done credit to a disciplined troop. They filed out of the court-yard and marched towards the road leading back to Maidstone. Wat took up his station at the head of the Kentish men, as Jack Straw returned to his at the head of the men of Essex; and when everything was prepared for them, the word was given to move forward, and they uttered a stentorian cheer as they quitted the castle and began their march, carrying their prisoners with them until they reached Maidstone, and then it was their intention to suffer them to depart wherever they pleased. Merrily they marched along through the dust and under a scorching sun, but without heeding it; for they had taken the first step towards the accomplishment of their freedom. It had proved successful, and they deemed it a good omen. On they marched gleefully, and in a short time they gained Maidstone. CHAPTER XII. might be seen by one who stood upon one of the hills covering the brow of the one they were passing, those quite in advance lost to sight in their descent on the other side, and those within view reaching from that brow down into the vale, up the hill on which the spectator stood, down into the next vale, into which they were pouring in dense numbers down the slope that formed it, covering the whole space as far as the eye could reach on either side, while the tops of pikes, and the heads of every variety of weapon, showed there were hundreds, nay thousands more flocking up in the rear. Wat Tyler had been accommodated with a horse at Gravesend, and as they passed over the hills, he occasionally drew up to converse with those in the rear, and then would gallop forward to cheer those in the van. As he galloped to and fro there was a style and manner with him which quite justified Jack Straw's opinion of his possessing all the requisites of a leader; the same commanding air with which he sat his horse when a youth was still his, and his eye retained its fire, his words their tone of enthusiasm, and infused an ardor into the bosoms of the men they could not have believed it in the power of a man to have done. He praised the alert and active-he "On the Monday after Trinity Sunday, 1381, Wat Tyler cheered the flagging and strengthened the wavering— entered Canterbury. * * * * he gave them every direction respecting their marchOn his march recruits came to him from all quarters of Kent and Sussex, and by the time he reached Blackheathing, and made arrangements calculated to save them (11th June), there were, it is said, one hundred thousand des- fatigue, rendering himself quite as popular as Jack Straw had anticipated. perate men obeying the orders of Wat Tyler. While at this Their march was a desultory one, but they had a spot, the widow of the Black Prince, the young king's mother, strong motive for it. At that period Canterbury was fell into their hands, but in the midst of their fury they the most influential town in Kent, contained a large respected her, and after granting a few kisses to some dirty-number of inhabitants, and if it were generally known faced, rough-bearded men, she was allowed, with her retinue and maids of honor, to proceed quietly to London, the leaders even engaging to protect her and her son." PICT. HIST. ENGLAND. "When Adam delved, and Eve span, JOHN BALL'S ADDRESS TO THE "COMMONS." "The fame of these doings spread into Sussex, Hertford, Essex, and Cambridgeshire, Norfolke, Suffolke, &c., and when such assembling of ye common people daily took increase, and yt their number was almost infinite, so that they feared no man to resist them, they began to show some such acts as they had considered in their minds." STOW'S ANNALS. throughout the county that the people of this town' had risen with the insurgents, it would have a considerable influence upon the more respectable portion of the people who still held back. The Archbishop, too, was here, and as he had been a great oppressor, had endeavored to keep the people down, while he rioted in luxury upon the proceeds of their labor, and had imprisoned John Ball three several times for his freedom of speech to the serfs, vassals, and other "villeins" of the county, they resolved to make him prisoner, and read him a few lessons that he stood much in need of. It was in the year 1381, upon the day after Trinity Sunday, that Wat Tyler, at the head of "the true and lawful commons of England," as they styled themselves, entered Canterbury; they proceeded direct to the Cathedral, and entered without opposition. The monks and the clergy were horribly terrified, but were not molested; and as the Archbishop had escaped, they left the place, and for the remainder of the day took up their abode quietly in the city. On the following day they received a deputation, consisting of the mayor and aldermen, who were so uncom monly obsequious to the " greasy rogues," that it might have been imagined they were waiting upon the ambassadors of a powerful kingdom. Wat Tyler briefly acquainted them with the purport of their rising, and demanded to know whether they were friendly to the cause or not. The mayor and his council, affecting great sweetness of manner, replied that they were particularly friendly, uncommonly so, and begged to enrol themselves as honorary members, HE whole of the prisoners of Sir Simon Burly, whom they had rescued, were fed and re-clothed when they arrived at Maidstone, and were then suffered to do as they pleased-either to join the people or return to their homes; most of them preferred the latter, but those who did, expressed their intention