initial commit of ebook 28561HEADmain

54 files changed, 20582 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/28561-8.txt b/28561-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0c20d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6536 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Richard III, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Richard III
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: April 12, 2009 [EBook #28561]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHARD III ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ Richard III.
+
+ By JACOB ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1901
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
+ hundred and fifty-eight, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS,
+
+ in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1886, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN ABBOTT, LYMAN
+ ABBOTT, AND EDWARD ABBOTT.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ROYAL CHAMPION.]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+King Richard the Third, known commonly in history as Richard the
+Usurper, was perhaps as bad a man as the principle of hereditary
+sovereignty ever raised to the throne, or perhaps it should rather be
+said, as the principle of hereditary sovereignty ever _made_. There is
+no evidence that his natural disposition was marked with any peculiar
+depravity. He was made reckless, unscrupulous, and cruel by the
+influences which surrounded him, and the circumstances in which he
+lived, and by being habituated to believe, from his earliest
+childhood, that the family to which he belonged were born to live in
+luxury and splendor, and to reign, while the millions that formed the
+great mass of the community were created only to toil and to obey. The
+manner in which the principles of pride, ambition, and desperate love
+of power, which were instilled into his mind in his earliest years,
+brought forth in the end their legitimate fruits, is clearly seen by
+the following narrative.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. RICHARD'S MOTHER                                      13
+
+   II. RICHARD'S FATHER                                      33
+
+  III. THE CHILDHOOD OF RICHARD                              57
+
+   IV. ACCESSION OF EDWARD IV., RICHARD'S ELDER
+       BROTHER                                               67
+
+    V. WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER                               89
+
+   VI. THE DOWNFALL OF YORK                                 118
+
+  VII. THE DOWNFALL OF LANCASTER                            137
+
+ VIII. RICHARD'S MARRIAGE                                   165
+
+   IX. END OF THE REIGN OF EDWARD                           182
+
+    X. RICHARD AND EDWARD V.                                208
+
+   XI. TAKING SANCTUARY                                     221
+
+  XII. RICHARD LORD PROTECTOR                               236
+
+ XIII. PROCLAIMED KING                                      258
+
+  XIV. THE CORONATION                                       279
+
+   XV. FATE OF THE PRINCES                                  291
+
+  XVI. DOMESTIC TROUBLES                                    301
+
+ XVII. THE FIELD OF BOSWORTH                                320
+
+
+
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ THE ROYAL CHAMPION                              _Frontispiece._
+
+ SCENES OF CIVIL WAR                                         15
+
+ LUDLOW CASTLE                                               26
+
+ CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES                          29
+
+ HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD                                  38
+
+ QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI.                  40
+
+ WALLS OF YORK                                               49
+
+ LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER                         54
+
+ CASTLE AND GROUNDS BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF
+ YORK                                                        62
+
+ THE OLD QUINTAINE                                           84
+
+ PLAYING BALL                                                86
+
+ BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK                                87
+
+ RICHARD'S SIGNATURE                                         88
+
+ EDWARD IV.                                                 102
+
+ QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE                                  103
+
+ WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS                106
+
+ WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING                 112
+
+ THE SANCTUARY                                              133
+
+ DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET                    148
+
+ STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER                                151
+
+ CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY                                       155
+
+ QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY             160
+
+ TOMB OF HENRY VI.                                          163
+
+ RICHARD III.                                               176
+
+ QUEEN ANNE                                                 177
+
+ MIDDLEHAM CASTLE                                           180
+
+ LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE                                        184
+
+ THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE                          200
+
+ JANE SHORE                                                 203
+
+ THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION                               211
+
+ ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V.                              219
+
+ ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER                                228
+
+ THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS                                  235
+
+ CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S
+ DEATH                                                      237
+
+ THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER                                   244
+
+ POMFRET CASTLE                                             248
+
+ BAYNARD'S CASTLE                                           273
+
+ THE KING ON HIS THRONE                                     276
+
+ THE BLOODY TOWER                                           283
+
+ QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE                               304
+
+ PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH                         318
+
+ THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH                                     325
+
+ KING HENRY VII.                                            332
+
+ THE MONASTERY AT BERMONDSEY                                335
+
+
+
+
+KING RICHARD III.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+RICHARD'S MOTHER.
+
+The great quarrel between the houses of York and Lancaster.--Terrible
+results of the quarrel.--Origin of it.--Intricate questions of
+genealogy and descent.--Lady Cecily Neville.--She becomes Duchess of
+York.--Her mode of life.--Extract from the ancient annals.--Lady
+Cecily's family.--Names of the children.--The boys' situation and mode
+of life.--Their letters.--Letter written by Edward and Edmund.--The
+boys congratulate their father on his victories.--Further particulars
+about the boys.--The Castle of Ludlow.--Character of Richard's
+mother.--Spirit of aristocracy.--Relative condition of the nobles and
+the people.--Character of Richard's mother.--The governess.--Sir
+Richard Croft, the boys' governor.
+
+
+The mother of King Richard the Third was a beautiful, and, in many
+respects, a noble-minded woman, though she lived in very rude,
+turbulent, and trying times. She was born, so to speak, into one of
+the most widely-extended, the most bitter, and the most fatal of the
+family quarrels which have darkened the annals of the great in the
+whole history of mankind, namely, that long-protracted and bitter
+contest which was waged for so many years between the two great
+branches of the family of Edward the Third--the houses of York and
+Lancaster--for the possession of the kingdom of England. This dreadful
+quarrel lasted for more than a hundred years. It led to wars and
+commotions, to the sacking and burning of towns, to the ravaging of
+fruitful countries, and to atrocious deeds of violence of every sort,
+almost without number. The internal peace of hundreds of thousands of
+families all over the land was destroyed by it for many generations.
+Husbands were alienated from wives, and parents from children by it.
+Murders and assassinations innumerable grew out of it. And what was it
+all about? you will ask. It arose from the fact that the descendants
+of a certain king had married and intermarried among each other in
+such a complicated manner that for several generations nobody could
+tell which of two different lines of candidates was fairly entitled to
+the throne. The question was settled at last by a prince who inherited
+the claim on one side marrying a princess who was the heir on the
+other. Thus the conflicting interests of the two houses were combined,
+and the quarrel was ended.
+
+But, while the question was pending, it kept the country in a state of
+perpetual commotion, with feuds, and quarrels, and combats
+innumerable, and all the other countless and indescribable horrors of
+civil war.
+
+[Illustration: SCENES OF CIVIL WAR.]
+
+The two branches of the royal family which were engaged in this
+quarrel were called the houses of York and Lancaster, from the fact
+that those were the titles of the fathers and heads of the two lines
+respectively. The Lancaster party were the descendants of John of
+Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and the York party were the successors and
+heirs of his brother Edmund, Duke of York. These men were both sons of
+Edward the Third, the King of England who reigned immediately before
+Richard the Second. A full account of the family is given in our
+history of Richard the Second. Of course, they being brothers, their
+children were cousins, and they ought to have lived together in peace
+and harmony. And then, besides being related to each other through
+their fathers, the two branches of the family intermarried together,
+so as to make the relationships in the following generations so close
+and so complicated that it was almost impossible to disentangle them.
+In reading the history of those times, we find dukes or princes
+fighting each other in the field, or laying plans to assassinate each
+other, or striving to see which should make the other a captive, and
+shut him up in a dungeon for the rest of his days; and yet these
+enemies, so exasperated and implacable, are very near
+relations--cousins, perhaps, if the relationship is reckoned in one
+way, and uncle and nephew if it is reckoned in another. During the
+period of this struggle, all the great personages of the court, and
+all, or nearly all, the private families of the kingdom, and all the
+towns and the villages, were divided and distracted by the dreadful
+feud.
+
+Richard's mother, whose name, before she was married, was Lady Cecily
+Neville, was born into one side of this quarrel, and then afterward
+married into the other side of it. This is a specimen of the way in
+which the contest became complicated in multitudes of cases. Lady
+Cecily was descended from the Duke of Lancaster, but she married the
+Duke of York, in the third generation from the time when the quarrel
+began.
+
+Of course, upon her marriage, Lady Cecily Neville became the Duchess
+of York. Her husband was a man of great political importance in his
+day, and, like the other nobles of the land, was employed continually
+in wars and in expeditions of various kinds, in the course of which he
+was continually changing his residence from castle to castle all over
+England, and sometimes making excursions into Ireland, Scotland, and
+France. His wife accompanied him in many of these wanderings, and she
+led, of course, so far as external circumstances were concerned, a
+wild and adventurous life. She was, however, very quiet and domestic
+in her tastes, though proud and ambitious in her aspirations, and she
+occupied herself, wherever she was, in regulating her husband's
+household, teaching and training her children, and in attending with
+great regularity and faithfulness to her religious duty, as religious
+duty was understood in those days.
+
+The following is an account, copied from an ancient record, of the
+manner in which she spent her days at one of the castles where she was
+residing.
+
+    "She useth to arise at seven of the clock, and hath readye her
+    chapleyne to say with her mattins of the daye (that is, morning
+    prayers), and when she is fully readye, she hath a lowe mass in
+    her chamber. After mass she taketh something to recreate nature,
+    and soe goeth to the chapelle, hearinge the divine service and two
+    lowe masses. From thence to dynner, during the tyme of whih she
+    hath a lecture of holy matter (that is, reading from a religious
+    book), either Hilton of Contemplative and Active Life, or some
+    other spiritual and instructive work. After dynner she giveth
+    audyence to all such as hath any matter to shrive unto her, by the
+    space of one hower, and then sleepeth one quarter of an hower, and
+    after she hath slept she contynueth in prayer until the first
+    peale of even songe.
+
+    "In the tyme of supper she reciteth the lecture that was had at
+    dynner to those that be in her presence. After supper she
+    disposeth herself to be famyliare with her gentlewomen to the
+    seasoning of honest myrthe, and one hower before her going to bed
+    she taketh a cup of wine, and after that goeth to her pryvie
+    closette, and taketh her leave of God for all nighte, makinge end
+    of her prayers for that daye, and by eighte of the clocke is in
+    bedde."
+
+The going to bed at eight o'clock was in keeping with the other
+arrangements of the day, for we find by a record of the rules and
+orders of the duchess's household that the dinner-hour was eleven, and
+the supper was at four.
+
+This lady, Richard's mother, during her married life, had no less than
+twelve children. Their names were Anne, Henry, Edward, Edmund,
+Elizabeth, Margaret, William, John, George, Thomas, Richard, and
+Ursula. Thus Richard, the subject of this volume, was the eleventh,
+that is, the last but one. A great many of these, Richard's brothers
+and sisters, died while they were children. All the boys died thus
+except four, namely, Edward, Edmund, George, and Richard. Of course,
+it is only with those four that we have any thing to do in the present
+narrative.
+
+Several of the other children, however, besides these three, lived for
+some time. They resided generally with their mother while they were
+young, but as they grew up they were often separated both from her and
+from their father--the duke, their father, being often called away
+from home, in the course of the various wars in which he was engaged,
+and his wife frequently accompanied him. On such occasions the boys
+were left at some castle or other, under the care of persons employed
+to take charge of their education. They used to write letters to their
+father from time to time, and it is curious that these letters are the
+earliest examples of letters from children to parents which have been
+preserved in history. Two of the boys were at one time under the
+charge of a man named Richard Croft, and the boys thought that he was
+too strict with them. One of the letters, which has been preserved,
+was written to complain of this strictness, or, as the boy expressed
+it, "the odieux rule and demeaning" of their tutor, and also to ask
+for some "fyne bonnets," which the writer wished to have sent for
+himself and for his little brother. There is another long letter
+extant which was written at nearly the same time. This letter was
+written, or at least signed, by two of the boys, Edward and Edmund,
+and was addressed to their father on the occasion of some of his
+victories. But, though signed by the boys' names, I suspect, from the
+lofty language in which it is expressed, and from the many high-flown
+expressions of duty which it contains, that it was really written
+_for_ the boys by their mother or by one of their teachers. Of this,
+however, the reader can judge for himself on perusing the letter. In
+this copy the spelling is modernized so as to make it more
+intelligible, but the language is transcribed exactly from the
+original.
+
+    "Right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and
+    greatly redoubted lord and father:
+
+    "In as lowly a wise as any sons can or may, we recommend us
+    unto your good lordship, and please it to your highness to
+    wit, that we have received your worshipful letters yesterday
+    by your servant William Clinton, bearing date at York, the
+    29th day of May.[A]
+
+    "By the which William, and by the relation of John Milewater,
+    we conceive your worshipful and victorious speed against your
+    enemies, to their great shame, and to us the most
+    comfortable things that we desire to hear. Whereof we thank
+    Almighty God of his gifts, beseeching him heartily to give
+    you that good and cotidian[B] fortune hereafter to know your
+    enemies, and to have the victory over them.
+
+    "And if it please your highness to know of our welfare, at
+    the making of this letter we were in good health of body,
+    thanked be God, beseeching your good and gracious fatherhood
+    for our daily blessing.
+
+    "And whereas you command us by your said letters to attend
+    specially to our learning in our young age, that should cause
+    us to grow to honor and worship in our old age, please it
+    your highness to wit, that we have attended to our learning
+    since we came hither, and shall hereafter, by the which we
+    trust to God your gracious lordship and good fatherhood shall
+    be pleased.
+
+    "Also we beseech your good lordship that it may please you to
+    send us Harry Lovedeyne, groom of your kitchen, whose service
+    is to us right agreeable; and we will send you John Boyes to
+    wait upon your lordship.
+
+    "Right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and
+    greatly redoubted lord and father, we beseech Almighty God
+    to give you as good life and long as your own princely heart
+    can best desire.
+
+    "Written at your Castle of Ludlow, the 3d of June.
+
+               "Your humble sons,
+                    "E. MARCHE.
+                    "E. RUTLAND."
+
+[Footnote A: There were no postal arrangements in those days, and all
+letters were sent by private, and generally by special messengers.]
+
+[Footnote B: Daily.]
+
+The subscriptions E. March and E. Rutland stand for Edward, Earl of
+March, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland; for, though these boys were then
+only eleven and twelve years of age respectively, they were both
+earls. One of them, afterward, when he was about seventeen years old,
+was cruelly killed on the field of battle, where he had been fighting
+with his father, as we shall see in another chapter. The other,
+Edward, became King of England. He came immediately before Richard the
+Third in the line.
+
+The letter which the boys wrote was superscribed as follows:
+
+"To the right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and greatly
+redoubted lord and father, the Duke of York, Protector and Defender of
+England."
+
+[Illustration: LUDLOW CASTLE.]
+
+The castle of Ludlow, where the boys were residing when this letter
+was written, was a strong fortress built upon a rock in the western
+part of England, not far from Shrewsbury. The engraving is a correct
+representation of it, as it appeared at the period when those boys
+were there, and it gives a very good idea of the sort of place where
+kings and princes were accustomed to send their families for safety in
+those stormy times. Soon after the period of which we are speaking,
+Ludlow Castle was sacked and destroyed. The ruins of it, however,
+remain to the present day, and they are visited with much interest by
+great numbers of modern travelers.
+
+Lady Cecily, as we have already seen, was in many respects a noble
+woman, and a most faithful and devoted wife and mother; she was,
+however, of a very lofty and ambitious spirit, and extremely proud of
+her rank and station. Almost all her brothers and sisters--and the
+family was very large--were peers and peeresses, and when she married
+Prince Richard Plantagenet, her heart beat high with exultation and
+joy to think that she was about to become a queen. She believed that
+Prince Richard was fully entitled to the throne at that time, for
+reasons which will be fully explained in the next chapter, and that,
+even if his claims should not be recognized until the death of the
+king who was then reigning, they certainly would be so recognized
+then, and she would become an acknowledged queen, as she thought she
+was already one by right. So she felt greatly exalted in spirit, and
+moved and acted among all who surrounded her with an air of stately
+reserve of the most grand and aristocratic character.
+
+[Illustration: CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES.]
+
+In fact, there has, perhaps, no time and place been known in the
+history of the world in which the spirit of aristocracy was more lofty
+and overbearing in its character than in England during the period
+when the Plantagenet family were in prosperity and power. The nobles
+formed then, far more strikingly than they do now, an entirely
+distinct and exalted class, that looked down upon all other ranks and
+gradations of society as infinitely beneath them. Their only
+occupation was war, and they regarded all those who were engaged in
+any employments whatever, that were connected with art or industry,
+with utter disdain. These last were crowded together in villages
+and towns which were formed of dark and narrow streets, and rude and
+comfortless dwellings. The nobles lived in grand castles scattered
+here and there over the country, with extensive parks and
+pleasure-grounds around them, where they loved to marshal their
+followers, and inaugurate marauding expeditions against their rivals
+or their enemies. They were engaged in constant wars and contentions
+with each other, each thirsting for more power and more splendor than
+he at present enjoyed, and treating all beneath him with the utmost
+haughtiness and disdain. Richard's mother exhibited this aristocratic
+loftiness of spirit in a very high degree, and it was undoubtedly in a
+great manner through the influence which she exerted over her children
+that they were inspired with those sentiments of ambition and love of
+glory to which the crimes and miseries into which several of them fell
+in their subsequent career were owing.
+
+To assist her in the early education of her children, Richard's mother
+appointed one of the ladies of the court their governess. This
+governess was a personage of very high rank, being descended from the
+royal line. With the ideas which Lady Cecily entertained of the
+exalted position of her family, and of the future destiny of her
+children, none but a lady of high rank would be thought worthy of
+being intrusted with such a charge. The name of the governess was Lady
+Mortimer.
+
+The boys, as they grew older, were placed under the charge of a
+governor. His name was Sir Richard Croft. It is this Sir Richard that
+they allude to in their letter. He, too, was a person of high rank and
+of great military distinction. The boys, however, thought him too
+strict and severe with them; at least so it would seem, from the
+manner in which they speak of him in the letter.
+
+The governor and the governess appear to have liked each other very
+well, for after a time Sir Richard offered himself to Lady Mortimer,
+and they were married.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Besides Ludlow Castle, Prince Richard had several other strongholds,
+where his wife from time to time resided. Richard, who was one of the
+youngest of the children, was born at one of these, called Fotheringay
+Castle; but, before coming to the event of his birth, I must give some
+account of the history and fortunes of his father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+RICHARD'S FATHER.
+
+A.D. 1415-1461
+
+Genealogy of Richard Plantagenet.--Family of Edward III.--Succession
+of heirs in the family of Edward III.--Genealogical table of the
+houses of York and Lancaster.--Union of the houses of Clarence and
+York.--Richard Plantagenet a prisoner.--King Henry VI.--His gentle and
+quiet character.--Portrait.--Discontent of the people.--Arrangements
+made for the succession.--Character of Margaret of Anjou.--No
+children.--Feeble and failing capacity of the king.--Richard
+Plantagenet formally declared the heir.--Unexpected birth of a
+prince.--Suspicions.--Various plans and speculations.--Richard's
+hopes.--Progress of the formation of parties.--Queen Margaret's
+resolution and energy.--Wars.--Richard's two brothers, Edward and
+Edmund.--The walls of York.--Prince Richard at York.--Boldness of the
+queen.--The advice of Richard's counselors.--Richard's reply.--The
+battle.--Richard defeated.--Death of Edmund.--Death of Richard.--The
+head set upon a pole at York.
+
+
+Richard's father was a prince of the house of York. In the course of
+his life he was declared heir to the crown, but he died before he
+attained possession of it, thus leaving it for his children. The
+nature of his claim to the crown, and, indeed, the general relation of
+the various branches of the family to each other, will be seen by the
+genealogical table on the next page but one.
+
+Edward the Third, who reigned more than one hundred years before
+Richard the Third, and his queen Philippa, left at their decease four
+sons, as appears by the table.[C] They had other children besides
+these, but it was only these four, namely, Edward, Lionel, John, and
+Edmund, whose descendants were involved in the quarrels for the
+succession. The others either died young, or else, if they arrived at
+maturity, the lines descending from them soon became extinct.
+
+[Footnote C: See page 35.]
+
+Of the four that survived, the oldest was Edward, called in history
+the Black Prince. A full account of his life and adventures is given
+in our history of Richard the Second. He died before his father, and
+so did not attain to the crown. He, however, left his son Richard his
+heir, and at Edward's death Richard became king. Richard reigned
+twenty years, and then, in consequence of his numerous vices and
+crimes, and of his general mismanagement, he was deposed, and Henry,
+the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, Edward's third son,
+ascended the throne in his stead.
+
+Now, as appears by the table, John of Gaunt was the third of the four
+sons, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, being the second. The descendants of
+Lionel would properly have come before those of John in the
+succession, but it happened that the only descendants of Lionel were
+Philippa, a daughter, and Roger, a grandchild, who was at this time an
+infant. Neither of these were able to assert their claims, although in
+theory their claims were acknowledged to be prior to those of the
+descendants of John. The people of England, however, were so desirous
+to be rid of Richard, that they were willing to submit to the reign of
+any member of the royal family who should prove strong enough to
+dispossess him. So they accepted
+
+ GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE FAMILY OF EDWARD III., SHOWING THE CONNECTION
+ OF THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER.
+
+                             EDWARD III. = Phillippa.
+                                 |
+   ------------------------------------------------------------------
+   |                   |                     |                     |
+ EDWARD              LIONEL                JOHN                  EDMUND
+ (The Black Prince). (Duke of Clarence).   (Of Gaunt,           (Duke of York).
+   |                   |                    Duke of Lancaster).    |
+   |                   |                     |                     |
+ RICHARD II.         PHILLIPPA = Edward    HENRY IV.            RICHARD = Anne.
+                       |         Mortimer.   |           (_See second column._)
+                     ROGER MORTIMER        HENRY V.                |
+                     Earl of Marche).        |                     |
+                       |                   HENRY VI.        RICHARD PLANTAGENET
+                       |                     |              (Duke of York).
+                       |                     |                     |
+                       |                     |              ---------------
+                       |                     |              |      |      |
+                     ANNE = Richard        EDWARD         EDWARD GEORGE RICHARD
+                             of York.      (Prince          IV.  (Duke    III.
+                 (_See fourth column._)    of Wales).              of
+                                                                Clarence).
+
+    The character = denotes marriage; the short perpendicular
+    line | a descent. There were many other children and
+    descendants in the different branches of the family besides
+    those whose names are inserted in the table. The table
+    includes only those essential to an understanding of the
+    history.
+
+Henry of Lancaster, who ascended the throne as Henry the Fourth, and
+he and his successors in the Lancastrian line, Henry the Fifth and
+Henry the Sixth, held the throne for many years.
+
+Still, though the people of England generally acquiesced in this, the
+families of the other brothers, namely, of Lionel and Edmund, called
+generally the houses of Clarence and of York, were not satisfied. They
+combined together, and formed a great many plots and conspiracies
+against the house of Lancaster, and many insurrections and wars, and
+many cruel deeds of violence and murder grew out of the quarrel. At
+length, to strengthen their alliance more fully, Richard, the second
+son of Edmund of York, married Anne, a descendant of the Clarence
+line. The other children, who came before these, in the two lines,
+soon afterward died, leaving the inheritance of both to this pair.
+Their son was Richard, the father of Richard the Third. He is called
+Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. On the death of his father and
+mother, he, of course, became the heir not only of the immense estates
+and baronial rights of both the lines from which he had descended, but
+also of the claims of the older line to the crown of England.
+
+The successive generations of these three lines, down to the period of
+the union of the second and fourth, cutting off the third, is shown
+clearly in the table.
+
+Of course, the Lancaster line were much alarmed at the combination of
+the claims of their rivals. King Henry the Fifth was at that period on
+the throne, and, by the time that Richard Plantagenet was three years
+old, under pretense of protecting him from danger, he caused him to be
+shut up in a castle, and kept a close prisoner there.
+
+Time rolled on. King Henry the Fifth died, and Henry the Sixth
+succeeded him. Richard Plantagenet was still watched and guarded; but
+at length, by the time that Richard was thirteen years old, the power
+and influence of his branch of the royal family, or rather those of
+the two branches from which, combined, he was descended, were found to
+be increasing, while that of the house of Lancaster was declining.
+After a time he was brought out from his imprisonment, and restored to
+his rank and station. King Henry the Sixth was a man of a very weak
+and timid mind. He was quite young too, being, in fact, a mere child
+when he began to reign, and every thing went wrong with his
+government. While he was young, he could, of course, do nothing, and
+when he grew older he was too gentle and forbearing to control the
+rough and turbulent spirits around him. He had no taste for war and
+bloodshed, but loved retirement and seclusion, and, as he advanced in
+years, he fell into the habit of spending a great deal of his time in
+acts of piety and devotion, performed according to the ideas and
+customs of the times. The annexed engraving, representing him as he
+appeared when he was
+
+[Illustration: HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD.]
+
+a boy, is copied from the ancient portraits, and well expresses the
+mild and gentle traits which marked his disposition and character.
+
+Such being the disposition and character of Henry, every thing during
+his reign went wrong, and this state of things, growing worse and
+worse as he advanced in life, greatly encouraged and strengthened the
+house of York in the effort which they were inclined to make to bring
+their own branch of the family to the throne.
+
+"See," said they, "what we come to by allowing a line of usurpers to
+reign. These Henrys of Lancaster are all descended from a younger son,
+while the heirs of the older are living, and have a right to the
+throne. Richard Plantagenet is the true and proper heir. He is a man
+of energy. Let us make him king."
+
+But the people of England, though they gradually came to desire the
+change, were not willing yet to plunge the country again into a state
+of civil war for the purpose of making it. They would not disturb
+Henry, they said, while he continued to live; but there was nobody to
+succeed him, and, when he died, Richard Plantagenet should be king.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI.]
+
+Henry was married at this time, but he had no children. The name of
+his wife was Margaret of Anjou. She was a very extraordinary and
+celebrated woman. Though very beautiful in person, she was as
+energetic and masculine in character as her poor husband was
+effeminate and weak, and she took every thing into her own hands.
+This, however, made matters worse instead of better, and the whole
+country seemed to rejoice that she had no children, for thus, on the
+death of Henry, the line would become extinct, and Richard Plantagenet
+and his descendants would succeed, as a matter of course, in a quiet
+and peaceful manner. As Henry and Margaret had now been married eight
+or nine years without any children, it was supposed that they never
+would have any.
+
+Accordingly, Richard Plantagenet was universally looked upon as
+Henry's successor, and the time seemed to be drawing nigh when the
+change of dynasty was to take place. Henry's health was very feeble.
+He seemed to be rapidly declining. His mind was affected, too, quite
+seriously, and he sometimes sank into a species of torpor from which
+nothing could arouse him.
+
+Indeed, it became difficult to carry on the government in his name,
+for the king sank at last into such a state of imbecility that it was
+impossible to obtain from him the least sign or token that would
+serve, even for form's sake, as an assent on his part to the royal
+decrees. At one time Parliament appointed a commission to visit him in
+his chamber, for the purpose of ascertaining the state that he was in,
+and to see also whether they could not get some token from him which
+they could consider as his assent to certain measures which it was
+deemed important to take; but they could not get from the king any
+answer or sign of any kind, notwithstanding all that they could do or
+say. They retired for a time, and afterward came back again to make a
+second attempt, and then, as an ancient narrative records the story,
+"they moved and stirred him by all the ways and means that they could
+think of to have an answer of the said matter, but they could have no
+answer, word nor sign, and therefore, with sorrowful hearts, came
+away."
+
+This being the state of things, Parliament thought it time to make
+some definite arrangements for the succession. Accordingly, they
+passed a formal and solemn enactment declaring Richard Plantagenet
+heir presumptive of the crown, and investing him with the rank and
+privileges pertaining to that position. They also appointed him, for
+the present, Protector and defender of the realm.
+
+Richard, the subject of this volume, was at this time an infant two
+years old. The other ten children had been born at various periods
+before.
+
+It was now, of course, expected that Henry would soon die, and that
+then Richard Plantagenet would at once ascend the throne, acknowledged
+by the whole realm as the sole and rightful heir. But these
+expectations were suddenly disturbed, and the whole kingdom was thrown
+into a state of great excitement and alarm by the news of a very
+unexpected and important event which occurred at this time, namely,
+the birth of a child to Margaret, the queen. This event awakened all
+the latent fires of civil dissension and discord anew. The Lancastrian
+party, of course, at once rallied around the infant prince, who, they
+claimed, was the rightful heir to the crown. They began at once to
+reconstruct and strengthen their plans, and to shape their measures
+with a view to retain the kingdom in the Lancaster line. On the other
+hand, the friends of the combined houses of Clarence and York declared
+that they would not acknowledge the new-comer as the rightful heir.
+They did not believe that he was the son of the king, for he, as they
+said, had been for a long time as good as dead. Some said that they
+did not even believe that the child was Margaret's son. There was a
+story that she had had a child, but that he was very weak and puny,
+and that he had died soon after his birth, and that Margaret had
+cunningly substituted another child in his place, in order to retain
+her position and power by having a supposed son of hers reign as king
+after her husband should die. Margaret was a woman of so ambitious and
+unscrupulous a character, that she was generally believed capable of
+adopting any measures, however criminal and bold, to accomplish her
+ends.
+
+But, notwithstanding these rumors, Parliament acknowledged the infant
+as his father's son and heir. He was named Edward, and created at once
+Prince of Wales, which act was a solemn acknowledgment of his right to
+the succession. Prince Richard made no open opposition to this; for,
+although he and his friends maintained that he had a right to the
+crown, they thought that the time had not yet come for openly
+advancing their claim, so for the present they determined to be quiet.
+The child might not survive, and his father, the king, being in so
+helpless and precarious a condition, might cease to live at any time;
+and if it should so happen that both the father and the child should
+die, Richard would, of course, succeed at once, without any question.
+He accordingly thought it best to wait a little while, and see what
+turn things would take.
+
+He soon found that things were taking the wrong turn. The child lived,
+and appeared likely to continue to live, and, what was perhaps worse
+for him, the king, instead of declining more and more, began to
+revive. In a short time he was able to attend to business again, at
+least so far as to express his assent to measures prepared for him by
+his ministers. Prince Richard was accordingly called upon to resign
+his protectorate. He thought it best to yield to this proposal, and he
+did so, and thus the government was once more in Henry's hands.
+
+Things went on in this way for two or three years, but the breach
+between the two great parties was all the time widening. Difficulties
+multiplied in number and increased in magnitude. The country took
+sides. Armed forces were organized on one side and on the other, and
+at length Prince Richard openly claimed the crown as his right. This
+led to a long and violent discussion in Parliament. The result was,
+that a majority was obtained to vote in favor of Prince Richard's
+right. The Parliament decreed, however, that the existing state of
+things should not be disturbed so long as Henry continued to live, but
+that at Henry's death the crown should descend, not to little Edward
+his son, the infant Prince of Wales, but to Prince Richard Plantagenet
+and his descendants forever.
+
+Queen Margaret was at this time at a castle in Wales, where she had
+gone with the child, in order to keep him in a place of safety while
+these stormy discussions were pending. When she heard that Parliament
+had passed a law setting aside the claims of her child, she declared
+that she would never submit to it. She immediately sent messengers all
+over the northern part of the kingdom, summoning the faithful
+followers of the king every where to arm themselves and assemble near
+the frontier. She herself went to Scotland to ask for aid. The King of
+Scotland at that time was a child, but he was related to the
+Lancastrian family, his grandmother having been a descendant of John
+of Gaunt, the head of the Lancaster line. He was too young to take any
+part in the war, but his mother, who was acting as regent, furnished
+Margaret with troops. Margaret, putting herself at the head of these
+forces, marched across the frontier into England, and joined herself
+there to the other forces which had assembled in answer to her
+summons.
+
+In the mean time, Prince Richard had assembled his adherents too, and
+had commenced his march to the northward to meet his enemies. He took
+his two oldest sons with him, the two that wrote the letter quoted in
+the last chapter. One of these you will recollect was Edward, Earl of
+Marche, and the second was Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Edward was now
+about eighteen years of age, and his brother Edmund about seventeen.
+One would have said that at this period of life they were altogether
+too young to be exposed to the hardships, fatigues, and dangers of a
+martial campaign; but it was the custom in those times for princes and
+nobles to be taken with their fathers to fields of battle at a very
+early age. And these youthful warriors were really of great service
+too, for the interest which they inspired among all ranks of the army
+was so great, especially when their rank was very high, that they were
+often the means of greatly increasing the numbers and the enthusiasm
+of their fathers' followers.
+
+Edward, indeed, was in this instance deemed old enough to be sent off
+on an independent service, and so, while the prince moved forward with
+the main body of his army toward the north, he dispatched Edward,
+accompanied by a suitable escort, to the westward, toward the
+frontiers of Wales, to assemble all the armed men that he could find
+in that part of the kingdom who were disposed to espouse his cause.
+Edmund, who was a year younger than Edward, went with his father.
+
+The prince proceeded to the city of York, which was then a fortified
+place of great strength. The engraving gives a very good idea of the
+appearance of the walls in those times. These walls remain, indeed,
+almost entire at the present day, and they are visited a great deal by
+tourists and travelers, being regarded with much interest as
+furnishing a very complete and well-preserved specimen of the mural
+fortifications of the Middle Ages. Such walls, however, would be
+almost entirely useless now as means of defense, since they would not
+stand at all against an attack from modern artillery.
+
+The great church seen over the walls, in the heart of the city, is the
+famous York minster, one of the grandest Cathedral churches in
+England. It was a hundred and fifty years in building, and it was
+completed about two centuries before Richard's day.
+
+When Prince Richard reached York, he entered the town, and established
+himself there, with a view of waiting till his son should arrive with
+the re-enforcements which he had been sent to seek in the western part
+of England.
+
+[Illustration: WALLS OF YORK.]
+
+While he was there, and before the re-enforcements came, the queen, at
+the head of her army from Scotland, which was strengthened, moreover,
+by the troops which she had obtained in the north of England, came
+marching on down the country in great force. When she came into the
+neighborhood of York, she encamped, and then sent messengers to Prince
+Richard, taunting and deriding him for having shut himself up within
+fortified walls, and daring him to come out into the open field and
+fight her.
+
+The prince's counselors advised him to do no such thing. One of them
+in particular, a certain Sir Davy Hall, who was an old and faithful
+officer in the prince's service, urged him to pay no attention to
+Queen Margaret's taunts.
+
+"We are not strong enough yet," said he, "to meet the army which she
+has assembled. We must wait till our re-enforcements come. By going
+out now we shall put our cause in great peril, and all to no purpose
+whatever."
+
+"Ah! Davy, Davy," said the prince, "hast thou loved me so long, and
+now wouldst thou have me dishonored? When I was regent in Normandy,
+thou never sawest me keep fortress, even when the dauphin himself,
+with all his power, came to besiege me.[D] I always, like a man, came
+forth to meet him, instead of remaining within my walls, like a bird
+shut up in a cage. Now if I did not then keep myself shut up for fear
+of a great, strong prince, do you think I will now, for dread of a
+scolding woman, whose weapons are only her tongue and her nails, and
+thus give people occasion to say that I turned dastard before a woman,
+when no man had ever been able to make me fear? No, I will never
+submit to such disgrace. I would rather die in honor than live in
+shame; and so the great numbers of our enemies do not deter me in the
+least; they rather encourage me; therefore, in the name of God and St.
+George, advance my banner, for I am determined that I will go out and
+fight them, if I go alone."
+
+[Footnote D: In former years Prince Richard had acted as viceroy of
+the English possessions in France, under King Henry, and while there
+he had been engaged in wars with the King of France, and with the
+dauphin, his son.]
+
+[Illustration: LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER.]
+
+So Prince Richard came forth from the gates of York at the head of his
+columns, and rode on toward the queen's camp. Edmund went with him.
+Edmund was under the care of his tutor, Robert Aspell, who was charged
+to keep close to his side, and to watch over him in the most vigilant
+manner. The army of the queen was at some distance from York, at a
+place called Wakefield. Both parties, as is usual in civil wars, were
+extremely exasperated against each other, and the battle was
+desperately fought. It was very brief, however, and Richard's troops
+were defeated. Richard himself was taken prisoner. Edmund endeavored
+to escape. His tutor endeavored to hurry him off the field, but he
+was stopped on the way by a certain nobleman of the queen's party,
+named Lord Clifford. The poor boy begged hard for mercy, but Clifford
+killed him on the spot.
+
+The prince's army, when they found that the battle had gone against
+them, and that their captain was a prisoner, fled in all directions
+over the surrounding country, leaving great numbers dead upon the
+field. The prince himself, as soon as he was taken, was disarmed on
+the field, and all the leaders of the queen's army, including, as the
+most authentic accounts relate, the queen herself, gathered around him
+in wild exultation. They carried him to a mound formed by an ant-hill,
+which they said, in mockery, should be his throne. They placed him
+upon it with taunts and derision. They made a crown for him of knotted
+grass, and put it upon his head, and then made mock obeisances before
+him, saying, "Hail! king without a kingdom. Hail! prince without a
+people."
+
+After having satisfied themselves with their taunts and revilings, the
+party killed their prisoner and cut off his head. They set his head
+upon the point of a lance, and in this way presented it to Queen
+Margaret. The queen ordered the head to be decorated with a paper
+crown, and then to be carried to York, and set up at the gates of
+that city upon a tall pole.
+
+Thus was little Richard, the subject of this narrative, left
+fatherless. He was at this period between eight and nine years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE CHILDHOOD OF RICHARD III.
+
+Condition of young Richard in his childhood.--Strange tales in
+respect to his birth.--Dangers to which Richard was exposed in
+his childhood.--Extraordinary vicissitudes in the life of his
+mother.--The castles and palaces belonging to the house of
+York.--Situation of Lady Cecily at the time of her husband's
+death.--Lady Cecily sends the children to the Continent.--Situation
+of Lady Cecily and of her oldest son.
+
+
+Young Richard, as was said at the close of the last chapter, was of a
+very tender age when his father and his brother Edmund were killed at
+the battle of Wakefield. He was at that time only about eight years
+old. It is very evident too, from what has been already related of the
+history of his father and mother, that during the whole period of his
+childhood and youth he must have passed through very stormy times. It
+is only a small portion of the life of excitement, conflict, and alarm
+which was led by his father that there is space to describe in this
+volume. So unsettled and wandering a life did his father and mother
+lead, that it is not quite certain in which of the various towns and
+castles that from time to time they made their residence, he was born.
+It is supposed, however, that he was born in the Castle of
+Fotheringay, in the year 1452. His father was killed in 1461, which
+would make Richard, as has already been said, about eight or nine
+years old at that time.
+
+There were a great many strange tales related in subsequent years in
+respect to Richard's birth. He became such a monster, morally, when he
+grew to be a man, that the people believed that he was born a monster
+in person. The story was that he came into the world very ugly in face
+and distorted in form, and that his hair and his teeth were already
+grown. These were considered as portents of the ferociousness of
+temper and character which he was subsequently to manifest, and of the
+unnatural and cruel crimes which he would live to commit. It is very
+doubtful, however, whether any of these stories are true. It is most
+probable that at his birth he looked like any other child.
+
+There were a great many periods of intense excitement and terror in
+the family history before the great final calamity at Wakefield when
+Richard's father and his brother Edmund were killed. At these times
+the sole reliance of the prince in respect to the care of the younger
+children was upon Lady Cecily, their mother. The older sons went with
+their father on the various martial expeditions in which he was
+engaged. They shared with him the hardships and dangers of his
+conflicts, and the triumph and exultations of his victories. The
+younger children, however, remained in seclusion with their mother,
+sometimes in one place and sometimes in another, wherever there was,
+for the time being, the greatest promise of security.
+
+Indeed, during the early childhood of Richard, the changes and
+vicissitudes through which the family passed were so sudden and
+violent in their character as sometimes to surpass the most romantic
+tales of fiction. At one time, while Lady Cecily was residing at the
+Castle of Ludlow with Richard and some of the younger children, a
+party of her husband's enemies, the Lancastrians, appeared suddenly at
+the gates of the town, and, before Prince Richard's party had time to
+take any efficient measures for defense, the town and the castle were
+both taken. The Lancastrians had expected to find Prince Richard
+himself in the castle, but he was not there. They were exasperated by
+their disappointment, and in their fury they proceeded to ransack all
+the rooms, and to destroy every thing that came into their hands. In
+some of the inner and more private apartments they found Lady Cecily
+and her children. They immediately seized them all, made them
+prisoners, and carried them away. By King Henry's orders, they were
+placed in close custody in another castle in the southern part of
+England, and all the property, both of the prince and of Lady Cecily,
+was confiscated. While the mother and the younger children were thus
+closely shut up and reduced to helpless destitution, the father and
+the older sons were obliged to fly from the country to save their
+lives. In less than three months after this time these same exiled and
+apparently ruined fugitives were marching triumphantly through the
+country, at the head of victorious troops, carrying all before them.
+Lady Cecily and her children were set at liberty, and restored to
+their property and their rights, while King Henry himself, whose
+captives they had been, was himself made captive, and brought in
+durance to London, and Queen Margaret and her son were in their turn
+compelled to fly from the realm to save their lives.
+
+This last change in the condition of public affairs took place only a
+short time before the great final contest between Prince Richard of
+York, King Richard's father, and the family of Henry, when the prince
+lost his life at Wakefield, as described in the last chapter.
+
+[Illustration: PALACE AND GARDEN BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF YORK.]
+
+Of course, young Richard, being brought up amid these scenes of wild
+commotion, and accustomed from childhood to witness the most cruel and
+remorseless conflicts between branches of the same family, was trained
+by them to be ambitious, daring, and unscrupulous in respect to the
+means to be used in circumventing or destroying an enemy. The seed
+thus sown produced in subsequent years most dreadful fruit, as will be
+seen more fully in the sequel of his history.
+
+There were a great many hereditary castles belonging to the family of
+York, many of which had descended from father to son for many
+generations. Some of these castles were strong fortresses, built in
+wild and inaccessible retreats, and intended to be used as places of
+temporary refuge, or as the rallying-points and rendezvous of bodies
+of armed men. Others were better adapted for the purposes of a private
+residence, being built with some degree of reference to the comfort of
+the inmates, and surrounded with gardens and grounds, where the ladies
+and the children who were left in them could find recreation and
+amusement adapted to their age and sex.
+
+It was in such a castle as this, near London, that Lady Cecily and her
+younger children were residing when her husband went to the northward
+to meet the forces of the queen, as related in the last chapter. Here
+Lady Cecily lived in great state, for she thought the time was drawing
+nigh when her husband would be raised to the throne. Indeed, she
+considered him as already the true and rightful sovereign of the
+realm, and she believed that the hour would very soon come when his
+claims would be universally acknowledged, and when she herself would
+be Queen of England, and her boys royal princes, and, as such, the
+objects of universal attention and regard. She instilled these ideas
+continually into the minds of the children, and she exacted the utmost
+degree of subserviency and submission toward herself and toward them
+on the part of all around her.
+
+While she was thus situated in her palace near London, awaiting every
+day the arrival of a messenger from the north announcing the final
+victory of her husband over all his foes, she was one day
+thunderstruck, and overwhelmed with grief and despair, by the tidings
+that her husband had been defeated, and that he himself, and the dear
+son who had accompanied him, and was just arriving at maturity, had
+been ignominiously slain. The queen, too, her most bitter foe, now
+exultant and victorious, was advancing triumphantly toward London.
+
+Not a moment was to be lost. Lady Cecily had with her, at this time,
+her two youngest sons, George and Richard. She made immediate
+arrangements for her flight. It happened that the Earl of Warwick,
+who was at this time the Lord High Admiral, and who, of course, had
+command of the seas between England and the Continent, was a relative
+and friend of Lady Cecily's. He was at this time in London. Lady
+Cecily applied to him to assist her in making her escape. He
+consented, and, with his aid, she herself, with her two children and a
+small number of attendants, escaped secretly from London, and made
+their way to the southern coast. There Lady Cecily put the children
+and the attendants on board a vessel, by which they were conveyed to
+the coast of Holland. On landing there, they were received by the
+prince of the country, who was a friend of Lady Cecily, and to whose
+care she commended them. The prince received them with great kindness,
+and sent them to the city of Utrecht, where he established them safely
+in one of his palaces, and appointed suitable tutors and governors to
+superintend their education. Here it was expected that they would
+remain for several years.
+
+Their mother did not go with them to Holland. Her fears in respect to
+remaining in England were not for herself, but only for her helpless
+children. For herself, her only impulse was to face and brave the
+dangers which threatened her, and triumph over them. So she went
+boldly back to London, to await there whatever might occur.
+
+Besides, her oldest son was still in England, and she could not
+forsake him. You will recollect that, when his father went north to
+meet the forces of Queen Margaret, he sent his oldest son, Edward,
+Earl of Marche, to the western part of England, to obtain
+re-enforcements. Edward was at Gloucester when the tidings came to him
+of his father's death. Gloucester is on the western confines of
+England, near the southeastern borders of Wales. Now, of course, since
+her husband was dead, all Lady Cecily's ambition, and all her hopes of
+revenge were concentrated in him. She wished to be at hand to counsel
+him, and to co-operate with him by all the means in her power. How she
+succeeded in these plans, and how, by means of them, he soon became
+King of England, will appear in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ACCESSION OF EDWARD IV., RICHARD'S ELDER BROTHER.
+
+A.D. 1461
+
+Edward now becomes heir to the crown.--His energy and decision.--He
+marches to intercept Margaret.--Warwick.--Battle with the
+queen.--Warwick defeated.--Margaret regains possession of her
+husband.--Excesses committed by the queen's troops.--Edward
+advances.--He enters London.--His welcome.--Excitement in
+London.--Measures taken by Edward.--Voice of the people.--They declare
+in favor of Edward.--Edward is formally enthroned.--Various
+ceremonies.--Edward marches to the northward.--A battle.--Edward
+enters York in triumph.--He inters his father's body.--He returns
+to London.--Grief of his mother.--Situation of George and
+Richard.--Richard's person.--Description of the armor worn in those
+days.--Necessity of being trained to use this armor.--The armor
+costly.--Substitutes for it.--Exercises.--Feats to be
+performed.--Account of the quintaine.--Other exercises and
+sports.--Playing ball.--Jumping through a hoop.--The two brothers
+companions.--Richard's intellectual education.
+
+
+Richard's brother Edward, as has already been remarked, was at
+Gloucester when he heard the news of his father's death. This news, of
+course, made a great change in his condition. To his mother, the event
+was purely and simply a calamity, and it could awaken no feelings in
+her heart but those of sorrow and chagrin. In Edward's mind, on the
+other hand, the first emotions of astonishment and grief were followed
+immediately by a burst of exultation and pride. He, of course, as now
+the oldest surviving son, succeeded at once to all the rights and
+titles which his father had enjoyed, and among these, according to the
+ideas which his mother had instilled into his mind, was the right to
+the crown. His heart, therefore, when the first feeling of grief for
+the loss of his father had subsided, bounded with joy as he exclaimed,
+
+"So now _I_ am the King of England."
+
+The enthusiasm which he felt extended itself at once to all around
+him. He immediately made preparations to put himself at the head of
+his troops, and march to the eastward, so as to intercept Queen
+Margaret on her way to London, for he knew that she would, of course,
+now press forward toward the capital as fast as possible.
+
+He accordingly set out at once upon his march, and, as he went on, he
+found that the number of his followers increased very rapidly. The
+truth was, that the queen's party, by their murder of Richard, and of
+young Edmund his son, had gone altogether too far for the good of
+their own cause. The people, when they heard the tidings, were
+indignant at such cruelty. Those who belonged to the party of the
+house of York, instead of being intimidated by the severity of the
+measure, were exasperated at the brutality of it, and they were all
+eager to join the young duke, Edward, and help him to avenge his
+father's and his brother's death. Those who had been before on the
+side of the house of Lancaster were discouraged and repelled, while
+those who had been doubtful were now ready to declare against the
+queen.
+
+It is in this way that all excesses in the hour of victory defeat the
+very ends they were intended to subserve. They weaken the
+perpetrators, and not the subjects of them.
+
+In the mean time, while young Edward, at the head of his army, was
+marching on from the westward toward London to intercept the queen,
+the Earl of Warwick, who has already been mentioned as a friend of
+Lady Cecily, had also assembled a large force near London, and he was
+now advancing toward the northward. The poor king was with him.
+Nominally, the king was in command of the expedition, and every thing
+was done in his name, but really he was a forlorn and helpless
+prisoner, forced wholly against his will--so far as the feeble degree
+of intellect which remained to him enabled him to exercise a will--to
+seem to head an enterprise directed against his own wife, and his best
+and strongest friend.
+
+The armies of the queen and of the Earl of Warwick advanced toward
+each other, until they met at last at a short distance north of
+London. A desperate battle was fought, and the queen's party were
+completely victorious. When night came on, the Earl of Warwick found
+that he was beaten at every point, and that his troops had fled in all
+directions, leaving thousands of the dead and dying all along the road
+sides. The camp had been abandoned, and there was no time to save any
+thing; even the poor king was left behind, and the officers of the
+queen's army found him in a tent, with only one attendant. Of course,
+the queen was overjoyed at recovering possession of her husband, not
+merely on his own account personally, but also because she could now
+act again directly in his name. So she prepared a proclamation, by
+which the king revoked all that he had done while in the hands of
+Warwick, on the ground that he had been in durance, and had not acted
+of his own free will, and also declared Edward a traitor, and offered
+a large reward for his apprehension.
+
+The queen was now once more filled with exultation and joy. Her joy
+would have been complete were it not that Edward himself was still to
+be met, for he was all this time advancing from the westward; she,
+however, thought that there was not much to be feared from such a boy,
+Edward being at this time only about nineteen years of age. So the
+queen moved on toward London, flushed with the victory, and
+exasperated with the opposition which she had met with. Her soldiers
+were under very little control, and they committed great excesses.
+They ravaged the country, and plundered without mercy all those whom
+they considered as belonging to the opposite party; they committed,
+too, many atrocious acts of cruelty. It is always thus in civil war.
+In foreign wars, armies are much more easily kept under control.
+Troops march through a foreign territory, feeling no personal spite or
+hatred against the inhabitants of it, for they think it is a matter of
+course that the people should defend their country and resist
+invaders. But in a civil war, the men of each party feel a special
+personal hate against every individual that does not belong to their
+side, and in periods of actual conflict this hatred becomes a rage
+that is perfectly uncontrollable.
+
+Accordingly, as the queen and her troops advanced, they robbed and
+murdered all who came in their way, and they filled the whole country
+with terror. They even seized and plundered a convent, which was a
+species of sacrilege. This greatly increased the general alarm. "The
+wretches!" exclaimed the people, when they heard the tidings, "nothing
+is sacred in their eyes." The people of London were particularly
+alarmed. They thought there was danger that the city itself would be
+given up to plunder if the queen's troops gained admission. So they
+all turned against her. She sent one day into the town for a supply of
+provisions, and the authorities, perhaps thinking themselves bound by
+their official duty to obey orders of this kind coming in the king's
+name, loaded up some wagons and sent them forth, but the people raised
+a mob, and stopped the wagons at the gates, refusing to let them go
+on.
+
+In the mean time, Edward, growing every hour stronger as he advanced,
+came rapidly on toward London. He was joined at length by the Earl of
+Warwick and the remnant of the force which remained to the earl after
+the battle which he had fought with the queen. The queen, now finding
+that Edward's strength was becoming formidable, did not dare to meet
+him; so she retreated toward the north again. Edward, instead of
+pursuing her, advanced directly toward London. The people threw open
+the gates to him, and welcomed him as their deliverer. They thronged
+the streets to look upon him as he passed, and made the air ring with
+their loud and long acclamations.
+
+There was, indeed, every thing in the circumstances of the case to
+awaken excitement and emotion. Here was a boy not yet out of his
+teens, extremely handsome in appearance and agreeable in manners, who
+had taken the field in command of a very large force to avenge the
+cruel death of his father and brother, and was now coming boldly, at
+the head of his troops, into the very capital of the king and queen
+under whose authority his father and brother had been killed.
+
+The most extraordinary circumstance connected with these proceedings
+was, that during all this time Henry was still acknowledged by every
+one as the actual king. Edward and his friends maintained, indeed,
+that he, Edward, was _entitled_ to reign, but no one pretended that
+any thing had yet been done which could have the legal effect of
+putting him upon the throne. There was, however, now a general
+expectation that the time for the formal deposition of Henry was near,
+and in and around London all was excitement and confusion. The people
+from the surrounding towns flocked every day into the city to see what
+they could see, and to hear what they could hear. They thronged the
+streets whenever Edward appeared in public, eager to obtain a glimpse
+of him.
+
+At length, a few days after Edward entered the city, his counselors
+and friends deemed that the time had come for action. Accordingly,
+they made arrangements for a grand review in a large open field. Their
+design was by this review to call together a great concourse of
+spectators. A vast assembly convened according to their expectations.
+In the midst of the ceremonies, two noblemen appeared before the
+multitude to make addresses to them. One of them made a speech in
+respect to Henry, denouncing the crimes, and the acts of treachery and
+of oppression which his government had committed. He dilated long on
+the feebleness and incapacity of the king, and his total inability to
+exercise any control in the management of public affairs. After he had
+finished, he called out to the people in a loud voice to declare
+whether they would submit any longer to have such a man for king.
+
+The people answered "NAY, NAY, NAY," with loud and long acclamations.
+
+Then the other speaker made an address in favor of Edward. He
+explained at length the nature of his title to the crown, showing it
+to be altogether superior in point of right to that of Henry. He also
+spoke long and eloquently in praise of Edward's personal
+qualifications, describing his courage, his activity, and energy, and
+the various graces and accomplishments for which he was distinguished,
+in the most glowing terms. He ended by demanding of the people whether
+they would have Edward for king.
+
+The people answered "YEA, YEA, YEA; KING EDWARD FOREVER! KING EDWARD
+FOREVER!" with acclamations as long and loud as before.
+
+Of course there could be no legal validity in such proceedings as
+these, for, even if England had at that time been an elective
+monarchy, the acclamations of an accidental assembly drawn together to
+witness a review could on no account have been deemed a valid vote.
+This ceremony was only meant as a very public announcement of the
+intention of Edward immediately to assume the throne.
+
+The next day, accordingly, a grand council was held of all the great
+barons, and nobles, and officers of state. By this council a decree
+was passed that King Henry, by his late proceedings, had forfeited the
+crown, and Edward was solemnly declared king in his stead. Immediately
+afterward, Edward rode at the head of a royal procession, which was
+arranged for the purpose, to Westminster, and there, in the presence
+of a vast assembly, he took his seat upon the throne. While there
+seated, he made a speech to the audience, in which he explained the
+nature of his hereditary rights, and declared his intention to
+maintain his rights thenceforth in the most determined manner.
+
+The king now proceeded to Westminster Abbey, where he performed the
+same ceremonies a second time. He was also publicly proclaimed king on
+the same day in various parts of London.
+
+Edward was now full of ardor and enthusiasm, and his first impulse was
+to set off, at the head of his army, toward the north, in pursuit of
+the queen and the old king. The king and queen had gone to York. The
+queen had not only the king under her care, but also her son, the
+little Prince of Wales, who was now about eight years old. This young
+prince was the heir to the crown on the Lancastrian side, and Edward
+was, of course, very desirous of getting him, as well as the king and
+queen, into his hands; so he put himself at the head of his troops,
+and began to move forward as fast as he could go. The body of troops
+under his command consisted of fifty thousand men. In the queen's
+army, which was encamped in the neighborhood of York, there were about
+sixty thousand.
+
+Both parties were extremely exasperated against each other, and were
+eager for the fight. Edward gave orders to his troops to grant no
+quarter, but, in the event of victory, to massacre without mercy every
+man that they could bring within their reach. The armies came together
+at a place called Towton. The combat was begun in the midst of a
+snow-storm. The armies fought from nine o'clock in the morning till
+three in the afternoon, and by that time the queen's troops were
+every where driven from the field. Edward's men pursued them along the
+roads, slaughtering them without mercy as fast as they could overtake
+them, until at length nearly forty thousand men were left dead upon
+the ground.
+
+The queen fled toward the north, taking with her her husband and
+child. Edward entered York in triumph. At the gates he found the head
+of his father and that of his brother still remaining upon the poles
+where the queen had put them. He took them reverently down, and then
+put other heads in their places, which he cut off for the purpose from
+some of his prisoners. He was in such a state of fury, that I suppose,
+if he could have caught the king and queen, he would have cut off
+_their_ heads, and put them on the poles in the place of his father's
+and his brother's; but he could not catch them. They fled to the
+north, toward the frontiers of Scotland, and so escaped from his
+hands.
+
+Edward determined not to pursue the fugitives any farther at that
+time, as there were many important affairs to be attended to in
+London, and so he concluded to be satisfied at present with the
+victory which he had obtained, and with the dispersion of his enemies,
+and to return to the capital. He first, however, gathered together
+the remains of his father and brother, and caused them to be buried
+with solemn funeral ceremonies in one of his castles near York. This
+was, however, only a temporary arrangement, for, as soon as his
+affairs were fully settled, the remains were disinterred, and
+conveyed, with great funeral pomp and parade, to their final
+resting-place in the southern part of the kingdom.
+
+As soon as Edward reached London, one of the first things that he did
+was to send for his two brothers, George and Richard, who, as will be
+recollected, had been removed by their mother to Holland, and were now
+in Utrecht pursuing their education. These two boys were all the
+brothers of Edward that remained now alive. They came back to London.
+Their widowed mother's heart was filled with a melancholy sort of joy
+in seeing her children once more together, safe in their native land;
+but her spirit, after reviving for a moment, sank again, overwhelmed
+with the bitter and irreparable loss which she had sustained in the
+death of her husband. His death was, of course, a fatal blow to all
+those ambitious plans and aspirations which she had cherished for
+herself. Though the mother of a king, she could now never become
+herself a queen; and, disappointed and unhappy, she retired to one of
+the family castles in the neighborhood of London, and lived there
+comparatively alone and in great seclusion.
+
+The boys, on the other hand, were brought forward very conspicuously
+into public life. In the autumn of the same year in which Edward took
+possession of the crown, they were made royal dukes, with great parade
+and ceremony, and were endowed with immense estates to enable them to
+support the dignity of their rank and position. George was made Duke
+of Clarence; Richard, Duke of Gloucester; and from this time the two
+boys were almost always designated by these names.
+
+Suitable persons, too, were appointed to take charge of the boys, for
+the purpose of conducting their education, and also to manage their
+estates until they should become of age.
+
+There have been a great many disputes in respect to Richard's
+appearance and character at this time. For a long period after his
+death, people generally believed that he was, from his very childhood,
+an ugly little monster, that nobody could look upon without fear; and,
+in fact, he was very repulsive in his personal appearance when he grew
+up, but at this time of his life the historians and biographers who
+saw and knew him say that he was quite a pretty boy, though puny and
+weak. His face was handsome enough, though his form was frail, and not
+perfectly symmetrical. Those who had charge of him tried to strengthen
+his constitution by training him to the martial exercises and usages
+which were practiced in those days, and especially by accustoming him
+to wear the ponderous armor which was then in use.
+
+This armor was made of iron or steel. It consisted of a great number
+of separate pieces, which, when they were all put on, incased almost
+the whole body, so as to defend it against blows coming from any
+quarter. First, there was the helmet, or cap of steel, with large oval
+pieces coming down to protect the ears. Next came the _gorget_, as it
+was called, which was a sort of collar to cover the neck. Then there
+were elbow pieces to guard the elbows, and shoulder-plates for the
+shoulders, and a breast-plate or buckler for the front, and greaves
+for the legs and thighs. These things were necessary in those days, or
+at least they were advantageous, for they afforded pretty effectual
+protection against all the ordinary weapons which were then in use.
+But they made the warriors themselves so heavy and unwieldy as very
+greatly to interfere with the freedom of their movements when engaged
+in battle. There was, indeed, a certain advantage in this weight, as
+it made the shock with which the knight on horseback encountered his
+enemy in the charge so much the more heavy and overpowering; but if he
+were by any accident to lose his seat and fall to the ground, he was
+generally so encumbered by his armor that he could only partially
+raise himself therefrom. He was thus compelled to lie almost helpless
+until his enemy came to kill him, or his squire or some other friend
+came to help him up.[E]
+
+[Footnote E: See engraving on page 148.]
+
+Of course, to be able to manage one's self at all in these habiliments
+of iron and steel, there was required not only native strength of
+constitution, but long and careful training, and it was a very
+important part of the education of young men of rank in Richard's days
+to familiarize them with the use of this armor, and inure them to the
+weight of it. Suits of it were made for boys, the size and weight of
+each suit being fitted to the form and strength of the wearer. Many of
+these suits of boys' armor are still preserved in England. There are
+several specimens to be seen in the Tower of London. They are in the
+apartment called the Horse Armory, which is a vast hall with effigies
+of horses, and of men mounted upon them, all completely armed with
+the veritable suits of steel which the men and the horses that they
+represent actually wore when they were alive. The horses are arranged
+along the sides of the room in regular order from the earliest ages
+down to the time when steel armor of this kind ceased to be worn.
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD QUINTAINE]
+
+These suits of armor were very costly, and the boys for whom they were
+made were, of course, filled with feelings of exultation and pride
+when they put them on; and, heavy and uncomfortable as such clothing
+must have been, they were willing to wear it, and to practice the
+required exercises in it. When actually made of steel, the armor was
+very expensive, and such could only be afforded for young princes and
+nobles of very high rank; for other young men, various substitutes
+were provided; but all were trained, either in the use of actual
+armor, or of substitutes, to perform a great number and variety of
+exercises. They were taught, when they were old enough, to spring upon
+a horse with as much armor upon them and in their hands as possible;
+to run races; to see how long they could continue to strike heavy
+blows in quick succession with a battle-axe or club, as if they were
+beating an enemy lying upon the ground, and trying to break his armor
+to pieces; to dance and throw summersets; to mount upon a horse
+behind another person by leaping from the ground, and assisting
+themselves only by one hand, and other similar things. One feat which
+they practiced was to climb up between two partition walls built
+pretty near together, by bracing their back against one wall, and
+working with their knees and hands against the other. Another feat was
+to climb up a ladder on the under side by means of the hands alone.
+
+Another famous exercise, or perhaps rather game, was performed with
+what was called the _quintaine_. The quintaine consisted of a stout
+post set in the ground, and rising about ten or twelve feet above the
+surface. Across the top was a strong bar, which turned on a pivot made
+in the top of the post, so that it would go round and round. To one
+end of this cross-bar there was fixed a square board for a target; to
+the other end was hung a heavy club. The cross-bar was so poised upon
+the central pivot that it would move very easily. In playing the game,
+the competitors, mounted on horseback, were to ride, one after
+another, under the target-end of the cross-bar, and hurl their spears
+at it with all their force. The blow from the spear would knock the
+target-end of the cross-bar away, and so bring round the other end,
+with its heavy club, to strike a blow on the horseman's head if he did
+not get instantly out of the way. It was as if he were to strike one
+enemy in front in battle, while there was another enemy ready on the
+instant to strike him from behind.
+
+There is one of these ancient quintaines now standing on the green in
+the village of Offham, in Kent.
+
+Such exercises as these were, of course, only fitted for men, or at
+least for boys who had nearly attained to their full size and
+strength. There were other games and exercises intended for smaller
+boys. There are many rude pictures in ancient books illustrating these
+old games. In one they are playing ball; in another they are playing
+shuttle-cock. The battle-doors that they use are very rude.
+
+[Illustration: PLAYING BALL.]
+
+These pictures show how ancient these common games are. In another
+picture the boys are playing with a hoop. Two of them are holding the
+hoop up between them, and the third is preparing to jump through it,
+head foremost. His plan is to come down on the other side upon his
+hands, and so turn a summerset, and come up on his feet beyond.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK.]
+
+In these exercises and amusements, and, indeed, in all his
+occupations, Richard had his brother George, the Duke of Clarence, for
+his playmate and companion. George was not only older than Richard,
+but he was also much more healthy and athletic; and some persons have
+thought that Richard injured himself, and perhaps, in some degree,
+increased the deformity which he seems to have suffered from in later
+years, or perhaps brought it on entirely, by overloading himself, in
+his attempts to keep pace with his brother in these exercises, with
+burdens of armor, or by straining himself in athletic exertions which
+were beyond his powers.
+
+The intellectual education of the boys was not entirely neglected.
+They learned to read and write, though they could not write much, or
+very well. Their names are still found, as they signed them to ancient
+documents, several of which remain to the present day. The following
+is a fac-simile of Richard's signature, copied exactly from one of
+those documents.
+
+[Illustration: RICHARD'S SIGNATURE.]
+
+Richard continued in this state of pupilage in some of the castles
+belonging to the family from the time that his brother began to reign
+until he was about fourteen years of age. Edward, the king, was then
+twenty-four, and Clarence about seventeen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER.
+
+A.D. 1461-1468
+
+Situation of Richard under the reign of his brother.--Strange
+vicissitudes in the life of Margaret.--Representatives of the house
+of York.--Margaret.--Value of a marriageable young lady.--Warwick
+becomes Edward's prime minister.--The three great parties.--The
+fortunes of Margaret of Anjou.--She escapes to France.--A new
+expedition planned.--Margaret is defeated and compelled to fly.--She
+encounters great dangers at sea.--The king concealed.--The king is
+made prisoner, and sent to the Tower.--Brutal punishments.--Great
+exasperation of the combatants.--Account of Elizabeth
+Woodville.--Edward's first interview with her.--The secret
+marriage.--The marriage gradually revealed.--Indignation of the Earl
+of Warwick.--Ancient portrait of Edward IV.--Portrait of Queen
+Elizabeth Woodville.--George and Richard.--The queen is publicly
+acknowledged.--Various difficulties and entanglements resulting
+from this marriage.--Jealousy against the queen's family and
+relations.--Situation of Henry and his family.--Margaret of
+York.--Plans and manoeuvres in respect to Margaret's marriage.--Count
+Charles carries the day.--Vexation of Warwick.--Progress of the
+quarrel.--A temporary reconciliation.--A new marriage scheme.--Edward
+displeased.--He fails of preventing the marriage.--The ceremony
+performed at Calais.
+
+
+Richard's brother, Edward the Fourth, began to reign when Richard was
+about eight or nine years of age. His reign continued--with a brief
+interruption, which will be hereafter explained--for twenty years; so
+that, for a very important period of his life, after he arrived at
+some degree of maturity, namely, from the time that he was fourteen to
+the time that he was thirty, Richard was one of his brother's
+subjects. He was a prince, it is true, and a prince of the very
+highest rank--the next person but one, in fact, in the line of
+succession to the crown. His brother George, the Duke of Clarence, of
+course, being older than he, came before him; but both the young men,
+though princes, were subjects. They were under their brother Edward's
+authority, and bound to serve and obey him as their rightful
+sovereign; next to him, however, they were the highest personages in
+the realm. George was, from this time, generally called Clarence, and
+Richard, Gloucester.
+
+The reader may perhaps feel some interest and curiosity in learning
+what became of Queen Margaret and old King Henry after they were
+driven out of the country toward the north, at the time of Edward's
+accession. Their prospects seemed, at the time, to be hopelessly
+ruined, but their case was destined to furnish another very striking
+instance of the extraordinary reverses of fortune which marked the
+history of nearly all the great families during the whole course of
+this York and Lancaster quarrel. In about ten years from the time when
+Henry and Margaret were driven away, apparently into hopeless exile,
+they came back in triumph, and were restored to power, and Edward
+himself, in his turn, was ignominiously expelled from the kingdom. The
+narrative of the circumstances through which these events were brought
+about forms quite a romantic story.
+
+In order, however, that this story may be more clearly understood, I
+will first enumerate the principal personages that take a part in it,
+and briefly remind the reader of the position which they respectively
+occupied, and the relations which they sustained to each other.
+
+First, there is the family of King Henry, consisting of himself and
+his wife, Queen Margaret, and his little son Edward, who had received
+the title of Prince of Wales. This boy was about eight years old at
+the time his father and mother were driven away. We left them, in the
+last chapter, flying toward the frontiers of Scotland to save their
+lives, leaving to Edward and his troops the full possession of the
+kingdom.
+
+Henry and his little son, the Prince of Wales, of course represent the
+house of Lancaster in the dispute for the succession.
+
+The house of York was represented by Edward, whose title, as king, was
+Edward the Fourth, and his two brothers, George and Richard, or, as
+they were now generally called, Clarence and Gloucester. In case
+Edward should be married and have a son, his son would succeed him,
+and George and Richard would be excluded; if, however, he should die
+without issue, then George would become king; and if George should die
+without issue, and Richard should survive him, then Richard would
+succeed. Thus, as matters now stood, George and Richard were
+presumptive heirs to the crown, and it was natural that they should
+wish that their brother Edward should never be married.
+
+Besides these two brothers, who were the only ones of all his brothers
+that were now living, Edward had a sister named Margaret. Margaret was
+four years younger than Edward the king, and about six years older
+than Richard. She was now about seventeen. A young lady of that age in
+the family of a king in those days was quite a treasure, as the king
+was enabled to promote his political schemes sometimes very
+effectually by bestowing her in marriage upon this great prince or
+that, as would best further the interests which he had in view in
+foreign courts.
+
+This young lady, Edward's sister, being of the same
+name--Margaret--with the queen of old King Henry, was distinguished
+from her by being called Margaret of York, as she belonged to the York
+family. The queen was generally known as Margaret of Anjou. Anjou was
+the place of her nativity.
+
+The next great personage to be named is the Earl of Warwick. He was
+the man, as you will doubtless recollect, who was in command of the
+sea between England and the Continent at the time when Lady Cecily
+wished to send her children, George and Richard, away after their
+father's death, and who assisted in arranging their flight. He was a
+man of great power and influence, and of such an age and character
+that he exerted a vast ascendency over all within his influence.
+Without him, Edward never would have conquered the Lancaster party,
+and he knew very well that if Warwick, and all those whom Warwick
+would carry with him, were to desert him, he should not be able to
+retain his kingdom. Indeed, Warwick received the surname of
+_King-maker_ from the fact that, in repeated instances during this
+quarrel, he put down one dynasty and raised up the other, just as he
+pleased. He belonged to a great and powerful family named Neville. As
+soon as Edward was established on his throne, Warwick, almost as a
+matter of course, became prime minister. One of his brothers was made
+chancellor, and a great number of other posts of distinction and honor
+were distributed among the members of the Neville family. Indeed,
+although Edward was nominally king, it might have been considered in
+some degree a question whether it was the house of York or the house
+of Neville that actually reigned in England.
+
+The Earl of Warwick had two daughters. Their names were Isabella and
+Anne. These two young ladies the earl reckoned, as Edward did his
+sister Margaret, among the most important of his political resources.
+By marrying them to persons of very high position, he could strengthen
+his alliances and increase his power. There was even a possibility, he
+thought, of marrying one of them to the King of England, or to a
+prince who would become king.
+
+Thus we have for the three great parties to the transactions now to be
+described, first, the representatives of the house of Lancaster, the
+feeble Henry, the energetic and strong-minded Margaret of Anjou, and
+their little son, the Prince of Wales; secondly, the representatives
+of the house of York, King Edward the Fourth, the two young men his
+brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester,
+and his sister Margaret; and, thirdly, between these two parties, as
+it were, the Earl of Warwick and his two daughters, Isabella and Anne,
+standing at the head of a vast family influence, which ramified to
+every part of the kingdom, and was powerful enough to give the
+ascendency to either side, in favor of which they might declare.
+
+We are now prepared to follow Queen Margaret in her flight toward the
+north with her husband and her son, at the time when Edward the Fourth
+overcame her armies and ascended the throne. She pressed on as rapidly
+as possible, taking the king and the little prince with her, and
+accompanied and assisted in her flight by a few attendants, till she
+had crossed the frontier and was safe in Scotland. The Scots espoused
+her cause, and assisted her to raise fresh troops, with which she made
+one or two short incursions into England; but she soon found that she
+could do nothing effectual in this way, and so, after wasting some
+time in fruitless attempts, she left Scotland with the king and the
+prince, and went to France.
+
+Here she entered into negotiations with the King of France, and with
+other princes and potentates, on the Continent, with a view of raising
+men and money for a new invasion of England. At first these powers
+declined to assist her. They said that their treasuries were
+exhausted, and that they had no men. At last, however, Margaret
+promised to the King of France that if he would furnish her with a
+fleet and an army, by which she could recover the kingdom of her
+husband, she would cede to him the town of Calais, which, though
+situated on the coast of France, was at that time an English
+possession. This was a very tempting offer, for Calais was a fortress
+of the first class, and a military post either for England or France
+of a very important character.
+
+The king consented to this proposal. He equipped a fleet and raised an
+army, and Margaret set sail for England, taking the king and the
+prince with her. Her plan was to land in the northern part of the
+island, near the frontiers of Scotland, where she expected to find the
+country more friendly to the Lancastrian line than the people were
+toward the south. As soon as she landed she was joined by many of the
+people, and she succeeded in capturing some castles and small towns.
+But the Earl of Warwick, who was, as has been already said, the prime
+minister under Edward, immediately raised an army of twenty thousand
+men, and marched to the northward to meet her. Margaret's French army
+was wholly unprepared to encounter such a force as this, so they fled
+to their ships. All but about five hundred of the men succeeded in
+reaching the ships. The five hundred were cut to pieces. Margaret
+herself was detained in making arrangements for the king and the
+prince. She concluded not to take them to sea again, but to send them
+secretly into Wales, while she herself went back to France to see if
+she could not procure re-enforcements. She barely had time, at last,
+to reach the ships herself, so close at hand were her enemies. As soon
+as the queen had embarked, the fleet set sail. The queen had saved
+nearly all the money and all the stores which she had brought with her
+from France, and she hoped still to preserve them for another attempt.
+But the fleet had scarcely got off from the shore when a terrible
+storm arose, and the ships were all driven upon the rocks and dashed
+to pieces. The money and the stores were all lost; a large portion of
+the men were drowned; Margaret herself and the captain of the fleet
+saved themselves, and, as soon as the storm was over, they succeeded
+in making their escape back to Berwick in an old fishing-boat which
+they obtained on the shore.
+
+Soon after this, Margaret, with the captain of the fleet and a very
+small number of faithful followers who still adhered to her, sailed
+back again to France.
+
+The disturbances, however, which her landing had occasioned, did not
+cease immediately on her departure. The Lancastrian party all over
+England were excited and moved to action by the news of her coming,
+and for two years insurrections were continually taking place, and
+many battles were fought, and great numbers of people were killed.
+King Henry was all this time kept in close concealment, sometimes in
+Wales, and sometimes among the lakes and mountains in Westmoreland. He
+was conveyed from place to place by his adherents in the most secret
+manner, the knowledge in respect to his situation being confined to
+the smallest possible number of persons. This continued for two or
+three years. At last, however, while the friends of the king were
+attempting secretly to convey him to a certain castle in Yorkshire, he
+was seen and recognized by one of his enemies. A plan was immediately
+formed to make him prisoner. The plan succeeded. The king was
+surprised by an overwhelming force, which broke into the castle and
+seized him while he sat at dinner. His captors, and those who were
+lying in wait to assist them, galloped off at once with their prisoner
+to London. King Edward shut him up in the Tower, and he remained
+there, closely confined and strongly guarded for a long time.
+
+Thus King Henry's life was saved, but of those who espoused his cause,
+and made attempts to restore him, great numbers were seized and
+beheaded in the most cruel manner. It was Edward's policy to slay all
+the leaders. It was said that after a battle he would ride with a
+company of men over the ground, and kill every wounded or exhausted
+man of rank that still remained alive, though he would spare the
+common soldiers. Sometimes, when he got men that were specially
+obnoxious to him into his hands, he would put them to death in the
+most cruel and ignominious manner. One distinguished knight, that had
+been taken prisoner by Warwick, was brought to King Edward, who, at
+that time, as it happened, was sick, and by Edward's orders was
+treated most brutally. He was first taken out into a public place, and
+his spurs were struck off from his feet by a cook. This was one of the
+greatest indignities that a knight could suffer. Then his coat of arms
+was torn off from him, and another coat, inside out, was put upon him.
+Then he was made to walk barefoot to the end of the town, and there
+was laid down upon his back on a sort of drag, and so drawn to the
+place of execution, where his head was cut off on a block with a
+broad-axe.
+
+Such facts as these show what a state of exasperation the two great
+parties of York and Lancaster were in toward each other throughout the
+kingdom. It is necessary to understand this, in order fully to
+appreciate the import and consequences of the very extraordinary
+transaction which is now to be related.
+
+It seems there was a certain knight named Sir John Gray, a
+Lancastrian, who had been killed at one of the great battles which had
+been fought during the war. He had also been attainted, as it was
+called--that is, sentence had been pronounced against him on a charge
+of high treason, by which his estates were forfeited, and his wife
+and children, of course, reduced to poverty. The name of his wife was
+Elizabeth Woodville. She was the daughter of a noble knight named Sir
+Richard Woodville. Her mother's name was Jacquetta. On the death and
+attainder of her husband, being reduced to great poverty and distress,
+she went home to the house of her father and mother, at a beautiful
+manor which they possessed at Grafton. She was quite young, and very
+beautiful.
+
+It happened that by some means or other Edward paid a visit one day to
+the Lady Jacquetta, at her manor, as he was passing through the
+country. Whether this visit was accidental, or whether it was
+contrived by Jacquetta, does not appear. However this may be, the
+beautiful widow came into the presence of the king, and, throwing
+herself at his feet, begged and implored him to revoke the attainder
+of her husband for the sake of her innocent and helpless children. The
+king was much moved by her beauty and by her distress. From pitying
+her he soon began to love her. And yet it seemed impossible that he
+should marry her. Her rank, in the first place, was far below his, and
+then, what was worse, she belonged to the Lancastrian party, the
+king's implacable enemies. The king knew very well that all his own
+partisans would be made furious at the idea of such a match, and that,
+if they knew that it was in contemplation, they would resist it to the
+utmost of their power. For a time he did not know what he should do.
+At length, however, his love for the beautiful widow, as might easily
+be foreseen, triumphed over all considerations of prudence, and he was
+secretly married to her. The marriage took place in the morning, in a
+very private manner, in the month of May, in 1464.
+
+The king kept the marriage secret nearly all summer. He thought it
+best to break the subject to his lords and nobles gradually, as he had
+opportunity to communicate it to them one by one. In this way it at
+length became known, without producing, at any one time, any special
+sensation, and toward the fall preparations were made for openly
+acknowledging the union.
+
+[Illustration: KING EDWARD IV.
+
+This engraving is a portrait of King Edward as he appeared at this
+time. It is copied from an ancient painting, and doubtless represents
+correctly the character and expression of his countenance, and one
+form, at least, of dress which he was accustomed to wear. He was, at
+the time of his marriage, about twenty-two years of age. Elizabeth was
+ten years older.]
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE.
+
+This engraving represents the queen. It is taken, like the other, from
+an ancient portrait, and no doubt corresponds closely to the
+original.]
+
+Although the knowledge of the king's marriage produced no sudden
+outbreak of opposition, it awakened a great deal of secret indignation
+and rage, and gave occasion to many suppressed mutterings and curses.
+Of course, every leading family of the realm, that had been on
+Edward's side in the civil wars, which contained a marriageable
+daughter, had been forming hopes and laying plans to secure this
+magnificent match for themselves. Those who had no marriageable
+daughters of their own joined their nearest relatives and friends in
+their schemes, or formed plans for some foreign alliance with a
+princess of France, or Burgundy, or Holland, whichever would best
+harmonize with the political schemes that they wished to promote. The
+Earl of Warwick seems to have belonged to the former class. He had two
+daughters, as has already been stated. It would very naturally be his
+desire that the king, if he were to take for his wife any English
+subject at all, should make choice of one of these. Of course, he was
+more than all the rest irritated and vexed at what the king had done.
+He communicated his feelings to Clarence, but concealed them from the
+king. Clarence was, of course, ready to sympathize with the earl. He
+was ready enough to take offense at any thing connected with the
+king's marriage on very slight grounds, for it was very much for his
+interest, as the next heir, that his brother should not be married at
+all.
+
+[Illustration: WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS.]
+
+The earl and Clarence, however, thought it best for the time to
+suppress and conceal their opposition to the marriage; so they joined
+very readily in the ceremonies connected with the public
+acknowledgment of the queen. A vast assemblage of nobles, prelates,
+and other grand dignitaries was convened, and Elizabeth was brought
+forward before them and formally presented. The Earl of Warwick and
+Clarence appeared in the foremost rank among her friends on this
+occasion. They took her by the hand, and, leading her forward,
+presented her to the assembled multitude of lords and ladies, who
+welcomed her with long and loud acclamations.
+
+Soon after this a grand council was convened, and a handsome income
+was settled upon the queen, to enable her properly to maintain the
+dignity of her station.
+
+Early in the next year preparations were made for a grand coronation
+of the queen. Foreign princes were invited to attend the ceremony, and
+many came, accompanied by large bodies of knights and squires, to do
+honor to the occasion. The coronation took place in May. The queen was
+conveyed in procession through the streets of London on a sort of open
+palanquin, borne by horses most magnificently caparisoned. Vast crowds
+of people assembled along the streets to look at the procession as it
+passed. The next day the coronation itself took place in Westminster,
+and it was followed by games, feasts, tournaments, and public
+rejoicings of every kind, which lasted many days.
+
+Thus far every thing on the surface, at least, had gone well; but it
+was not long after the coronation before the troubles which were to be
+expected from such a match began to develop themselves in great force.
+The new queen was ambitious, and she was naturally desirous of
+bringing her friends forward into places of influence and honor. The
+king was, of course, ready to listen to her recommendations; but then
+all her friends were Lancastrians. They were willing enough, it is
+true, to change their politics and to become Yorkists for the sake of
+the rewards and honors which they could obtain by the change, but the
+old friends of the king were greatly exasperated to find the important
+posts, one after another, taken away from them, and given to their
+hated enemies.
+
+Then, besides the quarrel for the political offices, there were a
+great many of the cherished matrimonial plans and schemes of the old
+families interfered with and broken up by the queen's family thus
+coming into power. It happened that the queen had five unmarried
+sisters. She began to form plans for securing for them men of the
+highest rank and position in the realm. This, of course, thwarted the
+plans and disappointed the hopes of all those families who had been
+scheming to gain these husbands for their own daughters. To see five
+great heirs of dukes and barons thus withdrawn from the matrimonial
+market, and employed to increase the power and prestige of their
+ancient and implacable foes, filled the souls of the old Yorkist
+families with indignation. Parties were formed. The queen and her
+family and friends--the Woodvilles and Grays--with all their
+adherents, were on one side; the Neville family, with the Earl of
+Warwick at their head, and most of the old Yorkist noblemen, were on
+the other; Clarence joined the Earl of Warwick; Richard, on the other
+hand, or Gloucester, as he was now called, adhered to the king.
+
+Things went on pretty much in this way for two years. There was no
+open quarrel, though there was a vast deal of secret animosity and
+bickering. The great world at court was divided into two sets, or
+cliques, that hated each other very cordially, though both, for the
+present, pretended to support King Edward as the rightful sovereign of
+the country. The struggle was for the honors and offices under him.
+The families who still adhered to the old Lancastrian party, and to
+the rights of Henry and of the little Prince of Wales, withdrew, of
+course, altogether from the court, and, retiring to their castles,
+brooded moodily there over their fallen fortunes, and waited in
+expectation of better times. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower;
+Margaret and the Prince of Wales were on the Continent. They and their
+friends were, of course, watching the progress of the quarrel between
+the party of the Earl of Warwick and that of the king, hoping that it
+might at last lead to an open rupture, in which case the Lancastrians
+might hope for Warwick's aid to bring them again into power.
+
+[Illustration: WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING.]
+
+And now another circumstance occurred which widened this breach very
+much indeed. It arose from a difference of opinion between King Edward
+and the Earl of Warwick in respect to the marriage of the king's
+sister Margaret, known, as has already been said, as Margaret of York.
+There was upon the Continent a certain Count Charles, the son and heir
+of the Duke of Burgundy, who demanded her hand. The count's family had
+been enemies of the house of York, and had done every thing in their
+power to promote Queen Margaret's plans, so long as there was any hope
+for her; but when they found that King Edward was firmly established
+on the throne, they came over to his side, and now the count demanded
+the hand of the Princess Margaret in marriage; but the stern old Earl
+of Warwick did not like such friendship as this, so he recommended
+that the count should be refused, and that Margaret should have for
+her husband one of the princes of France.
+
+Now King Edward himself preferred Count Charles for the husband of
+Margaret, and this chiefly because the queen, his wife, preferred him
+on account of the old friendship which had subsisted between his
+family and the Lancastrians. Besides this, however, Flanders, the
+country over which the count was to reign on the death of his father,
+was at that time so situated that an alliance with it would be of
+greater advantage to Edward's political plans than an alliance with
+France. But, notwithstanding this, the earl was so earnest in urging
+his opinion, that finally Edward yielded, and the earl was dispatched
+to France to negotiate the marriage with the French prince.
+
+The earl set off on this embassy in great magnificence. He landed in
+Normandy with a vast train of attendants, and proceeded in almost
+royal state toward Paris. The King of France, to honor his coming and
+the occasion, came forth to meet him. The meeting took place at Rouen.
+The proposals were well received by the French king. The negotiations
+were continued for eight or ten days, and at last every thing was
+arranged. For the final closing of the contract, it was necessary that
+a messenger from the King of France should proceed to London. The king
+appointed an archbishop and some other dignitaries to perform the
+service. The earl then returned to England, and was soon followed by
+the French embassadors, expecting that every thing essential was
+settled, and that nothing but a few formalities remained.
+
+But, in the mean time, while all this had been going on in France,
+Count Charles had quietly sent an embassador to England to press his
+claim to the princess's hand. This messenger managed this business
+very skillfully, so as not to attract any public attention to what he
+was doing; and besides, the earl being away, the queen, Elizabeth,
+could exert all her influence over her husband's mind unimpeded.
+Edward was finally persuaded to promise Margaret's hand to the count,
+and the contracts were made; so that, when the earl and the French
+embassadors arrived, they found, to their astonishment and dismay,
+that a rival and enemy had stepped in during their absence and secured
+the prize.
+
+The Earl of Warwick was furious when he learned how he had been
+deceived. He had been insulted, he said, and disgraced. Edward made
+no attempt to pacify him; indeed, any attempt that he could have made
+would probably have been fruitless. The earl withdrew from the court,
+went off to one of his castles, and shut himself up there in great
+displeasure.
+
+The quarrel now began to assume a very serious air. Edward suspected
+that the earl was forming plots and conspiracies against him. He
+feared that he was secretly designing to take measures for restoring
+the Lancastrian line to the throne. He was alarmed for his personal
+safety. He expelled all Warwick's family and friends from the court,
+and, whenever he went out in public, he took care to be always
+attended by a strong body-guard, as if he thought there was danger of
+an attempt upon his life.
+
+At length one of the earl's brothers, the youngest of the family, who
+was at that time Archbishop of York, interposed to effect a
+reconciliation. We have not space here to give a full account of the
+negotiations; but the result was, a sort of temporary peace was made,
+by which the earl again returned to court, and was restored apparently
+to his former position. But there was no cordial good-will between him
+and the king. Edward dreaded the earl's power, and hated the stern
+severity of his character, while the earl, by the commanding influence
+which he exerted in the realm, was continually thwarting both Edward
+and Elizabeth in their plans.
+
+Edward and Elizabeth had now been married some time, but they had no
+son, and, of course, no heir, for daughters in those days did not
+inherit the English crown. Of course, Clarence, Edward's second
+brother, was the next heir. This increased the jealousy which the two
+brothers felt toward each other, and tended very much to drive
+Clarence away from Edward, and to increase the intimacy between
+Clarence and Warwick. At length, in 1468, it was announced that a
+marriage was in contemplation between Clarence and Isabella, the Earl
+of Warwick's oldest daughter. Edward and Queen Elizabeth were very
+much displeased and very much alarmed when they heard of this plan. If
+carried into effect, it would bind Clarence and the Warwick influence
+together in indissoluble bonds, and make their power much more
+formidable than ever before. Every body would say when the marriage
+was concluded,
+
+"Now, in case Edward should die, which event may happen at any time,
+the earl's daughter will be queen, and then the earl will have a
+greater influence than ever in the disposition of offices and honors.
+It behooves us, therefore, to make friends with him in season, so as
+to secure his good-will in advance, before he comes into power."
+
+King Edward and his queen, seeing how much this match was likely at
+once to increase the earl's importance, did every thing in their power
+to prevent it. But they could not succeed. The earl was determined
+that Clarence and his daughter should be married. The opposition was,
+however, so strong at court that the marriage could not be celebrated
+at London; so the ceremony was performed at Calais, which city was at
+that time under the earl's special command. The king and queen
+remained at London, and made no attempt to conceal their vexation and
+chagrin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE DOWNFALL OF YORK.
+
+1469-1470
+
+Insurrections.--The king goes to meet the rebels.--Rebellion
+suppressed.--A grand reconciliation.--The king frightened.--The
+quarrel renewed.--New reconciliations.--New rebellions.--Warwick comes
+to open war with the king.--Warwick and his party not allowed to land
+at Calais.--The party in great straits.--They land at Harfleur.--Strange
+compact between Warwick and Queen Margaret.--Attempt to entice Clarence
+away from Warwick.--Edward does not fear.--The Duke of Burgundy.--Queen
+Margaret crosses the Channel.--Landing of the expedition.--Reception of
+it.--Edward's friends and followers forsake him.--Edward flies from the
+country.--Difficulties and dangers.--His mother makes her escape to
+sanctuary.--Birth of Edward's son and heir.--King Henry is fully
+restored to the throne.
+
+
+Edward's apprehension and anxiety in respect to the danger that
+Warwick might be concocting schemes to restore the Lancastrian line to
+the throne were greatly increased by the sudden breaking out of
+insurrections in the northern part of the island, while Warwick and
+Clarence were absent in Calais, on the occasion of Clarence's marriage
+to Isabella. The insurgents did not demand the restoration of the
+Lancastrian line, but only the removal of the queen's family and
+relations from the council. The king raised an armed force, and
+marched to the northward to meet the rebels. But his army was
+disaffected, and he could do nothing. They fled before the advancing
+army of insurgents, and Edward went with them to Nottingham Castle,
+where he shut himself up, and wrote urgently to Warwick and Clarence
+to come to his aid.
+
+Warwick made no haste to obey this command. After some delay, however,
+he left Calais in command of one of his lieutenants and repaired to
+Nottingham, where he soon released the king from his dangerous
+situation. He quelled the rebellion too, but not until the insurgents
+had seized the father and one of the brothers of the queen, and cut
+off their heads.
+
+In the mean time, the Lancastrians themselves, thinking that this was
+a favorable time for them, began to put themselves in motion. Warwick
+was the only person who was capable of meeting them and putting them
+down. This he did, taking the king with him in his train, in a
+condition more like that of a prisoner than a sovereign. At length,
+however, the rebellions were suppressed, and all parties returned to
+London.
+
+There now took place what purported to be a grand reconciliation.
+Treaties were drawn up and signed between Warwick and Clarence on one
+side, and the king on the other, by which both parties bound
+themselves to forgive and forget all that had passed, and thenceforth
+to be good friends; but, notwithstanding all the solemn signings and
+sealings with which these covenants were secured, the actual condition
+of the parties in respect to each other remained entirely unchanged,
+and neither of the three felt a whit more confidence in the others
+after the execution of these treaties than before.
+
+At last the secret distrust which they felt toward each other broke
+out openly. Warwick's brother, the Archbishop of York, made an
+entertainment at one of his manors for a party of guests, in which
+were included the king, the Duke of Clarence, and the Earl of Warwick.
+It was about three months after the treaties were signed that this
+entertainment was made, and the feast was intended to celebrate and
+cement the good understanding which it was now agreed was henceforth
+to prevail. The king arrived at the manor, and, while he was in his
+room making his toilet for the supper, which was all ready to be
+served, an attendant came to him and whispered in his ear,
+
+"Your majesty is in danger. There is a band of armed men in ambush
+near the house."
+
+The king was greatly alarmed at hearing this. He immediately stole out
+of the house, mounted his horse, and, with two or three followers,
+rode away as fast as he could ride. He continued his journey all
+night, and in the morning arrived at Windsor Castle.
+
+Then followed new negotiations between Warwick and the king, with
+mutual reproaches, criminations, and recriminations without number.
+Edward insisted that treachery was intended at the house to which he
+had been invited, and that he had barely escaped, by his sudden
+flight, from falling into the snare. But Warwick and his friends
+denied this entirely, and attributed the flight of the king to a
+wholly unreasonable alarm, caused by his jealous and suspicious
+temper. At last Edward suffered himself to be reassured, and then came
+new treaties and a new reconciliation.
+
+This peace was made in the fall of 1469, and in the spring of 1470 a
+new insurrection broke out. The king believed that Warwick himself,
+and Clarence, were really at the bottom of these disturbances, but
+still he was forced to send them with bodies of troops to subdue the
+rebels; he, however, immediately raised a large army for himself, and
+proceeded to the seat of war. He reached the spot before Warwick and
+Clarence arrived there. He gave battle to the insurgents, and defeated
+them. He took a great many prisoners, and beheaded them. He found, or
+pretended to find, proof that Warwick and Clarence, instead of
+intending to fight the insurgents, had made their arrangements for
+joining them on the following day, and that he had been just in time
+to defeat their treachery. Whether he really found evidence of these
+intentions on the part of Warwick and Clarence or not, or whether he
+was flushed by the excitement of victory, and resolved to seize the
+occasion to cut loose at once and forever from the entanglement in
+which he had been bound, is somewhat uncertain. At all events, he now
+declared open war against Warwick and Clarence, and set off
+immediately on his march to meet them, at the head of a force much
+superior to theirs.
+
+Warwick and Clarence marched and countermarched, and made many
+manoeuvres to escape a battle, and during all this time their
+strength was rapidly diminishing. As long as they were nominally on
+the king's side, however really hostile to him, they had plenty of
+followers; but, now that they were in open war against him, their
+forces began to melt away. In this emergency, Warwick suddenly changed
+all his plans. He disbanded his army, and then taking all his family
+with him, including Clarence and Isabella, and accompanied by an
+inconsiderable number of faithful friends, he marched at the head of a
+small force which he retained as an escort to the sea-port of
+Dartmouth, and then embarked for Calais.
+
+The vessels employed to transport the party formed quite a little
+fleet, so numerous were the servants and attendants that accompanied
+the fugitives. They embarked without delay on reaching the coast, as
+they were in haste to make the passage and arrive at Calais, for
+Isabella, Clarence's wife, was about to become a mother, and at Calais
+they thought that they should all be, as it were, at home.
+
+It will be remembered that the Earl of Warwick was the governor of
+Calais, and that when he left it he had appointed a lieutenant to take
+command of it during his absence. Before his ship arrived off the port
+this lieutenant had received dispatches from Edward, which had been
+hurried to him by a special messenger, informing him that Warwick was
+in rebellion against his sovereign, and forbidding the lieutenant to
+allow him or his party to enter the town.
+
+Accordingly, when Warwick's fleet arrived off the port, they found the
+guns of the batteries pointed at them, and sentinels on the piers
+warning them not to attempt to land.
+
+Warwick was thunderstruck. To be thus refused admission to his own
+fortress by his own lieutenant was something amazing, as well as
+outrageous. The earl was at first completely bewildered; but, on
+demanding an explanation, the lieutenant sent him word that the
+refusal to land was owing to the people of the town. They, he said,
+having learned that he and the king had come to open war, insisted
+that the fortress should be reserved for their sovereign. Warwick
+then explained the situation that his daughter was in; but the
+lieutenant was firm. The determination of the people was so strong, he
+said, that he could not control it. Finally, the child was born on
+board the ship, as it lay at anchor off the port, and all the aid or
+comfort which the party could get from the shore consisted of two
+flagons of wine, which the lieutenant, with great hesitation and
+reluctance, allowed to be sent on board. The child was a son. His
+birth was an event of great importance, for he was, of course, as
+Clarence's son, a prince in the direct line of succession to the
+English crown.
+
+At length, finding that he could not land at Calais, Warwick sailed
+away with his fleet along the coast of France till he reached the
+French port of Harfleur. Here his ships were admitted, and the whole
+party were allowed to land.
+
+Then followed various intrigues, manoeuvres, and arrangements, which
+we have not time here fully to unravel; but the end of all was, that
+in a few weeks after the Earl of Warwick's landing in France, he
+repaired to a castle where Margaret of Anjou and her son, the Prince
+of Wales, were residing, and there, in the course of a short time, he
+made arrangements to espouse her cause, and assist in restoring her
+husband to the English throne, on condition that her son, the Prince
+of Wales, should marry his second daughter Anne. It is said that Queen
+Margaret for a long time refused to consent to this arrangement. She
+was extremely unwilling that her son, the heir to the English crown,
+should take for a wife the daughter of the hated enemy to whom the
+downfall of her family, and all the terrible calamities which had
+befallen them, had been mainly owing. She was, however, at length
+induced to yield. Her ambition gained the victory over her hate, and
+she consented to the alliance on a solemn oath being taken by Warwick
+that thenceforth he would be on her side, and do all in his power to
+restore her family to the throne.
+
+This arrangement was accordingly carried into effect, and thus the
+earl had one of his daughters married to the next heir to the English
+crown in the line of York, and the other to the next heir in the line
+of Lancaster. He had now only to choose to which dynasty he would
+secure the throne. Of course, the oath which he had taken, like other
+political oaths taken in those days, was only to be kept so long as he
+should deem it for his interest to keep it.
+
+He could not at once openly declare in favor of King Henry, for fear
+of alienating Clarence from him. But Clarence was soon drawn away.
+King Edward, when he heard of the marriage of Warwick's daughter with
+the Prince of Wales, immediately formed a plan for sending a messenger
+to negotiate with Clarence. He could not do this openly, for he knew
+very well that Warwick would not allow any avowed messenger from
+Edward to land; so he sent a lady. The lady was a particular friend of
+Isabella, Clarence's wife. She traveled privately by the way of
+Calais. On the way she said nothing about the object of her journey,
+but gave out simply that she was going to join her mistress, the
+Princess Isabella. On her arrival she managed the affair with great
+discretion. She easily obtained private interviews with Clarence, and
+represented to him that Warwick, now that his daughter was married to
+the heir on the Lancastrian side, would undoubtedly lay all his plans
+forthwith for putting that family on the throne, and that thus
+Clarence would lose all.
+
+"And therefore," said she, "how much better it will be for you to
+leave him and return to your brother Edward, who is ready to forgive
+and forget all the past, and receive you again as his friend."
+
+Clarence was convinced by these representations, and soon afterward,
+watching his opportunity, he made his way to England, and there
+espoused his brother's cause, and was received again into his service.
+
+In the mean time, tidings were continually coming to King Edward from
+his friends on the Continent, warning him of Warwick's plans, and
+bidding him to be upon his guard. But Edward had no fear. He said he
+wished that Warwick would come.
+
+"All I ask of my friends on the other side of the Channel," said he,
+"is that, when he does come, they will not let him get away again
+before I catch him--as he did before."
+
+Edward's great friend across the Channel was his brother-in-law, the
+Duke of Burgundy, the same who, when Count Charles, had married the
+Princess Margaret of York, as related in a former chapter. The Duke of
+Burgundy prepared and equipped a fleet, and had it all in readiness to
+intercept the earl in case he should attempt to sail for England.
+
+In the mean time, Queen Margaret and the earl went on with their
+preparations. The King of France furnished them with men, arms, and
+money. When every thing was ready, the earl sent word to the north of
+England, to some of his friends and partisans there, to make a sort
+of false insurrection, in order to entice away Edward and his army
+from the capital. This plan succeeded. Edward heard of the rising,
+and, collecting all the troops which were at hand, he marched to the
+northward to put it down. Just at this time a sudden storm arose and
+dispersed the Duke of Burgundy's fleet. The earl then immediately put
+to sea, taking with him Margaret of Anjou and her son, the Prince of
+Wales, with his wife, the Earl of Warwick's daughter. The Prince of
+Wales was now about eighteen years old. The father, King Henry,
+Margaret's husband, was not joined with the party. He was all this
+time, as you will recollect, a prisoner in the Tower, where Warwick
+himself had shut him up when he deposed him in order to place Edward
+upon the throne.
+
+All Europe looked on with astonishment at these proceedings, and
+watched the result with intense interest. Here was a man who, having,
+by a desperate and bloody war, deposed a king, and shut him up in
+prison, and compelled his queen and the prince his son, the heir, to
+fly from the country to save their lives, had now sought the exiles in
+their banishment, had married his own daughter to the prince, and was
+setting forth on an expedition for the purpose of liberating the
+father again, and restoring him to the throne.
+
+The earl's fleet crossed the Channel safely, and landed on the coast
+of Devonshire, in the southwestern part of the island. The landing of
+the expedition was the signal for great numbers of the nobles and high
+families throughout the realm to prepare for changing sides; for it
+was the fact, throughout the whole course of these wars between the
+houses of York and Lancaster, that a large proportion of the nobility
+and gentry, and great numbers of other adventurers, who lived in
+various ways on the public, stood always ready at once to change sides
+whenever there was a prospect that another side was coming into power.
+Then there were, in such a case as this, great numbers who were
+secretly in favor of the Lancaster line, but who were prevented from
+manifesting their preference while the house of York was in full
+possession of power. All these persons were aroused and excited by the
+landing of Warwick. King Edward found that his calls upon his friends
+to rally to his standard were not promptly obeyed. His friends were
+beginning to feel some doubt whether it would be best to continue his
+friends. A certain preacher in London had the courage to pray in
+public for the "king in the Tower," and the manner in which this
+allusion was received by the populace, and the excitement which it
+produced, showed how ready the city of London was to espouse Henry's
+cause.
+
+These, and other such indications, alarmed Edward very much. He turned
+to the southward again when he learned that Warwick had landed.
+Richard, who had, during all this period, adhered faithfully to
+Edward's cause, was with him, in command of a division of the army. As
+Warwick himself was rapidly advancing toward the north at this time,
+the two armies soon began to approach each other. As the time of trial
+drew nigh, Edward found that his friends and supporters were rapidly
+abandoning him. At length, one day, while he was at dinner, a
+messenger came in and told him that one of the leading officers of the
+army, with the whole division under his command, were waving their
+caps and cheering for "King Harry." He saw at once that all was lost,
+and he immediately prepared to fly.
+
+He was not far from the eastern coast at this time, and there was a
+small vessel there under his orders, which had been employed in
+bringing provisions from the Thames to supply his army. There were
+also two Dutch vessels there. The king took possession of these
+vessels, with Richard, and the few other followers that went with him,
+and put at once to sea. Nobody knew where they were going.
+
+Very soon after they had put to sea they were attacked by pirates.
+They escaped only by running their vessel on shore on the coast of
+Finland. Here the king found himself in a state of almost absolute
+destitution, so that he had to pawn his clothing to satisfy the most
+urgent demands. At length, after meeting with various strange
+adventures, he found his way to the Hague, where he was, for the time,
+in comparative safety.
+
+As soon as Warwick ascertained that Edward had fled, he turned toward
+London, with nothing now to impede his progress. He entered London in
+triumph. Clarence joined him, and entered London in his train; for
+Clarence, though he had gone to England with the intention of making
+common cause with his brother, had not been able yet to decide
+positively whether it would, on the whole, be for his interest to do
+so, and had, accordingly, kept himself in some degree uncommitted, and
+now he turned at once again to Warwick's side.
+
+The queen--Elizabeth Woodville--with her mother Jacquetta, were
+residing at the Tower at this time, where they had King Henry in
+their keeping; for the Tower was an extended group of buildings, in
+which palace and prison were combined in one. As soon as the queen
+learned that Edward was defeated, and that Warwick and Clarence were
+coming in triumph to London, she took her mother and three of her
+daughters--Elizabeth, Mary, and Cecily--who were with her at that
+time, and also a lady attendant, and hurried down the Tower stairs to
+a barge which was always in waiting there. She embarked on board the
+barge, and ordered the men to row her up to Westminster.
+
+Westminster is at the upper end of London, as the Tower is at the
+lower. On arriving at Westminster, the whole party fled for refuge to
+a sanctuary there. This sanctuary was a portion of the sacred
+precincts of a church, from which a refugee could not be taken,
+according to the ideas of those times, without committing the dreadful
+crime of sacrilege. A part of the building remained standing for three
+hundred years after this time, as represented in the opposite
+engraving. It was a gloomy old edifice, and it must have been a
+cheerless residence for princesses and a queen.
