In Suffolk's camp at Lincoln a suggestion was started whether Aske's attack might not be antic.i.p.ated,--whether, by a swift, silent enterprise, it might not be possible to seize and carry off both him and Sir R. Constable. Two volunteers were found who offered to make the experiment. One of them, Anthony Curtis, a cousin of Aske, "for private malice, said that if he might have licence, he would find sureties, and would either kill his kinsman or be killed himself."[179] Another attempt for Aske's destruction was made by the Duke of Norfolk, who had no objection to a coalition of n.o.blemen against Cromwell, but disdained the dictation of an unknown upstart. He supposed that he might tempt Lord Darcy to an act of treachery, and sent a questionable proposal to him by the hands of a servant of Lord Hussey, a certain Percival Cresswell. The attempt failed; but Cresswell's account of his mission is not a little curious.

[Sidenote: November 10.]

[Sidenote: The Duke of Norfolk sends Percival Cresswell to Lord Darcy.]

[Sidenote: The anteroom at Templehurst.]

[Sidenote: The Duke of Norfolk desires Lord Darcy to betray Aske.]

[Sidenote: Darcy will not stain his coat for the best dukedom in France.]

[Sidenote: November 11.]

He arrived at Templehurst on Friday, November the 10th, shortly before dinner. Lord Darcy was walking with Aske himself, who was his guest at the time, and a party of the commons in the castle garden. Cresswell gave him a letter from Norfolk, which was cautiously worded, in case it should fall into wrong hands, and said he was charged also with a private message. The danger of exciting suspicion was so great that Darcy had a difficulty in arranging a separate conversation. He took Cresswell into the castle, where he left him in an anteroom full of armed men. They gathered about him, and inquired whether Cromwell, "whom they called most vilipendiously," was put out of the king's council. He replied that the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Oxford, Lord Suss.e.x, and Sir William Fitzwilliam were with the king. "G.o.d save the king!" they said; "as long as n.o.blemen of the true blood rule about the king all will be well. But how of Cromwell? Is he put from the council or no?" Cresswell said that he was still on the council. "Then, whatsoever the Lord Darcy say to you," they answered, "show the king and the lords that until our pet.i.tions are granted we will take no pardon till we have our will."

Darcy had by this time secured a private room and a few private moments.

He called Cresswell in. "Now tell your message," he said. "The Duke of Norfolk desires you," announced the messenger, "to deliver up Aske, quick or dead, but if possible, alive; and you shall so show yourself a true subject, and the king will so regard you."[180] Darcy replied like a n.o.bleman. He had given his faith, he said, and he would not stain his coat.[181] He wrote a few lines to Norfolk. "Alas, my Lord!" his letter said, "that you, being a man of so great honour, should advise or choose me to betray any living man, Frenchman, Scot, yea, or even Turk. To win for me or for mine heirs the best duke's lands that be in France, I would not do it to no living person."[182] The next morning, after ma.s.s, he again called Cresswell to him, and bade him tell the king that he had never done better service either to him or to his father than he was doing at that moment, and if there was to be peace, he recommended that the answer to the pet.i.tion should be returned instantly.

The king had written more than one answer; but in each draught which he had made there was a reservation attached to the promise of a general pardon, excluding in one instance ten persons, in another, six, from the benefit of it;[183] and they were withdrawn all of them in deference to the protests of the Duke of Norfolk. Ellerkar and Bowes were dismissed on the 14th of November, "with general instructions of comfort."[184]

Norfolk himself, with other commissioners, would return to the north at the end of the month with a final reply.

[Sidenote: Rebel council at York.]

[Sidenote: Advice of Sir Robert Constable to make sure the northern counties.]

The ill-humour of the insurgents was meanwhile increasing; division had begun to show itself; the people suspected the gentlemen, the gentlemen, feared the people, and noisy demonstrations showed Aske that a state of inaction was too dangerous to continue. On the return of Bowes and Ellerkar a hasty council was called at York. The question was put whether they should wait or not for the arrival of the commissioners.

Especial exasperation had been caused by a letter of Cromwell to Sir Ralph Evers, in which it was said that, "unless the commons would be soon pacified, there should be such vengeance taken that the whole world should speak thereof."[185] It was proposed to cut short further parley, and leave the cause to be decided by the sword. Darcy had already selected an agent to the court of Brussels, to beg that arms and ammunition might be sent at once to Hull.[186] Sir Robert Constable declared openly, "that if his advice might be taken, seeing he had broken one point in the tables with the king, he would yet break another, and have no meeting. He would have all the country made sure from Trent northward; he doubted not they would have joined with them all Lancashire and Cheshire, which would make them strong enough to defend themselves against all men; and then," he said, "he would be content to condescend to the meeting."[187]

Had this advice been taken, the consequences might have been serious; but the fatal moderation of the leader prevailed over the more audacious but safer counsel. The terms offered by the government should be first discussed, but they should be discussed in security. The musters should rea.s.semble in full force.[188] They had summoned a northern parliament and convocation. The two a.s.semblies should sit at Pomfret and not at York, and should meet at the time of the conference.

