The King died on March 20th. Parliament had been prorogued4 to the 24th of the month. It was ipso facto dissolved by the demise5 of the Crown; but the prelates, peers, and representatives of the Commons44 who had been summoned to it assembled in an informal manner, and for the first time in English history, without waiting for the solemnities of coronation, spontaneously offered homage6 to their new Sovereign, though at the same time taking care to prevent their action from being afterwards made into a precedent8.
The young Henry’s accession to the throne is said to have been the occasion of a sudden change which converted a reckless and profligate9 youth into a sober God-fearing man. The contemporary evidence for this assertion comes from two sources—Thomas Walsingham, one of the long line of writers who formed the historical school of St. Alban’s, and Thomas Elmham, who was then a monk10 of Canterbury and afterwards became one of Henry’s chaplains. Elmham writes:
“He was in the days of his youth a diligent follower11 of idle practices, much given to instruments of music, and one who, loosing the reins12 of modesty13, though zealously14 serving Mars, yet fired with the torches of Venus herself, and, in the intervals15 of his brave deeds as a soldier, wont16 to occupy himself with the other extravagances that attend the days of undisciplined youth.”
And after treating of the death of the King he goes on to put a confession17 of sin into the mouth of the Prince. Strong as are the expressions, they are nothing more than what are uttered day after day by worshippers whom neither the world nor their own conscience accuses of any heinous18 crime. Further on we read:
“After he had spent the day in wailing19 and groaning20, so soon as the shades of night covered the earth, the weeping Prince, taking advantage of the darkness, secretly visited a certain recluse21 of holy life at Westminster; and laying bare45 to him the secret sins of his whole life, was washed in the laver of true repentance22, and receiving the antidote23 of absolution against the poison that he had before swallowed, so put off the mantle24 of vice25 and returned decently adorned26 with the cloak of virtue27. Thus a barren willow28 was changed into a fruitful olive, a Cocytus into an Euphrates, a Paris into a Hippolytus, the left into the right, by a happy miracle.”
Hardyng, Walsingham, and Otterbourne all use language to the same effect; and finally we have the testimony29 of the Italian who wrote under the pseudonym30 of Titus Livius. He was not strictly31 a contemporary; but he seems to have been in the service of Humphrey of Gloucester, the King’s brother, and some weight must be given to his words. They are, it will be seen, little more than another version, couched in less extravagant32 language, of the chronicle of Elmham, and run thus:
“Wherefore he was said by his father and by the royal council to be especially dear to the said King, although his good report was damaged by certain blame cast upon him by some in this matter—in that he took great pleasure in music, and followed in moderation (mediocriter) the pleasures of love and war, and other things which the licence of a soldier’s life is wont to permit, so long as his father lived.... While King Henry was yet dying, reflecting that he was about to come to the kingdom, he called unto him a priest, a monk of most virtuous33 life, and confessing to him his past errors, radically34 amended35 his life and manners in such fashion that no occasion of wantonness (lascivi?) was ever afterwards found in him.”
There is nothing said, it will be observed, about loose and vicious companions whom the young King banished36 from his presence as soon as he felt the responsibilities46 of power. It is scarcely conclusive37, perhaps, to show that the officers of his household during the days when he stood next to the throne were persons of respectable character. The same might be said of other heirs-apparent who yet have been undoubtedly38 profligate. The associates of a young prince’s private life are not necessarily his chamberlain, the treasurer39 of his household, or other dignified40 officials. But there is absolutely no evidence to show that Henry was accustomed to the society of vicious and disreputable companions. His intimacy41 with Oldcastle, of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter, certainly could not be so described.
On the other hand, we cannot wholly disregard the contemporary evidence (for all other has been left out of the account) which attributes to him a certain laxity of life during the years that preceded his accession to the throne. Such a laxity is only too probable in a young prince. The temptations to which the young kinsmen42 of the ruler are exposed, before they feel the responsibilities of power, are the weak point of the system of hereditary43 monarchy44. It would have been scarcely indeed a miracle, but certainly a most uncommon45 experience, if Henry had passed through them altogether unscathed. But the language in which the errors of his youth are described may easily have been exaggerated. And this exaggeration may have been partly at least due to Henry himself. Those who read the confessions46 and self-reproaches of John Bunyan might easily believe him to have been guilty of excesses into which he did not really fall. Henry had something of the same devout47 temper, and may, it is at least47 probable, have used language about himself that leaves a too unfavourable impression of his conduct. That he was no idler, wasting his time and strength in riotous49 excess, but on the contrary a vigorous and energetic youth, even precociously50 distinguished51 as a soldier and statesman, is abundantly clear. He was trusted by the King and the King’s counsellors; the nation which had watched his career for more than ten years welcomed his accession, not with the doubtful hope that would be extended to a profligate promising52 reform, but with an enthusiasm of confidence and joy. And yet he may have been conscious to himself of transgressions53 in the past of which others took little or no account, but for which the fervour of his reception by his people might have made him feel a keener reproach. With this we may leave the subject.