+
+[Illustration: THE SANCTUARY.]
+
+In this sanctuary, the queen, away from her husband, and deprived of
+almost every comfort, gave birth to her first son. Some persons
+living near took compassion upon her forlorn and desolate condition,
+and rendered her such aid as was absolutely necessary, out of charity.
+The abbot of the monastery connected with the church sent in various
+conveniences, and a good woman named Mother Cobb, who lived near by,
+came in and acted as nurse for the mother and the child.
+
+The child was baptized in the sanctuary a few days after he was born.
+He was named Edward, after his father. Of course, the birth of this
+son of King Edward cut off Clarence and his son from the succession on
+the York side. This little Edward was now the heir, and, about
+thirteen years after this, as we shall see in the sequel, he became
+King of England.
+
+As soon as the Earl of Warwick reached London, he proceeded at once to
+the Tower to release old King Henry from his confinement. He found the
+poor king in a wretched plight. His apartment was gloomy and
+comfortless, his clothing was ragged, and his person squalid and
+dirty. The earl brought him forth from his prison, and, after causing
+his personal wants to be properly attended to, clothed him once more
+in royal robes, and conveyed him in state through London to the palace
+in Westminster, and established him there nominally as King of
+England, though Warwick was to all intents and purposes the real king.
+A Parliament was called, and all necessary laws were passed to
+sanction and confirm the dynasty. Queen Margaret, who, however, had
+not yet arrived from the Continent, was restored to her former rank,
+and the young Prince of Wales, now about eighteen years old, was the
+object of universal interest throughout the kingdom, as now the
+unquestioned and only heir to the crown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE DOWNFALL OF LANCASTER.
+
+A.D. 1470-1471
+
+Position of Richard.--The Duke of Burgundy.--His cunning.--Secret
+communication with Clarence.--Warwick's plans to secure
+Clarence.--Edward and Richard sail for England.--Stratagems
+of war.--Reception of Edward at York.--The roses.--Public
+opinion.--Warwick.--Position of Clarence.--His double
+dealing.--Clarence goes over to Edward's side.--Edward
+triumphant.--Henry again sent to the Tower.--Warwick refuses to
+yield.--Preparations for a battle.--Edward victorious.--Warwick
+slain.--King Henry.--Margaret and the Prince of Wales.--Meeting
+of the armies.--Two boys to command.--The killing of Lord
+Wenlock.--End of the battle.--Murder of the Prince of Wales.--The
+queen's refuge.--Edward in the church.--Margaret taken.--Conducted
+a prisoner to London.--Henry is put to death in the Tower.--Burial
+of Henry VI.--The Lancastrian party completely subdued.
+
+
+It was in the month of October, 1470, that old King Henry and his
+family were restored to the throne. Clarence, as we have seen, being
+allied to Warwick by being married to his daughter, was induced to go
+over with him to the Lancastrian side; but Gloucester--that is,
+Richard--remained true to his own line, and followed the fortunes of
+his brother, in adverse as well as in prosperous times, with
+unchanging fidelity. He was now with Edward in the dominions of the
+Duke of Burgundy, who, you will recollect, married Margaret, Edward's
+sister, and who was now very naturally inclined to espouse Edward's
+cause.
+
+The Duke of Burgundy did not, however, dare to espouse Edward's cause
+too openly, for fear of the King of France, who took the side of Henry
+and Queen Margaret. He, however, did all in his power secretly to
+befriend him. Edward and Richard began immediately to form schemes for
+going back to England and recovering possession of the kingdom. The
+Duke of Burgundy issued a public proclamation, in which it was
+forbidden that any of his subjects should join Edward, or that any
+expedition to promote his designs should be fitted out in any part of
+his dominions. This proclamation was for the sake of the King of
+France. At the same time that he issued these orders publicly, he
+secretly sent Edward a large sum of money, furnished him with a fleet
+of fifteen or twenty ships, and assisted him in collecting a force of
+twelve hundred men.
+
+While he was making these arrangements and preparations on the
+Continent, Edward and his friends had also opened a secret
+communication with Clarence in England. It would, of course, very much
+weaken the cause of Edward and Richard to have Clarence against them;
+so Margaret, the wife of the Duke of Burgundy, interested herself in
+endeavoring to win him back again to their side. She had herself great
+influence over him, and she was assisted in her efforts by their
+mother, the Lady Cecily, who was still living in the neighborhood of
+London, and who was greatly grieved at Clarence's having turned
+against his brothers. The tie which bound Clarence to the Earl of
+Warwick was, of course, derived chiefly from his being married to
+Warwick's daughter. Warwick, however, did not trust wholly to this.
+As soon as he had restored Henry to the throne, he contrived a cunning
+plan which he thought would tend to bind Clarence still more strongly
+to himself, and to alienate him completely from Edward. This plan was
+to induce the Parliament to confiscate all Edward's estates and confer
+them upon Clarence.
+
+"Now," said Warwick to himself, when this measure had been
+accomplished, "Clarence will be sure to oppose Edward's return to
+England, for he knows very well that if he should return and be
+restored to the throne, he would, of course, take all these estates
+back again."
+
+But, while Edward was forming his plans on the Continent for a fresh
+invasion of England, Margaret sent messengers to Clarence, and their
+persuasions, united to those of his mother, induced Clarence to change
+his mind. He was governed by no principle whatever in what he did, but
+only looked to see what would most speedily and most fully gratify his
+ambition and increase his wealth. So, when they argued that it would
+be much better for him to be on the side of his brothers, and assist
+in restoring his own branch of the family to the throne, than to
+continue his unnatural connection with Warwick and the house of
+Lancaster, he allowed himself to be easily persuaded, and he promised
+that though, for the present, he should remain ostensibly a friend of
+Warwick, still, if Edward and Richard would raise an expedition and
+come to England, he would forsake Warwick and the Lancasters, and join
+them.
+
+Accordingly, in the spring, when the fleet and the forces were ready,
+Edward and Richard set sail from the Low Country to cross the Channel.
+It was early in March. They intended to proceed to the north of
+England and land there. They had a very stormy passage, and in the end
+the fleet was dispersed, and Edward and Richard with great difficulty
+succeeded in reaching the land. The two brothers were in different
+ships, and they landed in different places, a few miles apart from
+each other. Their situation was now extremely critical, for all
+England was in the power of Warwick and the Lancastrians, and Edward
+and Richard were almost entirely without men.
+
+They, however, after a time, got together a small force, consisting
+chiefly of the troops who had come with them, and who had succeeded at
+last in making their way to the land. At the head of this force they
+advanced into the country toward the city of York. Edward gave out
+every where that he had not come with any view of attempting to
+regain possession of the throne, but only to recover his own private
+and family estates, which had been unjustly confiscated, he said, and
+conferred upon his brother. He acquiesced entirely, he said, in the
+restoration of Henry to the throne, and acknowledged him as king, and
+solemnly declared that he would not do any thing to disturb the peace
+of the country.
+
+All this was treacherous and false; but Edward and Richard thought
+that they were not yet strong enough to announce openly their real
+designs, and, in the mean time, the uttering of any false declarations
+which they might deem it good policy to make was to be considered as a
+stratagem justified by usage, as one of the legitimate resources of
+war.
+
+So they went on, nobody opposing them. They reached, at length, the
+city of York. Here Edward met the mayor and aldermen of the city, and
+renewed his declaration, which he confirmed by a solemn oath, that he
+never would lay any claim to the throne of England, or do any thing to
+disturb King Henry in his possession of it. He cried out, in a loud
+voice, in the hearing of the people, "Long live King Henry, and Prince
+Edward his son!" He wore an ostrich feather, too, in his armor, which
+was the badge of Prince Edward. The people of York were satisfied
+with these protestations, and allowed him to proceed.
+
+His force was continually increasing as he advanced, and at length, on
+crossing the River Trent, he came to a part of the country where
+almost the whole population had been on the side of York during all
+the previous wars. He began now to throw off his disguise, and to avow
+more openly that his object was again to obtain possession of the
+throne for the house of York. His troops now began to exhibit the
+white rose, which for many generations had been the badge of the house
+of York, as the red rose had been that of Lancaster.[F] In a word, the
+country was every where aroused and excited by the idea that another
+revolution was impending, and all those whose ruling principle it was
+to be always with the party that was uppermost began to make
+preparations for coming over to Edward's side.
+
+[Footnote F: It was in consequence of this use of the roses, as the
+badges of the two parties respectively, that the civil wars between
+these two great families are often called in history the Wars of the
+Roses.]
+
+In the mean time, however, Warwick, alarmed, had come from the
+northward to London to meet the invaders at the head of a strong
+force. Clarence was in command of one great division of this force,
+and Warwick himself of the other. The two bodies of troops marched at
+some little distance from each other. Edward shaped his course so as
+to approach that commanded by Clarence. Warwick did all he could to
+prevent this, being, apparently, somewhat suspicious that Clarence was
+not fully to be relied on. But Edward succeeded, by dint of skillful
+manoeuvring, in accomplishing his object, and thus he and Clarence
+came into the neighborhood of each other. The respective encampments
+were only three miles apart. It seems, however, that there were still
+some closing negotiations to be made before Clarence was fully
+prepared to take the momentous step that was now before him. Richard
+was the agent of these negotiations. He went back and forth between
+the two camps, conveying the proposals and counter-proposals from one
+party to the other, and doing all in his power to remove obstacles
+from the way, and to bring his brothers to an agreement. At last every
+thing was arranged. Clarence ordered his men to display the white rose
+upon their armor, and then, with trumpets sounding and banners flying,
+he marched forth to meet Edward, and to submit himself to his command.
+
+When the column which he led arrived near to Edward's camp, it halted,
+and Clarence himself, with a small body of attendants, advanced to
+meet his brother; Edward, at the same time, leaving his encampment, in
+company with Richard and several noblemen, came forward too. Thus
+Edward and Clarence met, as the old chronicle expresses it, "betwixt
+both hosts, where was right kind and loving language betwixt them two.
+And then, in like wise, spoke together the two Dukes of Clarence and
+Gloucester, and afterward the other noblemen that were there with
+them; whereof all the people that were there that loved them were
+right glad and joyous, and thanked God highly for that joyous meeting,
+unity and concord, hoping that thereby should grow unto them
+prosperous fortune in all that they should after that have to do."
+
+Warwick was, of course, in a dreadful rage when he learned that
+Clarence had betrayed him and gone over to the enemy. He could do
+nothing, however, to repair the mischief, and he was altogether too
+weak to resist the two armies now combined against him; so he drew
+back, leaving the way clear, and Edward, at the head now of an
+overwhelming force, and accompanied by both his brothers, advanced
+directly to London.
+
+He was received at the capital with great favor. Whoever was uppermost
+for the time being was always received with favor in England in those
+days, both in the capital and throughout the country at large. It was
+said, however, that the interest in Edward's fortunes, and in the
+succession of his branch of the family to the throne, was greatly
+increased at this time by the birth of his son, which had taken place
+in the sanctuary, as related in the last chapter, soon after Queen
+Elizabeth sought refuge there, at the time of Edward's expulsion from
+the kingdom. Of course, the first thing which Edward did after making
+his public entry into London was to proceed to the sanctuary to rejoin
+his wife, and deliver her from her duress, and also to see his
+new-born son.
+
+Queen Margaret was out of the kingdom at this time, being on a visit
+to the Continent. She had her son, the Prince of Wales, with her; but
+Henry, the king, was in London. He, of course, fell into Edward's
+hands, and was immediately sent back a prisoner to the Tower.
+
+Edward remained only a day or two in London, and then set off again,
+at the head of all his troops, to meet Warwick. He brought out King
+Henry from the Tower, and took him with the army as a prisoner.
+
+Warwick had now strengthened himself so far that he was prepared for
+battle. The two armies approached each other not many miles from
+London. Before commencing hostilities, Clarence wished for an
+opportunity to attempt a reconciliation; he, of course, felt a strong
+desire to make peace, if possible, for his situation, in case of
+battle, would be painful in the extreme--his brothers on one side, and
+his father-in-law on the other, and he himself compelled to fight
+against the cause which he had abandoned and betrayed. So he sent a
+messenger to the earl, offering to act as mediator between him and his
+brother, in hopes of finding some mode of arranging the quarrel; but
+the earl, instead of accepting the mediation, sent back only
+invectives and defiance.
+
+"Go tell your master," he said to the messenger, "that Warwick is not
+the man to follow the example of faithlessness and treason which the
+false, perjured Clarence has set him. Unlike him, I stand true to my
+oath, and this quarrel can only be settled by the sword."
+
+Of course, nothing now remained but to fight the battle, and a most
+desperate and bloody battle it was. It was fought upon a plain at a
+place called Barnet. It lasted from four in the morning till ten.
+
+[Illustration: DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET.]
+
+Richard came forward in the fight in a very conspicuous and prominent
+manner. He was now about eighteen years of age, and this was the first
+serious battle in which he had been actually engaged. He evinced a
+great deal of heroism, and won great praise by the ardor in which he
+rushed into the thickest of the fight, and by the manner in which he
+conducted himself there. The squires who attended him were both
+killed, but Richard himself remained unhurt.
+
+In the end, Edward was victorious. The quarrel was thus decided by the
+sword, as Warwick had said, and decided, so far as the earl was
+concerned, terribly and irrevocably, for he himself was unhorsed upon
+the field, and slain. Many thousands of soldiers fell on each side,
+and great numbers of the leading nobles. The bodies were buried in one
+common trench, which was dug for the purpose on the plain, and a
+chapel was afterward erected over them, to mark and consecrate the
+spot.
+
+It is said in respect to King Henry, who had been taken from the Tower
+and made to accompany the army to the field, that Edward placed him in
+the midst of the fight at Barnet, in the hope that he might in this
+way be slain, either by accident or design. This plan, however, if it
+were formed, did not succeed, for Henry escaped unharmed, and, after
+the battle, was taken back to London, and again conveyed through the
+gloomy streets of the lower city to his solitary prison in the Tower.
+The streets were filled, after he had passed, with groups of men of
+all ranks and stations, discussing the strange and mournful
+vicissitudes in the life of this hapless monarch, now for the second
+time cut off from all his friends, and immured hopelessly in a dismal
+dungeon.
+
+[Illustration: STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER.]
+
+On the very day of the battle of Barnet, Queen Margaret, who had
+hastened her return to England on hearing of Edward's invasion, landed
+at Plymouth, in the southwestern part of England. The young Prince of
+Wales, her son, was with her. When she heard the terrible tidings of
+the loss of the battle of Barnet and the death of Warwick, she was
+struck with consternation, and immediately fled to an abbey in the
+neighborhood of the place where she had landed, and took sanctuary
+there. She soon, however, recovered from this panic, and came forth
+again. She put herself, with her son, at the head of the French troops
+which she had brought with her, and collected also as many more as
+she could induce to join her, and then, marching slowly toward the
+northward, finally took a strong position on the River Severn, near
+the town of Tewkesbury. Tewkesbury is in the western part of England,
+near the frontiers of Wales.
+
+Edward, having received intelligence of her movements, collected his
+forces also, and, accompanied by Clarence and Gloucester, went forth
+to meet her. The two armies met about three weeks after the battle of
+Barnet, in which Warwick was killed. All the flower of the English
+nobility were there, on one side or on the other.
+
+Queen Margaret's son, the Prince of Wales, was now about eighteen
+years of age, and his mother placed him in command--nominally at the
+head of the army. Edward, on his side, assigned the same position to
+Richard, who was almost precisely of the same age with the Prince of
+Wales. Thus the great and terrible battle which ensued was fought, as
+it were, by two boys, cousins to each other, and neither of them out
+of their teens.
+
+The operations were, however, really directed by older and more
+experienced men. The chief counselor on Margaret's side was the Duke
+of Somerset. Edward's army attempted, by means of certain evolutions,
+to entice the queen's army out of their camp. Somerset wished to go,
+and he commanded the men to follow. Some followed, but others remained
+behind. Among those that remained behind was a body of men under the
+command of a certain Lord Wenlock. Somerset was angry because they did
+not follow him, and he suspected, moreover, that Lord Wenlock was
+intending to betray the queen and go over to the other side; so he
+turned back in a rage, and, coming up to Lord Wenlock, struck him a
+dreadful blow upon his helmet with his battle-axe, and killed him on
+the spot.
+
+In the midst of the confusion which this affair produced, Richard, at
+the head of his brother's troops, came forcing his way into the
+intrenchments, bearing down all before him. The queen's army was
+thrown into confusion, and put to flight. Thousands upon thousands
+were killed. As many as could save themselves from being slaughtered
+upon the spot fled into the country toward the north, pursued by
+detached parties of their enemies.
+
+The young Prince of Wales was taken prisoner. The queen fled, and for
+a time it was not known what had become of her. She fled to the church
+in Tewkesbury, and took refuge there.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY.]
+
+As for the Prince of Wales, the account of his fate which was given
+at the time, and has generally been believed since, is this: As soon
+as the battle was over, he was brought, disarmed and helpless, into
+King Edward's tent, and there Edward, Clarence, Gloucester, and others
+gathered around to triumph over him, and taunt him with his downfall.
+Edward came up to him, and, after gazing upon him a moment in a fierce
+and defiant manner, demanded of him, in a furious tone, "What brought
+him to England?"
+
+"My father's crown and my own inheritance," replied the prince.
+
+Edward uttered some exclamation of anger, and then struck the prince
+upon the mouth with his gauntlet.[G]
+
+[Footnote G: The gauntlet was a sort of iron glove, the fingers of
+which were made flexible by joints formed with scales sliding over
+each other.]
+
+At this signal, Gloucester, and the others who were standing by, fell
+upon the poor helpless boy, and killed him on the spot. The prince
+cried to Clarence, who was his brother-in-law, to save him, but in
+vain; Clarence did not interfere.
+
+Some of the modern defenders of Richard's character attempt to show
+that there is no sufficient evidence that this story is true, and they
+maintain that the prince was slain upon the field, after the battle,
+and that Richard was innocent of his death. The evidence, however,
+seems strongly against this last supposition.
+
+Soon after the battle, it was found that the queen, with her
+attendants, as has already been stated, had taken refuge in a church
+at Tewkesbury, and in other sacred structures near.
+
+Edward proceeded directly to the church, with the intention of hunting
+out his enemies wherever he could find them. He broke into the sacred
+precincts, sword in hand, attended by a number of reckless and
+desperate followers, and would have slain those that had taken refuge
+there, on the spot, had not the abbot himself come forward and
+interposed to protect them. He came dressed in his sacerdotal robes,
+and bearing the sacred emblems in his hands. These emblems he held up
+before the infuriated Edward as a token of the sanctity of the place.
+By these means the king's hand was stayed, and, before allowing him to
+go away, the abbot exacted from him a promise that he would molest the
+refugees no more.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY.]
+
+This promise was, however, not made to be kept. Two days afterward
+Edward appointed a court-martial, and sent Richard, with an armed
+force, to the church, to take all the men that had sought refuge
+there, and bring them out for trial. The trial was conducted with
+very little ceremony, and the men were all beheaded on the green,
+in Tewkesbury, that very day.
+
+Queen Margaret and the ladies who attended her were not with them.
+They had sought refuge in another place. They were, however, found
+after a few days, and were all brought prisoners to Edward's camp at
+Coventry; for, after the battle, Edward had begun to move on with his
+army across the country.
+
+The king's first idea was to send Margaret immediately to London and
+put her in the Tower; but, before he did this, a change in his plans
+took place, which led him to decide to go to London himself. So he
+took Queen Margaret with him, a captive in his train. On the arrival
+of the party in London, the queen was conveyed at once to the Tower.
+
+Here she remained a close prisoner for five long and weary years, and
+was then ransomed by the King of France and taken to the Continent.
+She lived after this in comparative obscurity for about ten years, and
+then died.
+
+As for her husband, his earthly troubles were brought to an end much
+sooner. The cause of the change of plan above referred to, which led
+Edward to go directly to London soon after the battle of Tewkesbury,
+was the news that a relative of Warwick, whom that nobleman, during
+his lifetime, had put in command in the southeastern part of England,
+had raised an insurrection there, with a view of marching to London,
+rescuing Henry from the Tower, and putting him upon the throne. This
+movement was soon put down, and Edward returned from the expedition
+triumphant to London. He and his brothers spent the night after their
+arrival in the Tower. The next morning King Henry was found dead in
+his bed.
+
+The universal belief was then, and has been since, that he was put to
+death by Edward's orders, and it has been the general opinion that
+Richard was the murderer.
+
+The body of the king was put upon a bier that same day, and conveyed
+to St. Paul's Church in London, and there exhibited to the public for
+a long time, with guards and torch-bearers surrounding it. An immense
+concourse of people came to view his remains. The object of this
+exposition of the body of the king was to make sure the fact of his
+death in the public mind, and prevent the possibility of the
+circulation of rumors, subsequently, by the partisans of his house,
+that he was still alive; for such rumors would greatly have increased
+the danger of any insurrectionary plans which might be formed against
+Edward's authority.
+
+In due time the body was interred at Windsor, and a sculptured
+monument, adorned with various arms and emblems, was erected over the
+tomb.
+
+[Illustration: TOMB OF HENRY VI.]
+
+The remaining leaders on the Lancaster side were disposed of in a very
+effectual manner, to prevent the possibility of their again acquiring
+power. Some were banished. Others were shut up in various castles as
+hopeless prisoners. The country was thus wholly subdued, and Edward
+was once more established firmly on his throne.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+RICHARD'S MARRIAGE.
+
+1471-1474
+
+Characters of Clarence and Richard.--Embarrassing situation in which
+Clarence was placed.--Richard made Lord High Admiral of England.--His
+real character.--Requisites of a good soldier.--Young Edward formally
+acknowledged heir to the crown.--Forlorn condition of Lady Anne.--Her
+sister Isabella.--Clarence's views in respect to the
+property.--Richard's plan.--His early acquaintance with Anne.--The
+banquet at the archbishop's.--Clarence conceals Lady Anne.--Richard
+finds her at last.--His marriage.--Measures for securing the
+property.--Difficulty about the division of the property.--The quarrel
+becomes serious.--It is at last settled by the king.--Richard's child
+is born.--Anne becomes more contented.
+
+
+When the affairs of the kingdom were settled, after the return of King
+Edward to the throne, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the subject of the
+present volume, was found occupying a very exalted and brilliant
+position. It is true, he was yet very young, being only about nineteen
+years of age, and by birth he was second to Clarence, Clarence being
+his older brother. But Clarence had been so wavering and vacillating,
+having changed sides so often in the great quarrels, that no
+confidence was placed in him now on either side. Richard, on the other
+hand, had steadily adhered to his brother Edward's cause. He had
+shared all his brother's reverses, and he had rendered him most
+valuable and efficient aid in all the battles which he had fought, and
+had contributed essentially to his success in all the victories which
+he had gained. Of course, now, Edward and his friends had great
+confidence in Richard, while Clarence was looked upon with suspicion
+and distrust.
+
+Clarence, it is true, had one excuse for his instability, which
+Richard had not; for Clarence, having married the Earl of Warwick's
+daughter, was, of course, brought into very close connection with the
+earl, and was subjected greatly to his influence. Accordingly,
+whatever course Warwick decided to take, it was extremely difficult
+for Clarence to avoid joining him in it; and when at length Warwick
+arranged the marriage of his daughter Anne with the Prince of Wales,
+King Henry's son, and so joined himself to the Lancaster party,
+Clarence was placed between two strong and contrary attractions--his
+attachment to his brother, and his natural interest in the advancement
+of his own family being on one side, and his love for his wife, and
+the great influence and ascendency exerted over his mind by his
+father-in-law being on the other.
+
+Richard was in no such strait. There was nothing to entice him away
+from his fidelity to his brother, so he remained true.
+
+He had been so brave and efficient, too, in the military operations
+connected with Edward's recovery of the throne, that he had acquired
+great renown as a soldier throughout the kingdom. The fame of his
+exploits was the more brilliant on account of his youth. It was
+considered remarkable that a young man not yet out of his teens
+should show so much skill, and act with so much resolution and energy
+in times so trying, and the country resounded with his praises.
+
+As soon as Edward was established on the throne, he raised Richard to
+what was in those days, perhaps, the highest office under the crown,
+that of Lord High Admiral of England. This was the office which the
+Earl of Warwick had held, and to which a great portion of the power
+and influence which he exercised was owing. The Lord High Admiral had
+command of the navy, and of the principal ports on both sides of the
+English Channel, so long as any ports on the French side remained in
+English hands. The reader will recollect, perhaps, that while Richard
+was quite a small boy, his mother was compelled to fly with him and
+his little brother George to France, to escape from the enemies of the
+family, at the time of his father's death, and that it was through the
+Earl of Warwick's co-operation that she was enabled to accomplish this
+flight. Now it was in consequence of Warwick's being at that time Lord
+High Admiral of England, and his having command of Calais, and the
+waters between Calais and England, that he could make arrangements to
+assist Lady Cecily so effectually on that occasion.
+
+Still, Richard, though universally applauded for his military courage
+and energy, was known to all who had opportunities of becoming
+personally acquainted with him to be a bad man. He was unprincipled,
+hard-hearted, and reckless. This, however, did not detract from his
+military fame. Indeed, depravity of private character seldom
+diminishes much the applause which a nation bestows upon those who
+acquire military renown in their service. It is not to be expected
+that it should. Military exploits have been, in fact, generally, in
+the history of the world, gigantic crimes, committed by reckless and
+remorseless men for the benefit of others, who, though they would be
+deterred by their scruples of conscience or their moral sensibilities
+from perpetrating such deeds themselves, are ready to repay, with the
+most extravagant honors and rewards, those who are ferocious and
+unscrupulous enough to perpetrate them in their stead. Were it not for
+some very few and rare exceptions to the general rule, which have from
+time to time appeared, the history of mankind would show that, to be a
+_good soldier_, it is almost absolutely essential to be a _bad man_.
+
+The child, Prince Edward, the son of Edward the Fourth, who was born,
+as is related in a preceding chapter, in the sanctuary at Westminster,
+whither his mother had fled at the time when Edward was expelled from
+the kingdom, was, of course, King Edward's heir. He was now less than
+a year old, and, in order to place his title to the crown beyond
+dispute, a solemn oath was required from all the leading nobles and
+officers of Edward's government, that in case he survived his father
+they would acknowledge him as king. The following is the form of the
+oath which was taken:
+
+     I acknowledge, take, and repute you, Edward, Prince of
+     Wales, Duke of Cornwayll, and Erl of Chestre, furste begoten
+     son of oure sovereigne lord, as to the corones and reames of
+     England and of France, and lordship of Ireland; and promette
+     and swere that in case hereafter it happen you by Goddis
+     disposition do outlive our sovereigne lord, I shall then
+     take and accept you for true, veray and righteous King of
+     England, and of France, and of Ireland; and feith and trouth
+     to you shall here, and yn all thyngs truely and feithfully
+     behave me towardes you and youre heyres, as a true and
+     feithful subject oweth to behave him to his sovereigne lord
+     and righteous King of England, France, and Ireland; so help
+     me God, and Holidome, and this holy Evangelist.
+
+Richard took this oath with the rest. How he kept it will hereafter
+appear.
+
+The Lady Anne, the second daughter of the Earl of Warwick, who had
+been betrothed to the Prince of Wales, King Henry's son, was left, by
+the fall of the house of Lancaster and the re-establishment of King
+Edward the Fourth upon the throne, in a most forlorn and pitiable
+condition. Her father, the earl, was dead, having been killed in
+battle. Her betrothed husband, too, the Prince of Wales, with whom she
+had fondly hoped one day to sit on the throne of England, had been
+cruelly assassinated. Queen Margaret, the mother of the prince, who
+might have been expected to take an interest in her fate, was a
+helpless prisoner in the Tower. And if the fallen queen had been at
+liberty, it is very probable that all her interest in Anne would prove
+to have been extinguished by the death of her son; for Queen Margaret
+had never felt any personal preference for Anne, and had only
+consented to the marriage very reluctantly, and from political
+considerations alone. The friends and connections of her father's
+family, a short time since so exalted in station and so powerful, were
+now scattered and destroyed. Some had been killed in battle, others
+beheaded by executioners, others banished from the realm. The rest
+were roaming about England in terror and distress, houseless,
+homeless, friendless, and only intent to find some hiding-place where
+they might screen themselves from Edward's power and vengeance.
+
+There was one exception, indeed, the Lady Isabella, Clarence's wife,
+who, as the reader will recollect, was Warwick's oldest daughter, and,
+of course, the sister of Lady Anne. She and Clarence, her husband, it
+might be supposed, would take an interest in Lady Anne's fate. Indeed,
+Clarence did take an interest in it, but, unfortunately, the interest
+was of the wrong kind.
+
+The Earl of Warwick had been immensely wealthy. Besides the ancient
+stronghold of the family, Warwick Castle, one of the most renowned old
+feudal fortresses in England, he owned many other castles, and many
+large estates, and rights of property of various kinds all over the
+kingdom. Now Clarence, after Warwick's death, had taken most of this
+property into his own hands as the husband of the earl's oldest
+daughter, and he wished to keep it. This he could easily do while Anne
+remained in her present friendless and helpless condition. But he knew
+very well that if she were to be married to any person of rank and
+influence on the York side, her husband would insist on a division of
+the property. Now he suspected that his brother Richard had conceived
+the design of marrying her. He accordingly set himself at work
+earnestly to thwart this design.
+
+It was true that Richard had conceived the idea of making Anne his
+wife, from the motive, however, solely, as it would seem, to obtain
+her share of her father's property.
+
+Richard had been acquainted with Anne from her childhood. Indeed, he
+was related to the family of the Earl of Warwick on his mother's side.
+His mother, Lady Cecily Neville, belonged to the same great family of
+Neville from which the Warwicks sprung. Warwick had been a great
+friend of Lady Cecily in former years, and it is even supposed that
+when Richard and his brother George were brought back from the
+Continent, at the time when Edward first obtained possession of the
+kingdom, they lived for a time in Warwick's family at Middleham
+Castle.[H] This is not quite certainly known, but it is at any rate
+known that Richard and Anne knew each other well when they were
+children, and were often together.
+
+[Footnote H: For a view of this castle, and the grounds pertaining to
+it, see page 180.]
+
+There is an account of a grand entertainment which was given by the
+Warwick family at York, some years before, on the occasion of the
+enthroning of the earl's brother George as Archbishop of York, at
+which Richard was present. Richard, being a prince of the blood royal,
+was, of course, a very highly honored guest, notwithstanding that he
+was but a child. So they prepared for him and some few other great
+personages a raised platform, called a dais, at one end of the
+banquet-hall, with a royal canopy over it. The table for the
+distinguished personages was upon this dais, while those for the other
+guests extended up and down the hall below. Richard was seated at the
+centre of the table of honor, with a countess on one side of him and a
+duchess on the other. Opposite to him, at the same table, were seated
+Isabella and Anne. Anne was at this time about twelve years old.
+
+Now it is supposed that Isabella and Anne were placed at this table to
+please Richard, for their mother, who was, of course, entitled to take
+precedence of them, had her seat at one of the large tables below.
+
+From this and some other similar indications, it is supposed that
+Richard took a fancy to Anne while they were quite young, as Clarence
+did to Isabella. Indeed, one of the ancient writers says that Richard
+wished, at this early period, to choose her for his wife, but that she
+did not like him.
+
+At any rate, now, after the re-establishment of his brother upon the
+throne, and his own exaltation to such high office under him, he
+determined that he would marry Anne. Clarence, on the other hand,
+determined that he should not marry her. So Clarence, with the
+pretense of taking her under his protection, seized her, and carried
+her away to a place of concealment, where he kept her closely shut up.
+Anne consented to this, for she wished to keep out of Richard's way.
+Richard's person was disagreeable to her, and his character was
+hateful. She seems to have considered him, as he is generally
+represented by the writers of those times, as a rude, hard-hearted,
+and unscrupulous man; and she had also a special reason for shrinking
+from him with horror, as the mortal enemy of her father, and the
+reputed murderer of the husband to whom she had been betrothed.
+
+Clarence kept her for some time in obscure places of concealment,
+changing the place from time to time to elude the vigilance of
+Richard, who was continually making search for her. The poor princess
+had recourse to all manner of contrivances, and assumed the most
+humble disguises to keep herself concealed, and was at last reduced to
+a very forlorn and destitute condition, through the desperate shifts
+that she resorted to, in her endeavors to escape Richard's
+persecutions. All was, however, in vain. Richard discovered her at
+last in a mean house in London, where she was living in the disguise
+of a servant. He immediately seized her, and conveyed her to a place
+of security which was under his control.
+
+Soon after this she was taken away from this place and conveyed to
+York, and placed, for the time, under the protection of the
+archbishop--the same archbishop at whose enthronement, eight or ten
+years before, she had sat at the same table with Richard, under the
+royal canopy. But she was not left at peace here. Richard insisted on
+her marrying him. She insisted on her refusal. Her friends--the few
+that she had left--turned against her, and urged her to consent to the
+union; but she could not endure the thought of it.
+
+[Illustration: RICHARD III.]
+
+Richard, however, persisted in his determination, and Anne was finally
+overcome. It is said she resisted to the last, and that the ceremony
+was performed by compulsion, Anne continuing to refuse her consent to
+the end. It was foreseen that, as soon as any change of circumstances
+should enable her to resume active resistance to the union, she would
+repudiate the marriage altogether, as void for want of her consent, or
+else obtain a divorce. To guard against this danger, Richard procured
+the passage of an act of Parliament, by which he was empowered to
+continue in the full possession and enjoyment of Anne's property, even
+if _she were to divorce him_, provided that he did his best to be
+reconciled to her, and was willing to be re-married to her, with her
+consent, whenever she was willing to grant it.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ANNE.]
+
+As for Richard himself, his object was fully attained by the
+accomplishment of a marriage so far acknowledged as to entitle him to
+the possession of the property of his wife. There was still some
+difficulty, however, arising from a disagreement between Richard and
+Clarence in respect to the division. Clarence, when he found that
+Richard would marry Anne, in spite of all that he could do to prevent
+it, declared, with an oath, that, even if Richard did marry her, he,
+Clarence, would never "part the livelihood," that is, divide the
+property with him.
+
+So fixed was Clarence in this resolution to retain all the property
+himself, and so resolute was Richard, on the other hand, in his
+determination to have his share, that the quarrel very soon assumed a
+very serious character. The lords and nobles of the court took part in
+the controversy on one side and on the other, until, at length, there
+was imminent danger of open war. Finally Edward himself interposed,
+and summoned the brothers to appear before him in open council, when,
+after a full hearing of the dispute, he said that he himself would
+decide the question. Accordingly, the two brothers appeared before the
+king, and each strenuously argued his own cause. The king, after
+hearing them, decided how the property should be divided. He gave to
+Richard and Anne a large share, but not all that Richard claimed.
+Richard was, however, compelled to submit.
+
+[Illustration: MIDDLEHAM CASTLE.]
+
+When the marriage was thus consummated, and Richard had been put
+in possession of his portion of the property, Anne seems to have
+submitted to her fate, and she went with Richard to Middleham
+Castle, in the north of England. This castle was one which had
+belonged to the Warwick family, and it now came into Richard's
+possession. Richard did not, however, remain long here with his wife.
+He went away on various military expeditions, leaving Anne most of the
+time alone. She was well contented to be thus left, for nothing could
+be so welcome to her now as to be relieved as much as possible from
+the presence of her hateful husband.
+
+This state of things continued, without much change, until the end of
+about a year after her marriage, when Anne gave birth to a son. The
+boy was named Edward. The possession of this treasure awakened in the
+breast of Anne a new interest in life, and repaid her, in some
+measure, for the sorrows and sufferings which she had so long endured.
+
+Her love for her babe, in fact, awakened in her heart something like a
+tie to bind her to her husband. It is hard for a mother to continue
+long to hate the father of her child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+END OF THE REIGN OF EDWARD.
+
+A.D. 1475-1483
+
+Richard's high position.--His character.--Edward's plan for the
+invasion of France.--Character of King Louis.--Louis's wily
+management.--Treaty proposed.--Arrangements made for a personal
+interview.--The grating on the bridge.--Meeting of the kings at
+the grating.--Jocose conversation of the two kings.--Terms of the
+treaty.--Marriage agreed upon.--Clarence and Gloucester.--The people
+of England discontented.--Renewal of the quarrel between Edward and
+Clarence.--Clarence retires from court.--Belief in witchcraft.--Birth
+of Clarence's second son.--New quarrels.--The rich heiress.--Edward
+and Clarence quarrel about the heiress.--Clarence becomes furious.--He
+is sent to the Tower.--Clarence is accused of high treason.--He is
+sentenced to death.--He is assassinated.--Dissipation and wickedness
+of Edward.--Jane Shore.--Edward sends Richard to war.--Difficulties
+in Scotland.--Edward falls sick.--His anger against the King of
+France.--Death of the Duchess Mary.--Louis's treachery.--Vexation
+and rage of Edward.--His death.
+
+
+King Edward reigned, after this time, for about eight years. During
+this period, Richard continued to occupy a very high official
+position, and a very conspicuous place in the public mind. He was
+generally considered as personally a very bad man, and, whenever any
+great public crime was committed, in which the government were
+implicated at all, it was Richard, usually, who was supposed to be
+chiefly instrumental in the perpetration of it; but, notwithstanding
+this, his fame, and the general consideration in which he was held,
+were very high. This was owing, in a considerable degree, to his
+military renown, and the straightforward energy and decision which
+characterized all his doings.
+
+He generally co-operated very faithfully in all Edward's plans and
+schemes, though sometimes, when he thought them calculated to impede
+rather than promote the interests of the kingdom and the
+aggrandizement of the family, he made no secret of opposing them. As
+to Clarence, no one placed any trust or confidence in him whatever.
+For a time, he and Edward were ostensibly on friendly terms with each
+other, but there was no cordial good-will between them. Each watched
+the other with continual suspicion and distrust.
+
+About the year 1475, Edward formed a grand scheme for the invasion of
+France, in order to recover from the French king certain possessions
+which Edward claimed, on the ground of their having formerly belonged
+to his ancestors. This plan, as, indeed, almost all plans of war and
+conquest were in those days, was very popular in England, and
+arrangements were made on an immense scale for fitting out an
+expedition. The Duke of Burgundy, who, as will be recollected, had
+married Edward's sister, promised to join the English in this proposed
+war. When all was ready, the English army set sail, and crossed over
+to Calais. Edward went with the army as commander-in-chief. He was
+accompanied by Clarence and Gloucester. Thus far every thing had gone
+on well, and all Europe was watching with great interest for the
+result of the expedition; but, very soon after landing, great
+difficulties arose. The Duke of Burgundy and Edward disagreed, and
+this disagreement caused great delays. The army advanced slowly
+toward the French frontier, but for two months nothing effectual was
+done.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE.]
+
+In the mean time, Louis, the King of France, who was a very shrewd and
+wily man, concluded that it would be better for him to buy off his
+enemies than to fight them. So he continually sent messengers and
+negotiators to Edward's camp with proposals of various sorts, made to
+gain time, in order to enable him, by means of presents and bribes,
+to buy up all the prominent leaders and counselors of the expedition.
+He gave secretly to all the men who he supposed held an influence over
+Edward's mind, large sums of money. He offered, too, to make a treaty
+with Edward, by which, under one pretext or another, he was to pay him
+a great deal of money. One of these proposed payments was that of a
+large sum for the ransom of Queen Margaret, as mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. The amount of the ransom money which he proposed
+was fifty thousand crowns.
+
+Besides these promises to pay money in case the treaty was concluded,
+Louis made many rich and valuable presents at once. One day, while the
+negotiations were pending, he sent over to the English camp, as a gift
+to the king, three hundred cart-loads of wine, the best that could be
+procured in the kingdom.
+
+At one time, near the beginning of the affair, when a herald was sent
+to Louis from Edward with a very defiant and insolent message, Louis,
+instead of resenting the message as an affront, entertained the herald
+with great politeness, held a long and friendly conversation with him,
+and finally sent him away with three hundred crowns in his purse, and
+a promise of a thousand more as soon as a peace should be concluded.
+He also made him a present of a piece of crimson velvet "thirty ells
+long." Such a gift as this of the crimson velvet was calculated,
+perhaps, in those days of military foppery, to please the herald even
+more than the money.
+
+These things, of course, put Edward and nearly all his followers in
+excellent humor, and disposed them to listen very favorably to any
+propositions for settling the quarrel which Louis might be disposed to
+make. At last, after various and long protracted negotiations, a
+treaty was agreed upon, and Louis proposed that at the final execution
+of it he and Edward should have a personal interview.
+
+Edward acceded to this on certain conditions, and the circumstances
+under which the interview took place, and the arrangements which were
+adopted on the occasion, make it one of the most curious transactions
+of the whole reign.
+
+It seems that Edward could not place the least trust in Louis's
+professions of friendship, and did not dare to meet him without
+requiring beforehand most extraordinary precautions to guard against
+the possibility of treachery. So it was agreed that the meeting should
+take place upon a bridge, Louis and his friends to come in upon one
+side of the bridge, and Edward, with his party, on the other. In
+order to prevent either party from seizing and carrying off the other,
+there was a strong barricade of wood built across the bridge in the
+middle of it, and the arrangement was for the King of France to come
+up to this barricade on one side, and the King of England on the
+other, and so shake hands and communicate with each other through the
+bars of the barricade.
+
+The place where this most extraordinary royal meeting was held was
+called Picquigny, and the treaty which was made there is known in
+history as the Treaty of Picquigny. The town is on the River Somme,
+near the city of Amiens. Amiens was at that time very near the French
+frontier.
+
+The day appointed for the meeting was the 29th of August, 1475. The
+barricade was prepared. It was made of strong bars, crossing each
+other so as to form a grating, such as was used in those days to make
+the cages of bears, and lions, and other wild beasts. The spaces
+between the bars were only large enough to allow a man's arm to pass
+through.
+
+The King of France went first to the grating, advancing, of course,
+from the French side. He was accompanied by ten or twelve attendants,
+all men of high rank and station. He was very specially dressed for
+the occasion. The dress was made of cloth of gold, with a large _fleur
+de lis_--which was at that time the emblem of the French
+sovereignty--magnificently worked upon it in precious stones.
+
+When Louis and his party had reached the barricade, Edward, attended
+likewise by his friends, approached on the other side. When they came
+to the barricade, the two kings greeted each other with many bows and
+other salutations, and they also shook hands with each other by
+reaching through the grating. The King of France addressed Edward in a
+very polite and courteous manner. "Cousin," said he, "you are right
+welcome. There is no person living that I have been so ambitious of
+seeing as you, and God be thanked that our interview now is on so
+happy an occasion."
+
+After these preliminary salutations and ceremonies had been concluded,
+a prayer-book, or missal, as it was called, and a crucifix, were
+brought forward, and held at the grating where both kings could touch
+them. Each of the kings then put his hands upon them--one hand on the
+crucifix and the other on the missal--and they both took a solemn oath
+by these sacred emblems that they would faithfully keep the treaty
+which they had made.
+
+After thus transacting the business which had brought them together,
+the two kings conversed with each other in a gay and merry manner for
+some time. The King of France invited Edward to come to Paris and make
+him a visit. This, of course, was a joke, for Edward would as soon
+think of accepting an invitation from a lion to come and visit him in
+his den, as of putting himself in Louis's power by going to Paris.
+Both monarchs and all the attendants laughed merrily at this jest.
+Louis assured Edward that he would have a very pleasant time at Paris
+in amusing himself with the gay ladies, and in other dissipations.
+"And then here is the cardinal," he added, turning to the Cardinal of
+Bourbon, an ecclesiastic of very high rank, but of very loose
+character, who was among his attendants, "who will grant you a very
+easy absolution for any sins you may take a fancy to commit while you
+are there."
+
+Edward and his friends were much amused with this sportive
+conversation of Louis's, and Edward made many smart replies,
+especially joking the cardinal, who, he knew, "was a gay man with the
+ladies, and a boon companion over his wine."
+
+This sort of conversation continued for some time, and at length the
+kings, after again shaking hands through the grating, departed each
+his own way, and thus this most extraordinary conference of sovereigns
+was terminated.
+
+The treaty which was thus made at the bridge of Picquigny contained
+several very important articles. The principal of them were the
+following:
+
+    1. Louis was to pay fifty thousand crowns as a ransom for
+    Queen Margaret, and Edward was to release her from the Tower
+    and send her to France as soon as he arrived in England.
+
+    2. Louis was to pay to Edward in cash, on the spot,
+    seventy-five thousand crowns, and an annuity of fifty
+    thousand crowns.
+
+    3. He was to marry his son, the dauphin, to Edward's oldest
+    daughter, Elizabeth, and, in case of her death, then to his
+    next daughter, Mary. These parties were all children at this
+    time, and so the actual marriage was postponed for a time;
+    but it was stipulated solemnly that it should be performed as
+    soon as the prince and princess attained to a proper age. It
+    is important to remember this part of the treaty, as a great
+    and serious difficulty grew out of it when the time for the
+    execution of it arrived.
+
+    4. By the last article, the two kings bound themselves to a
+    truce for seven years, during which time hostilities were to
+    be entirely suspended, and free trade between the two
+    countries was to be allowed.
+
+Clarence was with the king at the time of making this treaty, and he
+joined with the other courtiers in giving it his approval, but Richard
+would have nothing to do with it. He very much preferred to go on with
+the war, and was indignant that his brother should allow himself to be
+bought off, as it were, by presents and payments of money, and induced
+to consent to what seemed to him an ignominious peace. He did not give
+any open expression to his discontent, but he refused to be present at
+the conference on the bridge, and, when Edward and the army, after the
+peace was concluded, went back to England, he went with them, but in
+very bad humor.
+
+The people of England were in very bad humor too. You will observe
+that the inducements which Louis employed in procuring the treaty were
+gifts and sums of money granted to Edward himself, and to his great
+courtiers personally for their own private uses. There was nothing in
+his concessions which tended at all to the aggrandizement or to the
+benefit of the English realm, or to promote the interest of the people
+at large. They thought, therefore, that Edward and his counselors had
+been induced to sacrifice the rights and honor of the crown and the
+kingdom to their own personal advantage by a system of gross and open
+bribery, and they were very much displeased.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next great event which marks the history of the reign of Edward,
+after the conclusion of this war, was the breaking out anew of the old
+feud between Edward and Clarence, and the dreadful crisis to which the
+quarrel finally reached. The renewal of the quarrel began in Edward's
+dispossessing Clarence of a portion of his property. Edward was very
+much embarrassed for money after his return from the French
+expedition. He had incurred great debts in fitting out the expedition,
+and these debts the Parliament and people of England were very
+unwilling to pay, on account of their being so much displeased with
+the peace which had been made. Edward, consequently, notwithstanding
+the bribes which he had received from Louis, was very much in want of
+money. At last he caused a law to be passed by Parliament enacting
+that all the patrimony of the royal family, which had hitherto been
+divided among the three brothers, should be resumed, and applied to
+the service of the crown. This made Clarence very angry. True, he was
+extremely rich, through the property which he had received by his
+wife from the Warwick estates, but this did not make him any more
+willing to submit patiently to be robbed by his brother. He expressed
+his anger very openly, and the ill feeling which the affair occasioned
+led to a great many scenes of dispute and crimination between the two
+brothers, until at last Clarence could no longer endure to have any
+thing to do with Edward, and he went away, with Isabella his wife, to
+a castle which he possessed near Tewkesbury, and there remained, in
+angry and sullen seclusion. So great was the animosity that prevailed
+at this time between the brothers and their respective partisans, that
+almost every one who took an active part in the quarrel lived in
+continual anxiety from fear of being poisoned, or of being destroyed
+by incantations or witchcraft.
+
+Every body believed in witchcraft in these days. There was one
+peculiar species of necromancy which was held in great dread. It was
+supposed that certain persons had the power secretly to destroy any
+one against whom they conceived a feeling of ill will in the following
+manner: They would first make an effigy of their intended victim out
+of wax and other similar materials. This image was made the
+representation of the person to be destroyed by means of certain
+sorceries and incantations, and then it was by slow degrees, from day
+to day, melted away and gradually destroyed. While the image was thus
+melting, the innocent and unconscious victim of the witchcraft would
+pine away, and at last, when the image was fairly gone, would die.
+
+Not very long after Clarence left the court and went to Tewkesbury,
+his wife gave birth to a child. It was the second son. The child was
+named Richard, and is known in history as Richard of Clarence.
+Isabella did not recover her health and strength after the birth of
+her child. She pined away in a slow and lingering manner for two or
+three months, and then died.
+
+Clarence was convinced that she did not die a natural death. He
+believed that her life had been destroyed by some process of
+witchcraft, such as has been described, or by poison, and he openly
+charged the queen with having instigated the murder by having employed
+some sorcerer or assassin to accomplish it. After a time he satisfied
+himself that a certain woman named Ankaret Twynhyo was the person whom
+the queen had employed to commit this crime, and watching an
+opportunity when this woman was at her own residence, away from all
+who could protect her, he sent a body of armed men from among his
+retainers, who went secretly to the place, and, breaking in suddenly,
+seized the woman and bore her off to Warwick Castle. There Clarence
+subjected her to what he called a trial, and she was condemned to
+death, and executed at once. The charge against her was that she
+administered poison to the duchess in a cup of ale. So summary were
+these proceedings, that the poor woman was dead in three hours from
+the time that she arrived at the castle gates.
+
+These proceedings, of course, greatly exasperated Edward and the
+queen, and made them hate Clarence more than ever.
+
+Very soon after this, Charles, the Duke of Burgundy, who married
+Margaret, Edward and Clarence's sister, and who had been Edward's ally
+in so many of his wars, was killed in battle. He left a daughter named
+Mary, of whom Margaret was the step-mother; for Mary was the child of
+the duke by a former marriage. Now, as Charles was possessed of
+immense estates, Mary, by his death, became a great heiress, and
+Clarence, now that his wife was dead, conceived the idea of making her
+his second wife. He immediately commenced negotiations to this end.
+Margaret favored the plan, but Edward and Elizabeth, the queen, as
+soon as they heard of it, set themselves at work in the most earnest
+manner to thwart and circumvent it.
+
+Their motives for opposing this match arose partly from their enmity
+to Clarence, and partly from designs of their own which they had
+formed in respect to the marriage of Mary. The queen wished to secure
+the young heiress for one of her brothers. Edward had another plan,
+which was to marry Mary to a certain Duke Maximilian. Edward's plan,
+in the end, was carried out, and Clarence was defeated. When Clarence
+found at length that the bride, with all the immense wealth and vastly
+increased importance which his marriage with her was to bring, were
+lost to him through Edward's interference, and conferred upon his
+hated rival Maximilian, he was terribly enraged. He expressed his
+resentment and anger against the king in the most violent terms.
+
+About this time a certain nobleman, one of the king's friends, died.
+The king accused a priest, who was in Clarence's service, of having
+killed him by sorcery. The priest was seized and put to the torture to
+compel him to confess his crime and to reveal his confederates. The
+priest at length confessed, and named as his accomplice one of
+Clarence's household named Burdett, a gentleman who lived in very
+intimate and confidential relations with Clarence himself.
+
+The confession was taken as proof of guilt, and the priest and Burdett
+were both immediately executed.
+
+Clarence was now perfectly frantic with rage. He could restrain
+himself no longer. He forced his way into the king's council-chamber,
+and there uttered to the lords who were assembled the most violent and
+angry denunciation of the king. He accused him of injustice and
+cruelty, and upbraided him, and all who counseled and aided him, in
+the severest terms.
+
+When the king, who was not himself present on this occasion, heard
+what Clarence had done, he said that such proceedings were subversive
+of the laws of the realm, and destructive to all good government, and
+he commanded that Clarence should be arrested and sent to the Tower.
+
+After a short time the king summoned a Parliament, and when the
+assembly was convened, he brought his brother out from his prison in
+the Tower, and arraigned him at the bar of the House of Lords on
+charges of the most extraordinary character, which he himself
+personally preferred against him. In these charges Clarence was
+accused of having formed treasonable conspiracies to depose the king,
+disinherit the king's children, and raise himself to the throne, and
+with this view of having slandered the king, and endeavored, by bribes
+and false representations, to entice away his subjects from their
+allegiance; of having joined himself with the Lancastrian faction so
+far as to promise to restore them their estates which had been
+confiscated, provided that they would assist him in usurping the
+throne; and of having secretly organized an armed force, which was all
+ready, and waiting only for the proper occasion to strike the blow.
+
+Clarence denied all these charges in the most earnest and solemn
+manner. The king insisted upon the truth of them, and brought forward
+many witnesses to prove them. Of course, whether the charges were true
+or false, there could be no difficulty in finding plenty of witnesses
+to give the required testimony. The lords listened to the charges and
+the defense with a sort of solemn awe. Indeed, all England, as it
+were, stood by, silenced and appalled at the progress of this dreadful
+fraternal quarrel, and at the prospect of the terrible termination of
+it, which all could foresee must come.
+
+[Illustration: THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE.]
+
+Whatever the members of Parliament may have thought of the truth or
+falsehood of the charges, there was only one way in which it was
+prudent or even safe for them to vote, and Clarence was condemned to
+death.
+
+Sentence being passed, the prisoner was remanded to the Tower.
+
+Edward seems, after all, to have shrunk from the open and public
+execution of the sentence which he had caused to be pronounced against
+his brother. No public execution took place, but in a short time it
+was announced that Clarence had died in prison. It was understood that
+assassins were employed to go privately into the room where he was
+confined and put him to death; and it is universally believed, though
+there is no positive proof of the fact, that Richard was the person
+who made the arrangements for the performance of this deed.[I]
+
+[Footnote I: There was a strange story in respect to the manner of
+Clarence's death, which was very current at the time, namely, that he
+was drowned by his brothers in a butt of Malmsey wine. But there is no
+evidence whatever that this story was true.]
+
+After Clarence was dead, and the excitement and anger of the quarrel
+had subsided in Edward's mind, he was overwhelmed with remorse and
+anguish at what he had done. He attempted to drown these painful
+thoughts by dissipation and vice. He neglected the affairs of his
+government, and his duties to his wife and family, and spent his time
+in gay pleasures with the ladies of his court, and in guilty
+carousings with wicked men. In these pleasures he spent large sums of
+money, wasting his patrimony and all his resources in extravagance and
+folly. Among other amusements, he used to form hunting-parties, in
+which the ladies of his court were accustomed to join, and he used to
+set up gay silken tents for their accommodation on the hunting-ground.
+He spent vast sums, too, upon his dress, being very vain of his
+personal attractions, and of the favor in which he was held by the
+ladies around him.
+
+The most conspicuous of his various female favorites was the
+celebrated Jane Shore. She was the wife of a respectable citizen of
+London. Edward enticed her away from her husband, and induced her to
+come and live at court with him. The opposite engraving, which is
+taken from an ancient portrait, gives undoubtedly a correct
+representation both of her features and of her dress. We shall hear
+more of this person in the sequel.
+
+[Illustration: JANE SHORE.]
+
+Things went on in this way for about two years, when at length war
+broke out on the frontiers of Scotland. Edward was too much engrossed
+with his gallantries and pleasures to march himself to meet the enemy,
+and so he commissioned Richard to go. Richard was very well pleased
+that his brother Edward should remain at home, and waste away in
+effeminacy and vice his character and his influence in the kingdom,
+while he went forth in command of the army, to acquire, by the vigor
+and success of his military career, that ascendency that Edward was
+losing. So he took the command of the army and went forth to the war.
+
+The war was protracted for several years. The King of Scotland had a
+brother, the Duke of Albany, who was attempting to dethrone him, in
+order that he might reign in his stead; that is, he was doing exactly
+that which Edward had charged upon his brother Clarence, and for which
+he had caused Clarence to be killed; and yet, with strange
+inconsistency, Edward espoused the cause of this Clarence of Scotland,
+and laid deep plans for enabling him to depose and supplant his
+brother.
+
+In the midst of the measures which Richard was taking for the
+execution of these plans, they, as well as all Edward's other earthly
+schemes and hopes, were suddenly destroyed by the hand of death.
+Edward's health had become much impaired by the dissolute life which
+he had led, and at last he fell seriously sick. While he was sick, an
+affair occurred which vexed and worried his mind beyond endurance.
+
+The reader will recollect that, at the treaty which Edward made with
+Louis of France at the barricade on the bridge of Picquigny, a
+marriage contract was concluded between Louis's oldest son, the
+Dauphin of France, and Edward's daughter Mary, and it was agreed that,
+as soon as the children were grown up, and were old enough, they
+should be married. Louis took a solemn oath upon the prayer-book and
+crucifix that he would not fail to keep this agreement.
+
+But now some years had passed away, and circumstances had changed so
+much that Louis did not wish to keep this promise. Edward's great
+ally, the Duke of Burgundy, was dead. His daughter Mary, who became
+the Duchess Mary on the death of her father, and who, so greatly to
+Clarence's disappointment, had married Maximilian, had succeeded to
+the estates and possessions of her father. These possessions the King
+of France desired very much to join to his dominions, as they lay
+contiguous to them, and the fear of Edward, which had prompted him to
+make the marriage contract with him in the first instance, had now
+passed away, on account of Edward's having become so much weakened by
+his vices and his effeminacy. He now, therefore, became desirous of
+allying his family to that of Burgundy rather than that of England.
+
+The Duchess Mary had three children, all very young. The oldest,
+Philip, was only about three years old.
+
+Now it happened that just at this time, while the Duchess Mary was out
+with a small party, hawking, near the city of Bruges, as they were
+flying the hawks at some herons, the company galloping on over the
+fields in order to keep up with the birds, the duchess's horse, in
+taking a leap, burst the girths of the saddle, and the duchess was
+thrown off against the trunk of a tree. She was immediately taken up
+and borne into a house, but she was so much injured that she almost
+immediately died.
+
+Of course, her titles and estates would now descend to her children.
+The second of the children was a girl. Her name was Margaret. She was
+about two years old. Louis immediately resolved to give up the match
+between the dauphin and Edward's daughter Mary, and contract another
+alliance for him with this little Margaret. He met with considerable
+difficulty and delay in bringing this about, but he succeeded at last.
+While the negotiations were pending, Edward, who suspected what was
+going on, was assured that nothing of the kind was intended, and
+various false tales and pretenses were advanced by Louis to quiet his
+mind.
+
+At length, when all was settled, the new plan was openly proclaimed,
+and great celebrations and parades were held in Paris in honor of the
+event. Edward was overwhelmed with vexation and rage when he received
+the tidings. He was, however, completely helpless. He lay tossing
+restlessly on his sick-bed, cursing, on the one hand, Louis's
+faithlessness and treachery, and, on the other, his own miserable
+weakness and pain, which made it so utterly impossible that he should
+do any thing to resent the affront.
+
+His vexation and rage so disturbed and worried him that they hastened
+his death. When he found that his last hour was drawing near, a new
+source of agitation and anguish was opened in his mind by the remorse
+which now began to overwhelm him for his vices and crimes.
+Long-forgotten deeds of injustice, of violence, and of every species
+of wickedness rose before his mind, and terrified him with awful
+premonition of the anger of God and of the judgment to come. In his
+distress, he tried to make reparation for some of the grossest of the
+wrongs which he had committed, but it was too late. After lingering a
+week or two in this condition of distress and suffering, his spirit
+passed away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+RICHARD AND EDWARD V.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Effect of the tidings of Edward's death.--Anxiety of Queen Elizabeth
+Woodville.--Attempt made by Edward to effect a reconciliation.--Plans
+for bringing the young prince to London.--Richard's movements.--His
+letter to the queen.--He arrives at Northampton.--The king at Stony
+Stratford.--Movements and manoeuvres at Northampton.--The noblemen
+taken into custody.--Seizure of the king.--The little king is very
+much frightened.--Richard's explanations of his proceedings.--Edward's
+astonishment.--He is helpless in Richard's hands.
+
+
+As the tidings of Edward's death spread throughout England, they were
+received every where with a sentiment of anxiety and suspense, for no
+one knew what the consequences would be. Edward left two sons. Edward,
+the oldest of the two, the Prince of Wales, was about thirteen years
+of age. The youngest, whose name was Richard, was eleven. Of course,
+Edward was the rightful heir to the crown. Next to him in the line of
+succession came his brother, and next to them came Richard, Duke of
+Gloucester, their uncle. But it was universally known that the Duke of
+Gloucester was a reckless and unscrupulous man, and the question in
+every one's mind was whether he would recognize the rights of his
+young nephews at all, or whether he would seize the crown at once for
+himself.
+
+Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was in the northern part of England at
+this time, at the head of his army. The great power which the
+possession of this army gave him made people all the more fearful
+that he might attempt to usurp the throne.
+
+The person who was most anxious in respect to the result was the
+widowed Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the two princes. She was very
+much alarmed. The boys themselves were not old enough to realize very
+fully the danger that they were in, or to render their mother much aid
+in her attempts to save them. The person on whom she chiefly relied
+was her brother, the Earl of Rivers. Edward, her oldest son, was under
+this uncle Rivers's care. The uncle and the nephew were residing
+together at this time at the castle of Ludlow.[J] Queen Elizabeth was
+in London with her second son.
+
+[Footnote J: For a view of this castle, see page 26.]
+
+Immediately on the death of the king, a council was called to
+deliberate upon the measures proper to be taken. The council decreed
+that the Prince of Wales should be proclaimed king, and they fixed
+upon the 4th of May for the day of his coronation. They also made
+arrangements for sending orders to the Earl of Rivers to come at once
+with the young king to London, in order that the coronation might take
+place.
+
+Queen Elizabeth was present at this council, and she desired that her
+brother might be ordered to come attended by as large an armed force
+as he could raise, for the protection of the prince on the way.
+
+Now it happened that there were great dissensions among the officers
+and nobles of the court at this time. The queen, with the relatives
+and connections of her family, formed one party, and the other nobles
+and peers of England another party, and great was the animosity and
+hatred that prevailed. The English nobles had never been satisfied
+with Edward's marriage, and they were very jealous of the influence of
+the queen's family and relations. This feud had been kept down in some
+degree while Edward lived, and Edward had made a great final effort to
+heal it entirely in his last sickness. He called together the leading
+nobles on each side, that had taken part in this quarrel, and then, by
+great exertion, went in among them, and urged them to forget their
+dissensions and become reconciled to each other. The effort for the
+time seemed to be successful, and both parties agreed to a compromise
+of the quarrel, and took a solemn oath that they would thenceforth
+live together in peace. But now, on the death of the king, the
+dissension broke out afresh. The other nobles were very jealous and
+suspicious of every measure which Elizabeth proposed, especially if
+it tended to continue the possession of power and influence in the
+hands of her family. Accordingly, when she proposed in the council to
+send for the earl, and to require him to raise a large escort to bring
+the young Prince Edward to London, they objected to it.
+
+[Illustration: THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION.]
+
+"Against whom," demanded one of the councilors, "is the young prince
+to be defended? Who are his enemies? He has none, and the real motive
+and design of raising this force is not to protect the prince, but
+only to secure to the Woodville family the means of increasing and
+perpetuating their own importance and power."
+
+The speaker upbraided the queen, too, with having, by this proposal,
+and by the attempt to promote the aggrandizement of the Woodville
+party which was concealed in it, been guilty of violating the oath of
+reconciliation which had been taken during the last sickness of the
+late king. So the council refused to authorize the armed escort, and
+the queen, with tears of disappointment and vexation, gave up the
+plan. At least she gave it up ostensibly, but she nevertheless
+contrived to come to some secret understanding with the earl, in
+consequence of which he set out from the castle with the young prince
+at the head of quite a large force. Some of the authorities state
+that he had with him two thousand men.
+
+In the mean time, Richard of Gloucester, as soon as he heard of
+Edward's death, arranged his affairs at once, and made preparations to
+set out for London too. He put his army in mourning for the death of
+the king, and he wrote a most respectful and feeling letter of
+condolence to the queen. In this letter he made a solemn profession of
+homage and fealty to her son, the Prince of Wales, whom he
+acknowledged as rightfully entitled to the crown, and promised to be
+faithful in his allegiance to him, and to all the duties which he owed
+him.
+
+Queen Elizabeth's mind was much relieved by this letter. She began to
+think that she was going to find in Richard an efficient friend to
+sustain her cause and that of her family against her enemies.
+
+When Richard reached York, he made a solemn entry into that town,
+attended by six hundred knights all dressed in deep mourning. At the
+head of this funeral procession he proceeded to the Cathedral, and
+there caused the obsequies of the king to be celebrated with great
+pomp, and with very impressive and apparently sincere exhibitions of
+the grief which he himself personally felt for the loss of his
+brother.
+
+After a brief delay in York, Richard resumed his march to the
+southward. He arranged it so as to overtake the party of the prince
+and the Earl of Rivers on the way.
+
+He arrived at the town of Northampton on the same day that the prince,
+with the Earl of Rivers and his escort, reached the town of Stony
+Stratford, which was only a few miles from it. When the earl heard
+that Gloucester was so near, he took with him another nobleman, named
+Lord Gray, and a small body of attendants, and rode back to
+Northampton to pay his respects to Gloucester on the part of the young
+king; for they considered that Edward became at once, by the death of
+his father, King of England, under the style and title of Edward the
+Fifth.
+
+Gloucester received his visitors in a very courteous and friendly
+manner. He invited them to sup with him, and he made quite an
+entertainment for them, and for some other friends whom he invited to
+join them. The party spent the evening together in a very agreeable
+manner.
+
+They sat so long over their wine that it was too late for the earl and
+Lord Gray to return that night to Stony Stratford, and Richard
+accordingly made arrangements for them to remain in Northampton. He
+assigned quarters to them in the town, and secretly set a guard over
+them, to prevent their making their escape. The next morning, when
+they arose, they were astonished to find themselves under guard, and
+to perceive too, as they did, that all the avenues of the town were
+occupied with troops. They suspected treachery, but they thought it
+not prudent to express their suspicions. Richard, when he met them
+again in the morning, treated them in the same friendly manner as on
+the evening before, and proposed to accompany them to Stony Stratford,
+in order that he might there see and pay his respects to the king.
+This was agreed to, and they all set out together.
+
+In company with Richard was one of his friends and confederates, the
+Duke of Buckingham. This Duke of Buckingham had been one of the
+leaders of the party at court that were opposed to the family of the
+queen. These two, together with the Earl of Rivers and Lord Gray, rode
+on in a very friendly manner toward Stratford. They went in advance of
+Richard's troops, which were ordered to follow pretty closely behind.
+In this manner they went on till they began to draw near to the town.
+
+Richard now at once threw off his disguise. He told the Earl of
+Rivers and Lord Gray that the influence which they were exerting over
+the mind of the king was evil, and that he felt it his duty to take
+the king from their charge.
+
+Then, at a signal given, armed men came up and took the two noblemen
+in custody. Richard, with the Duke of Buckingham and their attendants,
+drove on with all speed into the town. It seems that the persons who
+had been left with Edward had, in some way or other, obtained
+intelligence of what was going on, for they were just upon the eve of
+making their escape with him when Richard and his party arrived. The
+horse was saddled, and the young king was all ready to mount.
+
+Richard, when he came up to the place, assumed the command at once. He
+made no obeisance to his nephew, nor did he in any other way seem to
+recognize or acknowledge him as his sovereign. He simply said that he
+would take care of his safety.
+
+"The persons that have been about you," said he, "have been conspiring
+against your life, but I will protect you."
+
+He then ordered several of the principal of Edward's attendants to be
+arrested; the rest he commanded to disperse. What became of the large
+body of men which the Earl of Rivers is said to have had under his
+command does not appear. Whether they dispersed in obedience to
+Richard's commands, or whether they abandoned the earl and came over
+to Richard's side, is uncertain. At any rate, nobody resisted him. The
+Earl of Rivers, Lord Gray, and the others were secured, with a view of
+being sent off prisoners to the northward. Edward himself was to be
+taken with Richard back to Northampton.
+
+The little king himself scarcely knew what to make of these
+proceedings. He was frightened; and when he saw that all those
+personal friends and attendants who had had the charge of him so long,
+and to whom he was strongly attached, were seized and sent away, and
+others, strangers to him, put in their place, he could not refrain
+from tears. King as he was, however, and sovereign ruler over millions
+of men, he was utterly helpless in his uncle's hands, and obliged to
+yield himself passively to the disposition which his uncle thought
+best to make of him.
+
+All the accounts of Edward represent him as a kind-hearted and
+affectionate boy, of a gentle spirit, and of a fair and prepossessing
+countenance. The ancient portraits of him which remain confirm these
+accounts of his personal appearance and of his character.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V.]
+
+After having taken these necessary steps, and thus secured the power
+in his own hands, Richard vouchsafed an explanation of what he had
+done to the young king. He told him that Earl Rivers, and Lord Gray,
+and other persons belonging to their party, "had conspired together to
+rule the kynge and the realme, to sette variance among the states,
+and to subdue and destroy the noble blood of the realme," and that he,
+Richard, had interposed to save Edward from their snares. He told him,
+moreover, that Lord Dorset, who was Edward's half brother, being the
+son of the queen by her first husband, and who had for some time held
+the office of Chancellor of the Tower, had taken out the king's
+treasure from that castle, and had sent much of it away beyond the
+sea.
+
+Edward, astonished and bewildered, did not know at first what to reply
+to his uncle. He said, however, at last, that he never heard of any
+such designs on the part of his mother's relatives, and he could not
+believe that the charges were true. But Richard assured him that they
+were true, and that "his kindred had kepte their dealings from the
+knowledge of his grace." Satisfied or not, Edward was silenced; and he
+submitted, since it was hopeless for him to attempt to resist, to be
+taken back in his uncle's custody to Northampton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TAKING SANCTUARY.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Alarm of the queen on hearing the news.--Visit of the
+archbishop.--Hasting's message.--The queen is in great
+distress.--Uncertainty in respect to Gloucester's designs.--Arrest
+of the leading men in the Woodville party.--The queen
+"on the rushes."--Her daughters.--Description of the
+sanctuary.--Apartments.--The Jerusalem chamber.--Richard's
+plans in respect to the coronation.--Reception of Richard's party
+at London.--Richard establishes his court.--Dorset.--The queen's
+friends dismissed.--Richard's titles.--Anxiety of the people
+of England.--Forlorn situation of the queen.
+
+
+When the news reached London that the king had been seized on the way
+to the capital, and was in Gloucester's custody, it produced a
+universal commotion. Queen Elizabeth was thrown at once into a state
+of great anxiety and alarm. The tidings reached her at midnight. She
+was in the palace at Westminster at the time. She rose immediately in
+the greatest terror, and began to make preparations for fleeing to
+sanctuary with the Duke of York, her second son. All her friends in
+the neighborhood were aroused and summoned to her aid. The palace soon
+became a scene of universal confusion. Every body was busy packing up
+clothing and other necessaries in trunks and boxes, and securing
+jewels and valuables of various kinds, and removing them to places of
+safety. In the midst of this scene, the queen herself sat upon the
+rushes which covered the floor, half dressed, and her long and
+beautiful locks of hair streaming over her shoulders, the picture of
+despair.
+
+There was a certain nobleman, named Lord Hastings, who had been a very
+prominent and devoted friend to Edward the Fourth during his life, and
+had consequently been upon very intimate and friendly terms with the
+queen. It was he, however, that had objected in the council to the
+employment of a large force to conduct the young king to London, and,
+by so doing, had displeased the queen. Toward morning, while the queen
+was in the depths of her distress and terror, making her preparations
+for flight, a cheering message from Hastings was brought to her,
+telling her not to be alarmed. The message was brought to her by a
+certain archbishop who had been chancellor, that is, had had the
+custody of the great seal, an impression from which was necessary to
+the validity of any royal decree. He came to deliver up the seal to
+the queen, and also to bring Lord Hastings's message.
+
+"Ah, woe worth him!" said the queen, when the archbishop informed her
+that Lord Hastings bid her not fear. "It is he that is the cause of
+all my sorrows; he goeth about to destroy me and my blood."
+
+"Madam," said the archbishop, "be of good comfort. I assure you that,
+if they crown any other king than your eldest son, whom they have
+with them, we will, on the morrow, crown his brother, whom you have
+with you here. And here is the great seal, which, in like wise as your
+noble husband gave it to me, so I deliver it to you for the use of
+your son." So the archbishop delivered the great seal into the queen's
+hands, and went away. This was just before the dawn.
+
+The words which the archbishop spoke to the queen did not give her
+much comfort. Indeed, her fears were not so much for her children, or
+for the right of the eldest to succeed to the throne, as for herself
+and her own personal and family ascendency under the reign of her son.
+She had contrived, during the lifetime of her husband, to keep pretty
+nearly all the influence and patronage of the government in her own
+hands and in that of her family connections, the Woodvilles. You will
+recollect how much difficulty that had made, and how strong a party
+had been formed against her coterie. And now, her husband being dead,
+what she feared was not that Gloucester, in taking the young king away
+from the custody of her relatives, and sending those relatives off as
+prisoners to the north, meant any hostility to the young king, but
+only against her and the whole Woodville interest, of which she was
+the head. She supposed that Gloucester would now put the power of the
+government in the hands of other families, and banish hers, and that
+perhaps he would even bring her to trial and punishment for acts of
+maladministration, or other political crimes which he would charge
+against her. It was fear of this, rather than any rebellion against
+the right of Edward the Fifth to reign, which made her in such haste
+to flee to sanctuary.
+
+It was, however, somewhat uncertain what Gloucester intended to do.
+His professions were all very fair in respect to his allegiance to the
+young king. He sent a messenger to London, immediately after seizing
+the king, to explain his views and motives in the act, and in this
+communication he stated distinctly that his only object was to prevent
+the king's falling into the hands of the Woodville family, and not at
+all to oppose his coronation.
+
+"It neyther is reason," said he in his letter, "nor in any wise to be
+suffered that the young kynge, our master and kinsman, should be in
+the hands of custody of his mother's kindred, sequestered in great
+measure from our companie and attendance, the which is neither
+honorable to hys majestie nor unto us."
+
+Thus the pretense of Richard in seizing the king was simply that he
+might prevent the government under him from falling into the hands of
+his mother's party. But the very decisive measures he took in respect
+to the leading members of the Woodville family led many to suspect
+that he was secretly meditating a deeper design. All those who were
+with the king at the time of his seizure were made prisoners and sent
+off to a castle in the north, as we have already said; and, in order
+to prevent those who were in and near London from making their escape,
+Richard sent down immediately from Northampton ordering their arrest,
+and appointing guards to prevent any of them from flying to sanctuary.
+When the archbishop, who had called to see the queen at the palace,
+went away, he saw through the window, although it was yet before the
+dawn, a number of boats stationed on the Thames ready to intercept any
+who might be coming up the river with this intent from the Tower, for
+several influential members of the family resided at this time at the
+Tower.
+
+The queen herself, however, as it happened, was at Westminster Palace,
+and she had accordingly but little way to go to make her escape to the
+Abbey.
+
+The space which was inclosed by the consecrated limits, from within
+which prisoners could not be taken, was somewhat extensive. It
+included not only the church of the Abbey, but also the Abbey garden,
+the cemetery, the palace of the abbot, the cloisters, and various
+other buildings and grounds included within the inclosure. As soon as
+the queen entered these precincts, she sank down upon the floor of the
+hall, "alone on the rushes, all desolate and dismayed." It was in the
+month of May, and the great fire-place of the hall was filled with
+branches of trees and flowers, while the floor, according to the
+custom of the time, was strewed with green rushes. For a time the
+queen was so overwhelmed with her sorrow and chagrin that she was
+scarcely conscious where she was. But she was soon aroused from her
+despondency by the necessity of making proper arrangements for herself
+and her family in her new abode. She had two daughters with her,
+Elizabeth and Cecily--beautiful girls, seventeen and fifteen years of
+age; Richard, Duke of York, her second son, and several younger
+children. The youngest of these children, Bridget, was only three
+years old. Elizabeth, the oldest, afterward became a queen, and little
+Bridget a nun.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER.]
+
+The rooms which the queen and her family occupied in the sanctuary
+are somewhat particularly described by one of the writers of those
+days. The fire-place, where the trees and flowers were placed, was in
+the centre of the hall, and there was an opening in the roof above,
+called a _louvre_, to allow of the escape of the smoke. This hearth
+still remains on the floor of the hall, and the louvre is still to be
+seen in the roof above.[K] The end of the hall was formed of oak
+panneling, with lattice-work above, the use of which will presently
+appear. A part of this paneling was formed of doors, which led by
+winding stairs up to a curious congeries of small rooms formed among
+the spaces between the walls and towers, and under the arches above.
+Some of these rooms were for private apartments, and others were used
+for the offices of buttery, kitchen, laundry, and the like. At the end
+of this range of apartments was the private sitting-room and study of
+the abbot. The windows of the abbot's room looked down upon a pretty
+flower-garden, and there was a passage from it which led by a corridor
+back to the lattices over the doors in the hall, through which the
+abbot could look down into the hall at any time without being
+observed, and see what the monks were doing there.
+
+[Footnote K: The room is now the college hall, so called, of
+Westminster school.]
+
+Besides these there were other large apartments, called state
+apartments, which were used chiefly on great public occasions. These
+rooms were larger, loftier, and more richly decorated than the others.
+They were ornamented with oak carvings and fluting, painted windows,
+and other such decorations. There was one in particular, which was
+called the Jerusalem chamber. This was the grand receiving-room of the
+abbot. It had a great Gothic window of painted glass, and the walls
+were hung with curious tapestry. This room, with the window, the
+tapestry, and all the other ornaments, remains to this day.
+
+It was on the night of the third of May that the queen and her family
+"took sanctuary." The very next day, the fourth, was the day that the
+council had appointed for the coronation. But Richard, instead of
+coming at once to London, after taking the king under his charge, so
+as to be ready for the coronation at the appointed day, delayed his
+journey so as not to enter London until that day. He wished to prevent
+the coronation from taking place, having probably other plans of his
+own in view instead.
+
+It is not, however, absolutely certain that Richard intended, at this
+time, to claim the crown for himself, for in entering London he
+formed a grand procession, giving the young king the place of honor
+in it, and doing homage to him as king. Richard himself and all his
+retinue were in mourning. Edward was dressed in a royal mantle of
+purple velvet, and rode conspicuously as the chief personage of the
+procession. A short distance from the city the cavalcade was met by a
+procession of the civic authorities of London and five hundred
+citizens, all sumptuously appareled, who had come out to receive and
+welcome their sovereign, and to conduct him through the gates into the
+city. In entering the city Richard rode immediately before the king,
+with his head uncovered. He held his cap in his hand, and bowed
+continually very low before the king, designating him in this way to
+the citizens as the object of their homage. He called out also, from
+time to time, to the crowds that thronged the waysides to see, "Behold
+your prince and sovereign."
+
+There were two places to which it might have been considered not
+improbable that Richard would take the king on his arrival at the
+capital--one the palace of Westminster, at the upper end of London,
+and the other, the Tower, at the lower end. The Tower, though often
+used as a prison, was really, at that time, a castle, where the kings
+and the members of the royal family often resided. Richard, however,
+did not go to either of these places at first, but proceeded instead
+to the bishop's palace at St. Paul's, in the heart of the city. Here a
+sort of court was established, a grand council of nobles and officers
+of state was called, and for some days the laws were administered and
+the government was carried on from this place, all, however, in
+Edward's name. Money was coined, also, with his effigy and
+inscription, and, in fine, so far as all essential forms and
+technicalities were concerned, the young Edward was really a reigning
+king; but, of course, in respect to substantial power, every thing was
+in Richard's hands.
+
+The reason why Richard did not proceed at once to the Tower was
+probably because Dorset, the queen's son, was in command there, and
+he, as of course he was identified with the Woodville party, might
+perhaps have made Richard some trouble. But Dorset, as soon as he
+heard that Richard was coming, abandoned the Tower, and fled to the
+sanctuary to join his mother. Accordingly, after waiting a few days at
+the bishop's palace until the proper arrangements could be made, the
+king, with the whole party in attendance upon him, removed to the
+Tower, and took up their residence there. The king was nominally in
+his castle, with Richard and the other nobles and their retinue in
+attendance upon him as his guards. Really he was in a prison, and his
+uncle, with the people around him who were under his uncle's command,
+were his keepers.
+
+A meeting of the lords was convened, and various political
+arrangements were made to suit Richard's views. The principal members
+of the Woodville family were dismissed from the offices which they
+held, and other nobles, who were in Richard's interest, were appointed
+in their place. A new day was appointed for the coronation, namely,
+the 22d of June. The council of lords decreed also that, as the king
+was yet too young to conduct the government himself personally, his
+uncle Gloucester was, for the present, to have charge of the
+administration of public affairs, under the title of Lord Protector.
+The title in full, which Richard thenceforth assumed under this
+decree, was, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother and uncle of the
+king, Protector and Defender, Great Chamberlain, Constable, and Lord
+High Admiral of England.
+
+During all this time the city of London, and, indeed, the whole realm
+of England, as far as the tidings of what was going on at the capital
+spread into the interior, had been in a state of the greatest
+excitement. The nobles, and the courtiers of all ranks, were
+constantly on the alert, full of anxiety and solicitude, not knowing
+which side to take or what sentiments to avow. They did not know what
+turn things would finally take, and, of course, could not tell what
+they were to do in order to be found, in the end, on the side that was
+uppermost. The common people in the streets, with anxious looks and
+many fearful forebodings, discussed the reports and rumors that they
+had heard. They all felt a sentiment of loyal and affectionate regard
+for the king--a sentiment which was increased and strengthened by his
+youth, his gentle disposition, and the critical and helpless situation
+that he was in; while, on the other hand, the character of Gloucester
+inspired them with a species of awe which silenced and subdued them.
+Edward, in his "protector's" hands, seemed to them like a lamb in the
+custody of a tiger.
+
+The queen, all this time, remained shut up in the sanctuary, in a
+state of extreme suspense and anxiety, clinging to the children whom
+she had with her, and especially to her youngest son, the little Duke
+of York, as the next heir to the crown, and her only stay and hope,
+in case, through Richard's violence or treachery, any calamity should
+befall the king.
+
+[Illustration: THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+RICHARD LORD PROTECTOR.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Richard forms plans for seizing the crown.--His plan for disposing of
+Edward's children.--Clarence's children.--Lady Cecily.--Baynard's
+Castle.--Situation of the queen's friends at Pomfret Castle.--Lord
+Hastings.--Richard's councils.--The Tower.--Nobles in council at the
+Tower.--Richard's proceedings at the council.--Scene in the council
+chamber at the Tower.--He makes signals for the armed men to come
+in.--Hastings is executed.--Orders sent to the north.--Execution of
+the prisoners at Pomfret Castle.--Richard's plans in respect to the
+Duke of York.--He determines to seize him.--The case of the little
+Richard argued.--Delegation sent to the Tower.--Interview with the
+mother of the princes.--The queen is forced to give up the child.--The
+parting scene.--The prince is taken away.--Both princes entirely in
+Richard's power.
+
+
+What sort of protection Richard afforded to the young wards who were
+committed to his charge will appear by events narrated in this
+chapter.
+
+It was now June, and the day, the twenty-second, which had been fixed
+upon for the coronation, was drawing nigh. By the ancient usages of
+the realm of England, the office of Protector, to which Richard had
+been appointed, would expire on the coronation of the king. Of course,
+Richard perceived at once that if he wished to prolong his power he
+must act promptly.
+
+He began to revolve in his mind the possibility of assuming the crown
+himself, and displacing the children of his older brothers; for
+Clarence left children at his decease as well as Edward. Of course,
+these children of Clarence, as well as those of Edward, would take
+precedence of him in the line of succession, being descended from an
+older brother. Richard therefore, in order to establish any claim to
+the crown for himself, must find some pretext for setting aside both
+these branches of the family. The pretexts which he found were these.
+
+[Illustration: CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S DEATH.]
+
+In respect to the children of Edward, his plan was to pretend to have
+discovered proof of Edward's having been privately married to another
+lady before his marriage with Elizabeth Woodville. This would, of
+course, render the marriage with Elizabeth Woodville null, and destroy
+the rights of the children to any inheritance from their father.
+
+In respect to the children of Clarence, he was to maintain that they
+were cut off by the attainder which had been passed against their
+father. A bill of attainder, according to the laws and usages of those
+times, not only doomed the criminal himself to death, but cut off his
+children from all rights of inheritance. It was intended to destroy
+the family as well as the man.
+
+Richard, however, did not at once reveal his plans, but proceeded
+cautiously to take the proper measures for putting them into
+execution.
+
+In the first place, there was his mother to be conciliated, the Lady
+Cecily Neville, known, however, more generally by the title of the
+Duchess of York. She lived at this time in an old family residence
+called Baynard's Castle, which stood on the banks of the Thames.[L] As
+soon as Richard arrived in London he went to see his mother at this
+place, and afterward he often visited her there. How far he explained
+his plans to her, and how far she encouraged or disapproved of them,
+is not known. If she was required to act at all in the case, it must
+have been very hard for her, in such a question of life and death, to
+decide between her youngest son alive and the children of her
+first-born in his grave. Mothers can best judge to which side, in such
+an alternative, her maternal sympathies would naturally incline her.
+
+[Footnote L: For a view of this castle, see engraving on page 273.]
+
+As for the immediate members of the Woodville family, they were
+already pretty well taken care of. The queen herself, with her
+children, were shut up in the sanctuary. Her brothers, and the other
+influential men who were most prominent on her side, had been made
+prisoners, and sent to Pomfret Castle in the north. Here they were
+held under the custody of men devoted to Richard's interest. But to
+prevent the possibility of his having any farther trouble with them,
+Richard resolved to order them to be beheaded. This resolution was
+soon carried into effect, as we shall presently see.
+
+There remained the party of nobles and courtiers that were likely to
+be hostile to the permanent continuance of the power of Richard, and
+inclined to espouse the cause of the young king. The nobles had not
+yet distinctly taken ground on this question. There were, however,
+some who were friendly to Richard. Others seemed more inclined to form
+a party against him. The prominent man among this last-named set was
+Lord Hastings. There were several others besides, and Richard knew
+very well who they were. In order to circumvent and defeat any plans
+which they might be disposed to form, and to keep the power fully in
+his own hands, he convened his councils of state at different places,
+sometimes at Westminster, sometimes at the Tower, where the king was
+kept, and sometimes at his own residence, which was in the heart of
+London. He transferred the public business more and more to his own
+residence, assembling the councilors there at all times, late and
+early, and thus withdrawing them from attendance at the Tower. Very
+soon Richard's residence in London became the acknowledged
+head-quarters of influence and power, and all who had petitions to
+present or favors to obtain gathered there, while the king in the
+Tower was neglected, and left comparatively alone.
+
+Still the form of holding a council from time to time at the Tower was
+continued, and, of course, the nobles who assembled there were those
+most inclined to stand by and defend the cause of the king.
+
+Such was the state of things on the 13th of June, nine days before the
+time appointed for the coronation. Richard then, having carefully
+laid his plans, was prepared to take decisive measures to break up the
+party who were disposed to gather around the king at the Tower and
+espouse his cause.
+
+On that day, while these nobles were holding a council in the Tower,
+suddenly, and greatly to their surprise, Richard walked in among them.
+He assumed a very good-natured and even merry air as he entered and
+took his seat, and began to talk with those present in a very friendly
+and familiar tone. This was for the purpose of lulling any suspicions
+which they might have felt on seeing him appear among them, and
+prevent them from divining the dreadful intentions with which he had
+come.
+
+"My lord," said he, turning to a bishop who sat near him, and who was
+one of those that he was about to arrest, "you have some excellent
+strawberries in your garden, I understand. I wish you would let me
+have a plateful of them."
+
+It was about the middle of June, you will recollect, which was the
+time for strawberries to be ripe.
+
+The bishop was very much pleased to find the great Protector taking
+such an interest in his strawberries, and he immediately called a
+servant and sent him away at once to bring some of the fruit.
+
+After having greeted the other nobles at the board in a somewhat
+similar style to this, with jocose and playful remarks, which had the
+effect of entirely diverting from their minds every thing like
+suspicion, he said that he must go away for a short time, but that he
+would presently return. In the mean time, they might proceed, he said,
+with their deliberations on the public business.
+
+So he went out. He proceeded at once to make the preparations
+necessary for the accomplishment of the desperate measures which he
+had determined to adopt. He stationed armed men at the doors and the
+passages of the part of the Tower where the council was assembled, and
+gave them instructions as to what they were to do, and agreed with
+them in respect to the signals which he was to give.
+
+In about an hour he returned, but his whole air and manner were now
+totally changed. He came in with a frowning and angry countenance,
+knitting his brows and setting his teeth, as if something had occurred
+to put him in a great rage. He advanced to the council table, and
+there accosting Lord Hastings in a very excited and angry manner, he
+demanded,
+
+"What punishment do you think men deserve who form plots and schemes
+for my destruction?"
+
+Lord Hastings was amazed at this sudden appearance of displeasure, and
+he replied to the Protector that such men, if there were any such,
+most certainly deserved death, whoever they might be.
+
+"It is that sorceress, my brother's wife," said Richard, "and that
+other vile sorceress, worse than she, Jane Shore. See!"
+
+This allusion to Jane Shore was somewhat ominous for Hastings, as it
+was generally understood that since the king's death Lord Hastings had
+taken Jane Shore under his protection, and had lived in great intimacy
+with her.
+
+As Richard said this, he pulled up the sleeve of his doublet to the
+elbow, to let the company look at his arm. This arm had always been
+weak, and smaller than the other.
+
+"See," said he, "what they are doing to me."
+
+He meant that by the power of necromancy they had made an image of wax
+as an effigy of him, according to the mode explained in a previous
+chapter, and were now melting it away by slow degrees in order to
+destroy his life, and that his arm was beginning to pine and wither
+away in consequence.
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER.]
+
+The lords knew very well that the state in which they saw Richard's
+arm was its natural condition, and that, consequently, his charge
+against the queen and Jane Shore was only a pretense, which was to be
+the prelude and excuse for some violent measures that he was about to
+take. They scarcely knew what to say. At last Lord Hastings replied,
+
+"Certainly, my lord, if they have committed so heinous an offense as
+this, they deserve a very heinous punishment."
+
+"If!" repeated the Protector, in a voice of thunder. "And thou
+servest me, then, it seems, with _ifs_ and _ands_. I tell thee that
+they _have_ so done--and I will make what I say good upon thy body,
+traitor!"
+
+He emphasized and confirmed this threat by bringing down his fist with
+a furious blow upon the table.
+
+This was one of the signals which he had agreed upon with the people
+that he had stationed without at the door of the council hall. A voice
+was immediately heard in the ante-chamber calling out Treason. This
+was again another signal. It was a call to a band of armed men whom
+Richard had stationed in a convenient place near by, and who were to
+rush in at this call. Accordingly, a sudden noise was heard of the
+rushing of men and the clanking of iron, and before the councilors
+could recover from their consternation the table was surrounded with
+soldiery, all "in harness," that is, completely armed, and as fast as
+the foremost came in and gathered around the table, others pressed in
+after them, until the room was completely full.
+
+Richard, designating Hastings with a gesture, said suddenly, "I arrest
+thee, traitor."
+
+"What! _me_, my lord?" exclaimed Hastings, in terror.
+
+"Yes, thee, traitor."
+
+Two or three of the soldiers immediately seized Hastings and prepared
+to lead him away. Other soldiers laid hands upon several of the other
+nobles, such as Richard had designated to them beforehand. These, of
+course, were the leading and prominent men of the party opposed to
+Richard's permanent ascendency. Most of these men were taken away and
+secured as prisoners in various parts of the Tower. As for Hastings,
+Richard, in a stern and angry manner, advised him to lose no time in
+saying his prayers, "for, by the Lord," said he, "I will not to dinner
+to-day till I see thy head off."
+
+Then, after a brief delay, to allow the wretched man a few minutes to
+say his prayers, Richard nodded to the soldiers to signify to them
+that they were to proceed to their work. They immediately took their
+victim out to a green by the side of the Tower, and, laying him down
+with his neck across a log which they found there, they cut off his
+head with a broad-axe.
+
+[Illustration: POMFRET CASTLE.]
+
+The same day Richard sent off a dispatch to the north, directed to
+the men who had in charge the Earl Rivers, and the other friends of
+the king who had been made prisoners when the king was seized at
+Stony Stratford, ordering them all to be beheaded. The order was
+immediately obeyed.
+
+The person who had charge of the execution of this order was a stern
+and ruffian-like officer named Sir Richard Ratcliffe. This man is
+quite noted in the history of the times as one of the most
+unscrupulous of Richard's adherents. He was a merciless man, short and
+rude in speech, and reckless in action, destitute alike of all pity
+for man and of all fear of God.
+
+The place where the prisoners had been confined was Pomfret Castle.[M]
+On receiving the orders from Richard, Ratcliffe led them out to an
+open place without the castle wall to be beheaded. The executioners
+brought a log and an axe, and the victims were slaughtered one after
+another, without any ceremony, and without being allowed to say a word
+in self-defense.
+
+[Footnote M: Called sometimes Pontefract.]
+
+The whole country was shocked at hearing of these sudden and terrible
+executions; but the power was in Richard's hands, and there was no one
+capable of resisting him. The death of the leaders of what would have
+been the young king's party struck terror into the rest, and Richard
+now had every thing in his own hands, or, rather, _almost_ every
+thing; for the queen and her family, being still in the sanctuary,
+were beyond his reach. He, however, had nothing to fear from her
+personally, and there were none of the children that gave him any
+concern except the Duke of York, the king's younger brother. He, you
+will recollect, was with his mother at Westminster when the king was
+seized, and she had taken him with the other children to the Abbey.
+Richard was now extremely desirous of getting possession of this boy.
+
+The reason why he deemed it so essential to get possession of him was
+this. The child was, it is true, of little consequence while his
+brother the king lived; but if the king were put out of the way, then
+the thoughts and the hearts of all the loyal people of England,
+Richard knew very well, would be turned toward York as the rightful
+successor. But if they could both be put out of the way, and if the
+people of England could be induced to consider Clarence's children as
+set aside by the attainder of their father, then he himself would come
+forward as the true and rightful heir to the crown. It is true that it
+was a part of his plan, as has already been said, to declare the
+marriage of Elizabeth Woodville with the king null, and thus cut off
+both these children of Edward from their right of inheritance; but he
+knew very well that even if a majority of the people of England were
+to assent to this, there would certainly be a minority that would
+refuse their assent, and would adhere to the cause of the children,
+and they, if the children should fall into their hands, might, at some
+future time, make themselves very formidable to him, and threaten very
+seriously the permanence of his dominion. It was quite necessary,
+therefore, he thought, that he should get both children into his own
+power.
+
+"I must," said he to himself, therefore, "I must, in some way or
+other, and at all hazards, get possession of little Richard."
+
+It is always the policy of usurpers, and of all ambitious and aspiring
+men who wish to seize and hold power which does not properly belong to
+them, to carry the various measures necessary to the attainment of
+their ends, especially those likely to be unpopular, not by their own
+personal action, but by the agency of others, whom they put forward to
+act for them. Richard proceeded in this way in the present instance.
+He called a grand council of the peers of the realm and great officers
+of state, and caused the question to be brought up there of removing
+the young Duke of York from the custody of his mother to that of the
+Protector, in order that he might be with his brother. The peers who
+were in Richard's interest advocated this plan; but all the bishops
+and archbishops, who, of course, as ecclesiastics, had very high ideas
+of the sacredness and inviolability of a sanctuary, opposed the plan
+of taking the duke away except by the consent of his mother.
+
+The other side argued in reply to them that a sanctuary was a place
+where persons could seek refuge to escape punishment in case of crime,
+and that where no crime could have been committed, and no charges of
+crime were made, the principle did not apply. In other words, that the
+sanctuary was for men and women who had been guilty, or were supposed
+to have been guilty, of violations of law; but as children could
+commit no crime for which an asylum was necessary, the privileges of
+sanctuary did not extend to them.
+
+This view of the subject prevailed. The bishops and archbishops were
+outvoted, and an order in council was passed authorizing the Lord
+Protector to possess himself of his nephew, the Duke of York, and for
+this purpose to take him, if necessary, out of sanctuary by force.
+
+Still, the bishops and archbishops were very unwilling that force
+should be used, if it could possibly be avoided; and finally the
+Archbishop of Canterbury, who was the highest prelate in the realm,
+proposed that a deputation from the council should be sent to the
+Abbey, and that he should go with them, in order to see the queen, and
+make the attempt to persuade her to give up her son of her own accord.
+
+After giving notice to the abbot of their intended visit, and making
+an arrangement with him and with the queen in respect to the time when
+they could be received, the delegation proceeded in state to the Abbey
+on the appointed day, and were received by the abbot and by Elizabeth
+with due ceremony in the Jerusalem chamber, the great audience hall of
+the Abbey, which has already been described.
+
+The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was at the head of the delegation,
+explained the case to the queen. They wished her, he said, to allow
+her son, the Duke of York, to leave the sanctuary, and to join his
+brother the king at his royal residence in the Tower. He would be
+perfectly safe there, he said, under the care of his uncle, the Lord
+Protector.
+
+"The Protector thinks it very necessary that the duke should go,"
+added the archbishop, "to be company for his brother. The king is very
+melancholy, he says, for want of a playfellow."
+
+"And so the Protector," replied the queen--"God grant that he may
+really prove a protector--thinks that the king needs a playfellow! And
+can no playfellow be found for him except his brother?
+
+"Besides," she added, "he is not in a mood to play. He is not well.
+They must find some other playmate for his brother. Just as if
+princes, while they are so young, could not as well have some one to
+play with them not of their own rank, or as if a boy must have his
+brother, and nobody else for his mate, when every body knows that boys
+are more likely to disagree with their brothers than they are with
+other children."
+
+The archbishop, in reply, proceeded to argue the case with the queen,
+and to represent the necessity, arising from reasons of state, why the
+young duke should be committed to the charge of his uncle. He
+explained to her, too, that the Lord Protector had been fully
+authorized, by a decree of the council, to come and take his nephew
+from the Abbey, and to employ force, if necessary, to effect the
+purpose, but that it would be much better, both for the queen herself
+and the young duke, as well as for all concerned, that the affair
+should be settled in a peaceable and amicable manner.
+
+The unhappy queen saw at last that there was no alternative but for
+her to submit to her fate and give up her boy. Slowly and reluctantly
+she came to this conclusion, and finally gave her consent. Richard was
+brought in. His mother took him by the hand, and again addressed the
+archbishop and the delegation, speaking substantially as follows:
+
+"My lord," said she, "and all my lords now present, I will not be so
+suspicious as to mistrust the promises you make me, or to believe that
+you are dealing otherwise than fairly and honorably by me. Here is my
+son. I give him up to your charge. I have no doubt that he would be
+safe here under my protection, if I could be allowed to keep him with
+me, although I have enemies that so hate me and all my blood, that I
+believe, if they thought they had any of it in their own veins, they
+would open them to let it flow out.
+
+"I give him up, at your demand, to the protection of his brother and
+his uncle. And yet I know well that the desire of a kingdom knows no
+kindred. Brothers have been their brothers' bane, and can these
+nephews be sure of their uncle? The boys would be safe if kept
+asunder; together--I do not know. Nevertheless, I here deliver my son,
+and with him his brother's life, into your hands, and of you shall I
+require them both, before God and man. I know that you are faithful
+and true in what you intend, and you have power, moreover, to keep the
+children safe, if you will. If you think that I am over-anxious and
+fear too much, take care that you yourselves do not fear too little."
+
+Then drawing Richard to her, she kissed him very lovingly, the tears
+coming to her eyes as she did so.
+
+"Farewell," she said, "farewell, mine own sweet son. God send you good
+keeping. I must kiss you before you go, for God knows when we shall
+kiss together again."
+
+She kissed him again and blessed him, and then turned to go away,
+weeping bitterly.
+
+The child began to weep too, from sympathy with his mother's distress.
+The archbishop, however, took him by the hand and led him away,
+followed by the rest of the delegation.
+
+They conveyed the young duke first to the hall of the council, which
+was very near, and thence to the Lord Protector's residence in the
+city. Here he was received with every mark of consideration and honor,
+and a handsome escort was provided to conduct him in state to the
+Tower, where he joined his brother.
+
+Richard had now every thing under his own control. The delivery of
+the Duke of York into his hands took place on the sixteenth of June.
+The time which had been set for the coronation was the twenty-second.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+PROCLAIMED KING.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+The Duke of Buckingham.--Historical doubts.--Richard at Baynard's
+Castle.--The expense-book.--Items from the expense-book.--Richard's
+plans.--Richard's determination in respect to Jane Shore.--Jane's
+character.--Her jewelry confiscated.--The punishment of Jane
+Shore.--Alleged marriage of Edward IV. to Elinor Talbot.--Particulars
+of the story.--Plan for publishing it.--Sermon preached by Dr. Shaw
+near St. Paul's.--Ingenious contrivance.--Coolness of the
+people.--Meeting at the Guildhall.--The people do not respond.--The
+appeals to the people fail.--Grand council convened.--Arrangements
+made by Buckingham.--The petition.--Substance of the petition.--Real
+object of it.--Richard receives the petition at Baynard's
+Castle.--Richard concludes to accept the crown.--Ceremonies connected
+with the investiture of the king.--Richard marches through London.--Is
+every where proclaimed king.--Extraordinary character of the reign of
+Edward V.
+
+
+Richard, having thus obtained control of every thing essential to the
+success of his plans, began to prepare for action. His chief friend
+and confederate, the one on whom he relied most for the execution of
+the several measures which he proposed to take, was a powerful
+nobleman named the Duke of Buckingham. I shall proceed in this chapter
+to describe the successive steps of the course which Richard and the
+Duke of Buckingham pursued in raising Richard to the throne, as
+recorded by the different historians of those days, and as generally
+believed since, though, in fact, there have been great disputes in
+respect to these occurrences, and it is now quite difficult to
+ascertain with certainty what the precise truth of the case really is.
+This, however, is, after all, of no great practical importance, for,
+in respect to remote transactions of this nature, the thing which is
+most necessary for the purposes of general education is to understand
+what the story is, in detail, which has been generally received among
+mankind, and to which the allusions of orators and poets, and the
+discussions of statesmen and moralists in subsequent ages refer, for
+it is with this story alone that for all the purposes of general
+reading we have any thing to do.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Richard was residing at this time chiefly at Baynard's Castle with his
+mother.[N] The young king and his brother, the Duke of York, were in
+the Tower. They were not nominally prisoners, but yet Richard kept
+close watch and ward over them, and took most effectual precautions to
+prevent their making their escape. The queen, Elizabeth Woodville,
+with her daughters, was in the sanctuary. Richard's wife, with the
+young child, was still at Middleham Castle.
+
+[Footnote N: For view of this castle, see page 273.]
+
+It is a very curious circumstance, showing how sometimes records of
+the most trivial and insignificant things come down to us from ancient
+times in a clear and certain form, while all that is really important
+to know is involved in doubt and obscurity--that the household
+expense-book of Anne at Middleham is still extant, showing all the
+little items of expense incurred for Richard's son, while all is
+dispute and uncertainty in respect to the great political schemes and
+measures of his father. In this book there is a charge of 22_s._ 9_d._
+for a piece of green cloth, and another of 1_s._ 8_d._ for making it
+into gowns for "my lord prince." There is also a charge of 5_s._ for a
+feather for him, and 13_s._ 1_d._ paid to a shoemaker, named Dirick,
+for a pair of shoes. This expense-book was continued after Anne left
+Middleham Castle to go to London, as will be presently related. There
+are several charges on the journey for offerings and gifts made by the
+child at churches on the way. Two men were paid 6_s._ 8_d._ for
+running on foot by the side of his carriage. These men's names were
+Medcalf and Pacock. There is also a charge of 2_d._ for mending a
+whip!
+
+But to return to our narrative. The time for the coronation of Edward
+the Fifth was drawing near, but Richard intended to prevent the
+performance of this ceremony, and to take the crown for himself
+instead. The first thing was to put in circulation the story that his
+two nephews were not the legitimate children of his brother, Edward
+the Fourth, and to prepare the way for this, he wished first, by every
+means, to cast odium on Edward's character. This was easily done, for
+Edward's character was bad enough to merit any degree of odium which
+his brother might wish it to bear.
