THE PILGRIMS’ ADVANCE
Hull did not fall until 20 October 1536, but its siege was merely an
incident in the Yorkshire rising. We must go back to 13 October to
follow the main course of the insurrection, the advance of the Pilgrims
under Aske to York. Before describing this, it will be convenient to
take a general survey of the disturbed counties and to note the attitude
of those in authority. All through the week the King’s commanders were
too much occupied with Lincolnshire to realise how much more serious was
the trouble in Yorkshire. The news of the rising there does not seem to
have reached Shrewsbury’s camp at Nottingham until Thursday, 12
October[790]. Lord Darcy and Sir Brian Hastings, the sheriff, were left
for a week without instructions or aid to cope with the flowing tide of
insurrection as best they might.
On Tuesday, 10 October, Lord Darcy, at Pontefract, heard of the summons
sent from Beverley to York, and wrote to the lord mayor of York “as a
man of substance, having the rule of the second city of the realm.” He
informed the mayor that the commons of the East Riding were likely to
“invade” York and try to seize the King’s treasure. The mayor must put
the citizens in readiness to resist the rebels and must summon the
gentlemen of the Ainstey to his aid. He need have no fear in opposing
the rebels, as, though “men of high experience in war,” they had no
artillery nor ordnance[791].
At the same time Darcy sent his son Sir George into Marshland to capture
Aske; that night Sir George “laid in wait and would have taken him if he
had kept the appointments he made with gentlemen to lie in their
houses.”[792] Nevertheless Aske escaped.
Sir Brian Hastings wrote to Darcy on 10 October from Hatfield, where he
was lying with 300 men. The rebels of Howdenshire and Marshland intended
to march on York and he advised Darcy to send a force at once “to
overawe their faction in that city.” Meanwhile he would join Darcy and
they might together intercept the rebels on the march and cut them off
from York[793]. In a letter to Fitzwilliam dated the next day (Wednesday
11 October) Hastings said that “though the common people murmur” he was
keeping “Hatfield, Doncaster and all other places under your rule in
good order”; but the people of “all the north are so confederated that
they will not be stayed without great policy.” He thought that the men
who were serving the King should have wages[794].
Darcy answered Sir Brian’s letter of the 10th on Wednesday 11 October.
He wrote that he knew the extent of the rising and was “putting all the
gentlemen within my room in readiness at an hour’s warning, when I shall
know the King’s pleasure.” But neither the King nor the Lord Steward
(Shrewsbury) had answered his letters. “If you have any certainty from
above let me share it.”[795]
Darcy was kept well informed about the spread of the movement not only
in Yorkshire but in the neighbouring counties. He had many friends who
favoured the rebels and acted as spies for him. Darcy used their
information just as it suited him at the moment, sometimes sending it on
to the King, sometimes keeping it for private ends. About the time that
he received Sir Brian Hastings’ letter, full of sturdy loyalty, two
other letters arrived, one from Lancashire, the other from Wakefield,
which, though they contained nothing positively treasonable, were in
tone a marked contrast to Sir Brian’s. The first was from Thomas
Stanley, a priest, who was a kinsman and follower of the Earl of Derby.
He reported that the people of Lancashire “say those that are up are for
the maintenance of church and faith and they will not strike against
them.” There had been some local disturbances, but the Earl of Derby
“attends the King’s command.” The writer concluded “your lordship may
trust the bearer; he is a tall man if need be.”[796] The second letter
was from Thomas Gryce, Darcy’s steward at Wakefield. He described the
general discontent in the country and the sympathy felt for the rebels.
The commissioners were afraid to sit lest their meeting should prove a
signal for a general rising, and weapons were being sent from York, some
of them to the Earl of Derby[797]. The Earl was believed to favour the
rebels’ cause, but, after some wavering, he declared for the King.
Another of Darcy’s informants was Thomas Maunsell, the vicar of Brayton.
Maunsell had been in Howdenshire on Tuesday 10 October, where he was
captured by the commons and accused of being a spy of Sir George Darcy;
this was probably in connection with the attempt to seize Aske. It is
curious that Darcy should have known from the very beginning of the
rising that Aske was the leading spirit; perhaps he owed both this and
his minute knowledge of the captain’s movements to Maunsell. The vicar
was released on Wednesday morning after taking an oath to attend the
muster on Skipwith Moor[798]. He went first to Sir George Darcy and then
to Lord Darcy at Pontefract, who bade him attend the muster and bring a
report of it next day. He returned on Thursday 12 October with the news
that the “commons intended to come over the water to Darcy’s house
(Templehurst) and the (Arch)-bishop’s” (Cawood). Darcy told him to go
home to Brayton, and if the Howdenshire men “did press to come over the
water” (the Ouse) he was to raise all the people on Darcy’s lands, for,
if the commons on the south-west bank of the Ouse were up, the
Howdenshire men would have no motive for crossing, and there would be
less likelihood of damage to property. “Darcy said he would thus do the
King service.”
On Friday 13 October twenty-four men came over the Ouse from Howden to
persuade the West Riding to take part with the rest of the county. The
parts about Brayton, that is the whole west bank of the Ouse from Cawood
to Templehurst, were very willing. The Howden men first “raised the
town” (Brayton or Selby) and the vicar promised to do the rest. On
Sunday 15 October he was at the head of all the force in “Darcy’s
room.”[799]
Meanwhile not only the Archbishop and Archdeacon Magnus[800] but many
gentlemen who found their tenants out of hand fled to Pontefract Castle
to escape the rebels. Sir Robert Constable had captured “Philypis a
captain of the commons in Lincolnshire,” and had taken him to the lords
at Nottingham. He was ordered to return home and pacify the east coast
if possible, but if the insurrection had gone too far for conciliation,
he must turn back to Pontefract and put himself under Darcy’s orders.
Finding that all the East Riding was up, Constable went to Pontefract,
where he found his friend in a desperate state[801].
On Friday 13 October Darcy answered Henry’s gushing letter of
thanks[802] with a long expostulation. He said that the King thanked him
more than he deserved, but only partially answered his previous letters.
