councillors."

"Um!" said the Lollard, "Lord Warwick is a good man, and has never,
though his brother be a bishop, abetted the Church tyrannies. But as for
George of Clarence--"

"As for Clarence," said Hilyard, who saw with dismay and alarm that
the rebellion he designed to turn at the fitting hour to the service of
Lancaster, might now only help to shift from one shoulder to the other
the hated dynasty of York--"as for Clarence, he hath Edward's vices
without his manhood." He paused, and seeing that the crisis had ripened
the hour for declaring himself, his bold temper pushed at once to its
object. "No!" he continued, folding his arms, raising his head, and
comprehending the whole council in his keen and steady gaze,--"no! lords
and gentlemen, since speak I must in this emergency, hear me calmly.
Nothing has prospered in England since we abandoned our lawful king. If
we rid ourselves of Edward, let it not be to sink from a harlot-monger
to a drunkard. In the Tower pines our true lord, already honoured as a
saint. Hear me, I say,--hear me out! On the frontiers an army that keeps
Gloucester at bay hath declared for Henry and Margaret. Let us, after
seizing Olney, march thither at once, and unite forces. Margaret is
already prepared to embark for England. I have friends in London who
will attack the Tower, and deliver Henry. To you, Sir John Coniers, in
the queen's name, I promise an earldom and the garter; to you, the heirs
of Latimer and Fitzhugh, the high posts that beseem your birth; to
all of you, knights and captains, just share and allotment in the
confiscated lands of the Woodvilles and the Yorkists; to you, brethren,"
and addressing the Lollards, his voice softened into a meaning accent
that, compelled to worship in secret, they yet understood, "shelter from
your foes and mild laws; and to you, brave soldiers, that pay which
a king's coffers alone can supply. Wherefore I say, down with all
subject-banners! up with the Red Rose and the Antelope, and long live
Henry the Sixth!"

This address, however subtle in its adaptation to the various passions
of those assembled, however aided by the voice, spirit, and energy of
the speaker, took too much by surprise those present to produce at once
its effect.

The Lollards remembered the fires lighted for their martyrs by the House
of Lancaster; and though blindly confident in Hilyard, were not yet
prepared to respond to his call. The young heir of Fitzhugh, who had, i