+
+Accordingly, Richard employed his friends and partisans in talking as
+much as possible in all quarters about the dissoluteness and the vices
+of the late king. False stories would probably have been invented, if
+it had not been that there were enough that were true. These stories
+were all revived and put in circulation, and every thing was made to
+appear as unfavorable for Edward as possible. Richard himself, on the
+other hand, feigned a very strict and scrupulous regard for virtue and
+morality, and deemed it his duty, he said, to do all in his power to
+atone for and wipe away the reproach which his brother's loose and
+wicked life had left upon the court and the kingdom. Among other
+things, the cause of public morals demanded, he said, that an example
+should be made of Jane Shore, who had been the associate and partner
+of the king in his immoralities.
+
+Jane Shore, it will be recollected, was the wife of a rich citizen of
+London, whom Edward had enticed away from her husband and brought to
+court. She was naturally a very amiable and kind-hearted woman, and
+all accounts concur in saying that she exercised the power that she
+acquired over the mind of the king in a very humane and praiseworthy
+manner. She was always ready to interpose, when the king contemplated
+any act of harshness or severity, to avert his anger and save his
+intended victim, and, in general, she did a great deal to soften the
+brutality of his character, and to protect the innocent and helpless
+from the wrongs which he would otherwise have often done them. These
+amiable and gentle traits of character do not, indeed, atone at all
+for the grievous sin which she committed in abandoning her husband and
+living voluntarily with the king, but they did much toward modifying
+the feeling of scorn and contempt with which she would have otherwise
+been regarded by the people of England.
+
+Richard caused Jane to be arrested and sent to prison. He also seized
+all her plate and jewels, and confiscated them. She had a very rich
+and valuable collection of these things.[O] Richard then caused an
+ecclesiastical court to be organized, and sent her before it to be
+tried. The court, undoubtedly in accordance with instructions that
+Richard himself gave them, sentenced her, by way of penance for her
+sins, to walk in midday through the streets of London, from one end of
+the city to the other, almost entirely undressed. The intention of
+this severe exposure was to designate her to those who should assemble
+to witness the punishment as a wanton, and thus to put her to shame,
+and draw upon her the scorn and derision of the populace. They found
+some old and obsolete law which authorized such a punishment. The
+sentence was carried into effect on a Sunday. The unhappy criminal was
+conducted through the principal streets of the city, wearing a
+night-dress, and carrying a lighted taper in her hand, between rows of
+spectators that assembled by thousands along the way to witness the
+scene. But, instead of being disposed to receive her with taunts and
+reproaches, the populace were moved to compassion by her saddened look
+and her extreme beauty. Their hearts were softened by the remembrance
+of the many stories they had heard of the kindness of her heart, and
+the amiableness and gentleness of her demeanor, in the time of her
+prosperity and power. They thought it hard, too, that the law should
+be enforced so rigidly against her alone, while so many multitudes in
+all ranks of society, high as well as low, were allowed to go
+unpunished.
+
+[Footnote O: The husband with whom she had lived before she became
+acquainted with Edward was a wealthy goldsmith and jeweler.]
+
+Still, Richard's object in this exhibition was accomplished. The
+transaction had the effect of calling the attention of the public
+universally and strongly to the fact that Edward the Fourth had been a
+loose and dissolute man, and prepared people's minds for the charge
+which was about to be brought against him.
+
+This charge was that he had been secretly married to another lady
+before his union with Elizabeth Woodville, and that consequently by
+this latter marriage he was guilty of bigamy. Of course, if this were
+true, the second marriage would be null and void, and the children
+springing from it would have no rights as heirs.
+
+Whether there was any truth in this story or not can not now ever be
+certainly known. All that is certain is that Richard circulated the
+report, and he found several witnesses to testify to the truth of it.
+The maiden name of the lady to whom they said the king had been
+married was Elinor Talbot. She had married in early life a certain
+Lord Boteler, whose widow she was at the time that Edward was alleged
+to have married her. The marriage was performed in a very private
+manner by a certain bishop, nobody being present besides the parties
+except the bishop himself, and he was strictly charged by the king to
+keep the affair a profound secret. This he promised to do.
+Notwithstanding his promise, however, the bishop some time
+subsequently, after the king had been married to Elizabeth Woodville,
+revealed the secret of the previous marriage to Gloucester, at which
+the king, when he heard of it, was extremely angry. He accused the
+bishop of having betrayed the trust which he had reposed in him, and,
+dismissing him at once from office, shut him up in prison.
+
+Richard having, as he said, kept these facts secret during his
+brother's lifetime, out of regard for the peace of the family, now
+felt it his duty to make them known, in order to prevent the wrong
+which would be done by allowing the crown to descend to a son who, not
+being born in lawful wedlock, could have no rights as heir.
+
+After disseminating this story among the influential persons connected
+with the court, and through all the circles of high life, during the
+week, it was arranged that on the following Sunday the facts should be
+made known publicly to the people.
+
+There was a large open space near St. Paul's Cathedral, in the very
+heart of London, where it was the custom to hold public assemblies of
+all kinds, both religious and political. There was a pulpit built on
+one side of this space, from which sermons were preached, orations
+and harangues pronounced, and proclamations made. Oaths were
+administered here too, in cases where it was required to administer
+oaths to large numbers of people.
+
+From this pulpit, on the next Sunday after the penance of Jane Shore,
+a certain Dr. Shaw, who was a brother of the Lord-mayor of London,
+preached a sermon to a large concourse of citizens, in which he openly
+attempted to set aside the claims of the two boys, and to prove that
+Richard was the true heir to the crown.
+
+He took for his text a passage from the Wisdom of Solomon, "The
+multiplying brood of the ungodly shall not thrive." In this discourse
+he explained to his audience that Edward, when he was married to
+Elizabeth Woodville, was already the husband of Elinor Boteler, and
+consequently that the second marriage was illegal and void, and the
+children of it entirely destitute of all claims to the crown. He also,
+it is said, advanced the idea that neither Edward nor Clarence were
+the children of their reputed father, the old Duke of York, but that
+Richard was the oldest legitimate son of the marriage, in proof of
+which he offered the fact that Richard strongly resembled the duke in
+person, while neither Edward nor Clarence had borne any resemblance to
+him at all.
+
+It was arranged, moreover--so it was said--that, when the preacher
+came to the passage where he was to speak of the resemblance which
+Richard bore to his father, the great Duke of York, Richard himself
+was to enter the assembly as if by accident, and thus give the
+preacher the opportunity to illustrate and confirm what he had said by
+directing his audience to observe for themselves the resemblance which
+he had pointed out, and also to excite them to a burst of enthusiasm
+in Richard's favor by the eloquent appeal which the incident of
+Richard's entrance was to awaken. But this intended piece of stage
+effect, if it was really planned, failed in the execution. Richard did
+not come in at the right time, and when he did come in, either the
+preacher managed the case badly, or else the people were very little
+disposed to espouse Richard's cause; for when the orator, at the close
+of his appeal, expected applause and acclamations, the people uttered
+no response, but looked at each other in silence, and remained wholly
+unmoved.
+
+In the course of the following two or three days, other attempts were
+made to excite the populace to some demonstration in Richard's favor,
+but they did not succeed. The Duke of Buckingham met a large concourse
+of Londoners at the Guildhall, which is in the centre of the business
+portion of the city. He was supported by a number of nobles, knights,
+and distinguished citizens, and he made a long and able speech to the
+assembly, in which he argued strenuously in favor of calling Richard
+to the throne. He denounced the character of the former king, and
+enlarged at length on the dissipated and vicious life which he had
+led. He also related to the people the story of Edward's having been
+the husband of Lady Elinor Boteler at the time when his marriage with
+Queen Elizabeth took place, which fact, as Buckingham showed, made the
+marriage with Elizabeth void, and cut off the children from the
+inheritance. The children of Clarence had been cut off, too, by the
+attainder, and so Richard was the only remaining heir.
+
+The duke concluded his harangue by asking the assembly if, under those
+circumstances, they would not call upon Richard to ascend the throne.
+A few of the poorer sort, very likely some that had been previously
+hired to do it, threw up their caps into the air in response to this
+appeal, and cried out, "Long live King Richard!" But the major part,
+comprising all the more respectable portion of the assembly, looked
+grave and were silent. Some who were pressed to give their opinion
+said they must take time to consider.
+
+Thus these appeals to the people failed, so far as the object of them
+was to call forth a popular demonstration in Richard's favor. But in
+one respect they accomplished the object in view: they had the effect
+of making it known throughout London and the vicinity that a
+revolution was impending, and thus preparing men's minds to acquiesce
+in the change more readily than they might perhaps have done if it had
+come upon them suddenly and with a shock.
+
+On the following day after the address at the Guildhall, a grand
+assembly of all the lords, bishops, councilors, and officers of state
+was convened in Westminster. It was substantially a Parliament, though
+not a Parliament in form. The reason why it was not called as a
+Parliament in form was because Richard, having doubts, as he said,
+about the right of Edward to the throne, could not conscientiously
+advise that any public act should be performed in his name, and a
+Parliament could only be legally convened by summons from a king.
+Accordingly, this assembly was only an informal meeting of the peers
+of England and other great dignitaries of Church and State, with a
+view of consulting together to determine what should be done. Of
+course, it was all fully arranged and settled beforehand, among those
+who were in Richard's confidence, what the result of these
+deliberations was to be. The Duke of Buckingham, Richard's principal
+friend and supporter, managed the business at the meeting. The
+assembly consisted, of course, chiefly of the party of Richard's
+friends. The principal leaders of the parties opposed to him had been
+beheaded or shut up in prison; of the rest, some had fled, some had
+concealed themselves, and of the few who dared to show themselves at
+the meeting, there were none who had the courage, or perhaps I ought
+rather to say the imprudence and folly, to oppose any thing which
+Buckingham should undertake to do.
+
+The result of the deliberations of this council was the drawing up of
+a petition to be presented to Richard, declaring him the true and
+rightful heir to the crown, and praying him to assume at once the
+sovereign power.
+
+A delegation was appointed to wait upon Richard and present the
+petition to him. Buckingham was at the head of this delegation. The
+petition was written out in due form upon a roll of parchment. It
+declared that, inasmuch as it was clearly established that King Edward
+the Fourth was already the husband of "Dame Alionora Boteler," by a
+previous marriage, at the time of his pretended marriage with
+Elizabeth Woodville, and that consequently his children by Elizabeth
+Woodville, not being born in lawful wedlock, could have no rights of
+inheritance whatever from their father, and especially could by no
+means derive from him any title to the crown; and inasmuch as the
+children of Clarence had been cut off from the succession by the bill
+of attainder which had been passed against their father; and inasmuch
+as Richard came next in order to these in the line of succession,
+therefore he was now the true and rightful heir. This his right
+moreover by birth was now confirmed by the decision of the estates of
+the realm assembled for the purpose; wherefore the petition, in
+conclusion, invited and urged him at once to assume the crown which
+was thus his by a double title--the right of birth and the election of
+the three estates of the realm.
+
+Of course, although the petition was addressed to Richard as if the
+object of it was to produce an effect upon his mind, it was really all
+planned and arranged by Richard himself, and by Buckingham in
+conjunction with him; and the representations and arguments which it
+contained were designed solely for effect on the mind of the public,
+when the details of the transaction should be promulgated throughout
+the land.
+
+The petition being ready, Buckingham, in behalf of the delegation,
+demanded an audience of the Lord Protector that they might lay it
+before him. Richard accordingly made an appointment to receive them at
+his mother's residence at Baynard's Castle.
+
+At the appointed time the delegation appeared, and were received in
+great state by Richard in the audience hall. The Duke of Buckingham
+presented the petition, and Richard read it. He seemed surprised, and
+he pretended to be at a loss what to reply. Presently he began to say
+that he could not think of assuming the crown. He said he had no
+ambition to reign, but only desired to preserve the kingdom for his
+nephew the king until he should become of sufficient age, and then to
+put him peaceably in possession of it. But the Duke of Buckingham
+replied that this could never be. The people of England, he said,
+would never consent to be ruled by a prince of illegitimate birth.
+
+"And if you, my lord," added the duke, "refuse to accept the crown,
+they know where to find another who will gladly accept it."
+
+[Illustration: BAYNARD'S CASTLE.]
+
+In the end, Richard allowed himself to be persuaded that there was no
+alternative but for him to accept the crown, and he reluctantly
+consented that, on the morrow, he would proceed in state to
+Westminster, and publicly assume the title and the prerogatives of
+king.
+
+Accordingly, the next day, a grand procession was formed, and Richard
+was conducted with great pomp to Westminster Hall. Here he took his
+place on the throne, with the leading lords of his future court, and
+the bishops and archbishops around him. The rest of the hall was
+crowded with a vast concourse of people that had assembled to witness
+the ceremony.
+
+First the king took the customary royal oath, which was administered
+by the archbishop. He then summoned the great judges before him, and
+made an address to them, exhorting them to administer the laws and
+execute judgment between man and man in a just and impartial manner,
+inasmuch as to secure that end, he said, would be the first and
+greatest object of his reign.
+
+After this Richard addressed the concourse of people in the hall, who,
+in some sense, represented the public, and pronounced a pardon for all
+offenses which had been committed against himself, and ordered a
+proclamation to be made of a general amnesty throughout the land.
+These announcements were received by the people with loud
+acclamations, and the ceremony was concluded by shouts of "Long live
+King Richard!" from all the assembly.
+
+We obtain a good idea of this scene by the following engraving, which
+is copied exactly from a picture contained in a manuscript volume of
+the time.
+
+[Illustration: THE KING ON HIS THRONE.]
+
+The royal dignity having thus been assumed by the new king at the
+usual centre and seat of the royal power, the procession was again
+formed, and Richard was conducted to Westminster Abbey for the purpose
+of doing the homage customary on such occasions at one of the shrines
+in the church. The procession of the king was met at the door of the
+church by a procession of monks chanting a solemn anthem as they came.
+
+After the religious ceremonies were completed, Richard, at the head of
+a grand cavalcade of knights, noblemen, and citizens, proceeded into
+the city to the Church of St. Paul. The streets were lined with
+spectators, who saluted the king with cheers and acclamations as he
+passed. At the Church of St. Paul more ceremonies were performed and
+more proclamations were made. The popular joy, more or less sincere,
+was expressed by the sounding of trumpets, the waving of banners, and
+loud acclamations of "Long live King Richard!" At length, when the
+services in the city were concluded, the king returned to Westminster,
+and took up his abode at the royal palace; and while he was returning,
+heralds were sent to all the great centres of concourse and
+intelligence in and around London to proclaim him king.
+
+This proclamation of Richard as king took place on the twenty-sixth of
+June. King Edward the Fourth died just about three months before.
+During this three months Edward the Fifth is, in theory, considered as
+having been the King of England, though, during the whole period, the
+poor child, instead of exercising any kingly rights or prerogatives,
+was a helpless prisoner in the hands of others, who, while they
+professed to be his protectors, were really his determined and
+relentless foes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE CORONATION.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Plan for the coronation.--Anne is sent for, and comes to
+London.--Procession of barges.--Great crowds of spectators.--The royal
+barges.--Arrival at the Tower.--Measures adopted.--The princes
+imprisoned.--Richard and Anne proceed to Westminster.--Ceremonies
+connected with the coronation.--The royal paraphernalia.--Religious
+services.--The king and queen crowned.--The dais.--Ceremonial in
+Westminster Hall.--The banquet.--The royal champion.--Grand
+challenge.--Gauntlet thrown down.--The spectators.--A largesse.--Modern
+largesses.--The torches.
+
+
+It was on the 26th of June, 1483, that Richard was proclaimed king,
+under the circumstances narrated in the last chapter. In order to
+render his investiture with the royal authority complete, he resolved
+that the ceremony of coronation should be immediately performed. He
+accordingly appointed the 6th of July for the day. This allowed an
+interval of just ten days for the necessary preparations.
+
+The first thing to be done was to send to Middleham Castle for Anne,
+his wife, who now, since the proclamation of Richard, became Queen of
+England. Richard wished that she should be present, and take part in
+the ceremony of the coronation. The child was to be brought too. His
+name was Edward.
+
+It seems that Anne arrived in London only on the 3d of July, three
+days before the appointed day. There is a specification in the book of
+accounts of some very elegant and costly cloth of gold bought on that
+day in London, the material for the queen's coronation robe.
+
+Richard determined that the ceremony of his coronation should be more
+magnificent than that of any previous English monarch. Preparations
+were made, accordingly, on a very grand scale. There were several
+preliminary pageants and processions on the days preceding that of the
+grand ceremony.
+
+On the 4th of July, which was Sunday, the king and queen proceeded in
+state to the Tower. They went in barges on the river. The party set
+out from Baynard's Castle, the residence of Richard's mother, and the
+place where the queen went on her arrival in London.
+
+The royal barges destined to convey the king and queen, and the other
+great personages of the party, were covered with canopies of silk and
+were otherwise magnificently adorned. Great crowds of spectators
+assembled to witness the scene. Some came in boats upon the water,
+others took their stations on the shores, where every prominent and
+commanding point was covered with its own special crowd, and others
+still occupied the windows of the buildings that looked out upon the
+river.
+
+Through the midst of this scene the royal barges passed down the river
+to the Tower. As they moved along, the air was filled with prolonged
+and continual shouts of "Long live King Richard!" "Long live the
+noble Queen Anne!"
+
+Royal or imperial power, once firmly established, will never fail to
+draw forth the acclamations of the crowd, no matter by what means it
+has been acquired.
+
+On his arrival at the Tower, Richard was received with great honor by
+the authorities which he had left in charge there, and he took
+possession of the edifice formally, as one of his own royal
+residences. He held a court in the great council-hall. At this court
+he created several persons peers of the realm, and invested others
+with the honor of knighthood. These were men whom he supposed to be
+somewhat undecided in respect to the course which they should pursue,
+and he wished, by these compliments and honors, to purchase their
+adhesion to his cause.
+
+He also liberated some persons who had been made prisoners, presuming
+that, by this kindness, he should conciliate their good-will.
+
+He did not, however, by any means extend this conciliating policy to
+the case of the young ex-king and his brother; indeed, it would have
+been extremely dangerous for him to have done so. He was aware that
+there must be a large number of persons throughout the kingdom who
+still considered Edward as the rightful king, and he knew very well
+that, if any of these were to obtain possession of Edward's person, it
+would enable them to act vigorously in his name, and to organize
+perhaps a powerful party for the support of his claims. He was
+convinced, therefore, that it was essential to the success of his
+plans that the boys should be kept in very close and safe custody. So
+he removed them from the apartments which they had hitherto occupied,
+and shut them up in close confinement in a gloomy tower upon the outer
+walls of the fortress, and which, on account of the cruel murders
+which were from time to time committed there, subsequently acquired
+the name of the Bloody Tower.
+
+[Illustration: THE BLOODY TOWER.]
+
+Richard and the queen remained at the Tower until the day appointed
+for the coronation, which was Tuesday. The ceremonies of that day were
+commenced by a grand progress of the king and his suite through the
+city of London back to Westminster, only, as if to vary the pageantry,
+they went back in grand cavalcade through the streets of the city,
+instead of returning as they came, by barges on the river. The
+concourse of spectators on this occasion was even greater than before.
+The streets were every where thronged, and very strict regulations
+were made, by Richard's command, to prevent disorder.
+
+On arriving at Westminster, the royal party proceeded to the Abbey,
+where, first of all, as was usual in the case of a coronation, certain
+ceremonies of religious homage were to be performed at a particular
+shrine, which was regarded as an object of special sanctity on such
+occasions. The king and queen proceeded to this shrine from the great
+hall, barefooted, in token of reverence and humility. They walked,
+however, it should be added, on ornamented cloth laid down for this
+purpose on the stone pavements of the floors. All the knights and
+nobles of England that were present accompanied and followed the king
+and queen in their pilgrimage to the shrine.
+
+One of these nobles bore the king's crown, another the queen's crown,
+and others still various other ancient national emblems of royal
+power. The queen walked under a canopy of silk, with a golden bell
+hanging from each of the corners of it. The canopy was borne by four
+great officers of state, and the bells, of course, jingled as the
+bearers walked along.
+
+The queen wore upon her head a circlet of gold adorned with precious
+stones. There were four bishops, one at each of the four corners of
+the canopy, who walked as immediate attendants upon the queen, and a
+lady of the very highest rank followed her, bearing her train.
+
+When the procession reached the shrine, the king and queen took their
+seats on each side of the high altar, and then there came forth a
+procession of priests and bishops, clothed in magnificent sacerdotal
+robes made of cloth of gold, and chanting solemn hymns of prayer and
+praise as they came.
+
+After the religious services were completed, the ceremony of anointing
+and crowning the king and queen, and of investing their persons with
+the royal robes and emblems, was performed with the usual grand and
+imposing solemnities. After this, the royal cortége was formed again,
+and the company returned to Westminster Hall in the same order as they
+came. The queen walked, as before, under her silken canopy, the golden
+bells keeping time, by their tinkling, with the steps of the bearers.
+
+At Westminster Hall a great dais had been erected, with thrones upon
+it for the king and queen. As their majesties advanced and ascended
+this dais, surrounded by the higher nobles and chief officers of
+state, the remainder of the procession, consisting of those who had
+come to accompany and escort them to the place, followed, and filled
+the hall.
+
+As soon as this vast throng saw that the king and queen were seated
+upon the dais, with their special and immediate attendants around
+them, their duties were ended, and they were to be dismissed. A grand
+officer of state, whose duty it was to dismiss them, came in on
+horseback, his horse covered with cloth of gold hanging down on both
+sides to the ground. The people, falling back before this horseman,
+gradually retired, and thus the hall was cleared.
+
+The king and queen then rose from their seats upon the dais, and were
+conducted to their private apartments in the palace, to rest and
+refresh themselves after the fatigues of the public ceremony, and to
+prepare for the grand banquet which was to take place in the evening.
+
+The preparations for this banquet were made by spreading a table upon
+the dais under the canopy for the king and queen, and four other very
+large and long tables through the hall for the invited guests.
+
+The time appointed for the banquet was four o'clock. When the hour
+arrived, the king and queen were conducted into the hall again, and
+took their places at the table which had been prepared for them on
+the dais. They had changed their dresses, having laid aside their
+royal robes, and the various paraphernalia of office with which they
+had been indued at the coronation, and now appeared in robes of
+crimson velvet embroidered with gold, and trimmed with costly furs.
+They were attended by many lords and ladies of the highest rank,
+scarcely less magnificently dressed than themselves. They were waited
+upon, while at table, by the noblest persons in the realm, who served
+them from the most richly wrought vessels of gold and silver.
+
+After the first part of the banquet was over, a knight, fully armed,
+and mounted on a warhorse richly caparisoned, rode into the hall,
+having been previously announced by a herald. This was the king's
+champion, who came, according to a custom usually observed on such
+occasions, to challenge and defy the king's enemies, if any such there
+were.[P]
+
+[Footnote P: See Frontispiece.]
+
+The trappings of the champion's horse were of white and red silk, and
+the armor of the knight himself was bright and glittering. As he rode
+forward into the area in front of the dais, he called out, in a loud
+voice, demanding of all present if there were any one there who
+disputed the claim of King Richard the Third to the crown of England.
+
+All the people gazed earnestly at the champion while he made this
+demand, but no one responded.
+
+The champion then made proclamation again, that if any one there was
+who would come forward and say that King Richard was not lawfully King
+of England, he was ready there to fight him to the death, in
+vindication of Richard's right. As he said this, he threw down his
+gauntlet upon the floor, in token of defiance.
+
+At this, the whole assembly, with one voice, began to shout, "Long
+live King Richard!" and the immense hall was filled, for some minutes,
+with thundering acclamations.
+
+This ceremony being concluded, a company of heralds came forward
+before the king, and proclaimed "a largesse," as it was called. The
+ceremony of a largesse consisted in throwing money among the crowd to
+be scrambled for. Three times the money was thrown out, on this
+occasion, among the guests in the hall. The amount that is charged on
+the royal account-book for the expense of this largesse is one hundred
+pounds.
+
+The scrambling of a crowd for money thrown thus among them, one would
+say, was a very rude and boisterous amusement, but those were rude and
+boisterous times. The custom holds its ground in England, in some
+measure, to the present day, though now it is confined to throwing out
+pence and halfpence to the rabble in the streets at an election, and
+is no longer, as of yore, relied upon as a means of entertaining noble
+guests at a royal dinner.
+
+After the frolic of the largesse was over, the king and queen rose to
+depart. The evening was now coming on, and a great number of torches
+were brought in to illuminate the hall. By the light of these torches,
+the company, after their majesties had retired, gradually withdrew,
+and the ceremonies of the coronation were ended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FATE OF THE PRINCES.
+
+The king resolves on a grand progress through the kingdom.--State
+of public sentiment.--Oxford.--Warwick Castle.--Embassadors.--Arrival
+at York.--The coronation repeated.--Richard's son.--Celebrations and
+rejoicings.--His determination in respect to the children.--His agent
+Green.--Green's return.--Conversation with the page.--Sir James
+Tyrrel.--Richard employs Tyrrel.--The letter.--Tyrrel arrives at
+the ower.--Murder of the princes.--Action of the assassins.--The
+burial.--Joy of Richard.--Re-interment of the bodies.--Richard keeps
+the murder secret.
+
+
+After the coronation, King Richard and Anne, the queen, went to
+Windsor, and took up their residence there, with the court, for a
+short time, in order that Richard might attend to the most important
+of the preliminary arrangements for the management of public affairs,
+which are always necessary at the commencement of a new reign. As soon
+as these things were settled, the king set out to make a grand
+progress through his dominions, for the purpose of receiving the
+congratulations of the people, and also of impressing them, as much as
+possible, with a sense of his grandeur and power by the magnificence
+of his retinue, and the great parades and celebrations by which his
+progress through the country was to be accompanied.
+
+From Windsor Castle the king went first to Oxford, where he was
+received with distinguished honors by all the great dignitaries
+connected with the University. Hence he proceeded to Gloucester, and
+afterward to Worcester. At all these places he was received with
+great parade and pageantry. Those who were disposed to espouse his
+cause, of course, endeavored to gain his favor by doing all in their
+power to give éclat to these celebrations. Those who were indifferent
+or in doubt, flocked, of course, to see the shows, and thus
+involuntarily contributed to the apparent popularity of the
+demonstrations; while, on the other hand, those who were opposed to
+him, and adhered still secretly to the cause of young King Edward,
+made no open opposition, but expressed their dissent, if they
+expressed it at all, in private conclaves of their own. They could not
+do otherwise than to allow Richard to have his own way during the hour
+of his triumph, _their_ hour being not yet come.
+
+At last, Richard, in his progress, reached Warwick Castle, and here he
+was joined by the queen and the young prince, who had remained at
+Windsor while the king was making his tour through the western towns,
+but who now came across the country with a grand retinue of her own,
+to join her husband at her own former home; for Warwick Castle was the
+chief stronghold and principal residence of the great Earl of Warwick,
+the queen's father. The king and queen remained for some time at
+Warwick Castle, and the king established his court here, and
+maintained it with great pomp and splendor. Here he received
+embassadors from Spain, France, and Burgundy, who had been sent by
+their several governments to congratulate him on his accession, and to
+pay him their homage. Each of these embassadors came in great state,
+and were accompanied by a grand retinue; and the ceremonies of
+receiving them, and the entertainments given to do them honor, were
+magnificent beyond description.
+
+One of these embassadors, the one sent by the government of Spain,
+brought a formal proposal from Ferdinand and Isabella for a marriage
+between their daughter and Richard's little son. The little prince was
+at that time about seven years of age.
+
+After remaining some time at Warwick Castle, the royal party proceeded
+northward, and, after passing through several large towns, they
+arrived finally at York, which was then, in some sense, the northern
+capital of the kingdom. Here there was another grand reception. All
+the nobility and gentry of the surrounding country came in to honor
+the king's arrival, and the ceremonies attending the entrance of the
+royal cortége were extremely magnificent.
+
+While the court was at York, Richard repeated the ceremony of the
+coronation. On this occasion, his son, the little Prince Edward, was
+brought forward in a conspicuous manner. He was created Prince of
+Wales with great ceremony, and on the day of the coronation he had a
+little crown upon his head, and his mother led him by the hand in the
+procession to the altar.
+
+The poor child did not live, however, to realize the grand destiny
+which his father thus marked out for him. He died a few months after
+this at Middleham Castle.
+
+The coronation at York was attended and followed, as that at London
+had been, with banquets and public parades, and grand celebrations of
+all sorts, which continued for several successive days, and the
+hilarity and joy which these shows awakened among the crowds that
+assembled to witness them seemed to indicate a universal acquiescence
+on the part of the people of England in Richard's accession to the
+throne.
+
+Still, although outwardly every thing looked fair, Richard's mind was
+not yet by any means at ease. From the very day of his accession, he
+knew well that, so long as the children of his brother Edward remained
+alive at the Tower, his seat on the throne could not be secure. There
+must necessarily be, he was well aware, a large party in the kingdom
+who were secretly in favor of Edward, and he knew that they would very
+soon begin to come to an understanding with each other, and to form
+plans for effecting a counter-revolution. The most certain means of
+preventing the formation of these plots, or of defeating them, if
+formed, would be to remove the children out of the way. He accordingly
+determined in his heart, before he left London, that this should be
+done.[Q]
+
+[Footnote Q: I say he determined; for, although some of Richard's
+defenders have denied that he was guilty of the crime which the almost
+unanimous voice of history charges upon him, the evidence leaves very
+little room to doubt that the dreadful tale is in all essential
+particulars entirely true.]
+
+He resolved to put them to death. The deed was to be performed during
+the course of his royal progress to the north, while the minds of the
+people of England were engrossed with the splendor of the pageantry
+with which his progress was accompanied. He intended, moreover, that
+the murder should be effected in a very secret manner, and that the
+death of the boys should be closely concealed until a time and
+occasion should arrive rendering it necessary that it should be made
+public.
+
+Accordingly, soon after he left London, he sent back a confidential
+agent, named Green, to Sir Robert Brakenbury, the governor of the
+Tower, with a letter, in which Sir Robert was commanded to put the
+boys to death.
+
+Green immediately repaired to London to execute the commission.
+Richard proceeded on his journey. When he arrived at Warwick, Green
+returned and joined him there, bringing back the report that Sir
+Robert refused to obey the order.
+
+Richard was very angry when Green delivered this message. He turned to
+a page who was in waiting upon him in his chamber, and said, in a
+rage,
+
+"Even these men that I have brought up and made, refuse to obey my
+commands."
+
+The page replied,
+
+"Please your majesty, there is a man here in the ante-chamber, that I
+know, who will obey your majesty's commands, whatever they may be."
+
+Richard asked the page who it was that he meant, and he said Sir James
+Tyrrel. Sir James Tyrrel was a very talented and accomplished, but
+very unscrupulous man, and he was quite anxious to acquire the favor
+of the king. The page knew this, from conversation which Sir James had
+had with him, and he had been watching an opportunity to recommend
+Sir James to Richard's notice, according to an arrangement that Sir
+James had made with him.
+
+So Richard ordered that Sir James should be sent in. When he came,
+Richard held a private conference with him, in which he communicated
+to him, by means of dark hints and insinuations, what he required.
+Tyrrel undertook to execute the deed. So Richard gave him a letter to
+Sir Robert Brakenbury, in which he ordered Sir Robert to deliver up
+the keys of the Tower to Sir James, "to the end," as the letter
+expressed it, "that he might there accomplish the king's pleasure in
+such a thing as he had given him commandment."
+
+Sir James, having received this letter, proceeded to London, taking
+with him such persons as he thought he might require to aid him in his
+work. Among these was a man named John Dighton. John Dighton was Sir
+James's groom. He was "a big, broad, square, strong knave," and ready
+to commit any crime or deed of violence which his master might
+require.
+
+On arriving at the Tower, Sir James delivered his letter to the
+governor, and the governor gave him up the keys. Sir James went to see
+the keepers of the prison in which the boys were confined. There were
+four of them. He selected from among these four, one, a man named
+Miles Forest, whom he concluded to employ, together with his groom,
+John Dighton, to kill the princes. He formed the plan, gave the men
+their instructions, and arranged it with them that they were to carry
+the deed into execution that night.
+
+Accordingly, at midnight, when the princes were asleep, the two men
+stole softly into the room, and there wrapped the poor boys up
+suddenly in the bed-clothes, with pillows pressed down hard over their
+faces, so that they could not breathe. The boys, of course, were
+suddenly awakened, in terror, and struggled to get free; but the men
+held them down, and kept the pillows and bed-clothes pressed so
+closely over their faces that they could not breathe or utter any cry.
+They held them in this way until they were entirely suffocated.
+
+When they found that their struggles had ceased, they slowly opened
+the bed-clothes and lifted up the pillows to see if their victims were
+really dead.
+
+"Yes," said they to each other, "they are dead."
+
+The murderers took off the clothes which the princes had on, and laid
+out the bodies upon the bed. They then went to call Sir James Tyrrel,
+who was all ready, in an apartment not far off, awaiting the summons.
+He came at once, and, when he saw that the boys were really dead, he
+gave orders that the men should take the bodies down into the
+court-yard to be buried.
+
+The grave was dug immediately, just outside the door, at the foot of
+the stairs which led up to the turret in which the boys had been
+confined. When the bodies had been placed in the ground, the grave was
+filled up, and some stones were put upon the top of it.
+
+Immediately after this work had been accomplished, Sir James delivered
+back the keys to the governor of the castle, and mounted his horse to
+return to the king. He traveled with all possible speed, and, on
+reaching the place where the king then was, he reported what he had
+done.
+
+The king was extremely pleased, and he rewarded Sir James very
+liberally for his energy and zeal; he, however, expressed some
+dissatisfaction at the manner in which the bodies had been disposed
+of. "They should not have been buried," he said, "in so vile a
+corner."
+
+So Richard sent word to the governor of the Tower, and the governor
+commissioned a priest to take up the bodies secretly, and inter them
+again in a more suitable manner. This priest soon afterward died,
+without revealing the place which he chose for the interment, and so
+it was never known where the bodies were finally laid.
+
+Richard gave all the persons who had been concerned in this affair
+very strict instructions to keep the death of the princes a profound
+secret. He did not intend to make it known, unless he should perceive
+some indication of an attempt to restore Edward to the throne; and,
+had it not been for the occurrence of certain circumstances which will
+be related in the next chapter, the fate of the princes might,
+perhaps, have thus been kept secret for many years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+DOMESTIC TROUBLES.
+
+A.D. 1483-1484
+
+Plots formed against Richard.--Situation of Elizabeth
+Woodville.--Plans of the conspirators.--Queen Elizabeth's
+agony.--Retribution.--Elizabeth visits the grave.--The Duke of
+Buckingham.--Richmond.--Elizabeth.--Plans formed for a
+marriage.--Richmond plans an invasion.--Buckingham's attempt to
+co-operate.--Failure of the plan.--Death of Buckingham.--Richmond
+retreats.--Unhappy situation of Elizabeth.--The princess.--He seeks to
+get possession of Richmond.--Parliament.--New policy.--The plan
+succeeds.--Excuses for the queen.--Her situation still unhappy.--The
+marriage countermanded.--Richard's plan for the princess.--Elizabeth's
+views on the subject.--Death of Richard's son.--Sickness of Queen
+Anne.--Sufferings of the queen--Suspicions.--Elizabeth's eagerness to
+marry the king.--Death of the queen.--Remonstrance of Richard's
+counselors.--Richard gives up the plan.--Disappointment of Elizabeth.
+
+
+While Richard was making his triumphal tour through the north of
+England, apparently receiving a confirmation of his right to the crown
+by the voice of the whole population of the country, the leaders of
+the Lancaster party were secretly beginning, in London, to form their
+schemes for liberating the young princes from the Tower, and restoring
+Edward to the kingdom.
+
+Queen Elizabeth, who still remained, with the Princess Elizabeth, her
+oldest daughter, and some of her other children, in the sanctuary at
+Westminster, was the centre of this movement. She communicated
+privately with the nobles who were disposed to espouse her cause. The
+nobles had secret meetings among themselves to form their plans. At
+these meetings they drank to the health of the king in the Tower, and
+of his brother, the little Duke of York, and pledged themselves to do
+every thing in their power to restore the king to his throne. They
+little knew that the unhappy princes were at that very time lying
+together in a corner of the court-yard of the prison in an ignoble
+grave.
+
+At length the conspirators' plans were matured, and the insurrection
+broke out. Richard immediately prepared to leave York, at the head of
+a strong force, to go toward London. At the same time, he allowed the
+tidings to be spread abroad that the two princes were dead. This news
+greatly disconcerted the conspirators and deranged their plans; and
+when the dreadful intelligence was communicated to the queen in the
+sanctuary, she was stunned, and almost killed by it, as by a blow.
+"She swooned away, and fell to the ground, where she lay in great
+agony, like a corpse;" and when at length she was restored to
+consciousness again, she broke forth in shrieks and cries of anguish
+so loud, that they resounded through the whole Abbey, and were most
+pitiful to hear. She beat her breast and tore her hair, calling all
+the time to her children by their names, and bitterly reproaching
+herself for her madness in giving up the youngest into his enemies'
+hands. After exhausting herself with these cries and lamentations, she
+sank into a state of calm despair, and, kneeling down upon the floor,
+she began, with dreadful earnestness and solemnity, to call upon
+Almighty God, imploring him to avenge the death of her children,
+and invoking the bitterest curses upon the head of their ruthless
+murderer.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE OF HER CHILDREN.]
+
+It was but a short time after this that Richard's child died at
+Middleham Castle, as stated in the last chapter. Many persons believed
+that this calamity was a judgment of heaven, brought upon the king in
+answer to the bereaved mother's imprecations.
+
+It is said that when Queen Elizabeth had recovered a little from the
+first shock of her grief, she demanded to be taken to her children's
+grave. So they conducted her to the Tower, and showed her the place in
+the corner of the court-yard where they had first been buried.
+
+One of the principal leaders of the conspiracy which had been formed
+against Richard was the Duke of Buckingham--the same that had taken so
+active a part in bringing Richard to the throne. What induced him to
+change sides so suddenly is not certainly known. It is supposed that
+he was dissatisfied with the rewards which Richard bestowed upon him.
+At any rate, he now turned against the king, and became the leader of
+the conspirators that were plotting against him.
+
+When the conspirators heard of the death of the princes, they were at
+first at a loss to know what to do. They looked about among the
+branches of the York and Lancaster families for some one to make their
+candidate for the crown. At last they decided upon a certain Henry
+Tudor, Earl of Richmond. This Henry, or Richmond, as he was generally
+called, was descended indirectly from the Lancaster line. The proposal
+of the conspirators, however, was, that he should marry the Princess
+Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth Woodville's daughter, who has already been
+mentioned among those who fled with their mother to the sanctuary. Now
+that both the sons of Elizabeth were dead, this daughter was, of
+course, King Edward's next heir, and by her marriage with Richmond the
+claims of the houses of York and Lancaster would be, in a measure,
+combined.
+
+When this plan was proposed to Queen Elizabeth, she acceded to it at
+once, and promised that she would give her daughter in marriage to
+Richmond, and acknowledge him as king, provided he would first conquer
+and depose King Richard, the common enemy.
+
+The plan was accordingly all arranged. Richmond was in France at this
+time, having fled there some time previous, after a battle, in which
+his party had been defeated. They wrote to him, explaining the plan.
+He immediately fell in with it. He raised a small force--all that he
+could procure at that time--and set sail, with a few ships, from the
+port of St. Malo, intending to land on the coast of Devonshire, which
+is in the southwestern part of England.
+
+In the mean time, the several leaders of the rebellion had gone to
+different parts of the kingdom, in order to raise troops, and form
+centres of action against Richard. Buckingham went into Wales. His
+plan was to march down, with all the forces that he could raise there,
+to the coast of Devonshire, to meet Richmond on his landing.
+
+This Richard resolved to prevent. He raised an army, and marched to
+intercept Buckingham. He first, however, issued a proclamation in
+which he denounced the leaders of the rebellion as criminals and
+outlaws, and set a price upon their heads.
+
+Buckingham did not succeed in reaching the coast in time to join
+Richmond. He was stopped by the River Severn, which you will see, by
+looking on a map of England, came directly in his way. He tried to get
+across the river, but the people destroyed the bridges and the boats,
+and he could not get over. He marched up to where the stream was
+small, in hopes of finding a fording place, but the waters were so
+swollen with the fall rains that he failed in this attempt as well as
+the others. The result was, that Richard came up while Buckingham was
+entangled among the intricacies of the ground produced by the
+inundations. Buckingham's soldiers, seeing that they were likely to be
+surrounded, abandoned him and fled. At last Buckingham fled too, and
+hid himself; but one of his servants came and told Richard where he
+was. Richard ordered him to be seized. Buckingham sent an imploring
+message to Richard, begging that Richard would see him, and, before
+condemning him, hear what he had to say; but Richard, in the place of
+any reply, gave orders to the soldiers to take the prisoner at once
+out into the public square of the town, and cut off his head. The
+order was immediately obeyed.
+
+When Richmond reached the coast of Devonshire, and found that
+Buckingham was not there to meet him, he was afraid to land with the
+small force that he had under his command, and so he sailed back to
+France.
+
+Thus the first attempt made to organize a forcible resistance to
+Richard's power totally failed.
+
+The unhappy queen, when she heard these tidings, was once more
+overwhelmed with grief. Her situation in the sanctuary was becoming
+every day more and more painful. She had long since exhausted all her
+own means, and she imagined that the monks began to think that she was
+availing herself of their hospitality too long. Her friends without
+would gladly have supplied her wants, but this Richard would not
+permit. He set a guard around the sanctuary, and would not allow any
+one to come or go. He would starve her out, he said, if he could not
+compel her to surrender herself in any other way.
+
+It was, however, not the queen herself, but her daughter Elizabeth,
+who was now the heir of whatever claims to the throne were possessed
+by the family, that Richard was most anxious to secure. If he could
+once get Elizabeth into his power, he thought, he could easily devise
+some plan to prevent her marriage with Henry of Richmond, and so
+defeat the plans of his enemies in the most effectual manner. He would
+have liked still better to have secured Henry himself; but Henry was
+in Brittany, on the other side of the Channel, beyond his reach.
+
+He, however, formed a secret plan to get possession of Henry. He
+offered privately a large reward to the Duke of Brittany if he would
+seize Henry and deliver him into his, Richard's hands. This the duke
+engaged to do. But Henry gained intelligence of the plot before it was
+executed, and made his escape from Brittany into France. He was
+received kindly at Paris by the French king. The king even promised to
+aid him in deposing Richard, and making himself King of England
+instead. This alarmed Richard more than ever.
+
+In the mean time, the summer passed away and the autumn came on. In
+November Richard convened Parliament, and caused very severe laws to
+be passed against those who had been engaged in the rebellion. Many
+were executed under these laws, some were banished, and others shut up
+in prison. Richard attempted, by these and similar measures, to break
+down the spirit of his enemies, and prevent the possibility of their
+forming any new organizations against him. Still, notwithstanding all
+that he could do, he felt very ill at ease so long as Henry and
+Elizabeth were at liberty.
+
+At last, in the course of the winter, he conceived the idea of trying
+what pretended kindness could do in enticing the queen and her family
+out of sanctuary. So he sent a messenger to her, to make fair and
+friendly proposals to her in case she would give up her place of
+refuge and place herself under his protection. He said that he felt no
+animosity or ill will against her, but that, if she and her daughters
+would trust to him, he would receive them at court, provide for them
+fully in a manner suited to their rank, and treat them in all respects
+with the highest consideration. She herself should be recognized as
+the queen dowager of England, and her daughters as princesses of the
+royal family; and he would take proper measures to arrange marriages
+for the young ladies, such as should comport with the exalted station
+which they were entitled to hold.
+
+The queen was at last persuaded to yield to these solicitations. She
+left the sanctuary, and gave herself and her daughters up to Richard's
+control. Many persons have censured her very strongly for doing this;
+but her friends and defenders allege that there was nothing else that
+she could do. She might have remained in the Abbey herself to starve
+if she had been alone, but she could not see her children perish of
+destitution and distress when a word from her could restore them to
+the world, and raise them at once to a condition of the highest
+prosperity and honor. So she yielded. She left the Abbey, and was
+established by Richard in one of his palaces, and her daughters were
+received at court, and treated, especially the eldest, with the utmost
+consideration.
+
+But, notwithstanding this outward change in her condition, the real
+situation of the queen herself, after leaving the Abbey, was extremely
+forlorn. The apartments which Richard assigned to her were very
+retired and obscure. He required her, moreover, to dismiss all her own
+attendants, and he appointed servants and agents of his own to wait
+upon and guard her. The queen soon found that she was under a very
+strict surveillance, and not much less a prisoner, in fact, than she
+was before.
+
+While in this situation, she wrote to her son Dorset,[R] at Paris,
+commanding him to put an end to the proposed marriage of her daughter
+Elizabeth to Henry of Richmond, "as she had given up," she said, "the
+plan of that alliance, and had formed other designs for the princess."
+Henry and his friends and partisans in Paris were indignant at
+receiving this letter, and the queen has been by many persons much
+blamed for having thus broken the engagement which she had so solemnly
+made. Others say that this letter to Paris was not her free act, but
+that it was extorted from her by Richard, who had her now completely
+in his power, and could, of course, easily find means to procure from
+her any writing that he might desire.
+
+[Footnote R: The Earl of Dorset, you will recollect, was Queen
+Elizabeth's son by her first marriage; he, consequently, had no claim
+to the crown.]
+
+Whether the queen acted freely or not in this case can not certainly
+be known. At all events, Henry, and those who were acting with him at
+Paris, determined to regard the letter as written under constraint,
+and to go on with the maturing of their plans just as if it had never
+been written.
+
+Richard's plan was, so it was said, to marry the Princess Elizabeth to
+his own son; for the death of his child, though it has been already
+once or twice alluded to, had not yet taken place. Richard's son was
+very young, being at that time about eleven years old; but the
+princess might be affianced to him, and the marriage consummated when
+he grew up. Elizabeth herself seems to have fallen in with this
+proposed arrangement very readily. The prospect that Henry of Richmond
+would ever succeed in making himself king, and claiming her for his
+bride, was very remote and uncertain, while Richard was already in
+full possession of power; and she, by taking his side, and becoming
+the affianced wife of his son, became at once the first lady in the
+kingdom, next to Queen Anne, with an apparently certain prospect of
+becoming queen herself in due time.
+
+But all these fine plans were abruptly brought to an end by the death
+of the young prince, which occurred about this time, at Middleham
+Castle, as has been stated before. The death of the poor boy took
+place in a very sudden and mysterious manner. Some persons supposed
+that he died by a judgment from heaven, in answer to the awful curses
+which Queen Elizabeth Woodville imprecated upon the head of the
+murderer of her children; others thought he was destroyed by poison.
+
+Not very long after the death of the prince, his mother fell very
+seriously sick. She was broken-hearted at the death of her son, and
+pining away, she fell into a slow decline. Her sufferings were greatly
+aggravated by Richard's harsh and cruel treatment of her. He was
+continually uttering expressions of impatience against her on account
+of her sickness and uselessness, and making fretful complaints of her
+various disagreeable qualities. Some of these sayings were reported to
+Anne, and also a rumor came to her ears one day, while she was at her
+toilet, that Richard was intending to put her to death. She was
+dreadfully alarmed at hearing this, and she immediately ran, half
+dressed as she was, and with her hair disheveled, into the presence of
+her husband, and, with piteous sobs and bitter tears, asked him what
+she had done to deserve death. Richard tried to quiet and calm her,
+assuring her that she had no cause to fear.
+
+She, however, continued to decline; and not long afterward her
+distress and anguish of mind were greatly increased by hearing that
+Richard was impatient for her death, in order that he might himself
+marry the Princess Elizabeth, to whom every one said he was now, since
+the death of his son, devoting himself personally with great
+attention. In this state of suffering the poor queen lingered on
+through the months of the winter, very evidently, though slowly,
+approaching her end. The universal belief was that Richard had formed
+the plan of making the Princess Elizabeth his wife, and that the
+decline and subsequent death of Anne were owing to a slow poison which
+he caused to be administered to her. There is no proof that this
+charge was true, but the general belief in the truth of it shows what
+was the estimate placed, in those times, on Richard's character.
+
+It is very certain, however, that he contemplated this new marriage,
+and that the princess herself acceded to the proposed plan, and was
+very deeply interested in the accomplishment of it. It is said that
+while the queen still lived she wrote to one of her friends--a certain
+noble duke of high standing and influence--in which she implored him
+to aid in forwarding her marriage with the king, whom she called "her
+master and her joy in this world--the master of her heart and
+thoughts." In this letter, too, she expressed her impatience at the
+queen's being so long in dying. "Only think," said she, "the better
+part of February is past, and the queen is still alive. Will she
+_never_ die?"
+
+But the patience of the princess was not destined to be taxed much
+longer. The queen sank rapidly after this, and in March she died.
+
+The heart of Elizabeth was now filled with exultation and delight. The
+great obstacle to her marriage with her uncle was now removed, and the
+way was open before her to become a queen. It is true that the
+relationship which existed between her and Richard, that of uncle and
+niece, was such as to make the marriage utterly illegal. But Richard
+had a plan of obtaining a dispensation from the Pope, which he had no
+doubt that he could easily do, and a dispensation from the Pope,
+according to the ideas of those times, would legalize any thing. So
+Richard cautiously proposed his plan to some of his confidential
+counselors.
+
+His counselors told him that the execution of such a plan would be
+dangerous in the highest degree. The people of England, they said, had
+for some time been led to think that the king had that design in
+contemplation, and that the idea had awakened a great deal of
+indignation throughout the country. The land was full of rumors and
+murmurings, they said, and those of a very threatening character. The
+marriage would be considered incestuous both by the clergy and the
+people, and would be looked upon with abhorrence. Besides, they said,
+there were a great many dark suspicions in the minds of the people
+that Richard had been himself the cause of the death of his former
+wife Anne, in order to open the way for this marriage, and now, if the
+marriage were really to take place, all these suspicions would be
+confirmed. They could judge somewhat, they added, by the depth of the
+excitement which had been produced by the bare suspicion that such
+things were contemplated, how great would be the violence of the
+outbreak of public indignation if the design were carried into effect.
+Richard would be in the utmost danger of losing his kingdom.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH.]
+
+So Richard determined at once to abandon the plan. He caused it to be
+announced in the most public manner that he had never contemplated
+such a marriage, and that all the rumors attributing such a design to
+him were malicious and false. He also sent orders abroad throughout
+the kingdom requiring that all persons who had circulated such rumors
+should be arrested and sent to London to be punished.
+
+Elizabeth's hopes were, of course, suddenly blasted, and the splendid
+castle which her imagination had built fell to the ground. It was only
+a temporary disappointment, however, for she became Queen of England
+in the end, after all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE FIELD OF BOSWORTH.
+
+A.D. 1485-1492
+
+Richmond goes on with his preparations at Paris.--The expedition
+sails.--Richard issues a proclamation.--Plans of the campaign.--The
+king goes to Nottingham.--Richmond's hopes and expectations.--The
+various negotiations.--Richard at Nottingham.--He commences his
+march.--The long column.--Bosworth.--The two armies.--Richard's
+depression and anxiety.--His painful suspicions.--His remorse.--The
+battle.--Richard betrayed.--Defection of his men.--Richard's Well.--His
+despair.--Terrible combat.--He refuses to fly.--Richard is
+killed.--Transfer of the crown.--Flight of Richard's
+troops.--Disposition of the body.--Henry marries the princess.--Queen
+Elizabeth Woodville.--Last years of her life.--Her death and burial.
+
+
+In the mean time, while Richard had been occupied with the schemes and
+manoeuvres described in the last chapter, Richmond was going on
+steadily in Paris with the preparations that he was making for a new
+invasion of England. The King of France assisted him both by providing
+him with money and aiding him in the enlistment of men. When Richmond
+received the message from Elizabeth's mother declaring that the
+proposed match between him and the princess must be broken off, and
+heard that Richard had formed a plan for marrying the young lady
+himself, he paid no regard to the tidings, but declared that he should
+proceed with his plans as vigorously as ever, and that, whatever
+counter-schemes they might form, they might rely upon it that he
+should fully carry into effect his purpose, not only of deposing
+Richard and reigning in his stead, but also of making the Princess
+Elizabeth his wife, according to his original intention.
+
+At length the expedition was ready, and the fleet conveying it set
+sail from the port of Harfleur.
+
+Richard attempted to arouse the people of England against the invaders
+by a grand proclamation which he issued. In this proclamation he
+designated the Earl of Richmond as "one Henry Tudor," who had no claim
+whatever, of any kind, to the English throne, but who was coming to
+attempt to seize it without any color of right. In order to obtain
+assistance from the King of France, he had promised, the proclamation
+said, "to surrender to him, in case he was successful, all the rich
+possessions in France which at that time belonged to England, even
+Calais itself; and he had promised, moreover, and given away, to the
+traitors and foreigners who were coming with him, all the most
+important and valuable places in the kingdom--archbishoprics,
+bishoprics, duchies, earldoms, baronies, and many other inheritances
+belonging of right to the English knights, esquires, and gentlemen who
+were now in the possession of them. The proclamation farther declared
+that the people who made up his army were robbers and murderers, and
+rebels attainted by Parliament, many of whom had made themselves
+infamous as cutthroats, adulterers, and extortioners."
+
+Richard closed his proclamation by calling upon all his subjects to
+arm themselves, like true and good Englishmen, for the defense of
+their wives, children, goods, and hereditaments, and he promised that
+he himself, like a true and courageous prince, would put himself in
+the forefront of the battle, and expose his royal person to the worst
+of the dangers that were to be incurred in the defense of the country.
+
+At the same time that he issued this proclamation, Richard sent forth
+orders to all parts of the kingdom, commanding the nobles and barons
+to marshal their forces, and make ready to march at a moment's
+warning. He dispatched detachments of his forces to the southward to
+defend the southern coast, where he expected Richmond would land,
+while he himself proceeded northward, toward the centre of the
+kingdom, to assemble and organize his grand army. He made Nottingham
+his head-quarters, and he gradually gathered around him, in that city,
+a very large force.
+
+In the mean time, while these movements and preparations had been
+going on on both sides, the spring and the early part of the summer
+passed away, and at length Richard, at Nottingham, in the month of
+August, received the tidings that Richmond had landed at Milford
+Haven, on the southwestern coast of Wales, with a force of two or
+three thousand men. Richard said that he was glad to hear it. "I am
+glad," said he, "that at last he has come. I have now only to meet
+him, and gain one decisive victory, and then the security of my
+kingdom will be disturbed no more."
+
+Richmond did not rely wholly on the troops which he had brought with
+him for the success of his cause. He believed that there was a great
+and prevailing feeling of disaffection against Richard throughout
+England, and that, as soon as it should appear that he, Richmond, was
+really in earnest in his determination to claim and take the crown,
+and that there was a reasonable prospect of the success of his
+enterprise, great numbers of men, who were now ostensibly on Richard's
+side, would forsake him and join the invader. So he sent secret
+messengers throughout the kingdom to communicate with his friends, and
+to open negotiations with those of Richard's adherents who might
+possibly be inclined to change sides. In order to give time for these
+negotiations to produce their effect, he resolved not to march at once
+into the interior of the country, but to proceed slowly toward the
+eastward, along the southern coast of Wales, awaiting intelligence.
+This plan he pursued. His strength increased rapidly as he advanced.
+At length, when he reached the eastern borders of Wales, he began to
+feel strong enough to push forward into England to meet Richard, who
+was all this time gathering his forces together at Nottingham, and
+preparing for a very formidable resistance of the invader. He
+accordingly advanced to Leicester, and thence to the town of Tamworth,
+where there was a strong castle on a rock. He took possession of this
+castle, and made it, for a time, his head-quarters.
+
+In the mean time, Richard, having received intelligence of Richmond's
+movements, and having now made every thing ready for his own advance,
+determined to delay no longer, but to go forth and meet his enemy.
+Accordingly, one morning, he marshaled his troops in the market-place
+of Nottingham, "separating his foot-soldiers in two divisions, five
+abreast, and dividing his cavalry so as to form two wide-spreading
+wings." He placed his artillery, with the ammunition, in the centre,
+reserving for himself a position in a space immediately behind it.
+
+[Illustration: THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH.]
+
+When all was ready, he came out from the castle mounted upon a
+milk-white charger. He wore, according to the custom of the times,
+a very magnificent armor, resplendent with gold and embroidery, and
+with polished steel that glittered in the sun. Over his helmet he wore
+his royal crown. He was preceded and followed, as he came out through
+the castle gates and descended the winding way which led down from the
+hill on which the castle stands, by guards splendidly dressed and
+mounted--archers, and spearmen, and other men at arms--with ensigns
+bearing innumerable pennants and banners. As soon as he joined the
+army in the town the order was given to march, and so great was the
+number of men that he had under his command that they were more than
+an hour in marching out of Nottingham, and when all had finally issued
+from the gate, the column covered the road for three miles.
+
+At length, after some days of man[oe]uvring and marching, the two
+armies came into the immediate vicinity of each other near the town of
+Bosworth, at a place where there was a wide field, which has since
+been greatly renowned in history as the Field of Bosworth. The two
+armies advanced into the neighborhood of this field on the 19th and
+20th days of August, and both sides began to prepare for battle.
+
+The army which Richard commanded was far more numerous and imposing
+than that of Richmond, and every thing, so far as outward appearances
+were concerned, promised him an easy victory. And yet Richmond was
+exultant in his confidence of success, while Richard was harassed with
+gloomy forebodings. His mind was filled with perplexity and distress.
+He believed that the leading nobles and generals on his side had
+secretly resolved to betray him, and that they were prepared to
+abandon him and go over to the enemy on the very field of battle,
+unless he could gain advantages so decisive at the very commencement
+of the conflict as to show that the cause of Richmond was hopeless.
+Although Richard was morally convinced that this was the state of
+things, he had no sufficient evidence of it to justify his taking any
+action against the men that he suspected. He did not even dare to
+express his suspicions, for he knew that if he were to do so, or even
+to intimate that he felt suspicion, the only effect would be to
+precipitate the consummation of the treachery that he feared, and
+perhaps drive some to abandon him who had not yet fully resolved on
+doing so. He was obliged, therefore, though suffering the greatest
+anxiety and alarm, to suppress all indications of his uneasiness,
+except to his most confidential friends. To them he appeared, as one
+of them stated, "sore moved and broiled with melancholy and dolor,
+and from time to time he cried out, asking vengeance of them that,
+contrary to their oath and promise, were so deceiving him."
+
+The recollection of the many crimes that he had committed in the
+attainment of the power which he now feared he was about to lose
+forever, harassed his mind and tormented his conscience, especially at
+night. "He took ill rest at nights," says one of his biographers,
+"using to lie long, waking and musing, sore wearied with care and
+watch, and rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful dreams."
+
+On the day of the battle Richard found the worst of his forebodings
+fulfilled. In the early part of the day he took a position upon an
+elevated portion of the ground, where he could survey the whole field,
+and direct the movements of his troops. From this point he could see,
+as the battle went on, one body of men after another go over to the
+enemy. He was overwhelmed with vexation and rage. He cried out,
+Treason! Treason! and, calling upon his guards and attendants to
+follow him, he rushed down the hill, determined to force his way to
+the part of the field where Richmond himself was stationed, with a
+view of engaging him and killing him with his own hand. This, he
+thought, was the last hope that was now left him.
+
+There was a spring of water, and a little brook flowing from it in a
+part of the field where he had to pass. He stopped at this spring,
+opened his helmet, and took a drink of the water. He then closed his
+helmet and rode on.
+
+This spring afterward received, from this circumstance, the name of
+"Richard's Well," and it is known by that name to this day.
+
+From the spring Richard rushed forward, attended by a few followers as
+fearless as himself, in search of Richmond. He penetrated the enemies'
+lines in the direction where he supposed Richmond was to be found, and
+was soon surrounded by foes, whom he engaged desperately in a
+hand-to-hand encounter of the most furious and reckless character. He
+slew one or two of the foremost of those who surrounded him, calling
+out all the time to Richmond to come out and meet him in single
+combat. This Richmond would not do. In the mean time, many of
+Richard's friends came up to his assistance. Some of these urged him
+to retire, saying that it was useless for him to attempt to maintain
+so unequal a contest, but he refused to go.
+
+"Not one foot will I fly," said he, "so long as breath bides within my
+breast; for, by Him that shaped both sea and land, this day shall end
+my battles or my life. I will die King of England."
+
+So he fought on. Several faithful friends still adhered to him and
+fought by his side. His standard-bearer stood his ground, with the
+king's banner in his hand, until at last both his legs were cut off
+under him, and he fell to the earth; still he would not let the banner
+go, but clung to it with a convulsive grasp till he died.
+
+At last Richard too was overpowered by the numbers that beset him.
+Exhausted by his exertions, and weakened by loss of blood, he was
+beaten down from his horse to the ground and killed. The royal crown
+which he had worn so proudly into the battle was knocked from his head
+in the dreadful affray, and trampled in the dust.
+
+Lord Stanley, one of the chieftains who had abandoned Richard's cause
+and gone over to the enemy, picked up the crown, all battered and
+bloodstained as it was, and put it upon Richmond's head. From that
+hour Richmond was recognized as King of England. He reigned under the
+title of Henry the Seventh.
+
+[Illustration: KING HENRY VII.]
+
+The few followers that had remained faithful to Richard's cause up to
+this time now gave up the contest and fled. The victors lifted up the
+dead body of the king, took off the armor, and then placed the body
+across the back of a horse, behind a pursuivant-at-arms, who, thus
+mounted, rode a little behind the new king as he retired from the
+field of battle. Followed by this dreadful trophy of his victory, King
+Henry entered the town of Leicester in triumph. The body of Richard
+was exposed for three days, in a public place, to the view of all
+beholders, in order that every body might be satisfied that he was
+really dead, and then the new king proceeded by easy journeys to
+London. The people came out to meet him all along the way, receiving
+him every where with shouts and acclamations, and crying, "King Henry!
+King Henry! Long live our sovereign lord, King Henry!"
+
+For several weeks after his accession Henry's mind was occupied with
+public affairs, but, as soon as the most urgent of the calls upon his
+attention were disposed of, he renewed his proposals to the Princess
+Elizabeth, and in January of the next year they were married. It seems
+to have been a matter of no consequence to her whether one man or
+another was her husband, provided he was only King of England, so that
+she could be queen. Henry's motive, too, in marrying her, was equally
+mercenary, his only object being to secure to himself, through her,
+the right of inheritance to her father's claims to the throne. He
+accordingly never pretended to feel any love for her, and, after his
+marriage, he treated her with great coldness and neglect.
+
+His conduct toward her poor mother, the dowager queen, Elizabeth
+Woodville, was still more unfriendly. He sent her to a gloomy
+monastery, called the Monastery of Bermondsey, and caused her to be
+kept there in the custody of the monks, virtually a prisoner. The
+reason which he assigned for this was his displeasure with her for
+abandoning his cause, and breaking the engagement which she had made
+with him for the marriage of her daughter to him, and also for giving
+herself and her daughter up into Richard's hands, and joining with him
+in the intrigues which Richard formed for connecting the princess with
+his family. In this lonely retreat the widowed queen passed the
+remainder of her days. She was not precisely a prisoner--at least, she
+was not kept in close and continual confinement, for two or three
+times, in the course of the few remaining years that she lived, she
+was brought, on special occasions, to court, and treated there with a
+certain degree of attention and respect. One of these occasions was
+that of the baptism of her daughter's child.
+
+[Illustration: THE MONASTERY OF BERMONDSEY.]
+
+In this lonely and cheerless retreat the queen lingered a few years,
+and then died. Her body was conveyed to Windsor for interment, and
+her daughters and the friends of her family were notified of the
+event. A very few came to attend the funeral. Her daughter Elizabeth
+was indisposed, and did not come. The interment took place at night. A
+few poor old men, in tattered garments, were employed to officiate at
+the ceremony by holding "old torches and torches' ends" to light the
+gloomy precincts of the chapel during the time while the monks were
+chanting the funeral dirge.
+
+                         THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Richard III, by Jacob Abbott
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHARD III ***
+
+***** This file should be named 28561-8.txt or 28561-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/6/28561/
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/28561-8.zip b/28561-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1921904
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-8.zip
diff --git a/28561-h.zip b/28561-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce9a916
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h.zip
diff --git a/28561-h/28561-h.htm b/28561-h/28561-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a36ae6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/28561-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,7494 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Richard III, Makers Of History, by Jacob Abbott.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .75em;
+         }
+    h1,h2,h3 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         clear: both;
+         }
+    td  {vertical-align: top;}
+
+    hr.large          {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;}
+    hr.medium         {width: 45%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;}
+    hr.tiny           {width: 10%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;}
+
+    div.centered {text-align:center;} /*work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */
+    div.centered table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; text-align:left;} /* work around for IE problem part 2 */
+
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+            /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+                position: absolute;
+                left: 92%;
+                font-size: smaller;
+                text-align: right;
+              } /* page numbers */
+
+    .blockquot  {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .blockquot2 {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+
+    .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+               padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em;
+               float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em;
+               font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;}
+    .sidenote2 {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+               padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em;
+               float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1.85em;
+               font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;}
+    .jpg      {border-style: double}
+    .center   {text-align: center;}
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+    .right    {margin-left: 25em;}
+    .right2   {margin-left: 30em;}
+    .caption  {font-weight: bold; font-size: 95%;}
+
+    .figcenter   {margin: auto; text-align: center;}
+
+    .gap              {margin-top: 3.5em;}
+    .smallgap         {margin-top: 2em;}
+    .footnote         {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;}
+    .fnanchor         {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;}
+
+    .tdc      {text-align: center; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;} /* aligning cell content to the center, forcing no wrap */
+    .bline    {border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: #000000;} /* bottom line for family tree */
+
+    .linel    {border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-color: #000000;} /* left line for family tree */
+    .liner    {border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-color: #000000;} /* right line for family tree */
+    .brb      {border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: #000000;} /* right line and bottom line for family tree */
+
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Richard III, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Richard III
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: April 12, 2009 [EBook #28561]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHARD III ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h2>Makers of History</h2>
+
+<hr class="tiny" />
+
+<h1>Richard III.</h1>
+
+<h2>By JACOB ABBOTT</h2>
+
+<p class="center">WITH ENGRAVINGS</p>
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 124px;">
+<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="124" height="150" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="gap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">NEW YORK AND LONDON</p>
+<p class="center">HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p>
+<p class="center">1901</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p class="center">
+Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight<br />
+hundred and fifty-eight, by<br />
+<br />
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS,<br />
+<br />
+in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District<br />
+of New York.<br />
+<br />
+Copyright, 1886, by <span class="smcap">Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, Lyman<br />
+Abbott, and Edward Abbott</span>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i003.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="319" alt="THE ROYAL CHAMPION." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE ROYAL CHAMPION.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p>King Richard the Third, known commonly in history as Richard the
+Usurper, was perhaps as bad a man as the principle of hereditary
+sovereignty ever raised to the throne, or perhaps it should rather be
+said, as the principle of hereditary sovereignty ever <i>made</i>. There is
+no evidence that his natural disposition was marked with any peculiar
+depravity. He was made reckless, unscrupulous, and cruel by the
+influences which surrounded him, and the circumstances in which he
+lived, and by being habituated to believe, from his earliest
+childhood, that the family to which he belonged were born to live in
+luxury and splendor, and to reign, while the millions that formed the
+great mass of the community were created only to toil and to obey. The
+manner in which the principles of pride, ambition, and desperate love
+of power, which were instilled into his mind in his earliest years,
+brought forth in the end their legitimate fruits, is clearly seen by
+the following narrative.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">Chapter</td>
+<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">Page</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">I.</td>
+<td align="left">RICHARD'S MOTHER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#KING_RICHARD_III">13</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">II.</td>
+<td align="left">RICHARD'S FATHER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">33</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">III.</td>
+<td align="left">THE CHILDHOOD OF RICHARD</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">57</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IV.</td>
+<td align="left">ACCESSION OF EDWARD IV., RICHARD'S ELDER<br />BROTHER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">67</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">V.</td>
+<td align="left">WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">89</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VI.</td>
+<td align="left">THE DOWNFALL OF YORK</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">118</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VII.</td>
+<td align="left">THE DOWNFALL OF LANCASTER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">137</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VIII.</td>
+<td align="left">RICHARD'S MARRIAGE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">165</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IX.</td>
+<td align="left">END OF THE REIGN OF EDWARD</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">182</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">X.</td>
+<td align="left">RICHARD AND EDWARD V.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">208</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XI.</td>
+<td align="left">TAKING SANCTUARY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">221</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XII.</td>
+<td align="left">RICHARD LORD PROTECTOR</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">236</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XIII.</td>
+<td align="left">PROCLAIMED KING</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIII">258</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XIV.</td>
+<td align="left">THE CORONATION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XIV">279</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XV.</td>
+<td align="left">FATE OF THE PRINCES</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XV">291</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XVI.</td>
+<td align="left">DOMESTIC TROUBLES</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XVI">301</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XVII.</td>
+<td align="left">THE FIELD OF BOSWORTH</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XVII">320</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2>ENGRAVINGS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="ENGRAVINGS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">Page</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE ROYAL CHAMPION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">SCENES OF CIVIL WAR</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">LUDLOW CASTLE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#henry6">39</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#margaret">40</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WALLS OF YORK</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">CASTLE AND GROUNDS BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF<br />YORK</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE OLD QUINTAINE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">PLAYING BALL</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#playball">86</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#battledoor">87</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">RICHARD'S SIGNATURE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#signature">88</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">EDWARD IV.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE SANCTUARY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">TOMB OF HENRY VI.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#henryburial">163</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">RICHARD III.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">QUEEN ANNE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#queenanne">177</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">MIDDLEHAM CASTLE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_180">180</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#louis">184</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">JANE SHORE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#people">235</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S<br />
+DEATH</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#clarencekids">237</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">POMFRET CASTLE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">BAYNARD'S CASTLE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE KING ON HIS THRONE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#throne">276</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE BLOODY TOWER</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_318">318</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_325">325</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">KING HENRY VII.</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE MONASTERY AT BERMONDSEY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="KING_RICHARD_III" id="KING_RICHARD_III"></a>KING RICHARD III.</h2>
+
+<h2><a name="Chapter_I" id="Chapter_I"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Richard's Mother.</span></h2>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The great quarrel between the houses of York and
+Lancaster.<br />Terrible results of the quarrel.<br />Origin of it.</div>
+
+<p>The mother of King Richard the Third was a beautiful, and, in many
+respects, a noble-minded woman, though she lived in very rude,
+turbulent, and trying times. She was born, so to speak, into one of
+the most widely-extended, the most bitter, and the most fatal of the
+family quarrels which have darkened the annals of the great in the
+whole history of mankind, namely, that long-protracted and bitter
+contest which was waged for so many years between the two great
+branches of the family of Edward the Third&mdash;the houses of York and
+Lancaster&mdash;for the possession of the kingdom of England. This dreadful
+quarrel lasted for more than a hundred years. It led to wars and
+commotions, to the sacking and burning of towns, to the ravaging of
+fruitful countries, and to atrocious deeds of violence of every sort,
+almost without number. The internal peace of hundreds <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>of thousands of
+families all over the land was destroyed by it for many generations.
+Husbands were alienated from wives, and parents from children by it.
+Murders and assassinations innumerable grew out of it. And what was it
+all about? you will ask. It arose from the fact that the descendants
+of a certain king had married and intermarried among each other in
+such a complicated manner that for several generations nobody could
+tell which of two different lines of candidates was fairly entitled to
+the throne. The question was settled at last by a prince who inherited
+the claim on one side marrying a princess who was the heir on the
+other. Thus the conflicting interests of the two houses were combined,
+and the quarrel was ended.</p>
+
+<p>But, while the question was pending, it kept the country in a state of
+perpetual commotion, with feuds, and quarrels, and combats
+innumerable, and all the other countless and indescribable horrors of
+civil war.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15-6]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i012.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="399" alt="SCENES OF CIVIL WAR." title="" />
+<span class="caption">SCENES OF CIVIL WAR.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Intricate questions of genealogy and descent.</div>
+
+<p>The two branches of the royal family which were engaged in this
+quarrel were called the houses of York and Lancaster, from the fact
+that those were the titles of the fathers and heads of the two lines
+respectively. The Lancaster party were the descendants of John of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and the York party were the successors and
+heirs of his brother Edmund, Duke of York. These men were both sons of
+Edward the Third, the King of England who reigned immediately before
+Richard the Second. A full account of the family is given in our
+history of <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/28433">Richard the Second</a>. Of course, they being brothers, their
+children were cousins, and they ought to have lived together in peace
+and harmony. And then, besides being related to each other through
+their fathers, the two branches of the family intermarried together,
+so as to make the relationships in the following generations so close
+and so complicated that it was almost impossible to disentangle them.
+In reading the history of those times, we find dukes or princes
+fighting each other in the field, or laying plans to assassinate
+each other, or striving to see which should make the other a captive,
+and shut him up in a dungeon for the rest of his days; and yet
+these enemies, so exasperated and implacable, are very near
+relations&mdash;cousins, perhaps, if the relationship is reckoned in one
+way, and uncle and nephew if it is reckoned in another. During the
+period of this struggle, all the great personages of the court, and
+all, or nearly all, the private families of the kingdom, and all the
+towns and the villages, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>were divided and distracted by the dreadful
+feud.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Lady Cecily Neville.</div>
+
+<p>Richard's mother, whose name, before she was married, was Lady Cecily
+Neville, was born into one side of this quarrel, and then afterward
+married into the other side of it. This is a specimen of the way in
+which the contest became complicated in multitudes of cases. Lady
+Cecily was descended from the Duke of Lancaster, but she married the
+Duke of York, in the third generation from the time when the quarrel
+began.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">She becomes Duchess of York.<br />Her mode of life.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, upon her marriage, Lady Cecily Neville became the Duchess
+of York. Her husband was a man of great political importance in his
+day, and, like the other nobles of the land, was employed continually
+in wars and in expeditions of various kinds, in the course of which he
+was continually changing his residence from castle to castle all over
+England, and sometimes making excursions into Ireland, Scotland, and
+France. His wife accompanied him in many of these wanderings, and she
+led, of course, so far as external circumstances were concerned, a
+wild and adventurous life. She was, however, very quiet and domestic
+in her tastes, though proud and ambitious in her aspirations, and she
+occupied herself, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>wherever she was, in regulating her husband's
+household, teaching and training her children, and in attending with
+great regularity and faithfulness to her religious duty, as religious
+duty was understood in those days.</p>
+
+<p>The following is an account, copied from an ancient record, of the
+manner in which she spent her days at one of the castles where she was
+residing.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Extract from the ancient annals.</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"She useth to arise at seven of the clock, and hath readye her
+chapleyne to say with her mattins of the daye (that is, morning
+prayers), and when she is fully readye, she hath a lowe mass in her
+chamber. After mass she taketh something to recreate nature, and soe
+goeth to the chapelle, hearinge the divine service and two lowe
+masses. From thence to dynner, during the tyme of whih she hath a
+lecture of holy matter (that is, reading from a religious book),
+either Hilton of Contemplative and Active Life, or some other
+spiritual and instructive work. After dynner she giveth audyence to
+all such as hath any matter to shrive unto her, by the space of one
+hower, and then sleepeth one quarter of an hower, and after she hath
+slept she contynueth in prayer until the first peale of even songe.</p>
+
+<p>"In the tyme of supper she reciteth the lecture <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>that was had at
+dynner to those that be in her presence. After supper she disposeth
+herself to be famyliare with her gentlewomen to the seasoning of
+honest myrthe, and one hower before her going to bed she taketh a cup
+of wine, and after that goeth to her pryvie closette, and taketh her
+leave of God for all nighte, makinge end of her prayers for that daye,
+and by eighte of the clocke is in bedde."</p></div>
+
+<p>The going to bed at eight o'clock was in keeping with the other
+arrangements of the day, for we find by a record of the rules and
+orders of the duchess's household that the dinner-hour was eleven, and
+the supper was at four.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Lady Cecily's family.<br />Names of the children.</div>
+
+<p>This lady, Richard's mother, during her married life, had no less than
+twelve children. Their names were Anne, Henry, Edward, Edmund,
+Elizabeth, Margaret, William, John, George, Thomas, Richard, and
+Ursula. Thus Richard, the subject of this volume, was the eleventh,
+that is, the last but one. A great many of these, Richard's brothers
+and sisters, died while they were children. All the boys died thus
+except four, namely, Edward, Edmund, George, and Richard. Of course,
+it is only with those four that we have any thing to do in the present
+narrative.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The boys' situation and mode of life.<br />Their letters.</div>
+
+<p>Several of the other children, however, besides these three, lived for
+some time. They resided generally with their mother while they were
+young, but as they grew up they were often separated both from her and
+from their father&mdash;the duke, their father, being often called away
+from home, in the course of the various wars in which he was engaged,
+and his wife frequently accompanied him. On such occasions the boys
+were left at some castle or other, under the care of persons employed
+to take charge of their education. They used to write letters to their
+father from time to time, and it is curious that these letters are the
+earliest examples of letters from children to parents which have been
+preserved in history. Two of the boys were at one time under the
+charge of a man named Richard Croft, and the boys thought that he was
+too strict with them. One of the letters, which has been preserved,
+was written to complain of this strictness, or, as the boy expressed
+it, "the odieux rule and demeaning" of their tutor, and also to ask
+for some "fyne bonnets," which the writer wished to have sent for
+himself and for his little brother. There is another long letter
+extant which was written at nearly the same time. This letter was
+written, or at least signed, by two of the boys, Edward and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>Edmund,
+and was addressed to their father on the occasion of some of his
+victories. But, though signed by the boys' names, I suspect, from the
+lofty language in which it is expressed, and from the many high-flown
+expressions of duty which it contains, that it was really written
+<i>for</i> the boys by their mother or by one of their teachers. Of this,
+however, the reader can judge for himself on perusing the letter. In
+this copy the spelling is modernized so as to make it more
+intelligible, but the language is transcribed exactly from the
+original.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Letter written by Edward and Edmund.</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and greatly
+redoubted lord and father:</p>
+
+<p>"In as lowly a wise as any sons can or may, we recommend us unto your
+good lordship, and please it to your highness to wit, that we have
+received your worshipful letters yesterday by your servant William
+Clinton, bearing date at York, the 29th day of May.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The boys congratulate their father on his victories.</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"By the which William, and by the relation of John Milewater, we
+conceive your worshipful and victorious speed against your enemies,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>to their great shame, and to us the most comfortable things that we
+desire to hear. Whereof we thank Almighty God of his gifts, beseeching
+him heartily to give you that good and cotidian<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> fortune hereafter
+to know your enemies, and to have the victory over them.</p>
+
+<p>"And if it please your highness to know of our welfare, at the making
+of this letter we were in good health of body, thanked be God,
+beseeching your good and gracious fatherhood for our daily blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"And whereas you command us by your said letters to attend specially
+to our learning in our young age, that should cause us to grow to
+honor and worship in our old age, please it your highness to wit, that
+we have attended to our learning since we came hither, and shall
+hereafter, by the which we trust to God your gracious lordship and
+good fatherhood shall be pleased.</p>
+
+<p>"Also we beseech your good lordship that it may please you to send us
+Harry Lovedeyne, groom of your kitchen, whose service is to us right
+agreeable; and we will send you John Boyes to wait upon your lordship.</p>
+
+<p>"Right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and greatly
+redoubted lord and father, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>we beseech Almighty God to give you as
+good life and long as your own princely heart can best desire.</p>
+
+<p>"Written at your Castle of Ludlow, the 3d of June.</p></div>
+
+<p class="right">
+"Your humble sons,</p>
+
+<p class="right2">"<span class="smcap">E. Marche.</span><br />
+"<span class="smcap">E. Rutland.</span>"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Further particulars about the boys.</div>
+
+<p>The subscriptions E. March and E. Rutland stand for Edward, Earl of
+March, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland; for, though these boys were then
+only eleven and twelve years of age respectively, they were both
+earls. One of them, afterward, when he was about seventeen years old,
+was cruelly killed on the field of battle, where he had been fighting
+with his father, as we shall see in another chapter. The other,
+Edward, became King of England. He came immediately before Richard the
+Third in the line.</p>
+
+<p>The letter which the boys wrote was superscribed as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"To the right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and greatly
+redoubted lord and father, the Duke of York, Protector and Defender of
+England."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 25-6]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i023.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="390" alt="LUDLOW CASTLE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">LUDLOW CASTLE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The Castle of Ludlow.</div>
+
+<p>The castle of Ludlow, where the boys were residing when this letter
+was written, was a strong fortress built upon a rock in the western
+part of England, not far from Shrewsbury. The engraving is a correct
+representation of it, as it appeared at the period when those boys
+were there, and it gives a very good idea of the sort of place where
+kings and princes were accustomed to send their families for safety in
+those stormy times. Soon after the period of which we are speaking,
+Ludlow Castle was sacked and destroyed. The ruins of it, however,
+remain to the present day, and they are visited with much interest by
+great numbers of modern travelers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Character of Richard's mother.</div>
+
+<p>Lady Cecily, as we have already seen, was in many respects a noble
+woman, and a most faithful and devoted wife and mother; she was,
+however, of a very lofty and ambitious spirit, and extremely proud of
+her rank and station. Almost all her brothers and sisters&mdash;and the
+family was very large&mdash;were peers and peeresses, and when she married
+Prince Richard Plantagenet, her heart beat high with exultation and
+joy to think that she was about to become a queen. She believed that
+Prince Richard was fully entitled to the throne at that time, for
+reasons which will be fully explained in the next chapter, and that,
+even if his claims should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>not be recognized until the death of the
+king who was then reigning, they certainly would be so recognized
+then, and she would become an acknowledged queen, as she thought she
+was already one by right. So she felt greatly exalted in spirit, and
+moved and acted among all who surrounded her with an air of stately
+reserve of the most grand and aristocratic character.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29-30]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i026.jpg" class="smallgap" width="550" height="322" alt="CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES." title="" />
+<span class="caption">CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Spirit of aristocracy.<br />Relative condition of the nobles and the people.<br />Character of Richard's mother.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, there has, perhaps, no time and place been known in the
+history of the world in which the spirit of aristocracy was more lofty
+and overbearing in its character than in England during the period
+when the Plantagenet family were in prosperity and power. The nobles
+formed then, far more strikingly than they do now, an entirely
+distinct and exalted class, that looked down upon all other ranks and
+gradations of society as infinitely beneath them. Their only
+occupation was war, and they regarded all those who were engaged in
+any employments whatever, that were connected with art or industry,
+with utter disdain. These last were crowded together in villages and
+towns which were formed of dark and narrow streets, and rude and
+comfortless dwellings. The nobles lived in grand castles scattered
+here and there over the country, with extensive parks <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>and pleasure-grounds around them, where they loved to marshal their
+followers, and inaugurate marauding expeditions against their rivals
+or their enemies. They were engaged in constant wars and contentions
+with each other, each thirsting for more power and more splendor than
+he at present enjoyed, and treating all beneath him with the utmost
+haughtiness and disdain. Richard's mother exhibited this aristocratic
+loftiness of spirit in a very high degree, and it was undoubtedly in a
+great manner through the influence which she exerted over her children
+that they were inspired with those sentiments of ambition and love of
+glory to which the crimes and miseries into which several of them fell
+in their subsequent career were owing.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The governess.</div>
+
+<p>To assist her in the early education of her children, Richard's mother
+appointed one of the ladies of the court their governess. This
+governess was a personage of very high rank, being descended from the
+royal line. With the ideas which Lady Cecily entertained of the
+exalted position of her family, and of the future destiny of her
+children, none but a lady of high rank would be thought worthy of
+being intrusted with such a charge. The name of the governess was Lady
+Mortimer.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Sir Richard Croft, the boys' governor.</div>
+
+<p>The boys, as they grew older, were placed under the charge of a
+governor. His name was Sir Richard Croft. It is this Sir Richard that
+they allude to in their letter. He, too, was a person of high rank and
+of great military distinction. The boys, however, thought him too
+strict and severe with them; at least so it would seem, from the
+manner in which they speak of him in the letter.</p>
+
+<p>The governor and the governess appear to have liked each other very
+well, for after a time Sir Richard offered himself to Lady Mortimer,
+and they were married.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>Besides Ludlow Castle, Prince Richard had several other strongholds,
+where his wife from time to time resided. Richard, who was one of the
+youngest of the children, was born at one of these, called Fotheringay
+Castle; but, before coming to the event of his birth, I must give some
+account of the history and fortunes of his father.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Richard's Father.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1415-1461</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Genealogy of Richard Plantagenet.<br />Family of Edward III.</div>
+
+<p>Richard's father was a prince of the house of York. In the course of
+his life he was declared heir to the crown, but he died before he
+attained possession of it, thus leaving it for his children. The
+nature of his claim to the crown, and, indeed, the general relation of
+the various branches of the family to each other, will be seen by the
+genealogical table on the next page but one.</p>
+
+<p>Edward the Third, who reigned more than one hundred years before
+Richard the Third, and his queen Philippa, left at their decease four
+sons, as appears by the table.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> They had other children besides
+these, but it was only these four, namely, Edward, Lionel, John, and
+Edmund, whose descendants were involved in the quarrels for the
+succession. The others either died young, or else, if they arrived at
+maturity, the lines descending from them soon became extinct.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Succession of heirs in the family of Edward III.</div>
+
+<p>Of the four that survived, the oldest was Edward, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>called in history
+the Black Prince. A full account of his life and adventures is given
+in our history of <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/28433">Richard the Second</a>. He died before his father, and
+so did not attain to the crown. He, however, left his son Richard his
+heir, and at Edward's death Richard became king. Richard reigned
+twenty years, and then, in consequence of his numerous vices and
+crimes, and of his general mismanagement, he was deposed, and Henry,
+the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, Edward's third son,
+ascended the throne in his stead.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center">GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE FAMILY OF EDWARD III., SHOWING THE CONNECTION OF<br />
+THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Family Tree">
+
+<tr><td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc">EDWARD = Philippa</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr><td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="bline">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="brb">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="bline">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="bline">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="linel">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Edward</span><br />(The Black Prince).</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Lionel</span><br />(Duke of Clarence).</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">John</span><br />(Of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster).</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Edmund</span><br />(Duke of York).</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="linel">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Richard II.</span></td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Phillippa</span> = Edward Mortimer.</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Henry IV.</span></td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Richard</span> = Anne.</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc">(<i>See second column.</i>)</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Roger Mortimer</span></td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Henry V.</span></td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">(Earl of Marche).</span></td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Richard Plantagenet</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Henry VI.</span></td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">(Duke of York).</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Anne</span> = Richard of York.</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc">(<i>See fourth column.</i>)</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Edward</span></td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc">(Prince of Wales).</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="bline">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="bline">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="bline">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="bline brb">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="linel">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="linel">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;" class="liner">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Edward IV.</span></td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">George</span></td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Richard III.</span></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td colspan="2" class="tdc">(Duke of Clarence).</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td>
+<td style="width: 12.5%;">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class="blockquot2"><p>The character = denotes marriage; the short perpendicular line | a descent. There were many
+other children and descendants in the different branches of the family besides those whose names are
+inserted in the table. The table includes only those essential to an understanding of the history.</p></div>
+
+<p>Now, as appears by the table, John of Gaunt was the third of the four
+sons, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, being the second. The descendants of
+Lionel would properly have come before those of John in the
+succession, but it happened that the only descendants of Lionel were
+Philippa, a daughter, and Roger, a grandchild, who was at this time an
+infant. Neither of these were able to assert their claims, although in
+theory their claims were acknowledged to be prior to those of the
+descendants of John. The people of England, however, were so desirous
+to be rid of Richard, that they were willing to submit to the reign of
+any member of the royal family who should prove strong enough to
+dispossess him. So they accepted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>Henry of Lancaster, who ascended the throne as Henry the Fourth, and
+he and his successors in the Lancastrian line, Henry the Fifth and
+Henry the Sixth, held the throne for many years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Union of the houses of Clarence and York.</div>
+
+<p>Still, though the people of England generally acquiesced in this, the
+families of the other brothers, namely, of Lionel and Edmund, called
+generally the houses of Clarence and of York, were not satisfied. They
+combined together, and formed a great many plots and conspiracies
+against the house of Lancaster, and many insurrections and wars, and
+many cruel deeds of violence and murder grew out of the quarrel. At
+length, to strengthen their alliance more fully, Richard, the second
+son of Edmund of York, married Anne, a descendant of the Clarence
+line. The other children, who came before these, in the two lines,
+soon afterward died, leaving the inheritance of both to this pair.
+Their son was Richard, the father of Richard the Third. He is called
+Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. On the death of his father and
+mother, he, of course, became the heir not only of the immense estates
+and baronial rights of both the lines from which he had descended, but
+also of the claims of the older line to the crown of England.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p><p>The successive generations of these three lines, down to the period of
+the union of the second and fourth, cutting off the third, is shown
+clearly in the table.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard Plantagenet a prisoner.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, the Lancaster line were much alarmed at the combination of
+the claims of their rivals. King Henry the Fifth was at that period on
+the throne, and, by the time that Richard Plantagenet was three years
+old, under pretense of protecting him from danger, he caused him to be
+shut up in a castle, and kept a close prisoner there.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">King Henry VI.<br />His gentle and quiet character.<br />Portrait.</div>
+
+<p>Time rolled on. King Henry the Fifth died, and Henry the Sixth
+succeeded him. Richard Plantagenet was still watched and guarded; but
+at length, by the time that Richard was thirteen years old, the power
+and influence of his branch of the royal family, or rather those of
+the two branches from which, combined, he was descended, were found to
+be increasing, while that of the house of Lancaster was declining.
+After a time he was brought out from his imprisonment, and restored to
+his rank and station. King Henry the Sixth was a man of a very weak
+and timid mind. He was quite young too, being, in fact, a mere child
+when he began to reign, and every thing went wrong with his
+government. While he was young, he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>could, of course, do nothing, and
+when he grew older he was too gentle and forbearing to control the
+rough and turbulent spirits around him. He had no taste for war and
+bloodshed, but loved retirement and seclusion, and, as he advanced in
+years, he fell into the habit of spending a great deal of his time in
+acts of piety and devotion, performed according to the ideas and
+customs of the times. The annexed engraving, representing him as he
+appeared when he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>a boy, is copied from the ancient portraits, and well expresses the
+mild and gentle traits which marked his disposition and character.</p>
+
+<p><a name="henry6" id="henry6"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 256px;">
+<img src="images/i035.jpg" class="smallgap" width="256" height="300" alt="HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD." title="" />
+<span class="caption">HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Such being the disposition and character of Henry, every thing during
+his reign went wrong, and this state of things, growing worse and
+worse as he advanced in life, greatly encouraged and strengthened the
+house of York in the effort which they were inclined to make to bring
+their own branch of the family to the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Discontent of the people.</div>
+
+<p>"See," said they, "what we come to by allowing a line of usurpers to
+reign. These Henrys of Lancaster are all descended from a younger son,
+while the heirs of the older are living, and have a right to the
+throne. Richard Plantagenet is the true and proper heir. He is a man
+of energy. Let us make him king."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrangements made for the succession.</div>
+
+<p>But the people of England, though they gradually came to desire the
+change, were not willing yet to plunge the country again into a state
+of civil war for the purpose of making it. They would not disturb
+Henry, they said, while he continued to live; but there was nobody to
+succeed him, and, when he died, Richard Plantagenet should be king.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><a name="margaret" id="margaret"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 247px;">
+<img src="images/i037.jpg" class="smallgap" width="247" height="300" alt="QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI." title="" />
+<span class="caption">QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Character of Margaret of Anjou.<br />No children.</div>
+
+<p>Henry was married at this time, but he had no children. The name of
+his wife was Margaret of Anjou. She was a very extraordinary and celebrated woman. Though
+very beautiful in person, she was as energetic and masculine in
+character as her poor husband was effeminate and weak, and she took
+every thing into her own hands. This, however, made matters worse
+instead of better, and the whole country <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>seemed to rejoice that she
+had no children, for thus, on the death of Henry, the line would
+become extinct, and Richard Plantagenet and his descendants would
+succeed, as a matter of course, in a quiet and peaceful manner. As
+Henry and Margaret had now been married eight or nine years without
+any children, it was supposed that they never would have any.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Feeble and failing capacity of the king.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, Richard Plantagenet was universally looked upon as
+Henry's successor, and the time seemed to be drawing nigh when the
+change of dynasty was to take place. Henry's health was very feeble.
+He seemed to be rapidly declining. His mind was affected, too, quite
+seriously, and he sometimes sank into a species of torpor from which
+nothing could arouse him.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, it became difficult to carry on the government in his name,
+for the king sank at last into such a state of imbecility that it was
+impossible to obtain from him the least sign or token that would
+serve, even for form's sake, as an assent on his part to the royal
+decrees. At one time Parliament appointed a commission to visit him in
+his chamber, for the purpose of ascertaining the state that he was in,
+and to see also whether they could not get some token from him which
+they could consider as his assent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>to certain measures which it was
+deemed important to take; but they could not get from the king any
+answer or sign of any kind, notwithstanding all that they could do or
+say. They retired for a time, and afterward came back again to make a
+second attempt, and then, as an ancient narrative records the story,
+"they moved and stirred him by all the ways and means that they could
+think of to have an answer of the said matter, but they could have no
+answer, word nor sign, and therefore, with sorrowful hearts, came
+away."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard Plantagenet formally declared the heir.</div>
+
+<p>This being the state of things, Parliament thought it time to make
+some definite arrangements for the succession. Accordingly, they
+passed a formal and solemn enactment declaring Richard Plantagenet
+heir presumptive of the crown, and investing him with the rank and
+privileges pertaining to that position. They also appointed him, for
+the present, Protector and defender of the realm.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, the subject of this volume, was at this time an infant two
+years old. The other ten children had been born at various periods
+before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Unexpected birth of a prince.<br />Suspicions.</div>
+
+<p>It was now, of course, expected that Henry would soon die, and that
+then Richard Plantagenet would at once ascend the throne, acknowledged
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>by the whole realm as the sole and rightful heir. But these
+expectations were suddenly disturbed, and the whole kingdom was thrown
+into a state of great excitement and alarm by the news of a very
+unexpected and important event which occurred at this time, namely,
+the birth of a child to Margaret, the queen. This event awakened all
+the latent fires of civil dissension and discord anew. The Lancastrian
+party, of course, at once rallied around the infant prince, who, they
+claimed, was the rightful heir to the crown. They began at once to
+reconstruct and strengthen their plans, and to shape their measures
+with a view to retain the kingdom in the Lancaster line. On the other
+hand, the friends of the combined houses of Clarence and York declared
+that they would not acknowledge the new-comer as the rightful heir.
+They did not believe that he was the son of the king, for he, as they
+said, had been for a long time as good as dead. Some said that they
+did not even believe that the child was Margaret's son. There was a
+story that she had had a child, but that he was very weak and puny,
+and that he had died soon after his birth, and that Margaret had
+cunningly substituted another child in his place, in order to retain
+her position and power by having a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>supposed son of hers reign as king
+after her husband should die. Margaret was a woman of so ambitious and
+unscrupulous a character, that she was generally believed capable of
+adopting any measures, however criminal and bold, to accomplish her
+ends.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Various plans and speculations.<br />Richard's hopes.</div>
+
+<p>But, notwithstanding these rumors, Parliament acknowledged the infant
+as his father's son and heir. He was named Edward, and created at once
+Prince of Wales, which act was a solemn acknowledgment of his right to
+the succession. Prince Richard made no open opposition to this; for,
+although he and his friends maintained that he had a right to the
+crown, they thought that the time had not yet come for openly
+advancing their claim, so for the present they determined to be quiet.
+The child might not survive, and his father, the king, being in so
+helpless and precarious a condition, might cease to live at any time;
+and if it should so happen that both the father and the child should
+die, Richard would, of course, succeed at once, without any question.
+He accordingly thought it best to wait a little while, and see what
+turn things would take.</p>
+
+<p>He soon found that things were taking the wrong turn. The child lived,
+and appeared likely to continue to live, and, what was perhaps <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>worse
+for him, the king, instead of declining more and more, began to
+revive. In a short time he was able to attend to business again, at
+least so far as to express his assent to measures prepared for him by
+his ministers. Prince Richard was accordingly called upon to resign
+his protectorate. He thought it best to yield to this proposal, and he
+did so, and thus the government was once more in Henry's hands.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Progress of the formation of parties.</div>
+
+<p>Things went on in this way for two or three years, but the breach
+between the two great parties was all the time widening. Difficulties
+multiplied in number and increased in magnitude. The country took
+sides. Armed forces were organized on one side and on the other, and
+at length Prince Richard openly claimed the crown as his right. This
+led to a long and violent discussion in Parliament. The result was,
+that a majority was obtained to vote in favor of Prince Richard's
+right. The Parliament decreed, however, that the existing state of
+things should not be disturbed so long as Henry continued to live, but
+that at Henry's death the crown should descend, not to little Edward
+his son, the infant Prince of Wales, but to Prince Richard Plantagenet
+and his descendants forever.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Margaret's resolution and energy.<br />Wars.</div>
+
+<p>Queen Margaret was at this time at a castle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>in Wales, where she had
+gone with the child, in order to keep him in a place of safety while
+these stormy discussions were pending. When she heard that Parliament
+had passed a law setting aside the claims of her child, she declared
+that she would never submit to it. She immediately sent messengers all
+over the northern part of the kingdom, summoning the faithful
+followers of the king every where to arm themselves and assemble near
+the frontier. She herself went to Scotland to ask for aid. The King of
+Scotland at that time was a child, but he was related to the
+Lancastrian family, his grandmother having been a descendant of John
+of Gaunt, the head of the Lancaster line. He was too young to take any
+part in the war, but his mother, who was acting as regent, furnished
+Margaret with troops. Margaret, putting herself at the head of these
+forces, marched across the frontier into England, and joined herself
+there to the other forces which had assembled in answer to her
+summons.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's two brothers, Edward and Edmund.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Prince Richard had assembled his adherents too, and
+had commenced his march to the northward to meet his enemies. He took
+his two oldest sons with him, the two that wrote the letter quoted in
+the last chapter. One of these you will recollect was Edward, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>Earl of
+Marche, and the second was Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Edward was now
+about eighteen years of age, and his brother Edmund about seventeen.
+One would have said that at this period of life they were altogether
+too young to be exposed to the hardships, fatigues, and dangers of a
+martial campaign; but it was the custom in those times for princes and
+nobles to be taken with their fathers to fields of battle at a very
+early age. And these youthful warriors were really of great service
+too, for the interest which they inspired among all ranks of the army
+was so great, especially when their rank was very high, that they were
+often the means of greatly increasing the numbers and the enthusiasm
+of their fathers' followers.</p>
+
+<p>Edward, indeed, was in this instance deemed old enough to be sent off
+on an independent service, and so, while the prince moved forward with
+the main body of his army toward the north, he dispatched Edward,
+accompanied by a suitable escort, to the westward, toward the
+frontiers of Wales, to assemble all the armed men that he could find
+in that part of the kingdom who were disposed to espouse his cause.
+Edmund, who was a year younger than Edward, went with his father.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The walls of York.</div>
+
+<p>The prince proceeded to the city of York, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>which was then a fortified
+place of great strength. The engraving gives a very good idea of the
+appearance of the walls in those times. These walls remain, indeed,
+almost entire at the present day, and they are visited a great deal by
+tourists and travelers, being regarded with much interest as
+furnishing a very complete and well-preserved specimen of the mural
+fortifications of the Middle Ages. Such walls, however, would be
+almost entirely useless now as means of defense, since they would not
+stand at all against an attack from modern artillery.</p>
+
+<p>The great church seen over the walls, in the heart of the city, is the
+famous York minster, one of the grandest Cathedral churches in
+England. It was a hundred and fifty years in building, and it was
+completed about two centuries before Richard's day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Prince Richard at York.</div>
+
+<p>When Prince Richard reached York, he entered the town, and established
+himself there, with a view of waiting till his son should arrive with
+the re-enforcements which he had been sent to seek in the western part
+of England.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49-50]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i046.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="345" alt="WALLS OF YORK." title="" />
+<span class="caption">WALLS OF YORK.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Boldness of the queen.</div>
+
+<p>While he was there, and before the re-enforcements came, the queen, at
+the head of her army from Scotland, which was strengthened, moreover,
+by the troops which she had obtained in the north of England, came
+marching on down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>the country in great force. When she came into the neighborhood of
+York, she encamped, and then sent messengers to Prince Richard,
+taunting and deriding him for having shut himself up within fortified
+walls, and daring him to come out into the open field and fight her.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The advice of Richard's counselors.</div>
+
+<p>The prince's counselors advised him to do no such thing. One of them
+in particular, a certain Sir Davy Hall, who was an old and faithful
+officer in the prince's service, urged him to pay no attention to
+Queen Margaret's taunts.</p>
+
+<p>"We are not strong enough yet," said he, "to meet the army which she
+has assembled. We must wait till our re-enforcements come. By going
+out now we shall put our cause in great peril, and all to no purpose
+whatever."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's reply.</div>
+
+<p>"Ah! Davy, Davy," said the prince, "hast thou loved me so long, and
+now wouldst thou have me dishonored? When I was regent in Normandy,
+thou never sawest me keep fortress, even when the dauphin himself,
+with all his power, came to besiege me.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> I always, like a man, came
+forth to meet him, instead of remaining within my walls, like a bird
+shut up in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>cage. Now if I did not then keep myself shut up for fear
+of a great, strong prince, do you think I will now, for dread of a
+scolding woman, whose weapons are only her tongue and her nails, and
+thus give people occasion to say that I turned dastard before a woman,
+when no man had ever been able to make me fear? No, I will never
+submit to such disgrace. I would rather die in honor than live in
+shame; and so the great numbers of our enemies do not deter me in the
+least; they rather encourage me; therefore, in the name of God and St.
+George, advance my banner, for I am determined that I will go out and
+fight them, if I go alone."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 53-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i051.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="320" alt="LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">The battle.<br />Richard defeated.<br />Death of Edmund.</div>
+
+<p>So Prince Richard came forth from the gates of York at the head of his
+columns, and rode on toward the queen's camp. Edmund went with him.
+Edmund was under the care of his tutor, Robert Aspell, who was charged
+to keep close to his side, and to watch over him in the most vigilant
+manner. The army of the queen was at some distance from York, at a
+place called Wakefield. Both parties, as is usual in civil wars, were
+extremely exasperated against each other, and the battle was
+desperately fought. It was very brief, however, and Richard's troops
+were defeated. Richard himself was taken prisoner. Edmund endeavored
+to escape. His <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>tutor endeavored to hurry him off the field, but he was stopped on the
+way by a certain nobleman of the queen's party, named Lord Clifford.
+The poor boy begged hard for mercy, but Clifford killed him on the
+spot.</p>
+
+<p>The prince's army, when they found that the battle had gone against
+them, and that their captain was a prisoner, fled in all directions
+over the surrounding country, leaving great numbers dead upon the
+field. The prince himself, as soon as he was taken, was disarmed on
+the field, and all the leaders of the queen's army, including, as the
+most authentic accounts relate, the queen herself, gathered around him
+in wild exultation. They carried him to a mound formed by an ant-hill,
+which they said, in mockery, should be his throne. They placed him
+upon it with taunts and derision. They made a crown for him of knotted
+grass, and put it upon his head, and then made mock obeisances before
+him, saying, "Hail! king without a kingdom. Hail! prince without a
+people."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of Richard.<br />The head set upon a pole at York.</div>
+
+<p>After having satisfied themselves with their taunts and revilings, the
+party killed their prisoner and cut off his head. They set his head
+upon the point of a lance, and in this way presented it to Queen
+Margaret. The queen ordered the head to be decorated with a paper
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>crown, and then to be carried to York, and set up at the gates of
+that city upon a tall pole.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was little Richard, the subject of this narrative, left
+fatherless. He was at this period between eight and nine years old.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Childhood of Richard III.</span></h2>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Condition of young Richard in his childhood.</div>
+
+<p>Young Richard, as was said at the close of the last chapter, was of a
+very tender age when his father and his brother Edmund were killed at
+the battle of Wakefield. He was at that time only about eight years
+old. It is very evident too, from what has been already related of the
+history of his father and mother, that during the whole period of his
+childhood and youth he must have passed through very stormy times. It
+is only a small portion of the life of excitement, conflict, and alarm
+which was led by his father that there is space to describe in this
+volume. So unsettled and wandering a life did his father and mother
+lead, that it is not quite certain in which of the various towns and
+castles that from time to time they made their residence, he was born.