of speedily returning, and join them in their efforts to obtain freedom. Maidstone, at that time, was a miserable little township, but whatever it afforded was at the service of the people, and nothing whatever was taken but it was paid for at a just price. After staying a short time to recruit themselves, the order was again given for them to set forth, which was obeyed, and they passed out of the town on their way to Canterbury, and from thence purposed going to Black-but not exactly active ones. They wished to know heath, where it was proposed they should rendezvous until they were quite ready to enter London. Through woods and fields they passed, and as they wound over the Downs, it was a rare sight to see the long line; here they extended over the hills; there they stretched like an enormous chain over the sloping heights, and if the leaders would accompany them home to dinner, and would have probably displayed their abject servility to a much greater extent if Wat had not sternly cut them short. He asked them if they were ready to take an oath, to be true to Richard and the "true commons," and they assented with great readiness. It was administered to them, and then made publicly known. It had the effect of instantly bringing forward a vast number of the tardy, who waited for the example of their betters before they acted, and before night nearly the whole of the populace were ready to enlist under the banners of the true commons. There were three men who were immensely rich, who were in very bad odour, having made themselves wealthy by notorious infamy of conduct. They had plundered and oppressed all their lives; they had caused intense misery to hundreds of poor people; they had inflicted injuries upon injuries; they had wronged, extorted, oppressed their fellow-citizens in every way; they were, with their enormous wealth, great misers; they had every man's curse, and no man's blessing; and the present opportunity was taken by the Canterbury people to "hale them out and off with their heads," but their possessions, illgotten as they were, were respected, and their families unmolested; they only were punished, and that before Wat knew of it, or he would have prevented it. thee formed the largest portion of the true commons, I would join the troops of the tyrants, and lend my aid to mow ye down. Away! ye are no true men, and shall not disgrace our community by belonging to it." 'Forgive us!" cried one of the men, hastily, we were wrong; punish us, but do not expel us. We have been so accustomed to be trampled under foot, that it is hard, when the opportunity occurs, not to retaliate. We would not have harmed the lady beyond taking a few simple kisses; and if she had refused them we would not have taken them by force." "No!" exclaimed Wat, angrily. "If ye had, the best among ye should have died a cur's death, and but that I know ye have been hardly used, and therefore need much self-control to keep your hands from those who have done ye so much wrong, you would not lightly have escaped for this dereliction of orders. Away with ye; let me see no more such conduct, for if I do, you may escape with life, but not without evidences of your misconduct." Having obtained the purpose for which they had The men uttered their thanks, and moved away visited Canterbury, they departed, and in their com- abashed, while the remainder crowded round him, pany went the greater proportion of its inhabitants. ready to obey his slightest nod, and to show, by their They made for Blackheath, which, on the eleventh of diligence in executing his orders, that they were June, they reached. Upon this extensive heath Watworthy his approbation. He advanced to the car, planted his standard, and there took up his quarters and dismounting, approached the lady respectfully. for the purpose of collecting his men in proper order, "Fair lady," he exclaimed, "I regret that you form them into divisions, placing with each a leader { have been roughly handled by men, who are rude but on whom he could depend, and to make them ac- honest; the injuries which they have so long endured quainted with such discipline as he knew was needful have made them less courteous than they should have to preserve them together, and prevent their strag-been; but as it has been the custom to keep them gling in disorder, breaking into confusion, and so be sunk in a state of barbarism and ignorance, when they made an easy prey to even a small body of well- have been used to see their wives, their daughters, regulated troops. It was astonishing to see the their betrothed, torn by violence from them without numbers that hourly flocked to join his cause; fresh a hope of redress, it is not to be expected they will men from all the counties around, that learned of the show that kindness and consideration to those who uprising, poured in hundreds to swell their numbers, fall in their power, which has ever been denied to and take part in the great movement for universal { them. I have much influence over them, and as far freedom. While they were remaining here and as my power extends I will endeavor to prevent any making every preparation for their departure for such outbreaks; but those who have inflicted the London, Wat, in riding one day with Jack Straw and bitterest wrongs must not be surprised to be retaliated Michael to review the men, see to their wants, and upon with the same severity with which they comexhort them to moderation in their future deeds, {mitted their own deeds. You shall not be further observed a