[Sidenote: November 26.]

[Sidenote: Aske again collects his army.]

[Sidenote: The king is reluctant to grant a general pardon.]

Thus, on the 26th of November, as the king's commissioners approached the borders of Yorkshire,[189] the news reached them that the beacons were again burning, and the force of the commons was again collecting.

The conference, if conference there was to be, must be held with their hands on their sword-hilts. The black squadrons, with St. Cuthbert's banner, would be swarming on the banks of the Don as before.[190] They had brought down extensive powers, but the king had refused absolutely to grant a complete pardon. Five or six of the worst offenders, he insisted, should be surrendered; and if the rebels were obstinate, Norfolk had been directed to protract the discussion, to win time by policy, that he might himself come to them; and in the meantime to consent to nothing, to promise nothing, and yet do and say nothing "which might give them warning and respite to fortify themselves."[191]

[Sidenote: The Duke of Norfolk returns to Doncaster,]

[Sidenote: And sends a messenger entreating the king to give way.]

But the waters had fallen low; the ground was hard; the sharpest winter had set in which had been known for years. The force which Shrewsbury had with him could not now hold its position in the face of the vast numbers which were collecting. When the number of the rebels who had rea.s.sembled was known, Sir John Russell was sent back from Nottingham to tell the king that his conditions could not be insisted upon, and to entreat him not only to grant the full pardon, but to promise also to hold a parliament in person at York.

[Sidenote: Council and convocation at Pomfret.]

[Sidenote: Nov. 27. Gallant conduct of the Archbishop of York.]

[Sidenote: The northern convocation p.r.o.nounce against the Reformation.]

Ignorant what the answer would be, Norfolk, with the other commissioners, went on to Doncaster, having prepared his way by a letter to Lord Darcy, to do away the effect of his late overtures.[192] He arrived at the town on the 28th of November. On Monday the 27th, the northern notables, laity and clergy, had a.s.sembled at Pomfret.

Thirty-four peers and knights, besides gentlemen and extemporized leaders of the commons, sate in the castle hall;[193] the Archbishop of York and his convocation, in Pomfret church. The discussions of the latter body were opened by the archbishop in a sermon, in which he dared to declare the meeting unlawful and the insurrection traitorous. He was swiftly silenced: a number of soldiers dragged him out of the pulpit, and threw him down upon the pavement. He was rescued and carried off by a party of his friends, or in a few more moments he would have been murdered.[194] The clergy, delivered from his control, drew up a list of articles, p.r.o.nouncing successively against each step which had been taken in the Reformation;[195] and other articles simultaneously were drawn by the council in the hall. One by one, as the form of each was resolved upon, they were read aloud to the a.s.sembly, and were received with shouts of "Fiat! Fiat!"

[Sidenote: Nov. 29. The deputation of 300 from Pomfret to Doncaster.]

[Sidenote: December 2.]

Ten knights were then told off, and ten followers for every knight, to ride down to Doncaster and arrange the preliminaries of the meeting.

They saw the duke on the day of his arrival; and on Wednesday the 29th, Lord Darcy, Robert Aske, and three hundred of the most eminent of their party, pa.s.sed the bridge of the Don with a safe conduct into the town.

Wearing their pilgrim's badges, the five wounds of Christ crossed on their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, "they made obeisance on their knees before the duke and earls, and did humbly require to have the king's most merciful and free pardon for any of their offences committed." This done, they presented their resolutions, on which they had just determined at Pomfret, and the discussion opened. The duke's hands were tied; he could undertake nothing. The debate continued till Sat.u.r.day, "exceeding perplexed,"

messengers hurrying to and fro between Doncaster and Pomfret. At length, on Sat.u.r.day, Sir John Russell came with the king's revised commission.

[Sidenote: The king will grant the general pardon, but against his own judgment.]

[Sidenote: He warns Norfolk to make no concession beyond the letter of his commission.]

Against his judgment Henry had yielded to the entreaties of the Privy Council. He foresaw that to allow a commotion of such a kind to pa.s.s wholly unpunished, was to acknowledge a virtual defeat, and must encourage conduct which would soon lead to a repet.i.tion of the same scenes. He refused to admit that Norfolk was justified in his despondency. Skipton still held out. Lord Clifford and Sir William Musgrave had gained possession of Carlisle, and were raising men there.

Lord Derby was ready to move with the musters of Cheshire and Lancashire. Besides Shrewsbury's forces, and the artillery at Tickhill, Suffolk had eight thousand men in high order at Lincoln. He "marvelled that Norfolk should write to him in such extreme and desperate sort, as though the world were turned upside down." "We might think," he said, "that either things be not so well looked on as they might be, when you can look but only to the one side; or else that ye be so perplexed with the brutes on the one part, that ye do omit to write the good of the other. We could be as well content to bestow some time in the reading of an honest remedy as of so many extreme and desperate mischiefs."

