ventured to oppofe them : all govern¬ 
ment was difl'olved, the courts of juftice (hut, and a mob 
called the riflers , plundered and murdered with impunity. 
The affrighted king found the fpirit of revolt not con¬ 
fined to the capital alone, but diffufed over the whole 
kingdom. He had placed fome hopes upon the garrifon 
which was ftationed in the caftle of Briftol, under the 
command of the elder Spenfer ; but they mutinied againft 
their governor, and that unfortunate nobleman was con¬ 
demned by the tumultuous barons to the mod ignomi¬ 
nious death. He was hanged on a gibbet in his armour, 
his body was cut to pieces and thrown to the dogs, and 
his head was fent to be expofed at Winchefter, where it 
was fet on a pole. Thus fell the elder favourite, in his 
ninetieth year; yet his clrarafter, even the malevolence 
of party could not tarnifh. He had parted a youth of 
tranquillity and unfulbed reputation; but his unfortu¬ 
nate conneftion with an ill-condufted government, in¬ 
volved his age in ruin. Young Spenfer, the ill-fated fon, 
did not long furvive the father; he was taken in an ob~ 
z feu re 
