The Last of the Barons — Volume 01 by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton (e books free to read TXT) 📗

age; indeed, as an ideal portrait, I look upon it as the most original in conception, and the most finished in execution, of any to be found in my numerous prose works, "Zanoni" alone excepted.

For the rest, I venture to think that the general reader will obtain from these pages a better notion of the important age, characterized by the decline of the feudal system, and immediately preceding that great change in society which we usually date from the accession of Henry VII., than he could otherwise gather, without wading through a vast mass of neglected chronicles and antiquarian dissertations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS BOOK I THE ADVENTURES OF MASTER MARMADUKE NEVILE CHAPTER

      I The Pastime-ground of old Cockaigne
     II The Broken Gittern
    III The Trader and the Gentle; or, the Changing Generation
     IV Ill fares the Country Mouse in the Traps of Town
      V Weal to the Idler, Woe to the Workman
     VI Master Marmaduke Nevile fears for the Spiritual Weal of his
         Host and Hostess
    VII There is a Rod for the Back of every Fool who would be Wiser
         than his Generation

BOOK II THE KING'S COURT CHAPTER

      I Earl Warwick the King-maker
     II King Edward the Fourth
    III The Antechamber

BOOK III IN WHICH THE HISTORY PASSES FROM THE KING'S COURT TO THE STUDENT'S CELL, AND RELATES THE PERILS THAT BEFELL A PHILOSOPHER FOR MEDDLING WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD CHAPTER

      I The Solitary Sage and the Solitary Maid
     II Master Adam Warner grows a Miser, and behaves Shamefully
    III A Strange Visitor—All Ages of the World breed World-
           Betters
     IV Lord Hastings
      V Master Adam Warner and King Henry the Sixth
     VI How, on leaving King Log, Foolish Wisdom runs a-muck on
           King Stork
    VII My Lady Duchess's Opinion of the Utility of Master Warner's
           Invention, and her esteem for its Explosion
   VIII The Old Woman talks of Sorrows, the Young Woman dreams
           of Love; the Courtier flies from Present Power to
           Remembrances of Past Hopes, and the World-Bettered opens
           Utopia, with a View of the Gibbet for the Silly Sage he
           has seduced into his Schemes,—so, ever and evermore,
           runs the World away
     IX How the Destructive Organ of Prince Richard promises Goodly
           Development

BOOK IV INTRIGUES OF THE COURT OF EDWARD IV CHAPTER

      I Margaret of Anjou
     II In which are laid Open to the Reader the Character of Edward
           the Fourth and that of his Court, with the Machinations of
           the Woodvilles against the Earl of Warwick
    III Wherein Master Nicholas Alwyn visits the Court, and there
           learns Matter of which the Acute Reader will judge for
           himself
     IV Exhibiting the Benefits which Royal Patronage confers on
           Genius,—also the Early Loves of the Lord Hastings; with
           other Matters Edifying and Delectable
      V The Woodville Intrigue prospers—Montagu confers with
           Hastings, visits the Archbishop of York, and is met on the
           Road by a strange Personage
     VI The Arrival of the Count de la Roche, and the various
           Excitement produced on many Personages by that Event
    VII The Renowned Combat between Sir Anthony Woodville and the
           Bastard of Burgundy
   VIII How the Bastard of Burgundy prospered more in his Policy than
           With the Pole-axe—and how King Edward holds his Summer
           Chase in the Fair Groves of Shene
     IX The Great Actor returns to fill the Stage
      X How the Great Lords come to the King-maker, and with what
           Proffers

BOOK V THE LAST OF THE BARONS IN HIS FATHERS HALLS CHAPTER

      I Rural England in the Middle Ages—Noble Visitors seek the
           Castle
         Of Middleham
     II Councils and Musings
    III The Sisters
     IV The Destrier

