"The insurrection began in Essex, where a report was industriously propagated, that the peasants were doomed to. destruction; and that, their houses would be burned and. plundered. While their minds were alarmed and irritated. with this general rumour, the collectors came to the shop. of a blacksmith in that county, while he was at his ordinary labour, and demanded the tax for his daughter; but this he refused to pay, on pretence of her being below the age, assigned by the statute. "One of these fellows offered to produce a very indecent, proof to the contrary, and at the same time rudely handled, the person of the girl; which the father resented, and instantly knocked out the ruffian's brains with his hammer. The by-standers applauded the action, and exclaimed, that, it was high time for the people to take vengeance on their tyrants, and to vindicate their native liberty. They imme diately had recourse to arms; the whole neighbourhood, joined in the sedition; the flame spread in an instant over, the county; it soon extended itself into Kent, Hertford, Surrey, Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Lincoln. Before the government had the least warning of the danger, the disorder had grown beyond control or opposition: the populace had shaken off all regard to their former masters, and being headed by the most bold and daring of their asso ciates, who assumed the fictitious names of Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, Hob Carter, and Tom Miller, by which they meant to express and glory in their inferior origin, they committed every where the most cruel outrages, and wantonly murdered all the nobility and gentry who had the misfortue to fall in their way. "The insurgents of the different countics being assembled, amounted nearly to one hundred thousand men, who, met on Blackheath, under their principal leaders, Wat Tyler and Jack Straw; and as the princess of Wales, the king's mother, in her retura from a pilgrimage to Canterbury, passed through the midst of them, they attacked her retinue. Some of the most insolent among them, to shew their resolution of reducing all to an equality, obliged her to kiss them; though they permitted her to proceed on her journey L 2 journey without offering any farther insult. They sent a deputation to the king, who had taken refuge in the Tower, and desired to have an interview with him. Richard sailed down the river in his barge; but on approaching the shore, and witnessing many instances of tumult and confusion, did not think proper to land, but returned to that fortress. In the mean the insurgents, assisted by the populace of the city, had broke into London; burned the duke of Lancaster's palace in the Savoy; beheaded all the gentlemen that fell in their way; butchered all the lawyers and attornies, against whom they expressed the most inveterate hatred; and plundered the warehouses of the opulent merchants. "A large body of them fixed their quarters at Mile-End ; and the king not thinking himself safe in the Tower, which was but weakly garrisoned, and ill supplied with provisions, was persuaded to go out to meet them, and ask the cause of their grievances. They insisted upon a general amnesty; the abolition of slavery; liberty of commerce in market towns, without tolls, or imposts; and a stated rent on lands, instead of the services required by villenage. Their requests, however reasonable in themselves, were extremely disagreeable to the barons, whom it was no less dangerous to offend ; the king, however, was obliged to comply with them; charters for that purpose were immediately granted; and this formidable body having carried their point, instantly dispersed, and returned to their respective habitations. "At length another body of the rebels had forced their passage into the Tower, where they murdered Simon Sudbury, the primate and chancellor, with Sir Robert Hales, the treasurer, and several other persons of distinction; and then issuing forth into the city, pillaged the houses of all the wealthy inhabitants. "The king riding through Smithfield, very slenderly guarded, encountered Wat Tyler at the head of these insurgents, and entered into a conference with him. Tyler ordered his companions to retire, till he should exhibit a signal; after which they were to murder all the company, except the king himself. Several forms of charters being successively rejected by Wat Tyler, he was invited to a conference with the the king, that the terms of accommodation might be finally adjusted. The meeting took place in Smithfield, Richard being attended by a small party of the guards, and Tyler by about twenty thousand men. Sir John Newton having been ordered to conduct this presumptuous rebel to the king, he treated the knight with insolence and obloquy, and even aimed a blow at him with his dagger. Richard coming up, interposed in the fray, and ordered Sir John, who was preparing to oppose Tyler, to alight, and surrender his weapon to the ruffian. The latter, inflamed by his quarrel with the knight, now made another attempt to wound him. Roused by this attack on one of the king's friends, Walworth, the loyal and courageous mayor, advised Richard to take Tyler into custody. Having received an order to that effect, the magistrate gallantly approached him, and gave him so violent a blow on the head, that he was unable to preserve his seat on his horse. Several other persons of the king's retinue rushed