+It is supposed, however, that he was born in the Castle of
+Fotheringay, in the year 1452. His father was killed in 1461, which
+would make Richard, as has already been said, about eight or nine
+years old at that time.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Strange tales in respect to his birth.</div>
+
+<p>There were a great many strange tales related in subsequent years in
+respect to Richard's birth. He became such a monster, morally, when he
+grew to be a man, that the people believed that he was born a monster
+in person. The story was that he came into the world very ugly in face
+and distorted in form, and that his hair and his teeth were already
+grown. These were considered as portents of the ferociousness of
+temper and character which he was subsequently to manifest, and of the
+unnatural and cruel crimes which he would live to commit. It is very
+doubtful, however, whether any of these stories are true. It is most
+probable that at his birth he looked like any other child.</p>
+
+<p>There were a great many periods of intense excitement and terror in
+the family history before the great final calamity at Wakefield when
+Richard's father and his brother Edmund were killed. At these times
+the sole reliance of the prince in respect to the care of the younger
+children was upon Lady Cecily, their mother. The older sons went with
+their father on the various martial expeditions in which he was
+engaged. They shared with him the hardships and dangers of his
+conflicts, and the triumph and exultations of his victories. The
+younger children, however, remained in seclusion with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>their mother,
+sometimes in one place and sometimes in another, wherever there was,
+for the time being, the greatest promise of security.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Dangers to which Richard was exposed in his childhood.<br />Extraordinary vicissitudes in the life of his mother.</div>
+
+<p>Indeed, during the early childhood of Richard, the changes and
+vicissitudes through which the family passed were so sudden and
+violent in their character as sometimes to surpass the most romantic
+tales of fiction. At one time, while Lady Cecily was residing at the
+Castle of Ludlow with Richard and some of the younger children, a
+party of her husband's enemies, the Lancastrians, appeared suddenly at
+the gates of the town, and, before Prince Richard's party had time to
+take any efficient measures for defense, the town and the castle were
+both taken. The Lancastrians had expected to find Prince Richard
+himself in the castle, but he was not there. They were exasperated by
+their disappointment, and in their fury they proceeded to ransack all
+the rooms, and to destroy every thing that came into their hands. In
+some of the inner and more private apartments they found Lady Cecily
+and her children. They immediately seized them all, made them
+prisoners, and carried them away. By King Henry's orders, they were
+placed in close custody in another castle in the southern part of
+England, and all the property, both of the prince <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>and of Lady Cecily,
+was confiscated. While the mother and the younger children were thus
+closely shut up and reduced to helpless destitution, the father and
+the older sons were obliged to fly from the country to save their
+lives. In less than three months after this time these same exiled and
+apparently ruined fugitives were marching triumphantly through the
+country, at the head of victorious troops, carrying all before them.
+Lady Cecily and her children were set at liberty, and restored to
+their property and their rights, while King Henry himself, whose
+captives they had been, was himself made captive, and brought in
+durance to London, and Queen Margaret and her son were in their turn
+compelled to fly from the realm to save their lives.</p>
+
+<p>This last change in the condition of public affairs took place only a
+short time before the great final contest between Prince Richard of
+York, King Richard's father, and the family of Henry, when the prince
+lost his life at Wakefield, as described in the last chapter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 61-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i059.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="346" alt="PALACE AND GARDEN BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF YORK." title="" />
+<span class="caption">PALACE AND GARDEN BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF YORK.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Of course, young Richard, being brought up amid these scenes of wild
+commotion, and accustomed from childhood to witness the most cruel and
+remorseless conflicts between branches of the same family, was trained
+by them to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>be ambitious, daring, and unscrupulous in respect to the means to be
+used in circumventing or destroying an enemy. The seed thus sown
+produced in subsequent years most dreadful fruit, as will be seen more
+fully in the sequel of his history.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The castles and palaces belonging to the house of York.</div>
+
+<p>There were a great many hereditary castles belonging to the family of
+York, many of which had descended from father to son for many
+generations. Some of these castles were strong fortresses, built in
+wild and inaccessible retreats, and intended to be used as places of
+temporary refuge, or as the rallying-points and rendezvous of bodies
+of armed men. Others were better adapted for the purposes of a private
+residence, being built with some degree of reference to the comfort of
+the inmates, and surrounded with gardens and grounds, where the ladies
+and the children who were left in them could find recreation and
+amusement adapted to their age and sex.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of Lady Cecily at the time of her husband's
+death.</div>
+
+<p>It was in such a castle as this, near London, that Lady Cecily and her
+younger children were residing when her husband went to the northward
+to meet the forces of the queen, as related in the last chapter. Here
+Lady Cecily lived in great state, for she thought the time was drawing
+nigh when her husband would be raised to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>the throne. Indeed, she
+considered him as already the true and rightful sovereign of the
+realm, and she believed that the hour would very soon come when his
+claims would be universally acknowledged, and when she herself would
+be Queen of England, and her boys royal princes, and, as such, the
+objects of universal attention and regard. She instilled these ideas
+continually into the minds of the children, and she exacted the utmost
+degree of subserviency and submission toward herself and toward them
+on the part of all around her.</p>
+
+<p>While she was thus situated in her palace near London, awaiting every
+day the arrival of a messenger from the north announcing the final
+victory of her husband over all his foes, she was one day
+thunderstruck, and overwhelmed with grief and despair, by the tidings
+that her husband had been defeated, and that he himself, and the dear
+son who had accompanied him, and was just arriving at maturity, had
+been ignominiously slain. The queen, too, her most bitter foe, now
+exultant and victorious, was advancing triumphantly toward London.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Lady Cecily sends the children to the Continent.</div>
+
+<p>Not a moment was to be lost. Lady Cecily had with her, at this time,
+her two youngest sons, George and Richard. She made immediate
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>arrangements for her flight. It happened that the Earl of Warwick,
+who was at this time the Lord High Admiral, and who, of course, had
+command of the seas between England and the Continent, was a relative
+and friend of Lady Cecily's. He was at this time in London. Lady
+Cecily applied to him to assist her in making her escape. He
+consented, and, with his aid, she herself, with her two children and a
+small number of attendants, escaped secretly from London, and made
+their way to the southern coast. There Lady Cecily put the children
+and the attendants on board a vessel, by which they were conveyed to
+the coast of Holland. On landing there, they were received by the
+prince of the country, who was a friend of Lady Cecily, and to whose
+care she commended them. The prince received them with great kindness,
+and sent them to the city of Utrecht, where he established them safely
+in one of his palaces, and appointed suitable tutors and governors to
+superintend their education. Here it was expected that they would
+remain for several years.</p>
+
+<p>Their mother did not go with them to Holland. Her fears in respect to
+remaining in England were not for herself, but only for her helpless
+children. For herself, her only impulse <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>was to face and brave the
+dangers which threatened her, and triumph over them. So she went
+boldly back to London, to await there whatever might occur.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of Lady Cecily and of her oldest son.</div>
+
+<p>Besides, her oldest son was still in England, and she could not
+forsake him. You will recollect that, when his father went north to
+meet the forces of Queen Margaret, he sent his oldest son, Edward,
+Earl of Marche, to the western part of England, to obtain
+re-enforcements. Edward was at Gloucester when the tidings came to him
+of his father's death. Gloucester is on the western confines of
+England, near the southeastern borders of Wales. Now, of course, since
+her husband was dead, all Lady Cecily's ambition, and all her hopes of
+revenge were concentrated in him. She wished to be at hand to counsel
+him, and to co-operate with him by all the means in her power. How she
+succeeded in these plans, and how, by means of them, he soon became
+King of England, will appear in the next chapter.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Accession of Edward IV., Richard's elder Brother.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1461</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward now becomes heir to the crown.</div>
+
+<p>Richard's brother Edward, as has already been remarked, was at
+Gloucester when he heard the news of his father's death. This news, of
+course, made a great change in his condition. To his mother, the event
+was purely and simply a calamity, and it could awaken no feelings in
+her heart but those of sorrow and chagrin. In Edward's mind, on the
+other hand, the first emotions of astonishment and grief were followed
+immediately by a burst of exultation and pride. He, of course, as now
+the oldest surviving son, succeeded at once to all the rights and
+titles which his father had enjoyed, and among these, according to the
+ideas which his mother had instilled into his mind, was the right to
+the crown. His heart, therefore, when the first feeling of grief for
+the loss of his father had subsided, bounded with joy as he exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"So now <i>I</i> am the King of England."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His energy and decision.</div>
+
+<p>The enthusiasm which he felt extended itself <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>at once to all around
+him. He immediately made preparations to put himself at the head of
+his troops, and march to the eastward, so as to intercept Queen
+Margaret on her way to London, for he knew that she would, of course,
+now press forward toward the capital as fast as possible.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He marches to intercept Margaret.</div>
+
+<p>He accordingly set out at once upon his march, and, as he went on, he
+found that the number of his followers increased very rapidly. The
+truth was, that the queen's party, by their murder of Richard, and of
+young Edmund his son, had gone altogether too far for the good of
+their own cause. The people, when they heard the tidings, were
+indignant at such cruelty. Those who belonged to the party of the
+house of York, instead of being intimidated by the severity of the
+measure, were exasperated at the brutality of it, and they were all
+eager to join the young duke, Edward, and help him to avenge his
+father's and his brother's death. Those who had been before on the
+side of the house of Lancaster were discouraged and repelled, while
+those who had been doubtful were now ready to declare against the
+queen.</p>
+
+<p>It is in this way that all excesses in the hour of victory defeat the
+very ends they were intended to subserve. They weaken the
+perpetrators, and not the subjects of them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Warwick.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, while young Edward, at the head of his army, was
+marching on from the westward toward London to intercept the queen,
+the Earl of Warwick, who has already been mentioned as a friend of
+Lady Cecily, had also assembled a large force near London, and he was
+now advancing toward the northward. The poor king was with him.
+Nominally, the king was in command of the expedition, and every thing
+was done in his name, but really he was a forlorn and helpless
+prisoner, forced wholly against his will&mdash;so far as the feeble degree
+of intellect which remained to him enabled him to exercise a will&mdash;to
+seem to head an enterprise directed against his own wife, and his best
+and strongest friend.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Battle with the queen.<br />Warwick defeated.<br />Margaret regains possession of her husband.</div>
+
+<p>The armies of the queen and of the Earl of Warwick advanced toward
+each other, until they met at last at a short distance north of
+London. A desperate battle was fought, and the queen's party were
+completely victorious. When night came on, the Earl of Warwick found
+that he was beaten at every point, and that his troops had fled in all
+directions, leaving thousands of the dead and dying all along the road
+sides. The camp had been abandoned, and there was no time to save any
+thing; even the poor king was left behind, and the officers of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>the
+queen's army found him in a tent, with only one attendant. Of course,
+the queen was overjoyed at recovering possession of her husband, not
+merely on his own account personally, but also because she could now
+act again directly in his name. So she prepared a proclamation, by
+which the king revoked all that he had done while in the hands of
+Warwick, on the ground that he had been in durance, and had not acted
+of his own free will, and also declared Edward a traitor, and offered
+a large reward for his apprehension.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Excesses committed by the queen's troops.</div>
+
+<p>The queen was now once more filled with exultation and joy. Her joy
+would have been complete were it not that Edward himself was still to
+be met, for he was all this time advancing from the westward; she,
+however, thought that there was not much to be feared from such a boy,
+Edward being at this time only about nineteen years of age. So the
+queen moved on toward London, flushed with the victory, and
+exasperated with the opposition which she had met with. Her soldiers
+were under very little control, and they committed great excesses.
+They ravaged the country, and plundered without mercy all those whom
+they considered as belonging to the opposite party; they committed,
+too, many atrocious acts of cruelty. It is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>always thus in civil war.
+In foreign wars, armies are much more easily kept under control.
+Troops march through a foreign territory, feeling no personal spite or
+hatred against the inhabitants of it, for they think it is a matter of
+course that the people should defend their country and resist
+invaders. But in a civil war, the men of each party feel a special
+personal hate against every individual that does not belong to their
+side, and in periods of actual conflict this hatred becomes a rage
+that is perfectly uncontrollable.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, as the queen and her troops advanced, they robbed and
+murdered all who came in their way, and they filled the whole country
+with terror. They even seized and plundered a convent, which was a
+species of sacrilege. This greatly increased the general alarm. "The
+wretches!" exclaimed the people, when they heard the tidings, "nothing
+is sacred in their eyes." The people of London were particularly
+alarmed. They thought there was danger that the city itself would be
+given up to plunder if the queen's troops gained admission. So they
+all turned against her. She sent one day into the town for a supply of
+provisions, and the authorities, perhaps thinking themselves bound by
+their official duty to obey orders of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>this kind coming in the king's
+name, loaded up some wagons and sent them forth, but the people raised
+a mob, and stopped the wagons at the gates, refusing to let them go
+on.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward advances.<br />He enters London.<br />His welcome.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Edward, growing every hour stronger as he advanced,
+came rapidly on toward London. He was joined at length by the Earl of
+Warwick and the remnant of the force which remained to the earl after
+the battle which he had fought with the queen. The queen, now finding
+that Edward's strength was becoming formidable, did not dare to meet
+him; so she retreated toward the north again. Edward, instead of
+pursuing her, advanced directly toward London. The people threw open
+the gates to him, and welcomed him as their deliverer. They thronged
+the streets to look upon him as he passed, and made the air ring with
+their loud and long acclamations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Excitement in London.</div>
+
+<p>There was, indeed, every thing in the circumstances of the case to
+awaken excitement and emotion. Here was a boy not yet out of his
+teens, extremely handsome in appearance and agreeable in manners, who
+had taken the field in command of a very large force to avenge the
+cruel death of his father and brother, and was now coming boldly, at
+the head of his troops, into the very capital of the king and queen
+under <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>whose authority his father and brother had been killed.</p>
+
+<p>The most extraordinary circumstance connected with these proceedings
+was, that during all this time Henry was still acknowledged by every
+one as the actual king. Edward and his friends maintained, indeed,
+that he, Edward, was <i>entitled</i> to reign, but no one pretended that
+any thing had yet been done which could have the legal effect of
+putting him upon the throne. There was, however, now a general
+expectation that the time for the formal deposition of Henry was near,
+and in and around London all was excitement and confusion. The people
+from the surrounding towns flocked every day into the city to see what
+they could see, and to hear what they could hear. They thronged the
+streets whenever Edward appeared in public, eager to obtain a glimpse
+of him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Measures taken by Edward.</div>
+
+<p>At length, a few days after Edward entered the city, his counselors
+and friends deemed that the time had come for action. Accordingly,
+they made arrangements for a grand review in a large open field. Their
+design was by this review to call together a great concourse of
+spectators. A vast assembly convened according to their expectations.
+In the midst of the ceremonies, two noblemen appeared before the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>multitude to make addresses to them. One of them made a speech in
+respect to Henry, denouncing the crimes, and the acts of treachery and
+of oppression which his government had committed. He dilated long on
+the feebleness and incapacity of the king, and his total inability to
+exercise any control in the management of public affairs. After he had
+finished, he called out to the people in a loud voice to declare
+whether they would submit any longer to have such a man for king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Voice of the people.</div>
+
+<p>The people answered "<span class="smcap">Nay, Nay, Nay</span>," with loud and long acclamations.</p>
+
+<p>Then the other speaker made an address in favor of Edward. He
+explained at length the nature of his title to the crown, showing it
+to be altogether superior in point of right to that of Henry. He also
+spoke long and eloquently in praise of Edward's personal
+qualifications, describing his courage, his activity, and energy, and
+the various graces and accomplishments for which he was distinguished,
+in the most glowing terms. He ended by demanding of the people whether
+they would have Edward for king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">They declare in favor of Edward.</div>
+
+<p>The people answered "<span class="smcap">Yea, Yea, Yea; King Edward forever! King Edward
+forever!</span>" with acclamations as long and loud as before.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p><p>Of course there could be no legal validity in such proceedings as
+these, for, even if England had at that time been an elective
+monarchy, the acclamations of an accidental assembly drawn together to
+witness a review could on no account have been deemed a valid vote.
+This ceremony was only meant as a very public announcement of the
+intention of Edward immediately to assume the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward is formally enthroned.<br />Various ceremonies.</div>
+
+<p>The next day, accordingly, a grand council was held of all the great
+barons, and nobles, and officers of state. By this council a decree
+was passed that King Henry, by his late proceedings, had forfeited the
+crown, and Edward was solemnly declared king in his stead. Immediately
+afterward, Edward rode at the head of a royal procession, which was
+arranged for the purpose, to Westminster, and there, in the presence
+of a vast assembly, he took his seat upon the throne. While there
+seated, he made a speech to the audience, in which he explained the
+nature of his hereditary rights, and declared his intention to
+maintain his rights thenceforth in the most determined manner.</p>
+
+<p>The king now proceeded to Westminster Abbey, where he performed the
+same ceremonies a second time. He was also publicly proclaimed king on
+the same day in various parts of London.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Edward marches to the northward.</div>
+
+<p>Edward was now full of ardor and enthusiasm, and his first impulse was
+to set off, at the head of his army, toward the north, in pursuit of
+the queen and the old king. The king and queen had gone to York. The
+queen had not only the king under her care, but also her son, the
+little Prince of Wales, who was now about eight years old. This young
+prince was the heir to the crown on the Lancastrian side, and Edward
+was, of course, very desirous of getting him, as well as the king and
+queen, into his hands; so he put himself at the head of his troops,
+and began to move forward as fast as he could go. The body of troops
+under his command consisted of fifty thousand men. In the queen's
+army, which was encamped in the neighborhood of York, there were about
+sixty thousand.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A battle.</div>
+
+<p>Both parties were extremely exasperated against each other, and were
+eager for the fight. Edward gave orders to his troops to grant no
+quarter, but, in the event of victory, to massacre without mercy every
+man that they could bring within their reach. The armies came together
+at a place called Towton. The combat was begun in the midst of a
+snow-storm. The armies fought from nine o'clock in the morning till
+three in the afternoon, and by that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>time the queen's troops were
+every where driven from the field. Edward's men pursued them along the
+roads, slaughtering them without mercy as fast as they could overtake
+them, until at length nearly forty thousand men were left dead upon
+the ground.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward enters York in triumph.</div>
+
+<p>The queen fled toward the north, taking with her her husband and
+child. Edward entered York in triumph. At the gates he found the head
+of his father and that of his brother still remaining upon the poles
+where the queen had put them. He took them reverently down, and then
+put other heads in their places, which he cut off for the purpose from
+some of his prisoners. He was in such a state of fury, that I suppose,
+if he could have caught the king and queen, he would have cut off
+<i>their</i> heads, and put them on the poles in the place of his father's
+and his brother's; but he could not catch them. They fled to the
+north, toward the frontiers of Scotland, and so escaped from his
+hands.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He inters his father's body.</div>
+
+<p>Edward determined not to pursue the fugitives any farther at that
+time, as there were many important affairs to be attended to in
+London, and so he concluded to be satisfied at present with the
+victory which he had obtained, and with the dispersion of his enemies,
+and to return to the capital. He first, however, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>gathered together
+the remains of his father and brother, and caused them to be buried
+with solemn funeral ceremonies in one of his castles near York. This
+was, however, only a temporary arrangement, for, as soon as his
+affairs were fully settled, the remains were disinterred, and
+conveyed, with great funeral pomp and parade, to their final
+resting-place in the southern part of the kingdom.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He returns to London.<br />Grief of his mother.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as Edward reached London, one of the first things that he did
+was to send for his two brothers, George and Richard, who, as will be
+recollected, had been removed by their mother to Holland, and were now
+in Utrecht pursuing their education. These two boys were all the
+brothers of Edward that remained now alive. They came back to London.
+Their widowed mother's heart was filled with a melancholy sort of joy
+in seeing her children once more together, safe in their native land;
+but her spirit, after reviving for a moment, sank again, overwhelmed
+with the bitter and irreparable loss which she had sustained in the
+death of her husband. His death was, of course, a fatal blow to all
+those ambitious plans and aspirations which she had cherished for
+herself. Though the mother of a king, she could now never become
+herself a queen; and, disappointed and unhappy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>she retired to one of
+the family castles in the neighborhood of London, and lived there
+comparatively alone and in great seclusion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of George and Richard.</div>
+
+<p>The boys, on the other hand, were brought forward very conspicuously
+into public life. In the autumn of the same year in which Edward took
+possession of the crown, they were made royal dukes, with great parade
+and ceremony, and were endowed with immense estates to enable them to
+support the dignity of their rank and position. George was made Duke
+of Clarence; Richard, Duke of Gloucester; and from this time the two
+boys were almost always designated by these names.</p>
+
+<p>Suitable persons, too, were appointed to take charge of the boys, for
+the purpose of conducting their education, and also to manage their
+estates until they should become of age.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's person.</div>
+
+<p>There have been a great many disputes in respect to Richard's
+appearance and character at this time. For a long period after his
+death, people generally believed that he was, from his very childhood,
+an ugly little monster, that nobody could look upon without fear; and,
+in fact, he was very repulsive in his personal appearance when he grew
+up, but at this time of his life the historians and biographers who
+saw and knew him say that he was quite a pretty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>boy, though puny and
+weak. His face was handsome enough, though his form was frail, and not
+perfectly symmetrical. Those who had charge of him tried to strengthen
+his constitution by training him to the martial exercises and usages
+which were practiced in those days, and especially by accustoming him
+to wear the ponderous armor which was then in use.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Description of the armor worn in those days.</div>
+
+<p>This armor was made of iron or steel. It consisted of a great number
+of separate pieces, which, when they were all put on, incased almost
+the whole body, so as to defend it against blows coming from any
+quarter. First, there was the helmet, or cap of steel, with large oval
+pieces coming down to protect the ears. Next came the <i>gorget</i>, as it
+was called, which was a sort of collar to cover the neck. Then there
+were elbow pieces to guard the elbows, and shoulder-plates for the
+shoulders, and a breast-plate or buckler for the front, and greaves
+for the legs and thighs. These things were necessary in those days, or
+at least they were advantageous, for they afforded pretty effectual
+protection against all the ordinary weapons which were then in use.
+But they made the warriors themselves so heavy and unwieldy as very
+greatly to interfere with the freedom of their movements when engaged
+in battle. There <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>was, indeed, a certain advantage in this weight, as
+it made the shock with which the knight on horseback encountered his
+enemy in the charge so much the more heavy and overpowering; but if he
+were by any accident to lose his seat and fall to the ground, he was
+generally so encumbered by his armor that he could only partially
+raise himself therefrom. He was thus compelled to lie almost helpless
+until his enemy came to kill him, or his squire or some other friend
+came to help him up.<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Necessity of being trained to use this armor.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, to be able to manage one's self at all in these habiliments
+of iron and steel, there was required not only native strength of
+constitution, but long and careful training, and it was a very
+important part of the education of young men of rank in Richard's days
+to familiarize them with the use of this armor, and inure them to the
+weight of it. Suits of it were made for boys, the size and weight of
+each suit being fitted to the form and strength of the wearer. Many of
+these suits of boys' armor are still preserved in England. There are
+several specimens to be seen in the Tower of London. They are in the
+apartment called the Horse Armory, which is a vast hall with effigies
+of horses, and of men mounted upon them, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>all completely armed with
+the veritable suits of steel which the men and the horses that they
+represent actually wore when they were alive. The horses are arranged
+along the sides of the room in regular order from the earliest ages
+down to the time when steel armor of this kind ceased to be worn.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 83-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i081.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="387" alt="THE OLD QUINTAINE" title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE OLD QUINTAINE</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">The armor costly.<br />Substitutes for it.<br />Exercises.<br />Feats to be performed.</div>
+
+<p>These suits of armor were very costly, and the boys for whom they were
+made were, of course, filled with feelings of exultation and pride
+when they put them on; and, heavy and uncomfortable as such clothing
+must have been, they were willing to wear it, and to practice the
+required exercises in it. When actually made of steel, the armor was
+very expensive, and such could only be afforded for young princes and
+nobles of very high rank; for other young men, various substitutes
+were provided; but all were trained, either in the use of actual
+armor, or of substitutes, to perform a great number and variety of
+exercises. They were taught, when they were old enough, to spring upon
+a horse with as much armor upon them and in their hands as possible;
+to run races; to see how long they could continue to strike heavy
+blows in quick succession with a battle-axe or club, as if they were
+beating an enemy lying upon the ground, and trying to break his armor
+to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>pieces; to dance and throw summersets; to mount upon a horse behind
+another person by leaping from the ground, and assisting themselves
+only by one hand, and other similar things. One feat which they
+practiced was to climb up between two partition walls built pretty
+near together, by bracing their back against one wall, and working
+with their knees and hands against the other. Another feat was to
+climb up a ladder on the under side by means of the hands alone.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Account of the quintaine.</div>
+
+<p>Another famous exercise, or perhaps rather game, was performed with
+what was called the <i>quintaine</i>. The quintaine consisted of a stout
+post set in the ground, and rising about ten or twelve feet above the
+surface. Across the top was a strong bar, which turned on a pivot made
+in the top of the post, so that it would go round and round. To one
+end of this cross-bar there was fixed a square board for a target; to
+the other end was hung a heavy club. The cross-bar was so poised upon
+the central pivot that it would move very easily. In playing the game,
+the competitors, mounted on horseback, were to ride, one after
+another, under the target-end of the cross-bar, and hurl their spears
+at it with all their force. The blow from the spear would knock the
+target-end of the cross-bar <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>away, and so bring round the other end,
+with its heavy club, to strike a blow on the horseman's head if he did
+not get instantly out of the way. It was as if he were to strike one
+enemy in front in battle, while there was another enemy ready on the
+instant to strike him from behind.</p>
+
+<p>There is one of these ancient quintaines now standing on the green in
+the village of Offham, in Kent.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Other exercises and sports.<br />Playing ball.</div>
+
+<p>Such exercises as these were, of course, only fitted for men, or at
+least for boys who had nearly attained to their full size and
+strength. There were other games and exercises intended for smaller
+boys. There are many rude pictures in ancient books illustrating these
+old games. In one they are playing ball; in another they are playing
+shuttle-cock. The battle-doors that they use are very rude.</p>
+
+<p><a name="playball" id="playball"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 451px;">
+<img src="images/i083.jpg" class="smallgap" width="451" height="200" alt="PLAYING BALL." title="" />
+<span class="caption">PLAYING BALL.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Jumping through a hoop.</div>
+
+<p>These pictures show how ancient these common games are. In another
+picture the boys <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>are playing with a hoop. Two of them are holding the
+hoop up between them, and the third is preparing to jump through it,
+head foremost. His plan is to come down on the other side upon his
+hands, and so turn a summerset, and come up on his feet beyond.</p>
+
+<p><a name="battledoor" id="battledoor"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 266px;">
+<img src="images/i084.jpg" class="smallgap" width="266" height="200" alt="BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK." title="" />
+<span class="caption">BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The two brothers companions.</div>
+
+<p>In these exercises and amusements, and, indeed, in all his
+occupations, Richard had his brother George, the Duke of Clarence, for
+his playmate and companion. George was not only older than Richard,
+but he was also much more healthy and athletic; and some persons have
+thought that Richard injured himself, and perhaps, in some degree,
+increased the deformity which he seems to have suffered from in later
+years, or perhaps brought it on entirely, by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>overloading himself, in
+his attempts to keep pace with his brother in these exercises, with
+burdens of armor, or by straining himself in athletic exertions which
+were beyond his powers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's intellectual education.</div>
+
+<p>The intellectual education of the boys was not entirely neglected.
+They learned to read and write, though they could not write much, or
+very well. Their names are still found, as they signed them to ancient
+documents, several of which remain to the present day. The following
+is a fac-simile of Richard's signature, copied exactly from one of
+those documents.</p>
+
+<p><a name="signature" id="signature"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/i085.jpg" class="smallgap" width="347" height="100" alt="RICHARD'S SIGNATURE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">RICHARD'S SIGNATURE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Richard continued in this state of pupilage in some of the castles
+belonging to the family from the time that his brother began to reign
+until he was about fourteen years of age. Edward, the king, was then
+twenty-four, and Clarence about seventeen.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Warwick, the King-Maker.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1461-1468</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of Richard under the reign of his brother.</div>
+
+<p>Richard's brother, Edward the Fourth, began to reign when Richard was
+about eight or nine years of age. His reign continued&mdash;with a brief
+interruption, which will be hereafter explained&mdash;for twenty years; so
+that, for a very important period of his life, after he arrived at
+some degree of maturity, namely, from the time that he was fourteen to
+the time that he was thirty, Richard was one of his brother's
+subjects. He was a prince, it is true, and a prince of the very
+highest rank&mdash;the next person but one, in fact, in the line of
+succession to the crown. His brother George, the Duke of Clarence, of
+course, being older than he, came before him; but both the young men,
+though princes, were subjects. They were under their brother Edward's
+authority, and bound to serve and obey him as their rightful
+sovereign; next to him, however, they were the highest personages in
+the realm. George was, from this time, generally called Clarence, and
+Richard, Gloucester.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Strange vicissitudes in the life of Margaret.</div>
+
+<p>The reader may perhaps feel some interest and curiosity in learning
+what became of Queen Margaret and old King Henry after they were
+driven out of the country toward the north, at the time of Edward's
+accession. Their prospects seemed, at the time, to be hopelessly
+ruined, but their case was destined to furnish another very striking
+instance of the extraordinary reverses of fortune which marked the
+history of nearly all the great families during the whole course of
+this York and Lancaster quarrel. In about ten years from the time when
+Henry and Margaret were driven away, apparently into hopeless exile,
+they came back in triumph, and were restored to power, and Edward
+himself, in his turn, was ignominiously expelled from the kingdom. The
+narrative of the circumstances through which these events were brought
+about forms quite a romantic story.</p>
+
+<p>In order, however, that this story may be more clearly understood, I
+will first enumerate the principal personages that take a part in it,
+and briefly remind the reader of the position which they respectively
+occupied, and the relations which they sustained to each other.</p>
+
+<p>First, there is the family of King Henry, consisting of himself and
+his wife, Queen Margaret, and his little son Edward, who had received
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>title of Prince of Wales. This boy was about eight years old at
+the time his father and mother were driven away. We left them, in the
+last chapter, flying toward the frontiers of Scotland to save their
+lives, leaving to Edward and his troops the full possession of the
+kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>Henry and his little son, the Prince of Wales, of course represent the
+house of Lancaster in the dispute for the succession.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Representatives of the house of York.</div>
+
+<p>The house of York was represented by Edward, whose title, as king, was
+Edward the Fourth, and his two brothers, George and Richard, or, as
+they were now generally called, Clarence and Gloucester. In case
+Edward should be married and have a son, his son would succeed him,
+and George and Richard would be excluded; if, however, he should die
+without issue, then George would become king; and if George should die
+without issue, and Richard should survive him, then Richard would
+succeed. Thus, as matters now stood, George and Richard were
+presumptive heirs to the crown, and it was natural that they should
+wish that their brother Edward should never be married.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Margaret.<br />Value of a marriageable young lady.</div>
+
+<p>Besides these two brothers, who were the only ones of all his brothers
+that were now living, Edward had a sister named Margaret. Margaret was
+four years younger than Edward <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>the king, and about six years older
+than Richard. She was now about seventeen. A young lady of that age in
+the family of a king in those days was quite a treasure, as the king
+was enabled to promote his political schemes sometimes very
+effectually by bestowing her in marriage upon this great prince or
+that, as would best further the interests which he had in view in
+foreign courts.</p>
+
+<p>This young lady, Edward's sister, being of the same
+name&mdash;Margaret&mdash;with the queen of old King Henry, was distinguished
+from her by being called Margaret of York, as she belonged to the York
+family. The queen was generally known as Margaret of Anjou. Anjou was
+the place of her nativity.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Warwick.<br />Warwick becomes Edward's prime minister.</div>
+
+<p>The next great personage to be named is the Earl of Warwick. He was
+the man, as you will doubtless recollect, who was in command of the
+sea between England and the Continent at the time when Lady Cecily
+wished to send her children, George and Richard, away after their
+father's death, and who assisted in arranging their flight. He was a
+man of great power and influence, and of such an age and character
+that he exerted a vast ascendency over all within his influence.
+Without him, Edward never would have conquered the Lancaster <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>party,
+and he knew very well that if Warwick, and all those whom Warwick
+would carry with him, were to desert him, he should not be able to
+retain his kingdom. Indeed, Warwick received the surname of
+<i>King-maker</i> from the fact that, in repeated instances during this
+quarrel, he put down one dynasty and raised up the other, just as he
+pleased. He belonged to a great and powerful family named Neville. As
+soon as Edward was established on his throne, Warwick, almost as a
+matter of course, became prime minister. One of his brothers was made
+chancellor, and a great number of other posts of distinction and honor
+were distributed among the members of the Neville family. Indeed,
+although Edward was nominally king, it might have been considered in
+some degree a question whether it was the house of York or the house
+of Neville that actually reigned in England.</p>
+
+<p>The Earl of Warwick had two daughters. Their names were Isabella and
+Anne. These two young ladies the earl reckoned, as Edward did his
+sister Margaret, among the most important of his political resources.
+By marrying them to persons of very high position, he could strengthen
+his alliances and increase his power. There was even a possibility, he
+thought, of marrying one of them to the King <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>of England, or to a
+prince who would become king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The three great parties.</div>
+
+<p>Thus we have for the three great parties to the transactions now to be
+described, first, the representatives of the house of Lancaster, the
+feeble Henry, the energetic and strong-minded Margaret of Anjou, and
+their little son, the Prince of Wales; secondly, the representatives
+of the house of York, King Edward the Fourth, the two young men his
+brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester,
+and his sister Margaret; and, thirdly, between these two parties, as
+it were, the Earl of Warwick and his two daughters, Isabella and Anne,
+standing at the head of a vast family influence, which ramified to
+every part of the kingdom, and was powerful enough to give the
+ascendency to either side, in favor of which they might declare.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The fortunes of Margaret of Anjou.<br />She escapes to France.</div>
+
+<p>We are now prepared to follow Queen Margaret in her flight toward the
+north with her husband and her son, at the time when Edward the Fourth
+overcame her armies and ascended the throne. She pressed on as rapidly
+as possible, taking the king and the little prince with her, and
+accompanied and assisted in her flight by a few attendants, till she
+had crossed the frontier and was safe in Scotland. The Scots <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>espoused
+her cause, and assisted her to raise fresh troops, with which she made
+one or two short incursions into England; but she soon found that she
+could do nothing effectual in this way, and so, after wasting some
+time in fruitless attempts, she left Scotland with the king and the
+prince, and went to France.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A new expedition planned.</div>
+
+<p>Here she entered into negotiations with the King of France, and with
+other princes and potentates, on the Continent, with a view of raising
+men and money for a new invasion of England. At first these powers
+declined to assist her. They said that their treasuries were
+exhausted, and that they had no men. At last, however, Margaret
+promised to the King of France that if he would furnish her with a
+fleet and an army, by which she could recover the kingdom of her
+husband, she would cede to him the town of Calais, which, though
+situated on the coast of France, was at that time an English
+possession. This was a very tempting offer, for Calais was a fortress
+of the first class, and a military post either for England or France
+of a very important character.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Margaret is defeated and compelled to fly.<br />She encounters great dangers at sea.</div>
+
+<p>The king consented to this proposal. He equipped a fleet and raised an
+army, and Margaret set sail for England, taking the king and the
+prince with her. Her plan was to land in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>the northern part of the
+island, near the frontiers of Scotland, where she expected to find the
+country more friendly to the Lancastrian line than the people were
+toward the south. As soon as she landed she was joined by many of the
+people, and she succeeded in capturing some castles and small towns.
+But the Earl of Warwick, who was, as has been already said, the prime
+minister under Edward, immediately raised an army of twenty thousand
+men, and marched to the northward to meet her. Margaret's French army
+was wholly unprepared to encounter such a force as this, so they fled
+to their ships. All but about five hundred of the men succeeded in
+reaching the ships. The five hundred were cut to pieces. Margaret
+herself was detained in making arrangements for the king and the
+prince. She concluded not to take them to sea again, but to send them
+secretly into Wales, while she herself went back to France to see if
+she could not procure re-enforcements. She barely had time, at last,
+to reach the ships herself, so close at hand were her enemies. As soon
+as the queen had embarked, the fleet set sail. The queen had saved
+nearly all the money and all the stores which she had brought with her
+from France, and she hoped still to preserve them for another attempt.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>But the fleet had scarcely got off from the shore when a terrible
+storm arose, and the ships were all driven upon the rocks and dashed
+to pieces. The money and the stores were all lost; a large portion of
+the men were drowned; Margaret herself and the captain of the fleet
+saved themselves, and, as soon as the storm was over, they succeeded
+in making their escape back to Berwick in an old fishing-boat which
+they obtained on the shore.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this, Margaret, with the captain of the fleet and a very
+small number of faithful followers who still adhered to her, sailed
+back again to France.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The king concealed.<br />The king is made prisoner, and sent to the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>The disturbances, however, which her landing had occasioned, did not
+cease immediately on her departure. The Lancastrian party all over
+England were excited and moved to action by the news of her coming,
+and for two years insurrections were continually taking place, and
+many battles were fought, and great numbers of people were killed.
+King Henry was all this time kept in close concealment, sometimes in
+Wales, and sometimes among the lakes and mountains in Westmoreland. He
+was conveyed from place to place by his adherents in the most secret
+manner, the knowledge in respect to his situation being confined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>to
+the smallest possible number of persons. This continued for two or
+three years. At last, however, while the friends of the king were
+attempting secretly to convey him to a certain castle in Yorkshire, he
+was seen and recognized by one of his enemies. A plan was immediately
+formed to make him prisoner. The plan succeeded. The king was
+surprised by an overwhelming force, which broke into the castle and
+seized him while he sat at dinner. His captors, and those who were
+lying in wait to assist them, galloped off at once with their prisoner
+to London. King Edward shut him up in the Tower, and he remained
+there, closely confined and strongly guarded for a long time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Brutal punishments.</div>
+
+<p>Thus King Henry's life was saved, but of those who espoused his cause,
+and made attempts to restore him, great numbers were seized and
+beheaded in the most cruel manner. It was Edward's policy to slay all
+the leaders. It was said that after a battle he would ride with a
+company of men over the ground, and kill every wounded or exhausted
+man of rank that still remained alive, though he would spare the
+common soldiers. Sometimes, when he got men that were specially
+obnoxious to him into his hands, he would put them to death in the
+most cruel and ignominious manner. One distinguished <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>knight, that had
+been taken prisoner by Warwick, was brought to King Edward, who, at
+that time, as it happened, was sick, and by Edward's orders was
+treated most brutally. He was first taken out into a public place, and
+his spurs were struck off from his feet by a cook. This was one of the
+greatest indignities that a knight could suffer. Then his coat of arms
+was torn off from him, and another coat, inside out, was put upon him.
+Then he was made to walk barefoot to the end of the town, and there
+was laid down upon his back on a sort of drag, and so drawn to the
+place of execution, where his head was cut off on a block with a
+broad-axe.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Great exasperation of the combatants.</div>
+
+<p>Such facts as these show what a state of exasperation the two great
+parties of York and Lancaster were in toward each other throughout the
+kingdom. It is necessary to understand this, in order fully to
+appreciate the import and consequences of the very extraordinary
+transaction which is now to be related.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Account of Elizabeth Woodville.</div>
+
+<p>It seems there was a certain knight named Sir John Gray, a
+Lancastrian, who had been killed at one of the great battles which had
+been fought during the war. He had also been attainted, as it was
+called&mdash;that is, sentence had been pronounced against him on a charge
+of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>high treason, by which his estates were forfeited, and his wife
+and children, of course, reduced to poverty. The name of his wife was
+Elizabeth Woodville. She was the daughter of a noble knight named Sir
+Richard Woodville. Her mother's name was Jacquetta. On the death and
+attainder of her husband, being reduced to great poverty and distress,
+she went home to the house of her father and mother, at a beautiful
+manor which they possessed at Grafton. She was quite young, and very
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward's first interview with her.<br />The secret marriage.</div>
+
+<p>It happened that by some means or other Edward paid a visit one day to
+the Lady Jacquetta, at her manor, as he was passing through the
+country. Whether this visit was accidental, or whether it was
+contrived by Jacquetta, does not appear. However this may be, the
+beautiful widow came into the presence of the king, and, throwing
+herself at his feet, begged and implored him to revoke the attainder
+of her husband for the sake of her innocent and helpless children. The
+king was much moved by her beauty and by her distress. From pitying
+her he soon began to love her. And yet it seemed impossible that he
+should marry her. Her rank, in the first place, was far below his, and
+then, what was worse, she belonged to the Lancastrian party, the
+king's implacable enemies. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>The king knew very well that all his own
+partisans would be made furious at the idea of such a match, and that,
+if they knew that it was in contemplation, they would resist it to the
+utmost of their power. For a time he did not know what he should do.
+At length, however, his love for the beautiful widow, as might easily
+be foreseen, triumphed over all considerations of prudence, and he was
+secretly married to her. The marriage took place in the morning, in a
+very private manner, in the month of May, in 1464.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The marriage gradually revealed.</div>
+
+<p>The king kept the marriage secret nearly all summer. He thought it
+best to break the subject to his lords and nobles gradually, as he had
+opportunity to communicate it to them one by one. In this way it at
+length became known, without producing, at any one time, any special
+sensation, and toward the fall preparations were made for openly
+acknowledging the union.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Ancient portrait of Edward IV.</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 252px;">
+<img src="images/i099.jpg" class="smallgap" width="252" height="300" alt="KING EDWARD IV." title="" />
+<span class="caption">KING EDWARD IV.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot2">This engraving is a portrait of King Edward as he appeared at this
+time. It is copied from an ancient painting, and doubtless represents
+correctly the character and expression of his countenance, and one
+form, at least, of dress which he was accustomed to wear. He was, at
+the time of his marriage, about twenty-two years of age. Elizabeth was
+ten years older.</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Portrait of Queen Elizabeth Woodville.</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 255px;">
+<img src="images/i100.jpg" class="smallgap" width="255" height="300" alt="QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot2">This engraving represents the queen. It is taken, like the other, from
+an ancient portrait, and no doubt corresponds closely to the
+original.</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Indignation of the Earl of Warwick.</div>
+
+<p>Although the knowledge of the king's marriage produced no sudden
+outbreak of opposition, it awakened a great deal of secret indignation
+and rage, and gave occasion to many suppressed mutterings and curses.
+Of course, every leading family of the realm, that had been on
+Edward's side in the civil wars, which contained a marriageable daughter, had been forming hopes and laying plans to
+secure this magnificent match for themselves. Those who had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>no
+marriageable daughters of their own joined their nearest relatives and
+friends in their schemes, or formed plans for some foreign alliance
+with a princess of France, or Burgundy, or Holland, whichever would
+best harmonize with the political schemes that they wished to promote.
+The Earl of Warwick seems to have belonged to the former class. He had
+two daughters, as has already been stated. It would very naturally be
+his desire that the king, if he were to take for his wife any English
+subject at all, should make choice of one of these. Of course, he was
+more than all the rest irritated and vexed at what the king had done.
+He communicated his feelings to Clarence, but concealed them from the
+king. Clarence was, of course, ready to sympathize with the earl. He
+was ready enough to take offense at any thing connected with the
+king's marriage on very slight grounds, for it was very much for his
+interest, as the next heir, that his brother should not be married at
+all.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 105-6]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i103.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="294" alt="WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">George and Richard.<br />The queen is publicly acknowledged.</div>
+
+<p>The earl and Clarence, however, thought it best for the time to
+suppress and conceal their opposition to the marriage; so they joined
+very readily in the ceremonies connected with the public
+acknowledgment of the queen. A vast assemblage of nobles, prelates,
+and other grand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>dignitaries was convened, and Elizabeth was brought forward before
+them and formally presented. The Earl of Warwick and Clarence appeared
+in the foremost rank among her friends on this occasion. They took her
+by the hand, and, leading her forward, presented her to the assembled
+multitude of lords and ladies, who welcomed her with long and loud
+acclamations.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this a grand council was convened, and a handsome income
+was settled upon the queen, to enable her properly to maintain the
+dignity of her station.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the next year preparations were made for a grand coronation
+of the queen. Foreign princes were invited to attend the ceremony, and
+many came, accompanied by large bodies of knights and squires, to do
+honor to the occasion. The coronation took place in May. The queen was
+conveyed in procession through the streets of London on a sort of open
+palanquin, borne by horses most magnificently caparisoned. Vast crowds
+of people assembled along the streets to look at the procession as it
+passed. The next day the coronation itself took place in Westminster,
+and it was followed by games, feasts, tournaments, and public
+rejoicings of every kind, which lasted many days.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Various difficulties and entanglements resulting from this
+marriage.</div>
+
+<p>Thus far every thing on the surface, at least, had gone well; but it
+was not long after the coronation before the troubles which were to be
+expected from such a match began to develop themselves in great force.
+The new queen was ambitious, and she was naturally desirous of
+bringing her friends forward into places of influence and honor. The
+king was, of course, ready to listen to her recommendations; but then
+all her friends were Lancastrians. They were willing enough, it is
+true, to change their politics and to become Yorkists for the sake of
+the rewards and honors which they could obtain by the change, but the
+old friends of the king were greatly exasperated to find the important
+posts, one after another, taken away from them, and given to their
+hated enemies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Jealousy against the queen's family and relations.</div>
+
+<p>Then, besides the quarrel for the political offices, there were a
+great many of the cherished matrimonial plans and schemes of the old
+families interfered with and broken up by the queen's family thus
+coming into power. It happened that the queen had five unmarried
+sisters. She began to form plans for securing for them men of the
+highest rank and position in the realm. This, of course, thwarted the
+plans and disappointed the hopes of all those families who had been
+scheming to gain these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>husbands for their own daughters. To see five
+great heirs of dukes and barons thus withdrawn from the matrimonial
+market, and employed to increase the power and prestige of their
+ancient and implacable foes, filled the souls of the old Yorkist
+families with indignation. Parties were formed. The queen and her
+family and friends&mdash;the Woodvilles and Grays&mdash;with all their
+adherents, were on one side; the Neville family, with the Earl of
+Warwick at their head, and most of the old Yorkist noblemen, were on
+the other; Clarence joined the Earl of Warwick; Richard, on the other
+hand, or Gloucester, as he was now called, adhered to the king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of Henry and his family.</div>
+
+<p>Things went on pretty much in this way for two years. There was no
+open quarrel, though there was a vast deal of secret animosity and
+bickering. The great world at court was divided into two sets, or
+cliques, that hated each other very cordially, though both, for the
+present, pretended to support King Edward as the rightful sovereign of
+the country. The struggle was for the honors and offices under him.
+The families who still adhered to the old Lancastrian party, and to
+the rights of Henry and of the little Prince of Wales, withdrew, of
+course, altogether from the court, and, retiring to their castles,
+brooded moodily there over their fallen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>fortunes, and waited in
+expectation of better times. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower;
+Margaret and the Prince of Wales were on the Continent. They and their
+friends were, of course, watching the progress of the quarrel between
+the party of the Earl of Warwick and that of the king, hoping that it
+might at last lead to an open rupture, in which case the Lancastrians
+might hope for Warwick's aid to bring them again into power.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 111-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 379px;">
+<img src="images/i109.jpg" class="smallgap" width="379" height="500" alt="WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING." title="" />
+<span class="caption">WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Margaret of York.</div>
+
+<p>And now another circumstance occurred which widened this breach very
+much indeed. It arose from a difference of opinion between King Edward
+and the Earl of Warwick in respect to the marriage of the king's
+sister Margaret, known, as has already been said, as Margaret of York.
+There was upon the Continent a certain Count Charles, the son and heir
+of the Duke of Burgundy, who demanded her hand. The count's family had
+been enemies of the house of York, and had done every thing in their
+power to promote Queen Margaret's plans, so long as there was any hope
+for her; but when they found that King Edward was firmly established
+on the throne, they came over to his side, and now the count demanded
+the hand of the Princess Margaret in marriage; but the stern old Earl
+of Warwick did not like such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>friendship as this, so he recommended that the count should be
+refused, and that Margaret should have for her husband one of the
+princes of France.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plans and man&oelig;uvres in respect to Margaret's marriage.</div>
+
+<p>Now King Edward himself preferred Count Charles for the husband of
+Margaret, and this chiefly because the queen, his wife, preferred him
+on account of the old friendship which had subsisted between his
+family and the Lancastrians. Besides this, however, Flanders, the
+country over which the count was to reign on the death of his father,
+was at that time so situated that an alliance with it would be of
+greater advantage to Edward's political plans than an alliance with
+France. But, notwithstanding this, the earl was so earnest in urging
+his opinion, that finally Edward yielded, and the earl was dispatched
+to France to negotiate the marriage with the French prince.</p>
+
+<p>The earl set off on this embassy in great magnificence. He landed in
+Normandy with a vast train of attendants, and proceeded in almost
+royal state toward Paris. The King of France, to honor his coming and
+the occasion, came forth to meet him. The meeting took place at Rouen.
+The proposals were well received by the French king. The negotiations
+were continued for eight or ten days, and at last every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>thing was
+arranged. For the final closing of the contract, it was necessary that
+a messenger from the King of France should proceed to London. The king
+appointed an archbishop and some other dignitaries to perform the
+service. The earl then returned to England, and was soon followed by
+the French embassadors, expecting that every thing essential was
+settled, and that nothing but a few formalities remained.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Count Charles carries the day.</div>
+
+<p>But, in the mean time, while all this had been going on in France,
+Count Charles had quietly sent an embassador to England to press his
+claim to the princess's hand. This messenger managed this business
+very skillfully, so as not to attract any public attention to what he
+was doing; and besides, the earl being away, the queen, Elizabeth,
+could exert all her influence over her husband's mind unimpeded.
+Edward was finally persuaded to promise Margaret's hand to the count,
+and the contracts were made; so that, when the earl and the French
+embassadors arrived, they found, to their astonishment and dismay,
+that a rival and enemy had stepped in during their absence and secured
+the prize.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Vexation of Warwick.</div>
+
+<p>The Earl of Warwick was furious when he learned how he had been
+deceived. He had been insulted, he said, and disgraced. Edward <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>made
+no attempt to pacify him; indeed, any attempt that he could have made
+would probably have been fruitless. The earl withdrew from the court,
+went off to one of his castles, and shut himself up there in great
+displeasure.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Progress of the quarrel.</div>
+
+<p>The quarrel now began to assume a very serious air. Edward suspected
+that the earl was forming plots and conspiracies against him. He
+feared that he was secretly designing to take measures for restoring
+the Lancastrian line to the throne. He was alarmed for his personal
+safety. He expelled all Warwick's family and friends from the court,
+and, whenever he went out in public, he took care to be always
+attended by a strong body-guard, as if he thought there was danger of
+an attempt upon his life.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A temporary reconciliation.</div>
+
+<p>At length one of the earl's brothers, the youngest of the family, who
+was at that time Archbishop of York, interposed to effect a
+reconciliation. We have not space here to give a full account of the
+negotiations; but the result was, a sort of temporary peace was made,
+by which the earl again returned to court, and was restored apparently
+to his former position. But there was no cordial good-will between him
+and the king. Edward dreaded the earl's power, and hated the stern
+severity of his character, while the earl, by the commanding influence
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>which he exerted in the realm, was continually thwarting both Edward
+and Elizabeth in their plans.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A new marriage scheme.<br />Edward displeased.</div>
+
+<p>Edward and Elizabeth had now been married some time, but they had no
+son, and, of course, no heir, for daughters in those days did not
+inherit the English crown. Of course, Clarence, Edward's second
+brother, was the next heir. This increased the jealousy which the two
+brothers felt toward each other, and tended very much to drive
+Clarence away from Edward, and to increase the intimacy between
+Clarence and Warwick. At length, in 1468, it was announced that a
+marriage was in contemplation between Clarence and Isabella, the Earl
+of Warwick's oldest daughter. Edward and Queen Elizabeth were very
+much displeased and very much alarmed when they heard of this plan. If
+carried into effect, it would bind Clarence and the Warwick influence
+together in indissoluble bonds, and make their power much more
+formidable than ever before. Every body would say when the marriage
+was concluded,</p>
+
+<p>"Now, in case Edward should die, which event may happen at any time,
+the earl's daughter will be queen, and then the earl will have a
+greater influence than ever in the disposition <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>of offices and honors.
+It behooves us, therefore, to make friends with him in season, so as
+to secure his good-will in advance, before he comes into power."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He fails of preventing the marriage.<br />The ceremony performed at Calais.</div>
+
+<p>King Edward and his queen, seeing how much this match was likely at
+once to increase the earl's importance, did every thing in their power
+to prevent it. But they could not succeed. The earl was determined
+that Clarence and his daughter should be married. The opposition was,
+however, so strong at court that the marriage could not be celebrated
+at London; so the ceremony was performed at Calais, which city was at
+that time under the earl's special command. The king and queen
+remained at London, and made no attempt to conceal their vexation and
+chagrin.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Downfall of York.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1469-1470</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Insurrections.<br />The king goes to meet the rebels.</div>
+
+<p>Edward's apprehension and anxiety in respect to the danger that
+Warwick might be concocting schemes to restore the Lancastrian line to
+the throne were greatly increased by the sudden breaking out of
+insurrections in the northern part of the island, while Warwick and
+Clarence were absent in Calais, on the occasion of Clarence's marriage
+to Isabella. The insurgents did not demand the restoration of the
+Lancastrian line, but only the removal of the queen's family and
+relations from the council. The king raised an armed force, and
+marched to the northward to meet the rebels. But his army was
+disaffected, and he could do nothing. They fled before the advancing
+army of insurgents, and Edward went with them to Nottingham Castle,
+where he shut himself up, and wrote urgently to Warwick and Clarence
+to come to his aid.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rebellion suppressed.</div>
+
+<p>Warwick made no haste to obey this command. After some delay, however,
+he left Calais in command of one of his lieutenants and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>repaired to
+Nottingham, where he soon released the king from his dangerous
+situation. He quelled the rebellion too, but not until the insurgents
+had seized the father and one of the brothers of the queen, and cut
+off their heads.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the Lancastrians themselves, thinking that this was
+a favorable time for them, began to put themselves in motion. Warwick
+was the only person who was capable of meeting them and putting them
+down. This he did, taking the king with him in his train, in a
+condition more like that of a prisoner than a sovereign. At length,
+however, the rebellions were suppressed, and all parties returned to
+London.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A grand reconciliation.</div>
+
+<p>There now took place what purported to be a grand reconciliation.
+Treaties were drawn up and signed between Warwick and Clarence on one
+side, and the king on the other, by which both parties bound
+themselves to forgive and forget all that had passed, and thenceforth
+to be good friends; but, notwithstanding all the solemn signings and
+sealings with which these covenants were secured, the actual condition
+of the parties in respect to each other remained entirely unchanged,
+and neither of the three felt a whit more confidence in the others
+after the execution of these treaties than before.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p><p>At last the secret distrust which they felt toward each other broke
+out openly. Warwick's brother, the Archbishop of York, made an
+entertainment at one of his manors for a party of guests, in which
+were included the king, the Duke of Clarence, and the Earl of Warwick.
+It was about three months after the treaties were signed that this
+entertainment was made, and the feast was intended to celebrate and
+cement the good understanding which it was now agreed was henceforth
+to prevail. The king arrived at the manor, and, while he was in his
+room making his toilet for the supper, which was all ready to be
+served, an attendant came to him and whispered in his ear,</p>
+
+<p>"Your majesty is in danger. There is a band of armed men in ambush
+near the house."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The king frightened.</div>
+
+<p>The king was greatly alarmed at hearing this. He immediately stole out
+of the house, mounted his horse, and, with two or three followers,
+rode away as fast as he could ride. He continued his journey all
+night, and in the morning arrived at Windsor Castle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The quarrel renewed.<br />New reconciliations.</div>
+
+<p>Then followed new negotiations between Warwick and the king, with
+mutual reproaches, criminations, and recriminations without number.
+Edward insisted that treachery was intended at the house to which he
+had been invited, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>and that he had barely escaped, by his sudden
+flight, from falling into the snare. But Warwick and his friends
+denied this entirely, and attributed the flight of the king to a
+wholly unreasonable alarm, caused by his jealous and suspicious
+temper. At last Edward suffered himself to be reassured, and then came
+new treaties and a new reconciliation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">New rebellions.</div>
+
+<p>This peace was made in the fall of 1469, and in the spring of 1470 a
+new insurrection broke out. The king believed that Warwick himself,
+and Clarence, were really at the bottom of these disturbances, but
+still he was forced to send them with bodies of troops to subdue the
+rebels; he, however, immediately raised a large army for himself, and
+proceeded to the seat of war. He reached the spot before Warwick and
+Clarence arrived there. He gave battle to the insurgents, and defeated
+them. He took a great many prisoners, and beheaded them. He found, or
+pretended to find, proof that Warwick and Clarence, instead of
+intending to fight the insurgents, had made their arrangements for
+joining them on the following day, and that he had been just in time
+to defeat their treachery. Whether he really found evidence of these
+intentions on the part of Warwick and Clarence or not, or whether he
+was flushed by the excitement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>of victory, and resolved to seize the
+occasion to cut loose at once and forever from the entanglement in
+which he had been bound, is somewhat uncertain. At all events, he now
+declared open war against Warwick and Clarence, and set off
+immediately on his march to meet them, at the head of a force much
+superior to theirs.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Warwick comes to open war with the king.</div>
+
+<p>Warwick and Clarence marched and countermarched, and made many
+man&oelig;uvres to escape a battle, and during all this time their
+strength was rapidly diminishing. As long as they were nominally on
+the king's side, however really hostile to him, they had plenty of
+followers; but, now that they were in open war against him, their
+forces began to melt away. In this emergency, Warwick suddenly changed
+all his plans. He disbanded his army, and then taking all his family
+with him, including Clarence and Isabella, and accompanied by an
+inconsiderable number of faithful friends, he marched at the head of a
+small force which he retained as an escort to the sea-port of
+Dartmouth, and then embarked for Calais.</p>
+
+<p>The vessels employed to transport the party formed quite a little
+fleet, so numerous were the servants and attendants that accompanied
+the fugitives. They embarked without delay on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>reaching the coast, as
+they were in haste to make the passage and arrive at Calais, for
+Isabella, Clarence's wife, was about to become a mother, and at Calais
+they thought that they should all be, as it were, at home.</p>
+
+<p>It will be remembered that the Earl of Warwick was the governor of
+Calais, and that when he left it he had appointed a lieutenant to take
+command of it during his absence. Before his ship arrived off the port
+this lieutenant had received dispatches from Edward, which had been
+hurried to him by a special messenger, informing him that Warwick was
+in rebellion against his sovereign, and forbidding the lieutenant to
+allow him or his party to enter the town.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Warwick and his party not allowed to land at Calais.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, when Warwick's fleet arrived off the port, they found the
+guns of the batteries pointed at them, and sentinels on the piers
+warning them not to attempt to land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The party in great straits.</div>
+
+<p>Warwick was thunderstruck. To be thus refused admission to his own
+fortress by his own lieutenant was something amazing, as well as
+outrageous. The earl was at first completely bewildered; but, on
+demanding an explanation, the lieutenant sent him word that the
+refusal to land was owing to the people of the town. They, he said,
+having learned that he and the king had come to open war, insisted
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>that the fortress should be reserved for their sovereign. Warwick
+then explained the situation that his daughter was in; but the
+lieutenant was firm. The determination of the people was so strong, he
+said, that he could not control it. Finally, the child was born on
+board the ship, as it lay at anchor off the port, and all the aid or
+comfort which the party could get from the shore consisted of two
+flagons of wine, which the lieutenant, with great hesitation and
+reluctance, allowed to be sent on board. The child was a son. His
+birth was an event of great importance, for he was, of course, as
+Clarence's son, a prince in the direct line of succession to the
+English crown.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">They land at Harfleur.</div>
+
+<p>At length, finding that he could not land at Calais, Warwick sailed
+away with his fleet along the coast of France till he reached the
+French port of Harfleur. Here his ships were admitted, and the whole
+party were allowed to land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Strange compact between Warwick and Queen Margaret.</div>
+
+<p>Then followed various intrigues, man&oelig;uvres, and arrangements, which
+we have not time here fully to unravel; but the end of all was, that
+in a few weeks after the Earl of Warwick's landing in France, he
+repaired to a castle where Margaret of Anjou and her son, the Prince
+of Wales, were residing, and there, in the course of a short time, he
+made arrangements to espouse <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>her cause, and assist in restoring her
+husband to the English throne, on condition that her son, the Prince
+of Wales, should marry his second daughter Anne. It is said that Queen
+Margaret for a long time refused to consent to this arrangement. She
+was extremely unwilling that her son, the heir to the English crown,
+should take for a wife the daughter of the hated enemy to whom the
+downfall of her family, and all the terrible calamities which had
+befallen them, had been mainly owing. She was, however, at length
+induced to yield. Her ambition gained the victory over her hate, and
+she consented to the alliance on a solemn oath being taken by Warwick
+that thenceforth he would be on her side, and do all in his power to
+restore her family to the throne.</p>
+
+<p>This arrangement was accordingly carried into effect, and thus the
+earl had one of his daughters married to the next heir to the English
+crown in the line of York, and the other to the next heir in the line
+of Lancaster. He had now only to choose to which dynasty he would
+secure the throne. Of course, the oath which he had taken, like other
+political oaths taken in those days, was only to be kept so long as he
+should deem it for his interest to keep it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Attempt to entice Clarence away from Warwick.</div>
+
+<p>He could not at once openly declare in favor <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>of King Henry, for fear
+of alienating Clarence from him. But Clarence was soon drawn away.
+King Edward, when he heard of the marriage of Warwick's daughter with
+the Prince of Wales, immediately formed a plan for sending a messenger
+to negotiate with Clarence. He could not do this openly, for he knew
+very well that Warwick would not allow any avowed messenger from
+Edward to land; so he sent a lady. The lady was a particular friend of
+Isabella, Clarence's wife. She traveled privately by the way of
+Calais. On the way she said nothing about the object of her journey,
+but gave out simply that she was going to join her mistress, the
+Princess Isabella. On her arrival she managed the affair with great
+discretion. She easily obtained private interviews with Clarence, and
+represented to him that Warwick, now that his daughter was married to
+the heir on the Lancastrian side, would undoubtedly lay all his plans
+forthwith for putting that family on the throne, and that thus
+Clarence would lose all.</p>
+
+<p>"And therefore," said she, "how much better it will be for you to
+leave him and return to your brother Edward, who is ready to forgive
+and forget all the past, and receive you again as his friend."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p><p>Clarence was convinced by these representations, and soon afterward,
+watching his opportunity, he made his way to England, and there
+espoused his brother's cause, and was received again into his service.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward does not fear.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, tidings were continually coming to King Edward from
+his friends on the Continent, warning him of Warwick's plans, and
+bidding him to be upon his guard. But Edward had no fear. He said he
+wished that Warwick would come.</p>
+
+<p>"All I ask of my friends on the other side of the Channel," said he,
+"is that, when he does come, they will not let him get away again
+before I catch him&mdash;as he did before."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Duke of Burgundy.</div>
+
+<p>Edward's great friend across the Channel was his brother-in-law, the
+Duke of Burgundy, the same who, when Count Charles, had married the
+Princess Margaret of York, as related in a former chapter. The Duke of
+Burgundy prepared and equipped a fleet, and had it all in readiness to
+intercept the earl in case he should attempt to sail for England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Margaret crosses the Channel.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Queen Margaret and the earl went on with their
+preparations. The King of France furnished them with men, arms, and
+money. When every thing was ready, the earl sent word to the north of
+England, to some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>of his friends and partisans there, to make a sort
+of false insurrection, in order to entice away Edward and his army
+from the capital. This plan succeeded. Edward heard of the rising,
+and, collecting all the troops which were at hand, he marched to the
+northward to put it down. Just at this time a sudden storm arose and
+dispersed the Duke of Burgundy's fleet. The earl then immediately put
+to sea, taking with him Margaret of Anjou and her son, the Prince of
+Wales, with his wife, the Earl of Warwick's daughter. The Prince of
+Wales was now about eighteen years old. The father, King Henry,
+Margaret's husband, was not joined with the party. He was all this
+time, as you will recollect, a prisoner in the Tower, where Warwick
+himself had shut him up when he deposed him in order to place Edward
+upon the throne.</p>
+
+<p>All Europe looked on with astonishment at these proceedings, and
+watched the result with intense interest. Here was a man who, having,
+by a desperate and bloody war, deposed a king, and shut him up in
+prison, and compelled his queen and the prince his son, the heir, to
+fly from the country to save their lives, had now sought the exiles in
+their banishment, had married his own daughter to the prince, and was
+setting forth on an expedition for the purpose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>of liberating the
+father again, and restoring him to the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Landing of the expedition.<br />Reception of it.</div>
+
+<p>The earl's fleet crossed the Channel safely, and landed on the coast
+of Devonshire, in the southwestern part of the island. The landing of
+the expedition was the signal for great numbers of the nobles and high
+families throughout the realm to prepare for changing sides; for it
+was the fact, throughout the whole course of these wars between the
+houses of York and Lancaster, that a large proportion of the nobility
+and gentry, and great numbers of other adventurers, who lived in
+various ways on the public, stood always ready at once to change sides
+whenever there was a prospect that another side was coming into power.
+Then there were, in such a case as this, great numbers who were
+secretly in favor of the Lancaster line, but who were prevented from
+manifesting their preference while the house of York was in full
+possession of power. All these persons were aroused and excited by the
+landing of Warwick. King Edward found that his calls upon his friends
+to rally to his standard were not promptly obeyed. His friends were
+beginning to feel some doubt whether it would be best to continue his
+friends. A certain preacher in London had the courage to pray in
+public for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>the "king in the Tower," and the manner in which this
+allusion was received by the populace, and the excitement which it
+produced, showed how ready the city of London was to espouse Henry's
+cause.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward's friends and followers forsake him.</div>
+
+<p>These, and other such indications, alarmed Edward very much. He turned
+to the southward again when he learned that Warwick had landed.
+Richard, who had, during all this period, adhered faithfully to
+Edward's cause, was with him, in command of a division of the army. As
+Warwick himself was rapidly advancing toward the north at this time,
+the two armies soon began to approach each other. As the time of trial
+drew nigh, Edward found that his friends and supporters were rapidly
+abandoning him. At length, one day, while he was at dinner, a
+messenger came in and told him that one of the leading officers of the
+army, with the whole division under his command, were waving their
+caps and cheering for "King Harry." He saw at once that all was lost,
+and he immediately prepared to fly.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward flies from the country.</div>
+
+<p>He was not far from the eastern coast at this time, and there was a
+small vessel there under his orders, which had been employed in
+bringing provisions from the Thames to supply his army. There were
+also two Dutch vessels there. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>The king took possession of these
+vessels, with Richard, and the few other followers that went with him,
+and put at once to sea. Nobody knew where they were going.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Difficulties and dangers.</div>
+
+<p>Very soon after they had put to sea they were attacked by pirates.
+They escaped only by running their vessel on shore on the coast of
+Finland. Here the king found himself in a state of almost absolute
+destitution, so that he had to pawn his clothing to satisfy the most
+urgent demands. At length, after meeting with various strange
+adventures, he found his way to the Hague, where he was, for the time,
+in comparative safety.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Warwick ascertained that Edward had fled, he turned toward
+London, with nothing now to impede his progress. He entered London in
+triumph. Clarence joined him, and entered London in his train; for
+Clarence, though he had gone to England with the intention of making
+common cause with his brother, had not been able yet to decide
+positively whether it would, on the whole, be for his interest to do
+so, and had, accordingly, kept himself in some degree uncommitted, and
+now he turned at once again to Warwick's side.</p>
+
+<p>The queen&mdash;Elizabeth Woodville&mdash;with her mother Jacquetta, were
+residing at the Tower <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>at this time, where they had King Henry in
+their keeping; for the Tower was an extended group of buildings, in
+which palace and prison were combined in one. As soon as the queen
+learned that Edward was defeated, and that Warwick and Clarence were
+coming in triumph to London, she took her mother and three of her
+daughters&mdash;Elizabeth, Mary, and Cecily&mdash;who were with her at that
+time, and also a lady attendant, and hurried down the Tower stairs to
+a barge which was always in waiting there. She embarked on board the
+barge, and ordered the men to row her up to Westminster.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His mother makes her escape to sanctuary.</div>
+
+<p>Westminster is at the upper end of London, as the Tower is at the
+lower. On arriving at Westminster, the whole party fled for refuge to
+a sanctuary there. This sanctuary was a portion of the sacred
+precincts of a church, from which a refugee could not be taken,
+according to the ideas of those times, without committing the dreadful
+crime of sacrilege. A part of the building remained standing for three
+hundred years after this time, as represented in the opposite
+engraving. It was a gloomy old edifice, and it must have been a
+cheerless residence for princesses and a queen.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i130.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="342" alt="THE SANCTUARY." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE SANCTUARY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Birth of Edward's son and heir.</div>
+
+<p>In this sanctuary, the queen, away from her husband, and deprived of
+almost every comfort, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>gave birth to her first son. Some persons living near took compassion
+upon her forlorn and desolate condition, and rendered her such aid as
+was absolutely necessary, out of charity. The abbot of the monastery
+connected with the church sent in various conveniences, and a good
+woman named Mother Cobb, who lived near by, came in and acted as nurse
+for the mother and the child.</p>
+
+<p>The child was baptized in the sanctuary a few days after he was born.
+He was named Edward, after his father. Of course, the birth of this
+son of King Edward cut off Clarence and his son from the succession on
+the York side. This little Edward was now the heir, and, about
+thirteen years after this, as we shall see in the sequel, he became
+King of England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">King Henry is fully restored to the throne.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as the Earl of Warwick reached London, he proceeded at once to
+the Tower to release old King Henry from his confinement. He found the
+poor king in a wretched plight. His apartment was gloomy and
+comfortless, his clothing was ragged, and his person squalid and
+dirty. The earl brought him forth from his prison, and, after causing
+his personal wants to be properly attended to, clothed him once more
+in royal robes, and conveyed him in state through London to the palace
+in Westminster, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>and established him there nominally as King of
+England, though Warwick was to all intents and purposes the real king.
+A Parliament was called, and all necessary laws were passed to
+sanction and confirm the dynasty. Queen Margaret, who, however, had
+not yet arrived from the Continent, was restored to her former rank,
+and the young Prince of Wales, now about eighteen years old, was the
+object of universal interest throughout the kingdom, as now the
+unquestioned and only heir to the crown.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Downfall of Lancaster.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1470-1471</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Position of Richard.</div>
+
+<p>It was in the month of October, 1470, that old King Henry and his
+family were restored to the throne. Clarence, as we have seen, being
+allied to Warwick by being married to his daughter, was induced to go
+over with him to the Lancastrian side; but Gloucester&mdash;that is,
+Richard&mdash;remained true to his own line, and followed the fortunes of
+his brother, in adverse as well as in prosperous times, with
+unchanging fidelity. He was now with Edward in the dominions of the
+Duke of Burgundy, who, you will recollect, married Margaret, Edward's
+sister, and who was now very naturally inclined to espouse Edward's
+cause.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Duke of Burgundy.<br />His cunning.</div>
+
+<p>The Duke of Burgundy did not, however, dare to espouse Edward's cause
+too openly, for fear of the King of France, who took the side of Henry
+and Queen Margaret. He, however, did all in his power secretly to
+befriend him. Edward and Richard began immediately to form schemes for
+going back to England and recovering possession of the kingdom. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>Duke of Burgundy issued a public proclamation, in which it was
+forbidden that any of his subjects should join Edward, or that any
+expedition to promote his designs should be fitted out in any part of
+his dominions. This proclamation was for the sake of the King of
+France. At the same time that he issued these orders publicly, he
+secretly sent Edward a large sum of money, furnished him with a fleet
+of fifteen or twenty ships, and assisted him in collecting a force of
+twelve hundred men.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Secret communication with Clarence.<br />Warwick's plans to secure Clarence.</div>
+
+<p>While he was making these arrangements and preparations on the
+Continent, Edward and his friends had also opened a secret
+communication with Clarence in England. It would, of course, very much
+weaken the cause of Edward and Richard to have Clarence against them;
+so Margaret, the wife of the Duke of Burgundy, interested herself in
+endeavoring to win him back again to their side. She had herself great
+influence over him, and she was assisted in her efforts by their
+mother, the Lady Cecily, who was still living in the neighborhood of
+London, and who was greatly grieved at Clarence's having turned
+against his brothers. The tie which bound Clarence to the Earl of
+Warwick was, of course, derived chiefly from his being married to
+Warwick's daughter. Warwick, however, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>did not trust wholly to this.
+As soon as he had restored Henry to the throne, he contrived a cunning
+plan which he thought would tend to bind Clarence still more strongly
+to himself, and to alienate him completely from Edward. This plan was
+to induce the Parliament to confiscate all Edward's estates and confer
+them upon Clarence.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Warwick to himself, when this measure had been
+accomplished, "Clarence will be sure to oppose Edward's return to
+England, for he knows very well that if he should return and be
+restored to the throne, he would, of course, take all these estates
+back again."</p>
+
+<p>But, while Edward was forming his plans on the Continent for a fresh
+invasion of England, Margaret sent messengers to Clarence, and their
+persuasions, united to those of his mother, induced Clarence to change
+his mind. He was governed by no principle whatever in what he did, but
+only looked to see what would most speedily and most fully gratify his
+ambition and increase his wealth. So, when they argued that it would
+be much better for him to be on the side of his brothers, and assist
+in restoring his own branch of the family to the throne, than to
+continue his unnatural connection with Warwick and the house of
+Lancaster, he allowed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>himself to be easily persuaded, and he promised
+that though, for the present, he should remain ostensibly a friend of
+Warwick, still, if Edward and Richard would raise an expedition and
+come to England, he would forsake Warwick and the Lancasters, and join
+them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward and Richard sail for England.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, in the spring, when the fleet and the forces were ready,
+Edward and Richard set sail from the Low Country to cross the Channel.
+It was early in March. They intended to proceed to the north of
+England and land there. They had a very stormy passage, and in the end
+the fleet was dispersed, and Edward and Richard with great difficulty
+succeeded in reaching the land. The two brothers were in different
+ships, and they landed in different places, a few miles apart from
+each other. Their situation was now extremely critical, for all
+England was in the power of Warwick and the Lancastrians, and Edward
+and Richard were almost entirely without men.</p>
+
+<p>They, however, after a time, got together a small force, consisting
+chiefly of the troops who had come with them, and who had succeeded at
+last in making their way to the land. At the head of this force they
+advanced into the country toward the city of York. Edward gave out
+every where that he had not come with any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>view of attempting to
+regain possession of the throne, but only to recover his own private
+and family estates, which had been unjustly confiscated, he said, and
+conferred upon his brother. He acquiesced entirely, he said, in the
+restoration of Henry to the throne, and acknowledged him as king, and
+solemnly declared that he would not do any thing to disturb the peace
+of the country.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Stratagems of war.</div>
+
+<p>All this was treacherous and false; but Edward and Richard thought
+that they were not yet strong enough to announce openly their real
+designs, and, in the mean time, the uttering of any false declarations
+which they might deem it good policy to make was to be considered as a
+stratagem justified by usage, as one of the legitimate resources of
+war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Reception of Edward at York.</div>
+
+<p>So they went on, nobody opposing them. They reached, at length, the
+city of York. Here Edward met the mayor and aldermen of the city, and
+renewed his declaration, which he confirmed by a solemn oath, that he
+never would lay any claim to the throne of England, or do any thing to
+disturb King Henry in his possession of it. He cried out, in a loud
+voice, in the hearing of the people, "Long live King Henry, and Prince
+Edward his son!" He wore an ostrich feather, too, in his armor, which
+was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>the badge of Prince Edward. The people of York were satisfied
+with these protestations, and allowed him to proceed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The roses.<br />Public opinion.</div>
+
+<p>His force was continually increasing as he advanced, and at length, on
+crossing the River Trent, he came to a part of the country where
+almost the whole population had been on the side of York during all
+the previous wars. He began now to throw off his disguise, and to avow
+more openly that his object was again to obtain possession of the
+throne for the house of York. His troops now began to exhibit the
+white rose, which for many generations had been the badge of the house
+of York, as the red rose had been that of Lancaster.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> In a word, the
+country was every where aroused and excited by the idea that another
+revolution was impending, and all those whose ruling principle it was
+to be always with the party that was uppermost began to make
+preparations for coming over to Edward's side.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Warwick.<br />Position of Clarence.<br />His double dealing.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, however, Warwick, alarmed, had come from the
+northward to London to meet the invaders at the head of a strong
+force. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>Clarence was in command of one great division of this force,
+and Warwick himself of the other. The two bodies of troops marched at
+some little distance from each other. Edward shaped his course so as
+to approach that commanded by Clarence. Warwick did all he could to
+prevent this, being, apparently, somewhat suspicious that Clarence was
+not fully to be relied on. But Edward succeeded, by dint of skillful
+man&oelig;uvring, in accomplishing his object, and thus he and Clarence
+came into the neighborhood of each other. The respective encampments
+were only three miles apart. It seems, however, that there were still
+some closing negotiations to be made before Clarence was fully
+prepared to take the momentous step that was now before him. Richard
+was the agent of these negotiations. He went back and forth between
+the two camps, conveying the proposals and counter-proposals from one
+party to the other, and doing all in his power to remove obstacles
+from the way, and to bring his brothers to an agreement. At last every
+thing was arranged. Clarence ordered his men to display the white rose
+upon their armor, and then, with trumpets sounding and banners flying,
+he marched forth to meet Edward, and to submit himself to his command.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Clarence goes over to Edward's side.</div>
+
+<p>When the column which he led arrived near to Edward's camp, it halted,
+and Clarence himself, with a small body of attendants, advanced to
+meet his brother; Edward, at the same time, leaving his encampment, in
+company with Richard and several noblemen, came forward too. Thus
+Edward and Clarence met, as the old chronicle expresses it, "betwixt
+both hosts, where was right kind and loving language betwixt them two.
+And then, in like wise, spoke together the two Dukes of Clarence and
+Gloucester, and afterward the other noblemen that were there with
+them; whereof all the people that were there that loved them were
+right glad and joyous, and thanked God highly for that joyous meeting,
+unity and concord, hoping that thereby should grow unto them
+prosperous fortune in all that they should after that have to do."</p>
+
+<p>Warwick was, of course, in a dreadful rage when he learned that
+Clarence had betrayed him and gone over to the enemy. He could do
+nothing, however, to repair the mischief, and he was altogether too
+weak to resist the two armies now combined against him; so he drew
+back, leaving the way clear, and Edward, at the head now of an
+overwhelming force, and accompanied by both his brothers, advanced
+directly to London.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Edward triumphant.</div>
+
+<p>He was received at the capital with great favor. Whoever was uppermost
+for the time being was always received with favor in England in those
+days, both in the capital and throughout the country at large. It was
+said, however, that the interest in Edward's fortunes, and in the
+succession of his branch of the family to the throne, was greatly
+increased at this time by the birth of his son, which had taken place
+in the sanctuary, as related in the last chapter, soon after Queen
+Elizabeth sought refuge there, at the time of Edward's expulsion from
+the kingdom. Of course, the first thing which Edward did after making
+his public entry into London was to proceed to the sanctuary to rejoin
+his wife, and deliver her from her duress, and also to see his
+new-born son.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Henry again sent to the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>Queen Margaret was out of the kingdom at this time, being on a visit
+to the Continent. She had her son, the Prince of Wales, with her; but
+Henry, the king, was in London. He, of course, fell into Edward's
+hands, and was immediately sent back a prisoner to the Tower.</p>
+
+<p>Edward remained only a day or two in London, and then set off again,
+at the head of all his troops, to meet Warwick. He brought out King
+Henry from the Tower, and took him with the army as a prisoner.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Warwick refuses to yield.<br />Preparations for a battle.</div>
+
+<p>Warwick had now strengthened himself so far that he was prepared for
+battle. The two armies approached each other not many miles from
+London. Before commencing hostilities, Clarence wished for an
+opportunity to attempt a reconciliation; he, of course, felt a strong
+desire to make peace, if possible, for his situation, in case of
+battle, would be painful in the extreme&mdash;his brothers on one side, and
+his father-in-law on the other, and he himself compelled to fight
+against the cause which he had abandoned and betrayed. So he sent a
+messenger to the earl, offering to act as mediator between him and his
+brother, in hopes of finding some mode of arranging the quarrel; but
+the earl, instead of accepting the mediation, sent back only
+invectives and defiance.</p>
+
+<p>"Go tell your master," he said to the messenger, "that Warwick is not
+the man to follow the example of faithlessness and treason which the
+false, perjured Clarence has set him. Unlike him, I stand true to my
+oath, and this quarrel can only be settled by the sword."</p>
+
+<p>Of course, nothing now remained but to fight the battle, and a most
+desperate and bloody battle it was. It was fought upon a plain at a
+place called Barnet. It lasted from four in the morning till ten.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 147-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i145.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="390" alt="DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET." title="" />
+<span class="caption">DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p><p>Richard came forward in the fight in a very conspicuous and prominent
+manner. He was now about eighteen years of age, and this was the first
+serious battle in which he had been actually engaged. He evinced a
+great deal of heroism, and won great praise by the ardor in which he
+rushed into the thickest of the fight, and by the manner in which he
+conducted himself there. The squires who attended him were both
+killed, but Richard himself remained unhurt.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward victorious.<br />Warwick slain.</div>
+
+<p>In the end, Edward was victorious. The quarrel was thus decided by the
+sword, as Warwick had said, and decided, so far as the earl was
+concerned, terribly and irrevocably, for he himself was unhorsed upon
+the field, and slain. Many thousands of soldiers fell on each side,
+and great numbers of the leading nobles. The bodies were buried in one
+common trench, which was dug for the purpose on the plain, and a
+chapel was afterward erected over them, to mark and consecrate the
+spot.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">King Henry.</div>
+
+<p>It is said in respect to King Henry, who had been taken from the Tower
+and made to accompany the army to the field, that Edward placed him in
+the midst of the fight at Barnet, in the hope that he might in this
+way be slain, either by accident or design. This plan, however, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>if it
+were formed, did not succeed, for Henry escaped unharmed, and, after
+the battle, was taken back to London, and again conveyed through the
+gloomy streets of the lower city to his solitary prison in the Tower.
+The streets were filled, after he had passed, with groups of men of
+all ranks and stations, discussing the strange and mournful
+vicissitudes in the life of this hapless monarch, now for the second
+time cut off from all his friends, and immured hopelessly in a dismal
+dungeon.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 362px;">
+<img src="images/i148.jpg" class="smallgap" width="362" height="500" alt="STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Margaret and the Prince of Wales.</div>
+
+<p>On the very day of the battle of Barnet, Queen Margaret, who had
+hastened her return to England on hearing of Edward's invasion, landed
+at Plymouth, in the southwestern part of England. The young Prince of
+Wales, her son, was with her. When she heard the terrible tidings of
+the loss of the battle of Barnet and the death of Warwick, she was
+struck with consternation, and immediately fled to an abbey in the
+neighborhood of the place where she had landed, and took sanctuary
+there. She soon, however, recovered from this panic, and came forth
+again. She put herself, with her son, at the head of the French troops
+which she had brought with her, and collected also as many more as she
+could induce to join her, and then, marching slowly toward the
+northward, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>finally took a strong position on the River Severn, near the town of
+Tewkesbury. Tewkesbury is in the western part of England, near the
+frontiers of Wales.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meeting of the armies.</div>
+
+<p>Edward, having received intelligence of her movements, collected his
+forces also, and, accompanied by Clarence and Gloucester, went forth
+to meet her. The two armies met about three weeks after the battle of
+Barnet, in which Warwick was killed. All the flower of the English
+nobility were there, on one side or on the other.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Two boys to command.</div>
+
+<p>Queen Margaret's son, the Prince of Wales, was now about eighteen
+years of age, and his mother placed him in command&mdash;nominally at the
+head of the army. Edward, on his side, assigned the same position to
+Richard, who was almost precisely of the same age with the Prince of
+Wales. Thus the great and terrible battle which ensued was fought, as
+it were, by two boys, cousins to each other, and neither of them out
+of their teens.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The killing of Lord Wenlock.</div>
+
+<p>The operations were, however, really directed by older and more
+experienced men. The chief counselor on Margaret's side was the Duke
+of Somerset. Edward's army attempted, by means of certain evolutions,
+to entice the queen's army out of their camp. Somerset <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>wished to go,
+and he commanded the men to follow. Some followed, but others remained
+behind. Among those that remained behind was a body of men under the
+command of a certain Lord Wenlock. Somerset was angry because they did
+not follow him, and he suspected, moreover, that Lord Wenlock was
+intending to betray the queen and go over to the other side; so he
+turned back in a rage, and, coming up to Lord Wenlock, struck him a
+dreadful blow upon his helmet with his battle-axe, and killed him on
+the spot.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">End of the battle.</div>
+
+<p>In the midst of the confusion which this affair produced, Richard, at
+the head of his brother's troops, came forcing his way into the
+intrenchments, bearing down all before him. The queen's army was
+thrown into confusion, and put to flight. Thousands upon thousands
+were killed. As many as could save themselves from being slaughtered
+upon the spot fled into the country toward the north, pursued by
+detached parties of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>The young Prince of Wales was taken prisoner. The queen fled, and for
+a time it was not known what had become of her. She fled to the church
+in Tewkesbury, and took refuge there.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155-6]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i153.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="362" alt="CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY." title="" />
+<span class="caption">CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Murder of the Prince of Wales.</div>
+
+<p>As for the Prince of Wales, the account of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>his fate which was given at the time, and has generally been believed
+since, is this: As soon as the battle was over, he was brought,
+disarmed and helpless, into King Edward's tent, and there Edward,
+Clarence, Gloucester, and others gathered around to triumph over him,
+and taunt him with his downfall. Edward came up to him, and, after
+gazing upon him a moment in a fierce and defiant manner, demanded of
+him, in a furious tone, "What brought him to England?"</p>
+
+<p>"My father's crown and my own inheritance," replied the prince.</p>
+
+<p>Edward uttered some exclamation of anger, and then struck the prince
+upon the mouth with his gauntlet.<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a></p>
+
+<p>At this signal, Gloucester, and the others who were standing by, fell
+upon the poor helpless boy, and killed him on the spot. The prince
+cried to Clarence, who was his brother-in-law, to save him, but in
+vain; Clarence did not interfere.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the modern defenders of Richard's character attempt to show
+that there is no sufficient evidence that this story is true, and they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>maintain that the prince was slain upon the field, after the battle,
+and that Richard was innocent of his death. The evidence, however,
+seems strongly against this last supposition.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The queen's refuge.</div>
+
+<p>Soon after the battle, it was found that the queen, with her
+attendants, as has already been stated, had taken refuge in a church
+at Tewkesbury, and in other sacred structures near.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward in the church.</div>
+
+<p>Edward proceeded directly to the church, with the intention of hunting
+out his enemies wherever he could find them. He broke into the sacred
+precincts, sword in hand, attended by a number of reckless and
+desperate followers, and would have slain those that had taken refuge
+there, on the spot, had not the abbot himself come forward and
+interposed to protect them. He came dressed in his sacerdotal robes,
+and bearing the sacred emblems in his hands. These emblems he held up
+before the infuriated Edward as a token of the sanctity of the place.
+By these means the king's hand was stayed, and, before allowing him to
+go away, the abbot exacted from him a promise that he would molest the
+refugees no more.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 159-60]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i157.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="396" alt="QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY." title="" />
+<span class="caption">QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>This promise was, however, not made to be kept. Two days afterward
+Edward appointed a court-martial, and sent Richard, with an armed
+force, to the church, to take all the men that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>had sought refuge there, and bring them out for trial. The trial was
+conducted with very little ceremony, and the men were all beheaded on
+the green, in Tewkesbury, that very day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Margaret taken.</div>
+
+<p>Queen Margaret and the ladies who attended her were not with them.
+They had sought refuge in another place. They were, however, found
+after a few days, and were all brought prisoners to Edward's camp at
+Coventry; for, after the battle, Edward had begun to move on with his
+army across the country.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Conducted a prisoner to London.</div>
+
+<p>The king's first idea was to send Margaret immediately to London and
+put her in the Tower; but, before he did this, a change in his plans
+took place, which led him to decide to go to London himself. So he
+took Queen Margaret with him, a captive in his train. On the arrival
+of the party in London, the queen was conveyed at once to the Tower.</p>
+
+<p>Here she remained a close prisoner for five long and weary years, and
+was then ransomed by the King of France and taken to the Continent.
+She lived after this in comparative obscurity for about ten years, and
+then died.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Henry is put to death in the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>As for her husband, his earthly troubles were brought to an end much
+sooner. The cause of the change of plan above referred to, which led
+Edward to go directly to London soon after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>the battle of Tewkesbury,
+was the news that a relative of Warwick, whom that nobleman, during
+his lifetime, had put in command in the southeastern part of England,
+had raised an insurrection there, with a view of marching to London,
+rescuing Henry from the Tower, and putting him upon the throne. This
+movement was soon put down, and Edward returned from the expedition
+triumphant to London. He and his brothers spent the night after their
+arrival in the Tower. The next morning King Henry was found dead in
+his bed.</p>
+
+<p>The universal belief was then, and has been since, that he was put to
+death by Edward's orders, and it has been the general opinion that
+Richard was the murderer.</p>
+
+<p>The body of the king was put upon a bier that same day, and conveyed
+to St. Paul's Church in London, and there exhibited to the public for
+a long time, with guards and torch-bearers surrounding it. An immense
+concourse of people came to view his remains. The object of this
+exposition of the body of the king was to make sure the fact of his
+death in the public mind, and prevent the possibility of the
+circulation of rumors, subsequently, by the partisans of his house,
+that he was still alive; for such rumors would greatly have increased
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>danger of any insurrectionary plans which might be formed against
+Edward's authority.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Burial of Henry VI.</div>
+
+<p>In due time the body was interred at Windsor, and a sculptured
+monument, adorned with various arms and emblems, was erected over the
+tomb.</p>
+
+<p><a name="henryburial" id="henryburial"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 243px;">
+<img src="images/i160.jpg" class="smallgap" width="243" height="300" alt="TOMB OF HENRY VI." title="" />
+<span class="caption">TOMB OF HENRY VI.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The Lancastrian party completely subdued.</div>
+
+<p>The remaining leaders on the Lancaster side were disposed of in a very
+effectual manner, to prevent the possibility of their again acquiring
+power. Some were banished. Others were shut up in various castles as
+hopeless prisoners. The country was thus wholly subdued, and Edward
+was once more established firmly on his throne.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Richard's Marriage.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1471-1474</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Characters of Clarence and Richard.</div>
+
+<p>When the affairs of the kingdom were settled, after the return of King
+Edward to the throne, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the subject of the
+present volume, was found occupying a very exalted and brilliant
+position. It is true, he was yet very young, being only about nineteen
+years of age, and by birth he was second to Clarence, Clarence being
+his older brother. But Clarence had been so wavering and vacillating,
+having changed sides so often in the great quarrels, that no
+confidence was placed in him now on either side. Richard, on the other
+hand, had steadily adhered to his brother Edward's cause. He had
+shared all his brother's reverses, and he had rendered him most
+valuable and efficient aid in all the battles which he had fought, and
+had contributed essentially to his success in all the victories which
+he had gained. Of course, now, Edward and his friends had great
+confidence in Richard, while Clarence was looked upon with suspicion
+and distrust.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Embarrassing situation in which Clarence was placed.</div>
+
+<p>Clarence, it is true, had one excuse for his instability, which
+Richard had not; for Clarence, having married the Earl of Warwick's
+daughter, was, of course, brought into very close connection with the
+earl, and was subjected greatly to his influence. Accordingly,
+whatever course Warwick decided to take, it was extremely difficult
+for Clarence to avoid joining him in it; and when at length Warwick
+arranged the marriage of his daughter Anne with the Prince of Wales,
+King Henry's son, and so joined himself to the Lancaster party,
+Clarence was placed between two strong and contrary attractions&mdash;his
+attachment to his brother, and his natural interest in the advancement
+of his own family being on one side, and his love for his wife, and
+the great influence and ascendency exerted over his mind by his
+father-in-law being on the other.</p>
+
+<p>Richard was in no such strait. There was nothing to entice him away
+from his fidelity to his brother, so he remained true.</p>
+
+<p>He had been so brave and efficient, too, in the military operations
+connected with Edward's recovery of the throne, that he had acquired
+great renown as a soldier throughout the kingdom. The fame of his
+exploits was the more brilliant on account of his youth. It was
+considered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>remarkable that a young man not yet out of his teens
+should show so much skill, and act with so much resolution and energy
+in times so trying, and the country resounded with his praises.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard made Lord High Admiral of England.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as Edward was established on the throne, he raised Richard to
+what was in those days, perhaps, the highest office under the crown,
+that of Lord High Admiral of England. This was the office which the
+Earl of Warwick had held, and to which a great portion of the power
+and influence which he exercised was owing. The Lord High Admiral had
+command of the navy, and of the principal ports on both sides of the
+English Channel, so long as any ports on the French side remained in
+English hands. The reader will recollect, perhaps, that while Richard
+was quite a small boy, his mother was compelled to fly with him and
+his little brother George to France, to escape from the enemies of the
+family, at the time of his father's death, and that it was through the
+Earl of Warwick's co-operation that she was enabled to accomplish this
+flight. Now it was in consequence of Warwick's being at that time Lord
+High Admiral of England, and his having command of Calais, and the
+waters between Calais and England, that he could make arrangements <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>to
+assist Lady Cecily so effectually on that occasion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His real character.<br />Requisites of a good soldier.</div>
+
+<p>Still, Richard, though universally applauded for his military courage
+and energy, was known to all who had opportunities of becoming
+personally acquainted with him to be a bad man. He was unprincipled,
+hard-hearted, and reckless. This, however, did not detract from his
+military fame. Indeed, depravity of private character seldom
+diminishes much the applause which a nation bestows upon those who
+acquire military renown in their service. It is not to be expected
+that it should. Military exploits have been, in fact, generally, in
+the history of the world, gigantic crimes, committed by reckless and
+remorseless men for the benefit of others, who, though they would be
+deterred by their scruples of conscience or their moral sensibilities
+from perpetrating such deeds themselves, are ready to repay, with the
+most extravagant honors and rewards, those who are ferocious and
+unscrupulous enough to perpetrate them in their stead. Were it not for
+some very few and rare exceptions to the general rule, which have from
+time to time appeared, the history of mankind would show that, to be a
+<i>good soldier</i>, it is almost absolutely essential to be a <i>bad man</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Young Edward formally acknowledged heir to the crown.</div>
+
+<p>The child, Prince Edward, the son of Edward the Fourth, who was born,
+as is related in a preceding chapter, in the sanctuary at Westminster,
+whither his mother had fled at the time when Edward was expelled from
+the kingdom, was, of course, King Edward's heir. He was now less than
+a year old, and, in order to place his title to the crown beyond
+dispute, a solemn oath was required from all the leading nobles and
+officers of Edward's government, that in case he survived his father
+they would acknowledge him as king. The following is the form of the
+oath which was taken:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I acknowledge, take, and repute you, Edward, Prince of
+Wales, Duke of Cornwayll, and Erl of Chestre, furste begoten
+son of oure sovereigne lord, as to the corones and reames of
+England and of France, and lordship of Ireland; and promette
+and swere that in case hereafter it happen you by Goddis
+disposition do outlive our sovereigne lord, I shall then
+take and accept you for true, veray and righteous King of
+England, and of France, and of Ireland; and feith and trouth
+to you shall here, and yn all thyngs truely and feithfully
+behave me towardes you and youre heyres, as a true and
+feithful subject oweth to behave him to his sovereigne lord
+and righteous King of England, France, and Ireland; so help
+me God, and Holidome, and this holy Evangelist.</p></div>
+
+<p>Richard took this oath with the rest. How he kept it will hereafter
+appear.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Forlorn condition of Lady Anne.</div>
+
+<p>The Lady Anne, the second daughter of the Earl of Warwick, who had
+been betrothed to the Prince of Wales, King Henry's son, was left, by
+the fall of the house of Lancaster and the re-establishment of King
+Edward the Fourth upon the throne, in a most forlorn and pitiable
+condition. Her father, the earl, was dead, having been killed in
+battle. Her betrothed husband, too, the Prince of Wales, with whom she
+had fondly hoped one day to sit on the throne of England, had been
+cruelly assassinated. Queen Margaret, the mother of the prince, who
+might have been expected to take an interest in her fate, was a
+helpless prisoner in the Tower. And if the fallen queen had been at
+liberty, it is very probable that all her interest in Anne would prove
+to have been extinguished by the death of her son; for Queen Margaret
+had never felt any personal preference for Anne, and had only
+consented to the marriage very reluctantly, and from political
+considerations alone. The friends and connections of her father's
+family, a short time since so exalted in station and so powerful, were
+now scattered and destroyed. Some had been killed in battle, others
+beheaded by executioners, others banished from the realm. The rest
+were roaming about England in terror and distress, houseless,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>homeless, friendless, and only intent to find some hiding-place where
+they might screen themselves from Edward's power and vengeance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her sister Isabella.</div>
+
+<p>There was one exception, indeed, the Lady Isabella, Clarence's wife,
+who, as the reader will recollect, was Warwick's oldest daughter, and,
+of course, the sister of Lady Anne. She and Clarence, her husband, it
+might be supposed, would take an interest in Lady Anne's fate. Indeed,
+Clarence did take an interest in it, but, unfortunately, the interest
+was of the wrong kind.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Clarence's views in respect to the property.</div>
+
+<p>The Earl of Warwick had been immensely wealthy. Besides the ancient
+stronghold of the family, Warwick Castle, one of the most renowned old
+feudal fortresses in England, he owned many other castles, and many
+large estates, and rights of property of various kinds all over the
+kingdom. Now Clarence, after Warwick's death, had taken most of this
+property into his own hands as the husband of the earl's oldest
+daughter, and he wished to keep it. This he could easily do while Anne
+remained in her present friendless and helpless condition. But he knew
+very well that if she were to be married to any person of rank and
+influence on the York side, her husband would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>insist on a division of
+the property. Now he suspected that his brother Richard had conceived
+the design of marrying her. He accordingly set himself at work
+earnestly to thwart this design.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's plan.</div>
+
+<p>It was true that Richard had conceived the idea of making Anne his
+wife, from the motive, however, solely, as it would seem, to obtain
+her share of her father's property.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His early acquaintance with Anne.</div>
+
+<p>Richard had been acquainted with Anne from her childhood. Indeed, he
+was related to the family of the Earl of Warwick on his mother's side.
+His mother, Lady Cecily Neville, belonged to the same great family of
+Neville from which the Warwicks sprung. Warwick had been a great
+friend of Lady Cecily in former years, and it is even supposed that
+when Richard and his brother George were brought back from the
+Continent, at the time when Edward first obtained possession of the
+kingdom, they lived for a time in Warwick's family at Middleham
+Castle.<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a> This is not quite certainly known, but it is at any rate
+known that Richard and Anne knew each other well when they were
+children, and were often together.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The banquet at the archbishop's.</div>
+
+<p>There is an account of a grand entertainment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>which was given by the
+Warwick family at York, some years before, on the occasion of the
+enthroning of the earl's brother George as Archbishop of York, at
+which Richard was present. Richard, being a prince of the blood royal,
+was, of course, a very highly honored guest, notwithstanding that he
+was but a child. So they prepared for him and some few other great
+personages a raised platform, called a dais, at one end of the
+banquet-hall, with a royal canopy over it. The table for the
+distinguished personages was upon this dais, while those for the other
+guests extended up and down the hall below. Richard was seated at the
+centre of the table of honor, with a countess on one side of him and a
+duchess on the other. Opposite to him, at the same table, were seated
+Isabella and Anne. Anne was at this time about twelve years old.</p>
+
+<p>Now it is supposed that Isabella and Anne were placed at this table to
+please Richard, for their mother, who was, of course, entitled to take
+precedence of them, had her seat at one of the large tables below.</p>
+
+<p>From this and some other similar indications, it is supposed that
+Richard took a fancy to Anne while they were quite young, as Clarence
+did to Isabella. Indeed, one of the ancient <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>writers says that Richard
+wished, at this early period, to choose her for his wife, but that she
+did not like him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Clarence conceals Lady Anne.</div>
+
+<p>At any rate, now, after the re-establishment of his brother upon the
+throne, and his own exaltation to such high office under him, he
+determined that he would marry Anne. Clarence, on the other hand,
+determined that he should not marry her. So Clarence, with the
+pretense of taking her under his protection, seized her, and carried
+her away to a place of concealment, where he kept her closely shut up.
+Anne consented to this, for she wished to keep out of Richard's way.
+Richard's person was disagreeable to her, and his character was
+hateful. She seems to have considered him, as he is generally
+represented by the writers of those times, as a rude, hard-hearted,
+and unscrupulous man; and she had also a special reason for shrinking
+from him with horror, as the mortal enemy of her father, and the
+reputed murderer of the husband to whom she had been betrothed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard finds her at last.</div>
+
+<p>Clarence kept her for some time in obscure places of concealment,
+changing the place from time to time to elude the vigilance of
+Richard, who was continually making search for her. The poor princess
+had recourse to all manner <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>of contrivances, and assumed the most
+humble disguises to keep herself concealed, and was at last reduced to
+a very forlorn and destitute condition, through the desperate shifts
+that she resorted to, in her endeavors to escape Richard's
+persecutions. All was, however, in vain. Richard discovered her at
+last in a mean house in London, where she was living in the disguise
+of a servant. He immediately seized her, and conveyed her to a place
+of security which was under his control.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this she was taken away from this place and conveyed to
+York, and placed, for the time, under the protection of the
+archbishop&mdash;the same archbishop at whose enthronement, eight or ten
+years before, she had sat at the same table with Richard, under the
+royal canopy. But she was not left at peace here. Richard insisted on
+her marrying him. She insisted on her refusal. Her friends&mdash;the few
+that she had left&mdash;turned against her, and urged her to consent to the
+union; but she could not endure the thought of it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 178px;">
+<img src="images/i173.jpg" class="smallgap" width="178" height="300" alt="RICHARD III." title="" />
+<span class="caption">RICHARD III.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">His marriage.<br />Measures for securing the property.</div>
+
+<p>Richard, however, persisted in his determination, and Anne was finally
+overcome. It is said she resisted to the last, and that the ceremony
+was performed by compulsion, Anne continuing to refuse her consent to
+the end. It was foreseen that, as soon as any change of circumstances should enable her to
+resume active resistance to the union, she would repudiate the
+marriage altogether, as void for want of her consent, or else obtain a
+divorce. To guard against this danger, Richard procured the passage of
+an act of Parliament, by which he was empowered to continue in the
+full possession and enjoyment of Anne's property, even if <i>she</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span><i>were
+to divorce him</i>, provided that he did his best to be reconciled to
+her, and was willing to be re-married to her, with her consent,
+whenever she was willing to grant it.</p>
+
+<p><a name="queenanne" id="queenanne"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 227px;">
+<img src="images/i174.jpg" class="smallgap" width="227" height="300" alt="QUEEN ANNE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">QUEEN ANNE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Difficulty about the division of the property.</div>
+
+<p>As for Richard himself, his object was fully attained by the
+accomplishment of a marriage so far acknowledged as to entitle him to
+the possession of the property of his wife. There was still some
+difficulty, however, arising from a disagreement between Richard and
+Clarence in respect to the division. Clarence, when he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>found that
+Richard would marry Anne, in spite of all that he could do to prevent
+it, declared, with an oath, that, even if Richard did marry her, he,
+Clarence, would never "part the livelihood," that is, divide the
+property with him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The quarrel becomes serious.<br />It is at last settled by the king.</div>
+
+<p>So fixed was Clarence in this resolution to retain all the property
+himself, and so resolute was Richard, on the other hand, in his
+determination to have his share, that the quarrel very soon assumed a
+very serious character. The lords and nobles of the court took part in
+the controversy on one side and on the other, until, at length, there
+was imminent danger of open war. Finally Edward himself interposed,
+and summoned the brothers to appear before him in open council, when,
+after a full hearing of the dispute, he said that he himself would
+decide the question. Accordingly, the two brothers appeared before the
+king, and each strenuously argued his own cause. The king, after
+hearing them, decided how the property should be divided. He gave to
+Richard and Anne a large share, but not all that Richard claimed.
