unconscionable an allowance of cloth for her corsets, but a reprieve from death for Mortimer. In the succeeding year, 1323, we find the tameless border chief, fro his dungeon in the Tower, organizing a plan for the seizure, not only that royal fortress, but Windsor and Wallingford. Again was Mortim condemned to suffer death for high treason, but through the agency Adam Orleton, and Beck, bishop of Durham, he obtained a respite.1 ( the 1st of August, the same year, Gerald Alspaye, the valet of Segrav the constable of the Tower, who was supposed to be his confederat gave the men-at-arms a soporific potion in their drink provided by t queen; and while the guards were asleep, Mortimer passed through hole he had worked in his own prison into the kitchen of the roy residence, ascended the chimney, got on the roof of the palace, a from thence to the Thames' side by a ladder of ropes. Segrave's val then took a sculler and rowed him over to the opposite bank of t river, where they found a party of seven horsemen, Mortimer's vasst waiting to receive him. With this guard he made his way to the co of Hampshire; from thence, pretending to sail to the Isle of Wig the boat in reality conveyed the fugitives on board a large ship, provid by Ralf Botton, a London merchant, which was anchored off t Needles this ship landed them safely in Normandy, whence they !! ceeded to Paris.2 Edward was in Lancashire when he heard of t escape of Mortimer: he roused all England with a hue and cry aff him, but sought him chiefly in the Mortimers' hereditary demesnes,the marches of Wales. Meantime, the queen commenced her deep-laid schemes for the r of Mortimer's enemies, the De Spencers, whom she taught the people to regard as the cause of the sanguinary executions of Lancaster and hi: adherents, though her own impatient desire of avenging the affrents sh had received from lady Badlesmere had been the means of exasperatin the sovereign against that party. Now she protested against all t punishments that had been inflicted, and was the first who pretended regard Lancaster as a martyr and a saint. The two De Spencers h succeeded in obtaining the same sort of ascendancy over the mind of t king that had been once enjoyed by Gaveston; they were his princip ministers of state, and presumed to curtail the revenues of the que No one had ever offended her without paying a deadly penalty. scrupled not to brand the De Spencers with all the accusations she b formerly hurled at Gaveston, charging them with having deprived b of the love of her royal husband. A fierce struggle for suprema between her and the De Spencers, during the year 1324, ended in t discharge of all her French servants, and the substitution of an inad 2 Rymer. Bayley's History of the Tower. 3 Walsingham. De la Moor. 1 Leland's Collectanea. S 1324.] Discord between king and queen. 343 quate pension for herself, instead of the royal demesnes which had been settled on her by the king.1 Isabella wrote her indignant complaints of this treatment to her brother, Charles le Bel, who had just succeeded to the throne of France, declaring, "that she was held in no higher consideration than a servant in the palace of the king her husband,” whom she styled a gripple miser, a character which the thoughtless and prodigal Edward was very far from deserving. The king of France, exasperated by his sister's representations of her wrongs, made an attack on Guienne, which afforded an excuse to the De Spencers for advising king Edward to deprive the queen of her last possession in England, the earldom of Cornwall. The king resumed this grant in a peculiarly disobliging manner, giving the queen to understand "that he did not consider it safe to allow any portion of his territories to remain in her hands, as she maintained a secret correspondence with the enemies of the state." The feuds between the royal pair proceeded to such a height that Isabella denied her company to her lord, and he refused to come where she was. She passionately charged this estrangement on the De Spencers, and reiterated her complaints to her brother. King Charles testified his indignant sense of his sister's treatment, by declaring his intention of seizing all the provinces held by king Edward of the French crown, he having repeatedly summoned him in vain to perform the accustomed homage for them. Edward was not prepared to engage in a war for their defence, and neither he nor his ministers liked the alternative of a personal visit to the court of the incensed brother of queen Isabella, after the indignities that had been offered to her. In this dilemma, Isabella herself artfully volunteered to act as mediatrix between the two monarchs, provided she might be permitted to go to Paris to negotiate a pacification. Edward, who had so often been extricated from his political difficulties by the diplomatic talents of his fair consort, was only too happy to avail himself of her offer." It has been asserted by many historians, that queen Isabella privately withdrew to France with her son, the prince of Wales, to claim the protection of her brother, Charles le Bel, against the king her husband, and his ministers the De Spencers; but a careful reference to those authorities which may be called the fountain-heads of history-the Record rolls of that reign-will satisfactorily prove that she was sent as an accredited envoy from the deluded Edward, to negotiate this treaty with her royal brother. Froissart, who purposely veils the blackest traits of Isabella's character, her profound hypocrisy and treachery, represents her as flying from the barbarous persecutions of her husband and the De Spencers, like some distressed queen of romance, and enWalsingham. Rapin. Speed. 