The King made no reference to Darcy’s repeated appeals for ordnance and
money. All the East Riding, part of the West, and nearly all the North,
were now up, “in effect all the commons of Yorkshire; and the city of
York favours them.” The host of the East Riding was advancing on York to
seize the King’s treasure, and though Darcy had written to the lord
mayor to “look to the safety of the city” the people were said to be
“lightly disposed.” The loyal gentlemen “cannot trust any but their
household servants.” The Lancashire commons were “of the same mind as
the others,” and were buying arms. Darcy expected the rebels to visit
him shortly, and there was “not one gun in Pontefract Castle ready to
shoot. There is no powder, arrows and bows are few and bad, money and
gunners none, the well, the bridge, houses of office etc. for defence,
much out of frame.” This is the refrain of the letter—send money and “in
any wise haste to the laying of posts,” or the messengers will be cut
off[803].
On the very same day Henry was writing severely to Darcy. He marvelled
that the unlawful assemblies were not yet put down. He had written to
the gentlemen of Yorkshire to muster their forces, and Sir Arthur Darcy,
if Darcy himself was too feeble to take the field, was “to repress the
traitors as he hopes to be reported a loyal servant.”[804] It is easy to
imagine the irritation this letter must have caused at Pontefract. It
was all very well for the King to marvel, but raising men was not only
useless but dangerous, for, though they often only refused to attend the
musters, or stole away to the rebels, if a considerable force was
collected they would probably desert in a body, and carry their leaders
captive to the host of the Pilgrims. General orders were easy to send,
but when they were accompanied by neither money nor particular
instructions, it was impossible to carry them out. Perhaps if Darcy had
taken entire command of the situation without orders, and had spent
unstintingly all the money he had left after keeping his garrison of
thirteen score men entirely at his own expense[805], something more
might have been achieved or at least attempted. For instance, about 14
October the men of Wakefield declared themselves ready to follow Sir
Richard Tempest on the King’s part, but Thomas Tempest, who informed his
father, Sir Richard, of the fact, added that if the rebels arrived first
Wakefield would join them, and they were within ten miles of the
town[806]. Sir Richard wrote to Darcy, offering to come to him at
Pontefract, but Darcy replied that he had no orders, and that Tempest
would be of more use at Wakefield[807].
On Friday, 13 October, Shrewsbury and the other lords at Nottingham sent
Darcy the following letter:
“My very god lorde in our right hartie maner we comende us unto you
signyfying unto the same that we sent oon Lancaster the kingis
harraude of armys unto the rebellious in Lincoln shire with a
proclamacion, the copie whereof we sende unto you hereinclosed. And
upon the hering thereof they were contented to departe home to their
houses, albeit they stayed and taried upon annswere frome my lorde of
suffolke; and as sone as they here frome hym we think they woll right
gladly repayre home unto their houses according unto the tenore
purport and true meanyng of the said proclamacion without any let or
stay to the contrary. Also whereas the said rebellious had comfort
oute of yorkshire, for ayde and assistance of those there, Insomyche
as they have knowledged divers to have come over the watirs of Humber
owis and Trent they have nowe promysed to staye the botis there, so
that none shall come over, but be glad to retorn again homewards like
foolis. And if they dooo come the said rebellious here will (as they
affirme) be redy to fyght against them as they mynd themselves
(_illegible_) the Kingis true and faithful subiectis.” (_About eight
lines at the end are mutilated and illegible._)[808]
There is no sign in this letter that Shrewsbury distrusted Darcy, but
according to Sir Henry Saville, when Sir Arthur Darcy was in
Shrewsbury’s camp[809], the Earl asked how many men Darcy could raise.
Sir Arthur replied, five thousand “if the abbeys might stand.” This
aroused suspicions of Darcy’s loyalty, though the words applied more to
the disposition of the country than to Darcy’s private views. Shrewsbury
bade Sir Arthur, “Go and bid your father stay his country, or I will
turn my back upon yonder traitors and my face upon them.”[810]
Rumour whispered that when Darcy first heard of the rising in
Lincolnshire, he said “Ah, they are up in Lincolnshire. God speed them
well. I would they had done this three years ago, for the world should
have been the better for it.”[811] If this was really his opinion, he
would not be very well pleased with the news of the rebels’ collapse,
but his feelings are not recorded. One of his spies informed him on 14
October that the Lincolnshire host had dispersed, but the writer gave no
hint as to whether the news would be thought good or bad[812]. If, as
seems probable, Darcy had not yet determined which side to take, the
failure of the Lincolnshire rebels would incline him to loyalty.
Darcy’s letter of 13 October arrived in London on the 15th, and as
anxiety about Lincolnshire was almost over, some notice was at last
taken of the Yorkshire trouble. The King wrote to Shrewsbury ordering
him to turn his face towards Yorkshire. If he considered his force
sufficient to strike “without danger to our honour,” he was to “give
them (the rebels) a buffet with all diligence and extremity.” If he
could not venture on this alone, he must wait for the Duke of Norfolk,
who was at Ampthill, and a joint commission of lieutenancy would be sent
to Norfolk and Shrewsbury to go north together[813]. “This matter
hangeth like a fever, one day good, another bad,” wrote Wriothesley from
Windsor to Cromwell in London[814]. The news must have been doubly
unwelcome because when the Lincolnshire revolt collapsed the government
had believed the trouble was over.
On the same day (15 October) the gentlemen in Pontefract Castle wrote to
the lords at Nottingham that, following their advice, they were lying
still; indeed they doubted if they could move with safety, as the
commons were before York with 20,000 men, and the country round was
rapidly taking up arms. However, they relied on certain gentlemen, their
fellows and friends, who were ready to come to the aid of Pontefract
with their servants at an hour’s warning. The rebels, “notwithstanding
your proclamation,” were expected at Pontefract on Tuesday 17 October,
and, as the King had taken no notice of Darcy’s letters about the
weakness of the castle, its defenders were in extreme danger unless
speedy succour were sent. They had heard that terms had been made with
the men of Lincolnshire, and they begged that the same might be offered
to the Yorkshire rebels, as there was even more need of such comfort
here. In a postscript they sent news of the rising of Durham[815].
It was immediately after the despatch of this appeal that the King’s
letter of the 13th arrived. Next morning (16 October) Darcy wrote to
Shrewsbury with a bitterness easy to understand. The King had sent him
letters missive to the neighbouring gentlemen which he had forwarded,
but he doubted if they could be delivered without falling into the
rebels’ hands. The King commanded him to “stay or distress the commons
who are up in the north and commit the heads to sure ward,” but it was
totally out of his power to enter upon any such extensive operations. He
had succeeded in checking the rising in his own neighbourhood for
fourteen days, and had prevented the rebels from joining the
Lincolnshire men, but now their forces in the north and west had
increased so much that it passed his power to meddle with them, for he
was without weapons or money. He dated his letter from “the King’s
strong castle of Pontefract, even the most simply furnished that ever I
think was any to defend.”[816]
While Shrewsbury was waiting for orders at Nottingham and Darcy was
appealing for help at Pontefract, there was nothing to oppose the
advance of the Pilgrims.