Nevertheless, he said, if the rebels would be contented with the two concessions which Norfolk had desired,--a free pardon and a parliament at York,--these, but only these, might be made. No further engagements of any kind should or might be entered into. If more were insisted on, the commissioners should protract the time as skilfully as they could, and send secret expresses to Lord Derby and the Duke of Suffolk, who would advance by forced marches to their support.[196] With this letter he sent a despatch to Suffolk, bidding him hold himself in readiness, and instructing him at the same time to use his influence in the West Riding to induce the people to return to their allegiance, and permitting him to make liberal offers and promises in the name of his government.[197]

The limitation of the new commission was as clear as language could make it. If the Duke of Norfolk committed himself more deeply, it was against the king's express commands, and in the face of repeated warnings.

[Sidenote: Agreement of Doncaster.]

On the day of Russell's arrival an agreement was made and signed. The pardon and the parliament were directly promised. It appears, certainly, that further engagements were virtually entered upon, or that words were used, perhaps intentionally vague, which were interpreted by the insurgents through their hopes and wishes. They believed, perhaps they were led to believe, that their entire pet.i.tion had been granted;[198]

they had accomplished the object of their pilgrimage, and they were satisfied.

[Sidenote: Aske throws off his badge.]

As the conference closed, Aske again fell upon his knees, "and most humbly required the Duke of Norfolk and all the earls and lords of his part, to desire the lords of the north part to relinquish and refuse thenceforth to nominate him by the name of captain; and they promised: which done, the said Aske, in the presence of all the lords, pulled off his badge crossed with the five wounds, and in a semblable manner did all the lords there, and all others there present, saying all these words, 'We will wear no badge nor figure but the badge of our sovereign Lord.'"[199] A fine scene ... yet, as we sometimes witness with a sudden clearance after rain, leaving hanging vapours in the sky, indicating surely that the elements were still unrelieved.

[Sidenote: The concessions on which the king had resolved,]

[Sidenote: And terms on which he had not resolved.]

The king had resolved on concession, but not on such concession as the Pomfret council demanded and Norfolk had seemed to promise. He would yield liberally to the substantial interests of the people, but he would yield little to their imaginative sympathies; and to the clergy and the reactionist lords he would not yield a step. The enclosures he intended should be examined, the fines on renewals of leases should be fixed, and the relations of landlord and tenant so moderated that "rich and poor men might live together, every one in his degree according to his calling."[200] The abbey lands would not be restored to the monks, but he saw the inconvenience of attaching them to the domains of the crown.

They should be disposed of rapidly on terms favourable to the people and unfavourable to himself. In this direction he was ready to do all that he was desired to do; but undo the Reformation--never.

[Sidenote: Intended parliament at York, in the summer of 1537.]

A remarkable state paper, in Cromwell's handwriting, indicates the policy which the king then intended. The northern parliament was to meet the following summer. There is not the smallest doubt that Henry meant to observe his own promises. He would be present in person. The queen would accompany him, and the opportunity would be taken for her coronation. Meanwhile, to clear up all misunderstandings, every n.o.bleman and gentleman who had taken part in the insurrection was to be sent for, and should learn from the king himself the bearing of the measures against which they had clamoured, the motives which had led to the adoption of such measures, and the extent to which they would be further carried. A similar invitation should be sent to the princ.i.p.al persons in all other English counties, to come to London and give their advice on questions of social and local reform; and, further, to receive directions to try various experiments in such matters before the meeting of parliament, "that his Grace might see what fruit should succeed of them, and so alter and change as he should think meet." To do away with the suspicion that the government were favouring heresy, copies of the "Articles of Faith" were to be scattered liberally through England; select preachers were to be sent in sufficient numbers into the north to explain their meaning; and next there follows a pa.s.sage which, as written by Cromwell, was a foreshadowing of his own fate.

[Sidenote: Cromwell's advice to the king.]

"Forasmuch as the rebels made the maintenance of the faith one of the chief grounds and cause of the rebellion, it shall be necessary that the King's Highness, in the mean season, see his laws, heretofore taken for the establishment of an unity in the points of religion, put in such experience and execution in those parts as it may appear that his Grace earnestly mindeth and desireth an agreement specially in those things; which will not be done without his Highness do some notable act in those quarters for that purpose."

Finally, a lieutenant-general and a council should be permanently established at York as a court of appeal, empowered to hear and decide all local causes and questions. That the government might not again be taken by surprise, garrisons, Cromwell thought, might be established in the great towns, "in such order as they might be continued without hatred of the people." The ordnance stores should be kept in better preparation, and should be more regularly examined; and, above all, the treasury must be better furnished to meet unforeseen expenses, "experience showing that princes be not so easily served save where there is prompt payment for service rendered, and the honest labourer is not kept waiting for his hire."[201]

[Sidenote: Lord Darcy and Sir Robert Constable refuse to go to London to the King.]