Great Britain -- History -- Mary I, 1553-1558; Mary I, Queen of England, 1516-1558
On the 25th Northumberland and Lord Ambrose Dudley were brought in
from Cambridge, escorted by Grey and Arundel, with four hundred of the
guard. Detachments of troops were posted all along the streets from
Bishopsgate, where the duke would enter, to the Tower, to prevent the
mob from tearing him in pieces. It was but twelve days since he had
ridden out from that gate in the splendour of his power; he was now
assailed from all sides with yells and execrations; bareheaded, with
cap in hand, he bowed to the crowd as he rode on, as if to win some
compassion from them; but so recent a humility could find no favour.
His scarlet cloak was plucked from his back; the only sounds which
greeted his ears were, "Traitor, traitor, death to the traitor!" He
hid his face, sick at heart with shame, and Lord Ambrose, at the gate
of the Tower, was seen to burst into tears.[67] Edwin Sandys,
Northampton, Ridley, Lord Robert Dudley, the offending judges Cholmley
and Montague, with many others, followed in the few next days.
Montague had protested to the queen that he had acted only under
compulsion, but his excuses were not fully received. Lady
Northumberland {p.029} went to Newhall to beg for mercy for her
sons, but Mary refused to admit her.[68]
[Footnote 67: Renard to Charles V.: _Rolls House
MSS._ Baoardo. _Grey Friars' Chronicle._]
[Footnote 68: Renard to Charles V.: _Rolls House
MSS._]
In general, however, there was no desire to press hard upon the
prisoners. Few had been guilty in the first degree; in the second
degree so many were guilty, that all could not be punished, and to
make exceptions would be unjust and invidious. The emperor recommended
a general pardon, from which the principal offenders only should be
excluded, and Mary herself was as little inclined to harshness. Her
present desire was to forget all that had passed, and take possession
of her power for the objects nearest to her heart. Her chief
embarrassment for the moment was from the overloyalty of her subjects.
The old-fashioned lords and country gentlemen who had attended her
with their retainers from Norfolk, remained encamped round Newhall,
unable to persuade themselves that they could leave her with safety in
the midst of the men who had been the ministers of the usurpation.[69]
[Footnote 69: Ibid.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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