2 De la Moor. Speed. 3 Walsingham. Rapin. De la Moor. 5 Froissart. 6 Carte. Rapin. 7 lbid. gaging, by her beauty and eloquence, all the chivalric spirits of France and Hainault to arm for the redress of her wrongs. He has succeeded in giving just such a colour to her proceedings as would be least offensive to her son, Edward III., with whom, for obvious reasons, the whole business must have been a peculiarly sore subject.1 The propriety of the queen undertaking the mission to the court of France was debated, first in the council, and afterwards in the Parliament, assembled to consider the affairs of Guienne, when it was agreed that any expedient was better than pursuing the war. A hollow reconciliation was effected between Isabella and the De Spencers, who were delighted at the prospect of her departure from England, and she parted from her husband, apparently on terms of confidence and goodwill. Isabella sailed for France in the beginning of May, attended by the lord John Cromwell and four knights. She landed at Calais and proceeded to Paris, where the first fruit of her mediation was a truce between her brother and the king her husband. She then negotiated an amicable treaty, proposing the surrender of Guienne, already forfeited by the neglect of the feudal homage to the king of France, which was to be restored, at her personal instance, by her brother to the king of England, on condition of his performing the accustomed homage, and remunerating the king of France for the expenses the war. This was to take place at a friendly interview between the two monarchs at Beauvais.3 The De Spencers, anticipating with alarm the great probability of the queen regaining her wonted ascendancy over the mind of her royal husband, dissuaded him from crossing to France, even when his preparations for the voyage were completed. Isabella, who was well informed of these demurs, and perfectly understood the vacillating character of her husband, proposed to him that he should invest their son, the prince of Wales, with the duchy of Guienne and the earldom of Ponthieu, and send him as his substitute to perform the homage for those countries to the king her brother,-king Charles having signified his assent to such an arrangement, in compliance with her solicitations. King Edward, far from suspecting the guileful intentions of his consort, eagerly complied; and the De Spencers, not being possessed of sufficient penetration to understand the motives which prompted the queen to get the heir of England into her own power, fell into the snare. On the 12th of September, 1325, prince Edward, attended by the bishops of Oxford, Exeter, and a splendid train of nobles and knights, sailed from 1 It is to be remembered that Froissart, who, though a contemporary, was too young, at the time these events took place, to speak from his own knowledge, has followed what he calls the "true chronicle" of John le Bel, canon of St. Lambert of Liege, who was the favourite counsellor and confessor of John of sly Hainault, the sworn champion of queen astic is a subtle palliator. 2 Walsingham. Public Act. of 1325.] Tour in France with Prince of Wales. 345 Dover:1 landing at Boulogne, he was joined by the queen his mother on the 14th, who accompanied him to Paris, where his first interview with the king his uncle took place in her presence, and he performed the act of feudal homage on the 21st at the Bois de Vincennes.2 CHAPTER II. THE wording of the treaty negotiated between Isabella and her brother, the king of France, was couched in such ambiguous terms, as to leave considerable matter for dispute between king Edward and that monarch, even after the required homage had been performed by the heir of England for the fiefs held of the French crown. This difference, which regarded the province of Agenois, had been contrived by Isabella, to afford a plausible pretext for prolonging her stay in Paris. She was there joined by her paramour Mortimer, and all the banished English lords flocked round her. She held frequent councils and meetings with the declared enemies of king Edward's person and government, and altogether avoided the commissioners, by whose advice the king had appointed her to be guided. The English ambassadors were surprised and offended at the conduct of the queen, and the frivolousness of the pretences on which she from day to day delayed her departure from Paris. But Walter Stapleton, the loyal bishop of Exeter, whom she had endeavoured to draw into her conspiracy, withdrew to England, informed the king of her proceedings, and urged him to command her immediate return with the prince of Wales. King Edward wrote argent letters and royal summonses to his consort and son for that purpose: his most peremptory orders were disregarded by Isabella, who asserted" that it was the intention of the De Spencers to cause her to be put to death, if she returned to England." The king of France, her brother, wrote to king Edward, "that he could not permit her to return to him, unless she were guaranteed from the evil that was meditated against her by her enemies the De Spencers." King Edward's manly and eloquent reply to this letter is preserved among the Close record-rolls of the nineteenth year of his reign. We translate it from the ancient French copy, printed in the fourth volume of Rymer's Foedera : : "It seems that you have been told, dearest brother, by persons whom you consider worthy of credit, that our consort, the queen of England, dare not return to us, being in peril of her life, as she apprehends, from Hugh le De Spencer. Certes, dearest brother, it cannot be that ! Rymer's Fœdera. 