commotion on the main road, and numbers harmed; but may I inquire your name and purpose flocking towards it; he clapped spurs to his horse, in crossing this heath ?" and, followed by his friends, hastened to the spot. Immediately he arrived there the men fell back, and a lane was made for him, through which he passed, and found there was a handsomely ornamented car, accompanied by a numerous train of servants, who were struggling in the hands of a party of the commons, who were endeavoring to drag them towards Wat Tyler's tent, while in the car was seated a lady surrounded by a number of rough fellows, who were laughing and waiting in turns to receive a kiss from the lady, who looked as pale as death, but preserved her dignity, and yielded the demanded salute with a courtesy which, though gentle and graceful, could not keep hid the terror she suffered. Wat frowned and clenched his teeth as he witnessed this, and cried in a stern, bitter voice "What means this wilful, direct disobedience of orders? Have your miseries made ye so tired of your lives, ye wish your companions to hang ye up like dogs? Fall back, every man of you! What, do you seek amelioration of wrongs and shameful oppressions by inflicting them? For shame! Is a harmless woman a subject to exercise your valor upon? Do you desire to show how worthy ye are to be free, to be unoppressed, to be held as brethren by those above ye in wealth, by doing wrong to every helpless female ye meet? By Heaven! if I thought such as "I am Joan, Countess of Kent," she replied. "Whom men justly call 'The Fair Maid of Kent,' said Wat, gallantly. The Countess bowed her head; and he continued,-"The wife of our lamented Prince Edward, and mother to his Majesty Richard the Second, whom God preserve!" Again the Countess bowed her head, and Wat appeared thoughtful for a moment; he then inquired, "You had a purpose in crossing this heath while it was covered with so vast an assemblage of people?" "I am returning from a pilgrimage to Canterbury," she replied. "It would be false to deny that I knew not ye were thus assembled here, for the report is too prevalent to have escaped my ears; but I knew my beloved husband had been the people's idol; I believed my gentle son stood not in your wrath, and I was sure that you would do me the justice to believe I never wilfully harmed a living creature. I therefore believed I had nought to fear: and relying upon your justice, no less than your generosity, felt assured I should pass on my way unmolested." "Had I have known your intention to have passed this way, no rude hand should have touched your car, nor eye penetrated its recesses," said Wat; "but as it is, I trust the interruption that you have received will not induce you to set your heart against those around you. Thy noble husband Edward the Black Prince, of immortal memory, was a just and good man, in addition to his brilliant qualities as a warrior, and looked not upon the people, low and humble as they were, as mere beasts of the field; all upon his estates enjoyed as much freedom as he dared bestow upon them, and he would have been yet kinder to them, but for the nobles and tyrants, who poisoned his ears, and sought to make him like themselves. You too, lady, have the blessings of the people of this county; you have done much good to the poor and abject, the cast down and oppressed, for which the Almighty-who never suffers good actions to pass unremunerated-will reward you, and your own heart will feel the lighter, and your sleep will be the more peaceful and undisturbed, when you reflect you have dried many a weeping eye, have relieved many an aching heart, and made happy those who were bowed to the earth by misery! There are few in the county of Kent who do not hold you in their estimation as high as your great goodness deserves; and thine own kindness to the humble and miserable have made us, one and all, believe thy son Richard to be as good in his heart as thou, being thine and Edward's son, and thy influence over him as well, will make him, when he has the power, practise those virtues we have little doubt you have instilled into his young mind." "Ala" interrupted the Countess," I would it were as you say; but his guardians and tutors so surround him, and bend him to their will, that my influence is not permitted to reach him. I know him to be well disposed. I am not at liberty to speak my thoughts respecting the manner in which he is counselled; but of this I am sure, he loves his people, and will do all within his power to relieve their miseries and redress their wrongs." "He shall have that power," exclaimed Wat, emphatically, "and when it is placed within his grasp he must not shrink from wielding it, nor refuse the boon the people require, and will have; if you could cast your gentle eye, dear lady, upon every man who composes this mass of human beings, your heart would bleed to see the ravages which want, incessant toil, famine, anxieties, and miseries of the most terrible description have made in frames naturally powerful. You would shudder to look on the wasted skeleton-like forms, the gaunt visages, and thinly clothed sufferers, that crowd here in hundreds; you would weep to see the fathers of families as weak as infants, from illness and over-exertion, to procure food for their starving families, and your kind nature would thrill with horror if you could hear the tales of monstrous wrongs, and vilest of oppressions which they have each to tell. Your wonder would not be then that they had risen to remedy them, but