+Richard was, however, compelled to submit.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 179-80]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i177.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="382" alt="MIDDLEHAM CASTLE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">MIDDLEHAM CASTLE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the marriage was thus consummated, and Richard had been put in
+possession of his portion of the property, Anne seems to have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>submitted to her fate, and she went with Richard to Middleham Castle,
+in the north of England. This castle was one which had belonged to the
+Warwick family, and it now came into Richard's possession. Richard did
+not, however, remain long here with his wife. He went away on various
+military expeditions, leaving Anne most of the time alone. She was
+well contented to be thus left, for nothing could be so welcome to her
+now as to be relieved as much as possible from the presence of her
+hateful husband.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's child is born.<br />Anne becomes more contented.</div>
+
+<p>This state of things continued, without much change, until the end of
+about a year after her marriage, when Anne gave birth to a son. The
+boy was named Edward. The possession of this treasure awakened in the
+breast of Anne a new interest in life, and repaid her, in some
+measure, for the sorrows and sufferings which she had so long endured.</p>
+
+<p>Her love for her babe, in fact, awakened in her heart something like a
+tie to bind her to her husband. It is hard for a mother to continue
+long to hate the father of her child.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">End of the Reign of Edward.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1475-1483</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's high position.</div>
+
+<p>King Edward reigned, after this time, for about eight years. During
+this period, Richard continued to occupy a very high official
+position, and a very conspicuous place in the public mind. He was
+generally considered as personally a very bad man, and, whenever any
+great public crime was committed, in which the government were
+implicated at all, it was Richard, usually, who was supposed to be
+chiefly instrumental in the perpetration of it; but, notwithstanding
+this, his fame, and the general consideration in which he was held,
+were very high. This was owing, in a considerable degree, to his
+military renown, and the straightforward energy and decision which
+characterized all his doings.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His character.</div>
+
+<p>He generally co-operated very faithfully in all Edward's plans and
+schemes, though sometimes, when he thought them calculated to impede
+rather than promote the interests of the kingdom and the
+aggrandizement of the family, he made no secret of opposing them. As
+to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>Clarence, no one placed any trust or confidence in him whatever.
+For a time, he and Edward were ostensibly on friendly terms with each
+other, but there was no cordial good-will between them. Each watched
+the other with continual suspicion and distrust.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward's plan for the invasion of France.</div>
+
+<p>About the year 1475, Edward formed a grand scheme for the invasion of
+France, in order to recover from the French king certain possessions
+which Edward claimed, on the ground of their having formerly belonged
+to his ancestors. This plan, as, indeed, almost all plans of war and
+conquest were in those days, was very popular in England, and
+arrangements were made on an immense scale for fitting out an
+expedition. The Duke of Burgundy, who, as will be recollected, had
+married Edward's sister, promised to join the English in this proposed
+war. When all was ready, the English army set sail, and crossed over
+to Calais. Edward went with the army as commander-in-chief. He was
+accompanied by Clarence and Gloucester. Thus far every thing had gone
+on well, and all Europe was watching with great interest for the
+result of the expedition; but, very soon after landing, great
+difficulties arose. The Duke of Burgundy and Edward disagreed, and
+this disagreement caused great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>delays. The army advanced slowly
+toward the French frontier, but for two months nothing effectual was
+done.</p>
+
+<p><a name="louis" id="louis"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 225px;">
+<img src="images/i181.jpg" class="smallgap" width="225" height="300" alt="LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Character of King Louis.<br />Louis's wily management.<br />Treaty proposed.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Louis, the King of France, who was a very shrewd and
+wily man, concluded that it would be better for him to buy off his
+enemies than to fight them. So he continually sent messengers and
+negotiators to Edward's camp with proposals of various sorts, made to
+gain time, in order to enable him, by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>means of presents and bribes,
+to buy up all the prominent leaders and counselors of the expedition.
+He gave secretly to all the men who he supposed held an influence over
+Edward's mind, large sums of money. He offered, too, to make a treaty
+with Edward, by which, under one pretext or another, he was to pay him
+a great deal of money. One of these proposed payments was that of a
+large sum for the ransom of Queen Margaret, as mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. The amount of the ransom money which he proposed
+was fifty thousand crowns.</p>
+
+<p>Besides these promises to pay money in case the treaty was concluded,
+Louis made many rich and valuable presents at once. One day, while the
+negotiations were pending, he sent over to the English camp, as a gift
+to the king, three hundred cart-loads of wine, the best that could be
+procured in the kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>At one time, near the beginning of the affair, when a herald was sent
+to Louis from Edward with a very defiant and insolent message, Louis,
+instead of resenting the message as an affront, entertained the herald
+with great politeness, held a long and friendly conversation with him,
+and finally sent him away with three hundred crowns in his purse, and
+a promise of a thousand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>more as soon as a peace should be concluded.
+He also made him a present of a piece of crimson velvet "thirty ells
+long." Such a gift as this of the crimson velvet was calculated,
+perhaps, in those days of military foppery, to please the herald even
+more than the money.</p>
+
+<p>These things, of course, put Edward and nearly all his followers in
+excellent humor, and disposed them to listen very favorably to any
+propositions for settling the quarrel which Louis might be disposed to
+make. At last, after various and long protracted negotiations, a
+treaty was agreed upon, and Louis proposed that at the final execution
+of it he and Edward should have a personal interview.</p>
+
+<p>Edward acceded to this on certain conditions, and the circumstances
+under which the interview took place, and the arrangements which were
+adopted on the occasion, make it one of the most curious transactions
+of the whole reign.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrangements made for a personal interview.<br />The grating on the bridge.</div>
+
+<p>It seems that Edward could not place the least trust in Louis's
+professions of friendship, and did not dare to meet him without
+requiring beforehand most extraordinary precautions to guard against
+the possibility of treachery. So it was agreed that the meeting should
+take place upon a bridge, Louis and his friends to come in upon one
+side of the bridge, and Edward, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>with his party, on the other. In
+order to prevent either party from seizing and carrying off the other,
+there was a strong barricade of wood built across the bridge in the
+middle of it, and the arrangement was for the King of France to come
+up to this barricade on one side, and the King of England on the
+other, and so shake hands and communicate with each other through the
+bars of the barricade.</p>
+
+<p>The place where this most extraordinary royal meeting was held was
+called Picquigny, and the treaty which was made there is known in
+history as the Treaty of Picquigny. The town is on the River Somme,
+near the city of Amiens. Amiens was at that time very near the French
+frontier.</p>
+
+<p>The day appointed for the meeting was the 29th of August, 1475. The
+barricade was prepared. It was made of strong bars, crossing each
+other so as to form a grating, such as was used in those days to make
+the cages of bears, and lions, and other wild beasts. The spaces
+between the bars were only large enough to allow a man's arm to pass
+through.</p>
+
+<p>The King of France went first to the grating, advancing, of course,
+from the French side. He was accompanied by ten or twelve attendants,
+all men of high rank and station. He was very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>specially dressed for
+the occasion. The dress was made of cloth of gold, with a large <i>fleur
+de lis</i>&mdash;which was at that time the emblem of the French
+sovereignty&mdash;magnificently worked upon it in precious stones.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meeting of the kings at the grating.</div>
+
+<p>When Louis and his party had reached the barricade, Edward, attended
+likewise by his friends, approached on the other side. When they came
+to the barricade, the two kings greeted each other with many bows and
+other salutations, and they also shook hands with each other by
+reaching through the grating. The King of France addressed Edward in a
+very polite and courteous manner. "Cousin," said he, "you are right
+welcome. There is no person living that I have been so ambitious of
+seeing as you, and God be thanked that our interview now is on so
+happy an occasion."</p>
+
+<p>After these preliminary salutations and ceremonies had been concluded,
+a prayer-book, or missal, as it was called, and a crucifix, were
+brought forward, and held at the grating where both kings could touch
+them. Each of the kings then put his hands upon them&mdash;one hand on the
+crucifix and the other on the missal&mdash;and they both took a solemn oath
+by these sacred emblems that they would faithfully keep the treaty
+which they had made.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Jocose conversation of the two kings.</div>
+
+<p>After thus transacting the business which had brought them together,
+the two kings conversed with each other in a gay and merry manner for
+some time. The King of France invited Edward to come to Paris and make
+him a visit. This, of course, was a joke, for Edward would as soon
+think of accepting an invitation from a lion to come and visit him in
+his den, as of putting himself in Louis's power by going to Paris.
+Both monarchs and all the attendants laughed merrily at this jest.
+Louis assured Edward that he would have a very pleasant time at Paris
+in amusing himself with the gay ladies, and in other dissipations.
+"And then here is the cardinal," he added, turning to the Cardinal of
+Bourbon, an ecclesiastic of very high rank, but of very loose
+character, who was among his attendants, "who will grant you a very
+easy absolution for any sins you may take a fancy to commit while you
+are there."</p>
+
+<p>Edward and his friends were much amused with this sportive
+conversation of Louis's, and Edward made many smart replies,
+especially joking the cardinal, who, he knew, "was a gay man with the
+ladies, and a boon companion over his wine."</p>
+
+<p>This sort of conversation continued for some time, and at length the
+kings, after again shaking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>hands through the grating, departed each
+his own way, and thus this most extraordinary conference of sovereigns
+was terminated.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Terms of the treaty.</div>
+
+<p>The treaty which was thus made at the bridge of Picquigny contained
+several very important articles. The principal of them were the
+following:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. Louis was to pay fifty thousand crowns as a ransom for Queen
+Margaret, and Edward was to release her from the Tower and send her to
+France as soon as he arrived in England.</p>
+
+<p>2. Louis was to pay to Edward in cash, on the spot, seventy-five
+thousand crowns, and an annuity of fifty thousand crowns.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Marriage agreed upon.</div>
+
+<p>3. He was to marry his son, the dauphin, to Edward's oldest daughter,
+Elizabeth, and, in case of her death, then to his next daughter, Mary.
+These parties were all children at this time, and so the actual
+marriage was postponed for a time; but it was stipulated solemnly that
+it should be performed as soon as the prince and princess attained to
+a proper age. It is important to remember this part of the treaty, as
+a great and serious difficulty grew out of it when the time for the
+execution of it arrived.</p>
+
+<p>4. By the last article, the two kings bound themselves to a truce for
+seven years, during which time hostilities were to be entirely
+suspended, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>and free trade between the two countries was to be
+allowed.</p></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Clarence and Gloucester.</div>
+
+<p>Clarence was with the king at the time of making this treaty, and he
+joined with the other courtiers in giving it his approval, but Richard
+would have nothing to do with it. He very much preferred to go on with
+the war, and was indignant that his brother should allow himself to be
+bought off, as it were, by presents and payments of money, and induced
+to consent to what seemed to him an ignominious peace. He did not give
+any open expression to his discontent, but he refused to be present at
+the conference on the bridge, and, when Edward and the army, after the
+peace was concluded, went back to England, he went with them, but in
+very bad humor.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The people of England discontented.</div>
+
+<p>The people of England were in very bad humor too. You will observe
+that the inducements which Louis employed in procuring the treaty were
+gifts and sums of money granted to Edward himself, and to his great
+courtiers personally for their own private uses. There was nothing in
+his concessions which tended at all to the aggrandizement or to the
+benefit of the English realm, or to promote the interest of the people
+at large. They thought, therefore, that Edward and his counselors had
+been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>induced to sacrifice the rights and honor of the crown and the
+kingdom to their own personal advantage by a system of gross and open
+bribery, and they were very much displeased.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Renewal of the quarrel between Edward and Clarence.<br />Clarence retires from court.</div>
+
+<p>The next great event which marks the history of the reign of Edward,
+after the conclusion of this war, was the breaking out anew of the old
+feud between Edward and Clarence, and the dreadful crisis to which the
+quarrel finally reached. The renewal of the quarrel began in Edward's
+dispossessing Clarence of a portion of his property. Edward was very
+much embarrassed for money after his return from the French
+expedition. He had incurred great debts in fitting out the expedition,
+and these debts the Parliament and people of England were very
+unwilling to pay, on account of their being so much displeased with
+the peace which had been made. Edward, consequently, notwithstanding
+the bribes which he had received from Louis, was very much in want of
+money. At last he caused a law to be passed by Parliament enacting
+that all the patrimony of the royal family, which had hitherto been
+divided among the three brothers, should be resumed, and applied to
+the service of the crown. This made Clarence very angry. True, he was
+extremely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>rich, through the property which he had received by his
+wife from the Warwick estates, but this did not make him any more
+willing to submit patiently to be robbed by his brother. He expressed
+his anger very openly, and the ill feeling which the affair occasioned
+led to a great many scenes of dispute and crimination between the two
+brothers, until at last Clarence could no longer endure to have any
+thing to do with Edward, and he went away, with Isabella his wife, to
+a castle which he possessed near Tewkesbury, and there remained, in
+angry and sullen seclusion. So great was the animosity that prevailed
+at this time between the brothers and their respective partisans, that
+almost every one who took an active part in the quarrel lived in
+continual anxiety from fear of being poisoned, or of being destroyed
+by incantations or witchcraft.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Belief in witchcraft.</div>
+
+<p>Every body believed in witchcraft in these days. There was one
+peculiar species of necromancy which was held in great dread. It was
+supposed that certain persons had the power secretly to destroy any
+one against whom they conceived a feeling of ill will in the following
+manner: They would first make an effigy of their intended victim out
+of wax and other similar materials. This image was made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>the
+representation of the person to be destroyed by means of certain
+sorceries and incantations, and then it was by slow degrees, from day
+to day, melted away and gradually destroyed. While the image was thus
+melting, the innocent and unconscious victim of the witchcraft would
+pine away, and at last, when the image was fairly gone, would die.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Birth of Clarence's second son.</div>
+
+<p>Not very long after Clarence left the court and went to Tewkesbury,
+his wife gave birth to a child. It was the second son. The child was
+named Richard, and is known in history as Richard of Clarence.
+Isabella did not recover her health and strength after the birth of
+her child. She pined away in a slow and lingering manner for two or
+three months, and then died.</p>
+
+<p>Clarence was convinced that she did not die a natural death. He
+believed that her life had been destroyed by some process of
+witchcraft, such as has been described, or by poison, and he openly
+charged the queen with having instigated the murder by having employed
+some sorcerer or assassin to accomplish it. After a time he satisfied
+himself that a certain woman named Ankaret Twynhyo was the person whom
+the queen had employed to commit this crime, and watching an
+opportunity when this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>woman was at her own residence, away from all
+who could protect her, he sent a body of armed men from among his
+retainers, who went secretly to the place, and, breaking in suddenly,
+seized the woman and bore her off to Warwick Castle. There Clarence
+subjected her to what he called a trial, and she was condemned to
+death, and executed at once. The charge against her was that she
+administered poison to the duchess in a cup of ale. So summary were
+these proceedings, that the poor woman was dead in three hours from
+the time that she arrived at the castle gates.</p>
+
+<p>These proceedings, of course, greatly exasperated Edward and the
+queen, and made them hate Clarence more than ever.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">New quarrels.<br />The rich heiress.</div>
+
+<p>Very soon after this, Charles, the Duke of Burgundy, who married
+Margaret, Edward and Clarence's sister, and who had been Edward's ally
+in so many of his wars, was killed in battle. He left a daughter named
+Mary, of whom Margaret was the step-mother; for Mary was the child of
+the duke by a former marriage. Now, as Charles was possessed of
+immense estates, Mary, by his death, became a great heiress, and
+Clarence, now that his wife was dead, conceived the idea of making her
+his second wife. He immediately commenced negotiations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>to this end.
+Margaret favored the plan, but Edward and Elizabeth, the queen, as
+soon as they heard of it, set themselves at work in the most earnest
+manner to thwart and circumvent it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward and Clarence quarrel about the heiress.</div>
+
+<p>Their motives for opposing this match arose partly from their enmity
+to Clarence, and partly from designs of their own which they had
+formed in respect to the marriage of Mary. The queen wished to secure
+the young heiress for one of her brothers. Edward had another plan,
+which was to marry Mary to a certain Duke Maximilian. Edward's plan,
+in the end, was carried out, and Clarence was defeated. When Clarence
+found at length that the bride, with all the immense wealth and vastly
+increased importance which his marriage with her was to bring, were
+lost to him through Edward's interference, and conferred upon his
+hated rival Maximilian, he was terribly enraged. He expressed his
+resentment and anger against the king in the most violent terms.</p>
+
+<p>About this time a certain nobleman, one of the king's friends, died.
+The king accused a priest, who was in Clarence's service, of having
+killed him by sorcery. The priest was seized and put to the torture to
+compel him to confess his crime and to reveal his confederates. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>priest at length confessed, and named as his accomplice one of
+Clarence's household named Burdett, a gentleman who lived in very
+intimate and confidential relations with Clarence himself.</p>
+
+<p>The confession was taken as proof of guilt, and the priest and Burdett
+were both immediately executed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Clarence becomes furious.</div>
+
+<p>Clarence was now perfectly frantic with rage. He could restrain
+himself no longer. He forced his way into the king's council-chamber,
+and there uttered to the lords who were assembled the most violent and
+angry denunciation of the king. He accused him of injustice and
+cruelty, and upbraided him, and all who counseled and aided him, in
+the severest terms.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He is sent to the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>When the king, who was not himself present on this occasion, heard
+what Clarence had done, he said that such proceedings were subversive
+of the laws of the realm, and destructive to all good government, and
+he commanded that Clarence should be arrested and sent to the Tower.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Clarence is accused of high treason.</div>
+
+<p>After a short time the king summoned a Parliament, and when the
+assembly was convened, he brought his brother out from his prison in
+the Tower, and arraigned him at the bar of the House of Lords on
+charges of the most extraordinary character, which he himself
+personally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>preferred against him. In these charges Clarence was
+accused of having formed treasonable conspiracies to depose the king,
+disinherit the king's children, and raise himself to the throne, and
+with this view of having slandered the king, and endeavored, by bribes
+and false representations, to entice away his subjects from their
+allegiance; of having joined himself with the Lancastrian faction so
+far as to promise to restore them their estates which had been
+confiscated, provided that they would assist him in usurping the
+throne; and of having secretly organized an armed force, which was all
+ready, and waiting only for the proper occasion to strike the blow.</p>
+
+<p>Clarence denied all these charges in the most earnest and solemn
+manner. The king insisted upon the truth of them, and brought forward
+many witnesses to prove them. Of course, whether the charges were true
+or false, there could be no difficulty in finding plenty of witnesses
+to give the required testimony. The lords listened to the charges and
+the defense with a sort of solemn awe. Indeed, all England, as it
+were, stood by, silenced and appalled at the progress of this dreadful
+fraternal quarrel, and at the prospect of the terrible termination of
+it, which all could foresee must come.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 199-200]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i197.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="341" alt="THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">He is sentenced to death.</div>
+
+<p>Whatever the members of Parliament may have thought of the truth or
+falsehood of the charges, there was only one way in which it was
+prudent or even safe for them to vote, and Clarence was condemned to
+death.</p>
+
+<p>Sentence being passed, the prisoner was remanded to the Tower.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He is assassinated.</div>
+
+<p>Edward seems, after all, to have shrunk from the open and public
+execution of the sentence which he had caused to be pronounced against
+his brother. No public execution took place, but in a short time it
+was announced that Clarence had died in prison. It was understood that
+assassins were employed to go privately into the room where he was
+confined and put him to death; and it is universally believed, though
+there is no positive proof of the fact, that Richard was the person
+who made the arrangements for the performance of this deed.<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Dissipation and wickedness of Edward.</div>
+
+<p>After Clarence was dead, and the excitement and anger of the quarrel
+had subsided in Edward's mind, he was overwhelmed with remorse and
+anguish at what he had done. He attempted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>to drown these painful
+thoughts by dissipation and vice. He neglected the affairs of his
+government, and his duties to his wife and family, and spent his time
+in gay pleasures with the ladies of his court, and in guilty
+carousings with wicked men. In these pleasures he spent large sums of
+money, wasting his patrimony and all his resources in extravagance and
+folly. Among other amusements, he used to form hunting-parties, in
+which the ladies of his court were accustomed to join, and he used to
+set up gay silken tents for their accommodation on the hunting-ground.
+He spent vast sums, too, upon his dress, being very vain of his
+personal attractions, and of the favor in which he was held by the
+ladies around him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Jane Shore.</div>
+
+<p>The most conspicuous of his various female favorites was the
+celebrated Jane Shore. She was the wife of a respectable citizen of
+London. Edward enticed her away from her husband, and induced her to
+come and live at court with him. The opposite engraving, which is
+taken from an ancient portrait, gives undoubtedly a correct
+representation both of her features and of her dress. We shall hear
+more of this person in the sequel.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 245px;">
+<img src="images/i200.jpg" class="smallgap" width="245" height="300" alt="JANE SHORE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">JANE SHORE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Edward sends Richard to war.</div>
+
+<p>Things went on in this way for about two years, when at length war
+broke out on the frontiers of Scotland. Edward was too much engrossed with his
+gallantries and pleasures to march himself to meet the enemy, and so
+he commissioned Richard to go. Richard was very well pleased that his
+brother Edward should remain at home, and waste away in effeminacy and
+vice his character and his influence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>in the kingdom, while he went
+forth in command of the army, to acquire, by the vigor and success of
+his military career, that ascendency that Edward was losing. So he
+took the command of the army and went forth to the war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Difficulties in Scotland.</div>
+
+<p>The war was protracted for several years. The King of Scotland had a
+brother, the Duke of Albany, who was attempting to dethrone him, in
+order that he might reign in his stead; that is, he was doing exactly
+that which Edward had charged upon his brother Clarence, and for which
+he had caused Clarence to be killed; and yet, with strange
+inconsistency, Edward espoused the cause of this Clarence of Scotland,
+and laid deep plans for enabling him to depose and supplant his
+brother.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward falls sick.</div>
+
+<p>In the midst of the measures which Richard was taking for the
+execution of these plans, they, as well as all Edward's other earthly
+schemes and hopes, were suddenly destroyed by the hand of death.
+Edward's health had become much impaired by the dissolute life which
+he had led, and at last he fell seriously sick. While he was sick, an
+affair occurred which vexed and worried his mind beyond endurance.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will recollect that, at the treaty which Edward made with
+Louis of France at the barricade on the bridge of Picquigny, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>a
+marriage contract was concluded between Louis's oldest son, the
+Dauphin of France, and Edward's daughter Mary, and it was agreed that,
+as soon as the children were grown up, and were old enough, they
+should be married. Louis took a solemn oath upon the prayer-book and
+crucifix that he would not fail to keep this agreement.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His anger against the King of France.</div>
+
+<p>But now some years had passed away, and circumstances had changed so
+much that Louis did not wish to keep this promise. Edward's great
+ally, the Duke of Burgundy, was dead. His daughter Mary, who became
+the Duchess Mary on the death of her father, and who, so greatly to
+Clarence's disappointment, had married Maximilian, had succeeded to
+the estates and possessions of her father. These possessions the King
+of France desired very much to join to his dominions, as they lay
+contiguous to them, and the fear of Edward, which had prompted him to
+make the marriage contract with him in the first instance, had now
+passed away, on account of Edward's having become so much weakened by
+his vices and his effeminacy. He now, therefore, became desirous of
+allying his family to that of Burgundy rather than that of England.</p>
+
+<p>The Duchess Mary had three children, all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>very young. The oldest,
+Philip, was only about three years old.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of the Duchess Mary.</div>
+
+<p>Now it happened that just at this time, while the Duchess Mary was out
+with a small party, hawking, near the city of Bruges, as they were
+flying the hawks at some herons, the company galloping on over the
+fields in order to keep up with the birds, the duchess's horse, in
+taking a leap, burst the girths of the saddle, and the duchess was
+thrown off against the trunk of a tree. She was immediately taken up
+and borne into a house, but she was so much injured that she almost
+immediately died.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Louis's treachery.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, her titles and estates would now descend to her children.
+The second of the children was a girl. Her name was Margaret. She was
+about two years old. Louis immediately resolved to give up the match
+between the dauphin and Edward's daughter Mary, and contract another
+alliance for him with this little Margaret. He met with considerable
+difficulty and delay in bringing this about, but he succeeded at last.
+While the negotiations were pending, Edward, who suspected what was
+going on, was assured that nothing of the kind was intended, and
+various false tales and pretenses were advanced by Louis to quiet his
+mind.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Vexation and rage of Edward.</div>
+
+<p>At length, when all was settled, the new plan was openly proclaimed,
+and great celebrations and parades were held in Paris in honor of the
+event. Edward was overwhelmed with vexation and rage when he received
+the tidings. He was, however, completely helpless. He lay tossing
+restlessly on his sick-bed, cursing, on the one hand, Louis's
+faithlessness and treachery, and, on the other, his own miserable
+weakness and pain, which made it so utterly impossible that he should
+do any thing to resent the affront.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His death.</div>
+
+<p>His vexation and rage so disturbed and worried him that they hastened
+his death. When he found that his last hour was drawing near, a new
+source of agitation and anguish was opened in his mind by the remorse
+which now began to overwhelm him for his vices and crimes.
+Long-forgotten deeds of injustice, of violence, and of every species
+of wickedness rose before his mind, and terrified him with awful
+premonition of the anger of God and of the judgment to come. In his
+distress, he tried to make reparation for some of the grossest of the
+wrongs which he had committed, but it was too late. After lingering a
+week or two in this condition of distress and suffering, his spirit
+passed away.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Richard and Edward V.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1483</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Effect of the tidings of Edward's death.</div>
+
+<p>As the tidings of Edward's death spread throughout England, they were
+received every where with a sentiment of anxiety and suspense, for no
+one knew what the consequences would be. Edward left two sons. Edward,
+the oldest of the two, the Prince of Wales, was about thirteen years
+of age. The youngest, whose name was Richard, was eleven. Of course,
+Edward was the rightful heir to the crown. Next to him in the line of
+succession came his brother, and next to them came Richard, Duke of
+Gloucester, their uncle. But it was universally known that the Duke of
+Gloucester was a reckless and unscrupulous man, and the question in
+every one's mind was whether he would recognize the rights of his
+young nephews at all, or whether he would seize the crown at once for
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was in the northern part of England at
+this time, at the head of his army. The great power which the
+possession of this army gave him made people all the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>more fearful
+that he might attempt to usurp the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Anxiety of Queen Elizabeth Woodville.</div>
+
+<p>The person who was most anxious in respect to the result was the
+widowed Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the two princes. She was very
+much alarmed. The boys themselves were not old enough to realize very
+fully the danger that they were in, or to render their mother much aid
+in her attempts to save them. The person on whom she chiefly relied
+was her brother, the Earl of Rivers. Edward, her oldest son, was under
+this uncle Rivers's care. The uncle and the nephew were residing
+together at this time at the castle of Ludlow.<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a> Queen Elizabeth was
+in London with her second son.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately on the death of the king, a council was called to
+deliberate upon the measures proper to be taken. The council decreed
+that the Prince of Wales should be proclaimed king, and they fixed
+upon the 4th of May for the day of his coronation. They also made
+arrangements for sending orders to the Earl of Rivers to come at once
+with the young king to London, in order that the coronation might take
+place.</p>
+
+<p>Queen Elizabeth was present at this council, and she desired that her
+brother might be ordered to come attended by as large an armed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>force
+as he could raise, for the protection of the prince on the way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Attempt made by Edward to effect a reconciliation.</div>
+
+<p>Now it happened that there were great dissensions among the officers
+and nobles of the court at this time. The queen, with the relatives
+and connections of her family, formed one party, and the other nobles
+and peers of England another party, and great was the animosity and
+hatred that prevailed. The English nobles had never been satisfied
+with Edward's marriage, and they were very jealous of the influence of
+the queen's family and relations. This feud had been kept down in some
+degree while Edward lived, and Edward had made a great final effort to
+heal it entirely in his last sickness. He called together the leading
+nobles on each side, that had taken part in this quarrel, and then, by
+great exertion, went in among them, and urged them to forget their
+dissensions and become reconciled to each other. The effort for the
+time seemed to be successful, and both parties agreed to a compromise
+of the quarrel, and took a solemn oath that they would thenceforth
+live together in peace. But now, on the death of the king, the
+dissension broke out afresh. The other nobles were very jealous and
+suspicious of every measure which Elizabeth proposed, especially if it
+tended to continue the possession of power and influence in the hands of her
+family. Accordingly, when she proposed in the council to send for the
+earl, and to require him to raise a large escort to bring the young
+Prince Edward to London, they objected to it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 385px;">
+<img src="images/i208.jpg" class="smallgap" width="385" height="500" alt="THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>"Against whom," demanded one of the councilors, "is the young prince
+to be defended? Who are his enemies? He has none, and the real motive
+and design of raising this force is not to protect the prince, but
+only to secure to the Woodville family the means of increasing and
+perpetuating their own importance and power."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plans for bringing the young prince to London.</div>
+
+<p>The speaker upbraided the queen, too, with having, by this proposal,
+and by the attempt to promote the aggrandizement of the Woodville
+party which was concealed in it, been guilty of violating the oath of
+reconciliation which had been taken during the last sickness of the
+late king. So the council refused to authorize the armed escort, and
+the queen, with tears of disappointment and vexation, gave up the
+plan. At least she gave it up ostensibly, but she nevertheless
+contrived to come to some secret understanding with the earl, in
+consequence of which he set out from the castle with the young prince
+at the head of quite a large force. Some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>of the authorities state
+that he had with him two thousand men.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's movements.<br />His letter to the queen.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Richard of Gloucester, as soon as he heard of
+Edward's death, arranged his affairs at once, and made preparations to
+set out for London too. He put his army in mourning for the death of
+the king, and he wrote a most respectful and feeling letter of
+condolence to the queen. In this letter he made a solemn profession of
+homage and fealty to her son, the Prince of Wales, whom he
+acknowledged as rightfully entitled to the crown, and promised to be
+faithful in his allegiance to him, and to all the duties which he owed
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Queen Elizabeth's mind was much relieved by this letter. She began to
+think that she was going to find in Richard an efficient friend to
+sustain her cause and that of her family against her enemies.</p>
+
+<p>When Richard reached York, he made a solemn entry into that town,
+attended by six hundred knights all dressed in deep mourning. At the
+head of this funeral procession he proceeded to the Cathedral, and
+there caused the obsequies of the king to be celebrated with great
+pomp, and with very impressive and apparently sincere exhibitions of
+the grief which he himself personally felt for the loss of his
+brother.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p><p>After a brief delay in York, Richard resumed his march to the
+southward. He arranged it so as to overtake the party of the prince
+and the Earl of Rivers on the way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He arrives at Northampton.<br />The king at Stony Stratford.</div>
+
+<p>He arrived at the town of Northampton on the same day that the prince,
+with the Earl of Rivers and his escort, reached the town of Stony
+Stratford, which was only a few miles from it. When the earl heard
+that Gloucester was so near, he took with him another nobleman, named
+Lord Gray, and a small body of attendants, and rode back to
+Northampton to pay his respects to Gloucester on the part of the young
+king; for they considered that Edward became at once, by the death of
+his father, King of England, under the style and title of Edward the
+Fifth.</p>
+
+<p>Gloucester received his visitors in a very courteous and friendly
+manner. He invited them to sup with him, and he made quite an
+entertainment for them, and for some other friends whom he invited to
+join them. The party spent the evening together in a very agreeable
+manner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Movements and man&oelig;uvres at Northampton.</div>
+
+<p>They sat so long over their wine that it was too late for the earl and
+Lord Gray to return that night to Stony Stratford, and Richard
+accordingly made arrangements for them to remain <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>in Northampton. He
+assigned quarters to them in the town, and secretly set a guard over
+them, to prevent their making their escape. The next morning, when
+they arose, they were astonished to find themselves under guard, and
+to perceive too, as they did, that all the avenues of the town were
+occupied with troops. They suspected treachery, but they thought it
+not prudent to express their suspicions. Richard, when he met them
+again in the morning, treated them in the same friendly manner as on
+the evening before, and proposed to accompany them to Stony Stratford,
+in order that he might there see and pay his respects to the king.
+This was agreed to, and they all set out together.</p>
+
+<p>In company with Richard was one of his friends and confederates, the
+Duke of Buckingham. This Duke of Buckingham had been one of the
+leaders of the party at court that were opposed to the family of the
+queen. These two, together with the Earl of Rivers and Lord Gray, rode
+on in a very friendly manner toward Stratford. They went in advance of
+Richard's troops, which were ordered to follow pretty closely behind.
+In this manner they went on till they began to draw near to the town.</p>
+
+<p>Richard now at once threw off his disguise. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>He told the Earl of
+Rivers and Lord Gray that the influence which they were exerting over
+the mind of the king was evil, and that he felt it his duty to take
+the king from their charge.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The noblemen taken into custody.</div>
+
+<p>Then, at a signal given, armed men came up and took the two noblemen
+in custody. Richard, with the Duke of Buckingham and their attendants,
+drove on with all speed into the town. It seems that the persons who
+had been left with Edward had, in some way or other, obtained
+intelligence of what was going on, for they were just upon the eve of
+making their escape with him when Richard and his party arrived. The
+horse was saddled, and the young king was all ready to mount.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Seizure of the king.</div>
+
+<p>Richard, when he came up to the place, assumed the command at once. He
+made no obeisance to his nephew, nor did he in any other way seem to
+recognize or acknowledge him as his sovereign. He simply said that he
+would take care of his safety.</p>
+
+<p>"The persons that have been about you," said he, "have been conspiring
+against your life, but I will protect you."</p>
+
+<p>He then ordered several of the principal of Edward's attendants to be
+arrested; the rest he commanded to disperse. What became of the large
+body of men which the Earl of Rivers is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>said to have had under his
+command does not appear. Whether they dispersed in obedience to
+Richard's commands, or whether they abandoned the earl and came over
+to Richard's side, is uncertain. At any rate, nobody resisted him. The
+Earl of Rivers, Lord Gray, and the others were secured, with a view of
+being sent off prisoners to the northward. Edward himself was to be
+taken with Richard back to Northampton.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The little king is very much frightened.</div>
+
+<p>The little king himself scarcely knew what to make of these
+proceedings. He was frightened; and when he saw that all those
+personal friends and attendants who had had the charge of him so long,
+and to whom he was strongly attached, were seized and sent away, and
+others, strangers to him, put in their place, he could not refrain
+from tears. King as he was, however, and sovereign ruler over millions
+of men, he was utterly helpless in his uncle's hands, and obliged to
+yield himself passively to the disposition which his uncle thought
+best to make of him.</p>
+
+<p>All the accounts of Edward represent him as a kind-hearted and
+affectionate boy, of a gentle spirit, and of a fair and prepossessing
+countenance. The ancient portraits of him which remain confirm these
+accounts of his personal appearance and of his character.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 238px;">
+<img src="images/i216.jpg" class="smallgap" width="238" height="300" alt="ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V." title="" />
+<span class="caption">ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Richard's explanations of his proceedings.</div>
+
+<p>After having taken these necessary steps, and thus secured the power
+in his own hands, Richard vouchsafed an explanation of what he had
+done to the young king. He told him that Earl Rivers, and Lord Gray,
+and other persons belonging to their party, "had conspired together to
+rule the kynge and the realme, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>sette variance among the states,
+and to subdue and destroy the noble blood of the realme," and that he,
+Richard, had interposed to save Edward from their snares. He told him,
+moreover, that Lord Dorset, who was Edward's half brother, being the
+son of the queen by her first husband, and who had for some time held
+the office of Chancellor of the Tower, had taken out the king's
+treasure from that castle, and had sent much of it away beyond the
+sea.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward's astonishment.<br />He is helpless in Richard's hands.</div>
+
+<p>Edward, astonished and bewildered, did not know at first what to reply
+to his uncle. He said, however, at last, that he never heard of any
+such designs on the part of his mother's relatives, and he could not
+believe that the charges were true. But Richard assured him that they
+were true, and that "his kindred had kepte their dealings from the
+knowledge of his grace." Satisfied or not, Edward was silenced; and he
+submitted, since it was hopeless for him to attempt to resist, to be
+taken back in his uncle's custody to Northampton.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Taking Sanctuary.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1483</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Alarm of the queen on hearing the news.</div>
+
+<p>When the news reached London that the king had been seized on the way
+to the capital, and was in Gloucester's custody, it produced a
+universal commotion. Queen Elizabeth was thrown at once into a state
+of great anxiety and alarm. The tidings reached her at midnight. She
+was in the palace at Westminster at the time. She rose immediately in
+the greatest terror, and began to make preparations for fleeing to
+sanctuary with the Duke of York, her second son. All her friends in
+the neighborhood were aroused and summoned to her aid. The palace soon
+became a scene of universal confusion. Every body was busy packing up
+clothing and other necessaries in trunks and boxes, and securing
+jewels and valuables of various kinds, and removing them to places of
+safety. In the midst of this scene, the queen herself sat upon the
+rushes which covered the floor, half dressed, and her long and
+beautiful locks of hair streaming over her shoulders, the picture of
+despair.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Visit of the archbishop.<br />Hasting's message.</div>
+
+<p>There was a certain nobleman, named Lord Hastings, who had been a very
+prominent and devoted friend to Edward the Fourth during his life, and
+had consequently been upon very intimate and friendly terms with the
+queen. It was he, however, that had objected in the council to the
+employment of a large force to conduct the young king to London, and,
+by so doing, had displeased the queen. Toward morning, while the queen
+was in the depths of her distress and terror, making her preparations
+for flight, a cheering message from Hastings was brought to her,
+telling her not to be alarmed. The message was brought to her by a
+certain archbishop who had been chancellor, that is, had had the
+custody of the great seal, an impression from which was necessary to
+the validity of any royal decree. He came to deliver up the seal to
+the queen, and also to bring Lord Hastings's message.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, woe worth him!" said the queen, when the archbishop informed her
+that Lord Hastings bid her not fear. "It is he that is the cause of
+all my sorrows; he goeth about to destroy me and my blood."</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," said the archbishop, "be of good comfort. I assure you that,
+if they crown any other king than your eldest son, whom they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>have
+with them, we will, on the morrow, crown his brother, whom you have
+with you here. And here is the great seal, which, in like wise as your
+noble husband gave it to me, so I deliver it to you for the use of
+your son." So the archbishop delivered the great seal into the queen's
+hands, and went away. This was just before the dawn.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The queen is in great distress.</div>
+
+<p>The words which the archbishop spoke to the queen did not give her
+much comfort. Indeed, her fears were not so much for her children, or
+for the right of the eldest to succeed to the throne, as for herself
+and her own personal and family ascendency under the reign of her son.
+She had contrived, during the lifetime of her husband, to keep pretty
+nearly all the influence and patronage of the government in her own
+hands and in that of her family connections, the Woodvilles. You will
+recollect how much difficulty that had made, and how strong a party
+had been formed against her coterie. And now, her husband being dead,
+what she feared was not that Gloucester, in taking the young king away
+from the custody of her relatives, and sending those relatives off as
+prisoners to the north, meant any hostility to the young king, but
+only against her and the whole Woodville interest, of which she was
+the head. She supposed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>that Gloucester would now put the power of the
+government in the hands of other families, and banish hers, and that
+perhaps he would even bring her to trial and punishment for acts of
+maladministration, or other political crimes which he would charge
+against her. It was fear of this, rather than any rebellion against
+the right of Edward the Fifth to reign, which made her in such haste
+to flee to sanctuary.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Uncertainty in respect to Gloucester's designs.</div>
+
+<p>It was, however, somewhat uncertain what Gloucester intended to do.
+His professions were all very fair in respect to his allegiance to the
+young king. He sent a messenger to London, immediately after seizing
+the king, to explain his views and motives in the act, and in this
+communication he stated distinctly that his only object was to prevent
+the king's falling into the hands of the Woodville family, and not at
+all to oppose his coronation.</p>
+
+<p>"It neyther is reason," said he in his letter, "nor in any wise to be
+suffered that the young kynge, our master and kinsman, should be in
+the hands of custody of his mother's kindred, sequestered in great
+measure from our companie and attendance, the which is neither
+honorable to hys majestie nor unto us."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrest of the leading men in the Woodville party.</div>
+
+<p>Thus the pretense of Richard in seizing the king was simply that he
+might prevent the government <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>under him from falling into the hands of
+his mother's party. But the very decisive measures he took in respect
+to the leading members of the Woodville family led many to suspect
+that he was secretly meditating a deeper design. All those who were
+with the king at the time of his seizure were made prisoners and sent
+off to a castle in the north, as we have already said; and, in order
+to prevent those who were in and near London from making their escape,
+Richard sent down immediately from Northampton ordering their arrest,
+and appointing guards to prevent any of them from flying to sanctuary.
+When the archbishop, who had called to see the queen at the palace,
+went away, he saw through the window, although it was yet before the
+dawn, a number of boats stationed on the Thames ready to intercept any
+who might be coming up the river with this intent from the Tower, for
+several influential members of the family resided at this time at the
+Tower.</p>
+
+<p>The queen herself, however, as it happened, was at Westminster Palace,
+and she had accordingly but little way to go to make her escape to the
+Abbey.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The queen "on the rushes."<br />Her daughters.</div>
+
+<p>The space which was inclosed by the consecrated limits, from within
+which prisoners could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>not be taken, was somewhat extensive. It
+included not only the church of the Abbey, but also the Abbey garden,
+the cemetery, the palace of the abbot, the cloisters, and various
+other buildings and grounds included within the inclosure. As soon as
+the queen entered these precincts, she sank down upon the floor of the
+hall, "alone on the rushes, all desolate and dismayed." It was in the
+month of May, and the great fire-place of the hall was filled with
+branches of trees and flowers, while the floor, according to the
+custom of the time, was strewed with green rushes. For a time the
+queen was so overwhelmed with her sorrow and chagrin that she was
+scarcely conscious where she was. But she was soon aroused from her
+despondency by the necessity of making proper arrangements for herself
+and her family in her new abode. She had two daughters with her,
+Elizabeth and Cecily&mdash;beautiful girls, seventeen and fifteen years of
+age; Richard, Duke of York, her second son, and several younger
+children. The youngest of these children, Bridget, was only three
+years old. Elizabeth, the oldest, afterward became a queen, and little
+Bridget a nun.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 227-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i225.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="394" alt="ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Description of the sanctuary.<br />Apartments.</div>
+
+<p>The rooms which the queen and her family occupied in the sanctuary are
+somewhat particularly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>described by one of the writers of those days. The fire-place, where
+the trees and flowers were placed, was in the centre of the hall, and
+there was an opening in the roof above, called a <i>louvre</i>, to allow of
+the escape of the smoke. This hearth still remains on the floor of the
+hall, and the louvre is still to be seen in the roof above.<a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> The end
+of the hall was formed of oak panneling, with lattice-work above, the
+use of which will presently appear. A part of this paneling was formed
+of doors, which led by winding stairs up to a curious congeries of
+small rooms formed among the spaces between the walls and towers, and
+under the arches above. Some of these rooms were for private
+apartments, and others were used for the offices of buttery, kitchen,
+laundry, and the like. At the end of this range of apartments was the
+private sitting-room and study of the abbot. The windows of the
+abbot's room looked down upon a pretty flower-garden, and there was a
+passage from it which led by a corridor back to the lattices over the
+doors in the hall, through which the abbot could look down into the
+hall at any time without being observed, and see what the monks were
+doing there.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The Jerusalem chamber.</div>
+
+<p>Besides these there were other large apartments, called state
+apartments, which were used chiefly on great public occasions. These
+rooms were larger, loftier, and more richly decorated than the others.
+They were ornamented with oak carvings and fluting, painted windows,
+and other such decorations. There was one in particular, which was
+called the Jerusalem chamber. This was the grand receiving-room of the
+abbot. It had a great Gothic window of painted glass, and the walls
+were hung with curious tapestry. This room, with the window, the
+tapestry, and all the other ornaments, remains to this day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's plans in respect to the coronation.</div>
+
+<p>It was on the night of the third of May that the queen and her family
+"took sanctuary." The very next day, the fourth, was the day that the
+council had appointed for the coronation. But Richard, instead of
+coming at once to London, after taking the king under his charge, so
+as to be ready for the coronation at the appointed day, delayed his
+journey so as not to enter London until that day. He wished to prevent
+the coronation from taking place, having probably other plans of his
+own in view instead.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Reception of Richard's party at London.</div>
+
+<p>It is not, however, absolutely certain that Richard intended, at this
+time, to claim the crown for himself, for in entering London he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>formed a grand procession, giving the young king the place of honor
+in it, and doing homage to him as king. Richard himself and all his
+retinue were in mourning. Edward was dressed in a royal mantle of
+purple velvet, and rode conspicuously as the chief personage of the
+procession. A short distance from the city the cavalcade was met by a
+procession of the civic authorities of London and five hundred
+citizens, all sumptuously appareled, who had come out to receive and
+welcome their sovereign, and to conduct him through the gates into the
+city. In entering the city Richard rode immediately before the king,
+with his head uncovered. He held his cap in his hand, and bowed
+continually very low before the king, designating him in this way to
+the citizens as the object of their homage. He called out also, from
+time to time, to the crowds that thronged the waysides to see, "Behold
+your prince and sovereign."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard establishes his court.</div>
+
+<p>There were two places to which it might have been considered not
+improbable that Richard would take the king on his arrival at the
+capital&mdash;one the palace of Westminster, at the upper end of London,
+and the other, the Tower, at the lower end. The Tower, though often
+used as a prison, was really, at that time, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>castle, where the kings
+and the members of the royal family often resided. Richard, however,
+did not go to either of these places at first, but proceeded instead
+to the bishop's palace at St. Paul's, in the heart of the city. Here a
+sort of court was established, a grand council of nobles and officers
+of state was called, and for some days the laws were administered and
+the government was carried on from this place, all, however, in
+Edward's name. Money was coined, also, with his effigy and
+inscription, and, in fine, so far as all essential forms and
+technicalities were concerned, the young Edward was really a reigning
+king; but, of course, in respect to substantial power, every thing was
+in Richard's hands.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Dorset.</div>
+
+<p>The reason why Richard did not proceed at once to the Tower was
+probably because Dorset, the queen's son, was in command there, and
+he, as of course he was identified with the Woodville party, might
+perhaps have made Richard some trouble. But Dorset, as soon as he
+heard that Richard was coming, abandoned the Tower, and fled to the
+sanctuary to join his mother. Accordingly, after waiting a few days at
+the bishop's palace until the proper arrangements could be made, the
+king, with the whole party in attendance upon him, removed to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>Tower, and took up their residence there. The king was nominally in
+his castle, with Richard and the other nobles and their retinue in
+attendance upon him as his guards. Really he was in a prison, and his
+uncle, with the people around him who were under his uncle's command,
+were his keepers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The queen's friends dismissed.<br />Richard's titles.</div>
+
+<p>A meeting of the lords was convened, and various political
+arrangements were made to suit Richard's views. The principal members
+of the Woodville family were dismissed from the offices which they
+held, and other nobles, who were in Richard's interest, were appointed
+in their place. A new day was appointed for the coronation, namely,
+the 22d of June. The council of lords decreed also that, as the king
+was yet too young to conduct the government himself personally, his
+uncle Gloucester was, for the present, to have charge of the
+administration of public affairs, under the title of Lord Protector.
+The title in full, which Richard thenceforth assumed under this
+decree, was, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother and uncle of the
+king, Protector and Defender, Great Chamberlain, Constable, and Lord
+High Admiral of England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Anxiety of the people of England.</div>
+
+<p>During all this time the city of London, and, indeed, the whole realm
+of England, as far as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>the tidings of what was going on at the capital
+spread into the interior, had been in a state of the greatest
+excitement. The nobles, and the courtiers of all ranks, were
+constantly on the alert, full of anxiety and solicitude, not knowing
+which side to take or what sentiments to avow. They did not know what
+turn things would finally take, and, of course, could not tell what
+they were to do in order to be found, in the end, on the side that was
+uppermost. The common people in the streets, with anxious looks and
+many fearful forebodings, discussed the reports and rumors that they
+had heard. They all felt a sentiment of loyal and affectionate regard
+for the king&mdash;a sentiment which was increased and strengthened by his
+youth, his gentle disposition, and the critical and helpless situation
+that he was in; while, on the other hand, the character of Gloucester
+inspired them with a species of awe which silenced and subdued them.
+Edward, in his "protector's" hands, seemed to them like a lamb in the
+custody of a tiger.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Forlorn situation of the queen.</div>
+
+<p>The queen, all this time, remained shut up in the sanctuary, in a
+state of extreme suspense and anxiety, clinging to the children whom
+she had with her, and especially to her youngest son, the little Duke
+of York, as the next heir to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>the crown, and her only stay and hope,
+in case, through Richard's violence or treachery, any calamity should
+befall the king.</p>
+
+<p><a name="people" id="people"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 283px;">
+<img src="images/i232.jpg" class="smallgap" width="283" height="300" alt="THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Richard Lord Protector.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1483</p>
+
+<p>What sort of protection Richard afforded to the young wards who were
+committed to his charge will appear by events narrated in this
+chapter.</p>
+
+<p>It was now June, and the day, the twenty-second, which had been fixed
+upon for the coronation, was drawing nigh. By the ancient usages of
+the realm of England, the office of Protector, to which Richard had
+been appointed, would expire on the coronation of the king. Of course,
+Richard perceived at once that if he wished to prolong his power he
+must act promptly.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard forms plans for seizing the crown.</div>
+
+<p>He began to revolve in his mind the possibility of assuming the crown
+himself, and displacing the children of his older brothers; for
+Clarence left children at his decease as well as Edward. Of course,
+these children of Clarence, as well as those of Edward, would take
+precedence of him in the line of succession, being descended from an
+older brother. Richard therefore, in order to establish any claim to
+the crown for himself, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>must find some pretext for setting aside both
+these branches of the family. The pretexts which he found were these.</p>
+
+<p><a name="clarencekids" id="clarencekids"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 245px;">
+<img src="images/i234.jpg" class="smallgap" width="245" height="300" alt="CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S DEATH." title="" />
+<span class="caption">CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S DEATH.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">His plan for disposing of Edward's children.</div>
+
+<p>In respect to the children of Edward, his plan was to pretend to have
+discovered proof of Edward's having been privately married to another
+lady before his marriage with Elizabeth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>Woodville. This would, of
+course, render the marriage with Elizabeth Woodville null, and destroy
+the rights of the children to any inheritance from their father.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Clarence's children.</div>
+
+<p>In respect to the children of Clarence, he was to maintain that they
+were cut off by the attainder which had been passed against their
+father. A bill of attainder, according to the laws and usages of those
+times, not only doomed the criminal himself to death, but cut off his
+children from all rights of inheritance. It was intended to destroy
+the family as well as the man.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, however, did not at once reveal his plans, but proceeded
+cautiously to take the proper measures for putting them into
+execution.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Lady Cecily.<br />Baynard's Castle.</div>
+
+<p>In the first place, there was his mother to be conciliated, the Lady
+Cecily Neville, known, however, more generally by the title of the
+Duchess of York. She lived at this time in an old family residence
+called Baynard's Castle, which stood on the banks of the Thames.<a name="FNanchor_L_12" id="FNanchor_L_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_L_12" class="fnanchor">[L]</a> As
+soon as Richard arrived in London he went to see his mother at this
+place, and afterward he often visited her there. How far he explained
+his plans to her, and how far she encouraged or disapproved of them,
+is not known. If she was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>required to act at all in the case, it must
+have been very hard for her, in such a question of life and death, to
+decide between her youngest son alive and the children of her
+first-born in his grave. Mothers can best judge to which side, in such
+an alternative, her maternal sympathies would naturally incline her.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of the queen's friends at Pomfret Castle.</div>
+
+<p>As for the immediate members of the Woodville family, they were
+already pretty well taken care of. The queen herself, with her
+children, were shut up in the sanctuary. Her brothers, and the other
+influential men who were most prominent on her side, had been made
+prisoners, and sent to Pomfret Castle in the north. Here they were
+held under the custody of men devoted to Richard's interest. But to
+prevent the possibility of his having any farther trouble with them,
+Richard resolved to order them to be beheaded. This resolution was
+soon carried into effect, as we shall presently see.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Lord Hastings.<br />Richard's councils.<br />The Tower.</div>
+
+<p>There remained the party of nobles and courtiers that were likely to
+be hostile to the permanent continuance of the power of Richard, and
+inclined to espouse the cause of the young king. The nobles had not
+yet distinctly taken ground on this question. There were, however,
+some who were friendly to Richard. Others seemed more inclined to form
+a party <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>against him. The prominent man among this last-named set was
+Lord Hastings. There were several others besides, and Richard knew
+very well who they were. In order to circumvent and defeat any plans
+which they might be disposed to form, and to keep the power fully in
+his own hands, he convened his councils of state at different places,
+sometimes at Westminster, sometimes at the Tower, where the king was
+kept, and sometimes at his own residence, which was in the heart of
+London. He transferred the public business more and more to his own
+residence, assembling the councilors there at all times, late and
+early, and thus withdrawing them from attendance at the Tower. Very
+soon Richard's residence in London became the acknowledged
+head-quarters of influence and power, and all who had petitions to
+present or favors to obtain gathered there, while the king in the
+Tower was neglected, and left comparatively alone.</p>
+
+<p>Still the form of holding a council from time to time at the Tower was
+continued, and, of course, the nobles who assembled there were those
+most inclined to stand by and defend the cause of the king.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the state of things on the 13th of June, nine days before the
+time appointed for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>the coronation. Richard then, having carefully
+laid his plans, was prepared to take decisive measures to break up the
+party who were disposed to gather around the king at the Tower and
+espouse his cause.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Nobles in council at the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>On that day, while these nobles were holding a council in the Tower,
+suddenly, and greatly to their surprise, Richard walked in among them.
+He assumed a very good-natured and even merry air as he entered and
+took his seat, and began to talk with those present in a very friendly
+and familiar tone. This was for the purpose of lulling any suspicions
+which they might have felt on seeing him appear among them, and
+prevent them from divining the dreadful intentions with which he had
+come.</p>
+
+<p>"My lord," said he, turning to a bishop who sat near him, and who was
+one of those that he was about to arrest, "you have some excellent
+strawberries in your garden, I understand. I wish you would let me
+have a plateful of them."</p>
+
+<p>It was about the middle of June, you will recollect, which was the
+time for strawberries to be ripe.</p>
+
+<p>The bishop was very much pleased to find the great Protector taking
+such an interest in his strawberries, and he immediately called a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>servant and sent him away at once to bring some of the fruit.</p>
+
+<p>After having greeted the other nobles at the board in a somewhat
+similar style to this, with jocose and playful remarks, which had the
+effect of entirely diverting from their minds every thing like
+suspicion, he said that he must go away for a short time, but that he
+would presently return. In the mean time, they might proceed, he said,
+with their deliberations on the public business.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's proceedings at the council.</div>
+
+<p>So he went out. He proceeded at once to make the preparations
+necessary for the accomplishment of the desperate measures which he
+had determined to adopt. He stationed armed men at the doors and the
+passages of the part of the Tower where the council was assembled, and
+gave them instructions as to what they were to do, and agreed with
+them in respect to the signals which he was to give.</p>
+
+<p>In about an hour he returned, but his whole air and manner were now
+totally changed. He came in with a frowning and angry countenance,
+knitting his brows and setting his teeth, as if something had occurred
+to put him in a great rage. He advanced to the council table, and
+there accosting Lord Hastings in a very excited and angry manner, he
+demanded,</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p><p>"What punishment do you think men deserve who form plots and schemes
+for my destruction?"</p>
+
+<p>Lord Hastings was amazed at this sudden appearance of displeasure, and
+he replied to the Protector that such men, if there were any such,
+most certainly deserved death, whoever they might be.</p>
+
+<p>"It is that sorceress, my brother's wife," said Richard, "and that
+other vile sorceress, worse than she, Jane Shore. See!"</p>
+
+<p>This allusion to Jane Shore was somewhat ominous for Hastings, as it
+was generally understood that since the king's death Lord Hastings had
+taken Jane Shore under his protection, and had lived in great intimacy
+with her.</p>
+
+<p>As Richard said this, he pulled up the sleeve of his doublet to the
+elbow, to let the company look at his arm. This arm had always been
+weak, and smaller than the other.</p>
+
+<p>"See," said he, "what they are doing to me."</p>
+
+<p>He meant that by the power of necromancy they had made an image of wax
+as an effigy of him, according to the mode explained in a previous
+chapter, and were now melting it away by slow degrees in order to
+destroy his life, and that his arm was beginning to pine and wither
+away in consequence.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 369px;">
+<img src="images/i241.jpg" class="smallgap" width="369" height="300" alt="THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Scene in the council chamber at the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>The lords knew very well that the state in which they saw Richard's
+arm was its natural condition, and that, consequently, his charge
+against the queen and Jane Shore was only a pretense, which was to be
+the prelude and excuse for some violent measures that he was about to
+take. They scarcely knew what to say. At last Lord Hastings replied,</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, my lord, if they have committed so heinous an offense as
+this, they deserve a very heinous punishment."</p>
+
+<p>"If!" repeated the Protector, in a voice of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>thunder. "And thou
+servest me, then, it seems, with <i>ifs</i> and <i>ands</i>. I tell thee that
+they <i>have</i> so done&mdash;and I will make what I say good upon thy body,
+traitor!"</p>
+
+<p>He emphasized and confirmed this threat by bringing down his fist with
+a furious blow upon the table.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He makes signals for the armed men to come in.</div>
+
+<p>This was one of the signals which he had agreed upon with the people
+that he had stationed without at the door of the council hall. A voice
+was immediately heard in the ante-chamber calling out Treason. This
+was again another signal. It was a call to a band of armed men whom
+Richard had stationed in a convenient place near by, and who were to
+rush in at this call. Accordingly, a sudden noise was heard of the
+rushing of men and the clanking of iron, and before the councilors
+could recover from their consternation the table was surrounded with
+soldiery, all "in harness," that is, completely armed, and as fast as
+the foremost came in and gathered around the table, others pressed in
+after them, until the room was completely full.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, designating Hastings with a gesture, said suddenly, "I arrest
+thee, traitor."</p>
+
+<p>"What! <i>me</i>, my lord?" exclaimed Hastings, in terror.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, thee, traitor."</p>
+
+<p>Two or three of the soldiers immediately seized Hastings and prepared
+to lead him away. Other soldiers laid hands upon several of the other
+nobles, such as Richard had designated to them beforehand. These, of
+course, were the leading and prominent men of the party opposed to
+Richard's permanent ascendency. Most of these men were taken away and
+secured as prisoners in various parts of the Tower. As for Hastings,
+Richard, in a stern and angry manner, advised him to lose no time in
+saying his prayers, "for, by the Lord," said he, "I will not to dinner
+to-day till I see thy head off."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hastings is executed.</div>
+
+<p>Then, after a brief delay, to allow the wretched man a few minutes to
+say his prayers, Richard nodded to the soldiers to signify to them
+that they were to proceed to their work. They immediately took their
+victim out to a green by the side of the Tower, and, laying him down
+with his neck across a log which they found there, they cut off his
+head with a broad-axe.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 247-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i245.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="365" alt="POMFRET CASTLE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">POMFRET CASTLE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Orders sent to the north.</div>
+
+<p>The same day Richard sent off a dispatch to the north, directed to the
+men who had in charge the Earl Rivers, and the other friends of the
+king who had been made prisoners when the king was seized at Stony
+Stratford, ordering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>them all to be beheaded. The order was immediately obeyed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Execution of the prisoners at Pomfret Castle.</div>
+
+<p>The person who had charge of the execution of this order was a stern
+and ruffian-like officer named Sir Richard Ratcliffe. This man is
+quite noted in the history of the times as one of the most
+unscrupulous of Richard's adherents. He was a merciless man, short and
+rude in speech, and reckless in action, destitute alike of all pity
+for man and of all fear of God.</p>
+
+<p>The place where the prisoners had been confined was Pomfret Castle.<a name="FNanchor_M_13" id="FNanchor_M_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_M_13" class="fnanchor">[M]</a>
+On receiving the orders from Richard, Ratcliffe led them out to an
+open place without the castle wall to be beheaded. The executioners
+brought a log and an axe, and the victims were slaughtered one after
+another, without any ceremony, and without being allowed to say a word
+in self-defense.</p>
+
+<p>The whole country was shocked at hearing of these sudden and terrible
+executions; but the power was in Richard's hands, and there was no one
+capable of resisting him. The death of the leaders of what would have
+been the young king's party struck terror into the rest, and Richard
+now had every thing in his own hands, or, rather, <i>almost</i> every
+thing; for the queen and her family, being still in the sanctuary,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>were beyond his reach. He, however, had nothing to fear from her
+personally, and there were none of the children that gave him any
+concern except the Duke of York, the king's younger brother. He, you
+will recollect, was with his mother at Westminster when the king was
+seized, and she had taken him with the other children to the Abbey.
+Richard was now extremely desirous of getting possession of this boy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's plans in respect to the Duke of York.<br />He determines to seize him.</div>
+
+<p>The reason why he deemed it so essential to get possession of him was
+this. The child was, it is true, of little consequence while his
+brother the king lived; but if the king were put out of the way, then
+the thoughts and the hearts of all the loyal people of England,
+Richard knew very well, would be turned toward York as the rightful
+successor. But if they could both be put out of the way, and if the
+people of England could be induced to consider Clarence's children as
+set aside by the attainder of their father, then he himself would come
+forward as the true and rightful heir to the crown. It is true that it
+was a part of his plan, as has already been said, to declare the
+marriage of Elizabeth Woodville with the king null, and thus cut off
+both these children of Edward from their right of inheritance; but he
+knew very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>well that even if a majority of the people of England were
+to assent to this, there would certainly be a minority that would
+refuse their assent, and would adhere to the cause of the children,
+and they, if the children should fall into their hands, might, at some
+future time, make themselves very formidable to him, and threaten very
+seriously the permanence of his dominion. It was quite necessary,
+therefore, he thought, that he should get both children into his own
+power.</p>
+
+<p>"I must," said he to himself, therefore, "I must, in some way or
+other, and at all hazards, get possession of little Richard."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The case of the little Richard argued.</div>
+
+<p>It is always the policy of usurpers, and of all ambitious and aspiring
+men who wish to seize and hold power which does not properly belong to
+them, to carry the various measures necessary to the attainment of
+their ends, especially those likely to be unpopular, not by their own
+personal action, but by the agency of others, whom they put forward to
+act for them. Richard proceeded in this way in the present instance.
+He called a grand council of the peers of the realm and great officers
+of state, and caused the question to be brought up there of removing
+the young Duke of York from the custody of his mother to that of the
+Protector, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>in order that he might be with his brother. The peers who
+were in Richard's interest advocated this plan; but all the bishops
+and archbishops, who, of course, as ecclesiastics, had very high ideas
+of the sacredness and inviolability of a sanctuary, opposed the plan
+of taking the duke away except by the consent of his mother.</p>
+
+<p>The other side argued in reply to them that a sanctuary was a place
+where persons could seek refuge to escape punishment in case of crime,
+and that where no crime could have been committed, and no charges of
+crime were made, the principle did not apply. In other words, that the
+sanctuary was for men and women who had been guilty, or were supposed
+to have been guilty, of violations of law; but as children could
+commit no crime for which an asylum was necessary, the privileges of
+sanctuary did not extend to them.</p>
+
+<p>This view of the subject prevailed. The bishops and archbishops were
+outvoted, and an order in council was passed authorizing the Lord
+Protector to possess himself of his nephew, the Duke of York, and for
+this purpose to take him, if necessary, out of sanctuary by force.</p>
+
+<p>Still, the bishops and archbishops were very unwilling that force
+should be used, if it could possibly be avoided; and finally the
+Archbishop <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>of Canterbury, who was the highest prelate in the realm,
+proposed that a deputation from the council should be sent to the
+Abbey, and that he should go with them, in order to see the queen, and
+make the attempt to persuade her to give up her son of her own accord.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Delegation sent to the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>After giving notice to the abbot of their intended visit, and making
+an arrangement with him and with the queen in respect to the time when
+they could be received, the delegation proceeded in state to the Abbey
+on the appointed day, and were received by the abbot and by Elizabeth
+with due ceremony in the Jerusalem chamber, the great audience hall of
+the Abbey, which has already been described.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Interview with the mother of the princes.</div>
+
+<p>The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was at the head of the delegation,
+explained the case to the queen. They wished her, he said, to allow
+her son, the Duke of York, to leave the sanctuary, and to join his
+brother the king at his royal residence in the Tower. He would be
+perfectly safe there, he said, under the care of his uncle, the Lord
+Protector.</p>
+
+<p>"The Protector thinks it very necessary that the duke should go,"
+added the archbishop, "to be company for his brother. The king is very
+melancholy, he says, for want of a playfellow."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p><p>"And so the Protector," replied the queen&mdash;"God grant that he may
+really prove a protector&mdash;thinks that the king needs a playfellow! And
+can no playfellow be found for him except his brother?</p>
+
+<p>"Besides," she added, "he is not in a mood to play. He is not well.
+They must find some other playmate for his brother. Just as if
+princes, while they are so young, could not as well have some one to
+play with them not of their own rank, or as if a boy must have his
+brother, and nobody else for his mate, when every body knows that boys
+are more likely to disagree with their brothers than they are with
+other children."</p>
+
+<p>The archbishop, in reply, proceeded to argue the case with the queen,
+and to represent the necessity, arising from reasons of state, why the
+young duke should be committed to the charge of his uncle. He
+explained to her, too, that the Lord Protector had been fully
+authorized, by a decree of the council, to come and take his nephew
+from the Abbey, and to employ force, if necessary, to effect the
+purpose, but that it would be much better, both for the queen herself
+and the young duke, as well as for all concerned, that the affair
+should be settled in a peaceable and amicable manner.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The queen is forced to give up the child.</div>
+
+<p>The unhappy queen saw at last that there was no alternative but for
+her to submit to her fate and give up her boy. Slowly and reluctantly
+she came to this conclusion, and finally gave her consent. Richard was
+brought in. His mother took him by the hand, and again addressed the
+archbishop and the delegation, speaking substantially as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"My lord," said she, "and all my lords now present, I will not be so
+suspicious as to mistrust the promises you make me, or to believe that
+you are dealing otherwise than fairly and honorably by me. Here is my
+son. I give him up to your charge. I have no doubt that he would be
+safe here under my protection, if I could be allowed to keep him with
+me, although I have enemies that so hate me and all my blood, that I
+believe, if they thought they had any of it in their own veins, they
+would open them to let it flow out.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The parting scene.</div>
+
+<p>"I give him up, at your demand, to the protection of his brother and
+his uncle. And yet I know well that the desire of a kingdom knows no
+kindred. Brothers have been their brothers' bane, and can these
+nephews be sure of their uncle? The boys would be safe if kept
+asunder; together&mdash;I do not know. Nevertheless, I here deliver my son,
+and with him his brother's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>life, into your hands, and of you shall I
+require them both, before God and man. I know that you are faithful
+and true in what you intend, and you have power, moreover, to keep the
+children safe, if you will. If you think that I am over-anxious and
+fear too much, take care that you yourselves do not fear too little."</p>
+
+<p>Then drawing Richard to her, she kissed him very lovingly, the tears
+coming to her eyes as she did so.</p>
+
+<p>"Farewell," she said, "farewell, mine own sweet son. God send you good
+keeping. I must kiss you before you go, for God knows when we shall
+kiss together again."</p>
+
+<p>She kissed him again and blessed him, and then turned to go away,
+weeping bitterly.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The prince is taken away.</div>
+
+<p>The child began to weep too, from sympathy with his mother's distress.
+The archbishop, however, took him by the hand and led him away,
+followed by the rest of the delegation.</p>
+
+<p>They conveyed the young duke first to the hall of the council, which
+was very near, and thence to the Lord Protector's residence in the
+city. Here he was received with every mark of consideration and honor,
+and a handsome escort was provided to conduct him in state to the
+Tower, where he joined his brother.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Both princes entirely in Richard's power.</div>
+
+<p>Richard had now every thing under his own <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>control. The delivery of
+the Duke of York into his hands took place on the sixteenth of June.
+The time which had been set for the coronation was the twenty-second.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XIII" id="Chapter_XIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Proclaimed King.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1483</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Duke of Buckingham.<br />Historical doubts.</div>
+
+<p>Richard, having thus obtained control of every thing essential to the
+success of his plans, began to prepare for action. His chief friend
+and confederate, the one on whom he relied most for the execution of
+the several measures which he proposed to take, was a powerful
+nobleman named the Duke of Buckingham. I shall proceed in this chapter
+to describe the successive steps of the course which Richard and the
+Duke of Buckingham pursued in raising Richard to the throne, as
+recorded by the different historians of those days, and as generally
+believed since, though, in fact, there have been great disputes in
+respect to these occurrences, and it is now quite difficult to
+ascertain with certainty what the precise truth of the case really is.
+This, however, is, after all, of no great practical importance, for,
+in respect to remote transactions of this nature, the thing which is
+most necessary for the purposes of general education is to understand
+what the story is, in detail, which has been generally received among
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>mankind, and to which the allusions of orators and poets, and the
+discussions of statesmen and moralists in subsequent ages refer, for
+it is with this story alone that for all the purposes of general
+reading we have any thing to do.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard at Baynard's Castle.</div>
+
+<p>Richard was residing at this time chiefly at Baynard's Castle with his
+mother.<a name="FNanchor_N_14" id="FNanchor_N_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_N_14" class="fnanchor">[N]</a> The young king and his brother, the Duke of York, were in
+the Tower. They were not nominally prisoners, but yet Richard kept
+close watch and ward over them, and took most effectual precautions to
+prevent their making their escape. The queen, Elizabeth Woodville,
+with her daughters, was in the sanctuary. Richard's wife, with the
+young child, was still at Middleham Castle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The expense-book.<br />Items from the expense-book.</div>
+
+<p>It is a very curious circumstance, showing how sometimes records of
+the most trivial and insignificant things come down to us from ancient
+times in a clear and certain form, while all that is really important
+to know is involved in doubt and obscurity&mdash;that the household
+expense-book of Anne at Middleham is still extant, showing all the
+little items of expense incurred for Richard's son, while all is
+dispute and uncertainty in respect to the great political <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>schemes and
+measures of his father. In this book there is a charge of 22<i>s.</i> 9<i>d.</i>
+for a piece of green cloth, and another of 1<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> for making it
+into gowns for "my lord prince." There is also a charge of 5<i>s.</i> for a
+feather for him, and 13<i>s.</i> 1<i>d.</i> paid to a shoemaker, named Dirick,
+for a pair of shoes. This expense-book was continued after Anne left
+Middleham Castle to go to London, as will be presently related. There
+are several charges on the journey for offerings and gifts made by the
+child at churches on the way. Two men were paid 6<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> for
+running on foot by the side of his carriage. These men's names were
+Medcalf and Pacock. There is also a charge of 2<i>d.</i> for mending a
+whip!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's plans.</div>
+
+<p>But to return to our narrative. The time for the coronation of Edward
+the Fifth was drawing near, but Richard intended to prevent the
+performance of this ceremony, and to take the crown for himself
+instead. The first thing was to put in circulation the story that his
+two nephews were not the legitimate children of his brother, Edward
+the Fourth, and to prepare the way for this, he wished first, by every
+means, to cast odium on Edward's character. This was easily done, for
+Edward's character was bad enough to merit any degree of odium which
+his brother might wish it to bear.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Richard's determination in respect to Jane Shore.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, Richard employed his friends and partisans in talking as
+much as possible in all quarters about the dissoluteness and the vices
+of the late king. False stories would probably have been invented, if
+it had not been that there were enough that were true. These stories
+were all revived and put in circulation, and every thing was made to
+appear as unfavorable for Edward as possible. Richard himself, on the
+other hand, feigned a very strict and scrupulous regard for virtue and
+morality, and deemed it his duty, he said, to do all in his power to
+atone for and wipe away the reproach which his brother's loose and
+wicked life had left upon the court and the kingdom. Among other
+things, the cause of public morals demanded, he said, that an example
+should be made of Jane Shore, who had been the associate and partner
+of the king in his immoralities.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Jane's character.</div>
+
+<p>Jane Shore, it will be recollected, was the wife of a rich citizen of
+London, whom Edward had enticed away from her husband and brought to
+court. She was naturally a very amiable and kind-hearted woman, and
+all accounts concur in saying that she exercised the power that she
+acquired over the mind of the king in a very humane and praiseworthy
+manner. She was always ready to interpose, when the king <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>contemplated
+any act of harshness or severity, to avert his anger and save his
+intended victim, and, in general, she did a great deal to soften the
+brutality of his character, and to protect the innocent and helpless
+from the wrongs which he would otherwise have often done them. These
+amiable and gentle traits of character do not, indeed, atone at all
+for the grievous sin which she committed in abandoning her husband and
+living voluntarily with the king, but they did much toward modifying
+the feeling of scorn and contempt with which she would have otherwise
+been regarded by the people of England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her jewelry confiscated.<br />The punishment of Jane Shore.</div>
+
+<p>Richard caused Jane to be arrested and sent to prison. He also seized
+all her plate and jewels, and confiscated them. She had a very rich
+and valuable collection of these things.<a name="FNanchor_O_15" id="FNanchor_O_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_O_15" class="fnanchor">[O]</a> Richard then caused an
+ecclesiastical court to be organized, and sent her before it to be
+tried. The court, undoubtedly in accordance with instructions that
+Richard himself gave them, sentenced her, by way of penance for her
+sins, to walk in midday through the streets of London, from one end of
+the city to the other, almost entirely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>undressed. The intention of
+this severe exposure was to designate her to those who should assemble
+to witness the punishment as a wanton, and thus to put her to shame,
+and draw upon her the scorn and derision of the populace. They found
+some old and obsolete law which authorized such a punishment. The
+sentence was carried into effect on a Sunday. The unhappy criminal was
+conducted through the principal streets of the city, wearing a
+night-dress, and carrying a lighted taper in her hand, between rows of
+spectators that assembled by thousands along the way to witness the
+scene. But, instead of being disposed to receive her with taunts and
+reproaches, the populace were moved to compassion by her saddened look
+and her extreme beauty. Their hearts were softened by the remembrance
+of the many stories they had heard of the kindness of her heart, and
+the amiableness and gentleness of her demeanor, in the time of her
+prosperity and power. They thought it hard, too, that the law should
+be enforced so rigidly against her alone, while so many multitudes in
+all ranks of society, high as well as low, were allowed to go
+unpunished.</p>
+
+<p>Still, Richard's object in this exhibition was accomplished. The
+transaction had the effect <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>of calling the attention of the public
+universally and strongly to the fact that Edward the Fourth had been a
+loose and dissolute man, and prepared people's minds for the charge
+which was about to be brought against him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Alleged marriage of Edward IV. to Elinor Talbot.</div>
+
+<p>This charge was that he had been secretly married to another lady
+before his union with Elizabeth Woodville, and that consequently by
+this latter marriage he was guilty of bigamy. Of course, if this were
+true, the second marriage would be null and void, and the children
+springing from it would have no rights as heirs.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Particulars of the story.</div>
+
+<p>Whether there was any truth in this story or not can not now ever be
+certainly known. All that is certain is that Richard circulated the
+report, and he found several witnesses to testify to the truth of it.
+The maiden name of the lady to whom they said the king had been
+married was Elinor Talbot. She had married in early life a certain
+Lord Boteler, whose widow she was at the time that Edward was alleged
+to have married her. The marriage was performed in a very private
+manner by a certain bishop, nobody being present besides the parties
+except the bishop himself, and he was strictly charged by the king to
+keep the affair a profound secret. This he promised to do.
+Notwithstanding his promise, however, the bishop <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>some time
+subsequently, after the king had been married to Elizabeth Woodville,
+revealed the secret of the previous marriage to Gloucester, at which
+the king, when he heard of it, was extremely angry. He accused the
+bishop of having betrayed the trust which he had reposed in him, and,
+dismissing him at once from office, shut him up in prison.</p>
+
+<p>Richard having, as he said, kept these facts secret during his
+brother's lifetime, out of regard for the peace of the family, now
+felt it his duty to make them known, in order to prevent the wrong
+which would be done by allowing the crown to descend to a son who, not
+being born in lawful wedlock, could have no rights as heir.</p>
+
+<p>After disseminating this story among the influential persons connected
+with the court, and through all the circles of high life, during the
+week, it was arranged that on the following Sunday the facts should be
+made known publicly to the people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plan for publishing it.</div>
+
+<p>There was a large open space near St. Paul's Cathedral, in the very
+heart of London, where it was the custom to hold public assemblies of
+all kinds, both religious and political. There was a pulpit built on
+one side of this space, from which sermons were preached, orations
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>and harangues pronounced, and proclamations made. Oaths were
+administered here too, in cases where it was required to administer
+oaths to large numbers of people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sermon preached by Dr. Shaw near St. Paul's.</div>
+
+<p>From this pulpit, on the next Sunday after the penance of Jane Shore,
+a certain Dr. Shaw, who was a brother of the Lord-mayor of London,
+preached a sermon to a large concourse of citizens, in which he openly
+attempted to set aside the claims of the two boys, and to prove that
+Richard was the true heir to the crown.</p>
+
+<p>He took for his text a passage from the Wisdom of Solomon, "The
+multiplying brood of the ungodly shall not thrive." In this discourse
+he explained to his audience that Edward, when he was married to
+Elizabeth Woodville, was already the husband of Elinor Boteler, and
+consequently that the second marriage was illegal and void, and the
+children of it entirely destitute of all claims to the crown. He also,
+it is said, advanced the idea that neither Edward nor Clarence were
+the children of their reputed father, the old Duke of York, but that
+Richard was the oldest legitimate son of the marriage, in proof of
+which he offered the fact that Richard strongly resembled the duke in
+person, while neither Edward nor Clarence had borne any resemblance to
+him at all.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Ingenious contrivance.<br />Coolness of the people.</div>
+
+<p>It was arranged, moreover&mdash;so it was said&mdash;that, when the preacher
+came to the passage where he was to speak of the resemblance which
+Richard bore to his father, the great Duke of York, Richard himself
+was to enter the assembly as if by accident, and thus give the
+preacher the opportunity to illustrate and confirm what he had said by
+directing his audience to observe for themselves the resemblance which
+he had pointed out, and also to excite them to a burst of enthusiasm
+in Richard's favor by the eloquent appeal which the incident of
+Richard's entrance was to awaken. But this intended piece of stage
+effect, if it was really planned, failed in the execution. Richard did
+not come in at the right time, and when he did come in, either the
+preacher managed the case badly, or else the people were very little
+disposed to espouse Richard's cause; for when the orator, at the close
+of his appeal, expected applause and acclamations, the people uttered
+no response, but looked at each other in silence, and remained wholly
+unmoved.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meeting at the Guildhall.</div>
+
+<p>In the course of the following two or three days, other attempts were
+made to excite the populace to some demonstration in Richard's favor,
+but they did not succeed. The Duke of Buckingham met a large concourse
+of Londoners <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>at the Guildhall, which is in the centre of the business
+portion of the city. He was supported by a number of nobles, knights,
+and distinguished citizens, and he made a long and able speech to the
+assembly, in which he argued strenuously in favor of calling Richard
+to the throne. He denounced the character of the former king, and
+enlarged at length on the dissipated and vicious life which he had
+led. He also related to the people the story of Edward's having been
+the husband of Lady Elinor Boteler at the time when his marriage with
+Queen Elizabeth took place, which fact, as Buckingham showed, made the
+marriage with Elizabeth void, and cut off the children from the
+inheritance. The children of Clarence had been cut off, too, by the
+attainder, and so Richard was the only remaining heir.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The people do not respond.</div>
+
+<p>The duke concluded his harangue by asking the assembly if, under those
+circumstances, they would not call upon Richard to ascend the throne.
+A few of the poorer sort, very likely some that had been previously
+hired to do it, threw up their caps into the air in response to this
+appeal, and cried out, "Long live King Richard!" But the major part,
+comprising all the more respectable portion of the assembly, looked
+grave and were silent. Some who were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>pressed to give their opinion
+said they must take time to consider.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The appeals to the people fail.</div>
+
+<p>Thus these appeals to the people failed, so far as the object of them
+was to call forth a popular demonstration in Richard's favor. But in
+one respect they accomplished the object in view: they had the effect
+of making it known throughout London and the vicinity that a
+revolution was impending, and thus preparing men's minds to acquiesce
+in the change more readily than they might perhaps have done if it had
+come upon them suddenly and with a shock.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Grand council convened.<br />Arrangements made by Buckingham.</div>
+
+<p>On the following day after the address at the Guildhall, a grand
+assembly of all the lords, bishops, councilors, and officers of state
+was convened in Westminster. It was substantially a Parliament, though
+not a Parliament in form. The reason why it was not called as a
+Parliament in form was because Richard, having doubts, as he said,
+about the right of Edward to the throne, could not conscientiously
+advise that any public act should be performed in his name, and a
+Parliament could only be legally convened by summons from a king.
+Accordingly, this assembly was only an informal meeting of the peers
+of England and other great dignitaries of Church and State, with a
+view of consulting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>together to determine what should be done. Of
+course, it was all fully arranged and settled beforehand, among those
+who were in Richard's confidence, what the result of these
+deliberations was to be. The Duke of Buckingham, Richard's principal
+friend and supporter, managed the business at the meeting. The
+assembly consisted, of course, chiefly of the party of Richard's
+friends. The principal leaders of the parties opposed to him had been
+beheaded or shut up in prison; of the rest, some had fled, some had
+concealed themselves, and of the few who dared to show themselves at
+the meeting, there were none who had the courage, or perhaps I ought
+rather to say the imprudence and folly, to oppose any thing which
+Buckingham should undertake to do.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The petition.</div>
+
+<p>The result of the deliberations of this council was the drawing up of
+a petition to be presented to Richard, declaring him the true and
+rightful heir to the crown, and praying him to assume at once the
+sovereign power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Substance of the petition.</div>
+
+<p>A delegation was appointed to wait upon Richard and present the
+petition to him. Buckingham was at the head of this delegation. The
+petition was written out in due form upon a roll of parchment. It
+declared that, inasmuch as it was clearly established that King Edward
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>Fourth was already the husband of "Dame Alionora Boteler," by a
+previous marriage, at the time of his pretended marriage with
+Elizabeth Woodville, and that consequently his children by Elizabeth
+Woodville, not being born in lawful wedlock, could have no rights of
+inheritance whatever from their father, and especially could by no
+means derive from him any title to the crown; and inasmuch as the
+children of Clarence had been cut off from the succession by the bill
+of attainder which had been passed against their father; and inasmuch
+as Richard came next in order to these in the line of succession,
+therefore he was now the true and rightful heir. This his right
+moreover by birth was now confirmed by the decision of the estates of
+the realm assembled for the purpose; wherefore the petition, in
+conclusion, invited and urged him at once to assume the crown which
+was thus his by a double title&mdash;the right of birth and the election of
+the three estates of the realm.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Real object of it.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, although the petition was addressed to Richard as if the
+object of it was to produce an effect upon his mind, it was really all
+planned and arranged by Richard himself, and by Buckingham in
+conjunction with him; and the representations and arguments which it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>contained were designed solely for effect on the mind of the public,
+when the details of the transaction should be promulgated throughout
+the land.</p>
+
+<p>The petition being ready, Buckingham, in behalf of the delegation,
+demanded an audience of the Lord Protector that they might lay it
+before him. Richard accordingly made an appointment to receive them at
+his mother's residence at Baynard's Castle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard receives the petition at Baynard's Castle.</div>
+
+<p>At the appointed time the delegation appeared, and were received in
+great state by Richard in the audience hall. The Duke of Buckingham
+presented the petition, and Richard read it. He seemed surprised, and
+he pretended to be at a loss what to reply. Presently he began to say
+that he could not think of assuming the crown. He said he had no
+ambition to reign, but only desired to preserve the kingdom for his
+nephew the king until he should become of sufficient age, and then to
+put him peaceably in possession of it. But the Duke of Buckingham
+replied that this could never be. The people of England, he said,
+would never consent to be ruled by a prince of illegitimate birth.</p>
+
+<p>"And if you, my lord," added the duke, "refuse to accept the crown,
+they know where to find another who will gladly accept it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i270.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="356" alt="BAYNARD'S CASTLE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">BAYNARD'S CASTLE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Richard concludes to accept the crown.</div>
+
+<p>In the end, Richard allowed himself to be persuaded that there was no
+alternative but for him to accept the crown, and he reluctantly
+consented that, on the morrow, he would proceed in state to
+Westminster, and publicly assume the title and the prerogatives of
+king.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, the next day, a grand procession was formed, and Richard
+was conducted with great pomp to Westminster Hall. Here he took his
+place on the throne, with the leading lords of his future court, and
+the bishops and archbishops around him. The rest of the hall was
+crowded with a vast concourse of people that had assembled to witness
+the ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>First the king took the customary royal oath, which was administered
+by the archbishop. He then summoned the great judges before him, and
+made an address to them, exhorting them to administer the laws and
+execute judgment between man and man in a just and impartial manner,
+inasmuch as to secure that end, he said, would be the first and
+greatest object of his reign.</p>
+
+<p>After this Richard addressed the concourse of people in the hall, who,
+in some sense, represented the public, and pronounced a pardon for all
+offenses which had been committed against himself, and ordered a
+proclamation to be made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>of a general amnesty throughout the land.
+These announcements were received by the people with loud
+acclamations, and the ceremony was concluded by shouts of "Long live
+King Richard!" from all the assembly.</p>
+
+<p>We obtain a good idea of this scene by the following engraving, which
+is copied exactly from a picture contained in a manuscript volume of
+the time.</p>
+
+<p><a name="throne" id="throne"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 331px;">
+<img src="images/i273.jpg" class="smallgap jpg" width="331" height="300" alt="THE KING ON HIS THRONE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE KING ON HIS THRONE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Ceremonies connected with the investiture of the king.</div>
+
+<p>The royal dignity having thus been assumed by the new king at the
+usual centre and seat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>of the royal power, the procession was again
+formed, and Richard was conducted to Westminster Abbey for the purpose
+of doing the homage customary on such occasions at one of the shrines
+in the church. The procession of the king was met at the door of the
+church by a procession of monks chanting a solemn anthem as they came.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard marches through London.<br />Is every where proclaimed king.</div>
+
+<p>After the religious ceremonies were completed, Richard, at the head of
+a grand cavalcade of knights, noblemen, and citizens, proceeded into
+the city to the Church of St. Paul. The streets were lined with
+spectators, who saluted the king with cheers and acclamations as he
+passed. At the Church of St. Paul more ceremonies were performed and
+more proclamations were made. The popular joy, more or less sincere,
+was expressed by the sounding of trumpets, the waving of banners, and
+loud acclamations of "Long live King Richard!" At length, when the
+services in the city were concluded, the king returned to Westminster,
+and took up his abode at the royal palace; and while he was returning,
+heralds were sent to all the great centres of concourse and
+intelligence in and around London to proclaim him king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Extraordinary character of the reign of Edward V.</div>
+
+<p>This proclamation of Richard as king took place on the twenty-sixth of
+June. King Edward <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>the Fourth died just about three months before.
+During this three months Edward the Fifth is, in theory, considered as
+having been the King of England, though, during the whole period, the
+poor child, instead of exercising any kingly rights or prerogatives,
+was a helpless prisoner in the hands of others, who, while they
+professed to be his protectors, were really his determined and
+relentless foes.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XIV" id="Chapter_XIV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Coronation.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1483</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plan for the coronation.</div>
+
+<p>It was on the 26th of June, 1483, that Richard was proclaimed king,
+under the circumstances narrated in the last chapter. In order to
+render his investiture with the royal authority complete, he resolved
+that the ceremony of coronation should be immediately performed. He
+accordingly appointed the 6th of July for the day. This allowed an
+interval of just ten days for the necessary preparations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Anne is sent for, and comes to London.</div>
+
+<p>The first thing to be done was to send to Middleham Castle for Anne,
+his wife, who now, since the proclamation of Richard, became Queen of
+England. Richard wished that she should be present, and take part in
+the ceremony of the coronation. The child was to be brought too. His
+name was Edward.</p>
+
+<p>It seems that Anne arrived in London only on the 3d of July, three
+days before the appointed day. There is a specification in the book of
+accounts of some very elegant and costly cloth of gold bought on that
+day in London, the material for the queen's coronation robe.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p><p>Richard determined that the ceremony of his coronation should be more
+magnificent than that of any previous English monarch. Preparations
+were made, accordingly, on a very grand scale. There were several
+preliminary pageants and processions on the days preceding that of the
+grand ceremony.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Procession of barges.</div>
+
+<p>On the 4th of July, which was Sunday, the king and queen proceeded in
+state to the Tower. They went in barges on the river. The party set
+out from Baynard's Castle, the residence of Richard's mother, and the
+place where the queen went on her arrival in London.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Great crowds of spectators.<br />The royal barges.</div>
+
+<p>The royal barges destined to convey the king and queen, and the other
+great personages of the party, were covered with canopies of silk and
+were otherwise magnificently adorned. Great crowds of spectators
+assembled to witness the scene. Some came in boats upon the water,
+others took their stations on the shores, where every prominent and
+commanding point was covered with its own special crowd, and others
+still occupied the windows of the buildings that looked out upon the
+river.</p>
+
+<p>Through the midst of this scene the royal barges passed down the river
+to the Tower. As they moved along, the air was filled with prolonged
+and continual shouts of "Long live <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>King Richard!" "Long live the
+noble Queen Anne!"</p>
+
+<p>Royal or imperial power, once firmly established, will never fail to
+draw forth the acclamations of the crowd, no matter by what means it
+has been acquired.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrival at the Tower.<br />Measures adopted.</div>
+
+<p>On his arrival at the Tower, Richard was received with great honor by
+the authorities which he had left in charge there, and he took
+possession of the edifice formally, as one of his own royal
+residences. He held a court in the great council-hall. At this court
+he created several persons peers of the realm, and invested others
+with the honor of knighthood. These were men whom he supposed to be
+somewhat undecided in respect to the course which they should pursue,
+and he wished, by these compliments and honors, to purchase their
+adhesion to his cause.</p>
+
+<p>He also liberated some persons who had been made prisoners, presuming
+that, by this kindness, he should conciliate their good-will.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The princes imprisoned.</div>
+
+<p>He did not, however, by any means extend this conciliating policy to
+the case of the young ex-king and his brother; indeed, it would have
+been extremely dangerous for him to have done so. He was aware that
+there must be a large number of persons throughout the kingdom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>who
+still considered Edward as the rightful king, and he knew very well
+that, if any of these were to obtain possession of Edward's person, it
+would enable them to act vigorously in his name, and to organize
+perhaps a powerful party for the support of his claims. He was
+convinced, therefore, that it was essential to the success of his
+plans that the boys should be kept in very close and safe custody. So
+he removed them from the apartments which they had hitherto occupied,
+and shut them up in close confinement in a gloomy tower upon the outer
+walls of the fortress, and which, on account of the cruel murders
+which were from time to time committed there, subsequently acquired
+the name of the Bloody Tower.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 447px;">
+<img src="images/i280.jpg" class="smallgap" width="447" height="500" alt="THE BLOODY TOWER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE BLOODY TOWER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Richard and Anne proceed to Westminster.</div>
+
+<p>Richard and the queen remained at the Tower until the day appointed
+for the coronation, which was Tuesday. The ceremonies of that day were
+commenced by a grand progress of the king and his suite through the
+city of London back to Westminster, only, as if to vary the pageantry,
+they went back in grand cavalcade through the streets of the city,
+instead of returning as they came, by barges on the river. The
+concourse of spectators on this occasion was even greater than before.
+The streets were every where thronged, and very strict regulations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>were
+made, by Richard's command, to prevent disorder.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ceremonies connected with the coronation.</div>
+
+<p>On arriving at Westminster, the royal party proceeded to the Abbey,
+where, first of all, as was usual in the case of a coronation, certain
+ceremonies of religious homage were to be performed at a particular
+shrine, which was regarded as an object of special sanctity on such
+occasions. The king and queen proceeded to this shrine from the great
+hall, barefooted, in token of reverence and humility. They walked,
+however, it should be added, on ornamented cloth laid down for this
+purpose on the stone pavements of the floors. All the knights and
+nobles of England that were present accompanied and followed the king
+and queen in their pilgrimage to the shrine.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The royal paraphernalia.</div>
+
+<p>One of these nobles bore the king's crown, another the queen's crown,
+and others still various other ancient national emblems of royal
+power. The queen walked under a canopy of silk, with a golden bell
+hanging from each of the corners of it. The canopy was borne by four
+great officers of state, and the bells, of course, jingled as the
+bearers walked along.</p>
+
+<p>The queen wore upon her head a circlet of gold adorned with precious
+stones. There were four bishops, one at each of the four corners of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>the canopy, who walked as immediate attendants upon the queen, and a
+lady of the very highest rank followed her, bearing her train.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Religious services.</div>
+
+<p>When the procession reached the shrine, the king and queen took their
+seats on each side of the high altar, and then there came forth a
+procession of priests and bishops, clothed in magnificent sacerdotal
+robes made of cloth of gold, and chanting solemn hymns of prayer and
+praise as they came.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The king and queen crowned.</div>
+
+<p>After the religious services were completed, the ceremony of anointing
+and crowning the king and queen, and of investing their persons with
+the royal robes and emblems, was performed with the usual grand and
+imposing solemnities. After this, the royal cort&eacute;ge was formed again,
+and the company returned to Westminster Hall in the same order as they
+came. The queen walked, as before, under her silken canopy, the golden
+bells keeping time, by their tinkling, with the steps of the bearers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The dais.</div>
+
+<p>At Westminster Hall a great dais had been erected, with thrones upon
+it for the king and queen. As their majesties advanced and ascended
+this dais, surrounded by the higher nobles and chief officers of
+state, the remainder of the procession, consisting of those who had
+come to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>accompany and escort them to the place, followed, and filled
+the hall.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ceremonial in Westminster Hall.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as this vast throng saw that the king and queen were seated
+upon the dais, with their special and immediate attendants around
+them, their duties were ended, and they were to be dismissed. A grand
+officer of state, whose duty it was to dismiss them, came in on
+horseback, his horse covered with cloth of gold hanging down on both
+sides to the ground. The people, falling back before this horseman,
+gradually retired, and thus the hall was cleared.</p>
+
+<p>The king and queen then rose from their seats upon the dais, and were
+conducted to their private apartments in the palace, to rest and
+refresh themselves after the fatigues of the public ceremony, and to
+prepare for the grand banquet which was to take place in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>The preparations for this banquet were made by spreading a table upon
+the dais under the canopy for the king and queen, and four other very
+large and long tables through the hall for the invited guests.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The banquet.</div>
+
+<p>The time appointed for the banquet was four o'clock. When the hour
+arrived, the king and queen were conducted into the hall again, and
+took their places at the table which had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>been prepared for them on
+the dais. They had changed their dresses, having laid aside their
+royal robes, and the various paraphernalia of office with which they
+had been indued at the coronation, and now appeared in robes of
+crimson velvet embroidered with gold, and trimmed with costly furs.
+They were attended by many lords and ladies of the highest rank,
+scarcely less magnificently dressed than themselves. They were waited
+upon, while at table, by the noblest persons in the realm, who served
+them from the most richly wrought vessels of gold and silver.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The royal champion.</div>
+
+<p>After the first part of the banquet was over, a knight, fully armed,
+and mounted on a warhorse richly caparisoned, rode into the hall,
+having been previously announced by a herald. This was the king's
+champion, who came, according to a custom usually observed on such
+occasions, to challenge and defy the king's enemies, if any such there
+were.<a name="FNanchor_P_16" id="FNanchor_P_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_P_16" class="fnanchor">[P]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Grand challenge.</div>
+
+<p>The trappings of the champion's horse were of white and red silk, and
+the armor of the knight himself was bright and glittering. As he rode
+forward into the area in front of the dais, he called out, in a loud
+voice, demanding of all present if there were any one there who
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>disputed the claim of King Richard the Third to the crown of England.</p>
+
+<p>All the people gazed earnestly at the champion while he made this
+demand, but no one responded.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Gauntlet thrown down.</div>
+
+<p>The champion then made proclamation again, that if any one there was
+who would come forward and say that King Richard was not lawfully King
+of England, he was ready there to fight him to the death, in
+vindication of Richard's right. As he said this, he threw down his
+gauntlet upon the floor, in token of defiance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The spectators.</div>
+
+<p>At this, the whole assembly, with one voice, began to shout, "Long
+live King Richard!" and the immense hall was filled, for some minutes,
+with thundering acclamations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A largesse.</div>
+
+<p>This ceremony being concluded, a company of heralds came forward
+before the king, and proclaimed "a largesse," as it was called. The
+ceremony of a largesse consisted in throwing money among the crowd to
+be scrambled for. Three times the money was thrown out, on this
+occasion, among the guests in the hall. The amount that is charged on
+the royal account-book for the expense of this largesse is one hundred
+pounds.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Modern largesses.</div>
+
+<p>The scrambling of a crowd for money thrown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>thus among them, one would
+say, was a very rude and boisterous amusement, but those were rude and
+boisterous times. The custom holds its ground in England, in some
+measure, to the present day, though now it is confined to throwing out
+pence and halfpence to the rabble in the streets at an election, and
+is no longer, as of yore, relied upon as a means of entertaining noble
+guests at a royal dinner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The torches.</div>
+
+<p>After the frolic of the largesse was over, the king and queen rose to
+depart. The evening was now coming on, and a great number of torches
+were brought in to illuminate the hall. By the light of these torches,
+the company, after their majesties had retired, gradually withdrew,
+and the ceremonies of the coronation were ended.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XV" id="Chapter_XV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XV.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Fate of the Princes.</span></h2>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The king resolves on a grand progress through the kingdom.</div>
+
+<p>After the coronation, King Richard and Anne, the queen, went to
+Windsor, and took up their residence there, with the court, for a
+short time, in order that Richard might attend to the most important
+of the preliminary arrangements for the management of public affairs,
+which are always necessary at the commencement of a new reign. As soon
+as these things were settled, the king set out to make a grand
+progress through his dominions, for the purpose of receiving the
+congratulations of the people, and also of impressing them, as much as
+possible, with a sense of his grandeur and power by the magnificence
+of his retinue, and the great parades and celebrations by which his
+progress through the country was to be accompanied.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Oxford.<br />State of public sentiment.</div>
+
+<p>From Windsor Castle the king went first to Oxford, where he was
+received with distinguished honors by all the great dignitaries
+connected with the University. Hence he proceeded to Gloucester, and
+afterward to Worcester. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>At all these places he was received with
+great parade and pageantry. Those who were disposed to espouse his
+cause, of course, endeavored to gain his favor by doing all in their
+power to give &eacute;clat to these celebrations. Those who were indifferent
+or in doubt, flocked, of course, to see the shows, and thus
+involuntarily contributed to the apparent popularity of the
+demonstrations; while, on the other hand, those who were opposed to
+him, and adhered still secretly to the cause of young King Edward,
+made no open opposition, but expressed their dissent, if they
+expressed it at all, in private conclaves of their own. They could not
+do otherwise than to allow Richard to have his own way during the hour
+of his triumph, <i>their</i> hour being not yet come.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Warwick Castle.</div>
+
+<p>At last, Richard, in his progress, reached Warwick Castle, and here he
+was joined by the queen and the young prince, who had remained at
+Windsor while the king was making his tour through the western towns,
+but who now came across the country with a grand retinue of her own,
+to join her husband at her own former home; for Warwick Castle was the
+chief stronghold and principal residence of the great Earl of Warwick,
+the queen's father. The king and queen remained for some time at
+Warwick <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>Castle, and the king established his court here, and
+maintained it with great pomp and splendor. Here he received
+embassadors from Spain, France, and Burgundy, who had been sent by
+their several governments to congratulate him on his accession, and to
+pay him their homage. Each of these embassadors came in great state,
+and were accompanied by a grand retinue; and the ceremonies of
+receiving them, and the entertainments given to do them honor, were
+magnificent beyond description.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Embassadors.</div>
+
+<p>One of these embassadors, the one sent by the government of Spain,
+brought a formal proposal from Ferdinand and Isabella for a marriage
+between their daughter and Richard's little son. The little prince was
+at that time about seven years of age.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrival at York.</div>
+
+<p>After remaining some time at Warwick Castle, the royal party proceeded
+northward, and, after passing through several large towns, they
+arrived finally at York, which was then, in some sense, the northern
+capital of the kingdom. Here there was another grand reception. All
+the nobility and gentry of the surrounding country came in to honor
+the king's arrival, and the ceremonies attending the entrance of the
+royal cort&eacute;ge were extremely magnificent.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The coronation repeated.<br />Richard's son.</div>
+
+<p>While the court was at York, Richard repeated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>the ceremony of the
+coronation. On this occasion, his son, the little Prince Edward, was
+brought forward in a conspicuous manner. He was created Prince of
+Wales with great ceremony, and on the day of the coronation he had a
+little crown upon his head, and his mother led him by the hand in the
+procession to the altar.</p>
+
+<p>The poor child did not live, however, to realize the grand destiny
+which his father thus marked out for him. He died a few months after
+this at Middleham Castle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Celebrations and rejoicings.</div>
+
+<p>The coronation at York was attended and followed, as that at London
+had been, with banquets and public parades, and grand celebrations of
+all sorts, which continued for several successive days, and the
+hilarity and joy which these shows awakened among the crowds that
+assembled to witness them seemed to indicate a universal acquiescence
+on the part of the people of England in Richard's accession to the
+throne.</p>
+
+<p>Still, although outwardly every thing looked fair, Richard's mind was
+not yet by any means at ease. From the very day of his accession, he
+knew well that, so long as the children of his brother Edward remained
+alive at the Tower, his seat on the throne could not be secure. There
+must necessarily be, he was well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>aware, a large party in the kingdom
+who were secretly in favor of Edward, and he knew that they would very
+soon begin to come to an understanding with each other, and to form
+plans for effecting a counter-revolution. The most certain means of
+preventing the formation of these plots, or of defeating them, if
+formed, would be to remove the children out of the way. He accordingly
+determined in his heart, before he left London, that this should be
+done.<a name="FNanchor_Q_17" id="FNanchor_Q_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_Q_17" class="fnanchor">[Q]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His determination in respect to the children.</div>
+
+<p>He resolved to put them to death. The deed was to be performed during
+the course of his royal progress to the north, while the minds of the
+people of England were engrossed with the splendor of the pageantry
+with which his progress was accompanied. He intended, moreover, that
+the murder should be effected in a very secret manner, and that the
+death of the boys should be closely concealed until a time and
+occasion should arrive rendering it necessary that it should be made
+public.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His agent Green.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, soon after he left London, he sent back a confidential
+agent, named Green, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>Sir Robert Brakenbury, the governor of the
+Tower, with a letter, in which Sir Robert was commanded to put the
+boys to death.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Green's return.</div>
+
+<p>Green immediately repaired to London to execute the commission.
+Richard proceeded on his journey. When he arrived at Warwick, Green
+returned and joined him there, bringing back the report that Sir
+Robert refused to obey the order.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Conversation with the page.</div>
+
+<p>Richard was very angry when Green delivered this message. He turned to
+a page who was in waiting upon him in his chamber, and said, in a
+rage,</p>
+
+<p>"Even these men that I have brought up and made, refuse to obey my
+commands."</p>
+
+<p>The page replied,</p>
+
+<p>"Please your majesty, there is a man here in the ante-chamber, that I
+know, who will obey your majesty's commands, whatever they may be."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sir James Tyrrel.</div>
+
+<p>Richard asked the page who it was that he meant, and he said Sir James
+Tyrrel. Sir James Tyrrel was a very talented and accomplished, but
+very unscrupulous man, and he was quite anxious to acquire the favor
+of the king. The page knew this, from conversation which Sir James had
+had with him, and he had been watching an opportunity to recommend
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>Sir James to Richard's notice, according to an arrangement that Sir
+James had made with him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard employs Tyrrel.<br />The letter.</div>
+
+<p>So Richard ordered that Sir James should be sent in. When he came,
+Richard held a private conference with him, in which he communicated
+to him, by means of dark hints and insinuations, what he required.
