Page:The Works of Francis Bacon (1884) Volume 1.djvu/447

 HISTORY OF KING HENRY VII. this time, the king called unto his privy council John Morton and Richard Fox, the one Bishop of Ely, the other Bishop of Exeter; vigilant men and secret, and such as kept watch with him almost upon all men else. They had been both versed in his affairs before he came to the crown, and were partakers of his adverse fortune. This Morton soon after, upon the death of Bourchier, he made Archbishop of Canterbury. And for Fox, he made him lord keeper of his privy seal, and afterwards advanced him by degrees, from Exeter to Bath and Wells, thence to Durham, and last to Winchester. For although the king loved to employ and advance bishops, because, having rich bishopricks, they carried their reward upon themselves ; yet he did use to raise them by steps, that he might not lose the profit of the first fruits, which by that course of gradation was multiplied. At last, upon the eighteenth of January, was solemnized the so long expected and so much de sired marriage between the king and Lady Elizabeth ; which day of marriage was celebrated with greater triumph and demonstrations, especially on the people&apos;s part, of joy and gladness, than the days either of his entry or coronation, which the king rather noted than liked. And it is true, that all his lifetime, while the Lady Elizabeth lived with him, for she died before him, he showed himself no very indulgent husband towards her, though she was beautiful, gentle, and fruitful. But his aversion towards the house of York was so predominant in him, as it found place not only in his wars and councils, but in his chamber and bed. Towards the middle of the spring, the king, full of confidence and assurance, as a prince that had been victorious in battle, and had prevailed with his parliament in all that he had desired, and had the ring of acclamations fresh in his ears, thought the rest of his reign should be but play, and the enjoying of a kingdom : yet, as a wise and watchful king, he would not neglect any thing for his safety, thinking, nevertheless, to perform all things now rather as an exercise than as a labour. So he being truly informed that the northern parts were not only affectionate to the house of York, but particularly had been devoted to King Richard the Third, thought it would be a summer well spent to visit those parts, and by his presence and application of himself to reclaim and rectify those humours. But the king, in his account of peace and calms, did much overcast his fortunes, which proved for many years together, full of broken seas, tides, and tempests. For he was no sooner come to Lincoln, where he kept his Easter, but he received news that the Lord Lovel, Humphrey Stafford, and Thomas Stafford, who had formerly taken sanctuary at Colchester, were departed out of sanctuary, but to what place no man could tell : which advertisement the king despised and continued his journey to York. At York there came fresh and more certain advertisement, that the Lord Lovel was at hand with a great power of men, and that the Staffords were in arms in Worcestershire, and had made their approaches to the city of Worcester to assail it. The king, as a prince of great and profound judgment, was not much moved with it; for that he thought it was but a rag or remnant of Bosworth-field, and had nothing in it of the main party of the house of York. But he was more doubtful of the raising of forces to resist the rebels, than of the resistance itself; for that he was in a core of people whose affections he suspected. But the action enduring no delay, he did speedily levy and send against the Lord Lovel to the number of three thousand men, ill armed, but well assured, being taken some few out of his own train, and the rest out of the tenants and followers of such as were safe to be trusted, under the conduct of the Duke of Bedford. And as his manner was to send his pardons rather before the sword than after, he gave commission to the duke to proclaim pardon to all that would come in; which the duke, upon his approach to the Lord Level&apos;s camp, did perform. And it fell out as the king expected ; the heralds were the great ordnance. For the Lord Lovel, upon proclamation of pardon, mistrusting his men, fled into Lancashire, and lurking for a time with Sir Thomas Broughton, after sailed over into Flanders to the Lady Margaret; and his men, forsaken of their captain, did presently submit themselves to the duke. The Staffords, likewise, and their forces, hearing what had happened to the Lord Lovel, in whose success their chief trust was, despaired and dispersed. The two brothers taking sanctuary at Colnham, a village near Abingdon ; which place, upon view of their privilege in the king&apos;s bench, being judged no sufficient sanctuary for traitors, Humphrey was executed at Tyburn ; and Thomas, as being led by his elder brother, was pardoned. So this rebel lion proved but a blast, and the king, having by this journey purged a little the dregs and leaven of the northern people, that were before in no good affection towards him, returned to London. In September following, the queen was delivered of her first son, whom the king, in honour of the British race, of which himself was, named Arthur, according to the name of that ancient worthy king of the Britons, in whose acts there is truth enough to make him famous, besides that which is fabulous. The child was strong and able, though he was born in the eighth month, which the physicians do prejudge. There followed this year, being the second of the king&apos;s reign, a strange accident of state, whereof the relations which we have are so naked, as they leave it scarce credible ; not for the nature of it, for it hath fallen out often, but for the man[ner]