that they had borne them so long or borne them at all. Tell this to your royal son-tell him he is in the hands of those who endanger his crown and their own safety-tell him never to believe the humble classes he reigns over are not the same flesh and blood as himself, but that they are of the same, only Providence has made him a king, and them vassals -tell him they have been wronged by his counsellors, and he must right them; let him but show a desire to relieve their miseries, and they will cleave right loyally to him; but bid him beware how he turns a deaf ear to their wants, their just demands, and I will not answer for any evil that may ensue: tell him it is in his power to avert bloodshed and create happiness, and if he refuses, the blood and evils be upon his own head and those who counsel him to his own undoing." "Be not too rash and hasty to judge of my son by what may issue forth in his own name; he is very young, and his uncle-" "Aye, John of Gaunt," replied Wat, speaking bitterly; "he who puts his hands before Richard's eyes to keep him from seeing the efforts he is making to obtain the crown, and keeps, at the same time, his feet on the people's necks; it will be a dangerous hour for John of Gaunt, when he falls into the hands of the true and loyal commons-his designs on the crown will then end as well as his oppressions of the people. But it is of little use filling thy ears with such converse as this; all we wish of thee is to tell his Majesty of our sufferings, of the necessity for their redress, which, if he assents to, we will peacefully retire; but if he denies them, his tenure of the crown and kingdom will be a frail one. Farewell to you, madam, may God bless and keep you. You shall be escorted until you have passed the heath safely, and in the event of any disturbance which may ensue, the arbitrary decisions of the legislature, if they are so blind to their own destruction as to give them—if you and your loyal son place yourselves in our bands, whatever be the issue of the struggle, I pledge my immortal soul you shall both be safe and free from harm. Farewell!" The Countess returned the salutation with the greatest courtesy, and gracefully extended her hand for him to kiss, which he did with the utmost respect, and saying she would do her utmost to move the King to regard their condition with favorable eyes, she bade him farewell. A party of men, upon whom he could depend, accompanied her and her train of maids of honor, and men-servants; and as soon as it was known it was the good Princess of Wales who was passing through their ranks, they cheered her all the way, until she had completely left them all behind her. Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and Michael, saw that she was respected during her passage through the people, and then they retired to their tents. The accession of numbers had been in two days extraordinary from between thirty and forty thousand men, they had increased to one hundred thousand; and it became necessary, ere they departed to London, that they should all perfectly understand the laws which were to bind them together, the line of proceeding they were to adopt, to whom they were to look for orders, and the penalties which should be inflicted for disobedience, as it was most essential that all should have the common good in view, and sacrifice individual desires for mutual benefit. The new comers, to a certain extent, were made acquainted with the orders for their regulation and conduct already promulgated. But, to set all doubts at rest, it was resolved by Wat, that the whole of that vast multitude should be addressed by himself, and made cognizant of the terms for their future benefit and redress of existing evils, which he intended proposing to the King, and the means he purposed employing to carry his propositions into effect; also, with the mode in which it was politic they should conduct themselves in their progress and stay at the capital, The following morning, accompanied by Michael, Jack Straw, John Ball, and all those who had been appointed leaders of their respective divisions, he appeared in the centre of this mighty multitude upon a platform, which he had caused to be erected for the better making himself heard by those whom he was about to address. His appearance was greeted by a succession of cheers, so stentorian, they might have been heard for miles, and then the mob stood as silent as solitude itself to hear his words. However before he commenced laying before them the code of them Brethren, beloved friends, fellow beings, and fellow sufferers-and what is of more importance to ye all-people of England, I am called to address ye upon the motive which has brought us together in this abundance, upon the purpose which has made thousands rise against the few-the multitude against an inconsiderable portion. Is it because ye have pleasant homes and happy families that ye are here? Is it because you have a just share of the produce of your toil and labour, that ye have thus assembled? Is it because that any among ye can lay his hand on any household good, on any child, on any wife, and can say, 'This is mine, and the man lives not that can make claim to it; and in defiance of my resistance, my agony, or my most abject supplication, take it from me'-that you have risen up a whole population as one person? No! you will all cry with one voice it is because of the very reverse of all this. Then ye have not pleasant homes or happy families-ye have not the just share of the proceeds of your