His first judicial appointment must have caused considerable astonishment in Westminster Hall. The Close Roll of this year informs us, that "on the 2d of April the King's three Great Seals, one of gold and two of silver, were brought into parliament; and the Duke of York, Lieutenant of the kingdom, delivered them to RICHARD NEVILLE, Earl of Salisbury, as Chancellor."* CHAP. XXI. The Earl of SALIS BURY ap pointed Chancellor by the Duke of He was the most powerful Peer who has ever been York. Chancellor of England; and if military prowess were the great requisite for the office, none could be better qualified to fill it. He was one of the chiefs of the family of Neville, "which," says Hume, "was perhaps at this time the most potent, both from their opulent possessions, and from the characters of the men, that has ever appeared in England." This Earl of Salisbury was the son of the Earl of Westmoreland, and inherited by his wife, daughter and heir of Montacute Earl of Salisbury, killed before Orleans, the estates and title of that great house. In the 11th of Hen. VI. he was made warden both of the east and west marches, and gained great distinction in repressing incursions of the Scotch. He then served with gallantry in France, having under his own penant 7 knights, 49 men at arms, and 1046 archers. He early espoused the interest of Richard Duke of York. Having contributed his assistance to make him Protector, he was now rewarded with the office of Lord Chancellor, and seemed in the possession of permanent power and felicity, though actually destined to finish his career by the hands of the common executioner, his head being April 2. stuck upon a pole erected over one of the gates of the city of York. 1454. He retained the office exactly one year. During this time King's rethe King so far recovered from his distemper as to be able to covery. carry the appearance of exercising the royal prerogative; and the Duke of York, not having boldly seized the Crown as his right, Margaret, in her husband's name, resumed the royal * Another account states that on the second of April the coffer containing the Seals was brought into the parliament chamber, placed on the bench where the Duke of York sat as Lieutenant, and after an interval opened by the Earl of Salisbury himself, who took possession of them, and assumed the office of ChanRymer, t. ii. p. 344. cellor. VOL. I. A A XXI. CHAP. authority, annulled the protectorship, released the Duke of Somerset, the principal leader of the Lancastrians, from the Tower, and committed the administration into the hands of that nobleman. The Duke of York, and his Chancellor, saw that if they submitted to this revolution, they would soon be brought to trial for treason. They flew to arms, and employed themselves in levying forces in the counties where they were most potent. Cardinal BOURCHIER made by the On the 7th of March, 1455, THOMAS BOURCHIER, Archbishop of Canterbury, was made Lord Chancellor by the Chancellor Queen's new government. There is an entry in the Close Roll of the surrender of the Seals*; but, in reality, the same seals were not used by the different Chancellors of the opposing parties, and it was objected to the Earl of Salisbury that the true Great Seal had never been in his custody. Queen, March 7. 1455. Grandson III. His good qualities. The new Chancellor holds a distinguished place in English to Edward history, having been Archbishop of Canterbury under five successive reigns, and having exercised a considerable influence upon the events of his time. He was of high lineage, being descended from Lord Chancellor Bourchier, and son of William Bourchier, Count of Eu in Normandy, and Earl of Essex in England, by Anne, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, sixth son of Edward III. He early discovered that love of letters for which he was noted through life, and which induced him to take an active part in introducing the art of printing into England. In 1434, while he was still a young man, he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford, where he had been educated. He filled successively the sees of Worcester and Ely. In April 1454, on the death of Cardinal Kempe, he was promoted to the Archbishopric of Canterbury; and in December following he received the red hat from Rome, being created Cardinalpriest of St. Cyriacus in Thermis. His rise. Battle of St. Alban's. 1455. Soon after his appointment as Chancellor was fought the great battle at St. Alban's, in which his predecessor had a leading command, and in which the Yorkists were superior, *Rot. Cl. 33 Hen, 6. m. 9. XXI. having, without any material loss on their part, slain 5000 of CHAP. their enemies. Among these were the Duke of Somerset and several other of the most distinguished Lancastrian leaders, so that Margaret's party seemed almost annihilated. The Duke of York still thought it the most politic course to exercise power in the name of the King, who had been taken prisoner, and for whom all outward respect was testified. As a proof of moderation, the Archbishop of Canterbury was allowed to retain the office of Chancellor, and a parliament, which met in July at Westminster, was opened July, 1455. by a speech from him. There was not perfect confidence, however, as to what he might say if left to himself to declare the causes of the summons, and his speech was settled at a conference between the two parties. It is related that "the Chancellor caused certain articles to be read before the Houses containing the causes of the summons, which were divided as follows-to take order for the expenses of the King's household; for the due payment of the garrison at Calais; for keeping the seas against any invasion of the French; to guard against the Scots, who had besieged Berwick; to procure a perfect accord and unity among the Lords," &c.