On Saturday 14 October Aske’s host reached the Derwent, and seized the
bridges of Kexby and Sutton. A rumour had reached them that Sir Oswald
Wolsthrope and the lord mayor of York had raised the gentlemen of the
Ainstey and the burgesses of the city, and that they were about to pull
down the bridges and hold the river bank against the rebels; but no such
drastic steps had been taken, and the host crossed unmolested at their
leisure. Aske wrote to Stapleton after the crossing to inform him of
their progress, and to ask for a written copy of the Lincolnshire
articles, as he wished to explain by an open proclamation why he “raised
the country between the rivers of Ouse and Derwent.” Stapleton, however,
was unable to satisfy his desire, as the articles brought by Kyme had
disappeared, and no other written copy could be found among the host at
Hull[817].
The Pilgrims were rapidly approaching York, where the authorities had
neither the will nor the power to stand a siege for the King. The mayor
and Sir George Lawson, the treasurer of Berwick who lived at York, wrote
to Henry describing the force “assembled to enter the city contrary to
their allegiance.”[818] Richard Bowyer, a burgess of York and “the
King’s sworn servant,” had acted as a messenger between Darcy and the
lords at Nottingham. He brought the King’s letters missive of 13 October
from Pontefract to William Harrington, the lord mayor of York, and Sir
George Lawson, killing a horse on the way. On receiving these orders to
put the town into a state of defence, they “determined to send for the
gentlemen of the Ainstey to come and help keep the city after the old
custom. Captains were appointed to every ward and bar.” Bowyer was
captain of Botham Bar, and put on his white coat with the red cross of
St George back and front[819]. But the burgesses took no great interest
in the matter, and the common people, inflamed partly by literature from
the busy pens of the friars of Knaresborough, partly by the flight of
the Archbishop, had declared for the Pilgrims as early as Wednesday 11
October[820].
On Sunday 15 October the rebel host held a great muster at the very
gates of the city. They were believed to be 20,000 strong, and were
arrayed in good order, the men of every wapentake forming a separate
company which carried as its ensign a cross from one of its parish
churches[821]. The horsemen were four or five thousand strong[822], and
consisted chiefly of gentlemen with their servants, and of well-to-do
yeomen and burgesses. They were therefore better armed and better
disciplined than the foot soldiers. All the neighbouring districts had
been summoned to join the army at York as soon as possible, and men
poured in hourly[823].
From his position before the gates Aske despatched three petty captains
and a messenger with a summons to the lord mayor and aldermen to give
the Pilgrims a “free passage through the city at their peril.”[824]
Aske’s second proclamation was probably sent with the summons. It was
certainly written about this time and circulated all through the
country. It ran as follows:
“Lordes, knyghtes, maisters, kynnesmen, and frendes. We perceyve that
you be infurmyd that thys assemble or pylgrymage that we, by the
favour and mercy of allmyghty god, do entend to procede in is by cause
the kynge oure soveragne lord hathe had many imposicyons of us; we
dowte not but ye do rizte well knowe that to oure power we have ben
all weys redy in paymentes and pryces to hys hyghnes as eny of hys
subgettes; and therfor to asserteyne you of the cause of thys oure
assemble and pylgrymage is thys. For as muche that shuche symple and
evyll dysposyd persones, beynge of the kynges cownsell, hathe nott
onely ensensyd hys grace with many and sundry new invencyons, whyche
be contrary (_to_) the faythe of God and honour to the kynges mayeste
and the comyn welthe of thys realme, and thereby entendythe to destroy
the churche of England and the mynysters of the same as ye do well
knowe as well as we: but also the seyd counsell hathe spoylyd and
robbid, and farthyr entendynge utterly to spoyle and robbe, the hole
body of thys realme and that as well you as us, yffe God of hys
infynyte mercye had not causyd shuche as hathe taken, or hereafter
shall tacke thys pylgrymage uppon theym, to procede in the same, and
whethyr all thys aforeseyde be trewe or not we put it to youre
concynes; and yff none thyncke it be trewe, and do fyght agaynst us
that entendythe the comyn welthe of this realme and no thynge elles,
we truste, with the grace of God, ye shall have smale spede; for thys
pylgrymage we have taken hyt for the preservacyon of crystes churche,
of thys realme of england, the kynge our soverayne lord, the nobylytie
and comyns of the same, and to the entent to macke petycion to the
kynges highnes for the reformacyon of that whyche is amysse within
thys hys realme and for the punnyshement of the herytykes and
subverters of the lawes; and we nother for money malys dysplesure to
noo persons but shuche as be not worthy to remayne nyghe abowte the
kynge oure soverayne lordes persone. And furthur you knowe, yff you
shall obtayne, as we truste in God you shall nott, ye put bothe us and
you and youre heyres and oures in bondage for ever; and further, ye
are sure of entensyon of Crystes churche curse, and we clere oute of
the same; and yff we overcum you, then you shalbe in oure wylles.
Wherfore, for a conclusyon, yff ye wyll not cum on with us for
reformacyon of the premyssis, we certyfy you by thys oure wrytynge
that we wyll fyght and dye agaynst both you and all those that shalbe
abowte towardes to stope us in the seyd pylgremage; and God shalbe
juge whych shall have hys grace and mercy theryn; and then you shalbe
jugyd hereafter to be shedders of crystyn blode, and destroers of your
evyne crystens (_i.e._ _equal Christians_). from Robert Aske chefe
capytayne off the conventyall assembly on pylgrymage for the same,
barony and comynality of the same.”[825]
With the summons Aske sent a promise that if the burgesses would admit
his army “in so doing they should not find themselves grieved, but that
they should truly be paid for all such things as they (the rebels) took
there.”[826]
The details of the city’s surrender have not been preserved. Aske, who
was as careful to put the most loyal complexion on the actions of other
people as on his own, said that being “neither fortified with artillery
nor gunpowder the same city was contented to receive them.”[827] The
lord mayor yielded at once to Aske’s summons, but the entry of the
Pilgrims was postponed until the next day. Aske now sent to the mayor a
copy of the Pilgrims’ Articles. According to Bowyer his messenger was “a
Lincolnshire fellow,”[828] but as Stapleton had been unable to send the
Lincolnshire articles, it is probable that Aske drew up a version of his
own for the occasion. The document has been preserved and bears the
endorsement of the lord mayor, Harrington. The handwriting is very bad,
probably because the writer was on horseback, and the document is so
much faded and defaced that it is in parts illegible, but the general
drift of it is clear. It is a mixture of a list of grievances and a
petition to the King, some of the articles being cast in one form and
others in the other:
(1) By the suppression of so many religious houses the service of God
is not well performed and the poor are unrelieved.
