e. Lincoln, Broughton, and Swart perished in the field
of battle, with four thousand of their followers. As Lovel was never
more heard of, he was believed to have undergone the same fate; Simnel,
with his tutor, Simon, was taken prisoner. Simon, being a priest, was
not tried at law, and was only committed to close custody: Simnel was
too contemptible to be an object either of apprehension or resentment to
Henry. He was pardoned, and made a scullion in the king's kitchen whence
he was afterwards advanced to the rank of a falconer.[*]

* Bacon, p. 586. Polyd. Virg. p; 574.

Henry had now leisure to revenge himself on his enemies. He made a
progress into the northern parts, where he gave many proofs of his
rigorous disposition. A strict inquiry was made after those who had
assisted or favored the rebels. The punishments were not all sanguinary:
the king made his revenge subservient to his avarice. Heavy fines were
levied upon the delinquents. The proceedings of the courts, and even the
courts themselves, were arbitrary. Either the criminals were tried by
commissioners appointed for the purpose, or they suffered punishment
by sentence of a court-martial. And as a rumor had prevailed before the
battle of Stoke, that the rebels had gained the victory, that the royal
army was cut in pieces, and that the king himself had escaped by flight,
Henry was resolved to interpret the belief or propagation of this report
as a mark of disaffection; and he punished many for that pretended
crime. But such in this age was the situation of the English government,
that the royal prerogative, which was but imperfectly restrained during
the most peaceable periods, was sure, in tumultuous or even suspicious
times, which frequently recurred, to break all bounds of law, and to
violate public liberty.

After the king had gratified his rigor by the punishment of his enemies,
he determined to give contentment to the people in a point which, though
a mere ceremony, was passionately desired by them. The queen had
been married near two years, but had not yet been crowned; and this
affectation of delay had given great discontent to the public, and had
been one principal source of the disaffection which prevailed. The king,
instructed by experience, now finished the ceremony of her coronation;
and to show a disposition still more gracious, he restored to liberty
the marquis of Dorset, who had been able to clear himself of all the
suspicions entertai