+Tyrrel undertook to execute the deed. So Richard gave him a letter to
+Sir Robert Brakenbury, in which he ordered Sir Robert to deliver up
+the keys of the Tower to Sir James, "to the end," as the letter
+expressed it, "that he might there accomplish the king's pleasure in
+such a thing as he had given him commandment."</p>
+
+<p>Sir James, having received this letter, proceeded to London, taking
+with him such persons as he thought he might require to aid him in his
+work. Among these was a man named John Dighton. John Dighton was Sir
+James's groom. He was "a big, broad, square, strong knave," and ready
+to commit any crime or deed of violence which his master might
+require.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Tyrrel arrives at the Tower.</div>
+
+<p>On arriving at the Tower, Sir James delivered his letter to the
+governor, and the governor gave him up the keys. Sir James went to see
+the keepers of the prison in which the boys were confined. There were
+four of them. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>selected from among these four, one, a man named
+Miles Forest, whom he concluded to employ, together with his groom,
+John Dighton, to kill the princes. He formed the plan, gave the men
+their instructions, and arranged it with them that they were to carry
+the deed into execution that night.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Murder of the princes.<br />Action of the assassins.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, at midnight, when the princes were asleep, the two men
+stole softly into the room, and there wrapped the poor boys up
+suddenly in the bed-clothes, with pillows pressed down hard over their
+faces, so that they could not breathe. The boys, of course, were
+suddenly awakened, in terror, and struggled to get free; but the men
+held them down, and kept the pillows and bed-clothes pressed so
+closely over their faces that they could not breathe or utter any cry.
+They held them in this way until they were entirely suffocated.</p>
+
+<p>When they found that their struggles had ceased, they slowly opened
+the bed-clothes and lifted up the pillows to see if their victims were
+really dead.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said they to each other, "they are dead."</p>
+
+<p>The murderers took off the clothes which the princes had on, and laid
+out the bodies upon the bed. They then went to call Sir James Tyrrel,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>who was all ready, in an apartment not far off, awaiting the summons.
+He came at once, and, when he saw that the boys were really dead, he
+gave orders that the men should take the bodies down into the
+court-yard to be buried.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The burial.</div>
+
+<p>The grave was dug immediately, just outside the door, at the foot of
+the stairs which led up to the turret in which the boys had been
+confined. When the bodies had been placed in the ground, the grave was
+filled up, and some stones were put upon the top of it.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after this work had been accomplished, Sir James delivered
+back the keys to the governor of the castle, and mounted his horse to
+return to the king. He traveled with all possible speed, and, on
+reaching the place where the king then was, he reported what he had
+done.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Joy of Richard.</div>
+
+<p>The king was extremely pleased, and he rewarded Sir James very
+liberally for his energy and zeal; he, however, expressed some
+dissatisfaction at the manner in which the bodies had been disposed
+of. "They should not have been buried," he said, "in so vile a
+corner."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Re-interment of the bodies.</div>
+
+<p>So Richard sent word to the governor of the Tower, and the governor
+commissioned a priest to take up the bodies secretly, and inter them
+again in a more suitable manner. This priest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>soon afterward died,
+without revealing the place which he chose for the interment, and so
+it was never known where the bodies were finally laid.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard keeps the murder secret.</div>
+
+<p>Richard gave all the persons who had been concerned in this affair
+very strict instructions to keep the death of the princes a profound
+secret. He did not intend to make it known, unless he should perceive
+some indication of an attempt to restore Edward to the throne; and,
+had it not been for the occurrence of certain circumstances which will
+be related in the next chapter, the fate of the princes might,
+perhaps, have thus been kept secret for many years.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XVI" id="Chapter_XVI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XVI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Domestic Troubles.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1483-1484</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plots formed against Richard.</div>
+
+<p>While Richard was making his triumphal tour through the north of
+England, apparently receiving a confirmation of his right to the crown
+by the voice of the whole population of the country, the leaders of
+the Lancaster party were secretly beginning, in London, to form their
+schemes for liberating the young princes from the Tower, and restoring
+Edward to the kingdom.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Situation of Elizabeth Woodville.</div>
+
+<p>Queen Elizabeth, who still remained, with the Princess Elizabeth, her
+oldest daughter, and some of her other children, in the sanctuary at
+Westminster, was the centre of this movement. She communicated
+privately with the nobles who were disposed to espouse her cause. The
+nobles had secret meetings among themselves to form their plans. At
+these meetings they drank to the health of the king in the Tower, and
+of his brother, the little Duke of York, and pledged themselves to do
+every thing in their power to restore the king to his throne. They
+little knew that the unhappy princes were at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>that very time lying
+together in a corner of the court-yard of the prison in an ignoble
+grave.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plans of the conspirators.<br />Queen Elizabeth's agony.</div>
+
+<p>At length the conspirators' plans were matured, and the insurrection
+broke out. Richard immediately prepared to leave York, at the head of
+a strong force, to go toward London. At the same time, he allowed the
+tidings to be spread abroad that the two princes were dead. This news
+greatly disconcerted the conspirators and deranged their plans; and
+when the dreadful intelligence was communicated to the queen in the
+sanctuary, she was stunned, and almost killed by it, as by a blow.
+"She swooned away, and fell to the ground, where she lay in great
+agony, like a corpse;" and when at length she was restored to
+consciousness again, she broke forth in shrieks and cries of anguish
+so loud, that they resounded through the whole Abbey, and were most
+pitiful to hear. She beat her breast and tore her hair, calling all
+the time to her children by their names, and bitterly reproaching
+herself for her madness in giving up the youngest into his enemies'
+hands. After exhausting herself with these cries and lamentations, she
+sank into a state of calm despair, and, kneeling down upon the floor,
+she began, with dreadful earnestness and solemnity, to call upon
+Almighty God, imploring him to avenge the death of her children, and invoking the bitterest curses upon the
+head of their ruthless murderer.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 303-4]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 412px;">
+<img src="images/i301.jpg" class="smallgap" width="412" height="500" alt="QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE OF HER CHILDREN." title="" />
+<span class="caption">QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE OF HER CHILDREN.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p>
+<div class="sidenote">Retribution.</div>
+
+<p>It was but a short time after this that Richard's child died at
+Middleham Castle, as stated in the last chapter. Many persons believed
+that this calamity was a judgment of heaven, brought upon the king in
+answer to the bereaved mother's imprecations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Elizabeth visits the grave.</div>
+
+<p>It is said that when Queen Elizabeth had recovered a little from the
+first shock of her grief, she demanded to be taken to her children's
+grave. So they conducted her to the Tower, and showed her the place in
+the corner of the court-yard where they had first been buried.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Duke of Buckingham.</div>
+
+<p>One of the principal leaders of the conspiracy which had been formed
+against Richard was the Duke of Buckingham&mdash;the same that had taken so
+active a part in bringing Richard to the throne. What induced him to
+change sides so suddenly is not certainly known. It is supposed that
+he was dissatisfied with the rewards which Richard bestowed upon him.
+At any rate, he now turned against the king, and became the leader of
+the conspirators that were plotting against him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richmond.<br />Elizabeth.<br />Plans formed for a marriage.</div>
+
+<p>When the conspirators heard of the death of the princes, they were at
+first at a loss to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>know what to do. They looked about among the
+branches of the York and Lancaster families for some one to make their
+candidate for the crown. At last they decided upon a certain Henry
+Tudor, Earl of Richmond. This Henry, or Richmond, as he was generally
+called, was descended indirectly from the Lancaster line. The proposal
+of the conspirators, however, was, that he should marry the Princess
+Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth Woodville's daughter, who has already been
+mentioned among those who fled with their mother to the sanctuary. Now
+that both the sons of Elizabeth were dead, this daughter was, of
+course, King Edward's next heir, and by her marriage with Richmond the
+claims of the houses of York and Lancaster would be, in a measure,
+combined.</p>
+
+<p>When this plan was proposed to Queen Elizabeth, she acceded to it at
+once, and promised that she would give her daughter in marriage to
+Richmond, and acknowledge him as king, provided he would first conquer
+and depose King Richard, the common enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richmond plans an invasion.</div>
+
+<p>The plan was accordingly all arranged. Richmond was in France at this
+time, having fled there some time previous, after a battle, in which
+his party had been defeated. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>wrote to him, explaining the plan.
+He immediately fell in with it. He raised a small force&mdash;all that he
+could procure at that time&mdash;and set sail, with a few ships, from the
+port of St. Malo, intending to land on the coast of Devonshire, which
+is in the southwestern part of England.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the several leaders of the rebellion had gone to
+different parts of the kingdom, in order to raise troops, and form
+centres of action against Richard. Buckingham went into Wales. His
+plan was to march down, with all the forces that he could raise there,
+to the coast of Devonshire, to meet Richmond on his landing.</p>
+
+<p>This Richard resolved to prevent. He raised an army, and marched to
+intercept Buckingham. He first, however, issued a proclamation in
+which he denounced the leaders of the rebellion as criminals and
+outlaws, and set a price upon their heads.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Buckingham's attempt to co-operate.<br />Failure of the plan.<br />Death of Buckingham.</div>
+
+<p>Buckingham did not succeed in reaching the coast in time to join
+Richmond. He was stopped by the River Severn, which you will see, by
+looking on a map of England, came directly in his way. He tried to get
+across the river, but the people destroyed the bridges and the boats,
+and he could not get over. He marched up to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>where the stream was
+small, in hopes of finding a fording place, but the waters were so
+swollen with the fall rains that he failed in this attempt as well as
+the others. The result was, that Richard came up while Buckingham was
+entangled among the intricacies of the ground produced by the
+inundations. Buckingham's soldiers, seeing that they were likely to be
+surrounded, abandoned him and fled. At last Buckingham fled too, and
+hid himself; but one of his servants came and told Richard where he
+was. Richard ordered him to be seized. Buckingham sent an imploring
+message to Richard, begging that Richard would see him, and, before
+condemning him, hear what he had to say; but Richard, in the place of
+any reply, gave orders to the soldiers to take the prisoner at once
+out into the public square of the town, and cut off his head. The
+order was immediately obeyed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richmond retreats.</div>
+
+<p>When Richmond reached the coast of Devonshire, and found that
+Buckingham was not there to meet him, he was afraid to land with the
+small force that he had under his command, and so he sailed back to
+France.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the first attempt made to organize a forcible resistance to
+Richard's power totally failed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Unhappy situation of Elizabeth.</div>
+
+<p>The unhappy queen, when she heard these tidings, was once more
+overwhelmed with grief. Her situation in the sanctuary was becoming
+every day more and more painful. She had long since exhausted all her
+own means, and she imagined that the monks began to think that she was
+availing herself of their hospitality too long. Her friends without
+would gladly have supplied her wants, but this Richard would not
+permit. He set a guard around the sanctuary, and would not allow any
+one to come or go. He would starve her out, he said, if he could not
+compel her to surrender herself in any other way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The princess.</div>
+
+<p>It was, however, not the queen herself, but her daughter Elizabeth,
+who was now the heir of whatever claims to the throne were possessed
+by the family, that Richard was most anxious to secure. If he could
+once get Elizabeth into his power, he thought, he could easily devise
+some plan to prevent her marriage with Henry of Richmond, and so
+defeat the plans of his enemies in the most effectual manner. He would
+have liked still better to have secured Henry himself; but Henry was
+in Brittany, on the other side of the Channel, beyond his reach.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He seeks to get possession of Richmond.</div>
+
+<p>He, however, formed a secret plan to get possession of Henry. He
+offered privately a large <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>reward to the Duke of Brittany if he would
+seize Henry and deliver him into his, Richard's hands. This the duke
+engaged to do. But Henry gained intelligence of the plot before it was
+executed, and made his escape from Brittany into France. He was
+received kindly at Paris by the French king. The king even promised to
+aid him in deposing Richard, and making himself King of England
+instead. This alarmed Richard more than ever.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Parliament.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the summer passed away and the autumn came on. In
+November Richard convened Parliament, and caused very severe laws to
+be passed against those who had been engaged in the rebellion. Many
+were executed under these laws, some were banished, and others shut up
+in prison. Richard attempted, by these and similar measures, to break
+down the spirit of his enemies, and prevent the possibility of their
+forming any new organizations against him. Still, notwithstanding all
+that he could do, he felt very ill at ease so long as Henry and
+Elizabeth were at liberty.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">New policy.</div>
+
+<p>At last, in the course of the winter, he conceived the idea of trying
+what pretended kindness could do in enticing the queen and her family
+out of sanctuary. So he sent a messenger to her, to make fair and
+friendly proposals <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>to her in case she would give up her place of
+refuge and place herself under his protection. He said that he felt no
+animosity or ill will against her, but that, if she and her daughters
+would trust to him, he would receive them at court, provide for them
+fully in a manner suited to their rank, and treat them in all respects
+with the highest consideration. She herself should be recognized as
+the queen dowager of England, and her daughters as princesses of the
+royal family; and he would take proper measures to arrange marriages
+for the young ladies, such as should comport with the exalted station
+which they were entitled to hold.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The plan succeeds.<br />Excuses for the queen.</div>
+
+<p>The queen was at last persuaded to yield to these solicitations. She
+left the sanctuary, and gave herself and her daughters up to Richard's
+control. Many persons have censured her very strongly for doing this;
+but her friends and defenders allege that there was nothing else that
+she could do. She might have remained in the Abbey herself to starve
+if she had been alone, but she could not see her children perish of
+destitution and distress when a word from her could restore them to
+the world, and raise them at once to a condition of the highest
+prosperity and honor. So she yielded. She left the Abbey, and was
+established by Richard in one of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>his palaces, and her daughters were
+received at court, and treated, especially the eldest, with the utmost
+consideration.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her situation still unhappy.</div>
+
+<p>But, notwithstanding this outward change in her condition, the real
+situation of the queen herself, after leaving the Abbey, was extremely
+forlorn. The apartments which Richard assigned to her were very
+retired and obscure. He required her, moreover, to dismiss all her own
+attendants, and he appointed servants and agents of his own to wait
+upon and guard her. The queen soon found that she was under a very
+strict surveillance, and not much less a prisoner, in fact, than she
+was before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The marriage countermanded.</div>
+
+<p>While in this situation, she wrote to her son Dorset,<a name="FNanchor_R_18" id="FNanchor_R_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_R_18" class="fnanchor">[R]</a> at Paris,
+commanding him to put an end to the proposed marriage of her daughter
+Elizabeth to Henry of Richmond, "as she had given up," she said, "the
+plan of that alliance, and had formed other designs for the princess."
+Henry and his friends and partisans in Paris were indignant at
+receiving this letter, and the queen has been by many persons much
+blamed for having thus broken the engagement which she had so solemnly
+made. Others say that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>this letter to Paris was not her free act, but
+that it was extorted from her by Richard, who had her now completely
+in his power, and could, of course, easily find means to procure from
+her any writing that he might desire.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the queen acted freely or not in this case can not certainly
+be known. At all events, Henry, and those who were acting with him at
+Paris, determined to regard the letter as written under constraint,
+and to go on with the maturing of their plans just as if it had never
+been written.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's plan for the princess.<br />Elizabeth's views on the subject.</div>
+
+<p>Richard's plan was, so it was said, to marry the Princess Elizabeth to
+his own son; for the death of his child, though it has been already
+once or twice alluded to, had not yet taken place. Richard's son was
+very young, being at that time about eleven years old; but the
+princess might be affianced to him, and the marriage consummated when
+he grew up. Elizabeth herself seems to have fallen in with this
+proposed arrangement very readily. The prospect that Henry of Richmond
+would ever succeed in making himself king, and claiming her for his
+bride, was very remote and uncertain, while Richard was already in
+full possession of power; and she, by taking his side, and becoming
+the affianced wife of his son, became at once <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>the first lady in the
+kingdom, next to Queen Anne, with an apparently certain prospect of
+becoming queen herself in due time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of Richard's son.</div>
+
+<p>But all these fine plans were abruptly brought to an end by the death
+of the young prince, which occurred about this time, at Middleham
+Castle, as has been stated before. The death of the poor boy took
+place in a very sudden and mysterious manner. Some persons supposed
+that he died by a judgment from heaven, in answer to the awful curses
+which Queen Elizabeth Woodville imprecated upon the head of the
+murderer of her children; others thought he was destroyed by poison.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Sickness of Queen Anne.<br />Sufferings of the queen.</div>
+
+<p>Not very long after the death of the prince, his mother fell very
+seriously sick. She was broken-hearted at the death of her son, and
+pining away, she fell into a slow decline. Her sufferings were greatly
+aggravated by Richard's harsh and cruel treatment of her. He was
+continually uttering expressions of impatience against her on account
+of her sickness and uselessness, and making fretful complaints of her
+various disagreeable qualities. Some of these sayings were reported to
+Anne, and also a rumor came to her ears one day, while she was at her
+toilet, that Richard was intending to put her to death. She was
+dreadfully alarmed at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>hearing this, and she immediately ran, half
+dressed as she was, and with her hair disheveled, into the presence of
+her husband, and, with piteous sobs and bitter tears, asked him what
+she had done to deserve death. Richard tried to quiet and calm her,
+assuring her that she had no cause to fear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Suspicions.</div>
+
+<p>She, however, continued to decline; and not long afterward her
+distress and anguish of mind were greatly increased by hearing that
+Richard was impatient for her death, in order that he might himself
+marry the Princess Elizabeth, to whom every one said he was now, since
+the death of his son, devoting himself personally with great
+attention. In this state of suffering the poor queen lingered on
+through the months of the winter, very evidently, though slowly,
+approaching her end. The universal belief was that Richard had formed
+the plan of making the Princess Elizabeth his wife, and that the
+decline and subsequent death of Anne were owing to a slow poison which
+he caused to be administered to her. There is no proof that this
+charge was true, but the general belief in the truth of it shows what
+was the estimate placed, in those times, on Richard's character.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Elizabeth's eagerness to marry the king.</div>
+
+<p>It is very certain, however, that he contemplated this new marriage,
+and that the princess <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>herself acceded to the proposed plan, and was
+very deeply interested in the accomplishment of it. It is said that
+while the queen still lived she wrote to one of her friends&mdash;a certain
+noble duke of high standing and influence&mdash;in which she implored him
+to aid in forwarding her marriage with the king, whom she called "her
+master and her joy in this world&mdash;the master of her heart and
+thoughts." In this letter, too, she expressed her impatience at the
+queen's being so long in dying. "Only think," said she, "the better
+part of February is past, and the queen is still alive. Will she
+<i>never</i> die?"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of the queen.</div>
+
+<p>But the patience of the princess was not destined to be taxed much
+longer. The queen sank rapidly after this, and in March she died.</p>
+
+<p>The heart of Elizabeth was now filled with exultation and delight. The
+great obstacle to her marriage with her uncle was now removed, and the
+way was open before her to become a queen. It is true that the
+relationship which existed between her and Richard, that of uncle and
+niece, was such as to make the marriage utterly illegal. But Richard
+had a plan of obtaining a dispensation from the Pope, which he had no
+doubt that he could easily do, and a dispensation from the Pope,
+according to the ideas of those times, would legalize any thing. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>So
+Richard cautiously proposed his plan to some of his confidential
+counselors.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Remonstrance of Richard's counselors.</div>
+
+<p>His counselors told him that the execution of such a plan would be
+dangerous in the highest degree. The people of England, they said, had
+for some time been led to think that the king had that design in
+contemplation, and that the idea had awakened a great deal of
+indignation throughout the country. The land was full of rumors and
+murmurings, they said, and those of a very threatening character. The
+marriage would be considered incestuous both by the clergy and the
+people, and would be looked upon with abhorrence. Besides, they said,
+there were a great many dark suspicions in the minds of the people
+that Richard had been himself the cause of the death of his former
+wife Anne, in order to open the way for this marriage, and now, if the
+marriage were really to take place, all these suspicions would be
+confirmed. They could judge somewhat, they added, by the depth of the
+excitement which had been produced by the bare suspicion that such
+things were contemplated, how great would be the violence of the
+outbreak of public indignation if the design were carried into effect.
+Richard would be in the utmost danger of losing his kingdom.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 236px;">
+<img src="images/i315.jpg" class="smallgap" width="236" height="300" alt="PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH." title="" />
+<span class="caption">PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Richard gives up the plan.</div>
+
+<p>So Richard determined at once to abandon the plan. He caused it to be
+announced in the most public manner that he had never contemplated
+such a marriage, and that all the rumors attributing such a design to
+him were malicious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>and false. He also sent orders abroad throughout
+the kingdom requiring that all persons who had circulated such rumors
+should be arrested and sent to London to be punished.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Disappointment of Elizabeth.</div>
+
+<p>Elizabeth's hopes were, of course, suddenly blasted, and the splendid
+castle which her imagination had built fell to the ground. It was only
+a temporary disappointment, however, for she became Queen of England
+in the end, after all.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XVII" id="Chapter_XVII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XVII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Field of Bosworth.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">A.D. 1485-1492</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richmond goes on with his preparations at Paris.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, while Richard had been occupied with the schemes and
+man&oelig;uvres described in the last chapter, Richmond was going on
+steadily in Paris with the preparations that he was making for a new
+invasion of England. The King of France assisted him both by providing
+him with money and aiding him in the enlistment of men. When Richmond
+received the message from Elizabeth's mother declaring that the
+proposed match between him and the princess must be broken off, and
+heard that Richard had formed a plan for marrying the young lady
+himself, he paid no regard to the tidings, but declared that he should
+proceed with his plans as vigorously as ever, and that, whatever
+counter-schemes they might form, they might rely upon it that he
+should fully carry into effect his purpose, not only of deposing
+Richard and reigning in his stead, but also of making the Princess
+Elizabeth his wife, according to his original intention.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The expedition sails.</div>
+
+<p>At length the expedition was ready, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>fleet conveying it set
+sail from the port of Harfleur.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard issues a proclamation.</div>
+
+<p>Richard attempted to arouse the people of England against the invaders
+by a grand proclamation which he issued. In this proclamation he
+designated the Earl of Richmond as "one Henry Tudor," who had no claim
+whatever, of any kind, to the English throne, but who was coming to
+attempt to seize it without any color of right. In order to obtain
+assistance from the King of France, he had promised, the proclamation
+said, "to surrender to him, in case he was successful, all the rich
+possessions in France which at that time belonged to England, even
+Calais itself; and he had promised, moreover, and given away, to the
+traitors and foreigners who were coming with him, all the most
+important and valuable places in the kingdom&mdash;archbishoprics,
+bishoprics, duchies, earldoms, baronies, and many other inheritances
+belonging of right to the English knights, esquires, and gentlemen who
+were now in the possession of them. The proclamation farther declared
+that the people who made up his army were robbers and murderers, and
+rebels attainted by Parliament, many of whom had made themselves
+infamous as cutthroats, adulterers, and extortioners."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p><p>Richard closed his proclamation by calling upon all his subjects to
+arm themselves, like true and good Englishmen, for the defense of
+their wives, children, goods, and hereditaments, and he promised that
+he himself, like a true and courageous prince, would put himself in
+the forefront of the battle, and expose his royal person to the worst
+of the dangers that were to be incurred in the defense of the country.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plans of the campaign.<br />The king goes to Nottingham.</div>
+
+<p>At the same time that he issued this proclamation, Richard sent forth
+orders to all parts of the kingdom, commanding the nobles and barons
+to marshal their forces, and make ready to march at a moment's
+warning. He dispatched detachments of his forces to the southward to
+defend the southern coast, where he expected Richmond would land,
+while he himself proceeded northward, toward the centre of the
+kingdom, to assemble and organize his grand army. He made Nottingham
+his head-quarters, and he gradually gathered around him, in that city,
+a very large force.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, while these movements and preparations had been
+going on on both sides, the spring and the early part of the summer
+passed away, and at length Richard, at Nottingham, in the month of
+August, received the tidings that Richmond had landed at Milford
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>Haven, on the southwestern coast of Wales, with a force of two or
+three thousand men. Richard said that he was glad to hear it. "I am
+glad," said he, "that at last he has come. I have now only to meet
+him, and gain one decisive victory, and then the security of my
+kingdom will be disturbed no more."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richmond's hopes and expectations.<br />The various negotiations.</div>
+
+<p>Richmond did not rely wholly on the troops which he had brought with
+him for the success of his cause. He believed that there was a great
+and prevailing feeling of disaffection against Richard throughout
+England, and that, as soon as it should appear that he, Richmond, was
+really in earnest in his determination to claim and take the crown,
+and that there was a reasonable prospect of the success of his
+enterprise, great numbers of men, who were now ostensibly on Richard's
+side, would forsake him and join the invader. So he sent secret
+messengers throughout the kingdom to communicate with his friends, and
+to open negotiations with those of Richard's adherents who might
+possibly be inclined to change sides. In order to give time for these
+negotiations to produce their effect, he resolved not to march at once
+into the interior of the country, but to proceed slowly toward the
+eastward, along the southern coast of Wales, awaiting intelligence.
+This plan he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>pursued. His strength increased rapidly as he advanced.
+At length, when he reached the eastern borders of Wales, he began to
+feel strong enough to push forward into England to meet Richard, who
+was all this time gathering his forces together at Nottingham, and
+preparing for a very formidable resistance of the invader. He
+accordingly advanced to Leicester, and thence to the town of Tamworth,
+where there was a strong castle on a rock. He took possession of this
+castle, and made it, for a time, his head-quarters.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard at Nottingham.<br />He commences his march.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, Richard, having received intelligence of Richmond's
+movements, and having now made every thing ready for his own advance,
+determined to delay no longer, but to go forth and meet his enemy.
+Accordingly, one morning, he marshaled his troops in the market-place
+of Nottingham, "separating his foot-soldiers in two divisions, five
+abreast, and dividing his cavalry so as to form two wide-spreading
+wings." He placed his artillery, with the ammunition, in the centre,
+reserving for himself a position in a space immediately behind it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325-6]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i322.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="383" alt="THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">The long column.</div>
+
+<p>When all was ready, he came out from the castle mounted upon a
+milk-white charger. He wore, according to the custom of the times, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>very magnificent armor, resplendent with gold and embroidery, and with
+polished steel that glittered in the sun. Over his helmet he wore his
+royal crown. He was preceded and followed, as he came out through the
+castle gates and descended the winding way which led down from the
+hill on which the castle stands, by guards splendidly dressed and
+mounted&mdash;archers, and spearmen, and other men at arms&mdash;with ensigns
+bearing innumerable pennants and banners. As soon as he joined the
+army in the town the order was given to march, and so great was the
+number of men that he had under his command that they were more than
+an hour in marching out of Nottingham, and when all had finally issued
+from the gate, the column covered the road for three miles.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Bosworth.</div>
+
+<p>At length, after some days of man&oelig;uvring and marching, the two
+armies came into the immediate vicinity of each other near the town of
+Bosworth, at a place where there was a wide field, which has since
+been greatly renowned in history as the Field of Bosworth. The two
+armies advanced into the neighborhood of this field on the 19th and
+20th days of August, and both sides began to prepare for battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The two armies.<br />Richard's depression and anxiety.<br />His painful suspicions.</div>
+
+<p>The army which Richard commanded was far more numerous and imposing
+than that of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>Richmond, and every thing, so far as outward appearances
+were concerned, promised him an easy victory. And yet Richmond was
+exultant in his confidence of success, while Richard was harassed with
+gloomy forebodings. His mind was filled with perplexity and distress.
+He believed that the leading nobles and generals on his side had
+secretly resolved to betray him, and that they were prepared to
+abandon him and go over to the enemy on the very field of battle,
+unless he could gain advantages so decisive at the very commencement
+of the conflict as to show that the cause of Richmond was hopeless.
+Although Richard was morally convinced that this was the state of
+things, he had no sufficient evidence of it to justify his taking any
+action against the men that he suspected. He did not even dare to
+express his suspicions, for he knew that if he were to do so, or even
+to intimate that he felt suspicion, the only effect would be to
+precipitate the consummation of the treachery that he feared, and
+perhaps drive some to abandon him who had not yet fully resolved on
+doing so. He was obliged, therefore, though suffering the greatest
+anxiety and alarm, to suppress all indications of his uneasiness,
+except to his most confidential friends. To them he appeared, as one
+of them stated, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>"sore moved and broiled with melancholy and dolor,
+and from time to time he cried out, asking vengeance of them that,
+contrary to their oath and promise, were so deceiving him."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His remorse.</div>
+
+<p>The recollection of the many crimes that he had committed in the
+attainment of the power which he now feared he was about to lose
+forever, harassed his mind and tormented his conscience, especially at
+night. "He took ill rest at nights," says one of his biographers,
+"using to lie long, waking and musing, sore wearied with care and
+watch, and rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful dreams."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The battle.<br />Richard betrayed.<br />Defection of his men.</div>
+
+<p>On the day of the battle Richard found the worst of his forebodings
+fulfilled. In the early part of the day he took a position upon an
+elevated portion of the ground, where he could survey the whole field,
+and direct the movements of his troops. From this point he could see,
+as the battle went on, one body of men after another go over to the
+enemy. He was overwhelmed with vexation and rage. He cried out,
+Treason! Treason! and, calling upon his guards and attendants to
+follow him, he rushed down the hill, determined to force his way to
+the part of the field where Richmond himself was stationed, with a
+view of engaging him and killing him with his own hand. This, he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>thought, was the last hope that was now left him.</p>
+
+<p>There was a spring of water, and a little brook flowing from it in a
+part of the field where he had to pass. He stopped at this spring,
+opened his helmet, and took a drink of the water. He then closed his
+helmet and rode on.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard's Well.</div>
+
+<p>This spring afterward received, from this circumstance, the name of
+"Richard's Well," and it is known by that name to this day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His despair.<br />Terrible combat.</div>
+
+<p>From the spring Richard rushed forward, attended by a few followers as
+fearless as himself, in search of Richmond. He penetrated the enemies'
+lines in the direction where he supposed Richmond was to be found, and
+was soon surrounded by foes, whom he engaged desperately in a
+hand-to-hand encounter of the most furious and reckless character. He
+slew one or two of the foremost of those who surrounded him, calling
+out all the time to Richmond to come out and meet him in single
+combat. This Richmond would not do. In the mean time, many of
+Richard's friends came up to his assistance. Some of these urged him
+to retire, saying that it was useless for him to attempt to maintain
+so unequal a contest, but he refused to go.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">He refuses to fly.</div>
+
+<p>"Not one foot will I fly," said he, "so long as breath bides within my
+breast; for, by Him that shaped both sea and land, this day shall end
+my battles or my life. I will die King of England."</p>
+
+<p>So he fought on. Several faithful friends still adhered to him and
+fought by his side. His standard-bearer stood his ground, with the
+king's banner in his hand, until at last both his legs were cut off
+under him, and he fell to the earth; still he would not let the banner
+go, but clung to it with a convulsive grasp till he died.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard is killed.</div>
+
+<p>At last Richard too was overpowered by the numbers that beset him.
+Exhausted by his exertions, and weakened by loss of blood, he was
+beaten down from his horse to the ground and killed. The royal crown
+which he had worn so proudly into the battle was knocked from his head
+in the dreadful affray, and trampled in the dust.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Transfer of the crown.</div>
+
+<p>Lord Stanley, one of the chieftains who had abandoned Richard's cause
+and gone over to the enemy, picked up the crown, all battered and
+bloodstained as it was, and put it upon Richmond's head. From that
+hour Richmond was recognized as King of England. He reigned under the
+title of Henry the Seventh.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 267px;">
+<img src="images/i329.jpg" class="smallgap" width="267" height="300" alt="KING HENRY VII." title="" />
+<span class="caption">KING HENRY VII.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Flight of Richard's troops.<br />Disposition of the body.</div>
+
+<p>The few followers that had remained faithful to Richard's cause up to
+this time now gave up the contest and fled. The victors lifted up the
+dead body of the king, took off the armor, and then placed the body
+across the back of a horse, behind a pursuivant-at-arms, who, thus
+mounted, rode a little behind the new king as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>he retired from the
+field of battle. Followed by this dreadful trophy of his victory, King
+Henry entered the town of Leicester in triumph. The body of Richard
+was exposed for three days, in a public place, to the view of all
+beholders, in order that every body might be satisfied that he was
+really dead, and then the new king proceeded by easy journeys to
+London. The people came out to meet him all along the way, receiving
+him every where with shouts and acclamations, and crying, "King Henry!
+King Henry! Long live our sovereign lord, King Henry!"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Henry marries the princess.</div>
+
+<p>For several weeks after his accession Henry's mind was occupied with
+public affairs, but, as soon as the most urgent of the calls upon his
+attention were disposed of, he renewed his proposals to the Princess
+Elizabeth, and in January of the next year they were married. It seems
+to have been a matter of no consequence to her whether one man or
+another was her husband, provided he was only King of England, so that
+she could be queen. Henry's motive, too, in marrying her, was equally
+mercenary, his only object being to secure to himself, through her,
+the right of inheritance to her father's claims to the throne. He
+accordingly never pretended to feel any love for her, and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>after his
+marriage, he treated her with great coldness and neglect.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Elizabeth Woodville.<br />Last years of her life.</div>
+
+<p>His conduct toward her poor mother, the dowager queen, Elizabeth
+Woodville, was still more unfriendly. He sent her to a gloomy
+monastery, called the Monastery of Bermondsey, and caused her to be
+kept there in the custody of the monks, virtually a prisoner. The
+reason which he assigned for this was his displeasure with her for
+abandoning his cause, and breaking the engagement which she had made
+with him for the marriage of her daughter to him, and also for giving
+herself and her daughter up into Richard's hands, and joining with him
+in the intrigues which Richard formed for connecting the princess with
+his family. In this lonely retreat the widowed queen passed the
+remainder of her days. She was not precisely a prisoner&mdash;at least, she
+was not kept in close and continual confinement, for two or three
+times, in the course of the few remaining years that she lived, she
+was brought, on special occasions, to court, and treated there with a
+certain degree of attention and respect. One of these occasions was
+that of the baptism of her daughter's child.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335-6]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i332.jpg" class="smallgap" width="500" height="351" alt="THE MONASTERY OF BERMONDSEY." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE MONASTERY OF BERMONDSEY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Her death and burial.</div>
+
+<p>In this lonely and cheerless retreat the queen lingered a few years,
+and then died. Her body <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>was conveyed to Windsor for interment, and her daughters and the
+friends of her family were notified of the event. A very few came to
+attend the funeral. Her daughter Elizabeth was indisposed, and did not
+come. The interment took place at night. A few poor old men, in
+tattered garments, were employed to officiate at the ceremony by
+holding "old torches and torches' ends" to light the gloomy precincts
+of the chapel during the time while the monks were chanting the
+funeral dirge.</p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The End.</span></h3>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes.</span></h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> There were no postal arrangements in those days, and all
+letters were sent by private, and generally by special messengers.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Daily.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> See page <a href="#Page_35">
+35</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> In former years Prince Richard had acted as viceroy of
+the English possessions in France, under King Henry, and while there
+he had been engaged in wars with the King of France, and with the
+dauphin, his son.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> See engraving on page <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> It was in consequence of this use of the roses, as the
+badges of the two parties respectively, that the civil wars between
+these two great families are often called in history the Wars of the
+Roses.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> The gauntlet was a sort of iron glove, the fingers of
+which were made flexible by joints formed with scales sliding over
+each other.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> For a view of this castle, and the grounds pertaining to
+it, see page <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_9"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> There was a strange story in respect to the manner of
+Clarence's death, which was very current at the time, namely, that he
+was drowned by his brothers in a butt of Malmsey wine. But there is no
+evidence whatever that this story was true.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_J_10"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> For a view of this castle, see page <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_K_11"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> The room is now the college hall, so called, of
+Westminster school.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_L_12" id="Footnote_L_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_L_12"><span class="label">[L]</span></a> For a view of this castle, see engraving on page <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_M_13" id="Footnote_M_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_M_13"><span class="label">[M]</span></a> Called sometimes Pontefract.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_N_14" id="Footnote_N_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_N_14"><span class="label">[N]</span></a> For view of this castle, see page <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_O_15" id="Footnote_O_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_O_15"><span class="label">[O]</span></a> The husband with whom she had lived before she became
+acquainted with Edward was a wealthy goldsmith and jeweler.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_P_16" id="Footnote_P_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_P_16"><span class="label">[P]</span></a> See <a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_Q_17" id="Footnote_Q_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_Q_17"><span class="label">[Q]</span></a> I say he determined; for, although some of Richard's
+defenders have denied that he was guilty of the crime which the almost
+unanimous voice of history charges upon him, the evidence leaves very
+little room to doubt that the dreadful tale is in all essential
+particulars entirely true.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_R_18" id="Footnote_R_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_R_18"><span class="label">[R]</span></a> The Earl of Dorset, you will recollect, was Queen
+Elizabeth's son by her first marriage; he, consequently, had no claim
+to the crown.</p></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber's Notes:</span></h3>
+
+<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.</p>
+
+<p>2. The sidenotes used in this text were originally published as banners in the page headers, and have been moved to the relevant paragraph
+for the reader's convenience.</p>
+
+<p>3. Minor changes have been made in the List of Engravings, to reflect final placement of the illustrations in this e-text.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Richard III, by Jacob Abbott
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHARD III ***
+
+***** This file should be named 28561-h.htm or 28561-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/6/28561/
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i001.jpg b/28561-h/images/i001.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..203687c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i001.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i003.jpg b/28561-h/images/i003.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f722b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i003.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i012.jpg b/28561-h/images/i012.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f234ddb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i012.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i023.jpg b/28561-h/images/i023.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddd9578
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i023.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i026.jpg b/28561-h/images/i026.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..311977e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i026.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i035.jpg b/28561-h/images/i035.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43cb85f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i035.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i037.jpg b/28561-h/images/i037.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..106e2cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i037.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i046.jpg b/28561-h/images/i046.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0dc3a29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i046.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i051.jpg b/28561-h/images/i051.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d280caa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i051.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i059.jpg b/28561-h/images/i059.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ebe32ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i059.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i081.jpg b/28561-h/images/i081.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28c2c93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i081.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i083.jpg b/28561-h/images/i083.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d60880
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i083.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i084.jpg b/28561-h/images/i084.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6483f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i084.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i085.jpg b/28561-h/images/i085.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bc8002
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i085.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i099.jpg b/28561-h/images/i099.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5e5b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i099.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i100.jpg b/28561-h/images/i100.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0486c6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i100.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i103.jpg b/28561-h/images/i103.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..644c77c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i103.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i109.jpg b/28561-h/images/i109.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05eef2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i109.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i130.jpg b/28561-h/images/i130.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d898a87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i130.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i145.jpg b/28561-h/images/i145.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ed875c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i145.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i148.jpg b/28561-h/images/i148.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76fe6af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i148.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i153.jpg b/28561-h/images/i153.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c1da2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i153.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i157.jpg b/28561-h/images/i157.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f19c280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i157.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i160.jpg b/28561-h/images/i160.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c47d5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i160.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i173.jpg b/28561-h/images/i173.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..faaa5a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i173.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i174.jpg b/28561-h/images/i174.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83035a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i174.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i177.jpg b/28561-h/images/i177.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce1bc34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i177.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i181.jpg b/28561-h/images/i181.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3acb54f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i181.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i197.jpg b/28561-h/images/i197.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5785c8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i197.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i200.jpg b/28561-h/images/i200.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ae4c36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i200.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i208.jpg b/28561-h/images/i208.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3178ed1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i208.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i216.jpg b/28561-h/images/i216.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31f7473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i216.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i225.jpg b/28561-h/images/i225.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f724055
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i225.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i232.jpg b/28561-h/images/i232.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1dc78ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i232.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i234.jpg b/28561-h/images/i234.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74d5eaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i234.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i241.jpg b/28561-h/images/i241.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f1688f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i241.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i245.jpg b/28561-h/images/i245.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f723efb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i245.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i270.jpg b/28561-h/images/i270.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eece1e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i270.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i273.jpg b/28561-h/images/i273.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ab2c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i273.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i280.jpg b/28561-h/images/i280.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9cb16ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i280.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i301.jpg b/28561-h/images/i301.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1f47a4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i301.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i315.jpg b/28561-h/images/i315.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..612a9cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i315.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i322.jpg b/28561-h/images/i322.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b50253
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i322.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i329.jpg b/28561-h/images/i329.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b4f54e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i329.jpg
diff --git a/28561-h/images/i332.jpg b/28561-h/images/i332.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa8d619
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561-h/images/i332.jpg
diff --git a/28561.txt b/28561.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5471d85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6536 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Richard III, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Richard III
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: April 12, 2009 [EBook #28561]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHARD III ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ Richard III.
+
+ By JACOB ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1901
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
+ hundred and fifty-eight, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS,
+
+ in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1886, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN ABBOTT, LYMAN
+ ABBOTT, AND EDWARD ABBOTT.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE ROYAL CHAMPION.]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+King Richard the Third, known commonly in history as Richard the
+Usurper, was perhaps as bad a man as the principle of hereditary
+sovereignty ever raised to the throne, or perhaps it should rather be
+said, as the principle of hereditary sovereignty ever _made_. There is
+no evidence that his natural disposition was marked with any peculiar
+depravity. He was made reckless, unscrupulous, and cruel by the
+influences which surrounded him, and the circumstances in which he
+lived, and by being habituated to believe, from his earliest
+childhood, that the family to which he belonged were born to live in
+luxury and splendor, and to reign, while the millions that formed the
+great mass of the community were created only to toil and to obey. The
+manner in which the principles of pride, ambition, and desperate love
+of power, which were instilled into his mind in his earliest years,
+brought forth in the end their legitimate fruits, is clearly seen by
+the following narrative.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. RICHARD'S MOTHER                                      13
+
+   II. RICHARD'S FATHER                                      33
+
+  III. THE CHILDHOOD OF RICHARD                              57
+
+   IV. ACCESSION OF EDWARD IV., RICHARD'S ELDER
+       BROTHER                                               67
+
+    V. WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER                               89
+
+   VI. THE DOWNFALL OF YORK                                 118
+
+  VII. THE DOWNFALL OF LANCASTER                            137
+
+ VIII. RICHARD'S MARRIAGE                                   165
+
+   IX. END OF THE REIGN OF EDWARD                           182
+
+    X. RICHARD AND EDWARD V.                                208
+
+   XI. TAKING SANCTUARY                                     221
+
+  XII. RICHARD LORD PROTECTOR                               236
+
+ XIII. PROCLAIMED KING                                      258
+
+  XIV. THE CORONATION                                       279
+
+   XV. FATE OF THE PRINCES                                  291
+
+  XVI. DOMESTIC TROUBLES                                    301
+
+ XVII. THE FIELD OF BOSWORTH                                320
+
+
+
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ THE ROYAL CHAMPION                              _Frontispiece._
+
+ SCENES OF CIVIL WAR                                         15
+
+ LUDLOW CASTLE                                               26
+
+ CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES                          29
+
+ HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD                                  38
+
+ QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI.                  40
+
+ WALLS OF YORK                                               49
+
+ LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER                         54
+
+ CASTLE AND GROUNDS BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF
+ YORK                                                        62
+
+ THE OLD QUINTAINE                                           84
+
+ PLAYING BALL                                                86
+
+ BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK                                87
+
+ RICHARD'S SIGNATURE                                         88
+
+ EDWARD IV.                                                 102
+
+ QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE                                  103
+
+ WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS                106
+
+ WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING                 112
+
+ THE SANCTUARY                                              133
+
+ DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET                    148
+
+ STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER                                151
+
+ CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY                                       155
+
+ QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY             160
+
+ TOMB OF HENRY VI.                                          163
+
+ RICHARD III.                                               176
+
+ QUEEN ANNE                                                 177
+
+ MIDDLEHAM CASTLE                                           180
+
+ LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE                                        184
+
+ THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE                          200
+
+ JANE SHORE                                                 203
+
+ THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION                               211
+
+ ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V.                              219
+
+ ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER                                228
+
+ THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS                                  235
+
+ CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S
+ DEATH                                                      237
+
+ THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER                                   244
+
+ POMFRET CASTLE                                             248
+
+ BAYNARD'S CASTLE                                           273
+
+ THE KING ON HIS THRONE                                     276
+
+ THE BLOODY TOWER                                           283
+
+ QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE                               304
+
+ PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH                         318
+
+ THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH                                     325
+
+ KING HENRY VII.                                            332
+
+ THE MONASTERY AT BERMONDSEY                                335
+
+
+
+
+KING RICHARD III.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+RICHARD'S MOTHER.
+
+The great quarrel between the houses of York and Lancaster.--Terrible
+results of the quarrel.--Origin of it.--Intricate questions of
+genealogy and descent.--Lady Cecily Neville.--She becomes Duchess of
+York.--Her mode of life.--Extract from the ancient annals.--Lady
+Cecily's family.--Names of the children.--The boys' situation and mode
+of life.--Their letters.--Letter written by Edward and Edmund.--The
+boys congratulate their father on his victories.--Further particulars
+about the boys.--The Castle of Ludlow.--Character of Richard's
+mother.--Spirit of aristocracy.--Relative condition of the nobles and
+the people.--Character of Richard's mother.--The governess.--Sir
+Richard Croft, the boys' governor.
+
+
+The mother of King Richard the Third was a beautiful, and, in many
+respects, a noble-minded woman, though she lived in very rude,
+turbulent, and trying times. She was born, so to speak, into one of
+the most widely-extended, the most bitter, and the most fatal of the
+family quarrels which have darkened the annals of the great in the
+whole history of mankind, namely, that long-protracted and bitter
+contest which was waged for so many years between the two great
+branches of the family of Edward the Third--the houses of York and
+Lancaster--for the possession of the kingdom of England. This dreadful
+quarrel lasted for more than a hundred years. It led to wars and
+commotions, to the sacking and burning of towns, to the ravaging of
+fruitful countries, and to atrocious deeds of violence of every sort,
+almost without number. The internal peace of hundreds of thousands of
+families all over the land was destroyed by it for many generations.
+Husbands were alienated from wives, and parents from children by it.
+Murders and assassinations innumerable grew out of it. And what was it
+all about? you will ask. It arose from the fact that the descendants
+of a certain king had married and intermarried among each other in
+such a complicated manner that for several generations nobody could
+tell which of two different lines of candidates was fairly entitled to
+the throne. The question was settled at last by a prince who inherited
+the claim on one side marrying a princess who was the heir on the
+other. Thus the conflicting interests of the two houses were combined,
+and the quarrel was ended.
+
+But, while the question was pending, it kept the country in a state of
+perpetual commotion, with feuds, and quarrels, and combats
+innumerable, and all the other countless and indescribable horrors of
+civil war.
+
+[Illustration: SCENES OF CIVIL WAR.]
+
+The two branches of the royal family which were engaged in this
+quarrel were called the houses of York and Lancaster, from the fact
+that those were the titles of the fathers and heads of the two lines
+respectively. The Lancaster party were the descendants of John of
+Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and the York party were the successors and
+heirs of his brother Edmund, Duke of York. These men were both sons of
+Edward the Third, the King of England who reigned immediately before
+Richard the Second. A full account of the family is given in our
+history of Richard the Second. Of course, they being brothers, their
+children were cousins, and they ought to have lived together in peace
+and harmony. And then, besides being related to each other through
+their fathers, the two branches of the family intermarried together,
+so as to make the relationships in the following generations so close
+and so complicated that it was almost impossible to disentangle them.
+In reading the history of those times, we find dukes or princes
+fighting each other in the field, or laying plans to assassinate each
+other, or striving to see which should make the other a captive, and
+shut him up in a dungeon for the rest of his days; and yet these
+enemies, so exasperated and implacable, are very near
+relations--cousins, perhaps, if the relationship is reckoned in one
+way, and uncle and nephew if it is reckoned in another. During the
+period of this struggle, all the great personages of the court, and
+all, or nearly all, the private families of the kingdom, and all the
+towns and the villages, were divided and distracted by the dreadful
+feud.
+
+Richard's mother, whose name, before she was married, was Lady Cecily
+Neville, was born into one side of this quarrel, and then afterward
+married into the other side of it. This is a specimen of the way in
+which the contest became complicated in multitudes of cases. Lady
+Cecily was descended from the Duke of Lancaster, but she married the
+Duke of York, in the third generation from the time when the quarrel
+began.
+
+Of course, upon her marriage, Lady Cecily Neville became the Duchess
+of York. Her husband was a man of great political importance in his
+day, and, like the other nobles of the land, was employed continually
+in wars and in expeditions of various kinds, in the course of which he
+was continually changing his residence from castle to castle all over
+England, and sometimes making excursions into Ireland, Scotland, and
+France. His wife accompanied him in many of these wanderings, and she
+led, of course, so far as external circumstances were concerned, a
+wild and adventurous life. She was, however, very quiet and domestic
+in her tastes, though proud and ambitious in her aspirations, and she
+occupied herself, wherever she was, in regulating her husband's
+household, teaching and training her children, and in attending with
+great regularity and faithfulness to her religious duty, as religious
+duty was understood in those days.
+
+The following is an account, copied from an ancient record, of the
+manner in which she spent her days at one of the castles where she was
+residing.
+
+    "She useth to arise at seven of the clock, and hath readye her
+    chapleyne to say with her mattins of the daye (that is, morning
+    prayers), and when she is fully readye, she hath a lowe mass in
+    her chamber. After mass she taketh something to recreate nature,
+    and soe goeth to the chapelle, hearinge the divine service and two
+    lowe masses. From thence to dynner, during the tyme of whih she
+    hath a lecture of holy matter (that is, reading from a religious
+    book), either Hilton of Contemplative and Active Life, or some
+    other spiritual and instructive work. After dynner she giveth
+    audyence to all such as hath any matter to shrive unto her, by the
+    space of one hower, and then sleepeth one quarter of an hower, and
+    after she hath slept she contynueth in prayer until the first
+    peale of even songe.
+
+    "In the tyme of supper she reciteth the lecture that was had at
+    dynner to those that be in her presence. After supper she
+    disposeth herself to be famyliare with her gentlewomen to the
+    seasoning of honest myrthe, and one hower before her going to bed
+    she taketh a cup of wine, and after that goeth to her pryvie
+    closette, and taketh her leave of God for all nighte, makinge end
+    of her prayers for that daye, and by eighte of the clocke is in
+    bedde."
+
+The going to bed at eight o'clock was in keeping with the other
+arrangements of the day, for we find by a record of the rules and
+orders of the duchess's household that the dinner-hour was eleven, and
+the supper was at four.
+
+This lady, Richard's mother, during her married life, had no less than
+twelve children. Their names were Anne, Henry, Edward, Edmund,
+Elizabeth, Margaret, William, John, George, Thomas, Richard, and
+Ursula. Thus Richard, the subject of this volume, was the eleventh,
+that is, the last but one. A great many of these, Richard's brothers
+and sisters, died while they were children. All the boys died thus
+except four, namely, Edward, Edmund, George, and Richard. Of course,
+it is only with those four that we have any thing to do in the present
+narrative.
+
+Several of the other children, however, besides these three, lived for
+some time. They resided generally with their mother while they were
+young, but as they grew up they were often separated both from her and
+from their father--the duke, their father, being often called away
+from home, in the course of the various wars in which he was engaged,
+and his wife frequently accompanied him. On such occasions the boys
+were left at some castle or other, under the care of persons employed
+to take charge of their education. They used to write letters to their
+father from time to time, and it is curious that these letters are the
+earliest examples of letters from children to parents which have been
+preserved in history. Two of the boys were at one time under the
+charge of a man named Richard Croft, and the boys thought that he was
+too strict with them. One of the letters, which has been preserved,
+was written to complain of this strictness, or, as the boy expressed
+it, "the odieux rule and demeaning" of their tutor, and also to ask
+for some "fyne bonnets," which the writer wished to have sent for
+himself and for his little brother. There is another long letter
+extant which was written at nearly the same time. This letter was
+written, or at least signed, by two of the boys, Edward and Edmund,
+and was addressed to their father on the occasion of some of his
+victories. But, though signed by the boys' names, I suspect, from the
+lofty language in which it is expressed, and from the many high-flown
+expressions of duty which it contains, that it was really written
+_for_ the boys by their mother or by one of their teachers. Of this,
+however, the reader can judge for himself on perusing the letter. In
+this copy the spelling is modernized so as to make it more
+intelligible, but the language is transcribed exactly from the
+original.
+
+    "Right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and
+    greatly redoubted lord and father:
+
+    "In as lowly a wise as any sons can or may, we recommend us
+    unto your good lordship, and please it to your highness to
+    wit, that we have received your worshipful letters yesterday
+    by your servant William Clinton, bearing date at York, the
+    29th day of May.[A]
+
+    "By the which William, and by the relation of John Milewater,
+    we conceive your worshipful and victorious speed against your
+    enemies, to their great shame, and to us the most
+    comfortable things that we desire to hear. Whereof we thank
+    Almighty God of his gifts, beseeching him heartily to give
+    you that good and cotidian[B] fortune hereafter to know your
+    enemies, and to have the victory over them.
+
+    "And if it please your highness to know of our welfare, at
+    the making of this letter we were in good health of body,
+    thanked be God, beseeching your good and gracious fatherhood
+    for our daily blessing.
+
+    "And whereas you command us by your said letters to attend
+    specially to our learning in our young age, that should cause
+    us to grow to honor and worship in our old age, please it
+    your highness to wit, that we have attended to our learning
+    since we came hither, and shall hereafter, by the which we
+    trust to God your gracious lordship and good fatherhood shall
+    be pleased.
+
+    "Also we beseech your good lordship that it may please you to
+    send us Harry Lovedeyne, groom of your kitchen, whose service
+    is to us right agreeable; and we will send you John Boyes to
+    wait upon your lordship.
+
+    "Right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and
+    greatly redoubted lord and father, we beseech Almighty God
+    to give you as good life and long as your own princely heart
+    can best desire.
+
+    "Written at your Castle of Ludlow, the 3d of June.
+
+               "Your humble sons,
+                    "E. MARCHE.
+                    "E. RUTLAND."
+
+[Footnote A: There were no postal arrangements in those days, and all
+letters were sent by private, and generally by special messengers.]
+
+[Footnote B: Daily.]
+
+The subscriptions E. March and E. Rutland stand for Edward, Earl of
+March, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland; for, though these boys were then
+only eleven and twelve years of age respectively, they were both
+earls. One of them, afterward, when he was about seventeen years old,
+was cruelly killed on the field of battle, where he had been fighting
+with his father, as we shall see in another chapter. The other,
+Edward, became King of England. He came immediately before Richard the
+Third in the line.
+
+The letter which the boys wrote was superscribed as follows:
+
+"To the right high and mighty prince, our most worshipful and greatly
+redoubted lord and father, the Duke of York, Protector and Defender of
+England."
+
+[Illustration: LUDLOW CASTLE.]
+
+The castle of Ludlow, where the boys were residing when this letter
+was written, was a strong fortress built upon a rock in the western
+part of England, not far from Shrewsbury. The engraving is a correct
+representation of it, as it appeared at the period when those boys
+were there, and it gives a very good idea of the sort of place where
+kings and princes were accustomed to send their families for safety in
+those stormy times. Soon after the period of which we are speaking,
+Ludlow Castle was sacked and destroyed. The ruins of it, however,
+remain to the present day, and they are visited with much interest by
+great numbers of modern travelers.
+
+Lady Cecily, as we have already seen, was in many respects a noble
+woman, and a most faithful and devoted wife and mother; she was,
+however, of a very lofty and ambitious spirit, and extremely proud of
+her rank and station. Almost all her brothers and sisters--and the
+family was very large--were peers and peeresses, and when she married
+Prince Richard Plantagenet, her heart beat high with exultation and
+joy to think that she was about to become a queen. She believed that
+Prince Richard was fully entitled to the throne at that time, for
+reasons which will be fully explained in the next chapter, and that,
+even if his claims should not be recognized until the death of the
+king who was then reigning, they certainly would be so recognized
+then, and she would become an acknowledged queen, as she thought she
+was already one by right. So she felt greatly exalted in spirit, and
+moved and acted among all who surrounded her with an air of stately
+reserve of the most grand and aristocratic character.
+
+[Illustration: CASTLE AND PARK OF THE MIDDLE AGES.]
+
+In fact, there has, perhaps, no time and place been known in the
+history of the world in which the spirit of aristocracy was more lofty
+and overbearing in its character than in England during the period
+when the Plantagenet family were in prosperity and power. The nobles
+formed then, far more strikingly than they do now, an entirely
+distinct and exalted class, that looked down upon all other ranks and
+gradations of society as infinitely beneath them. Their only
+occupation was war, and they regarded all those who were engaged in
+any employments whatever, that were connected with art or industry,
+with utter disdain. These last were crowded together in villages
+and towns which were formed of dark and narrow streets, and rude and
+comfortless dwellings. The nobles lived in grand castles scattered
+here and there over the country, with extensive parks and
+pleasure-grounds around them, where they loved to marshal their
+followers, and inaugurate marauding expeditions against their rivals
+or their enemies. They were engaged in constant wars and contentions
+with each other, each thirsting for more power and more splendor than
+he at present enjoyed, and treating all beneath him with the utmost
+haughtiness and disdain. Richard's mother exhibited this aristocratic
+loftiness of spirit in a very high degree, and it was undoubtedly in a
+great manner through the influence which she exerted over her children
+that they were inspired with those sentiments of ambition and love of
+glory to which the crimes and miseries into which several of them fell
+in their subsequent career were owing.
+
+To assist her in the early education of her children, Richard's mother
+appointed one of the ladies of the court their governess. This
+governess was a personage of very high rank, being descended from the
+royal line. With the ideas which Lady Cecily entertained of the
+exalted position of her family, and of the future destiny of her
+children, none but a lady of high rank would be thought worthy of
+being intrusted with such a charge. The name of the governess was Lady
+Mortimer.
+
+The boys, as they grew older, were placed under the charge of a
+governor. His name was Sir Richard Croft. It is this Sir Richard that
+they allude to in their letter. He, too, was a person of high rank and
+of great military distinction. The boys, however, thought him too
+strict and severe with them; at least so it would seem, from the
+manner in which they speak of him in the letter.
+
+The governor and the governess appear to have liked each other very
+well, for after a time Sir Richard offered himself to Lady Mortimer,
+and they were married.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Besides Ludlow Castle, Prince Richard had several other strongholds,
+where his wife from time to time resided. Richard, who was one of the
+youngest of the children, was born at one of these, called Fotheringay
+Castle; but, before coming to the event of his birth, I must give some
+account of the history and fortunes of his father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+RICHARD'S FATHER.
+
+A.D. 1415-1461
+
+Genealogy of Richard Plantagenet.--Family of Edward III.--Succession
+of heirs in the family of Edward III.--Genealogical table of the
+houses of York and Lancaster.--Union of the houses of Clarence and
+York.--Richard Plantagenet a prisoner.--King Henry VI.--His gentle and
+quiet character.--Portrait.--Discontent of the people.--Arrangements
+made for the succession.--Character of Margaret of Anjou.--No
+children.--Feeble and failing capacity of the king.--Richard
+Plantagenet formally declared the heir.--Unexpected birth of a
+prince.--Suspicions.--Various plans and speculations.--Richard's
+hopes.--Progress of the formation of parties.--Queen Margaret's
+resolution and energy.--Wars.--Richard's two brothers, Edward and
+Edmund.--The walls of York.--Prince Richard at York.--Boldness of the
+queen.--The advice of Richard's counselors.--Richard's reply.--The
+battle.--Richard defeated.--Death of Edmund.--Death of Richard.--The
+head set upon a pole at York.
+
+
+Richard's father was a prince of the house of York. In the course of
+his life he was declared heir to the crown, but he died before he
+attained possession of it, thus leaving it for his children. The
+nature of his claim to the crown, and, indeed, the general relation of
+the various branches of the family to each other, will be seen by the
+genealogical table on the next page but one.
+
+Edward the Third, who reigned more than one hundred years before
+Richard the Third, and his queen Philippa, left at their decease four
+sons, as appears by the table.[C] They had other children besides
+these, but it was only these four, namely, Edward, Lionel, John, and
+Edmund, whose descendants were involved in the quarrels for the
+succession. The others either died young, or else, if they arrived at
+maturity, the lines descending from them soon became extinct.
+
+[Footnote C: See page 35.]
+
+Of the four that survived, the oldest was Edward, called in history
+the Black Prince. A full account of his life and adventures is given
+in our history of Richard the Second. He died before his father, and
+so did not attain to the crown. He, however, left his son Richard his
+heir, and at Edward's death Richard became king. Richard reigned
+twenty years, and then, in consequence of his numerous vices and
+crimes, and of his general mismanagement, he was deposed, and Henry,
+the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, Edward's third son,
+ascended the throne in his stead.
+
+Now, as appears by the table, John of Gaunt was the third of the four
+sons, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, being the second. The descendants of
+Lionel would properly have come before those of John in the
+succession, but it happened that the only descendants of Lionel were
+Philippa, a daughter, and Roger, a grandchild, who was at this time an
+infant. Neither of these were able to assert their claims, although in
+theory their claims were acknowledged to be prior to those of the
+descendants of John. The people of England, however, were so desirous
+to be rid of Richard, that they were willing to submit to the reign of
+any member of the royal family who should prove strong enough to
+dispossess him. So they accepted
+
+ GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE FAMILY OF EDWARD III., SHOWING THE CONNECTION
+ OF THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER.
+
+                             EDWARD III. = Phillippa.
+                                 |
+   ------------------------------------------------------------------
+   |                   |                     |                     |
+ EDWARD              LIONEL                JOHN                  EDMUND
+ (The Black Prince). (Duke of Clarence).   (Of Gaunt,           (Duke of York).
+   |                   |                    Duke of Lancaster).    |
+   |                   |                     |                     |
+ RICHARD II.         PHILLIPPA = Edward    HENRY IV.            RICHARD = Anne.
+                       |         Mortimer.   |           (_See second column._)
+                     ROGER MORTIMER        HENRY V.                |
+                     Earl of Marche).        |                     |
+                       |                   HENRY VI.        RICHARD PLANTAGENET
+                       |                     |              (Duke of York).
+                       |                     |                     |
+                       |                     |              ---------------
+                       |                     |              |      |      |
+                     ANNE = Richard        EDWARD         EDWARD GEORGE RICHARD
+                             of York.      (Prince          IV.  (Duke    III.
+                 (_See fourth column._)    of Wales).              of
+                                                                Clarence).
+
+    The character = denotes marriage; the short perpendicular
+    line | a descent. There were many other children and
+    descendants in the different branches of the family besides
+    those whose names are inserted in the table. The table
+    includes only those essential to an understanding of the
+    history.
+
+Henry of Lancaster, who ascended the throne as Henry the Fourth, and
+he and his successors in the Lancastrian line, Henry the Fifth and
+Henry the Sixth, held the throne for many years.
+
+Still, though the people of England generally acquiesced in this, the
+families of the other brothers, namely, of Lionel and Edmund, called
+generally the houses of Clarence and of York, were not satisfied. They
+combined together, and formed a great many plots and conspiracies
+against the house of Lancaster, and many insurrections and wars, and
+many cruel deeds of violence and murder grew out of the quarrel. At
+length, to strengthen their alliance more fully, Richard, the second
+son of Edmund of York, married Anne, a descendant of the Clarence
+line. The other children, who came before these, in the two lines,
+soon afterward died, leaving the inheritance of both to this pair.
+Their son was Richard, the father of Richard the Third. He is called
+Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. On the death of his father and
+mother, he, of course, became the heir not only of the immense estates
+and baronial rights of both the lines from which he had descended, but
+also of the claims of the older line to the crown of England.
+
+The successive generations of these three lines, down to the period of
+the union of the second and fourth, cutting off the third, is shown
+clearly in the table.
+
+Of course, the Lancaster line were much alarmed at the combination of
+the claims of their rivals. King Henry the Fifth was at that period on
+the throne, and, by the time that Richard Plantagenet was three years
+old, under pretense of protecting him from danger, he caused him to be
+shut up in a castle, and kept a close prisoner there.
+
+Time rolled on. King Henry the Fifth died, and Henry the Sixth
+succeeded him. Richard Plantagenet was still watched and guarded; but
+at length, by the time that Richard was thirteen years old, the power
+and influence of his branch of the royal family, or rather those of
+the two branches from which, combined, he was descended, were found to
+be increasing, while that of the house of Lancaster was declining.
+After a time he was brought out from his imprisonment, and restored to
+his rank and station. King Henry the Sixth was a man of a very weak
+and timid mind. He was quite young too, being, in fact, a mere child
+when he began to reign, and every thing went wrong with his
+government. While he was young, he could, of course, do nothing, and
+when he grew older he was too gentle and forbearing to control the
+rough and turbulent spirits around him. He had no taste for war and
+bloodshed, but loved retirement and seclusion, and, as he advanced in
+years, he fell into the habit of spending a great deal of his time in
+acts of piety and devotion, performed according to the ideas and
+customs of the times. The annexed engraving, representing him as he
+appeared when he was
+
+[Illustration: HENRY VI. IN HIS CHILDHOOD.]
+
+a boy, is copied from the ancient portraits, and well expresses the
+mild and gentle traits which marked his disposition and character.
+
+Such being the disposition and character of Henry, every thing during
+his reign went wrong, and this state of things, growing worse and
+worse as he advanced in life, greatly encouraged and strengthened the
+house of York in the effort which they were inclined to make to bring
+their own branch of the family to the throne.
+
+"See," said they, "what we come to by allowing a line of usurpers to
+reign. These Henrys of Lancaster are all descended from a younger son,
+while the heirs of the older are living, and have a right to the
+throne. Richard Plantagenet is the true and proper heir. He is a man
+of energy. Let us make him king."
+
+But the people of England, though they gradually came to desire the
+change, were not willing yet to plunge the country again into a state
+of civil war for the purpose of making it. They would not disturb
+Henry, they said, while he continued to live; but there was nobody to
+succeed him, and, when he died, Richard Plantagenet should be king.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN MARGARET OF ANJOU, WIFE OF HENRY VI.]
+
+Henry was married at this time, but he had no children. The name of
+his wife was Margaret of Anjou. She was a very extraordinary and
+celebrated woman. Though very beautiful in person, she was as
+energetic and masculine in character as her poor husband was
+effeminate and weak, and she took every thing into her own hands.
+This, however, made matters worse instead of better, and the whole
+country seemed to rejoice that she had no children, for thus, on the
+death of Henry, the line would become extinct, and Richard Plantagenet
+and his descendants would succeed, as a matter of course, in a quiet
+and peaceful manner. As Henry and Margaret had now been married eight
+or nine years without any children, it was supposed that they never
+would have any.
+
+Accordingly, Richard Plantagenet was universally looked upon as
+Henry's successor, and the time seemed to be drawing nigh when the
+change of dynasty was to take place. Henry's health was very feeble.
+He seemed to be rapidly declining. His mind was affected, too, quite
+seriously, and he sometimes sank into a species of torpor from which
+nothing could arouse him.
+
+Indeed, it became difficult to carry on the government in his name,
+for the king sank at last into such a state of imbecility that it was
+impossible to obtain from him the least sign or token that would
+serve, even for form's sake, as an assent on his part to the royal
+decrees. At one time Parliament appointed a commission to visit him in
+his chamber, for the purpose of ascertaining the state that he was in,
+and to see also whether they could not get some token from him which
+they could consider as his assent to certain measures which it was
+deemed important to take; but they could not get from the king any
+answer or sign of any kind, notwithstanding all that they could do or
+say. They retired for a time, and afterward came back again to make a
+second attempt, and then, as an ancient narrative records the story,
+"they moved and stirred him by all the ways and means that they could
+think of to have an answer of the said matter, but they could have no
+answer, word nor sign, and therefore, with sorrowful hearts, came
+away."
+
+This being the state of things, Parliament thought it time to make
+some definite arrangements for the succession. Accordingly, they
+passed a formal and solemn enactment declaring Richard Plantagenet
+heir presumptive of the crown, and investing him with the rank and
+privileges pertaining to that position. They also appointed him, for
+the present, Protector and defender of the realm.
+
+Richard, the subject of this volume, was at this time an infant two
+years old. The other ten children had been born at various periods
+before.
+
+It was now, of course, expected that Henry would soon die, and that
+then Richard Plantagenet would at once ascend the throne, acknowledged
+by the whole realm as the sole and rightful heir. But these
+expectations were suddenly disturbed, and the whole kingdom was thrown
+into a state of great excitement and alarm by the news of a very
+unexpected and important event which occurred at this time, namely,
+the birth of a child to Margaret, the queen. This event awakened all
+the latent fires of civil dissension and discord anew. The Lancastrian
+party, of course, at once rallied around the infant prince, who, they
+claimed, was the rightful heir to the crown. They began at once to
+reconstruct and strengthen their plans, and to shape their measures
+with a view to retain the kingdom in the Lancaster line. On the other
+hand, the friends of the combined houses of Clarence and York declared
+that they would not acknowledge the new-comer as the rightful heir.
+They did not believe that he was the son of the king, for he, as they
+said, had been for a long time as good as dead. Some said that they
+did not even believe that the child was Margaret's son. There was a
+story that she had had a child, but that he was very weak and puny,
+and that he had died soon after his birth, and that Margaret had
+cunningly substituted another child in his place, in order to retain
+her position and power by having a supposed son of hers reign as king
+after her husband should die. Margaret was a woman of so ambitious and
+unscrupulous a character, that she was generally believed capable of
+adopting any measures, however criminal and bold, to accomplish her
+ends.
+
+But, notwithstanding these rumors, Parliament acknowledged the infant
+as his father's son and heir. He was named Edward, and created at once
+Prince of Wales, which act was a solemn acknowledgment of his right to
+the succession. Prince Richard made no open opposition to this; for,
+although he and his friends maintained that he had a right to the
+crown, they thought that the time had not yet come for openly
+advancing their claim, so for the present they determined to be quiet.
+The child might not survive, and his father, the king, being in so
+helpless and precarious a condition, might cease to live at any time;
+and if it should so happen that both the father and the child should
+die, Richard would, of course, succeed at once, without any question.
+He accordingly thought it best to wait a little while, and see what
+turn things would take.
+
+He soon found that things were taking the wrong turn. The child lived,
+and appeared likely to continue to live, and, what was perhaps worse
+for him, the king, instead of declining more and more, began to
+revive. In a short time he was able to attend to business again, at
+least so far as to express his assent to measures prepared for him by
+his ministers. Prince Richard was accordingly called upon to resign
+his protectorate. He thought it best to yield to this proposal, and he
+did so, and thus the government was once more in Henry's hands.
+
+Things went on in this way for two or three years, but the breach
+between the two great parties was all the time widening. Difficulties
+multiplied in number and increased in magnitude. The country took
+sides. Armed forces were organized on one side and on the other, and
+at length Prince Richard openly claimed the crown as his right. This
+led to a long and violent discussion in Parliament. The result was,
+that a majority was obtained to vote in favor of Prince Richard's
+right. The Parliament decreed, however, that the existing state of
+things should not be disturbed so long as Henry continued to live, but
+that at Henry's death the crown should descend, not to little Edward
+his son, the infant Prince of Wales, but to Prince Richard Plantagenet
+and his descendants forever.
+
+Queen Margaret was at this time at a castle in Wales, where she had
+gone with the child, in order to keep him in a place of safety while
+these stormy discussions were pending. When she heard that Parliament
+had passed a law setting aside the claims of her child, she declared
+that she would never submit to it. She immediately sent messengers all
+over the northern part of the kingdom, summoning the faithful
+followers of the king every where to arm themselves and assemble near
+the frontier. She herself went to Scotland to ask for aid. The King of
+Scotland at that time was a child, but he was related to the
+Lancastrian family, his grandmother having been a descendant of John
+of Gaunt, the head of the Lancaster line. He was too young to take any
+part in the war, but his mother, who was acting as regent, furnished
+Margaret with troops. Margaret, putting herself at the head of these
+forces, marched across the frontier into England, and joined herself
+there to the other forces which had assembled in answer to her
+summons.
+
+In the mean time, Prince Richard had assembled his adherents too, and
+had commenced his march to the northward to meet his enemies. He took
+his two oldest sons with him, the two that wrote the letter quoted in
+the last chapter. One of these you will recollect was Edward, Earl of
+Marche, and the second was Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Edward was now
+about eighteen years of age, and his brother Edmund about seventeen.
+One would have said that at this period of life they were altogether
+too young to be exposed to the hardships, fatigues, and dangers of a
+martial campaign; but it was the custom in those times for princes and
+nobles to be taken with their fathers to fields of battle at a very
+early age. And these youthful warriors were really of great service
+too, for the interest which they inspired among all ranks of the army
+was so great, especially when their rank was very high, that they were
+often the means of greatly increasing the numbers and the enthusiasm
+of their fathers' followers.
+
+Edward, indeed, was in this instance deemed old enough to be sent off
+on an independent service, and so, while the prince moved forward with
+the main body of his army toward the north, he dispatched Edward,
+accompanied by a suitable escort, to the westward, toward the
+frontiers of Wales, to assemble all the armed men that he could find
+in that part of the kingdom who were disposed to espouse his cause.
+Edmund, who was a year younger than Edward, went with his father.
+
+The prince proceeded to the city of York, which was then a fortified
+place of great strength. The engraving gives a very good idea of the
+appearance of the walls in those times. These walls remain, indeed,
+almost entire at the present day, and they are visited a great deal by
+tourists and travelers, being regarded with much interest as
+furnishing a very complete and well-preserved specimen of the mural
+fortifications of the Middle Ages. Such walls, however, would be
+almost entirely useless now as means of defense, since they would not
+stand at all against an attack from modern artillery.
+
+The great church seen over the walls, in the heart of the city, is the
+famous York minster, one of the grandest Cathedral churches in
+England. It was a hundred and fifty years in building, and it was
+completed about two centuries before Richard's day.
+
+When Prince Richard reached York, he entered the town, and established
+himself there, with a view of waiting till his son should arrive with
+the re-enforcements which he had been sent to seek in the western part
+of England.
+
+[Illustration: WALLS OF YORK.]
+
+While he was there, and before the re-enforcements came, the queen, at
+the head of her army from Scotland, which was strengthened, moreover,
+by the troops which she had obtained in the north of England, came
+marching on down the country in great force. When she came into the
+neighborhood of York, she encamped, and then sent messengers to Prince
+Richard, taunting and deriding him for having shut himself up within
+fortified walls, and daring him to come out into the open field and
+fight her.
+
+The prince's counselors advised him to do no such thing. One of them
+in particular, a certain Sir Davy Hall, who was an old and faithful
+officer in the prince's service, urged him to pay no attention to
+Queen Margaret's taunts.
+
+"We are not strong enough yet," said he, "to meet the army which she
+has assembled. We must wait till our re-enforcements come. By going
+out now we shall put our cause in great peril, and all to no purpose
+whatever."
+
+"Ah! Davy, Davy," said the prince, "hast thou loved me so long, and
+now wouldst thou have me dishonored? When I was regent in Normandy,
+thou never sawest me keep fortress, even when the dauphin himself,
+with all his power, came to besiege me.[D] I always, like a man, came
+forth to meet him, instead of remaining within my walls, like a bird
+shut up in a cage. Now if I did not then keep myself shut up for fear
+of a great, strong prince, do you think I will now, for dread of a
+scolding woman, whose weapons are only her tongue and her nails, and
+thus give people occasion to say that I turned dastard before a woman,
+when no man had ever been able to make me fear? No, I will never
+submit to such disgrace. I would rather die in honor than live in
+shame; and so the great numbers of our enemies do not deter me in the
+least; they rather encourage me; therefore, in the name of God and St.
+George, advance my banner, for I am determined that I will go out and
+fight them, if I go alone."
+
+[Footnote D: In former years Prince Richard had acted as viceroy of
+the English possessions in France, under King Henry, and while there
+he had been engaged in wars with the King of France, and with the
+dauphin, his son.]
+
+[Illustration: LAST HOURS OF KING RICHARD'S FATHER.]
+
+So Prince Richard came forth from the gates of York at the head of his
+columns, and rode on toward the queen's camp. Edmund went with him.
+Edmund was under the care of his tutor, Robert Aspell, who was charged
+to keep close to his side, and to watch over him in the most vigilant
+manner. The army of the queen was at some distance from York, at a
+place called Wakefield. Both parties, as is usual in civil wars, were
+extremely exasperated against each other, and the battle was
+desperately fought. It was very brief, however, and Richard's troops
+were defeated. Richard himself was taken prisoner. Edmund endeavored
+to escape. His tutor endeavored to hurry him off the field, but he
+was stopped on the way by a certain nobleman of the queen's party,
+named Lord Clifford. The poor boy begged hard for mercy, but Clifford
+killed him on the spot.
+
+The prince's army, when they found that the battle had gone against
+them, and that their captain was a prisoner, fled in all directions
+over the surrounding country, leaving great numbers dead upon the
+field. The prince himself, as soon as he was taken, was disarmed on
+the field, and all the leaders of the queen's army, including, as the
+most authentic accounts relate, the queen herself, gathered around him
+in wild exultation. They carried him to a mound formed by an ant-hill,
+which they said, in mockery, should be his throne. They placed him
+upon it with taunts and derision. They made a crown for him of knotted
+grass, and put it upon his head, and then made mock obeisances before
+him, saying, "Hail! king without a kingdom. Hail! prince without a
+people."
+
+After having satisfied themselves with their taunts and revilings, the
+party killed their prisoner and cut off his head. They set his head
+upon the point of a lance, and in this way presented it to Queen
+Margaret. The queen ordered the head to be decorated with a paper
+crown, and then to be carried to York, and set up at the gates of
+that city upon a tall pole.
+
+Thus was little Richard, the subject of this narrative, left
+fatherless. He was at this period between eight and nine years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE CHILDHOOD OF RICHARD III.
+
+Condition of young Richard in his childhood.--Strange tales in
+respect to his birth.--Dangers to which Richard was exposed in
+his childhood.--Extraordinary vicissitudes in the life of his
+mother.--The castles and palaces belonging to the house of
+York.--Situation of Lady Cecily at the time of her husband's
+death.--Lady Cecily sends the children to the Continent.--Situation
+of Lady Cecily and of her oldest son.
+
+
+Young Richard, as was said at the close of the last chapter, was of a
+very tender age when his father and his brother Edmund were killed at
+the battle of Wakefield. He was at that time only about eight years
+old. It is very evident too, from what has been already related of the
+history of his father and mother, that during the whole period of his
+childhood and youth he must have passed through very stormy times. It
+is only a small portion of the life of excitement, conflict, and alarm
+which was led by his father that there is space to describe in this
+volume. So unsettled and wandering a life did his father and mother
+lead, that it is not quite certain in which of the various towns and
+castles that from time to time they made their residence, he was born.
+It is supposed, however, that he was born in the Castle of
+Fotheringay, in the year 1452. His father was killed in 1461, which
+would make Richard, as has already been said, about eight or nine
+years old at that time.
+
+There were a great many strange tales related in subsequent years in
+respect to Richard's birth. He became such a monster, morally, when he
+grew to be a man, that the people believed that he was born a monster
+in person. The story was that he came into the world very ugly in face
+and distorted in form, and that his hair and his teeth were already
+grown. These were considered as portents of the ferociousness of
+temper and character which he was subsequently to manifest, and of the
+unnatural and cruel crimes which he would live to commit. It is very
+doubtful, however, whether any of these stories are true. It is most
+probable that at his birth he looked like any other child.
+
+There were a great many periods of intense excitement and terror in
+the family history before the great final calamity at Wakefield when
+Richard's father and his brother Edmund were killed. At these times
+the sole reliance of the prince in respect to the care of the younger
+children was upon Lady Cecily, their mother. The older sons went with
+their father on the various martial expeditions in which he was
+engaged. They shared with him the hardships and dangers of his
+conflicts, and the triumph and exultations of his victories. The
+younger children, however, remained in seclusion with their mother,
+sometimes in one place and sometimes in another, wherever there was,
+for the time being, the greatest promise of security.
+
+Indeed, during the early childhood of Richard, the changes and
+vicissitudes through which the family passed were so sudden and
+violent in their character as sometimes to surpass the most romantic
+tales of fiction. At one time, while Lady Cecily was residing at the
+Castle of Ludlow with Richard and some of the younger children, a
+party of her husband's enemies, the Lancastrians, appeared suddenly at
+the gates of the town, and, before Prince Richard's party had time to
+take any efficient measures for defense, the town and the castle were
+both taken. The Lancastrians had expected to find Prince Richard
+himself in the castle, but he was not there. They were exasperated by
+their disappointment, and in their fury they proceeded to ransack all
+the rooms, and to destroy every thing that came into their hands. In
+some of the inner and more private apartments they found Lady Cecily
+and her children. They immediately seized them all, made them
+prisoners, and carried them away. By King Henry's orders, they were
+placed in close custody in another castle in the southern part of
+England, and all the property, both of the prince and of Lady Cecily,
+was confiscated. While the mother and the younger children were thus
+closely shut up and reduced to helpless destitution, the father and
+the older sons were obliged to fly from the country to save their
+lives. In less than three months after this time these same exiled and
+apparently ruined fugitives were marching triumphantly through the
+country, at the head of victorious troops, carrying all before them.
+Lady Cecily and her children were set at liberty, and restored to
+their property and their rights, while King Henry himself, whose
+captives they had been, was himself made captive, and brought in
+durance to London, and Queen Margaret and her son were in their turn
+compelled to fly from the realm to save their lives.
+
+This last change in the condition of public affairs took place only a
+short time before the great final contest between Prince Richard of
+York, King Richard's father, and the family of Henry, when the prince
+lost his life at Wakefield, as described in the last chapter.
+
+[Illustration: PALACE AND GARDEN BELONGING TO THE HOUSE OF YORK.]
+
+Of course, young Richard, being brought up amid these scenes of wild
+commotion, and accustomed from childhood to witness the most cruel and
+remorseless conflicts between branches of the same family, was trained
+by them to be ambitious, daring, and unscrupulous in respect to the
+means to be used in circumventing or destroying an enemy. The seed
+thus sown produced in subsequent years most dreadful fruit, as will be
+seen more fully in the sequel of his history.
+
+There were a great many hereditary castles belonging to the family of
+York, many of which had descended from father to son for many
+generations. Some of these castles were strong fortresses, built in
+wild and inaccessible retreats, and intended to be used as places of
+temporary refuge, or as the rallying-points and rendezvous of bodies
+of armed men. Others were better adapted for the purposes of a private
+residence, being built with some degree of reference to the comfort of
+the inmates, and surrounded with gardens and grounds, where the ladies
+and the children who were left in them could find recreation and
+amusement adapted to their age and sex.
+
+It was in such a castle as this, near London, that Lady Cecily and her
+younger children were residing when her husband went to the northward
+to meet the forces of the queen, as related in the last chapter. Here
+Lady Cecily lived in great state, for she thought the time was drawing
+nigh when her husband would be raised to the throne. Indeed, she
+considered him as already the true and rightful sovereign of the
+realm, and she believed that the hour would very soon come when his
+claims would be universally acknowledged, and when she herself would
+be Queen of England, and her boys royal princes, and, as such, the
+objects of universal attention and regard. She instilled these ideas
+continually into the minds of the children, and she exacted the utmost
+degree of subserviency and submission toward herself and toward them
+on the part of all around her.
+
+While she was thus situated in her palace near London, awaiting every
+day the arrival of a messenger from the north announcing the final
+victory of her husband over all his foes, she was one day
+thunderstruck, and overwhelmed with grief and despair, by the tidings
+that her husband had been defeated, and that he himself, and the dear
+son who had accompanied him, and was just arriving at maturity, had
+been ignominiously slain. The queen, too, her most bitter foe, now
+exultant and victorious, was advancing triumphantly toward London.
+
+Not a moment was to be lost. Lady Cecily had with her, at this time,
+her two youngest sons, George and Richard. She made immediate
+arrangements for her flight. It happened that the Earl of Warwick,
+who was at this time the Lord High Admiral, and who, of course, had
+command of the seas between England and the Continent, was a relative
+and friend of Lady Cecily's. He was at this time in London. Lady
+Cecily applied to him to assist her in making her escape. He
+consented, and, with his aid, she herself, with her two children and a
+small number of attendants, escaped secretly from London, and made
+their way to the southern coast. There Lady Cecily put the children
+and the attendants on board a vessel, by which they were conveyed to
+the coast of Holland. On landing there, they were received by the
+prince of the country, who was a friend of Lady Cecily, and to whose
+care she commended them. The prince received them with great kindness,
+and sent them to the city of Utrecht, where he established them safely
+in one of his palaces, and appointed suitable tutors and governors to
+superintend their education. Here it was expected that they would
+remain for several years.
+
+Their mother did not go with them to Holland. Her fears in respect to
+remaining in England were not for herself, but only for her helpless
+children. For herself, her only impulse was to face and brave the
+dangers which threatened her, and triumph over them. So she went
+boldly back to London, to await there whatever might occur.
+
+Besides, her oldest son was still in England, and she could not
+forsake him. You will recollect that, when his father went north to
+meet the forces of Queen Margaret, he sent his oldest son, Edward,
+Earl of Marche, to the western part of England, to obtain
+re-enforcements. Edward was at Gloucester when the tidings came to him
+of his father's death. Gloucester is on the western confines of
+England, near the southeastern borders of Wales. Now, of course, since
+her husband was dead, all Lady Cecily's ambition, and all her hopes of
+revenge were concentrated in him. She wished to be at hand to counsel
+him, and to co-operate with him by all the means in her power. How she
+succeeded in these plans, and how, by means of them, he soon became
+King of England, will appear in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ACCESSION OF EDWARD IV., RICHARD'S ELDER BROTHER.
+
+A.D. 1461
+
+Edward now becomes heir to the crown.--His energy and decision.--He
+marches to intercept Margaret.--Warwick.--Battle with the
+queen.--Warwick defeated.--Margaret regains possession of her
+husband.--Excesses committed by the queen's troops.--Edward
+advances.--He enters London.--His welcome.--Excitement in
+London.--Measures taken by Edward.--Voice of the people.--They declare
+in favor of Edward.--Edward is formally enthroned.--Various
+ceremonies.--Edward marches to the northward.--A battle.--Edward
+enters York in triumph.--He inters his father's body.--He returns
+to London.--Grief of his mother.--Situation of George and
+Richard.--Richard's person.--Description of the armor worn in those
+days.--Necessity of being trained to use this armor.--The armor
+costly.--Substitutes for it.--Exercises.--Feats to be
+performed.--Account of the quintaine.--Other exercises and
+sports.--Playing ball.--Jumping through a hoop.--The two brothers
+companions.--Richard's intellectual education.
+
+
+Richard's brother Edward, as has already been remarked, was at
+Gloucester when he heard the news of his father's death. This news, of
+course, made a great change in his condition. To his mother, the event
+was purely and simply a calamity, and it could awaken no feelings in
+her heart but those of sorrow and chagrin. In Edward's mind, on the
+other hand, the first emotions of astonishment and grief were followed
+immediately by a burst of exultation and pride. He, of course, as now
+the oldest surviving son, succeeded at once to all the rights and
+titles which his father had enjoyed, and among these, according to the
+ideas which his mother had instilled into his mind, was the right to
+the crown. His heart, therefore, when the first feeling of grief for
+the loss of his father had subsided, bounded with joy as he exclaimed,
+
+"So now _I_ am the King of England."
+
+The enthusiasm which he felt extended itself at once to all around
+him. He immediately made preparations to put himself at the head of
+his troops, and march to the eastward, so as to intercept Queen
+Margaret on her way to London, for he knew that she would, of course,
+now press forward toward the capital as fast as possible.
+
+He accordingly set out at once upon his march, and, as he went on, he
+found that the number of his followers increased very rapidly. The
+truth was, that the queen's party, by their murder of Richard, and of
+young Edmund his son, had gone altogether too far for the good of
+their own cause. The people, when they heard the tidings, were
+indignant at such cruelty. Those who belonged to the party of the
+house of York, instead of being intimidated by the severity of the
+measure, were exasperated at the brutality of it, and they were all
+eager to join the young duke, Edward, and help him to avenge his
+father's and his brother's death. Those who had been before on the
+side of the house of Lancaster were discouraged and repelled, while
+those who had been doubtful were now ready to declare against the
+queen.
+
+It is in this way that all excesses in the hour of victory defeat the
+very ends they were intended to subserve. They weaken the
+perpetrators, and not the subjects of them.
+
+In the mean time, while young Edward, at the head of his army, was
+marching on from the westward toward London to intercept the queen,
+the Earl of Warwick, who has already been mentioned as a friend of
+Lady Cecily, had also assembled a large force near London, and he was
+now advancing toward the northward. The poor king was with him.
+Nominally, the king was in command of the expedition, and every thing
+was done in his name, but really he was a forlorn and helpless
+prisoner, forced wholly against his will--so far as the feeble degree
+of intellect which remained to him enabled him to exercise a will--to
+seem to head an enterprise directed against his own wife, and his best
+and strongest friend.
+
+The armies of the queen and of the Earl of Warwick advanced toward
+each other, until they met at last at a short distance north of
+London. A desperate battle was fought, and the queen's party were
+completely victorious. When night came on, the Earl of Warwick found
+that he was beaten at every point, and that his troops had fled in all
+directions, leaving thousands of the dead and dying all along the road
+sides. The camp had been abandoned, and there was no time to save any
+thing; even the poor king was left behind, and the officers of the
+queen's army found him in a tent, with only one attendant. Of course,
+the queen was overjoyed at recovering possession of her husband, not
+merely on his own account personally, but also because she could now
+act again directly in his name. So she prepared a proclamation, by
+which the king revoked all that he had done while in the hands of
+Warwick, on the ground that he had been in durance, and had not acted
+of his own free will, and also declared Edward a traitor, and offered
+a large reward for his apprehension.
+
+The queen was now once more filled with exultation and joy. Her joy
+would have been complete were it not that Edward himself was still to
+be met, for he was all this time advancing from the westward; she,
+however, thought that there was not much to be feared from such a boy,
+Edward being at this time only about nineteen years of age. So the
+queen moved on toward London, flushed with the victory, and
+exasperated with the opposition which she had met with. Her soldiers
+were under very little control, and they committed great excesses.
+They ravaged the country, and plundered without mercy all those whom
+they considered as belonging to the opposite party; they committed,
+too, many atrocious acts of cruelty. It is always thus in civil war.
+In foreign wars, armies are much more easily kept under control.
+Troops march through a foreign territory, feeling no personal spite or
+hatred against the inhabitants of it, for they think it is a matter of
+course that the people should defend their country and resist
+invaders. But in a civil war, the men of each party feel a special
+personal hate against every individual that does not belong to their
+side, and in periods of actual conflict this hatred becomes a rage
+that is perfectly uncontrollable.
+
+Accordingly, as the queen and her troops advanced, they robbed and
+murdered all who came in their way, and they filled the whole country
+with terror. They even seized and plundered a convent, which was a
+species of sacrilege. This greatly increased the general alarm. "The
+wretches!" exclaimed the people, when they heard the tidings, "nothing
+is sacred in their eyes." The people of London were particularly
+alarmed. They thought there was danger that the city itself would be
+given up to plunder if the queen's troops gained admission. So they
+all turned against her. She sent one day into the town for a supply of
+provisions, and the authorities, perhaps thinking themselves bound by
+their official duty to obey orders of this kind coming in the king's
+name, loaded up some wagons and sent them forth, but the people raised
+a mob, and stopped the wagons at the gates, refusing to let them go
+on.
+
+In the mean time, Edward, growing every hour stronger as he advanced,
+came rapidly on toward London. He was joined at length by the Earl of
+Warwick and the remnant of the force which remained to the earl after
+the battle which he had fought with the queen. The queen, now finding
+that Edward's strength was becoming formidable, did not dare to meet
+him; so she retreated toward the north again. Edward, instead of
+pursuing her, advanced directly toward London. The people threw open
+the gates to him, and welcomed him as their deliverer. They thronged
+the streets to look upon him as he passed, and made the air ring with
+their loud and long acclamations.
+
+There was, indeed, every thing in the circumstances of the case to
+awaken excitement and emotion. Here was a boy not yet out of his
+teens, extremely handsome in appearance and agreeable in manners, who
+had taken the field in command of a very large force to avenge the
+cruel death of his father and brother, and was now coming boldly, at
+the head of his troops, into the very capital of the king and queen
+under whose authority his father and brother had been killed.
+
+The most extraordinary circumstance connected with these proceedings
+was, that during all this time Henry was still acknowledged by every
+one as the actual king. Edward and his friends maintained, indeed,
+that he, Edward, was _entitled_ to reign, but no one pretended that
+any thing had yet been done which could have the legal effect of
+putting him upon the throne. There was, however, now a general
+expectation that the time for the formal deposition of Henry was near,
+and in and around London all was excitement and confusion. The people
+from the surrounding towns flocked every day into the city to see what
+they could see, and to hear what they could hear. They thronged the
+streets whenever Edward appeared in public, eager to obtain a glimpse
+of him.
+
+At length, a few days after Edward entered the city, his counselors
+and friends deemed that the time had come for action. Accordingly,
+they made arrangements for a grand review in a large open field. Their
+design was by this review to call together a great concourse of
+spectators. A vast assembly convened according to their expectations.
+In the midst of the ceremonies, two noblemen appeared before the
+multitude to make addresses to them. One of them made a speech in
+respect to Henry, denouncing the crimes, and the acts of treachery and
+of oppression which his government had committed. He dilated long on
+the feebleness and incapacity of the king, and his total inability to
+exercise any control in the management of public affairs. After he had
+finished, he called out to the people in a loud voice to declare
+whether they would submit any longer to have such a man for king.
+
+The people answered "NAY, NAY, NAY," with loud and long acclamations.
+
+Then the other speaker made an address in favor of Edward. He
+explained at length the nature of his title to the crown, showing it
+to be altogether superior in point of right to that of Henry. He also
+spoke long and eloquently in praise of Edward's personal
+qualifications, describing his courage, his activity, and energy, and
+the various graces and accomplishments for which he was distinguished,
+in the most glowing terms. He ended by demanding of the people whether
+they would have Edward for king.
+
+The people answered "YEA, YEA, YEA; KING EDWARD FOREVER! KING EDWARD
+FOREVER!" with acclamations as long and loud as before.
+
+Of course there could be no legal validity in such proceedings as
+these, for, even if England had at that time been an elective
+monarchy, the acclamations of an accidental assembly drawn together to
+witness a review could on no account have been deemed a valid vote.
+This ceremony was only meant as a very public announcement of the
+intention of Edward immediately to assume the throne.
+
+The next day, accordingly, a grand council was held of all the great
+barons, and nobles, and officers of state. By this council a decree
+was passed that King Henry, by his late proceedings, had forfeited the
+crown, and Edward was solemnly declared king in his stead. Immediately
+afterward, Edward rode at the head of a royal procession, which was
+arranged for the purpose, to Westminster, and there, in the presence
+of a vast assembly, he took his seat upon the throne. While there
+seated, he made a speech to the audience, in which he explained the
+nature of his hereditary rights, and declared his intention to
+maintain his rights thenceforth in the most determined manner.
+
+The king now proceeded to Westminster Abbey, where he performed the
+same ceremonies a second time. He was also publicly proclaimed king on
+the same day in various parts of London.
+
+Edward was now full of ardor and enthusiasm, and his first impulse was
+to set off, at the head of his army, toward the north, in pursuit of
+the queen and the old king. The king and queen had gone to York. The
+queen had not only the king under her care, but also her son, the
+little Prince of Wales, who was now about eight years old. This young
+prince was the heir to the crown on the Lancastrian side, and Edward
+was, of course, very desirous of getting him, as well as the king and
+queen, into his hands; so he put himself at the head of his troops,
+and began to move forward as fast as he could go. The body of troops
+under his command consisted of fifty thousand men. In the queen's
+army, which was encamped in the neighborhood of York, there were about
+sixty thousand.
+
+Both parties were extremely exasperated against each other, and were
+eager for the fight. Edward gave orders to his troops to grant no
+quarter, but, in the event of victory, to massacre without mercy every
+man that they could bring within their reach. The armies came together
+at a place called Towton. The combat was begun in the midst of a
+snow-storm. The armies fought from nine o'clock in the morning till
+three in the afternoon, and by that time the queen's troops were
+every where driven from the field. Edward's men pursued them along the
+roads, slaughtering them without mercy as fast as they could overtake
+them, until at length nearly forty thousand men were left dead upon
+the ground.
+
+The queen fled toward the north, taking with her her husband and
+child. Edward entered York in triumph. At the gates he found the head
+of his father and that of his brother still remaining upon the poles
+where the queen had put them. He took them reverently down, and then
+put other heads in their places, which he cut off for the purpose from
+some of his prisoners. He was in such a state of fury, that I suppose,
+if he could have caught the king and queen, he would have cut off
+_their_ heads, and put them on the poles in the place of his father's
+and his brother's; but he could not catch them. They fled to the
+north, toward the frontiers of Scotland, and so escaped from his
+hands.
+
+Edward determined not to pursue the fugitives any farther at that
+time, as there were many important affairs to be attended to in
+London, and so he concluded to be satisfied at present with the
+victory which he had obtained, and with the dispersion of his enemies,
+and to return to the capital. He first, however, gathered together
+the remains of his father and brother, and caused them to be buried
+with solemn funeral ceremonies in one of his castles near York. This
+was, however, only a temporary arrangement, for, as soon as his
+affairs were fully settled, the remains were disinterred, and
+conveyed, with great funeral pomp and parade, to their final
+resting-place in the southern part of the kingdom.
+
+As soon as Edward reached London, one of the first things that he did
+was to send for his two brothers, George and Richard, who, as will be
+recollected, had been removed by their mother to Holland, and were now
+in Utrecht pursuing their education. These two boys were all the
+brothers of Edward that remained now alive. They came back to London.
+Their widowed mother's heart was filled with a melancholy sort of joy
+in seeing her children once more together, safe in their native land;
+but her spirit, after reviving for a moment, sank again, overwhelmed
+with the bitter and irreparable loss which she had sustained in the
+death of her husband. His death was, of course, a fatal blow to all
+those ambitious plans and aspirations which she had cherished for
+herself. Though the mother of a king, she could now never become
+herself a queen; and, disappointed and unhappy, she retired to one of
+the family castles in the neighborhood of London, and lived there
+comparatively alone and in great seclusion.
+
+The boys, on the other hand, were brought forward very conspicuously
+into public life. In the autumn of the same year in which Edward took
+possession of the crown, they were made royal dukes, with great parade
+and ceremony, and were endowed with immense estates to enable them to
+support the dignity of their rank and position. George was made Duke
+of Clarence; Richard, Duke of Gloucester; and from this time the two
+boys were almost always designated by these names.
+
+Suitable persons, too, were appointed to take charge of the boys, for
+the purpose of conducting their education, and also to manage their
+estates until they should become of age.
+
+There have been a great many disputes in respect to Richard's
+appearance and character at this time. For a long period after his
+death, people generally believed that he was, from his very childhood,
+an ugly little monster, that nobody could look upon without fear; and,
+in fact, he was very repulsive in his personal appearance when he grew
+up, but at this time of his life the historians and biographers who
+saw and knew him say that he was quite a pretty boy, though puny and
+weak. His face was handsome enough, though his form was frail, and not
+perfectly symmetrical. Those who had charge of him tried to strengthen
+his constitution by training him to the martial exercises and usages
+which were practiced in those days, and especially by accustoming him
+to wear the ponderous armor which was then in use.
+
+This armor was made of iron or steel. It consisted of a great number
+of separate pieces, which, when they were all put on, incased almost
+the whole body, so as to defend it against blows coming from any
+quarter. First, there was the helmet, or cap of steel, with large oval
+pieces coming down to protect the ears. Next came the _gorget_, as it
+was called, which was a sort of collar to cover the neck. Then there
+were elbow pieces to guard the elbows, and shoulder-plates for the
+shoulders, and a breast-plate or buckler for the front, and greaves
+for the legs and thighs. These things were necessary in those days, or
+at least they were advantageous, for they afforded pretty effectual
+protection against all the ordinary weapons which were then in use.
+But they made the warriors themselves so heavy and unwieldy as very
+greatly to interfere with the freedom of their movements when engaged
+in battle. There was, indeed, a certain advantage in this weight, as
+it made the shock with which the knight on horseback encountered his
+enemy in the charge so much the more heavy and overpowering; but if he
+were by any accident to lose his seat and fall to the ground, he was
+generally so encumbered by his armor that he could only partially
+raise himself therefrom. He was thus compelled to lie almost helpless
+until his enemy came to kill him, or his squire or some other friend
+came to help him up.[E]
+
+[Footnote E: See engraving on page 148.]
+
+Of course, to be able to manage one's self at all in these habiliments
+of iron and steel, there was required not only native strength of
+constitution, but long and careful training, and it was a very
+important part of the education of young men of rank in Richard's days
+to familiarize them with the use of this armor, and inure them to the
+weight of it. Suits of it were made for boys, the size and weight of
+each suit being fitted to the form and strength of the wearer. Many of
+these suits of boys' armor are still preserved in England. There are
+several specimens to be seen in the Tower of London. They are in the
+apartment called the Horse Armory, which is a vast hall with effigies
+of horses, and of men mounted upon them, all completely armed with
+the veritable suits of steel which the men and the horses that they
+represent actually wore when they were alive. The horses are arranged
+along the sides of the room in regular order from the earliest ages
+down to the time when steel armor of this kind ceased to be worn.
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD QUINTAINE]
+
+These suits of armor were very costly, and the boys for whom they were
+made were, of course, filled with feelings of exultation and pride
+when they put them on; and, heavy and uncomfortable as such clothing
+must have been, they were willing to wear it, and to practice the
+required exercises in it. When actually made of steel, the armor was
+very expensive, and such could only be afforded for young princes and
+nobles of very high rank; for other young men, various substitutes
+were provided; but all were trained, either in the use of actual
+armor, or of substitutes, to perform a great number and variety of
+exercises. They were taught, when they were old enough, to spring upon
+a horse with as much armor upon them and in their hands as possible;
+to run races; to see how long they could continue to strike heavy
+blows in quick succession with a battle-axe or club, as if they were
+beating an enemy lying upon the ground, and trying to break his armor
+to pieces; to dance and throw summersets; to mount upon a horse
+behind another person by leaping from the ground, and assisting
+themselves only by one hand, and other similar things. One feat which
+they practiced was to climb up between two partition walls built
+pretty near together, by bracing their back against one wall, and
+working with their knees and hands against the other. Another feat was
+to climb up a ladder on the under side by means of the hands alone.
+
+Another famous exercise, or perhaps rather game, was performed with
+what was called the _quintaine_. The quintaine consisted of a stout
+post set in the ground, and rising about ten or twelve feet above the
+surface. Across the top was a strong bar, which turned on a pivot made
+in the top of the post, so that it would go round and round. To one
+end of this cross-bar there was fixed a square board for a target; to
+the other end was hung a heavy club. The cross-bar was so poised upon
+the central pivot that it would move very easily. In playing the game,
+the competitors, mounted on horseback, were to ride, one after
+another, under the target-end of the cross-bar, and hurl their spears
+at it with all their force. The blow from the spear would knock the
+target-end of the cross-bar away, and so bring round the other end,
+with its heavy club, to strike a blow on the horseman's head if he did
+not get instantly out of the way. It was as if he were to strike one
+enemy in front in battle, while there was another enemy ready on the
+instant to strike him from behind.
+
+There is one of these ancient quintaines now standing on the green in
+the village of Offham, in Kent.
+
+Such exercises as these were, of course, only fitted for men, or at
+least for boys who had nearly attained to their full size and
+strength. There were other games and exercises intended for smaller
+boys. There are many rude pictures in ancient books illustrating these
+old games. In one they are playing ball; in another they are playing
+shuttle-cock. The battle-doors that they use are very rude.
+
+[Illustration: PLAYING BALL.]
+
+These pictures show how ancient these common games are. In another
+picture the boys are playing with a hoop. Two of them are holding the
+hoop up between them, and the third is preparing to jump through it,
+head foremost. His plan is to come down on the other side upon his
+hands, and so turn a summerset, and come up on his feet beyond.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE-DOOR AND SHUTTLE-COCK.]
+
+In these exercises and amusements, and, indeed, in all his
+occupations, Richard had his brother George, the Duke of Clarence, for
+his playmate and companion. George was not only older than Richard,
+but he was also much more healthy and athletic; and some persons have
+thought that Richard injured himself, and perhaps, in some degree,
+increased the deformity which he seems to have suffered from in later
+years, or perhaps brought it on entirely, by overloading himself, in
+his attempts to keep pace with his brother in these exercises, with
+burdens of armor, or by straining himself in athletic exertions which
+were beyond his powers.
+
+The intellectual education of the boys was not entirely neglected.
+They learned to read and write, though they could not write much, or
+very well. Their names are still found, as they signed them to ancient
+documents, several of which remain to the present day. The following
+is a fac-simile of Richard's signature, copied exactly from one of
+those documents.
+
+[Illustration: RICHARD'S SIGNATURE.]