(2) We humbly beseech your grace that the act of uses may be
suppressed, because it restrains the liberty of the people in the
declaration of their wills concerning their lands, as well in payment
of their debts, doing the King service, and helping their children.
(3) The tax or “quindezine” payable next year is leviable of sheep and
cattle; but the sheep and cattle of your subjects near “the said
shire” (Yorkshire) are now at this instant time in manner utterly
decayed. The people will be obliged to pay 4_d._ for a beast and
12_d._ for twenty sheep, which will be an importunate charge,
considering their poverty and losses these two years past.
(4) The King takes of his Council, and has about him, persons of low
birth and small reputation, who have procured these things for their
advantage, whom we suspect to be lord Cromwell and Sir Richard Riche,
Chancellor of the Augmentations.
(5) There are bishops of the King’s late promotion who have subverted
the faith of Christ, viz. the bishops of Canterbury, Rochester,
Worcester, Salisbury, St David’s and Dublin. We think that the
beginning of all this trouble was the bishop of Lincoln[829].
The demands of the rebels will be discussed at length hereafter, but as
these are the first Yorkshire articles, a few comments may be made on
them. The first article was really the root of the whole matter; Aske
invariably declared that the religious troubles alone would have caused
the insurrection. As to the second it was of much less importance, and
he thought that if it had not been in the petitions of Lincolnshire, it
would not have been remembered. The third article is rather difficult to
understand, but it seems to be a protest against the basis on which the
subsidy was assessed. The fourth and fifth are closely allied to the
first. The people blamed Cromwell and the heretic bishops for the
suppression of the abbeys and all the other unpopular measures. The
protest against “base blood” was made chiefly on account of the mere
chance that several of the unpopular ministers happened to be men of low
birth. It is not necessarily a sign of aristocratic influence. No one
resents the success of an upstart more than members of the class from
which he sprang, and besides this, the people connected the rise in
rents with the acquisition of lands by the new families, though the old
families had for the most part become fully as grasping as their
neighbours. As to the bishops, they had consented to the divorce of
Queen Katharine, the separation from Rome, and the dissolution of the
monasteries, while in the opinion of the conservatives they should have
protested against all these measures. Several of them were also
personally unpopular and were suspected of favouring the New Learning.
These were the articles which the commons of Yorkshire were determined
to lay at the King’s feet with a humble prayer for redress, and if they
“could not so obtain, to get them reformed by sword and battle.”[830]
On Sunday night Aske’s host encamped before York. On Monday 16 October
the Pilgrims entered the city. The morning was spent in making
arrangements for their peaceful entry. A proclamation was issued that
there must be no spoiling, and that everything must be paid for
honestly. It was determined that the soldiers should pay 2_d._ a meal,
and the prices of food and horsemeat were declared both to the host and
to the citizens[831]. As a precaution against disorder, no footmen were
allowed to enter the city, because they were poorer and less easy to
control than the horsemen[832].
At five o’clock in the afternoon Aske at the head of four or five
thousand horsemen entered the city in state[833]. The rebel cavalry rode
through the streets to the Cathedral square. It was “about evensong”;
the Minster doors were thrown open and a long procession came forth—all
the ecclesiastics attached to the Cathedral in full vestments and due
order, from the Treasurer of the See of York to the smallest chorister.
The Treasurer, at the head, welcomed the captain of the faithful commons
who came to defend Christ’s Holy Church, and solemnly led him up the
aisle of the great Cathedral to the High Altar “where he made his
oblation.”[834] The early darkness of mid-autumn must have been falling
when Aske came out after the service. He stopped to post on the Minster
door an order for religious houses suppressed:
“The religious persons to enter into their houses again and view all
the goods there or elsewhere, and thereupon a bill made and indented,
the one party to be kept by the cedant; And there to do divine service
as the King’s bedemen to such times our petition be granted; And to
have both victuals, corn and all other things necessary of the farmers
by bill indented, or else record what they take during the time of our
Pilgrimage and the time they do divine service of God. And we trust in
God, that we shall have the right intent of our prayer granted of our
most dread sovereign lord, plenteously and mercifully. And that no
person nor persons do move no farmer nor alienate nor take away any
manner of goods of the aforesaid houses, upon pain of death.
By all the whole consent of all the herdmen
of this our Pilgrimage of Grace.”[835]
Aske’s account of the order is—“First, that the prior and convent should
enter into their monasteries suppressed and by bill indented view how
much goods were there remaining which before were theirs, and to keep
the one part and deliver the other part to the King’s farmer, and to
have necessary “victum and vestitum” of the delivery of the said farmer
during the time of our petition to the King’s highness, and to do divine
service of God there, as the King’s bedemen and women. And in case the
farmer refused this to do, then the said convent to take of the same
goods, by the delivery of two indifferent neighbours, by bill indent,
their necessaries for their living during the said time.”[836]
Besides the great monastery of St Mary’s there were many smaller
religious communities in York, and while the great house escaped for the
present, the others had fallen under the Act of Suppression. There was
general rejoicing among the citizens at the restoration of the religious
to their homes, where they had been wont to serve God and succour the
poor for so many long centuries. “The commons would needs put them in,”
and followed them with cheering and torchlight to the doors from which
they had been cast out not many months before. Wilfred Holme describes
the scene in his peculiar manner:
“To the Abbeys suppressed the people they restaurate,
Rudent incessantly, with clamour excessive,
Faith and commonwealth, and in the way obviate
They were with procession and ringing insaciate,
And the Sacrament Christes body called Eucharistia,
Was born by Prelates with the crucifix associate,
With pipes, Drums, Tabrels and Fidlers alway.”[837]
Wherever the religious were restored, “though it were never so late they
sang matins the same night.”[838]
After leaving the Cathedral Aske went to the house of Sir George Lawson,
who was his host, having no choice, as he was sick in bed[839]. Lawson
was supposed to be loyal to the King, but it seems unlikely that his
house should have been the headquarters of a rebel army[840], even for a
few days, unless his sympathies were with the rebels. Aske need not have
gone there if he knew himself unwelcome, for he had many friends in
York.
