New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-02
A ROYAL FAVORITE.
THE RISE AND FALL OF PIERS CAV T.
STON.

-~-rxps cAvrsTON. A chapter Of Early Cons ~
o1 y1 History nv walter Phelps p9dse al
the Middle Temple B9rris,Srior- II" Fisher TN
win
Nv Dodge anudes to Piers Gaveston IN wv
.vrs4ace 70 this volume as zone VINO nd"
rac+icauv Dictator Of England. tie s""" T.
t,.o,.er g., hts careful examination or inc I'd
.,oritess career. that II the protege OF H"""'
II p,as a dictator he was not So III inc S''e' W
Tho tar1n as 1t IS used I'm poht''a' "S''''
u,au-,~s himself was too supine a monarch
for any Of his associates 10 accomplish
-. o-1tb,nr that might be regarded IN the
Itch, % statecraft constructive or o'"''
,rho Kine ruled and fought. but no o'd oo'"
.,...,,s bolf heartedlv. 80 FAR any dement's for
.,o soto were concerned He strove hrst for
49,, nm l,x7,ry and amusement. The harohs
-, me most interesting figures IN the
s.~,o ~ that time Gaveston. with small op-
,,o-+rr,tv 10 NEEDLE with the constitutional iao-
~,c which had begun slowly 10 emerge ir'" ''0
conditions Of English life under the fos'e'l"s
car. Of Edward T. unqualified ana uls''-
,,,,ed 70 SO NEEDLE even - tho chance were
onsred him He was Ike hts master, first ana
,ae, q seeker after the comforting things OF
,h,e world Tn this fact Mr.. Dodge points
an, resided Fngland's good. IF ambition or
20 dasire for posthumous fame he SAYS 'a'
s7vaved Gaveston's mind. it would have oeen
well for him and perhaps infinitely worse TOT
England ,.,o-.
This narrative IF chiefly concerned theIelo'7'
with debonair though sinister persona''''
,,,tn q continental rather than a political cpl
sode Edwards infatuation for his frena ar
waved fbe anary barons against them both but
not even the tragic death Of the favorite-the
contamination ~ brisk campaien-s as inter
.I..frr of
life lived out irsolently az the Kings side or
Z, t~ies exile. and always with gallant refusal
20 aha+o one tot of state and luxury. Beneath
,.o,ostor,'s careless demeanor however. there
was keen shrewdness In everything that per
+afrod 10 self-interest. The King gave him
Grant after grant. especially after the elevation
Of the young svcophant TO the earldom or corn
wall In every county Galveston little ny niue
secured stake. and not only lands hut money
Increased his wealth t. he went ON Journey
II was the King who paid most If not all OF the
oxrepses The favorite concentrated as much
81 his gold as was possible, and had = stored
s- foreign PARTS When the Expenditures for
which he made tho King responsible reused me
wrath q populace and mobiles there would be
q show ~ retrenchment. ~ penitonce. on the
Part - The rryal patron. and then straight"ay
che old habits were r,slned. I'm time the stu
alton resolved ifSff lNto q toNll't iF't"t'4 ''+'
monarch and h's people as 10 whether the state
should 30 administered for the latter or simply
and solely for Gaveston's ACKNOWLEDGMENT The
King would have stood out 10 the last. but with
tho nation agains, him. strong IN the spirit in
herit,-l from Edward !. he favorite Was bound
10 60 down There is dramatic contrast be-
tween his Respondent heydav and The hurried
tourney 10 Warwick iu chains. 10 he "heheaded
bv A Welshman o. savage demeanor. amid the
excavations u the haroEs Such an end would
have seemed Atung enough had Gaveston been
q truculcnt and busy rebel. but in truth his
execution. in spite Of all the wrongs which II
avenged seems not unlike the breaking Of
butterfly upon q wheel
Around his portrait Of Piers Gavestou our
author has sketched the conditions OF the time,
and he has also drawn IN outline the various
figures conspicuous IN the miserable struggle.
His work is condensed. This means. ~ course,
a rapid treatment II many details. but no es-
eential points are missed the authorities con-
suited are tersely but sufficiently trayersed, and
the result is at once scholarly and readable