on the rebel as he fell, and put a speedy period to his life. "The mutineers seeing their leader fall, prepared themselves for revenge; and the king and his whole company must have perished on the spot, had not. Richard manifested great presence of mind in this extremity. He ordered his company to stop, advanced alone towards the enraged multitude, and accosting them with an affable and intrepid countenance, "What, my good people," said he, "is the meaning of this commotion? Be not concerned for the loss of your leader. I am your king; I will become your leader: follow me into the field, and you shall have whatever you demand." Overawed by his presence, they implicitly followed him, and he peaceably dismissed them, after complying with their demands. "Richard's conduct on this occasion, considering he was only sixteen years of age, gave birth to great expectations' in his favour; but in proportion as he advanced in years, they gradually vanished. "The populace were so confounded at the death of Tyler, and so overawed by the presence, and charmed with the magnanimity magnanimity of their prince, that they followed him implicitly and almost mechanically, without knowing whither they were going. He led them into the fields of Islington, to prevent any disorder that might have arisen from their remaining in the city: being there joined by Sir Robert Knolles, with a body of veteran soldiers, and some thousands of Londoners, who had been collected, he strictly enjoined that officer not to attack the insurgents, or commit an undistinguished carnage among them, as had been at first proposed :. he then quietly dismissed them, with the same charters which had been granted to their companions. "The nobility and gentry being informed of this insurrection, which threatened the kingdom with instant ruin, hastened to London with their vassals and adherents; and Richard soon had an army of forty thousand men. The. rebels finding it in vain to make any further resistance, quietly laid down their arms, and submitted to the king's mercy; the charters of enfranchisement and pardon were revoked in parliament; and several of the ring-leaders were. tried, convicted, and capitally punished. "It was alledged that the rebels had formed a plan of, seizing the king's person, to carry him about with them. through the several counties of England, as a sanction to their proceedings; to murder the nobility, gentry, lawyers, and even all the bishops and priests, except the mendicant friars;. then to dispatch the king himself: and having thus destroyed. all difference of rank and condition, to govern the kingdom at their pleasure. "It is not unlikely that some of the most enthusiastic among them, in the first transports of their phrenzy, and the first run of their success, might have conceived such a chimerical scheme; but had they actually succeeded in their design, they would soon have found the inconvenience of such a perfect equality as they had projected *, and gladly have replaced themselves under the law they had violated," To check, however, as much as possible, future discontents and the growing disorders in the city, it was ordained in 1386, that the common-council should be elected annually by * Lyttleton's History of England. the the several wards; that a court thus formed should be convened, at least, once a quarter, to settle the public concerns of the city." The next year this ordinance was confirmed, and the number of representatives appointed according to the size and population of the respective wards. But the infatuated Richard rapidly hurrying his own destruction began the unhappy career of insulting and oppressing the city whence he derived his greatest support; he carried his proceedings to such a disgustful height that one of the most considerable citizens, named Sudbury, at the head of a deputation of sixty of his brethren, repaired to the royal residence at Windsor, with a firm and manly remonstrance on the abuses of government, the insolence and oppression of the king's favourites, and on the intolerable burthens under which the metropolis and nation groaned: the the weak king was so offended by this representation that he removed his court to Bristol, vowed vengeance against his capital by means of a Welch army, and compelled the inhabitants to arm in their defence. This wild attempt lost to Richard the affection of the citizens and laid the foundation of those commotions which stripped him of his dominions and deprived him of his life. London, however, gained some important advantages even during this ill-fated period: the courts of justice were transferred hither from York; an act of parliament passed, declaring that the city liberties should not in future be liable to forfeiture for any erroneous judgment given, or other offence committed by the mayor, aldermen, or other magistrates. Sundry useful regulations were made respecting its cleanliness and salubrity. The extensive ward of Farringdon was divided into two, by which a twenty-fifth ward was constituted, and the rate at which each should be assessed to the public burthens was settled by the authority of parliament; and whereas, hitherto the aldermen had been elected annually, it was enacted, that in future, they should remain in office during their good behaviour. An act was also passed for preventing frauds in the important article of malt, and for punishing impositions practised on graziers bring |