+
+Richard continued in this state of pupilage in some of the castles
+belonging to the family from the time that his brother began to reign
+until he was about fourteen years of age. Edward, the king, was then
+twenty-four, and Clarence about seventeen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER.
+
+A.D. 1461-1468
+
+Situation of Richard under the reign of his brother.--Strange
+vicissitudes in the life of Margaret.--Representatives of the house
+of York.--Margaret.--Value of a marriageable young lady.--Warwick
+becomes Edward's prime minister.--The three great parties.--The
+fortunes of Margaret of Anjou.--She escapes to France.--A new
+expedition planned.--Margaret is defeated and compelled to fly.--She
+encounters great dangers at sea.--The king concealed.--The king is
+made prisoner, and sent to the Tower.--Brutal punishments.--Great
+exasperation of the combatants.--Account of Elizabeth
+Woodville.--Edward's first interview with her.--The secret
+marriage.--The marriage gradually revealed.--Indignation of the Earl
+of Warwick.--Ancient portrait of Edward IV.--Portrait of Queen
+Elizabeth Woodville.--George and Richard.--The queen is publicly
+acknowledged.--Various difficulties and entanglements resulting
+from this marriage.--Jealousy against the queen's family and
+relations.--Situation of Henry and his family.--Margaret of
+York.--Plans and manoeuvres in respect to Margaret's marriage.--Count
+Charles carries the day.--Vexation of Warwick.--Progress of the
+quarrel.--A temporary reconciliation.--A new marriage scheme.--Edward
+displeased.--He fails of preventing the marriage.--The ceremony
+performed at Calais.
+
+
+Richard's brother, Edward the Fourth, began to reign when Richard was
+about eight or nine years of age. His reign continued--with a brief
+interruption, which will be hereafter explained--for twenty years; so
+that, for a very important period of his life, after he arrived at
+some degree of maturity, namely, from the time that he was fourteen to
+the time that he was thirty, Richard was one of his brother's
+subjects. He was a prince, it is true, and a prince of the very
+highest rank--the next person but one, in fact, in the line of
+succession to the crown. His brother George, the Duke of Clarence, of
+course, being older than he, came before him; but both the young men,
+though princes, were subjects. They were under their brother Edward's
+authority, and bound to serve and obey him as their rightful
+sovereign; next to him, however, they were the highest personages in
+the realm. George was, from this time, generally called Clarence, and
+Richard, Gloucester.
+
+The reader may perhaps feel some interest and curiosity in learning
+what became of Queen Margaret and old King Henry after they were
+driven out of the country toward the north, at the time of Edward's
+accession. Their prospects seemed, at the time, to be hopelessly
+ruined, but their case was destined to furnish another very striking
+instance of the extraordinary reverses of fortune which marked the
+history of nearly all the great families during the whole course of
+this York and Lancaster quarrel. In about ten years from the time when
+Henry and Margaret were driven away, apparently into hopeless exile,
+they came back in triumph, and were restored to power, and Edward
+himself, in his turn, was ignominiously expelled from the kingdom. The
+narrative of the circumstances through which these events were brought
+about forms quite a romantic story.
+
+In order, however, that this story may be more clearly understood, I
+will first enumerate the principal personages that take a part in it,
+and briefly remind the reader of the position which they respectively
+occupied, and the relations which they sustained to each other.
+
+First, there is the family of King Henry, consisting of himself and
+his wife, Queen Margaret, and his little son Edward, who had received
+the title of Prince of Wales. This boy was about eight years old at
+the time his father and mother were driven away. We left them, in the
+last chapter, flying toward the frontiers of Scotland to save their
+lives, leaving to Edward and his troops the full possession of the
+kingdom.
+
+Henry and his little son, the Prince of Wales, of course represent the
+house of Lancaster in the dispute for the succession.
+
+The house of York was represented by Edward, whose title, as king, was
+Edward the Fourth, and his two brothers, George and Richard, or, as
+they were now generally called, Clarence and Gloucester. In case
+Edward should be married and have a son, his son would succeed him,
+and George and Richard would be excluded; if, however, he should die
+without issue, then George would become king; and if George should die
+without issue, and Richard should survive him, then Richard would
+succeed. Thus, as matters now stood, George and Richard were
+presumptive heirs to the crown, and it was natural that they should
+wish that their brother Edward should never be married.
+
+Besides these two brothers, who were the only ones of all his brothers
+that were now living, Edward had a sister named Margaret. Margaret was
+four years younger than Edward the king, and about six years older
+than Richard. She was now about seventeen. A young lady of that age in
+the family of a king in those days was quite a treasure, as the king
+was enabled to promote his political schemes sometimes very
+effectually by bestowing her in marriage upon this great prince or
+that, as would best further the interests which he had in view in
+foreign courts.
+
+This young lady, Edward's sister, being of the same
+name--Margaret--with the queen of old King Henry, was distinguished
+from her by being called Margaret of York, as she belonged to the York
+family. The queen was generally known as Margaret of Anjou. Anjou was
+the place of her nativity.
+
+The next great personage to be named is the Earl of Warwick. He was
+the man, as you will doubtless recollect, who was in command of the
+sea between England and the Continent at the time when Lady Cecily
+wished to send her children, George and Richard, away after their
+father's death, and who assisted in arranging their flight. He was a
+man of great power and influence, and of such an age and character
+that he exerted a vast ascendency over all within his influence.
+Without him, Edward never would have conquered the Lancaster party,
+and he knew very well that if Warwick, and all those whom Warwick
+would carry with him, were to desert him, he should not be able to
+retain his kingdom. Indeed, Warwick received the surname of
+_King-maker_ from the fact that, in repeated instances during this
+quarrel, he put down one dynasty and raised up the other, just as he
+pleased. He belonged to a great and powerful family named Neville. As
+soon as Edward was established on his throne, Warwick, almost as a
+matter of course, became prime minister. One of his brothers was made
+chancellor, and a great number of other posts of distinction and honor
+were distributed among the members of the Neville family. Indeed,
+although Edward was nominally king, it might have been considered in
+some degree a question whether it was the house of York or the house
+of Neville that actually reigned in England.
+
+The Earl of Warwick had two daughters. Their names were Isabella and
+Anne. These two young ladies the earl reckoned, as Edward did his
+sister Margaret, among the most important of his political resources.
+By marrying them to persons of very high position, he could strengthen
+his alliances and increase his power. There was even a possibility, he
+thought, of marrying one of them to the King of England, or to a
+prince who would become king.
+
+Thus we have for the three great parties to the transactions now to be
+described, first, the representatives of the house of Lancaster, the
+feeble Henry, the energetic and strong-minded Margaret of Anjou, and
+their little son, the Prince of Wales; secondly, the representatives
+of the house of York, King Edward the Fourth, the two young men his
+brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester,
+and his sister Margaret; and, thirdly, between these two parties, as
+it were, the Earl of Warwick and his two daughters, Isabella and Anne,
+standing at the head of a vast family influence, which ramified to
+every part of the kingdom, and was powerful enough to give the
+ascendency to either side, in favor of which they might declare.
+
+We are now prepared to follow Queen Margaret in her flight toward the
+north with her husband and her son, at the time when Edward the Fourth
+overcame her armies and ascended the throne. She pressed on as rapidly
+as possible, taking the king and the little prince with her, and
+accompanied and assisted in her flight by a few attendants, till she
+had crossed the frontier and was safe in Scotland. The Scots espoused
+her cause, and assisted her to raise fresh troops, with which she made
+one or two short incursions into England; but she soon found that she
+could do nothing effectual in this way, and so, after wasting some
+time in fruitless attempts, she left Scotland with the king and the
+prince, and went to France.
+
+Here she entered into negotiations with the King of France, and with
+other princes and potentates, on the Continent, with a view of raising
+men and money for a new invasion of England. At first these powers
+declined to assist her. They said that their treasuries were
+exhausted, and that they had no men. At last, however, Margaret
+promised to the King of France that if he would furnish her with a
+fleet and an army, by which she could recover the kingdom of her
+husband, she would cede to him the town of Calais, which, though
+situated on the coast of France, was at that time an English
+possession. This was a very tempting offer, for Calais was a fortress
+of the first class, and a military post either for England or France
+of a very important character.
+
+The king consented to this proposal. He equipped a fleet and raised an
+army, and Margaret set sail for England, taking the king and the
+prince with her. Her plan was to land in the northern part of the
+island, near the frontiers of Scotland, where she expected to find the
+country more friendly to the Lancastrian line than the people were
+toward the south. As soon as she landed she was joined by many of the
+people, and she succeeded in capturing some castles and small towns.
+But the Earl of Warwick, who was, as has been already said, the prime
+minister under Edward, immediately raised an army of twenty thousand
+men, and marched to the northward to meet her. Margaret's French army
+was wholly unprepared to encounter such a force as this, so they fled
+to their ships. All but about five hundred of the men succeeded in
+reaching the ships. The five hundred were cut to pieces. Margaret
+herself was detained in making arrangements for the king and the
+prince. She concluded not to take them to sea again, but to send them
+secretly into Wales, while she herself went back to France to see if
+she could not procure re-enforcements. She barely had time, at last,
+to reach the ships herself, so close at hand were her enemies. As soon
+as the queen had embarked, the fleet set sail. The queen had saved
+nearly all the money and all the stores which she had brought with her
+from France, and she hoped still to preserve them for another attempt.
+But the fleet had scarcely got off from the shore when a terrible
+storm arose, and the ships were all driven upon the rocks and dashed
+to pieces. The money and the stores were all lost; a large portion of
+the men were drowned; Margaret herself and the captain of the fleet
+saved themselves, and, as soon as the storm was over, they succeeded
+in making their escape back to Berwick in an old fishing-boat which
+they obtained on the shore.
+
+Soon after this, Margaret, with the captain of the fleet and a very
+small number of faithful followers who still adhered to her, sailed
+back again to France.
+
+The disturbances, however, which her landing had occasioned, did not
+cease immediately on her departure. The Lancastrian party all over
+England were excited and moved to action by the news of her coming,
+and for two years insurrections were continually taking place, and
+many battles were fought, and great numbers of people were killed.
+King Henry was all this time kept in close concealment, sometimes in
+Wales, and sometimes among the lakes and mountains in Westmoreland. He
+was conveyed from place to place by his adherents in the most secret
+manner, the knowledge in respect to his situation being confined to
+the smallest possible number of persons. This continued for two or
+three years. At last, however, while the friends of the king were
+attempting secretly to convey him to a certain castle in Yorkshire, he
+was seen and recognized by one of his enemies. A plan was immediately
+formed to make him prisoner. The plan succeeded. The king was
+surprised by an overwhelming force, which broke into the castle and
+seized him while he sat at dinner. His captors, and those who were
+lying in wait to assist them, galloped off at once with their prisoner
+to London. King Edward shut him up in the Tower, and he remained
+there, closely confined and strongly guarded for a long time.
+
+Thus King Henry's life was saved, but of those who espoused his cause,
+and made attempts to restore him, great numbers were seized and
+beheaded in the most cruel manner. It was Edward's policy to slay all
+the leaders. It was said that after a battle he would ride with a
+company of men over the ground, and kill every wounded or exhausted
+man of rank that still remained alive, though he would spare the
+common soldiers. Sometimes, when he got men that were specially
+obnoxious to him into his hands, he would put them to death in the
+most cruel and ignominious manner. One distinguished knight, that had
+been taken prisoner by Warwick, was brought to King Edward, who, at
+that time, as it happened, was sick, and by Edward's orders was
+treated most brutally. He was first taken out into a public place, and
+his spurs were struck off from his feet by a cook. This was one of the
+greatest indignities that a knight could suffer. Then his coat of arms
+was torn off from him, and another coat, inside out, was put upon him.
+Then he was made to walk barefoot to the end of the town, and there
+was laid down upon his back on a sort of drag, and so drawn to the
+place of execution, where his head was cut off on a block with a
+broad-axe.
+
+Such facts as these show what a state of exasperation the two great
+parties of York and Lancaster were in toward each other throughout the
+kingdom. It is necessary to understand this, in order fully to
+appreciate the import and consequences of the very extraordinary
+transaction which is now to be related.
+
+It seems there was a certain knight named Sir John Gray, a
+Lancastrian, who had been killed at one of the great battles which had
+been fought during the war. He had also been attainted, as it was
+called--that is, sentence had been pronounced against him on a charge
+of high treason, by which his estates were forfeited, and his wife
+and children, of course, reduced to poverty. The name of his wife was
+Elizabeth Woodville. She was the daughter of a noble knight named Sir
+Richard Woodville. Her mother's name was Jacquetta. On the death and
+attainder of her husband, being reduced to great poverty and distress,
+she went home to the house of her father and mother, at a beautiful
+manor which they possessed at Grafton. She was quite young, and very
+beautiful.
+
+It happened that by some means or other Edward paid a visit one day to
+the Lady Jacquetta, at her manor, as he was passing through the
+country. Whether this visit was accidental, or whether it was
+contrived by Jacquetta, does not appear. However this may be, the
+beautiful widow came into the presence of the king, and, throwing
+herself at his feet, begged and implored him to revoke the attainder
+of her husband for the sake of her innocent and helpless children. The
+king was much moved by her beauty and by her distress. From pitying
+her he soon began to love her. And yet it seemed impossible that he
+should marry her. Her rank, in the first place, was far below his, and
+then, what was worse, she belonged to the Lancastrian party, the
+king's implacable enemies. The king knew very well that all his own
+partisans would be made furious at the idea of such a match, and that,
+if they knew that it was in contemplation, they would resist it to the
+utmost of their power. For a time he did not know what he should do.
+At length, however, his love for the beautiful widow, as might easily
+be foreseen, triumphed over all considerations of prudence, and he was
+secretly married to her. The marriage took place in the morning, in a
+very private manner, in the month of May, in 1464.
+
+The king kept the marriage secret nearly all summer. He thought it
+best to break the subject to his lords and nobles gradually, as he had
+opportunity to communicate it to them one by one. In this way it at
+length became known, without producing, at any one time, any special
+sensation, and toward the fall preparations were made for openly
+acknowledging the union.
+
+[Illustration: KING EDWARD IV.
+
+This engraving is a portrait of King Edward as he appeared at this
+time. It is copied from an ancient painting, and doubtless represents
+correctly the character and expression of his countenance, and one
+form, at least, of dress which he was accustomed to wear. He was, at
+the time of his marriage, about twenty-two years of age. Elizabeth was
+ten years older.]
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH WOODVILLE.
+
+This engraving represents the queen. It is taken, like the other, from
+an ancient portrait, and no doubt corresponds closely to the
+original.]
+
+Although the knowledge of the king's marriage produced no sudden
+outbreak of opposition, it awakened a great deal of secret indignation
+and rage, and gave occasion to many suppressed mutterings and curses.
+Of course, every leading family of the realm, that had been on
+Edward's side in the civil wars, which contained a marriageable
+daughter, had been forming hopes and laying plans to secure this
+magnificent match for themselves. Those who had no marriageable
+daughters of their own joined their nearest relatives and friends in
+their schemes, or formed plans for some foreign alliance with a
+princess of France, or Burgundy, or Holland, whichever would best
+harmonize with the political schemes that they wished to promote. The
+Earl of Warwick seems to have belonged to the former class. He had two
+daughters, as has already been stated. It would very naturally be his
+desire that the king, if he were to take for his wife any English
+subject at all, should make choice of one of these. Of course, he was
+more than all the rest irritated and vexed at what the king had done.
+He communicated his feelings to Clarence, but concealed them from the
+king. Clarence was, of course, ready to sympathize with the earl. He
+was ready enough to take offense at any thing connected with the
+king's marriage on very slight grounds, for it was very much for his
+interest, as the next heir, that his brother should not be married at
+all.
+
+[Illustration: WESTMINSTER IN TIMES OF PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS.]
+
+The earl and Clarence, however, thought it best for the time to
+suppress and conceal their opposition to the marriage; so they joined
+very readily in the ceremonies connected with the public
+acknowledgment of the queen. A vast assemblage of nobles, prelates,
+and other grand dignitaries was convened, and Elizabeth was brought
+forward before them and formally presented. The Earl of Warwick and
+Clarence appeared in the foremost rank among her friends on this
+occasion. They took her by the hand, and, leading her forward,
+presented her to the assembled multitude of lords and ladies, who
+welcomed her with long and loud acclamations.
+
+Soon after this a grand council was convened, and a handsome income
+was settled upon the queen, to enable her properly to maintain the
+dignity of her station.
+
+Early in the next year preparations were made for a grand coronation
+of the queen. Foreign princes were invited to attend the ceremony, and
+many came, accompanied by large bodies of knights and squires, to do
+honor to the occasion. The coronation took place in May. The queen was
+conveyed in procession through the streets of London on a sort of open
+palanquin, borne by horses most magnificently caparisoned. Vast crowds
+of people assembled along the streets to look at the procession as it
+passed. The next day the coronation itself took place in Westminster,
+and it was followed by games, feasts, tournaments, and public
+rejoicings of every kind, which lasted many days.
+
+Thus far every thing on the surface, at least, had gone well; but it
+was not long after the coronation before the troubles which were to be
+expected from such a match began to develop themselves in great force.
+The new queen was ambitious, and she was naturally desirous of
+bringing her friends forward into places of influence and honor. The
+king was, of course, ready to listen to her recommendations; but then
+all her friends were Lancastrians. They were willing enough, it is
+true, to change their politics and to become Yorkists for the sake of
+the rewards and honors which they could obtain by the change, but the
+old friends of the king were greatly exasperated to find the important
+posts, one after another, taken away from them, and given to their
+hated enemies.
+
+Then, besides the quarrel for the political offices, there were a
+great many of the cherished matrimonial plans and schemes of the old
+families interfered with and broken up by the queen's family thus
+coming into power. It happened that the queen had five unmarried
+sisters. She began to form plans for securing for them men of the
+highest rank and position in the realm. This, of course, thwarted the
+plans and disappointed the hopes of all those families who had been
+scheming to gain these husbands for their own daughters. To see five
+great heirs of dukes and barons thus withdrawn from the matrimonial
+market, and employed to increase the power and prestige of their
+ancient and implacable foes, filled the souls of the old Yorkist
+families with indignation. Parties were formed. The queen and her
+family and friends--the Woodvilles and Grays--with all their
+adherents, were on one side; the Neville family, with the Earl of
+Warwick at their head, and most of the old Yorkist noblemen, were on
+the other; Clarence joined the Earl of Warwick; Richard, on the other
+hand, or Gloucester, as he was now called, adhered to the king.
+
+Things went on pretty much in this way for two years. There was no
+open quarrel, though there was a vast deal of secret animosity and
+bickering. The great world at court was divided into two sets, or
+cliques, that hated each other very cordially, though both, for the
+present, pretended to support King Edward as the rightful sovereign of
+the country. The struggle was for the honors and offices under him.
+The families who still adhered to the old Lancastrian party, and to
+the rights of Henry and of the little Prince of Wales, withdrew, of
+course, altogether from the court, and, retiring to their castles,
+brooded moodily there over their fallen fortunes, and waited in
+expectation of better times. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower;
+Margaret and the Prince of Wales were on the Continent. They and their
+friends were, of course, watching the progress of the quarrel between
+the party of the Earl of Warwick and that of the king, hoping that it
+might at last lead to an open rupture, in which case the Lancastrians
+might hope for Warwick's aid to bring them again into power.
+
+[Illustration: WARWICK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH KING.]
+
+And now another circumstance occurred which widened this breach very
+much indeed. It arose from a difference of opinion between King Edward
+and the Earl of Warwick in respect to the marriage of the king's
+sister Margaret, known, as has already been said, as Margaret of York.
+There was upon the Continent a certain Count Charles, the son and heir
+of the Duke of Burgundy, who demanded her hand. The count's family had
+been enemies of the house of York, and had done every thing in their
+power to promote Queen Margaret's plans, so long as there was any hope
+for her; but when they found that King Edward was firmly established
+on the throne, they came over to his side, and now the count demanded
+the hand of the Princess Margaret in marriage; but the stern old Earl
+of Warwick did not like such friendship as this, so he recommended
+that the count should be refused, and that Margaret should have for
+her husband one of the princes of France.
+
+Now King Edward himself preferred Count Charles for the husband of
+Margaret, and this chiefly because the queen, his wife, preferred him
+on account of the old friendship which had subsisted between his
+family and the Lancastrians. Besides this, however, Flanders, the
+country over which the count was to reign on the death of his father,
+was at that time so situated that an alliance with it would be of
+greater advantage to Edward's political plans than an alliance with
+France. But, notwithstanding this, the earl was so earnest in urging
+his opinion, that finally Edward yielded, and the earl was dispatched
+to France to negotiate the marriage with the French prince.
+
+The earl set off on this embassy in great magnificence. He landed in
+Normandy with a vast train of attendants, and proceeded in almost
+royal state toward Paris. The King of France, to honor his coming and
+the occasion, came forth to meet him. The meeting took place at Rouen.
+The proposals were well received by the French king. The negotiations
+were continued for eight or ten days, and at last every thing was
+arranged. For the final closing of the contract, it was necessary that
+a messenger from the King of France should proceed to London. The king
+appointed an archbishop and some other dignitaries to perform the
+service. The earl then returned to England, and was soon followed by
+the French embassadors, expecting that every thing essential was
+settled, and that nothing but a few formalities remained.
+
+But, in the mean time, while all this had been going on in France,
+Count Charles had quietly sent an embassador to England to press his
+claim to the princess's hand. This messenger managed this business
+very skillfully, so as not to attract any public attention to what he
+was doing; and besides, the earl being away, the queen, Elizabeth,
+could exert all her influence over her husband's mind unimpeded.
+Edward was finally persuaded to promise Margaret's hand to the count,
+and the contracts were made; so that, when the earl and the French
+embassadors arrived, they found, to their astonishment and dismay,
+that a rival and enemy had stepped in during their absence and secured
+the prize.
+
+The Earl of Warwick was furious when he learned how he had been
+deceived. He had been insulted, he said, and disgraced. Edward made
+no attempt to pacify him; indeed, any attempt that he could have made
+would probably have been fruitless. The earl withdrew from the court,
+went off to one of his castles, and shut himself up there in great
+displeasure.
+
+The quarrel now began to assume a very serious air. Edward suspected
+that the earl was forming plots and conspiracies against him. He
+feared that he was secretly designing to take measures for restoring
+the Lancastrian line to the throne. He was alarmed for his personal
+safety. He expelled all Warwick's family and friends from the court,
+and, whenever he went out in public, he took care to be always
+attended by a strong body-guard, as if he thought there was danger of
+an attempt upon his life.
+
+At length one of the earl's brothers, the youngest of the family, who
+was at that time Archbishop of York, interposed to effect a
+reconciliation. We have not space here to give a full account of the
+negotiations; but the result was, a sort of temporary peace was made,
+by which the earl again returned to court, and was restored apparently
+to his former position. But there was no cordial good-will between him
+and the king. Edward dreaded the earl's power, and hated the stern
+severity of his character, while the earl, by the commanding influence
+which he exerted in the realm, was continually thwarting both Edward
+and Elizabeth in their plans.
+
+Edward and Elizabeth had now been married some time, but they had no
+son, and, of course, no heir, for daughters in those days did not
+inherit the English crown. Of course, Clarence, Edward's second
+brother, was the next heir. This increased the jealousy which the two
+brothers felt toward each other, and tended very much to drive
+Clarence away from Edward, and to increase the intimacy between
+Clarence and Warwick. At length, in 1468, it was announced that a
+marriage was in contemplation between Clarence and Isabella, the Earl
+of Warwick's oldest daughter. Edward and Queen Elizabeth were very
+much displeased and very much alarmed when they heard of this plan. If
+carried into effect, it would bind Clarence and the Warwick influence
+together in indissoluble bonds, and make their power much more
+formidable than ever before. Every body would say when the marriage
+was concluded,
+
+"Now, in case Edward should die, which event may happen at any time,
+the earl's daughter will be queen, and then the earl will have a
+greater influence than ever in the disposition of offices and honors.
+It behooves us, therefore, to make friends with him in season, so as
+to secure his good-will in advance, before he comes into power."
+
+King Edward and his queen, seeing how much this match was likely at
+once to increase the earl's importance, did every thing in their power
+to prevent it. But they could not succeed. The earl was determined
+that Clarence and his daughter should be married. The opposition was,
+however, so strong at court that the marriage could not be celebrated
+at London; so the ceremony was performed at Calais, which city was at
+that time under the earl's special command. The king and queen
+remained at London, and made no attempt to conceal their vexation and
+chagrin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE DOWNFALL OF YORK.
+
+1469-1470
+
+Insurrections.--The king goes to meet the rebels.--Rebellion
+suppressed.--A grand reconciliation.--The king frightened.--The
+quarrel renewed.--New reconciliations.--New rebellions.--Warwick comes
+to open war with the king.--Warwick and his party not allowed to land
+at Calais.--The party in great straits.--They land at Harfleur.--Strange
+compact between Warwick and Queen Margaret.--Attempt to entice Clarence
+away from Warwick.--Edward does not fear.--The Duke of Burgundy.--Queen
+Margaret crosses the Channel.--Landing of the expedition.--Reception of
+it.--Edward's friends and followers forsake him.--Edward flies from the
+country.--Difficulties and dangers.--His mother makes her escape to
+sanctuary.--Birth of Edward's son and heir.--King Henry is fully
+restored to the throne.
+
+
+Edward's apprehension and anxiety in respect to the danger that
+Warwick might be concocting schemes to restore the Lancastrian line to
+the throne were greatly increased by the sudden breaking out of
+insurrections in the northern part of the island, while Warwick and
+Clarence were absent in Calais, on the occasion of Clarence's marriage
+to Isabella. The insurgents did not demand the restoration of the
+Lancastrian line, but only the removal of the queen's family and
+relations from the council. The king raised an armed force, and
+marched to the northward to meet the rebels. But his army was
+disaffected, and he could do nothing. They fled before the advancing
+army of insurgents, and Edward went with them to Nottingham Castle,
+where he shut himself up, and wrote urgently to Warwick and Clarence
+to come to his aid.
+
+Warwick made no haste to obey this command. After some delay, however,
+he left Calais in command of one of his lieutenants and repaired to
+Nottingham, where he soon released the king from his dangerous
+situation. He quelled the rebellion too, but not until the insurgents
+had seized the father and one of the brothers of the queen, and cut
+off their heads.
+
+In the mean time, the Lancastrians themselves, thinking that this was
+a favorable time for them, began to put themselves in motion. Warwick
+was the only person who was capable of meeting them and putting them
+down. This he did, taking the king with him in his train, in a
+condition more like that of a prisoner than a sovereign. At length,
+however, the rebellions were suppressed, and all parties returned to
+London.
+
+There now took place what purported to be a grand reconciliation.
+Treaties were drawn up and signed between Warwick and Clarence on one
+side, and the king on the other, by which both parties bound
+themselves to forgive and forget all that had passed, and thenceforth
+to be good friends; but, notwithstanding all the solemn signings and
+sealings with which these covenants were secured, the actual condition
+of the parties in respect to each other remained entirely unchanged,
+and neither of the three felt a whit more confidence in the others
+after the execution of these treaties than before.
+
+At last the secret distrust which they felt toward each other broke
+out openly. Warwick's brother, the Archbishop of York, made an
+entertainment at one of his manors for a party of guests, in which
+were included the king, the Duke of Clarence, and the Earl of Warwick.
+It was about three months after the treaties were signed that this
+entertainment was made, and the feast was intended to celebrate and
+cement the good understanding which it was now agreed was henceforth
+to prevail. The king arrived at the manor, and, while he was in his
+room making his toilet for the supper, which was all ready to be
+served, an attendant came to him and whispered in his ear,
+
+"Your majesty is in danger. There is a band of armed men in ambush
+near the house."
+
+The king was greatly alarmed at hearing this. He immediately stole out
+of the house, mounted his horse, and, with two or three followers,
+rode away as fast as he could ride. He continued his journey all
+night, and in the morning arrived at Windsor Castle.
+
+Then followed new negotiations between Warwick and the king, with
+mutual reproaches, criminations, and recriminations without number.
+Edward insisted that treachery was intended at the house to which he
+had been invited, and that he had barely escaped, by his sudden
+flight, from falling into the snare. But Warwick and his friends
+denied this entirely, and attributed the flight of the king to a
+wholly unreasonable alarm, caused by his jealous and suspicious
+temper. At last Edward suffered himself to be reassured, and then came
+new treaties and a new reconciliation.
+
+This peace was made in the fall of 1469, and in the spring of 1470 a
+new insurrection broke out. The king believed that Warwick himself,
+and Clarence, were really at the bottom of these disturbances, but
+still he was forced to send them with bodies of troops to subdue the
+rebels; he, however, immediately raised a large army for himself, and
+proceeded to the seat of war. He reached the spot before Warwick and
+Clarence arrived there. He gave battle to the insurgents, and defeated
+them. He took a great many prisoners, and beheaded them. He found, or
+pretended to find, proof that Warwick and Clarence, instead of
+intending to fight the insurgents, had made their arrangements for
+joining them on the following day, and that he had been just in time
+to defeat their treachery. Whether he really found evidence of these
+intentions on the part of Warwick and Clarence or not, or whether he
+was flushed by the excitement of victory, and resolved to seize the
+occasion to cut loose at once and forever from the entanglement in
+which he had been bound, is somewhat uncertain. At all events, he now
+declared open war against Warwick and Clarence, and set off
+immediately on his march to meet them, at the head of a force much
+superior to theirs.
+
+Warwick and Clarence marched and countermarched, and made many
+manoeuvres to escape a battle, and during all this time their
+strength was rapidly diminishing. As long as they were nominally on
+the king's side, however really hostile to him, they had plenty of
+followers; but, now that they were in open war against him, their
+forces began to melt away. In this emergency, Warwick suddenly changed
+all his plans. He disbanded his army, and then taking all his family
+with him, including Clarence and Isabella, and accompanied by an
+inconsiderable number of faithful friends, he marched at the head of a
+small force which he retained as an escort to the sea-port of
+Dartmouth, and then embarked for Calais.
+
+The vessels employed to transport the party formed quite a little
+fleet, so numerous were the servants and attendants that accompanied
+the fugitives. They embarked without delay on reaching the coast, as
+they were in haste to make the passage and arrive at Calais, for
+Isabella, Clarence's wife, was about to become a mother, and at Calais
+they thought that they should all be, as it were, at home.
+
+It will be remembered that the Earl of Warwick was the governor of
+Calais, and that when he left it he had appointed a lieutenant to take
+command of it during his absence. Before his ship arrived off the port
+this lieutenant had received dispatches from Edward, which had been
+hurried to him by a special messenger, informing him that Warwick was
+in rebellion against his sovereign, and forbidding the lieutenant to
+allow him or his party to enter the town.
+
+Accordingly, when Warwick's fleet arrived off the port, they found the
+guns of the batteries pointed at them, and sentinels on the piers
+warning them not to attempt to land.
+
+Warwick was thunderstruck. To be thus refused admission to his own
+fortress by his own lieutenant was something amazing, as well as
+outrageous. The earl was at first completely bewildered; but, on
+demanding an explanation, the lieutenant sent him word that the
+refusal to land was owing to the people of the town. They, he said,
+having learned that he and the king had come to open war, insisted
+that the fortress should be reserved for their sovereign. Warwick
+then explained the situation that his daughter was in; but the
+lieutenant was firm. The determination of the people was so strong, he
+said, that he could not control it. Finally, the child was born on
+board the ship, as it lay at anchor off the port, and all the aid or
+comfort which the party could get from the shore consisted of two
+flagons of wine, which the lieutenant, with great hesitation and
+reluctance, allowed to be sent on board. The child was a son. His
+birth was an event of great importance, for he was, of course, as
+Clarence's son, a prince in the direct line of succession to the
+English crown.
+
+At length, finding that he could not land at Calais, Warwick sailed
+away with his fleet along the coast of France till he reached the
+French port of Harfleur. Here his ships were admitted, and the whole
+party were allowed to land.
+
+Then followed various intrigues, manoeuvres, and arrangements, which
+we have not time here fully to unravel; but the end of all was, that
+in a few weeks after the Earl of Warwick's landing in France, he
+repaired to a castle where Margaret of Anjou and her son, the Prince
+of Wales, were residing, and there, in the course of a short time, he
+made arrangements to espouse her cause, and assist in restoring her
+husband to the English throne, on condition that her son, the Prince
+of Wales, should marry his second daughter Anne. It is said that Queen
+Margaret for a long time refused to consent to this arrangement. She
+was extremely unwilling that her son, the heir to the English crown,
+should take for a wife the daughter of the hated enemy to whom the
+downfall of her family, and all the terrible calamities which had
+befallen them, had been mainly owing. She was, however, at length
+induced to yield. Her ambition gained the victory over her hate, and
+she consented to the alliance on a solemn oath being taken by Warwick
+that thenceforth he would be on her side, and do all in his power to
+restore her family to the throne.
+
+This arrangement was accordingly carried into effect, and thus the
+earl had one of his daughters married to the next heir to the English
+crown in the line of York, and the other to the next heir in the line
+of Lancaster. He had now only to choose to which dynasty he would
+secure the throne. Of course, the oath which he had taken, like other
+political oaths taken in those days, was only to be kept so long as he
+should deem it for his interest to keep it.
+
+He could not at once openly declare in favor of King Henry, for fear
+of alienating Clarence from him. But Clarence was soon drawn away.
+King Edward, when he heard of the marriage of Warwick's daughter with
+the Prince of Wales, immediately formed a plan for sending a messenger
+to negotiate with Clarence. He could not do this openly, for he knew
+very well that Warwick would not allow any avowed messenger from
+Edward to land; so he sent a lady. The lady was a particular friend of
+Isabella, Clarence's wife. She traveled privately by the way of
+Calais. On the way she said nothing about the object of her journey,
+but gave out simply that she was going to join her mistress, the
+Princess Isabella. On her arrival she managed the affair with great
+discretion. She easily obtained private interviews with Clarence, and
+represented to him that Warwick, now that his daughter was married to
+the heir on the Lancastrian side, would undoubtedly lay all his plans
+forthwith for putting that family on the throne, and that thus
+Clarence would lose all.
+
+"And therefore," said she, "how much better it will be for you to
+leave him and return to your brother Edward, who is ready to forgive
+and forget all the past, and receive you again as his friend."
+
+Clarence was convinced by these representations, and soon afterward,
+watching his opportunity, he made his way to England, and there
+espoused his brother's cause, and was received again into his service.
+
+In the mean time, tidings were continually coming to King Edward from
+his friends on the Continent, warning him of Warwick's plans, and
+bidding him to be upon his guard. But Edward had no fear. He said he
+wished that Warwick would come.
+
+"All I ask of my friends on the other side of the Channel," said he,
+"is that, when he does come, they will not let him get away again
+before I catch him--as he did before."
+
+Edward's great friend across the Channel was his brother-in-law, the
+Duke of Burgundy, the same who, when Count Charles, had married the
+Princess Margaret of York, as related in a former chapter. The Duke of
+Burgundy prepared and equipped a fleet, and had it all in readiness to
+intercept the earl in case he should attempt to sail for England.
+
+In the mean time, Queen Margaret and the earl went on with their
+preparations. The King of France furnished them with men, arms, and
+money. When every thing was ready, the earl sent word to the north of
+England, to some of his friends and partisans there, to make a sort
+of false insurrection, in order to entice away Edward and his army
+from the capital. This plan succeeded. Edward heard of the rising,
+and, collecting all the troops which were at hand, he marched to the
+northward to put it down. Just at this time a sudden storm arose and
+dispersed the Duke of Burgundy's fleet. The earl then immediately put
+to sea, taking with him Margaret of Anjou and her son, the Prince of
+Wales, with his wife, the Earl of Warwick's daughter. The Prince of
+Wales was now about eighteen years old. The father, King Henry,
+Margaret's husband, was not joined with the party. He was all this
+time, as you will recollect, a prisoner in the Tower, where Warwick
+himself had shut him up when he deposed him in order to place Edward
+upon the throne.
+
+All Europe looked on with astonishment at these proceedings, and
+watched the result with intense interest. Here was a man who, having,
+by a desperate and bloody war, deposed a king, and shut him up in
+prison, and compelled his queen and the prince his son, the heir, to
+fly from the country to save their lives, had now sought the exiles in
+their banishment, had married his own daughter to the prince, and was
+setting forth on an expedition for the purpose of liberating the
+father again, and restoring him to the throne.
+
+The earl's fleet crossed the Channel safely, and landed on the coast
+of Devonshire, in the southwestern part of the island. The landing of
+the expedition was the signal for great numbers of the nobles and high
+families throughout the realm to prepare for changing sides; for it
+was the fact, throughout the whole course of these wars between the
+houses of York and Lancaster, that a large proportion of the nobility
+and gentry, and great numbers of other adventurers, who lived in
+various ways on the public, stood always ready at once to change sides
+whenever there was a prospect that another side was coming into power.
+Then there were, in such a case as this, great numbers who were
+secretly in favor of the Lancaster line, but who were prevented from
+manifesting their preference while the house of York was in full
+possession of power. All these persons were aroused and excited by the
+landing of Warwick. King Edward found that his calls upon his friends
+to rally to his standard were not promptly obeyed. His friends were
+beginning to feel some doubt whether it would be best to continue his
+friends. A certain preacher in London had the courage to pray in
+public for the "king in the Tower," and the manner in which this
+allusion was received by the populace, and the excitement which it
+produced, showed how ready the city of London was to espouse Henry's
+cause.
+
+These, and other such indications, alarmed Edward very much. He turned
+to the southward again when he learned that Warwick had landed.
+Richard, who had, during all this period, adhered faithfully to
+Edward's cause, was with him, in command of a division of the army. As
+Warwick himself was rapidly advancing toward the north at this time,
+the two armies soon began to approach each other. As the time of trial
+drew nigh, Edward found that his friends and supporters were rapidly
+abandoning him. At length, one day, while he was at dinner, a
+messenger came in and told him that one of the leading officers of the
+army, with the whole division under his command, were waving their
+caps and cheering for "King Harry." He saw at once that all was lost,
+and he immediately prepared to fly.
+
+He was not far from the eastern coast at this time, and there was a
+small vessel there under his orders, which had been employed in
+bringing provisions from the Thames to supply his army. There were
+also two Dutch vessels there. The king took possession of these
+vessels, with Richard, and the few other followers that went with him,
+and put at once to sea. Nobody knew where they were going.
+
+Very soon after they had put to sea they were attacked by pirates.
+They escaped only by running their vessel on shore on the coast of
+Finland. Here the king found himself in a state of almost absolute
+destitution, so that he had to pawn his clothing to satisfy the most
+urgent demands. At length, after meeting with various strange
+adventures, he found his way to the Hague, where he was, for the time,
+in comparative safety.
+
+As soon as Warwick ascertained that Edward had fled, he turned toward
+London, with nothing now to impede his progress. He entered London in
+triumph. Clarence joined him, and entered London in his train; for
+Clarence, though he had gone to England with the intention of making
+common cause with his brother, had not been able yet to decide
+positively whether it would, on the whole, be for his interest to do
+so, and had, accordingly, kept himself in some degree uncommitted, and
+now he turned at once again to Warwick's side.
+
+The queen--Elizabeth Woodville--with her mother Jacquetta, were
+residing at the Tower at this time, where they had King Henry in
+their keeping; for the Tower was an extended group of buildings, in
+which palace and prison were combined in one. As soon as the queen
+learned that Edward was defeated, and that Warwick and Clarence were
+coming in triumph to London, she took her mother and three of her
+daughters--Elizabeth, Mary, and Cecily--who were with her at that
+time, and also a lady attendant, and hurried down the Tower stairs to
+a barge which was always in waiting there. She embarked on board the
+barge, and ordered the men to row her up to Westminster.
+
+Westminster is at the upper end of London, as the Tower is at the
+lower. On arriving at Westminster, the whole party fled for refuge to
+a sanctuary there. This sanctuary was a portion of the sacred
+precincts of a church, from which a refugee could not be taken,
+according to the ideas of those times, without committing the dreadful
+crime of sacrilege. A part of the building remained standing for three
+hundred years after this time, as represented in the opposite
+engraving. It was a gloomy old edifice, and it must have been a
+cheerless residence for princesses and a queen.
+
+[Illustration: THE SANCTUARY.]
+
+In this sanctuary, the queen, away from her husband, and deprived of
+almost every comfort, gave birth to her first son. Some persons
+living near took compassion upon her forlorn and desolate condition,
+and rendered her such aid as was absolutely necessary, out of charity.
+The abbot of the monastery connected with the church sent in various
+conveniences, and a good woman named Mother Cobb, who lived near by,
+came in and acted as nurse for the mother and the child.
+
+The child was baptized in the sanctuary a few days after he was born.
+He was named Edward, after his father. Of course, the birth of this
+son of King Edward cut off Clarence and his son from the succession on
+the York side. This little Edward was now the heir, and, about
+thirteen years after this, as we shall see in the sequel, he became
+King of England.
+
+As soon as the Earl of Warwick reached London, he proceeded at once to
+the Tower to release old King Henry from his confinement. He found the
+poor king in a wretched plight. His apartment was gloomy and
+comfortless, his clothing was ragged, and his person squalid and
+dirty. The earl brought him forth from his prison, and, after causing
+his personal wants to be properly attended to, clothed him once more
+in royal robes, and conveyed him in state through London to the palace
+in Westminster, and established him there nominally as King of
+England, though Warwick was to all intents and purposes the real king.
+A Parliament was called, and all necessary laws were passed to
+sanction and confirm the dynasty. Queen Margaret, who, however, had
+not yet arrived from the Continent, was restored to her former rank,
+and the young Prince of Wales, now about eighteen years old, was the
+object of universal interest throughout the kingdom, as now the
+unquestioned and only heir to the crown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE DOWNFALL OF LANCASTER.
+
+A.D. 1470-1471
+
+Position of Richard.--The Duke of Burgundy.--His cunning.--Secret
+communication with Clarence.--Warwick's plans to secure
+Clarence.--Edward and Richard sail for England.--Stratagems
+of war.--Reception of Edward at York.--The roses.--Public
+opinion.--Warwick.--Position of Clarence.--His double
+dealing.--Clarence goes over to Edward's side.--Edward
+triumphant.--Henry again sent to the Tower.--Warwick refuses to
+yield.--Preparations for a battle.--Edward victorious.--Warwick
+slain.--King Henry.--Margaret and the Prince of Wales.--Meeting
+of the armies.--Two boys to command.--The killing of Lord
+Wenlock.--End of the battle.--Murder of the Prince of Wales.--The
+queen's refuge.--Edward in the church.--Margaret taken.--Conducted
+a prisoner to London.--Henry is put to death in the Tower.--Burial
+of Henry VI.--The Lancastrian party completely subdued.
+
+
+It was in the month of October, 1470, that old King Henry and his
+family were restored to the throne. Clarence, as we have seen, being
+allied to Warwick by being married to his daughter, was induced to go
+over with him to the Lancastrian side; but Gloucester--that is,
+Richard--remained true to his own line, and followed the fortunes of
+his brother, in adverse as well as in prosperous times, with
+unchanging fidelity. He was now with Edward in the dominions of the
+Duke of Burgundy, who, you will recollect, married Margaret, Edward's
+sister, and who was now very naturally inclined to espouse Edward's
+cause.
+
+The Duke of Burgundy did not, however, dare to espouse Edward's cause
+too openly, for fear of the King of France, who took the side of Henry
+and Queen Margaret. He, however, did all in his power secretly to
+befriend him. Edward and Richard began immediately to form schemes for
+going back to England and recovering possession of the kingdom. The
+Duke of Burgundy issued a public proclamation, in which it was
+forbidden that any of his subjects should join Edward, or that any
+expedition to promote his designs should be fitted out in any part of
+his dominions. This proclamation was for the sake of the King of
+France. At the same time that he issued these orders publicly, he
+secretly sent Edward a large sum of money, furnished him with a fleet
+of fifteen or twenty ships, and assisted him in collecting a force of
+twelve hundred men.
+
+While he was making these arrangements and preparations on the
+Continent, Edward and his friends had also opened a secret
+communication with Clarence in England. It would, of course, very much
+weaken the cause of Edward and Richard to have Clarence against them;
+so Margaret, the wife of the Duke of Burgundy, interested herself in
+endeavoring to win him back again to their side. She had herself great
+influence over him, and she was assisted in her efforts by their
+mother, the Lady Cecily, who was still living in the neighborhood of
+London, and who was greatly grieved at Clarence's having turned
+against his brothers. The tie which bound Clarence to the Earl of
+Warwick was, of course, derived chiefly from his being married to
+Warwick's daughter. Warwick, however, did not trust wholly to this.
+As soon as he had restored Henry to the throne, he contrived a cunning
+plan which he thought would tend to bind Clarence still more strongly
+to himself, and to alienate him completely from Edward. This plan was
+to induce the Parliament to confiscate all Edward's estates and confer
+them upon Clarence.
+
+"Now," said Warwick to himself, when this measure had been
+accomplished, "Clarence will be sure to oppose Edward's return to
+England, for he knows very well that if he should return and be
+restored to the throne, he would, of course, take all these estates
+back again."
+
+But, while Edward was forming his plans on the Continent for a fresh
+invasion of England, Margaret sent messengers to Clarence, and their
+persuasions, united to those of his mother, induced Clarence to change
+his mind. He was governed by no principle whatever in what he did, but
+only looked to see what would most speedily and most fully gratify his
+ambition and increase his wealth. So, when they argued that it would
+be much better for him to be on the side of his brothers, and assist
+in restoring his own branch of the family to the throne, than to
+continue his unnatural connection with Warwick and the house of
+Lancaster, he allowed himself to be easily persuaded, and he promised
+that though, for the present, he should remain ostensibly a friend of
+Warwick, still, if Edward and Richard would raise an expedition and
+come to England, he would forsake Warwick and the Lancasters, and join
+them.
+
+Accordingly, in the spring, when the fleet and the forces were ready,
+Edward and Richard set sail from the Low Country to cross the Channel.
+It was early in March. They intended to proceed to the north of
+England and land there. They had a very stormy passage, and in the end
+the fleet was dispersed, and Edward and Richard with great difficulty
+succeeded in reaching the land. The two brothers were in different
+ships, and they landed in different places, a few miles apart from
+each other. Their situation was now extremely critical, for all
+England was in the power of Warwick and the Lancastrians, and Edward
+and Richard were almost entirely without men.
+
+They, however, after a time, got together a small force, consisting
+chiefly of the troops who had come with them, and who had succeeded at
+last in making their way to the land. At the head of this force they
+advanced into the country toward the city of York. Edward gave out
+every where that he had not come with any view of attempting to
+regain possession of the throne, but only to recover his own private
+and family estates, which had been unjustly confiscated, he said, and
+conferred upon his brother. He acquiesced entirely, he said, in the
+restoration of Henry to the throne, and acknowledged him as king, and
+solemnly declared that he would not do any thing to disturb the peace
+of the country.
+
+All this was treacherous and false; but Edward and Richard thought
+that they were not yet strong enough to announce openly their real
+designs, and, in the mean time, the uttering of any false declarations
+which they might deem it good policy to make was to be considered as a
+stratagem justified by usage, as one of the legitimate resources of
+war.
+
+So they went on, nobody opposing them. They reached, at length, the
+city of York. Here Edward met the mayor and aldermen of the city, and
+renewed his declaration, which he confirmed by a solemn oath, that he
+never would lay any claim to the throne of England, or do any thing to
+disturb King Henry in his possession of it. He cried out, in a loud
+voice, in the hearing of the people, "Long live King Henry, and Prince
+Edward his son!" He wore an ostrich feather, too, in his armor, which
+was the badge of Prince Edward. The people of York were satisfied
+with these protestations, and allowed him to proceed.
+
+His force was continually increasing as he advanced, and at length, on
+crossing the River Trent, he came to a part of the country where
+almost the whole population had been on the side of York during all
+the previous wars. He began now to throw off his disguise, and to avow
+more openly that his object was again to obtain possession of the
+throne for the house of York. His troops now began to exhibit the
+white rose, which for many generations had been the badge of the house
+of York, as the red rose had been that of Lancaster.[F] In a word, the
+country was every where aroused and excited by the idea that another
+revolution was impending, and all those whose ruling principle it was
+to be always with the party that was uppermost began to make
+preparations for coming over to Edward's side.
+
+[Footnote F: It was in consequence of this use of the roses, as the
+badges of the two parties respectively, that the civil wars between
+these two great families are often called in history the Wars of the
+Roses.]
+
+In the mean time, however, Warwick, alarmed, had come from the
+northward to London to meet the invaders at the head of a strong
+force. Clarence was in command of one great division of this force,
+and Warwick himself of the other. The two bodies of troops marched at
+some little distance from each other. Edward shaped his course so as
+to approach that commanded by Clarence. Warwick did all he could to
+prevent this, being, apparently, somewhat suspicious that Clarence was
+not fully to be relied on. But Edward succeeded, by dint of skillful
+manoeuvring, in accomplishing his object, and thus he and Clarence
+came into the neighborhood of each other. The respective encampments
+were only three miles apart. It seems, however, that there were still
+some closing negotiations to be made before Clarence was fully
+prepared to take the momentous step that was now before him. Richard
+was the agent of these negotiations. He went back and forth between
+the two camps, conveying the proposals and counter-proposals from one
+party to the other, and doing all in his power to remove obstacles
+from the way, and to bring his brothers to an agreement. At last every
+thing was arranged. Clarence ordered his men to display the white rose
+upon their armor, and then, with trumpets sounding and banners flying,
+he marched forth to meet Edward, and to submit himself to his command.
+
+When the column which he led arrived near to Edward's camp, it halted,
+and Clarence himself, with a small body of attendants, advanced to
+meet his brother; Edward, at the same time, leaving his encampment, in
+company with Richard and several noblemen, came forward too. Thus
+Edward and Clarence met, as the old chronicle expresses it, "betwixt
+both hosts, where was right kind and loving language betwixt them two.
+And then, in like wise, spoke together the two Dukes of Clarence and
+Gloucester, and afterward the other noblemen that were there with
+them; whereof all the people that were there that loved them were
+right glad and joyous, and thanked God highly for that joyous meeting,
+unity and concord, hoping that thereby should grow unto them
+prosperous fortune in all that they should after that have to do."
+
+Warwick was, of course, in a dreadful rage when he learned that
+Clarence had betrayed him and gone over to the enemy. He could do
+nothing, however, to repair the mischief, and he was altogether too
+weak to resist the two armies now combined against him; so he drew
+back, leaving the way clear, and Edward, at the head now of an
+overwhelming force, and accompanied by both his brothers, advanced
+directly to London.
+
+He was received at the capital with great favor. Whoever was uppermost
+for the time being was always received with favor in England in those
+days, both in the capital and throughout the country at large. It was
+said, however, that the interest in Edward's fortunes, and in the
+succession of his branch of the family to the throne, was greatly
+increased at this time by the birth of his son, which had taken place
+in the sanctuary, as related in the last chapter, soon after Queen
+Elizabeth sought refuge there, at the time of Edward's expulsion from
+the kingdom. Of course, the first thing which Edward did after making
+his public entry into London was to proceed to the sanctuary to rejoin
+his wife, and deliver her from her duress, and also to see his
+new-born son.
+
+Queen Margaret was out of the kingdom at this time, being on a visit
+to the Continent. She had her son, the Prince of Wales, with her; but
+Henry, the king, was in London. He, of course, fell into Edward's
+hands, and was immediately sent back a prisoner to the Tower.
+
+Edward remained only a day or two in London, and then set off again,
+at the head of all his troops, to meet Warwick. He brought out King
+Henry from the Tower, and took him with the army as a prisoner.
+
+Warwick had now strengthened himself so far that he was prepared for
+battle. The two armies approached each other not many miles from
+London. Before commencing hostilities, Clarence wished for an
+opportunity to attempt a reconciliation; he, of course, felt a strong
+desire to make peace, if possible, for his situation, in case of
+battle, would be painful in the extreme--his brothers on one side, and
+his father-in-law on the other, and he himself compelled to fight
+against the cause which he had abandoned and betrayed. So he sent a
+messenger to the earl, offering to act as mediator between him and his
+brother, in hopes of finding some mode of arranging the quarrel; but
+the earl, instead of accepting the mediation, sent back only
+invectives and defiance.
+
+"Go tell your master," he said to the messenger, "that Warwick is not
+the man to follow the example of faithlessness and treason which the
+false, perjured Clarence has set him. Unlike him, I stand true to my
+oath, and this quarrel can only be settled by the sword."
+
+Of course, nothing now remained but to fight the battle, and a most
+desperate and bloody battle it was. It was fought upon a plain at a
+place called Barnet. It lasted from four in the morning till ten.
+
+[Illustration: DEATH OF WARWICK ON THE FIELD OF BARNET.]
+
+Richard came forward in the fight in a very conspicuous and prominent
+manner. He was now about eighteen years of age, and this was the first
+serious battle in which he had been actually engaged. He evinced a
+great deal of heroism, and won great praise by the ardor in which he
+rushed into the thickest of the fight, and by the manner in which he
+conducted himself there. The squires who attended him were both
+killed, but Richard himself remained unhurt.
+
+In the end, Edward was victorious. The quarrel was thus decided by the
+sword, as Warwick had said, and decided, so far as the earl was
+concerned, terribly and irrevocably, for he himself was unhorsed upon
+the field, and slain. Many thousands of soldiers fell on each side,
+and great numbers of the leading nobles. The bodies were buried in one
+common trench, which was dug for the purpose on the plain, and a
+chapel was afterward erected over them, to mark and consecrate the
+spot.
+
+It is said in respect to King Henry, who had been taken from the Tower
+and made to accompany the army to the field, that Edward placed him in
+the midst of the fight at Barnet, in the hope that he might in this
+way be slain, either by accident or design. This plan, however, if it
+were formed, did not succeed, for Henry escaped unharmed, and, after
+the battle, was taken back to London, and again conveyed through the
+gloomy streets of the lower city to his solitary prison in the Tower.
+The streets were filled, after he had passed, with groups of men of
+all ranks and stations, discussing the strange and mournful
+vicissitudes in the life of this hapless monarch, now for the second
+time cut off from all his friends, and immured hopelessly in a dismal
+dungeon.
+
+[Illustration: STREET LEADING TO THE TOWER.]
+
+On the very day of the battle of Barnet, Queen Margaret, who had
+hastened her return to England on hearing of Edward's invasion, landed
+at Plymouth, in the southwestern part of England. The young Prince of
+Wales, her son, was with her. When she heard the terrible tidings of
+the loss of the battle of Barnet and the death of Warwick, she was
+struck with consternation, and immediately fled to an abbey in the
+neighborhood of the place where she had landed, and took sanctuary
+there. She soon, however, recovered from this panic, and came forth
+again. She put herself, with her son, at the head of the French troops
+which she had brought with her, and collected also as many more as
+she could induce to join her, and then, marching slowly toward the
+northward, finally took a strong position on the River Severn, near
+the town of Tewkesbury. Tewkesbury is in the western part of England,
+near the frontiers of Wales.
+
+Edward, having received intelligence of her movements, collected his
+forces also, and, accompanied by Clarence and Gloucester, went forth
+to meet her. The two armies met about three weeks after the battle of
+Barnet, in which Warwick was killed. All the flower of the English
+nobility were there, on one side or on the other.
+
+Queen Margaret's son, the Prince of Wales, was now about eighteen
+years of age, and his mother placed him in command--nominally at the
+head of the army. Edward, on his side, assigned the same position to
+Richard, who was almost precisely of the same age with the Prince of
+Wales. Thus the great and terrible battle which ensued was fought, as
+it were, by two boys, cousins to each other, and neither of them out
+of their teens.
+
+The operations were, however, really directed by older and more
+experienced men. The chief counselor on Margaret's side was the Duke
+of Somerset. Edward's army attempted, by means of certain evolutions,
+to entice the queen's army out of their camp. Somerset wished to go,
+and he commanded the men to follow. Some followed, but others remained
+behind. Among those that remained behind was a body of men under the
+command of a certain Lord Wenlock. Somerset was angry because they did
+not follow him, and he suspected, moreover, that Lord Wenlock was
+intending to betray the queen and go over to the other side; so he
+turned back in a rage, and, coming up to Lord Wenlock, struck him a
+dreadful blow upon his helmet with his battle-axe, and killed him on
+the spot.
+
+In the midst of the confusion which this affair produced, Richard, at
+the head of his brother's troops, came forcing his way into the
+intrenchments, bearing down all before him. The queen's army was
+thrown into confusion, and put to flight. Thousands upon thousands
+were killed. As many as could save themselves from being slaughtered
+upon the spot fled into the country toward the north, pursued by
+detached parties of their enemies.
+
+The young Prince of Wales was taken prisoner. The queen fled, and for
+a time it was not known what had become of her. She fled to the church
+in Tewkesbury, and took refuge there.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH AT TEWKESBURY.]
+
+As for the Prince of Wales, the account of his fate which was given
+at the time, and has generally been believed since, is this: As soon
+as the battle was over, he was brought, disarmed and helpless, into
+King Edward's tent, and there Edward, Clarence, Gloucester, and others
+gathered around to triumph over him, and taunt him with his downfall.
+Edward came up to him, and, after gazing upon him a moment in a fierce
+and defiant manner, demanded of him, in a furious tone, "What brought
+him to England?"
+
+"My father's crown and my own inheritance," replied the prince.
+
+Edward uttered some exclamation of anger, and then struck the prince
+upon the mouth with his gauntlet.[G]
+
+[Footnote G: The gauntlet was a sort of iron glove, the fingers of
+which were made flexible by joints formed with scales sliding over
+each other.]
+
+At this signal, Gloucester, and the others who were standing by, fell
+upon the poor helpless boy, and killed him on the spot. The prince
+cried to Clarence, who was his brother-in-law, to save him, but in
+vain; Clarence did not interfere.
+
+Some of the modern defenders of Richard's character attempt to show
+that there is no sufficient evidence that this story is true, and they
+maintain that the prince was slain upon the field, after the battle,
+and that Richard was innocent of his death. The evidence, however,
+seems strongly against this last supposition.
+
+Soon after the battle, it was found that the queen, with her
+attendants, as has already been stated, had taken refuge in a church
+at Tewkesbury, and in other sacred structures near.
+
+Edward proceeded directly to the church, with the intention of hunting
+out his enemies wherever he could find them. He broke into the sacred
+precincts, sword in hand, attended by a number of reckless and
+desperate followers, and would have slain those that had taken refuge
+there, on the spot, had not the abbot himself come forward and
+interposed to protect them. He came dressed in his sacerdotal robes,
+and bearing the sacred emblems in his hands. These emblems he held up
+before the infuriated Edward as a token of the sanctity of the place.
+By these means the king's hand was stayed, and, before allowing him to
+go away, the abbot exacted from him a promise that he would molest the
+refugees no more.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN MARGARET BROUGHT IN PRISONER AT COVENTRY.]
+
+This promise was, however, not made to be kept. Two days afterward
+Edward appointed a court-martial, and sent Richard, with an armed
+force, to the church, to take all the men that had sought refuge
+there, and bring them out for trial. The trial was conducted with
+very little ceremony, and the men were all beheaded on the green,
+in Tewkesbury, that very day.
+
+Queen Margaret and the ladies who attended her were not with them.
+They had sought refuge in another place. They were, however, found
+after a few days, and were all brought prisoners to Edward's camp at
+Coventry; for, after the battle, Edward had begun to move on with his
+army across the country.
+
+The king's first idea was to send Margaret immediately to London and
+put her in the Tower; but, before he did this, a change in his plans
+took place, which led him to decide to go to London himself. So he
+took Queen Margaret with him, a captive in his train. On the arrival
+of the party in London, the queen was conveyed at once to the Tower.
+
+Here she remained a close prisoner for five long and weary years, and
+was then ransomed by the King of France and taken to the Continent.
+She lived after this in comparative obscurity for about ten years, and
+then died.
+
+As for her husband, his earthly troubles were brought to an end much
+sooner. The cause of the change of plan above referred to, which led
+Edward to go directly to London soon after the battle of Tewkesbury,
+was the news that a relative of Warwick, whom that nobleman, during
+his lifetime, had put in command in the southeastern part of England,
+had raised an insurrection there, with a view of marching to London,
+rescuing Henry from the Tower, and putting him upon the throne. This
+movement was soon put down, and Edward returned from the expedition
+triumphant to London. He and his brothers spent the night after their
+arrival in the Tower. The next morning King Henry was found dead in
+his bed.
+
+The universal belief was then, and has been since, that he was put to
+death by Edward's orders, and it has been the general opinion that
+Richard was the murderer.
+
+The body of the king was put upon a bier that same day, and conveyed
+to St. Paul's Church in London, and there exhibited to the public for
+a long time, with guards and torch-bearers surrounding it. An immense
+concourse of people came to view his remains. The object of this
+exposition of the body of the king was to make sure the fact of his
+death in the public mind, and prevent the possibility of the
+circulation of rumors, subsequently, by the partisans of his house,
+that he was still alive; for such rumors would greatly have increased
+the danger of any insurrectionary plans which might be formed against
+Edward's authority.
+
+In due time the body was interred at Windsor, and a sculptured
+monument, adorned with various arms and emblems, was erected over the
+tomb.
+
+[Illustration: TOMB OF HENRY VI.]
+
+The remaining leaders on the Lancaster side were disposed of in a very
+effectual manner, to prevent the possibility of their again acquiring
+power. Some were banished. Others were shut up in various castles as
+hopeless prisoners. The country was thus wholly subdued, and Edward
+was once more established firmly on his throne.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+RICHARD'S MARRIAGE.
+
+1471-1474
+
+Characters of Clarence and Richard.--Embarrassing situation in which
+Clarence was placed.--Richard made Lord High Admiral of England.--His
+real character.--Requisites of a good soldier.--Young Edward formally
+acknowledged heir to the crown.--Forlorn condition of Lady Anne.--Her
+sister Isabella.--Clarence's views in respect to the
+property.--Richard's plan.--His early acquaintance with Anne.--The
+banquet at the archbishop's.--Clarence conceals Lady Anne.--Richard
+finds her at last.--His marriage.--Measures for securing the
+property.--Difficulty about the division of the property.--The quarrel
+becomes serious.--It is at last settled by the king.--Richard's child
+is born.--Anne becomes more contented.
+
+
+When the affairs of the kingdom were settled, after the return of King
+Edward to the throne, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the subject of the
+present volume, was found occupying a very exalted and brilliant
+position. It is true, he was yet very young, being only about nineteen
+years of age, and by birth he was second to Clarence, Clarence being
+his older brother. But Clarence had been so wavering and vacillating,
+having changed sides so often in the great quarrels, that no
+confidence was placed in him now on either side. Richard, on the other
+hand, had steadily adhered to his brother Edward's cause. He had
+shared all his brother's reverses, and he had rendered him most
+valuable and efficient aid in all the battles which he had fought, and
+had contributed essentially to his success in all the victories which
+he had gained. Of course, now, Edward and his friends had great
+confidence in Richard, while Clarence was looked upon with suspicion
+and distrust.
+
+Clarence, it is true, had one excuse for his instability, which
+Richard had not; for Clarence, having married the Earl of Warwick's
+daughter, was, of course, brought into very close connection with the
+earl, and was subjected greatly to his influence. Accordingly,
+whatever course Warwick decided to take, it was extremely difficult
+for Clarence to avoid joining him in it; and when at length Warwick
+arranged the marriage of his daughter Anne with the Prince of Wales,
+King Henry's son, and so joined himself to the Lancaster party,
+Clarence was placed between two strong and contrary attractions--his
+attachment to his brother, and his natural interest in the advancement
+of his own family being on one side, and his love for his wife, and
+the great influence and ascendency exerted over his mind by his
+father-in-law being on the other.
+
+Richard was in no such strait. There was nothing to entice him away
+from his fidelity to his brother, so he remained true.
+
+He had been so brave and efficient, too, in the military operations
+connected with Edward's recovery of the throne, that he had acquired
+great renown as a soldier throughout the kingdom. The fame of his
+exploits was the more brilliant on account of his youth. It was
+considered remarkable that a young man not yet out of his teens
+should show so much skill, and act with so much resolution and energy
+in times so trying, and the country resounded with his praises.
+
+As soon as Edward was established on the throne, he raised Richard to
+what was in those days, perhaps, the highest office under the crown,
+that of Lord High Admiral of England. This was the office which the
+Earl of Warwick had held, and to which a great portion of the power
+and influence which he exercised was owing. The Lord High Admiral had
+command of the navy, and of the principal ports on both sides of the
+English Channel, so long as any ports on the French side remained in
+English hands. The reader will recollect, perhaps, that while Richard
+was quite a small boy, his mother was compelled to fly with him and
+his little brother George to France, to escape from the enemies of the
+family, at the time of his father's death, and that it was through the
+Earl of Warwick's co-operation that she was enabled to accomplish this
+flight. Now it was in consequence of Warwick's being at that time Lord
+High Admiral of England, and his having command of Calais, and the
+waters between Calais and England, that he could make arrangements to
+assist Lady Cecily so effectually on that occasion.
+
+Still, Richard, though universally applauded for his military courage
+and energy, was known to all who had opportunities of becoming
+personally acquainted with him to be a bad man. He was unprincipled,
+hard-hearted, and reckless. This, however, did not detract from his
+military fame. Indeed, depravity of private character seldom
+diminishes much the applause which a nation bestows upon those who
+acquire military renown in their service. It is not to be expected
+that it should. Military exploits have been, in fact, generally, in
+the history of the world, gigantic crimes, committed by reckless and
+remorseless men for the benefit of others, who, though they would be
+deterred by their scruples of conscience or their moral sensibilities
+from perpetrating such deeds themselves, are ready to repay, with the
+most extravagant honors and rewards, those who are ferocious and
+unscrupulous enough to perpetrate them in their stead. Were it not for
+some very few and rare exceptions to the general rule, which have from
+time to time appeared, the history of mankind would show that, to be a
+_good soldier_, it is almost absolutely essential to be a _bad man_.
+
+The child, Prince Edward, the son of Edward the Fourth, who was born,
+as is related in a preceding chapter, in the sanctuary at Westminster,
+whither his mother had fled at the time when Edward was expelled from
+the kingdom, was, of course, King Edward's heir. He was now less than
+a year old, and, in order to place his title to the crown beyond
+dispute, a solemn oath was required from all the leading nobles and
+officers of Edward's government, that in case he survived his father
+they would acknowledge him as king. The following is the form of the
+oath which was taken:
+
+     I acknowledge, take, and repute you, Edward, Prince of
+     Wales, Duke of Cornwayll, and Erl of Chestre, furste begoten
+     son of oure sovereigne lord, as to the corones and reames of
+     England and of France, and lordship of Ireland; and promette
+     and swere that in case hereafter it happen you by Goddis
+     disposition do outlive our sovereigne lord, I shall then
+     take and accept you for true, veray and righteous King of
+     England, and of France, and of Ireland; and feith and trouth
+     to you shall here, and yn all thyngs truely and feithfully
+     behave me towardes you and youre heyres, as a true and
+     feithful subject oweth to behave him to his sovereigne lord
+     and righteous King of England, France, and Ireland; so help
+     me God, and Holidome, and this holy Evangelist.
+
+Richard took this oath with the rest. How he kept it will hereafter
+appear.
+
+The Lady Anne, the second daughter of the Earl of Warwick, who had
+been betrothed to the Prince of Wales, King Henry's son, was left, by
+the fall of the house of Lancaster and the re-establishment of King
+Edward the Fourth upon the throne, in a most forlorn and pitiable
+condition. Her father, the earl, was dead, having been killed in
+battle. Her betrothed husband, too, the Prince of Wales, with whom she
+had fondly hoped one day to sit on the throne of England, had been
+cruelly assassinated. Queen Margaret, the mother of the prince, who
+might have been expected to take an interest in her fate, was a
+helpless prisoner in the Tower. And if the fallen queen had been at
+liberty, it is very probable that all her interest in Anne would prove
+to have been extinguished by the death of her son; for Queen Margaret
+had never felt any personal preference for Anne, and had only
+consented to the marriage very reluctantly, and from political
+considerations alone. The friends and connections of her father's
+family, a short time since so exalted in station and so powerful, were
+now scattered and destroyed. Some had been killed in battle, others
+beheaded by executioners, others banished from the realm. The rest
+were roaming about England in terror and distress, houseless,
+homeless, friendless, and only intent to find some hiding-place where
+they might screen themselves from Edward's power and vengeance.
+
+There was one exception, indeed, the Lady Isabella, Clarence's wife,
+who, as the reader will recollect, was Warwick's oldest daughter, and,
+of course, the sister of Lady Anne. She and Clarence, her husband, it
+might be supposed, would take an interest in Lady Anne's fate. Indeed,
+Clarence did take an interest in it, but, unfortunately, the interest
+was of the wrong kind.
+
+The Earl of Warwick had been immensely wealthy. Besides the ancient
+stronghold of the family, Warwick Castle, one of the most renowned old
+feudal fortresses in England, he owned many other castles, and many
+large estates, and rights of property of various kinds all over the
+kingdom. Now Clarence, after Warwick's death, had taken most of this
+property into his own hands as the husband of the earl's oldest
+daughter, and he wished to keep it. This he could easily do while Anne
+remained in her present friendless and helpless condition. But he knew
+very well that if she were to be married to any person of rank and
+influence on the York side, her husband would insist on a division of
+the property. Now he suspected that his brother Richard had conceived
+the design of marrying her. He accordingly set himself at work
+earnestly to thwart this design.
+
+It was true that Richard had conceived the idea of making Anne his
+wife, from the motive, however, solely, as it would seem, to obtain
+her share of her father's property.
+
+Richard had been acquainted with Anne from her childhood. Indeed, he
+was related to the family of the Earl of Warwick on his mother's side.
+His mother, Lady Cecily Neville, belonged to the same great family of
+Neville from which the Warwicks sprung. Warwick had been a great
+friend of Lady Cecily in former years, and it is even supposed that
+when Richard and his brother George were brought back from the
+Continent, at the time when Edward first obtained possession of the
+kingdom, they lived for a time in Warwick's family at Middleham
+Castle.[H] This is not quite certainly known, but it is at any rate
+known that Richard and Anne knew each other well when they were
+children, and were often together.
+
+[Footnote H: For a view of this castle, and the grounds pertaining to
+it, see page 180.]
+
+There is an account of a grand entertainment which was given by the
+Warwick family at York, some years before, on the occasion of the
+enthroning of the earl's brother George as Archbishop of York, at
+which Richard was present. Richard, being a prince of the blood royal,
+was, of course, a very highly honored guest, notwithstanding that he
+was but a child. So they prepared for him and some few other great
+personages a raised platform, called a dais, at one end of the
+banquet-hall, with a royal canopy over it. The table for the
+distinguished personages was upon this dais, while those for the other
+guests extended up and down the hall below. Richard was seated at the
+centre of the table of honor, with a countess on one side of him and a
+duchess on the other. Opposite to him, at the same table, were seated
+Isabella and Anne. Anne was at this time about twelve years old.
+
+Now it is supposed that Isabella and Anne were placed at this table to
+please Richard, for their mother, who was, of course, entitled to take
+precedence of them, had her seat at one of the large tables below.
+
+From this and some other similar indications, it is supposed that
+Richard took a fancy to Anne while they were quite young, as Clarence
+did to Isabella. Indeed, one of the ancient writers says that Richard
+wished, at this early period, to choose her for his wife, but that she
+did not like him.
+
+At any rate, now, after the re-establishment of his brother upon the
+throne, and his own exaltation to such high office under him, he
+determined that he would marry Anne. Clarence, on the other hand,
+determined that he should not marry her. So Clarence, with the
+pretense of taking her under his protection, seized her, and carried
+her away to a place of concealment, where he kept her closely shut up.
+Anne consented to this, for she wished to keep out of Richard's way.
+Richard's person was disagreeable to her, and his character was
+hateful. She seems to have considered him, as he is generally
+represented by the writers of those times, as a rude, hard-hearted,
+and unscrupulous man; and she had also a special reason for shrinking
+from him with horror, as the mortal enemy of her father, and the
+reputed murderer of the husband to whom she had been betrothed.
+
+Clarence kept her for some time in obscure places of concealment,
+changing the place from time to time to elude the vigilance of
+Richard, who was continually making search for her. The poor princess
+had recourse to all manner of contrivances, and assumed the most
+humble disguises to keep herself concealed, and was at last reduced to
+a very forlorn and destitute condition, through the desperate shifts
+that she resorted to, in her endeavors to escape Richard's
+persecutions. All was, however, in vain. Richard discovered her at
+last in a mean house in London, where she was living in the disguise
+of a servant. He immediately seized her, and conveyed her to a place
+of security which was under his control.
+
+Soon after this she was taken away from this place and conveyed to
+York, and placed, for the time, under the protection of the
+archbishop--the same archbishop at whose enthronement, eight or ten
+years before, she had sat at the same table with Richard, under the
+royal canopy. But she was not left at peace here. Richard insisted on
+her marrying him. She insisted on her refusal. Her friends--the few
+that she had left--turned against her, and urged her to consent to the
+union; but she could not endure the thought of it.
+
+[Illustration: RICHARD III.]
+
+Richard, however, persisted in his determination, and Anne was finally
+overcome. It is said she resisted to the last, and that the ceremony
+was performed by compulsion, Anne continuing to refuse her consent to
+the end. It was foreseen that, as soon as any change of circumstances
+should enable her to resume active resistance to the union, she would
+repudiate the marriage altogether, as void for want of her consent, or
+else obtain a divorce. To guard against this danger, Richard procured
+the passage of an act of Parliament, by which he was empowered to
+continue in the full possession and enjoyment of Anne's property, even
+if _she were to divorce him_, provided that he did his best to be
+reconciled to her, and was willing to be re-married to her, with her
+consent, whenever she was willing to grant it.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ANNE.]
+
+As for Richard himself, his object was fully attained by the
+accomplishment of a marriage so far acknowledged as to entitle him to
+the possession of the property of his wife. There was still some
+difficulty, however, arising from a disagreement between Richard and
+Clarence in respect to the division. Clarence, when he found that
+Richard would marry Anne, in spite of all that he could do to prevent
+it, declared, with an oath, that, even if Richard did marry her, he,
+Clarence, would never "part the livelihood," that is, divide the
+property with him.
+
+So fixed was Clarence in this resolution to retain all the property
+himself, and so resolute was Richard, on the other hand, in his
+determination to have his share, that the quarrel very soon assumed a
+very serious character. The lords and nobles of the court took part in
+the controversy on one side and on the other, until, at length, there
+was imminent danger of open war. Finally Edward himself interposed,
+and summoned the brothers to appear before him in open council, when,
+after a full hearing of the dispute, he said that he himself would
+decide the question. Accordingly, the two brothers appeared before the
+king, and each strenuously argued his own cause. The king, after
+hearing them, decided how the property should be divided. He gave to
+Richard and Anne a large share, but not all that Richard claimed.
+Richard was, however, compelled to submit.
+
+[Illustration: MIDDLEHAM CASTLE.]
+
+When the marriage was thus consummated, and Richard had been put
+in possession of his portion of the property, Anne seems to have
+submitted to her fate, and she went with Richard to Middleham
+Castle, in the north of England. This castle was one which had
+belonged to the Warwick family, and it now came into Richard's
+possession. Richard did not, however, remain long here with his wife.
+He went away on various military expeditions, leaving Anne most of the
+time alone. She was well contented to be thus left, for nothing could
+be so welcome to her now as to be relieved as much as possible from
+the presence of her hateful husband.
+
+This state of things continued, without much change, until the end of
+about a year after her marriage, when Anne gave birth to a son. The
+boy was named Edward. The possession of this treasure awakened in the
+breast of Anne a new interest in life, and repaid her, in some
+measure, for the sorrows and sufferings which she had so long endured.
+
+Her love for her babe, in fact, awakened in her heart something like a
+tie to bind her to her husband. It is hard for a mother to continue
+long to hate the father of her child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+END OF THE REIGN OF EDWARD.
+
+A.D. 1475-1483
+
+Richard's high position.--His character.--Edward's plan for the
+invasion of France.--Character of King Louis.--Louis's wily
+management.--Treaty proposed.--Arrangements made for a personal
+interview.--The grating on the bridge.--Meeting of the kings at
+the grating.--Jocose conversation of the two kings.--Terms of the
+treaty.--Marriage agreed upon.--Clarence and Gloucester.--The people
+of England discontented.--Renewal of the quarrel between Edward and
+Clarence.--Clarence retires from court.--Belief in witchcraft.--Birth
+of Clarence's second son.--New quarrels.--The rich heiress.--Edward
+and Clarence quarrel about the heiress.--Clarence becomes furious.--He
+is sent to the Tower.--Clarence is accused of high treason.--He is
+sentenced to death.--He is assassinated.--Dissipation and wickedness
+of Edward.--Jane Shore.--Edward sends Richard to war.--Difficulties
+in Scotland.--Edward falls sick.--His anger against the King of
+France.--Death of the Duchess Mary.--Louis's treachery.--Vexation
+and rage of Edward.--His death.
+
+
+King Edward reigned, after this time, for about eight years. During
+this period, Richard continued to occupy a very high official
+position, and a very conspicuous place in the public mind. He was
+generally considered as personally a very bad man, and, whenever any
+great public crime was committed, in which the government were
+implicated at all, it was Richard, usually, who was supposed to be
+chiefly instrumental in the perpetration of it; but, notwithstanding
+this, his fame, and the general consideration in which he was held,
+were very high. This was owing, in a considerable degree, to his
+military renown, and the straightforward energy and decision which
+characterized all his doings.
+
+He generally co-operated very faithfully in all Edward's plans and
+schemes, though sometimes, when he thought them calculated to impede
+rather than promote the interests of the kingdom and the
+aggrandizement of the family, he made no secret of opposing them. As
+to Clarence, no one placed any trust or confidence in him whatever.
+For a time, he and Edward were ostensibly on friendly terms with each
+other, but there was no cordial good-will between them. Each watched
+the other with continual suspicion and distrust.
+
+About the year 1475, Edward formed a grand scheme for the invasion of
+France, in order to recover from the French king certain possessions
+which Edward claimed, on the ground of their having formerly belonged
+to his ancestors. This plan, as, indeed, almost all plans of war and
+conquest were in those days, was very popular in England, and
+arrangements were made on an immense scale for fitting out an
+expedition. The Duke of Burgundy, who, as will be recollected, had
+married Edward's sister, promised to join the English in this proposed
+war. When all was ready, the English army set sail, and crossed over
+to Calais. Edward went with the army as commander-in-chief. He was
+accompanied by Clarence and Gloucester. Thus far every thing had gone
+on well, and all Europe was watching with great interest for the
+result of the expedition; but, very soon after landing, great
+difficulties arose. The Duke of Burgundy and Edward disagreed, and
+this disagreement caused great delays. The army advanced slowly
+toward the French frontier, but for two months nothing effectual was
+done.
+
+[Illustration: LOUIS XI. OF FRANCE.]
+
+In the mean time, Louis, the King of France, who was a very shrewd and
+wily man, concluded that it would be better for him to buy off his
+enemies than to fight them. So he continually sent messengers and
+negotiators to Edward's camp with proposals of various sorts, made to
+gain time, in order to enable him, by means of presents and bribes,
+to buy up all the prominent leaders and counselors of the expedition.
+He gave secretly to all the men who he supposed held an influence over
+Edward's mind, large sums of money. He offered, too, to make a treaty
+with Edward, by which, under one pretext or another, he was to pay him
+a great deal of money. One of these proposed payments was that of a
+large sum for the ransom of Queen Margaret, as mentioned in a
+preceding chapter. The amount of the ransom money which he proposed
+was fifty thousand crowns.
+
+Besides these promises to pay money in case the treaty was concluded,
+Louis made many rich and valuable presents at once. One day, while the
+negotiations were pending, he sent over to the English camp, as a gift
+to the king, three hundred cart-loads of wine, the best that could be
+procured in the kingdom.
+
+At one time, near the beginning of the affair, when a herald was sent
+to Louis from Edward with a very defiant and insolent message, Louis,
+instead of resenting the message as an affront, entertained the herald
+with great politeness, held a long and friendly conversation with him,
+and finally sent him away with three hundred crowns in his purse, and
+a promise of a thousand more as soon as a peace should be concluded.
+He also made him a present of a piece of crimson velvet "thirty ells
+long." Such a gift as this of the crimson velvet was calculated,
+perhaps, in those days of military foppery, to please the herald even
+more than the money.
+
+These things, of course, put Edward and nearly all his followers in
+excellent humor, and disposed them to listen very favorably to any
+propositions for settling the quarrel which Louis might be disposed to
+make. At last, after various and long protracted negotiations, a
+treaty was agreed upon, and Louis proposed that at the final execution
+of it he and Edward should have a personal interview.
+
+Edward acceded to this on certain conditions, and the circumstances
+under which the interview took place, and the arrangements which were
+adopted on the occasion, make it one of the most curious transactions
+of the whole reign.
+
+It seems that Edward could not place the least trust in Louis's
+professions of friendship, and did not dare to meet him without
+requiring beforehand most extraordinary precautions to guard against
+the possibility of treachery. So it was agreed that the meeting should
+take place upon a bridge, Louis and his friends to come in upon one
+side of the bridge, and Edward, with his party, on the other. In
+order to prevent either party from seizing and carrying off the other,
+there was a strong barricade of wood built across the bridge in the
+middle of it, and the arrangement was for the King of France to come
+up to this barricade on one side, and the King of England on the
+other, and so shake hands and communicate with each other through the
+bars of the barricade.
+
+The place where this most extraordinary royal meeting was held was
+called Picquigny, and the treaty which was made there is known in
+history as the Treaty of Picquigny. The town is on the River Somme,
+near the city of Amiens. Amiens was at that time very near the French
+frontier.
+
+The day appointed for the meeting was the 29th of August, 1475. The
+barricade was prepared. It was made of strong bars, crossing each
+other so as to form a grating, such as was used in those days to make
+the cages of bears, and lions, and other wild beasts. The spaces
+between the bars were only large enough to allow a man's arm to pass
+through.
+
+The King of France went first to the grating, advancing, of course,
+from the French side. He was accompanied by ten or twelve attendants,
+all men of high rank and station. He was very specially dressed for
+the occasion. The dress was made of cloth of gold, with a large _fleur
+de lis_--which was at that time the emblem of the French
+sovereignty--magnificently worked upon it in precious stones.
+
+When Louis and his party had reached the barricade, Edward, attended
+likewise by his friends, approached on the other side. When they came
+to the barricade, the two kings greeted each other with many bows and
+other salutations, and they also shook hands with each other by
+reaching through the grating. The King of France addressed Edward in a
+very polite and courteous manner. "Cousin," said he, "you are right
+welcome. There is no person living that I have been so ambitious of
+seeing as you, and God be thanked that our interview now is on so
+happy an occasion."
+
+After these preliminary salutations and ceremonies had been concluded,
+a prayer-book, or missal, as it was called, and a crucifix, were
+brought forward, and held at the grating where both kings could touch
+them. Each of the kings then put his hands upon them--one hand on the
+crucifix and the other on the missal--and they both took a solemn oath
+by these sacred emblems that they would faithfully keep the treaty
+which they had made.
+
+After thus transacting the business which had brought them together,
+the two kings conversed with each other in a gay and merry manner for
+some time. The King of France invited Edward to come to Paris and make
+him a visit. This, of course, was a joke, for Edward would as soon
+think of accepting an invitation from a lion to come and visit him in
+his den, as of putting himself in Louis's power by going to Paris.
+Both monarchs and all the attendants laughed merrily at this jest.
+Louis assured Edward that he would have a very pleasant time at Paris
+in amusing himself with the gay ladies, and in other dissipations.
+"And then here is the cardinal," he added, turning to the Cardinal of
+Bourbon, an ecclesiastic of very high rank, but of very loose
+character, who was among his attendants, "who will grant you a very
+easy absolution for any sins you may take a fancy to commit while you
+are there."
+
+Edward and his friends were much amused with this sportive
+conversation of Louis's, and Edward made many smart replies,
+especially joking the cardinal, who, he knew, "was a gay man with the
+ladies, and a boon companion over his wine."
+
+This sort of conversation continued for some time, and at length the
+kings, after again shaking hands through the grating, departed each
+his own way, and thus this most extraordinary conference of sovereigns
+was terminated.
+
+The treaty which was thus made at the bridge of Picquigny contained
+several very important articles. The principal of them were the
+following:
+
+    1. Louis was to pay fifty thousand crowns as a ransom for
+    Queen Margaret, and Edward was to release her from the Tower
+    and send her to France as soon as he arrived in England.
+
+    2. Louis was to pay to Edward in cash, on the spot,
+    seventy-five thousand crowns, and an annuity of fifty
+    thousand crowns.
+
+    3. He was to marry his son, the dauphin, to Edward's oldest
+    daughter, Elizabeth, and, in case of her death, then to his
+    next daughter, Mary. These parties were all children at this
+    time, and so the actual marriage was postponed for a time;
+    but it was stipulated solemnly that it should be performed as
+    soon as the prince and princess attained to a proper age. It
+    is important to remember this part of the treaty, as a great
+    and serious difficulty grew out of it when the time for the
+    execution of it arrived.
+
+    4. By the last article, the two kings bound themselves to a
+    truce for seven years, during which time hostilities were to
+    be entirely suspended, and free trade between the two
+    countries was to be allowed.
+
+Clarence was with the king at the time of making this treaty, and he
+joined with the other courtiers in giving it his approval, but Richard
+would have nothing to do with it. He very much preferred to go on with
+the war, and was indignant that his brother should allow himself to be
+bought off, as it were, by presents and payments of money, and induced
+to consent to what seemed to him an ignominious peace. He did not give
+any open expression to his discontent, but he refused to be present at
+the conference on the bridge, and, when Edward and the army, after the
+peace was concluded, went back to England, he went with them, but in
+very bad humor.
+
+The people of England were in very bad humor too. You will observe
+that the inducements which Louis employed in procuring the treaty were
+gifts and sums of money granted to Edward himself, and to his great
+courtiers personally for their own private uses. There was nothing in
+his concessions which tended at all to the aggrandizement or to the
+benefit of the English realm, or to promote the interest of the people
+at large. They thought, therefore, that Edward and his counselors had
+been induced to sacrifice the rights and honor of the crown and the
+kingdom to their own personal advantage by a system of gross and open
+bribery, and they were very much displeased.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The next great event which marks the history of the reign of Edward,
+after the conclusion of this war, was the breaking out anew of the old
+feud between Edward and Clarence, and the dreadful crisis to which the
+quarrel finally reached. The renewal of the quarrel began in Edward's
+dispossessing Clarence of a portion of his property. Edward was very
+much embarrassed for money after his return from the French
+expedition. He had incurred great debts in fitting out the expedition,
+and these debts the Parliament and people of England were very
+unwilling to pay, on account of their being so much displeased with
+the peace which had been made. Edward, consequently, notwithstanding
+the bribes which he had received from Louis, was very much in want of
+money. At last he caused a law to be passed by Parliament enacting
+that all the patrimony of the royal family, which had hitherto been
+divided among the three brothers, should be resumed, and applied to
+the service of the crown. This made Clarence very angry. True, he was
+extremely rich, through the property which he had received by his
+wife from the Warwick estates, but this did not make him any more
+willing to submit patiently to be robbed by his brother. He expressed
+his anger very openly, and the ill feeling which the affair occasioned
+led to a great many scenes of dispute and crimination between the two
+brothers, until at last Clarence could no longer endure to have any
+thing to do with Edward, and he went away, with Isabella his wife, to
+a castle which he possessed near Tewkesbury, and there remained, in
+angry and sullen seclusion. So great was the animosity that prevailed
+at this time between the brothers and their respective partisans, that
+almost every one who took an active part in the quarrel lived in
+continual anxiety from fear of being poisoned, or of being destroyed
+by incantations or witchcraft.
+
+Every body believed in witchcraft in these days. There was one
+peculiar species of necromancy which was held in great dread. It was
+supposed that certain persons had the power secretly to destroy any
+one against whom they conceived a feeling of ill will in the following
+manner: They would first make an effigy of their intended victim out
+of wax and other similar materials. This image was made the
+representation of the person to be destroyed by means of certain
+sorceries and incantations, and then it was by slow degrees, from day
+to day, melted away and gradually destroyed. While the image was thus
+melting, the innocent and unconscious victim of the witchcraft would
+pine away, and at last, when the image was fairly gone, would die.
+
+Not very long after Clarence left the court and went to Tewkesbury,
+his wife gave birth to a child. It was the second son. The child was
+named Richard, and is known in history as Richard of Clarence.
+Isabella did not recover her health and strength after the birth of
+her child. She pined away in a slow and lingering manner for two or
+three months, and then died.
+
+Clarence was convinced that she did not die a natural death. He
+believed that her life had been destroyed by some process of
+witchcraft, such as has been described, or by poison, and he openly
+charged the queen with having instigated the murder by having employed
+some sorcerer or assassin to accomplish it. After a time he satisfied
+himself that a certain woman named Ankaret Twynhyo was the person whom
+the queen had employed to commit this crime, and watching an
+opportunity when this woman was at her own residence, away from all
+who could protect her, he sent a body of armed men from among his
+retainers, who went secretly to the place, and, breaking in suddenly,
+seized the woman and bore her off to Warwick Castle. There Clarence
+subjected her to what he called a trial, and she was condemned to
+death, and executed at once. The charge against her was that she
+administered poison to the duchess in a cup of ale. So summary were
+these proceedings, that the poor woman was dead in three hours from
+the time that she arrived at the castle gates.
+
+These proceedings, of course, greatly exasperated Edward and the
+queen, and made them hate Clarence more than ever.
+
+Very soon after this, Charles, the Duke of Burgundy, who married
+Margaret, Edward and Clarence's sister, and who had been Edward's ally
+in so many of his wars, was killed in battle. He left a daughter named
+Mary, of whom Margaret was the step-mother; for Mary was the child of
+the duke by a former marriage. Now, as Charles was possessed of
+immense estates, Mary, by his death, became a great heiress, and
+Clarence, now that his wife was dead, conceived the idea of making her
+his second wife. He immediately commenced negotiations to this end.
+Margaret favored the plan, but Edward and Elizabeth, the queen, as
+soon as they heard of it, set themselves at work in the most earnest
+manner to thwart and circumvent it.
+
+Their motives for opposing this match arose partly from their enmity
+to Clarence, and partly from designs of their own which they had
+formed in respect to the marriage of Mary. The queen wished to secure
+the young heiress for one of her brothers. Edward had another plan,
+which was to marry Mary to a certain Duke Maximilian. Edward's plan,
+in the end, was carried out, and Clarence was defeated. When Clarence
+found at length that the bride, with all the immense wealth and vastly
+increased importance which his marriage with her was to bring, were
+lost to him through Edward's interference, and conferred upon his
+hated rival Maximilian, he was terribly enraged. He expressed his
+resentment and anger against the king in the most violent terms.
+
+About this time a certain nobleman, one of the king's friends, died.
+The king accused a priest, who was in Clarence's service, of having
+killed him by sorcery. The priest was seized and put to the torture to
+compel him to confess his crime and to reveal his confederates. The
+priest at length confessed, and named as his accomplice one of
+Clarence's household named Burdett, a gentleman who lived in very
+intimate and confidential relations with Clarence himself.
+
+The confession was taken as proof of guilt, and the priest and Burdett
+were both immediately executed.
+
+Clarence was now perfectly frantic with rage. He could restrain
+himself no longer. He forced his way into the king's council-chamber,
+and there uttered to the lords who were assembled the most violent and
+angry denunciation of the king. He accused him of injustice and
+cruelty, and upbraided him, and all who counseled and aided him, in
+the severest terms.
+
+When the king, who was not himself present on this occasion, heard
+what Clarence had done, he said that such proceedings were subversive
+of the laws of the realm, and destructive to all good government, and
+he commanded that Clarence should be arrested and sent to the Tower.
+
+After a short time the king summoned a Parliament, and when the
+assembly was convened, he brought his brother out from his prison in
+the Tower, and arraigned him at the bar of the House of Lords on
+charges of the most extraordinary character, which he himself
+personally preferred against him. In these charges Clarence was
+accused of having formed treasonable conspiracies to depose the king,
+disinherit the king's children, and raise himself to the throne, and
+with this view of having slandered the king, and endeavored, by bribes
+and false representations, to entice away his subjects from their
+allegiance; of having joined himself with the Lancastrian faction so
+far as to promise to restore them their estates which had been
+confiscated, provided that they would assist him in usurping the
+throne; and of having secretly organized an armed force, which was all
+ready, and waiting only for the proper occasion to strike the blow.
+
+Clarence denied all these charges in the most earnest and solemn
+manner. The king insisted upon the truth of them, and brought forward
+many witnesses to prove them. Of course, whether the charges were true
+or false, there could be no difficulty in finding plenty of witnesses
+to give the required testimony. The lords listened to the charges and
+the defense with a sort of solemn awe. Indeed, all England, as it
+were, stood by, silenced and appalled at the progress of this dreadful
+fraternal quarrel, and at the prospect of the terrible termination of
+it, which all could foresee must come.
+
+[Illustration: THE MURDERERS COMING FOR CLARENCE.]
+
+Whatever the members of Parliament may have thought of the truth or
+falsehood of the charges, there was only one way in which it was
+prudent or even safe for them to vote, and Clarence was condemned to
+death.
+
+Sentence being passed, the prisoner was remanded to the Tower.
+
+Edward seems, after all, to have shrunk from the open and public
+execution of the sentence which he had caused to be pronounced against
+his brother. No public execution took place, but in a short time it
+was announced that Clarence had died in prison. It was understood that
+assassins were employed to go privately into the room where he was
+confined and put him to death; and it is universally believed, though
+there is no positive proof of the fact, that Richard was the person
+who made the arrangements for the performance of this deed.[I]
+
+[Footnote I: There was a strange story in respect to the manner of
+Clarence's death, which was very current at the time, namely, that he
+was drowned by his brothers in a butt of Malmsey wine. But there is no
+evidence whatever that this story was true.]
+
+After Clarence was dead, and the excitement and anger of the quarrel
+had subsided in Edward's mind, he was overwhelmed with remorse and
+anguish at what he had done. He attempted to drown these painful
+thoughts by dissipation and vice. He neglected the affairs of his
+government, and his duties to his wife and family, and spent his time
+in gay pleasures with the ladies of his court, and in guilty
+carousings with wicked men. In these pleasures he spent large sums of
+money, wasting his patrimony and all his resources in extravagance and
+folly. Among other amusements, he used to form hunting-parties, in
+which the ladies of his court were accustomed to join, and he used to
+set up gay silken tents for their accommodation on the hunting-ground.
+He spent vast sums, too, upon his dress, being very vain of his
+personal attractions, and of the favor in which he was held by the
+ladies around him.
+
+The most conspicuous of his various female favorites was the
+celebrated Jane Shore. She was the wife of a respectable citizen of
+London. Edward enticed her away from her husband, and induced her to
+come and live at court with him. The opposite engraving, which is
+taken from an ancient portrait, gives undoubtedly a correct
+representation both of her features and of her dress. We shall hear
+more of this person in the sequel.
+
+[Illustration: JANE SHORE.]
+
+Things went on in this way for about two years, when at length war
+broke out on the frontiers of Scotland. Edward was too much engrossed
+with his gallantries and pleasures to march himself to meet the enemy,
+and so he commissioned Richard to go. Richard was very well pleased
+that his brother Edward should remain at home, and waste away in
+effeminacy and vice his character and his influence in the kingdom,
+while he went forth in command of the army, to acquire, by the vigor
+and success of his military career, that ascendency that Edward was
+losing. So he took the command of the army and went forth to the war.
+
+The war was protracted for several years. The King of Scotland had a
+brother, the Duke of Albany, who was attempting to dethrone him, in
+order that he might reign in his stead; that is, he was doing exactly
+that which Edward had charged upon his brother Clarence, and for which
+he had caused Clarence to be killed; and yet, with strange
+inconsistency, Edward espoused the cause of this Clarence of Scotland,
+and laid deep plans for enabling him to depose and supplant his
+brother.
+
+In the midst of the measures which Richard was taking for the
+execution of these plans, they, as well as all Edward's other earthly
+schemes and hopes, were suddenly destroyed by the hand of death.
+Edward's health had become much impaired by the dissolute life which
+he had led, and at last he fell seriously sick. While he was sick, an
+affair occurred which vexed and worried his mind beyond endurance.
+
+The reader will recollect that, at the treaty which Edward made with
+Louis of France at the barricade on the bridge of Picquigny, a
+marriage contract was concluded between Louis's oldest son, the
+Dauphin of France, and Edward's daughter Mary, and it was agreed that,
+as soon as the children were grown up, and were old enough, they
+should be married. Louis took a solemn oath upon the prayer-book and
+crucifix that he would not fail to keep this agreement.
+
+But now some years had passed away, and circumstances had changed so
+much that Louis did not wish to keep this promise. Edward's great
+ally, the Duke of Burgundy, was dead. His daughter Mary, who became
+the Duchess Mary on the death of her father, and who, so greatly to
+Clarence's disappointment, had married Maximilian, had succeeded to
+the estates and possessions of her father. These possessions the King
+of France desired very much to join to his dominions, as they lay
+contiguous to them, and the fear of Edward, which had prompted him to
+make the marriage contract with him in the first instance, had now
+passed away, on account of Edward's having become so much weakened by
+his vices and his effeminacy. He now, therefore, became desirous of
+allying his family to that of Burgundy rather than that of England.
+
+The Duchess Mary had three children, all very young. The oldest,
+Philip, was only about three years old.
+
+Now it happened that just at this time, while the Duchess Mary was out
+with a small party, hawking, near the city of Bruges, as they were
+flying the hawks at some herons, the company galloping on over the
+fields in order to keep up with the birds, the duchess's horse, in
+taking a leap, burst the girths of the saddle, and the duchess was
+thrown off against the trunk of a tree. She was immediately taken up
+and borne into a house, but she was so much injured that she almost
+immediately died.
+
+Of course, her titles and estates would now descend to her children.
+The second of the children was a girl. Her name was Margaret. She was
+about two years old. Louis immediately resolved to give up the match
+between the dauphin and Edward's daughter Mary, and contract another
+alliance for him with this little Margaret. He met with considerable
+difficulty and delay in bringing this about, but he succeeded at last.
+While the negotiations were pending, Edward, who suspected what was
+going on, was assured that nothing of the kind was intended, and
+various false tales and pretenses were advanced by Louis to quiet his
+mind.
+
+At length, when all was settled, the new plan was openly proclaimed,
+and great celebrations and parades were held in Paris in honor of the
+event. Edward was overwhelmed with vexation and rage when he received
+the tidings. He was, however, completely helpless. He lay tossing
+restlessly on his sick-bed, cursing, on the one hand, Louis's
+faithlessness and treachery, and, on the other, his own miserable
+weakness and pain, which made it so utterly impossible that he should
+do any thing to resent the affront.
+
+His vexation and rage so disturbed and worried him that they hastened
+his death. When he found that his last hour was drawing near, a new
+source of agitation and anguish was opened in his mind by the remorse
+which now began to overwhelm him for his vices and crimes.
+Long-forgotten deeds of injustice, of violence, and of every species
+of wickedness rose before his mind, and terrified him with awful
+premonition of the anger of God and of the judgment to come. In his
+distress, he tried to make reparation for some of the grossest of the
+wrongs which he had committed, but it was too late. After lingering a
+week or two in this condition of distress and suffering, his spirit
+passed away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+RICHARD AND EDWARD V.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Effect of the tidings of Edward's death.--Anxiety of Queen Elizabeth
+Woodville.--Attempt made by Edward to effect a reconciliation.--Plans
+for bringing the young prince to London.--Richard's movements.--His
+letter to the queen.--He arrives at Northampton.--The king at Stony
+Stratford.--Movements and manoeuvres at Northampton.--The noblemen
+taken into custody.--Seizure of the king.--The little king is very
+much frightened.--Richard's explanations of his proceedings.--Edward's
+astonishment.--He is helpless in Richard's hands.
+
+
+As the tidings of Edward's death spread throughout England, they were
+received every where with a sentiment of anxiety and suspense, for no
+one knew what the consequences would be. Edward left two sons. Edward,
+the oldest of the two, the Prince of Wales, was about thirteen years
+of age. The youngest, whose name was Richard, was eleven. Of course,
+Edward was the rightful heir to the crown. Next to him in the line of
+succession came his brother, and next to them came Richard, Duke of
+Gloucester, their uncle. But it was universally known that the Duke of
+Gloucester was a reckless and unscrupulous man, and the question in
+every one's mind was whether he would recognize the rights of his
+young nephews at all, or whether he would seize the crown at once for
+himself.
+
+Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was in the northern part of England at
+this time, at the head of his army. The great power which the
+possession of this army gave him made people all the more fearful
+that he might attempt to usurp the throne.
+
+The person who was most anxious in respect to the result was the
+widowed Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the two princes. She was very
+much alarmed. The boys themselves were not old enough to realize very
+fully the danger that they were in, or to render their mother much aid
+in her attempts to save them. The person on whom she chiefly relied
+was her brother, the Earl of Rivers. Edward, her oldest son, was under
+this uncle Rivers's care. The uncle and the nephew were residing
+together at this time at the castle of Ludlow.[J] Queen Elizabeth was
+in London with her second son.
+
+[Footnote J: For a view of this castle, see page 26.]
+
+Immediately on the death of the king, a council was called to
+deliberate upon the measures proper to be taken. The council decreed
+that the Prince of Wales should be proclaimed king, and they fixed
+upon the 4th of May for the day of his coronation. They also made
+arrangements for sending orders to the Earl of Rivers to come at once
+with the young king to London, in order that the coronation might take
+place.
+
+Queen Elizabeth was present at this council, and she desired that her
+brother might be ordered to come attended by as large an armed force
+as he could raise, for the protection of the prince on the way.
+
+Now it happened that there were great dissensions among the officers
+and nobles of the court at this time. The queen, with the relatives
+and connections of her family, formed one party, and the other nobles
+and peers of England another party, and great was the animosity and
+hatred that prevailed. The English nobles had never been satisfied
+with Edward's marriage, and they were very jealous of the influence of
+the queen's family and relations. This feud had been kept down in some
+degree while Edward lived, and Edward had made a great final effort to
+heal it entirely in his last sickness. He called together the leading
+nobles on each side, that had taken part in this quarrel, and then, by
+great exertion, went in among them, and urged them to forget their
+dissensions and become reconciled to each other. The effort for the
+time seemed to be successful, and both parties agreed to a compromise
+of the quarrel, and took a solemn oath that they would thenceforth
+live together in peace. But now, on the death of the king, the
+dissension broke out afresh. The other nobles were very jealous and
+suspicious of every measure which Elizabeth proposed, especially if
+it tended to continue the possession of power and influence in the
+hands of her family. Accordingly, when she proposed in the council to
+send for the earl, and to require him to raise a large escort to bring
+the young Prince Edward to London, they objected to it.
+
+[Illustration: THE ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION.]
+
+"Against whom," demanded one of the councilors, "is the young prince
+to be defended? Who are his enemies? He has none, and the real motive
+and design of raising this force is not to protect the prince, but
+only to secure to the Woodville family the means of increasing and
+perpetuating their own importance and power."
+
+The speaker upbraided the queen, too, with having, by this proposal,
+and by the attempt to promote the aggrandizement of the Woodville
+party which was concealed in it, been guilty of violating the oath of
+reconciliation which had been taken during the last sickness of the
+late king. So the council refused to authorize the armed escort, and
+the queen, with tears of disappointment and vexation, gave up the
+plan. At least she gave it up ostensibly, but she nevertheless
+contrived to come to some secret understanding with the earl, in
+consequence of which he set out from the castle with the young prince
+at the head of quite a large force. Some of the authorities state
+that he had with him two thousand men.
+
+In the mean time, Richard of Gloucester, as soon as he heard of
+Edward's death, arranged his affairs at once, and made preparations to
+set out for London too. He put his army in mourning for the death of
+the king, and he wrote a most respectful and feeling letter of
+condolence to the queen. In this letter he made a solemn profession of
+homage and fealty to her son, the Prince of Wales, whom he
+acknowledged as rightfully entitled to the crown, and promised to be
+faithful in his allegiance to him, and to all the duties which he owed
+him.
+
+Queen Elizabeth's mind was much relieved by this letter. She began to
+think that she was going to find in Richard an efficient friend to
+sustain her cause and that of her family against her enemies.
