heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

1 82 THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
wreck their vengeance upon them, allowing
in
them to depart
to their homes
peace, without one of them being injured.
Then came Walworth's reward. The King required him to put on
a bascinet, to which the worthy mayor demurred, saying he was but a
merchant and lived by his merchandise; "but the King answered that he
" "
was much bound to him, and therefore he should be made a knight
;
and then the King " took a sword with both hands, and, strongly and with
" a good will, strake him on the neck, confirming a similar honour upon
" three other citizens, knights for his sake, in the same place."
" And so the King, with his lords, and all his company, orderly entered
" the city of London with great joy." What he thought of the stirring
scene through which he had passed may be gathered from his answer to
his mother, to whom with filial affection he went immediately on his return
to the Tower. " Ah, fair son," she said, "what great sorrow have I suffered for
" you this day." " Madame," he answered,
" I know it well ;
but now rejoice
" and thank God, for I have this day recovered mine inheritage
and the
" realm of England, which I had nearhand lost."
So ended a great national crisis. I am no advocate of bloodshed,
or apologist for wrong-doing in any man or any class of men. In the dim
retrospect of such a far-distant event in English history we can discern
alike provocation and retaliation, equally to be condemned and deplored.
But the actors in this great scene which I have endeavoured to sketch
out before you, have long ago passed into His presence by whom alone
actions are and can be rightly weighed, weighed against circumstances, of
which we can know nothing, of temperament, education, surroundings, and
a thousand things different and peculiar to each.
There let us leave them ;
but the lesson which is
taught
us as a
nation, not only here, but again and again throughout the pages of history,
is that in all communities of men there are latent elements of discord ;
and they are wise and true citizens who so recognise and deal with them,
both in themselves and in their fellows, that the sparks thereof may be
diverted into the calm light of peace, instead of being
lurid flame of anarchy
and strife.
Yes, and for ourselves personally, God give us grace
fanned into the
to brace
ourselves in Him for our difficulties in life, not once in a lifetime, like
Richard, but continually. And God send many more like Sir William
Walworth, who will support another in time of need and difficulty, and
enable him to stand firm in spite of weak friends, and in the face of
overwhelming dangers.
I find Walworth mentioned* as keeper of Croydon Park, but I do not
know whether it was an additional honour in consequence of his conduct.
*
Thornbury,
ii.
441.