nobility and of equal authority. His discourse was received with shouts
of applause by his infatuated hearers, who promised to make him, in
defiance of his own doctrines, archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor
of the realm.

By letters and messengers the knowledge of these proceedings was
carefully propagated through the neighboring counties. Everywhere the
people had been prepared; and in a few days the flame spread from the
southern coast of Kent to the right bank of the Humber. In all places
the insurgents regularly pursued the same course. They pillaged the
manors of their lords, demolished the houses, and burned the court
rolls; cut off the heads of every justice and lawyer and juror who fell
into their hands; and swore all others to be true to King Richard and
the commons; to admit of no king of the name of John; and to oppose all
taxes but fifteenths, the ancient tallage paid by their fathers. The
members of the council saw, with astonishment, the sudden rise and rapid
spread of the insurrection; and, bewildered by their fears and
ignorance, knew not whom to trust or what measures to pursue.

The first who encountered the rabble on Blackheath was the Princess of
Wales, the King's mother, on her return from a pilgrimage to Canterbury.
She liberated herself from danger by her own address; and a few kisses
from "the fair maid of Kent" purchased the protection of the leaders,
and secured the respect of their followers. She was permitted to join
her son, who, with his cousin Henry, Earl of Derby, Simon, Archbishop of
Canterbury and Chancellor, Sir Robert Hales, master of the Knights of
St. John and treasurer, and about one hundred sergeants and knights had
left the castle of Windsor, and repaired for greater security to the
Tower of London. The next morning the King in his barge descended the
river to receive the petitions of the insurgents. To the number of ten
thousand, with two banners of St. George, and sixty pennons, they waited
his arrival at Rotherhithe; but their horrid yells and uncouth
appearance so intimidated his attendants, that instead of permitting him
to land, they took advantage of the tide, and returned with
precipitation. Tyler and Straw, irritated by this disappointment, led
their men into Southwark, where they demolished the houses belonging to
the Marshalsea and the king's bench, while another party forced their
way into the palace of the Archbishop at Lambeth, and burned the
furniture with the