The young King was crowned on April 10th, the Sunday before Easter, in the midst, as Walsingham tells us, of a great snowstorm, from which the people drew various auguries54, favourable48 or unfavourable, of the character of the future reign7. Meanwhile a new Parliament had been summoned to meet on May 15th. The Commons presented a number of petitions to the King, praying for the removal of grievances55. It is impossible to judge of the justice or injustice56 of these complaints, and of the King’s attitude with regard to them; but it is abundantly clear that he had a will of his own, and a definite determination to maintain his prerogative57. Certain malpractices in the ecclesiastical courts were, he promised, to be corrected: if the bishops58 failed in their duty he would act himself. But a request that the knights59 and burgesses summoned to Parliament48 might be allowed their expenses, met with the guarded answer that it should be done if a precedent could be found. To a petition for an extensive process of disforesting it was replied that such as had just complaints against the charters of the forests should be heard. Requests for the mitigation of the law of deodand4 and for a concession60 of certain freedoms in trade were refused.
Henry’s generosity61 of temper, or at least his confidence in his position, a frame of mind which often leads to the same course of action, was shown by his treatment of those whom a meaner or weaker prince might have regarded as rivals or enemies. The young Earl of March, who was still regarded by some as the rightful heir to the crown, was released from imprisonment62 to which the suspicious fears of the deceased King had condemned63 him. Henry had been the guardian64 of the young man’s estates, and seems to have discharged the trust with fidelity65. The Earl repaid him with affection, and, as will be seen, when a critical occasion came, with loyalty66.
Another hereditary enemy was treated in the same generous fashion. The heir of the Percies, son of the Hotspur who fell on the field of Shrewsbury, had been carried by his grandfather into Scotland. Henry, in the second year of his reign, restored him to his title and estates.
Finally, what may be called a reparation was made49 to the memory of the prince whom Henry’s father had dispossessed. Richard had been buried almost secretly at Langley, in the Church of the Preaching Friars. His body was now removed to London, and buried in royal style in the Abbey of Westminster; “not,” says Walsingham, “without great expense on the part of the King, who now confessed that he owed him the same respect that he did to his own natural father.” At the same time the King provided that “four tapers67 should burn day and night about his grave while the world endureth;” once a week a dirige was to be chanted, and on the next day a requiem68. After a mass a distribution was to be made of eleven shillings and eightpence; while on the obit, or anniversary of death, as much as twenty pounds was to be given away.
Thus reconciled to the enemies, living or dead, of his house, Henry could address himself with good conscience and hope to the work of his life.
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1 chapel | |
n.小教堂,殡仪馆 | |
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2 diligent | |
adj.勤勉的,勤奋的 | |
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3 orations | |
n.(正式仪式中的)演说,演讲( oration的名词复数 ) | |
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4 prorogued | |
v.使(议会)休会( prorogue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5 demise | |
n.死亡;v.让渡,遗赠,转让 | |
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6 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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7 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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8 precedent | |
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的 | |
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9 profligate | |
adj.行为不检的;n.放荡的人,浪子,肆意挥霍者 | |
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10 monk | |
n.和尚,僧侣,修道士 | |
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11 follower | |
n.跟随者;随员;门徒;信徒 | |
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12 reins | |
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带 | |
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13 modesty | |
n.谦逊,虚心,端庄,稳重,羞怯,朴素 | |
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14 zealously | |
adv.热心地;热情地;积极地;狂热地 | |
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15 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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16 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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17 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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18 heinous | |
adj.可憎的,十恶不赦的 | |
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19 wailing | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的现在分词 );沱 | |
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20 groaning | |
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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21 recluse | |
n.隐居者 | |
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22 repentance | |
n.懊悔 | |
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23 antidote | |
n.解毒药,解毒剂 | |
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24 mantle | |
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红 | |
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25 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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26 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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27 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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28 willow | |
n.柳树 | |
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29 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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30 pseudonym | |
n.假名,笔名 | |
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31 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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32 extravagant | |
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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33 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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34 radically | |
ad.根本地,本质地 | |
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35 Amended | |
adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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36 banished | |
v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37 conclusive | |
adj.最后的,结论的;确凿的,消除怀疑的 | |
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38 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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39 treasurer | |
n.司库,财务主管 | |
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40 dignified | |
a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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41 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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42 kinsmen | |
n.家属,亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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43 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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44 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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45 uncommon | |
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的 | |
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46 confessions | |
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔 | |
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47 devout | |
adj.虔诚的,虔敬的,衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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48 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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49 riotous | |
adj.骚乱的;狂欢的 | |
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50 precociously | |
Precociously | |
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51 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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52 promising | |
adj.有希望的,有前途的 | |
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53 transgressions | |
n.违反,违法,罪过( transgression的名词复数 ) | |
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54 auguries | |
n.(古罗马)占卜术,占卜仪式( augury的名词复数 );预兆 | |
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55 grievances | |
n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 );苦衷;不满;牢骚 | |
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56 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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57 prerogative | |
n.特权 | |
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58 bishops | |
(基督教某些教派管辖大教区的)主教( bishop的名词复数 ); (国际象棋的)象 | |
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59 knights | |
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马 | |
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60 concession | |
n.让步,妥协;特许(权) | |
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61 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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62 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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63 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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64 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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65 fidelity | |
n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
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66 loyalty | |
n.忠诚,忠心 | |
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67 tapers | |
(长形物体的)逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 ); 微弱的光; 极细的蜡烛 | |
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68 requiem | |
n.安魂曲,安灵曲 | |
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