* The Earl of Salisbury, the late Chancellor, was present at this parliament, and produced a charter of pardon, under the Great Seal, to himself and his confederates for having taken arms and fought at St. Alban's, and all other acts which could be construed into treason. This charter was confirmed by both Houses, but was found a very feeble protection when the opposite party regained their superiority. On the 31st of July the Archbishop of Canterbury, as Chancellor, in the King's presence and in his name, prorogued the parliament to the 12th of November. In the interval he seems to have been entirely gained over by the Yorkists; for, when the parliament again met, he concurred with them in measures for utterly subverting the royal authority. A deputation from the Commons prayed the Lords that a Protector might be again appointed. The Lords con * 1 Parl. Hist. 395. Duke of York, Pro tector. XXI. CHAP. sequently held a consultation, when it was resolved that the Duke of York was the most worthy for the office, and a request was made to him by the whole House, that he would assume the protectorship. The Duke excused himself, and desired time to consider of it. The deputation from the Commons expressed some impatience; to which the Lord Chancellor answered, that the King, with the assent of the Lords, had requested the Duke of York to be Protector. At the proper moment the Duke relented, but he accepted the office with the like protestation as on a former occasionthat it had been forced upon him by the King and the two Houses.* This farce must have been rather disgusting to the people, who probably would have been better pleased had the right heir boldly seated himself on the throne under the title of Richard III. The Queen watched her opportunity; and, thinking that the Yorkists had incurred some unpopularity, availed herself of the Duke's absence from London, produced her husband before the House of Lords, and made him declare his intention of resuming the government, and putting an end to the Protectorship. The manœuvre, being unexpected, was not resisted by the opposite party, and the House of Lords, who had unanimously appointed the Protector, unanimously assented to the immediate termination of his authority. Chancellor Bourchier the Chancellor rejoined his old friends, and a writ under the Great Seal was addressed to Richard Duke of sede Duke York, in the King's name, superseding him as Protector, and seals writ to super of York. at the same time the King, by proclamation, committed the whole estate and governance of the realm to the Lords of his council-meaning the Lancastrian leaders with whom the Chancellor co-operated. To their great joy the Queen had lately been delivered of a son, who was now created Prince of Wales, with a splendid provision for his maintenance during his minority.+ 1 Parl. Hist. 398. + Historians have been much at a loss to account for Richard's reluctance to throw off his allegiance, even when his party had all the power of the state in their hands. The reason may be, that while the King was childless he would not run the risk of civil war, as he hoped that his family would succeed to the throne without any dispute, on failure of the line of Hen. IV. The war of the CHAP. Seal taken bishop Bourchier. The Parliament was prorogued by Archbishop Bourchier, which seems to have been the last act which he did as Chancellor. He rather affected neutrality in the struggle that was going forward, and was always desirous of preserving from Archpeace between the contending parties. Maintaining his allegiance to the King, he refused to enter into the plots that were laid for the destruction of the Yorkists. The Great Oct. 11. Seal was therefore now taken from him, and transferred to WILLIAM WAYNFLETE †, Bishop of Winchester, a most determined and uncompromising Lancastrian. 1456. FLETE, Bishop of Winchester, Chan The Record states that the Court being at Coventry, in WILLIAM the Priory there, on the 11th of October, the Lord Chan- WAYNcellor Bourchier, in the presence of the Duke of York, who, with the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, had been invited to attend, and of many Lords spiritual and temporal, produced cellor. to the King in his chamber the three royal seals which had been intrusted to him, two of gold and one of silver, in three leather bags under his own seal, and caused them to be opened; that the King received them from his hands, and immediately delivered them to the Bishop of Winchester whom he declared Chancellor, and that Waynflete, after taking the oath of office and setting the silver seal to a pardon to the late Chancellor for all offences which could be alleged against him, ordered the seals to be replaced, and the bags to be sealed with his own signet by a clerk in Chancery, and was thus fully installed in his new dignity. ‡ Waynflete was the son of Richard Patten §, a gentleman of Roses may perhaps be ascribed to the birth of the Prince of Wales, which was considered so auspicious. There can be no doubt that had it not been for the birth of another Prince of Wales, the son of James II., William and Mary would have waited to claim the crown by right of blood. There is another prince whose birth may yet cause civil strife-the Duke of Bourdeaux. If he had not appeared, the Orleans family, effect being given to the renunciation by the Spanish branch of the Bourbons, would have been entitled to the crown of France on the principles of legitimacy. But it may be better that they should be obliged to rely on their title by the national will, and that they should be reminded of this by the existence of a pretender. 1 Parl. Hist. 699. ↑ Dugdale calls him Wickham; but this is a mistake, as he certainly always went by the name of Waynflete, although he may be considered as spiritually a son of William of Wickham. Rot. Cl. 35 Hen. 6. m. 10. Rot. Cl. 35 Hen. 6. m. 10. His father was sometimes called Bardon. families were very uncertain. At this time the surnames of |