3" Act made at the wood of Vincennes by Edward (son of Edward II.), in the presence of the queen his mother, and many grandees of England." 3 De la Moor. Walsingham. 4 MS. Lives of the Lord Treasurers, by Francis Thynne, Esq.; in the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., at Middle-hill. 5 De la Moor. Walsingham. Kapin. Speed. she can have fear of him, or any other man in our realm; since, par Dieu! if either Hugh or any other living being in our dominions sought to do her ill, and it came to our knowledge, we would chastise him in a manner that should be an example to all others; and this is, and always will be, our entire will, as long as, by God's mercy, we have the power. And, dearest brother, know certainly that we have never perceived that he has, either secretly or openly, by word, look, or action, demeaned himself otherwise than he ought in all points to do, to so very dear a lady. And when we remember the loving looks and words between them that we have seen, and the great friendship she professed for him before she crossed the sea, and the loving letters she has lately sent him, which he has shown to us, we have no power to believe that our consort can, of herself, credit such things of him; we cannot in any way believe it of him, who, after our own person, is the man, of all our realm, who, would most wish to do her honour, and has always shown good sincerity to you. We pray you, dearest brother, not to give credence to any one who would make you otherwise suppose; but to put your faith in those who have always borne true witness to you in other things, and who have the best reason to know the truth of this matter. Wherefore we beseech you, dearest brother, both for your honour and ours, but more especially for that of our said consort, that you would compel her to return to us with all speed; for, certes, we have been ill at ease for the want of her company, in which we have much delight; and if our surety and safe-conduct is not enough, then let her come to us on the pledge of your good faith for us. "We also entreat you, dearly beloved brother, that you would be pleased to deliver up to us Edward, our beloved eldest son, your nephew; and that, of your love and affection to him, you would render to him the lands of the duchy (Acquitaine), that he be not disinherited, which we cannot suppose you wish. Dearly beloved brother, we pray you to suffer him to come to us with all speed, for we have often sent for him, and we greatly wish to see him and to speak with him, and every day we long for his return. And, dearest brother, at this time the honourable father in God, Walter, bishop of Exeter, has returned to us, having certi fied to us that his person was in peril from some of our banished enemies, and we, having great need of his counsel, enjoined him on his faith and allegiance to return forthwith, leaving all other matters in the best way he could. We pray you, therefore, to excuse the sudden departure of the said bishop, for the cause before said. "Given at Westminster, the first day of December " (1325). Edward's letter to Isabella herself, on the same subject, is exceedingly temperate, but evidently written under a deep sense of injury, and with a formal courtesy very different from the friendly and confidential style in which he addresses her brother, as our readers will perceive: "LADY, KING EDWARD TO QUEEN ISABELLA. "Oftentimes have we informed you, both before and after the homage of our great desire to have you with us, and our grief of heart at your long absence; and as we understand that you do us great mischief by this, we will that you come to us with all speed, and without further excuses. "Before the homage was performed, you made the advancement of that business an excuse ‡ and now that we have sent by the honourable father, the bishop of Winchester, our safe-conduct to you, you will not come for the fear and doubt of Hugh le De Spencer!' Whereat we cannot marvel too much, when we recall your flattering deportment towards each other in our presence, so amicable and sweet was your deportment, with special assurances and looks, and other tokens of the firmest friendship, and also, since then, your very especial letters to him of late date, which he has shown to us. "And certes, lady, we know for truth, and so know you, that he has always procured from us all the honour he could for you, nor to you has either evil or villany been done since you entered into our companionship; unless, peradventure, as you may yourself remember, once, when we had cause to give you secretly some words of reproof for your pride, but without other harshness: and, doubtless, both God and the law of our holy church require you to honour us, and for nothing earthly to trespass against our commandments, or to forsake our |