Robert Aske was now in command of an army of about 20,000 men[841],
horse and foot, without arquebusses or guns, but efficiently equipped
and armed with the ordinary weapons of the period. He was in possession
of the second city of the kingdom and in the heart of a friendly
country. Whatever may be the advantages of such a situation, leisure and
sleep are not among them. He had hardly reached his lodging before
Maunsell, the vicar of Brayton and captain of the commons of Selby, came
to speak with him; and he had not lain down to sleep when about midnight
a messenger arrived from the lords at Pontefract in the person of Thomas
Strangways, Lord Darcy’s steward.
The vicar of Brayton, after raising most of the country between Selby
and Pontefract, on Sunday received a summons to attend the muster before
York next day. He replied that his company was too small, and sent to
Darcy for orders. Strangways came to him from Pontefract and told him to
lie at Bilborough with his company. He was at this village on Monday
afternoon, when he heard that his brother was in danger at York for
refusing to take the Pilgrims’ oath. The vicar set out for the city with
all speed, and managed to see Aske soon after he arrived. He obtained
leave to administer the oath to his brother himself, but that violent
loyalist “on seeing him smote him and drove him from the house.”
Nevertheless the vicar gave out that his brother had taken the oath and
returned to his men at Bilborough. There he found Strangways and another
of Darcy’s gentlemen in harness and on their way to York. They ordered
him to raise Pontefract, Wakefield, and the “towns towards Doncaster”;
he rode forth on this mission and they pursued their way to York[842].
Darcy had given Strangways minute instructions as to his proceedings at
York. He was to obtain from Aske the Pilgrims’ oath and the “articles of
their griefs” for the members of the King’s Council at Pontefract. He
was also to discover the strength of the rebels and the names of their
leaders; finally “if he met any sure friend” he was “to get him to move
the captain and commons to pass by Pontefract Castle, or else delay
their coming. This to give time for succour to arrive.”[843]
It must have been after midnight when Strangways reached York, but he
went straight to Sir George Lawson’s house and found the captain with
his three followers Rudston, Monketon and Gervase Cawood. Strangways
asked for a copy of the oath and articles in the name of his master. The
captain answered that a nobleman of the King’s Council was more likely
to send a spy to discover their numbers than a true messenger to know
their purposes. Darcy’s carefully calculated policy of running with the
hare and hunting with the hounds resulted, as usual, in suspicion on
both sides. But whatever doubt there might be about Darcy, Strangways
himself was at heart with the Pilgrims. He inquired “whether they would
agree to a head captain if the articles pleased him?”[844] and he must
have described the unprepared state of the castle and the disaffection
of the garrison, for Aske was well informed on these points[845]. It is
probable that Strangways offered, in the name of the garrison, to yield
the castle to the rebels, whatever attitude the gentlemen adopted. It
was well known that the latter would be ready to enter upon the
Pilgrimage if a sufficient show of force were made. Darcy would probably
be the ‘head captain’ proposed by his steward. When this was the
attitude of the confidential servant, the inference was that his lord’s
sympathies pointed in the same direction. Aske hastily wrote out “the
oath of Lincolnshire,” and sent it early next morning to
Strangways[846], with orders that he was to leave the city at once, for
a great muster was about to be held, and Aske was determined that no
accurate account of his army should filter through to the King’s
headquarters[847].
On Tuesday 17 October, as soon as the city was awake, all the gentlemen
in York who had joined the Pilgrimage assembled to take counsel with
Aske’s officers in obedience to the captain’s summons. Sir Oswald
Wolsthrope, a man of great influence in York, Plumpton, young Metham,
and Saltmarsh were among the members of the council. They decided that
each gentleman should go to his own friends in the Ainstey and offer
them the oath. Those who accepted it were to come to York at the head of
the men of their own district. Those who refused were to be given
twenty-four hours’ warning, and if at the end of that time they had not
taken the oath, their goods would be seized. There was no need to call
out the commons, as they had armed and mustered not only round York but
“in all parts of Yorkshire and the Bishopric” (Durham)[848]. From
Richmond came the news that the Earl of Westmorland, Lord Latimer, and
Lord Lumley were at the head of the insurgents there[849].
Aske “made and devised the Oath ... without any other man’s advice,”
before this council, at which it was first issued[850]. It was
administered to the gentlemen and was written down for the convenience
of those who carried it about the country.
“The Oath of the Honourable Men
Ye shall not enter into this our Pilgrimage of Grace for the
Commonwealth, but only for the love that ye do bear unto Almighty God
his faith, and to Holy Church militant and the maintenance thereof, to
the preservation of the King’s person and his issue, to the purifying
of the nobility, and to expulse all villein blood and evil councillors
against the commonwealth from his Grace and his Privy Council of the
same. And that ye shall not enter into our said Pilgrimage for no
particular profit to your self, nor to do any displeasure to any
private person, but by counsel of the commonwealth, nor slay nor
murder for no envy, but in your hearts put away all fear and dread,
and take afore you the Cross of Christ, and in your hearts His faith,
the Restitution of the Church, the suppression of these Heretics and
their opinions, by all the holy contents of this book.”[851]
There is a loftiness in the call—a ring in the words that, even to-day,
sets a calm Protestant heart beating to the tune of the Pilgrims’ March.
It is very different from the impressive vagueness of the Lincolnshire
oath. The captain was anxious that the chief reason and aim of the
rising should be made plain to all; though perhaps the first phrase,
disclaiming any desire to shirk the citizen’s duty of paying the taxes,
expressed rather what the gentlemen ought to have felt than what they
did feel. This oath and Aske’s second proclamation were sent out to all
parts of the northern counties. They were posted up in Wensleydale and
Swaledale next day. Wherever they appeared, the people were prepared and
expected them[852].
Round York the gentlemen accepted the oath “very willingly when they
were once taken and brought in.”[853] Only a few refused it, and Aske
gave strict orders against any violence being offered to these
loyalists. Their houses and goods were not to be seized until the
twenty-four hours of grace had fully elapsed, and then only by written
authority under the hands of two of the council[854]. Generally the
person to whom warning was given fled at once to friends, or to Skipton,
Scarborough, or Newcastle, where the loyalists were holding out for the
King[855]. Part of the goods of these obdurate ones seems to have gone
to the general fund of the Pilgrimage, but most were simply distributed
among those who were lucky enough to be on the spot. Aske did what he
could to enforce his orders, sending all offenders against them to the
siege of Hull, where Stapleton had discovered an effective method of
dealing with “pickers.”