+
+When Richard reached York, he made a solemn entry into that town,
+attended by six hundred knights all dressed in deep mourning. At the
+head of this funeral procession he proceeded to the Cathedral, and
+there caused the obsequies of the king to be celebrated with great
+pomp, and with very impressive and apparently sincere exhibitions of
+the grief which he himself personally felt for the loss of his
+brother.
+
+After a brief delay in York, Richard resumed his march to the
+southward. He arranged it so as to overtake the party of the prince
+and the Earl of Rivers on the way.
+
+He arrived at the town of Northampton on the same day that the prince,
+with the Earl of Rivers and his escort, reached the town of Stony
+Stratford, which was only a few miles from it. When the earl heard
+that Gloucester was so near, he took with him another nobleman, named
+Lord Gray, and a small body of attendants, and rode back to
+Northampton to pay his respects to Gloucester on the part of the young
+king; for they considered that Edward became at once, by the death of
+his father, King of England, under the style and title of Edward the
+Fifth.
+
+Gloucester received his visitors in a very courteous and friendly
+manner. He invited them to sup with him, and he made quite an
+entertainment for them, and for some other friends whom he invited to
+join them. The party spent the evening together in a very agreeable
+manner.
+
+They sat so long over their wine that it was too late for the earl and
+Lord Gray to return that night to Stony Stratford, and Richard
+accordingly made arrangements for them to remain in Northampton. He
+assigned quarters to them in the town, and secretly set a guard over
+them, to prevent their making their escape. The next morning, when
+they arose, they were astonished to find themselves under guard, and
+to perceive too, as they did, that all the avenues of the town were
+occupied with troops. They suspected treachery, but they thought it
+not prudent to express their suspicions. Richard, when he met them
+again in the morning, treated them in the same friendly manner as on
+the evening before, and proposed to accompany them to Stony Stratford,
+in order that he might there see and pay his respects to the king.
+This was agreed to, and they all set out together.
+
+In company with Richard was one of his friends and confederates, the
+Duke of Buckingham. This Duke of Buckingham had been one of the
+leaders of the party at court that were opposed to the family of the
+queen. These two, together with the Earl of Rivers and Lord Gray, rode
+on in a very friendly manner toward Stratford. They went in advance of
+Richard's troops, which were ordered to follow pretty closely behind.
+In this manner they went on till they began to draw near to the town.
+
+Richard now at once threw off his disguise. He told the Earl of
+Rivers and Lord Gray that the influence which they were exerting over
+the mind of the king was evil, and that he felt it his duty to take
+the king from their charge.
+
+Then, at a signal given, armed men came up and took the two noblemen
+in custody. Richard, with the Duke of Buckingham and their attendants,
+drove on with all speed into the town. It seems that the persons who
+had been left with Edward had, in some way or other, obtained
+intelligence of what was going on, for they were just upon the eve of
+making their escape with him when Richard and his party arrived. The
+horse was saddled, and the young king was all ready to mount.
+
+Richard, when he came up to the place, assumed the command at once. He
+made no obeisance to his nephew, nor did he in any other way seem to
+recognize or acknowledge him as his sovereign. He simply said that he
+would take care of his safety.
+
+"The persons that have been about you," said he, "have been conspiring
+against your life, but I will protect you."
+
+He then ordered several of the principal of Edward's attendants to be
+arrested; the rest he commanded to disperse. What became of the large
+body of men which the Earl of Rivers is said to have had under his
+command does not appear. Whether they dispersed in obedience to
+Richard's commands, or whether they abandoned the earl and came over
+to Richard's side, is uncertain. At any rate, nobody resisted him. The
+Earl of Rivers, Lord Gray, and the others were secured, with a view of
+being sent off prisoners to the northward. Edward himself was to be
+taken with Richard back to Northampton.
+
+The little king himself scarcely knew what to make of these
+proceedings. He was frightened; and when he saw that all those
+personal friends and attendants who had had the charge of him so long,
+and to whom he was strongly attached, were seized and sent away, and
+others, strangers to him, put in their place, he could not refrain
+from tears. King as he was, however, and sovereign ruler over millions
+of men, he was utterly helpless in his uncle's hands, and obliged to
+yield himself passively to the disposition which his uncle thought
+best to make of him.
+
+All the accounts of Edward represent him as a kind-hearted and
+affectionate boy, of a gentle spirit, and of a fair and prepossessing
+countenance. The ancient portraits of him which remain confirm these
+accounts of his personal appearance and of his character.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V.]
+
+After having taken these necessary steps, and thus secured the power
+in his own hands, Richard vouchsafed an explanation of what he had
+done to the young king. He told him that Earl Rivers, and Lord Gray,
+and other persons belonging to their party, "had conspired together to
+rule the kynge and the realme, to sette variance among the states,
+and to subdue and destroy the noble blood of the realme," and that he,
+Richard, had interposed to save Edward from their snares. He told him,
+moreover, that Lord Dorset, who was Edward's half brother, being the
+son of the queen by her first husband, and who had for some time held
+the office of Chancellor of the Tower, had taken out the king's
+treasure from that castle, and had sent much of it away beyond the
+sea.
+
+Edward, astonished and bewildered, did not know at first what to reply
+to his uncle. He said, however, at last, that he never heard of any
+such designs on the part of his mother's relatives, and he could not
+believe that the charges were true. But Richard assured him that they
+were true, and that "his kindred had kepte their dealings from the
+knowledge of his grace." Satisfied or not, Edward was silenced; and he
+submitted, since it was hopeless for him to attempt to resist, to be
+taken back in his uncle's custody to Northampton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+TAKING SANCTUARY.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Alarm of the queen on hearing the news.--Visit of the
+archbishop.--Hasting's message.--The queen is in great
+distress.--Uncertainty in respect to Gloucester's designs.--Arrest
+of the leading men in the Woodville party.--The queen
+"on the rushes."--Her daughters.--Description of the
+sanctuary.--Apartments.--The Jerusalem chamber.--Richard's
+plans in respect to the coronation.--Reception of Richard's party
+at London.--Richard establishes his court.--Dorset.--The queen's
+friends dismissed.--Richard's titles.--Anxiety of the people
+of England.--Forlorn situation of the queen.
+
+
+When the news reached London that the king had been seized on the way
+to the capital, and was in Gloucester's custody, it produced a
+universal commotion. Queen Elizabeth was thrown at once into a state
+of great anxiety and alarm. The tidings reached her at midnight. She
+was in the palace at Westminster at the time. She rose immediately in
+the greatest terror, and began to make preparations for fleeing to
+sanctuary with the Duke of York, her second son. All her friends in
+the neighborhood were aroused and summoned to her aid. The palace soon
+became a scene of universal confusion. Every body was busy packing up
+clothing and other necessaries in trunks and boxes, and securing
+jewels and valuables of various kinds, and removing them to places of
+safety. In the midst of this scene, the queen herself sat upon the
+rushes which covered the floor, half dressed, and her long and
+beautiful locks of hair streaming over her shoulders, the picture of
+despair.
+
+There was a certain nobleman, named Lord Hastings, who had been a very
+prominent and devoted friend to Edward the Fourth during his life, and
+had consequently been upon very intimate and friendly terms with the
+queen. It was he, however, that had objected in the council to the
+employment of a large force to conduct the young king to London, and,
+by so doing, had displeased the queen. Toward morning, while the queen
+was in the depths of her distress and terror, making her preparations
+for flight, a cheering message from Hastings was brought to her,
+telling her not to be alarmed. The message was brought to her by a
+certain archbishop who had been chancellor, that is, had had the
+custody of the great seal, an impression from which was necessary to
+the validity of any royal decree. He came to deliver up the seal to
+the queen, and also to bring Lord Hastings's message.
+
+"Ah, woe worth him!" said the queen, when the archbishop informed her
+that Lord Hastings bid her not fear. "It is he that is the cause of
+all my sorrows; he goeth about to destroy me and my blood."
+
+"Madam," said the archbishop, "be of good comfort. I assure you that,
+if they crown any other king than your eldest son, whom they have
+with them, we will, on the morrow, crown his brother, whom you have
+with you here. And here is the great seal, which, in like wise as your
+noble husband gave it to me, so I deliver it to you for the use of
+your son." So the archbishop delivered the great seal into the queen's
+hands, and went away. This was just before the dawn.
+
+The words which the archbishop spoke to the queen did not give her
+much comfort. Indeed, her fears were not so much for her children, or
+for the right of the eldest to succeed to the throne, as for herself
+and her own personal and family ascendency under the reign of her son.
+She had contrived, during the lifetime of her husband, to keep pretty
+nearly all the influence and patronage of the government in her own
+hands and in that of her family connections, the Woodvilles. You will
+recollect how much difficulty that had made, and how strong a party
+had been formed against her coterie. And now, her husband being dead,
+what she feared was not that Gloucester, in taking the young king away
+from the custody of her relatives, and sending those relatives off as
+prisoners to the north, meant any hostility to the young king, but
+only against her and the whole Woodville interest, of which she was
+the head. She supposed that Gloucester would now put the power of the
+government in the hands of other families, and banish hers, and that
+perhaps he would even bring her to trial and punishment for acts of
+maladministration, or other political crimes which he would charge
+against her. It was fear of this, rather than any rebellion against
+the right of Edward the Fifth to reign, which made her in such haste
+to flee to sanctuary.
+
+It was, however, somewhat uncertain what Gloucester intended to do.
+His professions were all very fair in respect to his allegiance to the
+young king. He sent a messenger to London, immediately after seizing
+the king, to explain his views and motives in the act, and in this
+communication he stated distinctly that his only object was to prevent
+the king's falling into the hands of the Woodville family, and not at
+all to oppose his coronation.
+
+"It neyther is reason," said he in his letter, "nor in any wise to be
+suffered that the young kynge, our master and kinsman, should be in
+the hands of custody of his mother's kindred, sequestered in great
+measure from our companie and attendance, the which is neither
+honorable to hys majestie nor unto us."
+
+Thus the pretense of Richard in seizing the king was simply that he
+might prevent the government under him from falling into the hands of
+his mother's party. But the very decisive measures he took in respect
+to the leading members of the Woodville family led many to suspect
+that he was secretly meditating a deeper design. All those who were
+with the king at the time of his seizure were made prisoners and sent
+off to a castle in the north, as we have already said; and, in order
+to prevent those who were in and near London from making their escape,
+Richard sent down immediately from Northampton ordering their arrest,
+and appointing guards to prevent any of them from flying to sanctuary.
+When the archbishop, who had called to see the queen at the palace,
+went away, he saw through the window, although it was yet before the
+dawn, a number of boats stationed on the Thames ready to intercept any
+who might be coming up the river with this intent from the Tower, for
+several influential members of the family resided at this time at the
+Tower.
+
+The queen herself, however, as it happened, was at Westminster Palace,
+and she had accordingly but little way to go to make her escape to the
+Abbey.
+
+The space which was inclosed by the consecrated limits, from within
+which prisoners could not be taken, was somewhat extensive. It
+included not only the church of the Abbey, but also the Abbey garden,
+the cemetery, the palace of the abbot, the cloisters, and various
+other buildings and grounds included within the inclosure. As soon as
+the queen entered these precincts, she sank down upon the floor of the
+hall, "alone on the rushes, all desolate and dismayed." It was in the
+month of May, and the great fire-place of the hall was filled with
+branches of trees and flowers, while the floor, according to the
+custom of the time, was strewed with green rushes. For a time the
+queen was so overwhelmed with her sorrow and chagrin that she was
+scarcely conscious where she was. But she was soon aroused from her
+despondency by the necessity of making proper arrangements for herself
+and her family in her new abode. She had two daughters with her,
+Elizabeth and Cecily--beautiful girls, seventeen and fifteen years of
+age; Richard, Duke of York, her second son, and several younger
+children. The youngest of these children, Bridget, was only three
+years old. Elizabeth, the oldest, afterward became a queen, and little
+Bridget a nun.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT VIEW OF WESTMINSTER.]
+
+The rooms which the queen and her family occupied in the sanctuary
+are somewhat particularly described by one of the writers of those
+days. The fire-place, where the trees and flowers were placed, was in
+the centre of the hall, and there was an opening in the roof above,
+called a _louvre_, to allow of the escape of the smoke. This hearth
+still remains on the floor of the hall, and the louvre is still to be
+seen in the roof above.[K] The end of the hall was formed of oak
+panneling, with lattice-work above, the use of which will presently
+appear. A part of this paneling was formed of doors, which led by
+winding stairs up to a curious congeries of small rooms formed among
+the spaces between the walls and towers, and under the arches above.
+Some of these rooms were for private apartments, and others were used
+for the offices of buttery, kitchen, laundry, and the like. At the end
+of this range of apartments was the private sitting-room and study of
+the abbot. The windows of the abbot's room looked down upon a pretty
+flower-garden, and there was a passage from it which led by a corridor
+back to the lattices over the doors in the hall, through which the
+abbot could look down into the hall at any time without being
+observed, and see what the monks were doing there.
+
+[Footnote K: The room is now the college hall, so called, of
+Westminster school.]
+
+Besides these there were other large apartments, called state
+apartments, which were used chiefly on great public occasions. These
+rooms were larger, loftier, and more richly decorated than the others.
+They were ornamented with oak carvings and fluting, painted windows,
+and other such decorations. There was one in particular, which was
+called the Jerusalem chamber. This was the grand receiving-room of the
+abbot. It had a great Gothic window of painted glass, and the walls
+were hung with curious tapestry. This room, with the window, the
+tapestry, and all the other ornaments, remains to this day.
+
+It was on the night of the third of May that the queen and her family
+"took sanctuary." The very next day, the fourth, was the day that the
+council had appointed for the coronation. But Richard, instead of
+coming at once to London, after taking the king under his charge, so
+as to be ready for the coronation at the appointed day, delayed his
+journey so as not to enter London until that day. He wished to prevent
+the coronation from taking place, having probably other plans of his
+own in view instead.
+
+It is not, however, absolutely certain that Richard intended, at this
+time, to claim the crown for himself, for in entering London he
+formed a grand procession, giving the young king the place of honor
+in it, and doing homage to him as king. Richard himself and all his
+retinue were in mourning. Edward was dressed in a royal mantle of
+purple velvet, and rode conspicuously as the chief personage of the
+procession. A short distance from the city the cavalcade was met by a
+procession of the civic authorities of London and five hundred
+citizens, all sumptuously appareled, who had come out to receive and
+welcome their sovereign, and to conduct him through the gates into the
+city. In entering the city Richard rode immediately before the king,
+with his head uncovered. He held his cap in his hand, and bowed
+continually very low before the king, designating him in this way to
+the citizens as the object of their homage. He called out also, from
+time to time, to the crowds that thronged the waysides to see, "Behold
+your prince and sovereign."
+
+There were two places to which it might have been considered not
+improbable that Richard would take the king on his arrival at the
+capital--one the palace of Westminster, at the upper end of London,
+and the other, the Tower, at the lower end. The Tower, though often
+used as a prison, was really, at that time, a castle, where the kings
+and the members of the royal family often resided. Richard, however,
+did not go to either of these places at first, but proceeded instead
+to the bishop's palace at St. Paul's, in the heart of the city. Here a
+sort of court was established, a grand council of nobles and officers
+of state was called, and for some days the laws were administered and
+the government was carried on from this place, all, however, in
+Edward's name. Money was coined, also, with his effigy and
+inscription, and, in fine, so far as all essential forms and
+technicalities were concerned, the young Edward was really a reigning
+king; but, of course, in respect to substantial power, every thing was
+in Richard's hands.
+
+The reason why Richard did not proceed at once to the Tower was
+probably because Dorset, the queen's son, was in command there, and
+he, as of course he was identified with the Woodville party, might
+perhaps have made Richard some trouble. But Dorset, as soon as he
+heard that Richard was coming, abandoned the Tower, and fled to the
+sanctuary to join his mother. Accordingly, after waiting a few days at
+the bishop's palace until the proper arrangements could be made, the
+king, with the whole party in attendance upon him, removed to the
+Tower, and took up their residence there. The king was nominally in
+his castle, with Richard and the other nobles and their retinue in
+attendance upon him as his guards. Really he was in a prison, and his
+uncle, with the people around him who were under his uncle's command,
+were his keepers.
+
+A meeting of the lords was convened, and various political
+arrangements were made to suit Richard's views. The principal members
+of the Woodville family were dismissed from the offices which they
+held, and other nobles, who were in Richard's interest, were appointed
+in their place. A new day was appointed for the coronation, namely,
+the 22d of June. The council of lords decreed also that, as the king
+was yet too young to conduct the government himself personally, his
+uncle Gloucester was, for the present, to have charge of the
+administration of public affairs, under the title of Lord Protector.
+The title in full, which Richard thenceforth assumed under this
+decree, was, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother and uncle of the
+king, Protector and Defender, Great Chamberlain, Constable, and Lord
+High Admiral of England.
+
+During all this time the city of London, and, indeed, the whole realm
+of England, as far as the tidings of what was going on at the capital
+spread into the interior, had been in a state of the greatest
+excitement. The nobles, and the courtiers of all ranks, were
+constantly on the alert, full of anxiety and solicitude, not knowing
+which side to take or what sentiments to avow. They did not know what
+turn things would finally take, and, of course, could not tell what
+they were to do in order to be found, in the end, on the side that was
+uppermost. The common people in the streets, with anxious looks and
+many fearful forebodings, discussed the reports and rumors that they
+had heard. They all felt a sentiment of loyal and affectionate regard
+for the king--a sentiment which was increased and strengthened by his
+youth, his gentle disposition, and the critical and helpless situation
+that he was in; while, on the other hand, the character of Gloucester
+inspired them with a species of awe which silenced and subdued them.
+Edward, in his "protector's" hands, seemed to them like a lamb in the
+custody of a tiger.
+
+The queen, all this time, remained shut up in the sanctuary, in a
+state of extreme suspense and anxiety, clinging to the children whom
+she had with her, and especially to her youngest son, the little Duke
+of York, as the next heir to the crown, and her only stay and hope,
+in case, through Richard's violence or treachery, any calamity should
+befall the king.
+
+[Illustration: THE PEOPLE IN THE STREETS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+RICHARD LORD PROTECTOR.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Richard forms plans for seizing the crown.--His plan for disposing of
+Edward's children.--Clarence's children.--Lady Cecily.--Baynard's
+Castle.--Situation of the queen's friends at Pomfret Castle.--Lord
+Hastings.--Richard's councils.--The Tower.--Nobles in council at the
+Tower.--Richard's proceedings at the council.--Scene in the council
+chamber at the Tower.--He makes signals for the armed men to come
+in.--Hastings is executed.--Orders sent to the north.--Execution of
+the prisoners at Pomfret Castle.--Richard's plans in respect to the
+Duke of York.--He determines to seize him.--The case of the little
+Richard argued.--Delegation sent to the Tower.--Interview with the
+mother of the princes.--The queen is forced to give up the child.--The
+parting scene.--The prince is taken away.--Both princes entirely in
+Richard's power.
+
+
+What sort of protection Richard afforded to the young wards who were
+committed to his charge will appear by events narrated in this
+chapter.
+
+It was now June, and the day, the twenty-second, which had been fixed
+upon for the coronation, was drawing nigh. By the ancient usages of
+the realm of England, the office of Protector, to which Richard had
+been appointed, would expire on the coronation of the king. Of course,
+Richard perceived at once that if he wished to prolong his power he
+must act promptly.
+
+He began to revolve in his mind the possibility of assuming the crown
+himself, and displacing the children of his older brothers; for
+Clarence left children at his decease as well as Edward. Of course,
+these children of Clarence, as well as those of Edward, would take
+precedence of him in the line of succession, being descended from an
+older brother. Richard therefore, in order to establish any claim to
+the crown for himself, must find some pretext for setting aside both
+these branches of the family. The pretexts which he found were these.
+
+[Illustration: CLARENCE'S CHILDREN HEARING OF THEIR FATHER'S DEATH.]
+
+In respect to the children of Edward, his plan was to pretend to have
+discovered proof of Edward's having been privately married to another
+lady before his marriage with Elizabeth Woodville. This would, of
+course, render the marriage with Elizabeth Woodville null, and destroy
+the rights of the children to any inheritance from their father.
+
+In respect to the children of Clarence, he was to maintain that they
+were cut off by the attainder which had been passed against their
+father. A bill of attainder, according to the laws and usages of those
+times, not only doomed the criminal himself to death, but cut off his
+children from all rights of inheritance. It was intended to destroy
+the family as well as the man.
+
+Richard, however, did not at once reveal his plans, but proceeded
+cautiously to take the proper measures for putting them into
+execution.
+
+In the first place, there was his mother to be conciliated, the Lady
+Cecily Neville, known, however, more generally by the title of the
+Duchess of York. She lived at this time in an old family residence
+called Baynard's Castle, which stood on the banks of the Thames.[L] As
+soon as Richard arrived in London he went to see his mother at this
+place, and afterward he often visited her there. How far he explained
+his plans to her, and how far she encouraged or disapproved of them,
+is not known. If she was required to act at all in the case, it must
+have been very hard for her, in such a question of life and death, to
+decide between her youngest son alive and the children of her
+first-born in his grave. Mothers can best judge to which side, in such
+an alternative, her maternal sympathies would naturally incline her.
+
+[Footnote L: For a view of this castle, see engraving on page 273.]
+
+As for the immediate members of the Woodville family, they were
+already pretty well taken care of. The queen herself, with her
+children, were shut up in the sanctuary. Her brothers, and the other
+influential men who were most prominent on her side, had been made
+prisoners, and sent to Pomfret Castle in the north. Here they were
+held under the custody of men devoted to Richard's interest. But to
+prevent the possibility of his having any farther trouble with them,
+Richard resolved to order them to be beheaded. This resolution was
+soon carried into effect, as we shall presently see.
+
+There remained the party of nobles and courtiers that were likely to
+be hostile to the permanent continuance of the power of Richard, and
+inclined to espouse the cause of the young king. The nobles had not
+yet distinctly taken ground on this question. There were, however,
+some who were friendly to Richard. Others seemed more inclined to form
+a party against him. The prominent man among this last-named set was
+Lord Hastings. There were several others besides, and Richard knew
+very well who they were. In order to circumvent and defeat any plans
+which they might be disposed to form, and to keep the power fully in
+his own hands, he convened his councils of state at different places,
+sometimes at Westminster, sometimes at the Tower, where the king was
+kept, and sometimes at his own residence, which was in the heart of
+London. He transferred the public business more and more to his own
+residence, assembling the councilors there at all times, late and
+early, and thus withdrawing them from attendance at the Tower. Very
+soon Richard's residence in London became the acknowledged
+head-quarters of influence and power, and all who had petitions to
+present or favors to obtain gathered there, while the king in the
+Tower was neglected, and left comparatively alone.
+
+Still the form of holding a council from time to time at the Tower was
+continued, and, of course, the nobles who assembled there were those
+most inclined to stand by and defend the cause of the king.
+
+Such was the state of things on the 13th of June, nine days before the
+time appointed for the coronation. Richard then, having carefully
+laid his plans, was prepared to take decisive measures to break up the
+party who were disposed to gather around the king at the Tower and
+espouse his cause.
+
+On that day, while these nobles were holding a council in the Tower,
+suddenly, and greatly to their surprise, Richard walked in among them.
+He assumed a very good-natured and even merry air as he entered and
+took his seat, and began to talk with those present in a very friendly
+and familiar tone. This was for the purpose of lulling any suspicions
+which they might have felt on seeing him appear among them, and
+prevent them from divining the dreadful intentions with which he had
+come.
+
+"My lord," said he, turning to a bishop who sat near him, and who was
+one of those that he was about to arrest, "you have some excellent
+strawberries in your garden, I understand. I wish you would let me
+have a plateful of them."
+
+It was about the middle of June, you will recollect, which was the
+time for strawberries to be ripe.
+
+The bishop was very much pleased to find the great Protector taking
+such an interest in his strawberries, and he immediately called a
+servant and sent him away at once to bring some of the fruit.
+
+After having greeted the other nobles at the board in a somewhat
+similar style to this, with jocose and playful remarks, which had the
+effect of entirely diverting from their minds every thing like
+suspicion, he said that he must go away for a short time, but that he
+would presently return. In the mean time, they might proceed, he said,
+with their deliberations on the public business.
+
+So he went out. He proceeded at once to make the preparations
+necessary for the accomplishment of the desperate measures which he
+had determined to adopt. He stationed armed men at the doors and the
+passages of the part of the Tower where the council was assembled, and
+gave them instructions as to what they were to do, and agreed with
+them in respect to the signals which he was to give.
+
+In about an hour he returned, but his whole air and manner were now
+totally changed. He came in with a frowning and angry countenance,
+knitting his brows and setting his teeth, as if something had occurred
+to put him in a great rage. He advanced to the council table, and
+there accosting Lord Hastings in a very excited and angry manner, he
+demanded,
+
+"What punishment do you think men deserve who form plots and schemes
+for my destruction?"
+
+Lord Hastings was amazed at this sudden appearance of displeasure, and
+he replied to the Protector that such men, if there were any such,
+most certainly deserved death, whoever they might be.
+
+"It is that sorceress, my brother's wife," said Richard, "and that
+other vile sorceress, worse than she, Jane Shore. See!"
+
+This allusion to Jane Shore was somewhat ominous for Hastings, as it
+was generally understood that since the king's death Lord Hastings had
+taken Jane Shore under his protection, and had lived in great intimacy
+with her.
+
+As Richard said this, he pulled up the sleeve of his doublet to the
+elbow, to let the company look at his arm. This arm had always been
+weak, and smaller than the other.
+
+"See," said he, "what they are doing to me."
+
+He meant that by the power of necromancy they had made an image of wax
+as an effigy of him, according to the mode explained in a previous
+chapter, and were now melting it away by slow degrees in order to
+destroy his life, and that his arm was beginning to pine and wither
+away in consequence.
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNCIL IN THE TOWER.]
+
+The lords knew very well that the state in which they saw Richard's
+arm was its natural condition, and that, consequently, his charge
+against the queen and Jane Shore was only a pretense, which was to be
+the prelude and excuse for some violent measures that he was about to
+take. They scarcely knew what to say. At last Lord Hastings replied,
+
+"Certainly, my lord, if they have committed so heinous an offense as
+this, they deserve a very heinous punishment."
+
+"If!" repeated the Protector, in a voice of thunder. "And thou
+servest me, then, it seems, with _ifs_ and _ands_. I tell thee that
+they _have_ so done--and I will make what I say good upon thy body,
+traitor!"
+
+He emphasized and confirmed this threat by bringing down his fist with
+a furious blow upon the table.
+
+This was one of the signals which he had agreed upon with the people
+that he had stationed without at the door of the council hall. A voice
+was immediately heard in the ante-chamber calling out Treason. This
+was again another signal. It was a call to a band of armed men whom
+Richard had stationed in a convenient place near by, and who were to
+rush in at this call. Accordingly, a sudden noise was heard of the
+rushing of men and the clanking of iron, and before the councilors
+could recover from their consternation the table was surrounded with
+soldiery, all "in harness," that is, completely armed, and as fast as
+the foremost came in and gathered around the table, others pressed in
+after them, until the room was completely full.
+
+Richard, designating Hastings with a gesture, said suddenly, "I arrest
+thee, traitor."
+
+"What! _me_, my lord?" exclaimed Hastings, in terror.
+
+"Yes, thee, traitor."
+
+Two or three of the soldiers immediately seized Hastings and prepared
+to lead him away. Other soldiers laid hands upon several of the other
+nobles, such as Richard had designated to them beforehand. These, of
+course, were the leading and prominent men of the party opposed to
+Richard's permanent ascendency. Most of these men were taken away and
+secured as prisoners in various parts of the Tower. As for Hastings,
+Richard, in a stern and angry manner, advised him to lose no time in
+saying his prayers, "for, by the Lord," said he, "I will not to dinner
+to-day till I see thy head off."
+
+Then, after a brief delay, to allow the wretched man a few minutes to
+say his prayers, Richard nodded to the soldiers to signify to them
+that they were to proceed to their work. They immediately took their
+victim out to a green by the side of the Tower, and, laying him down
+with his neck across a log which they found there, they cut off his
+head with a broad-axe.
+
+[Illustration: POMFRET CASTLE.]
+
+The same day Richard sent off a dispatch to the north, directed to
+the men who had in charge the Earl Rivers, and the other friends of
+the king who had been made prisoners when the king was seized at
+Stony Stratford, ordering them all to be beheaded. The order was
+immediately obeyed.
+
+The person who had charge of the execution of this order was a stern
+and ruffian-like officer named Sir Richard Ratcliffe. This man is
+quite noted in the history of the times as one of the most
+unscrupulous of Richard's adherents. He was a merciless man, short and
+rude in speech, and reckless in action, destitute alike of all pity
+for man and of all fear of God.
+
+The place where the prisoners had been confined was Pomfret Castle.[M]
+On receiving the orders from Richard, Ratcliffe led them out to an
+open place without the castle wall to be beheaded. The executioners
+brought a log and an axe, and the victims were slaughtered one after
+another, without any ceremony, and without being allowed to say a word
+in self-defense.
+
+[Footnote M: Called sometimes Pontefract.]
+
+The whole country was shocked at hearing of these sudden and terrible
+executions; but the power was in Richard's hands, and there was no one
+capable of resisting him. The death of the leaders of what would have
+been the young king's party struck terror into the rest, and Richard
+now had every thing in his own hands, or, rather, _almost_ every
+thing; for the queen and her family, being still in the sanctuary,
+were beyond his reach. He, however, had nothing to fear from her
+personally, and there were none of the children that gave him any
+concern except the Duke of York, the king's younger brother. He, you
+will recollect, was with his mother at Westminster when the king was
+seized, and she had taken him with the other children to the Abbey.
+Richard was now extremely desirous of getting possession of this boy.
+
+The reason why he deemed it so essential to get possession of him was
+this. The child was, it is true, of little consequence while his
+brother the king lived; but if the king were put out of the way, then
+the thoughts and the hearts of all the loyal people of England,
+Richard knew very well, would be turned toward York as the rightful
+successor. But if they could both be put out of the way, and if the
+people of England could be induced to consider Clarence's children as
+set aside by the attainder of their father, then he himself would come
+forward as the true and rightful heir to the crown. It is true that it
+was a part of his plan, as has already been said, to declare the
+marriage of Elizabeth Woodville with the king null, and thus cut off
+both these children of Edward from their right of inheritance; but he
+knew very well that even if a majority of the people of England were
+to assent to this, there would certainly be a minority that would
+refuse their assent, and would adhere to the cause of the children,
+and they, if the children should fall into their hands, might, at some
+future time, make themselves very formidable to him, and threaten very
+seriously the permanence of his dominion. It was quite necessary,
+therefore, he thought, that he should get both children into his own
+power.
+
+"I must," said he to himself, therefore, "I must, in some way or
+other, and at all hazards, get possession of little Richard."
+
+It is always the policy of usurpers, and of all ambitious and aspiring
+men who wish to seize and hold power which does not properly belong to
+them, to carry the various measures necessary to the attainment of
+their ends, especially those likely to be unpopular, not by their own
+personal action, but by the agency of others, whom they put forward to
+act for them. Richard proceeded in this way in the present instance.
+He called a grand council of the peers of the realm and great officers
+of state, and caused the question to be brought up there of removing
+the young Duke of York from the custody of his mother to that of the
+Protector, in order that he might be with his brother. The peers who
+were in Richard's interest advocated this plan; but all the bishops
+and archbishops, who, of course, as ecclesiastics, had very high ideas
+of the sacredness and inviolability of a sanctuary, opposed the plan
+of taking the duke away except by the consent of his mother.
+
+The other side argued in reply to them that a sanctuary was a place
+where persons could seek refuge to escape punishment in case of crime,
+and that where no crime could have been committed, and no charges of
+crime were made, the principle did not apply. In other words, that the
+sanctuary was for men and women who had been guilty, or were supposed
+to have been guilty, of violations of law; but as children could
+commit no crime for which an asylum was necessary, the privileges of
+sanctuary did not extend to them.
+
+This view of the subject prevailed. The bishops and archbishops were
+outvoted, and an order in council was passed authorizing the Lord
+Protector to possess himself of his nephew, the Duke of York, and for
+this purpose to take him, if necessary, out of sanctuary by force.
+
+Still, the bishops and archbishops were very unwilling that force
+should be used, if it could possibly be avoided; and finally the
+Archbishop of Canterbury, who was the highest prelate in the realm,
+proposed that a deputation from the council should be sent to the
+Abbey, and that he should go with them, in order to see the queen, and
+make the attempt to persuade her to give up her son of her own accord.
+
+After giving notice to the abbot of their intended visit, and making
+an arrangement with him and with the queen in respect to the time when
+they could be received, the delegation proceeded in state to the Abbey
+on the appointed day, and were received by the abbot and by Elizabeth
+with due ceremony in the Jerusalem chamber, the great audience hall of
+the Abbey, which has already been described.
+
+The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was at the head of the delegation,
+explained the case to the queen. They wished her, he said, to allow
+her son, the Duke of York, to leave the sanctuary, and to join his
+brother the king at his royal residence in the Tower. He would be
+perfectly safe there, he said, under the care of his uncle, the Lord
+Protector.
+
+"The Protector thinks it very necessary that the duke should go,"
+added the archbishop, "to be company for his brother. The king is very
+melancholy, he says, for want of a playfellow."
+
+"And so the Protector," replied the queen--"God grant that he may
+really prove a protector--thinks that the king needs a playfellow! And
+can no playfellow be found for him except his brother?
+
+"Besides," she added, "he is not in a mood to play. He is not well.
+They must find some other playmate for his brother. Just as if
+princes, while they are so young, could not as well have some one to
+play with them not of their own rank, or as if a boy must have his
+brother, and nobody else for his mate, when every body knows that boys
+are more likely to disagree with their brothers than they are with
+other children."
+
+The archbishop, in reply, proceeded to argue the case with the queen,
+and to represent the necessity, arising from reasons of state, why the
+young duke should be committed to the charge of his uncle. He
+explained to her, too, that the Lord Protector had been fully
+authorized, by a decree of the council, to come and take his nephew
+from the Abbey, and to employ force, if necessary, to effect the
+purpose, but that it would be much better, both for the queen herself
+and the young duke, as well as for all concerned, that the affair
+should be settled in a peaceable and amicable manner.
+
+The unhappy queen saw at last that there was no alternative but for
+her to submit to her fate and give up her boy. Slowly and reluctantly
+she came to this conclusion, and finally gave her consent. Richard was
+brought in. His mother took him by the hand, and again addressed the
+archbishop and the delegation, speaking substantially as follows:
+
+"My lord," said she, "and all my lords now present, I will not be so
+suspicious as to mistrust the promises you make me, or to believe that
+you are dealing otherwise than fairly and honorably by me. Here is my
+son. I give him up to your charge. I have no doubt that he would be
+safe here under my protection, if I could be allowed to keep him with
+me, although I have enemies that so hate me and all my blood, that I
+believe, if they thought they had any of it in their own veins, they
+would open them to let it flow out.
+
+"I give him up, at your demand, to the protection of his brother and
+his uncle. And yet I know well that the desire of a kingdom knows no
+kindred. Brothers have been their brothers' bane, and can these
+nephews be sure of their uncle? The boys would be safe if kept
+asunder; together--I do not know. Nevertheless, I here deliver my son,
+and with him his brother's life, into your hands, and of you shall I
+require them both, before God and man. I know that you are faithful
+and true in what you intend, and you have power, moreover, to keep the
+children safe, if you will. If you think that I am over-anxious and
+fear too much, take care that you yourselves do not fear too little."
+
+Then drawing Richard to her, she kissed him very lovingly, the tears
+coming to her eyes as she did so.
+
+"Farewell," she said, "farewell, mine own sweet son. God send you good
+keeping. I must kiss you before you go, for God knows when we shall
+kiss together again."
+
+She kissed him again and blessed him, and then turned to go away,
+weeping bitterly.
+
+The child began to weep too, from sympathy with his mother's distress.
+The archbishop, however, took him by the hand and led him away,
+followed by the rest of the delegation.
+
+They conveyed the young duke first to the hall of the council, which
+was very near, and thence to the Lord Protector's residence in the
+city. Here he was received with every mark of consideration and honor,
+and a handsome escort was provided to conduct him in state to the
+Tower, where he joined his brother.
+
+Richard had now every thing under his own control. The delivery of
+the Duke of York into his hands took place on the sixteenth of June.
+The time which had been set for the coronation was the twenty-second.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+PROCLAIMED KING.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+The Duke of Buckingham.--Historical doubts.--Richard at Baynard's
+Castle.--The expense-book.--Items from the expense-book.--Richard's
+plans.--Richard's determination in respect to Jane Shore.--Jane's
+character.--Her jewelry confiscated.--The punishment of Jane
+Shore.--Alleged marriage of Edward IV. to Elinor Talbot.--Particulars
+of the story.--Plan for publishing it.--Sermon preached by Dr. Shaw
+near St. Paul's.--Ingenious contrivance.--Coolness of the
+people.--Meeting at the Guildhall.--The people do not respond.--The
+appeals to the people fail.--Grand council convened.--Arrangements
+made by Buckingham.--The petition.--Substance of the petition.--Real
+object of it.--Richard receives the petition at Baynard's
+Castle.--Richard concludes to accept the crown.--Ceremonies connected
+with the investiture of the king.--Richard marches through London.--Is
+every where proclaimed king.--Extraordinary character of the reign of
+Edward V.
+
+
+Richard, having thus obtained control of every thing essential to the
+success of his plans, began to prepare for action. His chief friend
+and confederate, the one on whom he relied most for the execution of
+the several measures which he proposed to take, was a powerful
+nobleman named the Duke of Buckingham. I shall proceed in this chapter
+to describe the successive steps of the course which Richard and the
+Duke of Buckingham pursued in raising Richard to the throne, as
+recorded by the different historians of those days, and as generally
+believed since, though, in fact, there have been great disputes in
+respect to these occurrences, and it is now quite difficult to
+ascertain with certainty what the precise truth of the case really is.
+This, however, is, after all, of no great practical importance, for,
+in respect to remote transactions of this nature, the thing which is
+most necessary for the purposes of general education is to understand
+what the story is, in detail, which has been generally received among
+mankind, and to which the allusions of orators and poets, and the
+discussions of statesmen and moralists in subsequent ages refer, for
+it is with this story alone that for all the purposes of general
+reading we have any thing to do.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Richard was residing at this time chiefly at Baynard's Castle with his
+mother.[N] The young king and his brother, the Duke of York, were in
+the Tower. They were not nominally prisoners, but yet Richard kept
+close watch and ward over them, and took most effectual precautions to
+prevent their making their escape. The queen, Elizabeth Woodville,
+with her daughters, was in the sanctuary. Richard's wife, with the
+young child, was still at Middleham Castle.
+
+[Footnote N: For view of this castle, see page 273.]
+
+It is a very curious circumstance, showing how sometimes records of
+the most trivial and insignificant things come down to us from ancient
+times in a clear and certain form, while all that is really important
+to know is involved in doubt and obscurity--that the household
+expense-book of Anne at Middleham is still extant, showing all the
+little items of expense incurred for Richard's son, while all is
+dispute and uncertainty in respect to the great political schemes and
+measures of his father. In this book there is a charge of 22_s._ 9_d._
+for a piece of green cloth, and another of 1_s._ 8_d._ for making it
+into gowns for "my lord prince." There is also a charge of 5_s._ for a
+feather for him, and 13_s._ 1_d._ paid to a shoemaker, named Dirick,
+for a pair of shoes. This expense-book was continued after Anne left
+Middleham Castle to go to London, as will be presently related. There
+are several charges on the journey for offerings and gifts made by the
+child at churches on the way. Two men were paid 6_s._ 8_d._ for
+running on foot by the side of his carriage. These men's names were
+Medcalf and Pacock. There is also a charge of 2_d._ for mending a
+whip!
+
+But to return to our narrative. The time for the coronation of Edward
+the Fifth was drawing near, but Richard intended to prevent the
+performance of this ceremony, and to take the crown for himself
+instead. The first thing was to put in circulation the story that his
+two nephews were not the legitimate children of his brother, Edward
+the Fourth, and to prepare the way for this, he wished first, by every
+means, to cast odium on Edward's character. This was easily done, for
+Edward's character was bad enough to merit any degree of odium which
+his brother might wish it to bear.
+
+Accordingly, Richard employed his friends and partisans in talking as
+much as possible in all quarters about the dissoluteness and the vices
+of the late king. False stories would probably have been invented, if
+it had not been that there were enough that were true. These stories
+were all revived and put in circulation, and every thing was made to
+appear as unfavorable for Edward as possible. Richard himself, on the
+other hand, feigned a very strict and scrupulous regard for virtue and
+morality, and deemed it his duty, he said, to do all in his power to
+atone for and wipe away the reproach which his brother's loose and
+wicked life had left upon the court and the kingdom. Among other
+things, the cause of public morals demanded, he said, that an example
+should be made of Jane Shore, who had been the associate and partner
+of the king in his immoralities.
+
+Jane Shore, it will be recollected, was the wife of a rich citizen of
+London, whom Edward had enticed away from her husband and brought to
+court. She was naturally a very amiable and kind-hearted woman, and
+all accounts concur in saying that she exercised the power that she
+acquired over the mind of the king in a very humane and praiseworthy
+manner. She was always ready to interpose, when the king contemplated
+any act of harshness or severity, to avert his anger and save his
+intended victim, and, in general, she did a great deal to soften the
+brutality of his character, and to protect the innocent and helpless
+from the wrongs which he would otherwise have often done them. These
+amiable and gentle traits of character do not, indeed, atone at all
+for the grievous sin which she committed in abandoning her husband and
+living voluntarily with the king, but they did much toward modifying
+the feeling of scorn and contempt with which she would have otherwise
+been regarded by the people of England.
+
+Richard caused Jane to be arrested and sent to prison. He also seized
+all her plate and jewels, and confiscated them. She had a very rich
+and valuable collection of these things.[O] Richard then caused an
+ecclesiastical court to be organized, and sent her before it to be
+tried. The court, undoubtedly in accordance with instructions that
+Richard himself gave them, sentenced her, by way of penance for her
+sins, to walk in midday through the streets of London, from one end of
+the city to the other, almost entirely undressed. The intention of
+this severe exposure was to designate her to those who should assemble
+to witness the punishment as a wanton, and thus to put her to shame,
+and draw upon her the scorn and derision of the populace. They found
+some old and obsolete law which authorized such a punishment. The
+sentence was carried into effect on a Sunday. The unhappy criminal was
+conducted through the principal streets of the city, wearing a
+night-dress, and carrying a lighted taper in her hand, between rows of
+spectators that assembled by thousands along the way to witness the
+scene. But, instead of being disposed to receive her with taunts and
+reproaches, the populace were moved to compassion by her saddened look
+and her extreme beauty. Their hearts were softened by the remembrance
+of the many stories they had heard of the kindness of her heart, and
+the amiableness and gentleness of her demeanor, in the time of her
+prosperity and power. They thought it hard, too, that the law should
+be enforced so rigidly against her alone, while so many multitudes in
+all ranks of society, high as well as low, were allowed to go
+unpunished.
+
+[Footnote O: The husband with whom she had lived before she became
+acquainted with Edward was a wealthy goldsmith and jeweler.]
+
+Still, Richard's object in this exhibition was accomplished. The
+transaction had the effect of calling the attention of the public
+universally and strongly to the fact that Edward the Fourth had been a
+loose and dissolute man, and prepared people's minds for the charge
+which was about to be brought against him.
+
+This charge was that he had been secretly married to another lady
+before his union with Elizabeth Woodville, and that consequently by
+this latter marriage he was guilty of bigamy. Of course, if this were
+true, the second marriage would be null and void, and the children
+springing from it would have no rights as heirs.
+
+Whether there was any truth in this story or not can not now ever be
+certainly known. All that is certain is that Richard circulated the
+report, and he found several witnesses to testify to the truth of it.
+The maiden name of the lady to whom they said the king had been
+married was Elinor Talbot. She had married in early life a certain
+Lord Boteler, whose widow she was at the time that Edward was alleged
+to have married her. The marriage was performed in a very private
+manner by a certain bishop, nobody being present besides the parties
+except the bishop himself, and he was strictly charged by the king to
+keep the affair a profound secret. This he promised to do.
+Notwithstanding his promise, however, the bishop some time
+subsequently, after the king had been married to Elizabeth Woodville,
+revealed the secret of the previous marriage to Gloucester, at which
+the king, when he heard of it, was extremely angry. He accused the
+bishop of having betrayed the trust which he had reposed in him, and,
+dismissing him at once from office, shut him up in prison.
+
+Richard having, as he said, kept these facts secret during his
+brother's lifetime, out of regard for the peace of the family, now
+felt it his duty to make them known, in order to prevent the wrong
+which would be done by allowing the crown to descend to a son who, not
+being born in lawful wedlock, could have no rights as heir.
+
+After disseminating this story among the influential persons connected
+with the court, and through all the circles of high life, during the
+week, it was arranged that on the following Sunday the facts should be
+made known publicly to the people.
+
+There was a large open space near St. Paul's Cathedral, in the very
+heart of London, where it was the custom to hold public assemblies of
+all kinds, both religious and political. There was a pulpit built on
+one side of this space, from which sermons were preached, orations
+and harangues pronounced, and proclamations made. Oaths were
+administered here too, in cases where it was required to administer
+oaths to large numbers of people.
+
+From this pulpit, on the next Sunday after the penance of Jane Shore,
+a certain Dr. Shaw, who was a brother of the Lord-mayor of London,
+preached a sermon to a large concourse of citizens, in which he openly
+attempted to set aside the claims of the two boys, and to prove that
+Richard was the true heir to the crown.
+
+He took for his text a passage from the Wisdom of Solomon, "The
+multiplying brood of the ungodly shall not thrive." In this discourse
+he explained to his audience that Edward, when he was married to
+Elizabeth Woodville, was already the husband of Elinor Boteler, and
+consequently that the second marriage was illegal and void, and the
+children of it entirely destitute of all claims to the crown. He also,
+it is said, advanced the idea that neither Edward nor Clarence were
+the children of their reputed father, the old Duke of York, but that
+Richard was the oldest legitimate son of the marriage, in proof of
+which he offered the fact that Richard strongly resembled the duke in
+person, while neither Edward nor Clarence had borne any resemblance to
+him at all.
+
+It was arranged, moreover--so it was said--that, when the preacher
+came to the passage where he was to speak of the resemblance which
+Richard bore to his father, the great Duke of York, Richard himself
+was to enter the assembly as if by accident, and thus give the
+preacher the opportunity to illustrate and confirm what he had said by
+directing his audience to observe for themselves the resemblance which
+he had pointed out, and also to excite them to a burst of enthusiasm
+in Richard's favor by the eloquent appeal which the incident of
+Richard's entrance was to awaken. But this intended piece of stage
+effect, if it was really planned, failed in the execution. Richard did
+not come in at the right time, and when he did come in, either the
+preacher managed the case badly, or else the people were very little
+disposed to espouse Richard's cause; for when the orator, at the close
+of his appeal, expected applause and acclamations, the people uttered
+no response, but looked at each other in silence, and remained wholly
+unmoved.
+
+In the course of the following two or three days, other attempts were
+made to excite the populace to some demonstration in Richard's favor,
+but they did not succeed. The Duke of Buckingham met a large concourse
+of Londoners at the Guildhall, which is in the centre of the business
+portion of the city. He was supported by a number of nobles, knights,
+and distinguished citizens, and he made a long and able speech to the
+assembly, in which he argued strenuously in favor of calling Richard
+to the throne. He denounced the character of the former king, and
+enlarged at length on the dissipated and vicious life which he had
+led. He also related to the people the story of Edward's having been
+the husband of Lady Elinor Boteler at the time when his marriage with
+Queen Elizabeth took place, which fact, as Buckingham showed, made the
+marriage with Elizabeth void, and cut off the children from the
+inheritance. The children of Clarence had been cut off, too, by the
+attainder, and so Richard was the only remaining heir.
+
+The duke concluded his harangue by asking the assembly if, under those
+circumstances, they would not call upon Richard to ascend the throne.
+A few of the poorer sort, very likely some that had been previously
+hired to do it, threw up their caps into the air in response to this
+appeal, and cried out, "Long live King Richard!" But the major part,
+comprising all the more respectable portion of the assembly, looked
+grave and were silent. Some who were pressed to give their opinion
+said they must take time to consider.
+
+Thus these appeals to the people failed, so far as the object of them
+was to call forth a popular demonstration in Richard's favor. But in
+one respect they accomplished the object in view: they had the effect
+of making it known throughout London and the vicinity that a
+revolution was impending, and thus preparing men's minds to acquiesce
+in the change more readily than they might perhaps have done if it had
+come upon them suddenly and with a shock.
+
+On the following day after the address at the Guildhall, a grand
+assembly of all the lords, bishops, councilors, and officers of state
+was convened in Westminster. It was substantially a Parliament, though
+not a Parliament in form. The reason why it was not called as a
+Parliament in form was because Richard, having doubts, as he said,
+about the right of Edward to the throne, could not conscientiously
+advise that any public act should be performed in his name, and a
+Parliament could only be legally convened by summons from a king.
+Accordingly, this assembly was only an informal meeting of the peers
+of England and other great dignitaries of Church and State, with a
+view of consulting together to determine what should be done. Of
+course, it was all fully arranged and settled beforehand, among those
+who were in Richard's confidence, what the result of these
+deliberations was to be. The Duke of Buckingham, Richard's principal
+friend and supporter, managed the business at the meeting. The
+assembly consisted, of course, chiefly of the party of Richard's
+friends. The principal leaders of the parties opposed to him had been
+beheaded or shut up in prison; of the rest, some had fled, some had
+concealed themselves, and of the few who dared to show themselves at
+the meeting, there were none who had the courage, or perhaps I ought
+rather to say the imprudence and folly, to oppose any thing which
+Buckingham should undertake to do.
+
+The result of the deliberations of this council was the drawing up of
+a petition to be presented to Richard, declaring him the true and
+rightful heir to the crown, and praying him to assume at once the
+sovereign power.
+
+A delegation was appointed to wait upon Richard and present the
+petition to him. Buckingham was at the head of this delegation. The
+petition was written out in due form upon a roll of parchment. It
+declared that, inasmuch as it was clearly established that King Edward
+the Fourth was already the husband of "Dame Alionora Boteler," by a
+previous marriage, at the time of his pretended marriage with
+Elizabeth Woodville, and that consequently his children by Elizabeth
+Woodville, not being born in lawful wedlock, could have no rights of
+inheritance whatever from their father, and especially could by no
+means derive from him any title to the crown; and inasmuch as the
+children of Clarence had been cut off from the succession by the bill
+of attainder which had been passed against their father; and inasmuch
+as Richard came next in order to these in the line of succession,
+therefore he was now the true and rightful heir. This his right
+moreover by birth was now confirmed by the decision of the estates of
+the realm assembled for the purpose; wherefore the petition, in
+conclusion, invited and urged him at once to assume the crown which
+was thus his by a double title--the right of birth and the election of
+the three estates of the realm.
+
+Of course, although the petition was addressed to Richard as if the
+object of it was to produce an effect upon his mind, it was really all
+planned and arranged by Richard himself, and by Buckingham in
+conjunction with him; and the representations and arguments which it
+contained were designed solely for effect on the mind of the public,
+when the details of the transaction should be promulgated throughout
+the land.
+
+The petition being ready, Buckingham, in behalf of the delegation,
+demanded an audience of the Lord Protector that they might lay it
+before him. Richard accordingly made an appointment to receive them at
+his mother's residence at Baynard's Castle.
+
+At the appointed time the delegation appeared, and were received in
+great state by Richard in the audience hall. The Duke of Buckingham
+presented the petition, and Richard read it. He seemed surprised, and
+he pretended to be at a loss what to reply. Presently he began to say
+that he could not think of assuming the crown. He said he had no
+ambition to reign, but only desired to preserve the kingdom for his
+nephew the king until he should become of sufficient age, and then to
+put him peaceably in possession of it. But the Duke of Buckingham
+replied that this could never be. The people of England, he said,
+would never consent to be ruled by a prince of illegitimate birth.
+
+"And if you, my lord," added the duke, "refuse to accept the crown,
+they know where to find another who will gladly accept it."
+
+[Illustration: BAYNARD'S CASTLE.]
+
+In the end, Richard allowed himself to be persuaded that there was no
+alternative but for him to accept the crown, and he reluctantly
+consented that, on the morrow, he would proceed in state to
+Westminster, and publicly assume the title and the prerogatives of
+king.
+
+Accordingly, the next day, a grand procession was formed, and Richard
+was conducted with great pomp to Westminster Hall. Here he took his
+place on the throne, with the leading lords of his future court, and
+the bishops and archbishops around him. The rest of the hall was
+crowded with a vast concourse of people that had assembled to witness
+the ceremony.
+
+First the king took the customary royal oath, which was administered
+by the archbishop. He then summoned the great judges before him, and
+made an address to them, exhorting them to administer the laws and
+execute judgment between man and man in a just and impartial manner,
+inasmuch as to secure that end, he said, would be the first and
+greatest object of his reign.
+
+After this Richard addressed the concourse of people in the hall, who,
+in some sense, represented the public, and pronounced a pardon for all
+offenses which had been committed against himself, and ordered a
+proclamation to be made of a general amnesty throughout the land.
+These announcements were received by the people with loud
+acclamations, and the ceremony was concluded by shouts of "Long live
+King Richard!" from all the assembly.
+
+We obtain a good idea of this scene by the following engraving, which
+is copied exactly from a picture contained in a manuscript volume of
+the time.
+
+[Illustration: THE KING ON HIS THRONE.]
+
+The royal dignity having thus been assumed by the new king at the
+usual centre and seat of the royal power, the procession was again
+formed, and Richard was conducted to Westminster Abbey for the purpose
+of doing the homage customary on such occasions at one of the shrines
+in the church. The procession of the king was met at the door of the
+church by a procession of monks chanting a solemn anthem as they came.
+
+After the religious ceremonies were completed, Richard, at the head of
+a grand cavalcade of knights, noblemen, and citizens, proceeded into
+the city to the Church of St. Paul. The streets were lined with
+spectators, who saluted the king with cheers and acclamations as he
+passed. At the Church of St. Paul more ceremonies were performed and
+more proclamations were made. The popular joy, more or less sincere,
+was expressed by the sounding of trumpets, the waving of banners, and
+loud acclamations of "Long live King Richard!" At length, when the
+services in the city were concluded, the king returned to Westminster,
+and took up his abode at the royal palace; and while he was returning,
+heralds were sent to all the great centres of concourse and
+intelligence in and around London to proclaim him king.
+
+This proclamation of Richard as king took place on the twenty-sixth of
+June. King Edward the Fourth died just about three months before.
+During this three months Edward the Fifth is, in theory, considered as
+having been the King of England, though, during the whole period, the
+poor child, instead of exercising any kingly rights or prerogatives,
+was a helpless prisoner in the hands of others, who, while they
+professed to be his protectors, were really his determined and
+relentless foes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE CORONATION.
+
+A.D. 1483
+
+Plan for the coronation.--Anne is sent for, and comes to
+London.--Procession of barges.--Great crowds of spectators.--The royal
+barges.--Arrival at the Tower.--Measures adopted.--The princes
+imprisoned.--Richard and Anne proceed to Westminster.--Ceremonies
+connected with the coronation.--The royal paraphernalia.--Religious
+services.--The king and queen crowned.--The dais.--Ceremonial in
+Westminster Hall.--The banquet.--The royal champion.--Grand
+challenge.--Gauntlet thrown down.--The spectators.--A largesse.--Modern
+largesses.--The torches.
+
+
+It was on the 26th of June, 1483, that Richard was proclaimed king,
+under the circumstances narrated in the last chapter. In order to
+render his investiture with the royal authority complete, he resolved
+that the ceremony of coronation should be immediately performed. He
+accordingly appointed the 6th of July for the day. This allowed an
+interval of just ten days for the necessary preparations.
+
+The first thing to be done was to send to Middleham Castle for Anne,
+his wife, who now, since the proclamation of Richard, became Queen of
+England. Richard wished that she should be present, and take part in
+the ceremony of the coronation. The child was to be brought too. His
+name was Edward.
+
+It seems that Anne arrived in London only on the 3d of July, three
+days before the appointed day. There is a specification in the book of
+accounts of some very elegant and costly cloth of gold bought on that
+day in London, the material for the queen's coronation robe.
+
+Richard determined that the ceremony of his coronation should be more
+magnificent than that of any previous English monarch. Preparations
+were made, accordingly, on a very grand scale. There were several
+preliminary pageants and processions on the days preceding that of the
+grand ceremony.
+
+On the 4th of July, which was Sunday, the king and queen proceeded in
+state to the Tower. They went in barges on the river. The party set
+out from Baynard's Castle, the residence of Richard's mother, and the
+place where the queen went on her arrival in London.
+
+The royal barges destined to convey the king and queen, and the other
+great personages of the party, were covered with canopies of silk and
+were otherwise magnificently adorned. Great crowds of spectators
+assembled to witness the scene. Some came in boats upon the water,
+others took their stations on the shores, where every prominent and
+commanding point was covered with its own special crowd, and others
+still occupied the windows of the buildings that looked out upon the
+river.
+
+Through the midst of this scene the royal barges passed down the river
+to the Tower. As they moved along, the air was filled with prolonged
+and continual shouts of "Long live King Richard!" "Long live the
+noble Queen Anne!"
+
+Royal or imperial power, once firmly established, will never fail to
+draw forth the acclamations of the crowd, no matter by what means it
+has been acquired.
+
+On his arrival at the Tower, Richard was received with great honor by
+the authorities which he had left in charge there, and he took
+possession of the edifice formally, as one of his own royal
+residences. He held a court in the great council-hall. At this court
+he created several persons peers of the realm, and invested others
+with the honor of knighthood. These were men whom he supposed to be
+somewhat undecided in respect to the course which they should pursue,
+and he wished, by these compliments and honors, to purchase their
+adhesion to his cause.
+
+He also liberated some persons who had been made prisoners, presuming
+that, by this kindness, he should conciliate their good-will.
+
+He did not, however, by any means extend this conciliating policy to
+the case of the young ex-king and his brother; indeed, it would have
+been extremely dangerous for him to have done so. He was aware that
+there must be a large number of persons throughout the kingdom who
+still considered Edward as the rightful king, and he knew very well
+that, if any of these were to obtain possession of Edward's person, it
+would enable them to act vigorously in his name, and to organize
+perhaps a powerful party for the support of his claims. He was
+convinced, therefore, that it was essential to the success of his
+plans that the boys should be kept in very close and safe custody. So
+he removed them from the apartments which they had hitherto occupied,
+and shut them up in close confinement in a gloomy tower upon the outer
+walls of the fortress, and which, on account of the cruel murders
+which were from time to time committed there, subsequently acquired
+the name of the Bloody Tower.
+
+[Illustration: THE BLOODY TOWER.]
+
+Richard and the queen remained at the Tower until the day appointed
+for the coronation, which was Tuesday. The ceremonies of that day were
+commenced by a grand progress of the king and his suite through the
+city of London back to Westminster, only, as if to vary the pageantry,
+they went back in grand cavalcade through the streets of the city,
+instead of returning as they came, by barges on the river. The
+concourse of spectators on this occasion was even greater than before.
+The streets were every where thronged, and very strict regulations
+were made, by Richard's command, to prevent disorder.
+
+On arriving at Westminster, the royal party proceeded to the Abbey,
+where, first of all, as was usual in the case of a coronation, certain
+ceremonies of religious homage were to be performed at a particular
+shrine, which was regarded as an object of special sanctity on such
+occasions. The king and queen proceeded to this shrine from the great
+hall, barefooted, in token of reverence and humility. They walked,
+however, it should be added, on ornamented cloth laid down for this
+purpose on the stone pavements of the floors. All the knights and
+nobles of England that were present accompanied and followed the king
+and queen in their pilgrimage to the shrine.
+
+One of these nobles bore the king's crown, another the queen's crown,
+and others still various other ancient national emblems of royal
+power. The queen walked under a canopy of silk, with a golden bell
+hanging from each of the corners of it. The canopy was borne by four
+great officers of state, and the bells, of course, jingled as the
+bearers walked along.
+
+The queen wore upon her head a circlet of gold adorned with precious
+stones. There were four bishops, one at each of the four corners of
+the canopy, who walked as immediate attendants upon the queen, and a
+lady of the very highest rank followed her, bearing her train.
+
+When the procession reached the shrine, the king and queen took their
+seats on each side of the high altar, and then there came forth a
+procession of priests and bishops, clothed in magnificent sacerdotal
+robes made of cloth of gold, and chanting solemn hymns of prayer and
+praise as they came.
+
+After the religious services were completed, the ceremony of anointing
+and crowning the king and queen, and of investing their persons with
+the royal robes and emblems, was performed with the usual grand and
+imposing solemnities. After this, the royal cortege was formed again,
+and the company returned to Westminster Hall in the same order as they
+came. The queen walked, as before, under her silken canopy, the golden
+bells keeping time, by their tinkling, with the steps of the bearers.
+
+At Westminster Hall a great dais had been erected, with thrones upon
+it for the king and queen. As their majesties advanced and ascended
+this dais, surrounded by the higher nobles and chief officers of
+state, the remainder of the procession, consisting of those who had
+come to accompany and escort them to the place, followed, and filled
+the hall.
+
+As soon as this vast throng saw that the king and queen were seated
+upon the dais, with their special and immediate attendants around
+them, their duties were ended, and they were to be dismissed. A grand
+officer of state, whose duty it was to dismiss them, came in on
+horseback, his horse covered with cloth of gold hanging down on both
+sides to the ground. The people, falling back before this horseman,
+gradually retired, and thus the hall was cleared.
+
+The king and queen then rose from their seats upon the dais, and were
+conducted to their private apartments in the palace, to rest and
+refresh themselves after the fatigues of the public ceremony, and to
+prepare for the grand banquet which was to take place in the evening.
+
+The preparations for this banquet were made by spreading a table upon
+the dais under the canopy for the king and queen, and four other very
+large and long tables through the hall for the invited guests.
+
+The time appointed for the banquet was four o'clock. When the hour
+arrived, the king and queen were conducted into the hall again, and
+took their places at the table which had been prepared for them on
+the dais. They had changed their dresses, having laid aside their
+royal robes, and the various paraphernalia of office with which they
+had been indued at the coronation, and now appeared in robes of
+crimson velvet embroidered with gold, and trimmed with costly furs.
+They were attended by many lords and ladies of the highest rank,
+scarcely less magnificently dressed than themselves. They were waited
+upon, while at table, by the noblest persons in the realm, who served
+them from the most richly wrought vessels of gold and silver.
+
+After the first part of the banquet was over, a knight, fully armed,
+and mounted on a warhorse richly caparisoned, rode into the hall,
+having been previously announced by a herald. This was the king's
+champion, who came, according to a custom usually observed on such
+occasions, to challenge and defy the king's enemies, if any such there
+were.[P]
+
+[Footnote P: See Frontispiece.]
+
+The trappings of the champion's horse were of white and red silk, and
+the armor of the knight himself was bright and glittering. As he rode
+forward into the area in front of the dais, he called out, in a loud
+voice, demanding of all present if there were any one there who
+disputed the claim of King Richard the Third to the crown of England.
+
+All the people gazed earnestly at the champion while he made this
+demand, but no one responded.
+
+The champion then made proclamation again, that if any one there was
+who would come forward and say that King Richard was not lawfully King
+of England, he was ready there to fight him to the death, in
+vindication of Richard's right. As he said this, he threw down his
+gauntlet upon the floor, in token of defiance.
+
+At this, the whole assembly, with one voice, began to shout, "Long
+live King Richard!" and the immense hall was filled, for some minutes,
+with thundering acclamations.
+
+This ceremony being concluded, a company of heralds came forward
+before the king, and proclaimed "a largesse," as it was called. The
+ceremony of a largesse consisted in throwing money among the crowd to
+be scrambled for. Three times the money was thrown out, on this
+occasion, among the guests in the hall. The amount that is charged on
+the royal account-book for the expense of this largesse is one hundred
+pounds.
+
+The scrambling of a crowd for money thrown thus among them, one would
+say, was a very rude and boisterous amusement, but those were rude and
+boisterous times. The custom holds its ground in England, in some
+measure, to the present day, though now it is confined to throwing out
+pence and halfpence to the rabble in the streets at an election, and
+is no longer, as of yore, relied upon as a means of entertaining noble
+guests at a royal dinner.
+
+After the frolic of the largesse was over, the king and queen rose to
+depart. The evening was now coming on, and a great number of torches
+were brought in to illuminate the hall. By the light of these torches,
+the company, after their majesties had retired, gradually withdrew,
+and the ceremonies of the coronation were ended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FATE OF THE PRINCES.
+
+The king resolves on a grand progress through the kingdom.--State
+of public sentiment.--Oxford.--Warwick Castle.--Embassadors.--Arrival
+at York.--The coronation repeated.--Richard's son.--Celebrations and
+rejoicings.--His determination in respect to the children.--His agent
+Green.--Green's return.--Conversation with the page.--Sir James
+Tyrrel.--Richard employs Tyrrel.--The letter.--Tyrrel arrives at
+the ower.--Murder of the princes.--Action of the assassins.--The
+burial.--Joy of Richard.--Re-interment of the bodies.--Richard keeps
+the murder secret.
+
+
+After the coronation, King Richard and Anne, the queen, went to
+Windsor, and took up their residence there, with the court, for a
+short time, in order that Richard might attend to the most important
+of the preliminary arrangements for the management of public affairs,
+which are always necessary at the commencement of a new reign. As soon
+as these things were settled, the king set out to make a grand
+progress through his dominions, for the purpose of receiving the
+congratulations of the people, and also of impressing them, as much as
+possible, with a sense of his grandeur and power by the magnificence
+of his retinue, and the great parades and celebrations by which his
+progress through the country was to be accompanied.
+
+From Windsor Castle the king went first to Oxford, where he was
+received with distinguished honors by all the great dignitaries
+connected with the University. Hence he proceeded to Gloucester, and
+afterward to Worcester. At all these places he was received with
+great parade and pageantry. Those who were disposed to espouse his
+cause, of course, endeavored to gain his favor by doing all in their
+power to give eclat to these celebrations. Those who were indifferent
+or in doubt, flocked, of course, to see the shows, and thus
+involuntarily contributed to the apparent popularity of the
+demonstrations; while, on the other hand, those who were opposed to
+him, and adhered still secretly to the cause of young King Edward,
+made no open opposition, but expressed their dissent, if they
+expressed it at all, in private conclaves of their own. They could not
+do otherwise than to allow Richard to have his own way during the hour
+of his triumph, _their_ hour being not yet come.
+
+At last, Richard, in his progress, reached Warwick Castle, and here he
+was joined by the queen and the young prince, who had remained at
+Windsor while the king was making his tour through the western towns,
+but who now came across the country with a grand retinue of her own,
+to join her husband at her own former home; for Warwick Castle was the
+chief stronghold and principal residence of the great Earl of Warwick,
+the queen's father. The king and queen remained for some time at
+Warwick Castle, and the king established his court here, and
+maintained it with great pomp and splendor. Here he received
+embassadors from Spain, France, and Burgundy, who had been sent by
+their several governments to congratulate him on his accession, and to
+pay him their homage. Each of these embassadors came in great state,
+and were accompanied by a grand retinue; and the ceremonies of
+receiving them, and the entertainments given to do them honor, were
+magnificent beyond description.
+
+One of these embassadors, the one sent by the government of Spain,
+brought a formal proposal from Ferdinand and Isabella for a marriage
+between their daughter and Richard's little son. The little prince was
+at that time about seven years of age.
+
+After remaining some time at Warwick Castle, the royal party proceeded
+northward, and, after passing through several large towns, they
+arrived finally at York, which was then, in some sense, the northern
+capital of the kingdom. Here there was another grand reception. All
+the nobility and gentry of the surrounding country came in to honor
+the king's arrival, and the ceremonies attending the entrance of the
+royal cortege were extremely magnificent.
+
+While the court was at York, Richard repeated the ceremony of the
+coronation. On this occasion, his son, the little Prince Edward, was
+brought forward in a conspicuous manner. He was created Prince of
+Wales with great ceremony, and on the day of the coronation he had a
+little crown upon his head, and his mother led him by the hand in the
+procession to the altar.
+
+The poor child did not live, however, to realize the grand destiny
+which his father thus marked out for him. He died a few months after
+this at Middleham Castle.
+
+The coronation at York was attended and followed, as that at London
+had been, with banquets and public parades, and grand celebrations of
+all sorts, which continued for several successive days, and the
+hilarity and joy which these shows awakened among the crowds that
+assembled to witness them seemed to indicate a universal acquiescence
+on the part of the people of England in Richard's accession to the
+throne.
+
+Still, although outwardly every thing looked fair, Richard's mind was
+not yet by any means at ease. From the very day of his accession, he
+knew well that, so long as the children of his brother Edward remained
+alive at the Tower, his seat on the throne could not be secure. There
+must necessarily be, he was well aware, a large party in the kingdom
+who were secretly in favor of Edward, and he knew that they would very
+soon begin to come to an understanding with each other, and to form
+plans for effecting a counter-revolution. The most certain means of
+preventing the formation of these plots, or of defeating them, if
+formed, would be to remove the children out of the way. He accordingly
+determined in his heart, before he left London, that this should be
+done.[Q]
+
+[Footnote Q: I say he determined; for, although some of Richard's
+defenders have denied that he was guilty of the crime which the almost
+unanimous voice of history charges upon him, the evidence leaves very
+little room to doubt that the dreadful tale is in all essential
+particulars entirely true.]
+
+He resolved to put them to death. The deed was to be performed during
+the course of his royal progress to the north, while the minds of the
+people of England were engrossed with the splendor of the pageantry
+with which his progress was accompanied. He intended, moreover, that
+the murder should be effected in a very secret manner, and that the
+death of the boys should be closely concealed until a time and
+occasion should arrive rendering it necessary that it should be made
+public.
+
+Accordingly, soon after he left London, he sent back a confidential
+agent, named Green, to Sir Robert Brakenbury, the governor of the
+Tower, with a letter, in which Sir Robert was commanded to put the
+boys to death.
+
+Green immediately repaired to London to execute the commission.
+Richard proceeded on his journey. When he arrived at Warwick, Green
+returned and joined him there, bringing back the report that Sir
+Robert refused to obey the order.
+
+Richard was very angry when Green delivered this message. He turned to
+a page who was in waiting upon him in his chamber, and said, in a
+rage,
+
+"Even these men that I have brought up and made, refuse to obey my
+commands."
+
+The page replied,
+
+"Please your majesty, there is a man here in the ante-chamber, that I
+know, who will obey your majesty's commands, whatever they may be."
+
+Richard asked the page who it was that he meant, and he said Sir James
+Tyrrel. Sir James Tyrrel was a very talented and accomplished, but
+very unscrupulous man, and he was quite anxious to acquire the favor
+of the king. The page knew this, from conversation which Sir James had
+had with him, and he had been watching an opportunity to recommend
+Sir James to Richard's notice, according to an arrangement that Sir
+James had made with him.
+
+So Richard ordered that Sir James should be sent in. When he came,
+Richard held a private conference with him, in which he communicated
+to him, by means of dark hints and insinuations, what he required.
+Tyrrel undertook to execute the deed. So Richard gave him a letter to
+Sir Robert Brakenbury, in which he ordered Sir Robert to deliver up
+the keys of the Tower to Sir James, "to the end," as the letter
+expressed it, "that he might there accomplish the king's pleasure in
+such a thing as he had given him commandment."
+
+Sir James, having received this letter, proceeded to London, taking
+with him such persons as he thought he might require to aid him in his
+work. Among these was a man named John Dighton. John Dighton was Sir
+James's groom. He was "a big, broad, square, strong knave," and ready
+to commit any crime or deed of violence which his master might
+require.
+
+On arriving at the Tower, Sir James delivered his letter to the
+governor, and the governor gave him up the keys. Sir James went to see
+the keepers of the prison in which the boys were confined. There were
+four of them. He selected from among these four, one, a man named
+Miles Forest, whom he concluded to employ, together with his groom,
+John Dighton, to kill the princes. He formed the plan, gave the men
+their instructions, and arranged it with them that they were to carry
+the deed into execution that night.
+
+Accordingly, at midnight, when the princes were asleep, the two men
+stole softly into the room, and there wrapped the poor boys up
+suddenly in the bed-clothes, with pillows pressed down hard over their
+faces, so that they could not breathe. The boys, of course, were
+suddenly awakened, in terror, and struggled to get free; but the men
+held them down, and kept the pillows and bed-clothes pressed so
+closely over their faces that they could not breathe or utter any cry.
+They held them in this way until they were entirely suffocated.
+
+When they found that their struggles had ceased, they slowly opened
+the bed-clothes and lifted up the pillows to see if their victims were
+really dead.
+
+"Yes," said they to each other, "they are dead."
+
+The murderers took off the clothes which the princes had on, and laid
+out the bodies upon the bed. They then went to call Sir James Tyrrel,
+who was all ready, in an apartment not far off, awaiting the summons.
+He came at once, and, when he saw that the boys were really dead, he
+gave orders that the men should take the bodies down into the
+court-yard to be buried.
+
+The grave was dug immediately, just outside the door, at the foot of
+the stairs which led up to the turret in which the boys had been
+confined. When the bodies had been placed in the ground, the grave was
+filled up, and some stones were put upon the top of it.
+
+Immediately after this work had been accomplished, Sir James delivered
+back the keys to the governor of the castle, and mounted his horse to
+return to the king. He traveled with all possible speed, and, on
+reaching the place where the king then was, he reported what he had
+done.
+
+The king was extremely pleased, and he rewarded Sir James very
+liberally for his energy and zeal; he, however, expressed some
+dissatisfaction at the manner in which the bodies had been disposed
+of. "They should not have been buried," he said, "in so vile a
+corner."
+
+So Richard sent word to the governor of the Tower, and the governor
+commissioned a priest to take up the bodies secretly, and inter them
+again in a more suitable manner. This priest soon afterward died,
+without revealing the place which he chose for the interment, and so
+it was never known where the bodies were finally laid.
+
+Richard gave all the persons who had been concerned in this affair
+very strict instructions to keep the death of the princes a profound
+secret. He did not intend to make it known, unless he should perceive
+some indication of an attempt to restore Edward to the throne; and,
+had it not been for the occurrence of certain circumstances which will
+be related in the next chapter, the fate of the princes might,
+perhaps, have thus been kept secret for many years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+DOMESTIC TROUBLES.
+
+A.D. 1483-1484
+
+Plots formed against Richard.--Situation of Elizabeth
+Woodville.--Plans of the conspirators.--Queen Elizabeth's
+agony.--Retribution.--Elizabeth visits the grave.--The Duke of
+Buckingham.--Richmond.--Elizabeth.--Plans formed for a
+marriage.--Richmond plans an invasion.--Buckingham's attempt to
+co-operate.--Failure of the plan.--Death of Buckingham.--Richmond
+retreats.--Unhappy situation of Elizabeth.--The princess.--He seeks to
+get possession of Richmond.--Parliament.--New policy.--The plan
+succeeds.--Excuses for the queen.--Her situation still unhappy.--The
+marriage countermanded.--Richard's plan for the princess.--Elizabeth's
+views on the subject.--Death of Richard's son.--Sickness of Queen
+Anne.--Sufferings of the queen--Suspicions.--Elizabeth's eagerness to
+marry the king.--Death of the queen.--Remonstrance of Richard's
+counselors.--Richard gives up the plan.--Disappointment of Elizabeth.
+
+
+While Richard was making his triumphal tour through the north of
+England, apparently receiving a confirmation of his right to the crown
+by the voice of the whole population of the country, the leaders of
+the Lancaster party were secretly beginning, in London, to form their
+schemes for liberating the young princes from the Tower, and restoring
+Edward to the kingdom.
+
+Queen Elizabeth, who still remained, with the Princess Elizabeth, her
+oldest daughter, and some of her other children, in the sanctuary at
+Westminster, was the centre of this movement. She communicated
+privately with the nobles who were disposed to espouse her cause. The
+nobles had secret meetings among themselves to form their plans. At
+these meetings they drank to the health of the king in the Tower, and
+of his brother, the little Duke of York, and pledged themselves to do
+every thing in their power to restore the king to his throne. They
+little knew that the unhappy princes were at that very time lying
+together in a corner of the court-yard of the prison in an ignoble
+grave.
+
+At length the conspirators' plans were matured, and the insurrection
+broke out. Richard immediately prepared to leave York, at the head of
+a strong force, to go toward London. At the same time, he allowed the
+tidings to be spread abroad that the two princes were dead. This news
+greatly disconcerted the conspirators and deranged their plans; and
+when the dreadful intelligence was communicated to the queen in the
+sanctuary, she was stunned, and almost killed by it, as by a blow.
+"She swooned away, and fell to the ground, where she lay in great
+agony, like a corpse;" and when at length she was restored to
+consciousness again, she broke forth in shrieks and cries of anguish
+so loud, that they resounded through the whole Abbey, and were most
+pitiful to hear. She beat her breast and tore her hair, calling all
+the time to her children by their names, and bitterly reproaching
+herself for her madness in giving up the youngest into his enemies'
+hands. After exhausting herself with these cries and lamentations, she
+sank into a state of calm despair, and, kneeling down upon the floor,
+she began, with dreadful earnestness and solemnity, to call upon
+Almighty God, imploring him to avenge the death of her children,
+and invoking the bitterest curses upon the head of their ruthless
+murderer.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE GRAVE OF HER CHILDREN.]
+
+It was but a short time after this that Richard's child died at
+Middleham Castle, as stated in the last chapter. Many persons believed
+that this calamity was a judgment of heaven, brought upon the king in
+answer to the bereaved mother's imprecations.
+
+It is said that when Queen Elizabeth had recovered a little from the
+first shock of her grief, she demanded to be taken to her children's
+grave. So they conducted her to the Tower, and showed her the place in
+the corner of the court-yard where they had first been buried.
+
+One of the principal leaders of the conspiracy which had been formed
+against Richard was the Duke of Buckingham--the same that had taken so
+active a part in bringing Richard to the throne. What induced him to
+change sides so suddenly is not certainly known. It is supposed that
+he was dissatisfied with the rewards which Richard bestowed upon him.
+At any rate, he now turned against the king, and became the leader of
+the conspirators that were plotting against him.
+
+When the conspirators heard of the death of the princes, they were at
+first at a loss to know what to do. They looked about among the
+branches of the York and Lancaster families for some one to make their
+candidate for the crown. At last they decided upon a certain Henry
+Tudor, Earl of Richmond. This Henry, or Richmond, as he was generally
+called, was descended indirectly from the Lancaster line. The proposal
+of the conspirators, however, was, that he should marry the Princess
+Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth Woodville's daughter, who has already been
+mentioned among those who fled with their mother to the sanctuary. Now
+that both the sons of Elizabeth were dead, this daughter was, of
+course, King Edward's next heir, and by her marriage with Richmond the
+claims of the houses of York and Lancaster would be, in a measure,
+combined.
+
+When this plan was proposed to Queen Elizabeth, she acceded to it at
+once, and promised that she would give her daughter in marriage to
+Richmond, and acknowledge him as king, provided he would first conquer
+and depose King Richard, the common enemy.
+
+The plan was accordingly all arranged. Richmond was in France at this
+time, having fled there some time previous, after a battle, in which
+his party had been defeated. They wrote to him, explaining the plan.
+He immediately fell in with it. He raised a small force--all that he
+could procure at that time--and set sail, with a few ships, from the
+port of St. Malo, intending to land on the coast of Devonshire, which
+is in the southwestern part of England.
+
+In the mean time, the several leaders of the rebellion had gone to
+different parts of the kingdom, in order to raise troops, and form
+centres of action against Richard. Buckingham went into Wales. His
+plan was to march down, with all the forces that he could raise there,
+to the coast of Devonshire, to meet Richmond on his landing.
+
+This Richard resolved to prevent. He raised an army, and marched to
+intercept Buckingham. He first, however, issued a proclamation in
+which he denounced the leaders of the rebellion as criminals and
+outlaws, and set a price upon their heads.
+
+Buckingham did not succeed in reaching the coast in time to join
+Richmond. He was stopped by the River Severn, which you will see, by
+looking on a map of England, came directly in his way. He tried to get
+across the river, but the people destroyed the bridges and the boats,
+and he could not get over. He marched up to where the stream was
+small, in hopes of finding a fording place, but the waters were so
+swollen with the fall rains that he failed in this attempt as well as
+the others. The result was, that Richard came up while Buckingham was
+entangled among the intricacies of the ground produced by the
+inundations. Buckingham's soldiers, seeing that they were likely to be
+surrounded, abandoned him and fled. At last Buckingham fled too, and
+hid himself; but one of his servants came and told Richard where he
+was. Richard ordered him to be seized. Buckingham sent an imploring
+message to Richard, begging that Richard would see him, and, before
+condemning him, hear what he had to say; but Richard, in the place of
+any reply, gave orders to the soldiers to take the prisoner at once
+out into the public square of the town, and cut off his head. The
+order was immediately obeyed.
+
+When Richmond reached the coast of Devonshire, and found that
+Buckingham was not there to meet him, he was afraid to land with the
+small force that he had under his command, and so he sailed back to
+France.
+
+Thus the first attempt made to organize a forcible resistance to
+Richard's power totally failed.
+
+The unhappy queen, when she heard these tidings, was once more
+overwhelmed with grief. Her situation in the sanctuary was becoming
+every day more and more painful. She had long since exhausted all her
+own means, and she imagined that the monks began to think that she was
+availing herself of their hospitality too long. Her friends without
+would gladly have supplied her wants, but this Richard would not
+permit. He set a guard around the sanctuary, and would not allow any
+one to come or go. He would starve her out, he said, if he could not
+compel her to surrender herself in any other way.
+
+It was, however, not the queen herself, but her daughter Elizabeth,
+who was now the heir of whatever claims to the throne were possessed
+by the family, that Richard was most anxious to secure. If he could
+once get Elizabeth into his power, he thought, he could easily devise
+some plan to prevent her marriage with Henry of Richmond, and so
+defeat the plans of his enemies in the most effectual manner. He would
+have liked still better to have secured Henry himself; but Henry was
+in Brittany, on the other side of the Channel, beyond his reach.
+
+He, however, formed a secret plan to get possession of Henry. He
+offered privately a large reward to the Duke of Brittany if he would
+seize Henry and deliver him into his, Richard's hands. This the duke
+engaged to do. But Henry gained intelligence of the plot before it was
+executed, and made his escape from Brittany into France. He was
+received kindly at Paris by the French king. The king even promised to
+aid him in deposing Richard, and making himself King of England
+instead. This alarmed Richard more than ever.
+
+In the mean time, the summer passed away and the autumn came on. In
+November Richard convened Parliament, and caused very severe laws to
+be passed against those who had been engaged in the rebellion. Many
+were executed under these laws, some were banished, and others shut up
+in prison. Richard attempted, by these and similar measures, to break
+down the spirit of his enemies, and prevent the possibility of their
+forming any new organizations against him. Still, notwithstanding all
+that he could do, he felt very ill at ease so long as Henry and
+Elizabeth were at liberty.
+
+At last, in the course of the winter, he conceived the idea of trying
+what pretended kindness could do in enticing the queen and her family
+out of sanctuary. So he sent a messenger to her, to make fair and
+friendly proposals to her in case she would give up her place of
+refuge and place herself under his protection. He said that he felt no
+animosity or ill will against her, but that, if she and her daughters
+would trust to him, he would receive them at court, provide for them
+fully in a manner suited to their rank, and treat them in all respects
+with the highest consideration. She herself should be recognized as
+the queen dowager of England, and her daughters as princesses of the
+royal family; and he would take proper measures to arrange marriages
+for the young ladies, such as should comport with the exalted station
+which they were entitled to hold.
+
+The queen was at last persuaded to yield to these solicitations. She
+left the sanctuary, and gave herself and her daughters up to Richard's
+control. Many persons have censured her very strongly for doing this;
+but her friends and defenders allege that there was nothing else that
+she could do. She might have remained in the Abbey herself to starve
+if she had been alone, but she could not see her children perish of
+destitution and distress when a word from her could restore them to
+the world, and raise them at once to a condition of the highest
+prosperity and honor. So she yielded. She left the Abbey, and was
+established by Richard in one of his palaces, and her daughters were
+received at court, and treated, especially the eldest, with the utmost
+consideration.
+
+But, notwithstanding this outward change in her condition, the real
+situation of the queen herself, after leaving the Abbey, was extremely
+forlorn. The apartments which Richard assigned to her were very
+retired and obscure. He required her, moreover, to dismiss all her own
+attendants, and he appointed servants and agents of his own to wait
+upon and guard her. The queen soon found that she was under a very
+strict surveillance, and not much less a prisoner, in fact, than she
+was before.
+
+While in this situation, she wrote to her son Dorset,[R] at Paris,
+commanding him to put an end to the proposed marriage of her daughter
+Elizabeth to Henry of Richmond, "as she had given up," she said, "the
+plan of that alliance, and had formed other designs for the princess."
+Henry and his friends and partisans in Paris were indignant at
+receiving this letter, and the queen has been by many persons much
+blamed for having thus broken the engagement which she had so solemnly
+made. Others say that this letter to Paris was not her free act, but
+that it was extorted from her by Richard, who had her now completely
+in his power, and could, of course, easily find means to procure from
+her any writing that he might desire.
+
+[Footnote R: The Earl of Dorset, you will recollect, was Queen
+Elizabeth's son by her first marriage; he, consequently, had no claim
+to the crown.]
+
+Whether the queen acted freely or not in this case can not certainly
+be known. At all events, Henry, and those who were acting with him at
+Paris, determined to regard the letter as written under constraint,
+and to go on with the maturing of their plans just as if it had never
+been written.
+
+Richard's plan was, so it was said, to marry the Princess Elizabeth to
+his own son; for the death of his child, though it has been already
+once or twice alluded to, had not yet taken place. Richard's son was
+very young, being at that time about eleven years old; but the
+princess might be affianced to him, and the marriage consummated when
+he grew up. Elizabeth herself seems to have fallen in with this
+proposed arrangement very readily. The prospect that Henry of Richmond
+would ever succeed in making himself king, and claiming her for his
+bride, was very remote and uncertain, while Richard was already in
+full possession of power; and she, by taking his side, and becoming
+the affianced wife of his son, became at once the first lady in the
+kingdom, next to Queen Anne, with an apparently certain prospect of
+becoming queen herself in due time.
+
+But all these fine plans were abruptly brought to an end by the death
+of the young prince, which occurred about this time, at Middleham
+Castle, as has been stated before. The death of the poor boy took
+place in a very sudden and mysterious manner. Some persons supposed
+that he died by a judgment from heaven, in answer to the awful curses
+which Queen Elizabeth Woodville imprecated upon the head of the
+murderer of her children; others thought he was destroyed by poison.
+
+Not very long after the death of the prince, his mother fell very
+seriously sick. She was broken-hearted at the death of her son, and
+pining away, she fell into a slow decline. Her sufferings were greatly
+aggravated by Richard's harsh and cruel treatment of her. He was
+continually uttering expressions of impatience against her on account
+of her sickness and uselessness, and making fretful complaints of her
+various disagreeable qualities. Some of these sayings were reported to
+Anne, and also a rumor came to her ears one day, while she was at her
+toilet, that Richard was intending to put her to death. She was
+dreadfully alarmed at hearing this, and she immediately ran, half
+dressed as she was, and with her hair disheveled, into the presence of
+her husband, and, with piteous sobs and bitter tears, asked him what
+she had done to deserve death. Richard tried to quiet and calm her,
+assuring her that she had no cause to fear.
+
+She, however, continued to decline; and not long afterward her
+distress and anguish of mind were greatly increased by hearing that
+Richard was impatient for her death, in order that he might himself
+marry the Princess Elizabeth, to whom every one said he was now, since
+the death of his son, devoting himself personally with great
+attention. In this state of suffering the poor queen lingered on
+through the months of the winter, very evidently, though slowly,
+approaching her end. The universal belief was that Richard had formed
+the plan of making the Princess Elizabeth his wife, and that the
+decline and subsequent death of Anne were owing to a slow poison which
+he caused to be administered to her. There is no proof that this
+charge was true, but the general belief in the truth of it shows what
+was the estimate placed, in those times, on Richard's character.
+
+It is very certain, however, that he contemplated this new marriage,
+and that the princess herself acceded to the proposed plan, and was
+very deeply interested in the accomplishment of it. It is said that
+while the queen still lived she wrote to one of her friends--a certain
+noble duke of high standing and influence--in which she implored him
+to aid in forwarding her marriage with the king, whom she called "her
+master and her joy in this world--the master of her heart and
+thoughts." In this letter, too, she expressed her impatience at the
+queen's being so long in dying. "Only think," said she, "the better
+part of February is past, and the queen is still alive. Will she
+_never_ die?"
+
+But the patience of the princess was not destined to be taxed much
+longer. The queen sank rapidly after this, and in March she died.
+
+The heart of Elizabeth was now filled with exultation and delight. The
+great obstacle to her marriage with her uncle was now removed, and the
+way was open before her to become a queen. It is true that the
+relationship which existed between her and Richard, that of uncle and
+niece, was such as to make the marriage utterly illegal. But Richard
+had a plan of obtaining a dispensation from the Pope, which he had no
+doubt that he could easily do, and a dispensation from the Pope,
+according to the ideas of those times, would legalize any thing. So
+Richard cautiously proposed his plan to some of his confidential
+counselors.
+
+His counselors told him that the execution of such a plan would be
+dangerous in the highest degree. The people of England, they said, had
+for some time been led to think that the king had that design in
+contemplation, and that the idea had awakened a great deal of
+indignation throughout the country. The land was full of rumors and
+murmurings, they said, and those of a very threatening character. The
+marriage would be considered incestuous both by the clergy and the
+people, and would be looked upon with abhorrence. Besides, they said,
+there were a great many dark suspicions in the minds of the people
+that Richard had been himself the cause of the death of his former
+wife Anne, in order to open the way for this marriage, and now, if the
+marriage were really to take place, all these suspicions would be
+confirmed. They could judge somewhat, they added, by the depth of the
+excitement which had been produced by the bare suspicion that such
+things were contemplated, how great would be the violence of the
+outbreak of public indignation if the design were carried into effect.
+Richard would be in the utmost danger of losing his kingdom.
+
+[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH.]
+
+So Richard determined at once to abandon the plan. He caused it to be
+announced in the most public manner that he had never contemplated
+such a marriage, and that all the rumors attributing such a design to
+him were malicious and false. He also sent orders abroad throughout
+the kingdom requiring that all persons who had circulated such rumors
+should be arrested and sent to London to be punished.
+
+Elizabeth's hopes were, of course, suddenly blasted, and the splendid
+castle which her imagination had built fell to the ground. It was only
+a temporary disappointment, however, for she became Queen of England
+in the end, after all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE FIELD OF BOSWORTH.
+
+A.D. 1485-1492
+
+Richmond goes on with his preparations at Paris.--The expedition
+sails.--Richard issues a proclamation.--Plans of the campaign.--The
+king goes to Nottingham.--Richmond's hopes and expectations.--The
+various negotiations.--Richard at Nottingham.--He commences his
+march.--The long column.--Bosworth.--The two armies.--Richard's
+depression and anxiety.--His painful suspicions.--His remorse.--The
+battle.--Richard betrayed.--Defection of his men.--Richard's Well.--His
+despair.--Terrible combat.--He refuses to fly.--Richard is
+killed.--Transfer of the crown.--Flight of Richard's
+troops.--Disposition of the body.--Henry marries the princess.--Queen
+Elizabeth Woodville.--Last years of her life.--Her death and burial.
+
+
+In the mean time, while Richard had been occupied with the schemes and
+manoeuvres described in the last chapter, Richmond was going on
+steadily in Paris with the preparations that he was making for a new
+invasion of England. The King of France assisted him both by providing
+him with money and aiding him in the enlistment of men. When Richmond
+received the message from Elizabeth's mother declaring that the
+proposed match between him and the princess must be broken off, and
+heard that Richard had formed a plan for marrying the young lady
+himself, he paid no regard to the tidings, but declared that he should
+proceed with his plans as vigorously as ever, and that, whatever
+counter-schemes they might form, they might rely upon it that he
+should fully carry into effect his purpose, not only of deposing
+Richard and reigning in his stead, but also of making the Princess
+Elizabeth his wife, according to his original intention.
+
+At length the expedition was ready, and the fleet conveying it set
+sail from the port of Harfleur.
+
+Richard attempted to arouse the people of England against the invaders
+by a grand proclamation which he issued. In this proclamation he
+designated the Earl of Richmond as "one Henry Tudor," who had no claim
+whatever, of any kind, to the English throne, but who was coming to
+attempt to seize it without any color of right. In order to obtain
+assistance from the King of France, he had promised, the proclamation
+said, "to surrender to him, in case he was successful, all the rich
+possessions in France which at that time belonged to England, even
+Calais itself; and he had promised, moreover, and given away, to the
+traitors and foreigners who were coming with him, all the most
+important and valuable places in the kingdom--archbishoprics,
+bishoprics, duchies, earldoms, baronies, and many other inheritances
+belonging of right to the English knights, esquires, and gentlemen who
+were now in the possession of them. The proclamation farther declared
+that the people who made up his army were robbers and murderers, and
+rebels attainted by Parliament, many of whom had made themselves
+infamous as cutthroats, adulterers, and extortioners."
+
+Richard closed his proclamation by calling upon all his subjects to
+arm themselves, like true and good Englishmen, for the defense of
+their wives, children, goods, and hereditaments, and he promised that
+he himself, like a true and courageous prince, would put himself in
+the forefront of the battle, and expose his royal person to the worst
+of the dangers that were to be incurred in the defense of the country.
+
+At the same time that he issued this proclamation, Richard sent forth
+orders to all parts of the kingdom, commanding the nobles and barons
+to marshal their forces, and make ready to march at a moment's
+warning. He dispatched detachments of his forces to the southward to
+defend the southern coast, where he expected Richmond would land,
+while he himself proceeded northward, toward the centre of the
+kingdom, to assemble and organize his grand army. He made Nottingham
+his head-quarters, and he gradually gathered around him, in that city,
+a very large force.
+
+In the mean time, while these movements and preparations had been
+going on on both sides, the spring and the early part of the summer
+passed away, and at length Richard, at Nottingham, in the month of
+August, received the tidings that Richmond had landed at Milford
+Haven, on the southwestern coast of Wales, with a force of two or
+three thousand men. Richard said that he was glad to hear it. "I am
+glad," said he, "that at last he has come. I have now only to meet
+him, and gain one decisive victory, and then the security of my
+kingdom will be disturbed no more."
+
+Richmond did not rely wholly on the troops which he had brought with
+him for the success of his cause. He believed that there was a great
+and prevailing feeling of disaffection against Richard throughout
+England, and that, as soon as it should appear that he, Richmond, was
+really in earnest in his determination to claim and take the crown,
+and that there was a reasonable prospect of the success of his
+enterprise, great numbers of men, who were now ostensibly on Richard's
+side, would forsake him and join the invader. So he sent secret
+messengers throughout the kingdom to communicate with his friends, and
+to open negotiations with those of Richard's adherents who might
+possibly be inclined to change sides. In order to give time for these
+negotiations to produce their effect, he resolved not to march at once
+into the interior of the country, but to proceed slowly toward the
+eastward, along the southern coast of Wales, awaiting intelligence.
+This plan he pursued. His strength increased rapidly as he advanced.
+At length, when he reached the eastern borders of Wales, he began to
+feel strong enough to push forward into England to meet Richard, who
+was all this time gathering his forces together at Nottingham, and
+preparing for a very formidable resistance of the invader. He
+accordingly advanced to Leicester, and thence to the town of Tamworth,
+where there was a strong castle on a rock. He took possession of this
+castle, and made it, for a time, his head-quarters.
+
+In the mean time, Richard, having received intelligence of Richmond's
+movements, and having now made every thing ready for his own advance,
+determined to delay no longer, but to go forth and meet his enemy.
+Accordingly, one morning, he marshaled his troops in the market-place
+of Nottingham, "separating his foot-soldiers in two divisions, five
+abreast, and dividing his cavalry so as to form two wide-spreading
+wings." He placed his artillery, with the ammunition, in the centre,
+reserving for himself a position in a space immediately behind it.
+
+[Illustration: THE CASTLE AT TAMWORTH.]
+
+When all was ready, he came out from the castle mounted upon a
+milk-white charger. He wore, according to the custom of the times,
+a very magnificent armor, resplendent with gold and embroidery, and
+with polished steel that glittered in the sun. Over his helmet he wore
+his royal crown. He was preceded and followed, as he came out through
+the castle gates and descended the winding way which led down from the
+hill on which the castle stands, by guards splendidly dressed and
+mounted--archers, and spearmen, and other men at arms--with ensigns
+bearing innumerable pennants and banners. As soon as he joined the
+army in the town the order was given to march, and so great was the
+number of men that he had under his command that they were more than
+an hour in marching out of Nottingham, and when all had finally issued
+from the gate, the column covered the road for three miles.
+
+At length, after some days of man[oe]uvring and marching, the two
+armies came into the immediate vicinity of each other near the town of
+Bosworth, at a place where there was a wide field, which has since
+been greatly renowned in history as the Field of Bosworth. The two
+armies advanced into the neighborhood of this field on the 19th and
+20th days of August, and both sides began to prepare for battle.
+
+The army which Richard commanded was far more numerous and imposing
+than that of Richmond, and every thing, so far as outward appearances
+were concerned, promised him an easy victory. And yet Richmond was
+exultant in his confidence of success, while Richard was harassed with
+gloomy forebodings. His mind was filled with perplexity and distress.
+He believed that the leading nobles and generals on his side had
+secretly resolved to betray him, and that they were prepared to
+abandon him and go over to the enemy on the very field of battle,
+unless he could gain advantages so decisive at the very commencement
+of the conflict as to show that the cause of Richmond was hopeless.
+Although Richard was morally convinced that this was the state of
+things, he had no sufficient evidence of it to justify his taking any
+action against the men that he suspected. He did not even dare to
+express his suspicions, for he knew that if he were to do so, or even
+to intimate that he felt suspicion, the only effect would be to
+precipitate the consummation of the treachery that he feared, and
+perhaps drive some to abandon him who had not yet fully resolved on
+doing so. He was obliged, therefore, though suffering the greatest
+anxiety and alarm, to suppress all indications of his uneasiness,
+except to his most confidential friends. To them he appeared, as one
+of them stated, "sore moved and broiled with melancholy and dolor,
+and from time to time he cried out, asking vengeance of them that,
+contrary to their oath and promise, were so deceiving him."
+
+The recollection of the many crimes that he had committed in the
+attainment of the power which he now feared he was about to lose
+forever, harassed his mind and tormented his conscience, especially at
+night. "He took ill rest at nights," says one of his biographers,
+"using to lie long, waking and musing, sore wearied with care and
+watch, and rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful dreams."
+
+On the day of the battle Richard found the worst of his forebodings
+fulfilled. In the early part of the day he took a position upon an
+elevated portion of the ground, where he could survey the whole field,
+and direct the movements of his troops. From this point he could see,
+as the battle went on, one body of men after another go over to the
+enemy. He was overwhelmed with vexation and rage. He cried out,
+Treason! Treason! and, calling upon his guards and attendants to
+follow him, he rushed down the hill, determined to force his way to
+the part of the field where Richmond himself was stationed, with a
+view of engaging him and killing him with his own hand. This, he
+thought, was the last hope that was now left him.
+
+There was a spring of water, and a little brook flowing from it in a
+part of the field where he had to pass. He stopped at this spring,
+opened his helmet, and took a drink of the water. He then closed his
+helmet and rode on.
+
+This spring afterward received, from this circumstance, the name of
+"Richard's Well," and it is known by that name to this day.
+
+From the spring Richard rushed forward, attended by a few followers as
+fearless as himself, in search of Richmond. He penetrated the enemies'
+lines in the direction where he supposed Richmond was to be found, and
+was soon surrounded by foes, whom he engaged desperately in a
+hand-to-hand encounter of the most furious and reckless character. He
+slew one or two of the foremost of those who surrounded him, calling
+out all the time to Richmond to come out and meet him in single
+combat. This Richmond would not do. In the mean time, many of
+Richard's friends came up to his assistance. Some of these urged him
+to retire, saying that it was useless for him to attempt to maintain
+so unequal a contest, but he refused to go.
+
+"Not one foot will I fly," said he, "so long as breath bides within my
+breast; for, by Him that shaped both sea and land, this day shall end
+my battles or my life. I will die King of England."
+
+So he fought on. Several faithful friends still adhered to him and
+fought by his side. His standard-bearer stood his ground, with the
+king's banner in his hand, until at last both his legs were cut off
+under him, and he fell to the earth; still he would not let the banner
+go, but clung to it with a convulsive grasp till he died.
+
+At last Richard too was overpowered by the numbers that beset him.
+Exhausted by his exertions, and weakened by loss of blood, he was
+beaten down from his horse to the ground and killed. The royal crown
+which he had worn so proudly into the battle was knocked from his head
+in the dreadful affray, and trampled in the dust.
+
+Lord Stanley, one of the chieftains who had abandoned Richard's cause
+and gone over to the enemy, picked up the crown, all battered and
+bloodstained as it was, and put it upon Richmond's head. From that
+hour Richmond was recognized as King of England. He reigned under the
+title of Henry the Seventh.
+
+[Illustration: KING HENRY VII.]
+
+The few followers that had remained faithful to Richard's cause up to
+this time now gave up the contest and fled. The victors lifted up the
+dead body of the king, took off the armor, and then placed the body
+across the back of a horse, behind a pursuivant-at-arms, who, thus
+mounted, rode a little behind the new king as he retired from the
+field of battle. Followed by this dreadful trophy of his victory, King
+Henry entered the town of Leicester in triumph. The body of Richard
+was exposed for three days, in a public place, to the view of all
+beholders, in order that every body might be satisfied that he was
+really dead, and then the new king proceeded by easy journeys to
+London. The people came out to meet him all along the way, receiving
+him every where with shouts and acclamations, and crying, "King Henry!
+King Henry! Long live our sovereign lord, King Henry!"
+
+For several weeks after his accession Henry's mind was occupied with
+public affairs, but, as soon as the most urgent of the calls upon his
+attention were disposed of, he renewed his proposals to the Princess
+Elizabeth, and in January of the next year they were married. It seems
+to have been a matter of no consequence to her whether one man or
+another was her husband, provided he was only King of England, so that
+she could be queen. Henry's motive, too, in marrying her, was equally
+mercenary, his only object being to secure to himself, through her,
+the right of inheritance to her father's claims to the throne. He
+accordingly never pretended to feel any love for her, and, after his
+marriage, he treated her with great coldness and neglect.
+
+His conduct toward her poor mother, the dowager queen, Elizabeth
+Woodville, was still more unfriendly. He sent her to a gloomy
+monastery, called the Monastery of Bermondsey, and caused her to be
+kept there in the custody of the monks, virtually a prisoner. The
+reason which he assigned for this was his displeasure with her for
+abandoning his cause, and breaking the engagement which she had made
+with him for the marriage of her daughter to him, and also for giving
+herself and her daughter up into Richard's hands, and joining with him
+in the intrigues which Richard formed for connecting the princess with
+his family. In this lonely retreat the widowed queen passed the
+remainder of her days. She was not precisely a prisoner--at least, she
+was not kept in close and continual confinement, for two or three
+times, in the course of the few remaining years that she lived, she
+was brought, on special occasions, to court, and treated there with a
+certain degree of attention and respect. One of these occasions was
+that of the baptism of her daughter's child.
+
+[Illustration: THE MONASTERY OF BERMONDSEY.]
+
+In this lonely and cheerless retreat the queen lingered a few years,
+and then died. Her body was conveyed to Windsor for interment, and
+her daughters and the friends of her family were notified of the
+event. A very few came to attend the funeral. Her daughter Elizabeth
+was indisposed, and did not come. The interment took place at night. A
+few poor old men, in tattered garments, were employed to officiate at
+the ceremony by holding "old torches and torches' ends" to light the
+gloomy precincts of the chapel during the time while the monks were
+chanting the funeral dirge.
+
+                         THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Richard III, by Jacob Abbott
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHARD III ***
+
+***** This file should be named 28561.txt or 28561.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/6/28561/
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/28561.zip b/28561.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee53c00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28561.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..809cd67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #28561 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28561)