army, made an inroad into England, attended by him, in hopes that the appearance of the pretended prince might rise an insurrection in the northern countries. Perkin himself published a manifesto full of the bitterest invectives against Henry, and in which his own history is related in these terms. "Whereas we in our tender age escaped by God's great might out of the tower of London, and were secretly conveyed over the sea to other divers countries, there remaining certain years as unknown, &c. &c." He then invited all his subjects to rally to his standard against the usurper of his throne, &c. &c.

After

This manifesto did not produce the desired effect; few or none of the English joined the invading army; and about the end of the year, the Scots returned into their own country to secure their booty. Henry determining to resent this insult in a signal manner, summoned a parliament, who granted him one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, together with two fifteenths, for a war with Scotland. making this grant they were dismissed. These taxes were easily obtained, but Henry found it was not so easy to levy the money. The inhabitants of Cornwall were the first to refuse contributing supplies for the safety of the northern counties which were so remote from them. Their discontents were further inflamed by a farrier of Bodmin, a notable prating fellow, who, by being loudest in every complaint against government, had acquired a great popularity. To him was joined one Thomas Flammock, a lawyer, the oracle of the neighbourhood. Under these two leaders, the insurgents passed through the counties of Devon and Somerset. When they reached Wells they were joined by lord Audley, a nobleman of an ancient family, but ambitious and restless in his temper. He put himself at their head, and conducted them towards the capital; they amounted, it is said, to sixteen thousand men. As they met with no op

position, they reached Blackheath, and encamped within sight of London, about the middle of June 1497. Henry employed against them the army he had levied some time before to oppose the Scots. Though the Cornish were brave and strong men, yet being undisciplined and ill armed, they could not resist a superior force of regular troops. About two thousand of them were killed in the battle of Blackheath (22d June), and almost all the rest taken prisoners. Lord Audley, and the two incendiaries, Flammock and the Farrier of Bodmin, were taken and executed; the other prisoners were given up to the disposal of their captors, who set them at liberty for two or three shillings a man.

In the mean time, king James made a second irruption into the north of England, besieged the castle of Norham, and plundered the neighbourhood. But being informed that the earl of Surrey was approaching with an army of 20,000 men, he raised the siege, and returned into his own kingdom. The earl advanced four miles into Scotland, took and demolished the little castle of Ayton, and then returned to Berwick, where he disbanded his army.

Henry earnestly wished for a peace or truce with Scotland, to deprive Warbeck of an asylum in that country; and having discovered by means of the Spanish ambassador, whom he had persuaded to go to Edinburgh for that purpose, that king James's dispositions were not averse to a negociation on that subject; plenipotentiaries were sent from both sides at Ayton, to agree upon the conditions of a treaty.

When king James took that resolution, he intimated to Warbeck in the softest terms, that it was become necessary for him to leave Scotland. Warbeck, it is said, behaved on this trying occasion with great composure and dignity, and embarked for Cork, where he landed, July 30th, with his amiable consort, and about 120 followers.

A truce was concluded between the plenipotentiaries of the contending parties, September 29th, to continue from that day to seven years; and about three months after, it was prolonged to continue during the lives of the two kings, and a year after the death of the longest liver.

Ann. 1498, 1499.

Warbeck. either invited by the inhabitants of Cornwall, or informed that, on account of the odious tax, which was still collected with great severity, they were again taking arms, and resolved to make another attempt more directly against the king than the former, he sailed from Ireland, and landed at Whitsand Bay (September 7th, 1498) with his wife and about a hundred men, who followed his fortunes. Being soon joined by 3000 of the insurgents at Bodmin, he published a second manifesto, nearly similar to the former, and by the advice of his confederates besieged Exeter, the strongest and most opulent city in those parts. But as he had no artillery he was vigorously repulsed with the loss of 200 men, and compelled to raise the siege. He then retired into Somersetshire, where, receiving news that lord d'Aubeney, with a considerable body of troops, the duke of Buckingham, the earl of Devonshire, and several other barons, who had raised their forces, marched against him, announcing the approach of the king with a much greater army, he fled in the night, and took sanctuary in the monastery of Bewdly. The insurgents being thus abandoned by their leader, submitted to the king's mercy, and were dismissed, except a few of the chiefs, who were soon after hanged at Exeter.

The king being informed of the place where the wife of Warbeck had taken refuge, sent a party of horse to bring her from thence, and was so much

affected by her beauty, modesty, and distress, that he treated her with great tenderness, sent her to his queen, and settled upon her a decent allowance for her support. This unfortunate lady was long known in the court of England by the name of the White Rose, that had been given to her husband by the duchess of Burgundy, and was continued to her on account of her innocence and beauty.

Henry now deliberated with his council what was to be done with Warbeck, and was advised to tempt him to leave the sanctuary and surrender on promise of life. This promise was made and accepted. Warbeck was accordingly conducted to London, where he was committed to the custody of certain trusty keepers (28th November, 1498), with a strict charge not to suffer him to escape. Henry never admitted him into his presence, but only viewed him from a window. Warbeck, impatient of restraint, soon after escaped from his keepers, and being hotly pursued, took sanctuary in the monastery of Shene, in Surrey; from whence he was taken and brought back to Westminster. There, according to the majority of historians, he was prevailed upon to acknowledge that he was an impostor, and to give an account of his real family and adventures, which he read to the people from a scaffold near the gate of Westminster hall, on one day, when he was set on the stocks, and on the next day from a scaffold in Cheapside, after which he was committed to the

tower.

The evident falsehood and absurdity of this confession demonstrates, that if it ever existed, it was either extorted by torture or fabricated after the execution of Warbeck. It was unknown to Polydore Virgil and Fabian, both cotemporary historians, who never mentioned it; besides, far from removing any doubts about Perkin Warbeck, it would rather have increased them, as it could never

agree with the account published by the king from the information of his spies, and therefore both could not be true.

When Warbeck had remained some months in the tower, he formed a scheme for effecting his escape; gained four of his keepers, and prevailed upon his fellow prisoner, Edward Plantagenet, earl of Warwick, to accompany him in his flight. This plot being discovered, Warbeck was tried for attempting to escape out of prison, with a design to excite a new insurrection, found guilty, and hanged at Tyburn (November 23d, 1499), with the late mayor of Cork, one of his most zealous partizans. It is reported by some historians, that from the scaf fold on which he was executed, Warbeck read his former confession to the people, with a declaration that it was true. However it must be acknowledged, that whatever may have been the different opinions about his real birth and character, none has been supported till now by sufficient proofs to enable an impartial reader to decide this question, which I will endeavour to elucidate by the following ob-.

servations.

Richard, duke of York, the youngest son of Edward IV., having been confined in the tower in 1483, when he was only nine years old, was ever since supposed to have been murdered in prison; this rumour was spread not only in England, but all over Europe; and, in 1492, it had acquired such a consistence by a general belief during nine years, that the possibility of Richard being still alive was utterly inadmissible, unless it was proved by the most satisfactory evidence, how he had made his escape out of the tower, by whom he had been assisted, in what places and with what persons he had lived from the time of his rescue. He was likewise to be confronted to such persons as were entrusted with the care of his infancy and education, previous to his