On Tuesday Aske dined with Lancelot Colins, the Treasurer of York, who
had received him in the Cathedral the night before. This dignitary’s
house was always open to the captains of the Pilgrimage, and they were
welcome to break their fast, dine or sup with him during the whole time
of the rising. He afterwards explained to the King that “for fear he
made them what cheer he could,” but he may be given credit for more
whole-hearted hospitality than he could be expected to acknowledge
afterwards. He admitted that he had given a good deal of money to Aske
and other captains, but added the saving clause that it was only “that
he might tarry at home.”
Lancelot Colins gives several glimpses of life in York while the host
was there. On Wednesday morning, 18 October, he heard that “certain
gentlemen” were threatening to burn down his house simply because, among
the arms on an ornamental tablet over his door, were those of Thomas
Cromwell. Cromwell, of course, was not entitled by birth to bear arms,
and the gentlemen bitterly resented his assumption of their privilege.
Colins had the obnoxious tablet removed, but as the royal arms were also
upon it, this simple action might be construed by his enemies into high
treason[856]. Within the next few days, Colins was involved in the
plundering of a house belonging to William Blytheman[857], who had been
clerk to Legh and Layton during the visitation of the monasteries. He
fled to Newcastle early in October[858]. Colins heard that Blytheman’s
country house had been gutted and hastened to his house in the city to
see if he could save anything for the absent owner[859]. Rudston was in
command of the spoiling party, and Colins secured some papers, the “best
bed, a coat of plate, and what more God knows.”[860] He restored most of
these things on Blytheman’s return home after the rising, and was
thanked for his good offices[861].
While the main body of the Pilgrims lay at York, the vicar of Brayton
was busy about Pontefract. He spent Monday night at Ferrybridge, and on
Tuesday 17 October he made his way to Pontefract and ordered the mayor
to raise the town. He then went to the Priory and received a message
from Darcy, bidding him go on to “Wakefield and the towns towards
Doncaster”; and another message from the Earl of Northumberland at
Wressell, begging him “to come himself to take him, because he would be
taken with no villeins.” The vicar rode on towards Doncaster, passing
through St Oswald’s and Wakefield, which mustered at his summons. A mile
out of Doncaster he was welcomed by six men (aldermen) who took the oath
on the spot, and escorted him into the town, where the mayor and commons
took the oath amidst much enthusiasm. “Never sheep ran faster in a
morning out of their fold than they did to receive the said oath.”[862]
Another of Northumberland’s servants met Maunsell here, and asked him to
give the Earl a passport to go to Topcliff, as the Earl was “crazed” and
could do no harm. In his deposition the vicar said that he granted the
passport, but it is more probable that he refused it, for the Earl,
though very anxious to go to Topcliff, remained at Wressell[863].
Maunsell returned to Ferrybridge on Tuesday night[864].
The garrison of Pontefract Castle had been cut off by the rising of the
town on 17 October. The last messenger who contrived to go southwards
was Sir Arthur Darcy, who carried his father’s final remonstrance to the
King. The “good old lord” bluntly declared that “we in the castle must
in a few days either yield or lose our lives,” and that there was “no
likelihood of vanquishing the commons with any power here.”[865]
The town of Pontefract had from the first refused to supply the castle
with provisions, “after the vicar of Brayton came amongst them they
durst not[866];” but now the townsfolk captured all the supplies which
were being sent in from other places[867], and kept such a close watch
about the castle that Shrewsbury’s messengers found it impossible to
deliver the King’s despatches[868].
All accounts of Darcy’s conduct give evidence of a divided mind. He
could not decide between the claims of loyalty to the Faith and to the
King. “He practised much with the Commons to know their intention, and
often said if he had ordnance they should not have the castle while
there was victual in it. Sometimes he would say he trusted to get the
commons to pass by and that their grudge against the castle was due to
Dr Magnus and the Archbishop.” Before he was so closely beleaguered, he
had received a message from Shrewsbury, which said that the royal troops
were about to advance to Pontefract, and “Darcy seemed glad to hear it,
and afterwards sorry when the Lord Steward (Shrewsbury) came not.”[869]
Perhaps, like the men of Wakefield, he was leaving the decision to
chance, and was prepared to join the party which first came to his
gates. Sir Brian Hastings, who still lay at Hatfield, trusting no one,
not even his own forces, wrote to Shrewsbury at Nottingham on 17 October
that Darcy would probably surrender, as the rebels had taken Pontefract
Priory, and there were above 40,000 of them at York, their captains
being “the worship of the whole shires from Doncaster to Newcastle,”
including Lords Latimer and Scrope, and only excepting the Earls of
Cumberland and Westmorland[870]. The vicar of Brayton was of the same
opinion as Sir Brian, and had good grounds for his belief, as on
Wednesday 18 October, when he was at Pontefract, Strangways came to him
and “showed him how to assault the castle if it were not given up.” The
vicar promptly set out for York, and was the first to bring news of the
rising in Pontefract and Doncaster to the host there. On receiving his
assurances that the castle could not possibly stand a siege[871], Aske
proposed to march to Pontefract immediately, but there was some
dissension in his council. Metham and Saltmarsh, “disdaining that he
should be above them,” opposed the intended advance. Aske, however,
would not give way, but set out with only 300 men for Pontefract[872],
where he found the company raised by Maunsell, of unknown numbers. It is
not certain when the rest of his forces followed him to Pontefract,
perhaps not until after the castle was taken. This was the only occasion
on which anyone disputed his dangerous pre-eminence with the grand
captain.
As soon as Aske arrived at Pontefract, knowing that the soldiers in the
castle favoured him, he sent a letter to the lords with a threat that,
if they did not surrender, he would make an assault the same night. He
rehearsed how the commons were “gnawn in their conscience” with the
spreading of heresy, the suppression of monasteries and other troubles,
and desired that the lords would be mediators to set forth their
grievances to the King. This letter was carried to Darcy by the vicar of
Brayton and William Acclom. Both sides desired a personal interview, and
it was soon arranged that Sir George Darcy’s eldest son should be handed
over to the Pilgrims in pledge for Aske’s safety, while Aske went to
speak with the lords in the castle.