BOOK VI WHEREIN ARE OPENED SOME GLIMPSES OF THE FATE BELOW THAT ATTENDS THOSE WHO ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS, AND THOSE WHO DESIRE TO MAKE OTHERS BETTER. LOVE, DEMAGOGY, AND SCIENCE ALL EQUALLY OFF-SPRING OF THE SAME PROLIFIC DELUSION,—NAMELY, THAT MEAN SOULS (THE EARTH'S MAJORITY) ARE WORTH THE HOPE AND THE AGONY OF NOBLE SOULS, THE EVERLASTING SUFFERING AND ASPIRING FEW. CHAPTER I New Dissentions II The Would-be Improvers of Jove's Football, Earth—The Sad Father and the Sad Child—The Fair Rivals III Wherein the Demagogue seeks the Courtier IV Sibyll V Katherine VI Joy for Adam, and Hope for Sibyll—and Popular Friar Bungey! VII A Love Scene BOOK VII THE POPULAR REBELLION CHAPTER

      I The White Lion of March shakes his Mane
     II The Camp at Olney
    III The Camp of the Rebels
     IV The Norman Earl and the Saxon Demagogue confer
      V What Faith Edward IV purposeth to keep with Earl and People
     VI What befalls King Edward on his Escape from Olney
    VII How King Edward arrives at the Castle of Middleham
   VIII The Ancients rightly gave to the Goddess of Eloquence a Crown
     IX Wedded Confidence and Love—the Earl and the Prelate—the
           Prelate and the King—Schemes—Wiles—and the Birth of a
           Dark Thought destined to eclipse a Sun

BOOK VIII IN WHICH THE LAST LINK BETWEEN KING-MAKER AND KING SNAPS ASUNDER CHAPTER

      I The Lady Anne visits the Court
     II The Sleeping Innocence—the Wakeful Crime
    III New Dangers to the House of York—and the King's Heart
           allies itself with Rebellion against the King's Throne
     IV The Foster-brothers
      V The Lover and the Gallant—Woman's Choice
     VI Warwick returns-appeases a Discontented Prince-and confers
           with a Revengeful Conspirator
    VII The Fear and the Flight
   VIII The Group round the Death-bed of the Lancastrian Widow

BOOK IX. THE WANDERERS AND THE EXILES CHAPTER

      I How the Great Baron becomes as Great a Rebel
     II Many Things briefly told
    III The Plot of the Hostelry—the Maid and the Scholar in
           their Home
     IV The World's Justice, and the Wisdom of our Ancestors
      V The Fugitives are captured—the Tymbesteres reappear—
           Moonlight on the Revel of the Living—Moonlight on the
           Slumber of the Dead

     VI The Subtle Craft of Richard of Gloucester
    VII Warwick and his Family in Exile
   VIII How the Heir of Lancaster meets the King-maker
     IX The Interview of Earl Warwick and Queen Margaret
      X Love and Marriage—Doubts of Conscience—Domestic Jealousy—
           and Household Treason

BOOK X. THE RETURN OF THE KING-MAKER CHAPTER

      I The Maid's Hope, the Courtier's Love, and the Sage's Comfort
     II The Man awakes in the Sage, and the She-wolf again hath
           tracked the Lamb
    III Virtuous Resolves submitted to the Test of Vanity and the
           World
     IV The Strife which Sibyll had courted, between Katherine and
           herself, commences in Serious Earnest
      V The Meeting of Hastings and Katherine
     VI Hastings learns what has befallen Sibyll, repairs to the
           King, and encounters an old Rival
    VII The Landing of Lord Warwick, and the Events that ensue
           thereon
   VIII What befell Adam Warner and Sibyll when made subject to the
           Great Friar Bungey
     IX The Deliberations of Mayor and Council, while Lord Warwick
           marches upon London
      X The Triumphal Entry of the Earl—the Royal Captive in the
           Tower—the Meeting between King-maker and King
     XI The Tower in Commotion

BOOK XI THE NEW POSITION OF THE KING-MAKER CHAPTER

      I Wherein Master Adam Warner is notably commended and
           advanced—and Greatness says to Wisdom, "Thy Destiny
           be mine, Amen"
     II The Prosperity of the Outer Show—the Cares of the Inner Man
    III Further Views into the Heart of Man, and the Conditions
           of Power
     IV The Return of Edward of York
      V The Progress of the Plantagenet
     VI Lord Warwick, with the Foe in the field and the Traitor at
           The Hearth

BOOK XII THE BATTLE OF BARNET CHAPTER

      I A King in his City hopes to recover his Realm—A Woman in
           her Chamber fears to forfeit her own
     II Sharp is the Kiss of the Falcon's Bear
    III A Pause
  IV-VI The Battle
    VII The last Pilgrims in the long Procession to the Common Bourne

BOOK I. THE ADVENTURES OF MASTER MARMADUKE NEVILE. CHAPTER I. THE PASTIME-GROUND OF OLD COCKAIGNE.