toil. There is nothing you can call your own, not even that portion of your life your Maker gave you { power over-and why is this? is it a law of God's that it should be so? No! then why should it be? It is to support a few in riotous luxury, in extravagance and debauchery, at the expense of the starvation of thousands. Is there a law of nature that such a state of things should exist? I cannot find it; I have searched for it, but found it not. I have in vain tried to discover the right a few have to bend a mass of fellow-beings to their absolute will, because they were born in palaces, and the mass in huts. Is he who rules of a higher order of beings than those he drives like cattle before him? Is he endowed with natural and per-abuses the power they gave him? Does he not sonal attributes of a distinct and more elevated class than those he makes the worm for his foot to crush? Is he descended from angels, while they are born of earthly parents-were Adam and Eve less his progenitors than yours, than mine? Was he at his birth less subject to the effects of heat and cold, of harm or injury, than you or I? Would he, if he had been born in a hut instead of a palace, or a costly manor, been still a noble? Were his ancestors always noble? Were all his ancestors, from himself to our first parents, kings, princes, nobles, high, mighty, or wealthy? the world, and those in it, after his own heart, and he made them equal. In what better degree of flesh and blood are these proud nobles than we now are, to what Adam and his sons were, that they should make so wide a distinction between us? Have they different forms to us, have they a brighter blood in their veins, and flesh of a better material than ours? Will they not die, as we, if wounded mortally with weapons? Do they not shiver in the cold, and pant in the heat as we? Will they not bleed if stabbed? Will they not be pained if injured? Will they not weep if sorrowful, laugh if glad, as we? Do they not lie down and sleep as we? Do they not rise in the morning refreshed from their sleep as we should, if we had our rights?-but, God help us all! there is little that is refreshing in our sleep! Do they not grow from youth to manhood, and decline to old age, and die from decay of nature, even as we? Are their actions better than ours? Are they more moral, more religious? Have they hearts to feel and sympathise with the miseries of those whom they will not deign to consider fellow-creatures, as those very people they despise? To every question is there but the one answer-no?—and to that also there is a negative. Then, if they are in no way naturally of a higher race than ourselves-if God looks on us all as equal, and judges us alone by our good or evil actions, where is their right to make and keep us slaves? Where is their right to make us slave and toil incessantly, to be wretchedly clad, almost starved, and miserably housed, that they may be clothed in velvets and chamlets, furred with grise? Why should they never labor, and we wear out our bodies and limbs in constant work? Why should they have spices and wines and fine bread, and we be compelled to eat rye and the refuse of straw? Why should they have the richest liquors, and we have nothing but water? Not but what any of ye would not eat his rye bread and drink water, in glad contentment, if he had a just share of his produce, and could call his home his own, and was free-free in the broadest sense. Who produces the wealth, upon which these haughty nobles pride themselves? Whose money, whose hard earnings makes the King rich and powerful-from whom holds he the right to rule? Why from you, the people! from those he keeps in abject slavery, in vilest bondage; and if they place him on the throne, and enrich him, have they not the right to displace him, if he take all from you? and what gives he you in return? -misery; the most bitter, the most agonising, the most unenduring-and will ye endure it? No!-I am answered in your presence here. Why were kings made at all? How came nobles to exist? Why, thusin the earliest times the strongest man did what pleased him; he would not work, but waited until one much weaker than himself had procured food and made raiment-then he went and took them from him, and if he murmured, beat him. He did this to all; but two or three weak ones united together and attacking the strong man, killed him. But soon another sprung up in his place, and it became necessary to unite together always, that no strong man might injure or oppress the weaker; and when they began to dispute or cavil, it became essential to have one man who should decide all disputes, and whose decision all should respect and obey. The oldest man was chosen to fulfil this duty, and when he died the next oldest ; but, in course of time, this rule was superseded, and parties of friends, instead of making the oldest and wisest man their chief, invested the duty in the son, whether he inherited his father's wisdom, or was a natural idiot. As communities extended, this chief's 'When Adam delved, and Eve span, Who was then a gentleman?' Were his progenitors? No! Were there any of gentle blood any better than another? No! save in disposition, Abel was better than Cain, because he was better inclined; but he was of the same blood as his brother who slew him, and if Cain was a tiller of the ground, Abel was a keeper of sheep. There were no lords, no kings, no princes then; all were equal, all labored, and every one enjoyed the fruits of his labor; those were the days when God had created |