On the morning of Thursday 19 October, 1536, Lord Darcy, constable of
the royal castle of Pontefract, Edward Lee, Archbishop of York, Dr
Magnus, a learned member of the King’s Council, Sir Robert Constable of
Flamborough, and all the knights and gentlemen in the castle, including
Sir George Darcy, Sir Robert Neville, Sir John Dawnye, Sir Henry
Everingham, Sir John Wentworth, Sir Robert Oughtred, Henry Ryder,
William Babthorpe, John Acclom and above forty more[873], assembled in
the state chamber to meet Robert Aske, captain of the commons, and to
hear him plead the cause of the Pilgrimage of Grace[874]. There is
something extremely dramatic in this picture of the single man, who
spoke for thousands, opposed to the crowd of lords and knights,
apparently so much stronger, actually at his mercy. He came, he said, to
declare the griefs of the commons, for the redress of which they had
entered on that holy pilgrimage,—
“And how, first, that the lords spiritual had not done their duty, in
that they had not been plain with the King’s highness for the speedy
remedy and quenching of the said heresies, and the preachers thereof,
and for the suffering of the same, and for the ornaments of the
churches and abbeys suppressed, and the violating of relics by the
suppressors, with the unreverent demeanour of the doers thereof, with
abuse of the visitors, and their impositions taken extraordinary, and
other their negligences in not doing their duty, as well to their
sovereign as to the commons. And to the lords temporal, the said Aske
declared they had misused themselves, in that they, semblable, had not
so providently ordered and declared to his said highness the poverty
of his realm, and that part specially, and wherein their griefs might
ensue, whereby all dangers might have been avoided; for insomuch as in
the north parts much of the relief of the commons was by succour of
abbeys, and that before this last statute thereof made, the King’s
highness had no money out of that shire in a manner yearly, for his
grace’s revenues there yearly went to the finding of Berwick. And that
now the profits of abbeys suppressed, tenths and first fruits, went
out of those parts. By occasion whereof, within short space or (_of_)
years, there should be no money nor treasure in those parts, neither
the tenant to have to pay his rents to the lord, nor the lord to have
money to do the King service withal, for so much as in those parts was
neither the presence of his grace, execution of his laws, nor yet but
little recourse of merchandise, so that of necessity the said country
should either ‘patyssh’ (_make terms_) with the Scots, or of very
poverty enforced to make commotions or rebellions; and that the lords
knew the same to be true and had not done their duty, for that they
had not declared the said poverty of the said country to the King’s
highness, and the danger that otherwise his grace would ensue,
alleging the whole blame to them the nobility therein, with other like
reasons.”[875]
Finally he “required those present to join them and deliver the castle,”
adding, says Archbishop Lee, “that if we refused he had ways to
constrain us, and we should find them people without mercy.”[876]
After a brief discussion, in which the Archbishop firmly refused Darcy’s
polite desire that he would answer first, Darcy replied “that he neither
could nor would deliver the King’s castle”; as to the commons’
grievances, he would consult with his friends and then answer them, but
if the castle had only been well furnished with provisions and weapons,
Aske should have had neither “the tone ne the toodre” (the one nor the
other—that is, neither castle nor answer) “but to his pain.”
Lee asked the captain what the Pilgrims wanted him to do. Aske replied
that he and Darcy must use their influence with the King to persuade him
to grant their petition, and in the meanwhile must give them help and
advice. Lee suggested that if he was to be a mediator he had better not
join the host but remain neutral. As for advising them “they must first
consider whether the enterprise were lawful,” but if he might have a
safe conduct, he said that he would go and tell the Pilgrims his opinion
on that point. He probably hoped to get through to Shrewsbury’s camp,
for he was well aware that among the host his life would hardly be safe.
Aske refused him the safe conduct, indignantly “upbraiding him and the
other bishops for not dealing plainly.” Lee afterwards declared that he
replied “they might have his body by constraint, but never his heart in
that cause,” but perhaps he did not say the words very loudly.
Darcy gave no opinion on the justice of the Pilgrims’ demands. He merely
begged for time to take counsel before making his reply. But Aske knew
as well as he did that Shrewsbury had promised to relieve Pontefract and
might possibly do so. Aske felt sure that he could take the castle by
force, but he was anxious to avoid bloodshed and to secure at the same
time influential allies; for these reasons he consented to a truce till
Friday night, though Darcy pressed for a day longer.
When Aske had returned to his own quarters, the garrison held a council.
They had already determined that if no rescue came their only course was
to yield. “Out of 300 men not 140 remained and these were not all sound;
there was only victual for eight or ten days.”[877] “Every day,” said
Darcy later, “the captain wrote to me charging me on my life to yield
the castle or they would burn my house (Templehurst) and kill my son’s
children.”[878] The insurgents were always full of terrifying threats,
but were marvellously slow in executing them. On Friday night Darcy
again begged for more time. At first he was refused, but when he “bade
them £20 for respite till 9 o’clock next morning,” Aske, who needed
every penny he could collect, gave them till 8 a.m., “against which hour
he prepared for his assault.” From Aske’s own statement it appears that,
in spite of exaggerated reports, the rebels at the siege of Pontefract
were not a very numerous force[879]. It is interesting, though useless,
to consider the question whether Darcy might have held the castle
longer. No doubt the government was right in believing that he yielded
willingly. Aske himself admitted, under examination, that the Pilgrims’
attack might have been beaten off for a few days, if the soldiers of the
garrison had remained loyal, but he had been assured that they would
turn their coats as soon as the assault was made. He swore “to try to
the death,” that he had entered into no secret agreement with Darcy,
whom he had never seen before he came to Pontefract on Thursday 19
October. Aske’s explanation is simple and straightforward, and fits in
with the statement of Maunsell, the vicar of Brayton. Thomas Strangways
probably first told Aske that Darcy’s soldiers favoured the Pilgrims.
Later Strangways revealed to Maunsell how to take the castle. Maunsell
admitted that he had received Strangways’ information, but he omitted
the fact, which Aske mentions, that he (Maunsell) went to York and told
Aske that if the Pilgrims attacked Pontefract the castle would
surrender. In short, Aske was in secret communication with the
serving-men, and was sure of their support. He was not in secret
communication with Darcy or any of the other gentlemen in the castle,
and did not believe that Darcy was responsible for Strangways’ offers.