Westward, beyond the still pleasant, but even then no longer solitary, hamlet of Charing, a broad space, broken here and there by scattered houses and venerable pollards, in the early spring of 1467, presented the rural scene for the sports and pastimes of the inhabitants of Westminster and London. Scarcely need we say that open spaces for the popular games and diversions were then numerous in the suburbs of the metropolis,—grateful to some the fresh pools of Islington; to others, the grass-bare fields of Finsbury; to all, the hedgeless plains of vast Mile-end. But the site to which we are now summoned was a new and maiden holiday-ground, lately bestowed upon the townsfolk of Westminster by the powerful Earl of Warwick.

Raised by a verdant slope above the low, marsh-grown soil of Westminster, the ground communicated to the left with the Brook- fields, through which stole the peaceful Ty-bourne, and commanded prospects, on all sides fair, and on each side varied. Behind, rose the twin green hills of Hampstead and Highgate, with the upland park and chase of Marybone,—its stately manor-house half hid in woods. In front might be seen the Convent of the Lepers, dedicated to Saint James, now a palace; then to the left, York House, [The residence of the Archbishops of York] now Whitehall; farther on, the spires of Westminster Abbey and the gloomy tower of the Sanctuary; next, the Palace, with its bulwark and vawmure, soaring from the river; while eastward, and nearer to the scene, stretched the long, bush-grown passage of the Strand, picturesquely varied with bridges, and flanked to the right by the embattled halls of feudal nobles, or the inns of the no less powerful prelates; while sombre and huge amidst hall and inn, loomed the gigantic ruins of the Savoy, demolished in the insurrection of Wat Tyler. Farther on, and farther yet, the eye wandered over tower and gate, and arch and spire, with frequent glimpses of the broad sunlit river, and the opposite shore crowned by the palace of Lambeth, and the Church of St. Mary Overies, till the indistinct cluster of battlements around the Fortress-Palatine bounded the curious gaze. As whatever is new is for a while popular, so to this pastime-ground, on the day we treat of, flocked, not only the idlers of Westminster, but the lordly dwellers of Ludgate and the Flete, and the wealthy citizens of tumultuous Chepe.

The ground was well suited to the purpose to which it was devoted. About the outskirts, indeed, there were swamps and fish-pools; but a considerable plot towards the centre presented a level sward, already worn bare and brown by the feet of the multitude. From this, towards the left, extended alleys, some recently planted, intended to afford, in summer, cool and shady places for the favourite game of bowls; while scattered clumps, chiefly of old pollards, to the right broke the space agreeably enough into detached portions, each of which afforded its separate pastime or diversion. Around were ranged many carts, or wagons; horses of all sorts and value were led to and fro, while their owners were at sport. Tents, awnings, hostelries, temporary buildings, stages for showmen and jugglers, abounded, and gave the scene the appearance of a fair; but what particularly now demands our attention was a broad plot in the ground, dedicated to the noble diversion of archery. The reigning House of York owed much of its military success to the superiority of the bowmen under its banners, and the Londoners themselves were jealous of their reputation in this martial accomplishment. For the last fifty years, notwithstanding the warlike nature of the times, the practice of the bow, in the intervals of peace, had been more neglected than seemed wise to the rulers. Both the king and his loyal city had of late taken much pains to enforce the due exercise of "Goddes instrumente," [So called emphatically by Bishop Latimer, in his celebrated Sixth Sermon.] upon which an edict had declared that "the liberties and honour of England principally rested!"

And numerous