The King’s conviction that there had been a definite arrangement made in
Darcy’s own name to yield the castle to Aske was mistaken, though not
impossible. All Darcy’s conduct bears out the theory that he did not
decide which side to take until the day on which he surrendered the
castle. At the beginning of the rebellion he sent his son to capture
Aske; his steward was received with suspicion by the Pilgrims; he
offered them £20, a large sum of money at that time, for only a few
hours’ delay. If the garrison had really resolved to join the Pilgrims,
further resistance on Darcy’s part was impossible, but perhaps the
soldiers would have been ready to obey Darcy, even though they were
unwilling to fight for the King. If Darcy could have forgotten the fall
of the abbeys, the death of the faithful monks, his own unheeded
protests and galling detention in London,—if he had rallied his failing
strength sufficiently to put on harness and appear himself on the walls
of Pontefract—he might have inspired his wavering followers and
Pontefract Castle might have been held for the King while provisions
lasted. But Darcy had not been persuaded, either by fear of anarchy or
by Henry’s strong personal fascination, to accept despotism as a
necessary form of government, to which he was bound to render implicit
obedience. On the contrary he “set more by the King of Heaven than
twenty kings.”[880] Henry’s despotic government was, in Darcy’s opinion,
dragging the country to ruin and he believed himself called upon as a
Christian, as a patriot and as a statesman, to oppose the King’s
progress on the road which he had chosen. He was deterred from joining
the Pilgrims only by fear of the ugly name of traitor and by a soldier’s
reluctance to yield his post. But he was able to avoid the first by the
theory of ministerial responsibility, which was accepted by the
Pilgrims, though not by the King. Darcy argued that for twenty years
Henry had ruled in an orthodox manner, before he fell under the baleful
influence of Cromwell. Let that archtraitor be removed,—let suitable
councillors be placed about the King by parliament, and Henry would rule
beneficently again. The Pilgrimage was directed not against the King but
against his ministers. As for Darcy’s willingness to yield, his position
was now desperate enough to afford him a good excuse. The rumoured help
was no nearer now than a week before; the King’s distrust had withheld
the money and ammunition which would have enabled him to hold his post.
He saw the “fuel and victuals coming in to him being eaten and drunken
in the street before his face.”[881] Lee describes the final council;
“considering the danger of resistance they determined with sorrow to
yield, and repented that they ever came there where they had expected to
be as safe as if in London.”[882]
At 7 o’clock on the morning of Saturday, 21 October, Darcy made his last
request for more time, which was refused. The castle was then formally
surrendered to Aske, whereupon “the lords spiritual and temporal,
knights and esquires,” solemnly took the Pilgrims’ oath[883].
NOTES TO CHAPTER VIII
Note A. The vicar of Brayton is not a very reliable witness. There is
no proof that the earlier part of his evidence is false, but he was
one of the most zealous leaders of the Pilgrimage and in his
confession, of course, tried to insinuate that he was really devoted
to the King, laying all his misdemeanour at Darcy’s door. In his
account of the week from 15 October to 22 October he never mentioned
his second visit to Aske at York, when he told the captain that
Pontefract Castle could not hold out.
Note B. As Darcy was the keeper of Pontefract Castle, the blame for
its defenceless condition may be laid on his own shoulders. But it
must be remembered that he had been detained in London for several
years, and had returned home only a few months before the rebellion.
All the royal castles in the north were out of repair at this time;
the walls of Berwick were falling, Carlisle was scarcely defensible,
Barnard Castle was not in good governance[884]. When fortresses so
near the Border were neglected, it was not likely that any money would
be spent over Pontefract, which lay beyond the area of Scots’ raids.
After the Pilgrimage of Grace, Henry devoted a good deal of attention
to the repair of the northern defences, on which some of the monastic
spoils were spent[885].
Note C. Sir Henry Saville reported these words to Cromwell, but it
does not appear whether he heard them himself. He was on bad terms
with Darcy, who was Sir Richard Tempest’s friend.
Note D. A note is appended to these articles in “The Letters and
Papers of Henry VIII,” Vol. XI, stating that they are some of the
articles printed by Speed in his “History of Great Britain.” This is a
mistake, as the articles printed by Speed are those which the
Pilgrims’ Council drew up at Pontefract at the beginning of December.
They are printed in the same volume of “The Letters and Papers,” No.
1246. Speed says nothing about the York articles, which are the germ
from which the others grew, but have no further connection with
them[886].
Note E. It is impossible to estimate the strength of the Pilgrims’
host with any accuracy, though it seems certain that rumour
exaggerated their numbers very much. For instance, it was said that
the rebels at York numbered 40,000; Wilfred Holme puts their number at
25,000 and Darcy at 20,000.
Note F. Two accounts of the first meeting between Aske and Darcy are
preserved, Aske’s and Archbishop Lee’s. Aske’s account has been
followed in preference to Lee’s when they differ for the following
reasons:
(1) Archbishop Lee wrote his account when he knew himself to be in
danger and desired above everything to vindicate his loyalty;
naturally his testimony is more an explanation and excuse for his own
conduct than a simple statement of fact.
(2) Aske prepared his narrative for the King when he believed himself
to be pardoned and taken into favour. As he wrote it in London, far
away from his authorities, he was obliged to omit many details, but
this does not lay him open to the charge that he failed to state the
whole truth.
(3) Aske’s answers when he was examined in the Tower are fuller and
bear out his earlier statement. He knew that he was in fact a
condemned criminal, and to lie was alike useless, dishonourable, and
certain to be discovered.
(4) When his accounts are checked by a score of miscellaneous
depositions drawn up by all sorts of men, he is seldom, if ever, found
to have misstated a fact. The other evidence either corresponds to
his, or dovetails with his statements. There is only one exception to
this, which will be discussed later[887].
(5) Archbishop Lee has clearly perverted the truth in one or two cases
in order to put a more loyal complexion on his actions. This is not a
very serious charge to bring against a weak old gentleman in peril of
his life. It is difficult to believe that Lee made the frequent loyal
speeches and defiances which he puts into his own mouth, to the
confusion of the rebel leaders, for the Pilgrims, on his own showing,
continued to think that he sympathised with them.
(6) With one notable exception, hereafter to be mentioned, Lee did
absolutely nothing either for King or commons. In contrast to this
indecision, Aske was entirely devoted to his cause. The captain never
admitted himself to be in the wrong; to the end he justified the
Pilgrimage as a desperate remedy for a desperate disease. Obviously
the man who is not ashamed of the truth is less likely to lie than the
man who deplores it.