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Lincolnshire. The defeat of the insurgents by Edward at Erpingham (1470) induced Warwick and Clarence to flee to France. Here they concluded a treaty with Margaret, by which it was stipulated that prince Edward should marry Anne, Warwick's second daughter, and that Henry should be replaced on the throne. With the assistance of the French king the exiles returned to England, where they were soon joined by a large army. Edward, finding his troops waver, fled to Holland; and Henry was then brought out of his prison to re-occupy the throne. In the spring of 1471 Edward returned, and, after being joined by Clarence, who disliked the terms of the new treaty, defeated Warwick in the battle of Barnet, the earl himself falling in the encounter. The queen was shortly after defeated at Tewkesbury, and taken prisoner with her son.

The prince seems to have inherited the spirit of his mother. When asked by the king why he had dared to enter the kingdom, he replied "To recover my father's kingdom and inheritage." Edward is said to have then struck him with his gauntlet, and to have allowed the Dukes of Gloucester and Clarence to dispatch him with their daggers.

Margaret remained a prisoner in England until ransomed by Louis XI., five years afterwards.

6. Henry was found dead in the Tower on the same day that Edward re-entered London. It is generally believed that he was murdered by either Clarence or Gloucester.

An old chronicler says he was "upright, free from fraud, wholly given to prayer, reading of Scripture, and almsgiving." In person he was above the middle height, well-formed, and of a mild and benevolent countenance.

7. Edward now turned his attention to foreign conquests, and in 1475 invaded France; but the French king-"the old fox of France," as he was called-was anxious to avoid war, and proposed advantageous terms of peace, which were accepted.

The two sovereigns met at Pecquigny, on a bridge which had been thrown across the river Somme; but so little could

they trust each other that they shook hands through a wooden grating. The terms of the peace were:-1. That Louis should pay Edward 75,000 crowns at once and an annuity of 50,000; 2. That the Dauphin should marry Elizabeth, Edward's daughter; 3. That a truce should be concluded between the two countries for seven years.

The people bitterly complained of this disgraceful termination of the war; but Edward conciliated them by lessening the taxes.

8. In 1477 Clarence was apprehended on the charge of high treason, for having pronounced two of his household innocent who had been executed for practising magic. He was tried before the house of Lords, and condemned to death. Ten days afterwards he died in the Tower; but from what cause is unknown.

According to tradition he was drowned in a butt of Malmsey, a wine of which he was particularly fond.

9. Edward died A.D. 1483. He is described as having nothing to recommend him but " courage and beauty." He was cruel, vindictive, and a slave to his passions.

In this reign printing was introduced into England by William Caxton, who set up a press in Westminster Abbey. The first book which issued from it was 'The Game and Playe of Chesse' (1474). By a law passed in this reign, regulating the apparel to be worn by different classes, it was enacted that no one below the rank of a gentleman should wear satin or damask, and that artificers should not wear cloth worth more than two shillings a yard. Public posts were introduced in 1481, by which letters were conveyed 100 miles a-day. Previously news travelled so slowly, that intelligence of the battle of Towton was six days in reaching London.

Contemporaries.-10. Scotland, James III.; France, Charles VII., Louis XI. ; Caxton; Sir John Fortescue, an eminent legal writer; "The Shepherd” Lord Clifford.

Clifford, who for twenty-four years followed the calling of a shepherd, in order to be safe from the Yorkists, the great enemies of his father, was not restored to the honours and estates of his family until the accession of Henry VII.,

when he was thirty-one years of age. He was at that time unable to read or write. During his obscurity he had formed a liking for astronomy; and the remainder of his life was devoted to that noble science.

EDWARD V.

Born A.D. 1471; Reigned 2 months, 13 days (April 9 to June 25, 1483.)

Family.-1. Edward was the eldest son of the late king.

Chronicle.-2. As soon as Richard Duke of Gloucester heard of his brother's death, he obtained possession of his nephew, caused Earl Rivers and Lord Grey to be apprehended, and assumed the title of Protector. The young king was then sent to the Tower, where he was soon joined by his brother Richard, Duke of York. Gloucester now determined to seize on the throne, and to remove those nobles who were likely to offer him any opposition. He caused Lord Hastings to be arrested on the charge of sorcery, and to be at once beheaded on a block of wood, which lay in the court of the Tower.

Richard had accused the queen-dowager and her associates of bewitching him, and had shown his withered arm to the Council as a proof of it, though it was well known that it had been so from infancy. Hastings then remarked, "If they be guilty of these crimes, they deserve the severest punishment." The Protector answered, "And do you reply to me with your 'ifs,' and your'ands?' You are the chief abettor you yourself are a traitor; and I swear by St. Paul that I will not dine before your head be brought me."

3. On the same day Lord Grey and two others were executed. Earl Rivers suffered death soon after. Reports were now spread abroad by Gloucester that the children of Edward IV. were illegitimate, in consequence of a former marriage of that monarch. This was followed by a public declaration, from the lips of the Duke of Buckingham, that the Protector was the

true heir to the throne. A petition was then presented to him, requesting him to assume the crown; to which, after some hypocritical scruples, he assented.

RICHARD III., CROOKBACK.

Born A.D. 1452; Reigned 2 years (1483-1485).

Family.-1. Richard was the youngest son of the Duke of York, who perished at Wakefield Green. He married Anne, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and widow of Prince Edward. They had only one child, who died in 1484.

Richard is said to have murdered Anne in order that he might marry Elizabeth, the daughter of his brother Edward IV. If this be true, his project failed, for he was never remarried.

Chronicle.-2. By lavishing titles and money upon the chief nobles, the usurper won over many of his enemies, and silenced for a time all opposition. He then set out on a progress through the country, for the avowed purpose of suppressing crime and reforming public morals. On his way he caused to be committed the foulest of all his bloody deeds. Sir James Tyrrell was sent to London, and, by a royal commission, took possession of the Tower for twenty-four hours. During that period, two hired assassins, Dighton and Forrest, smothered the young princes in their bed-clothes. The dead bodies were then shown to Tyrrell, and buried at the foot of the stairs.

They were afterwards removed, and their remains were discovered in 1674 by some workmen in the precincts of the chapel. They now lie interred in Westminster Abbey.*

Some writers have denied that Richard was guilty of this murder; but the evidence against him appears to be quite conclusive.

*Since writing the preceding, a MS. has fallen into my hands, from which it would appear, that the skeletons of the princes were first discovered in the reign of James I., about 1603.

3. The Lancastrian party now set up a new competitor for the throne, Henry Earl of Richmoud: and the Yorkists seconded the design, on condition that he should marry Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. The conspirators, however, revealed their plans too soon; and Buckingham, who had headed a rising in the west, was taken prisoner and executed.

4. To render his throne more secure, Richard now offered his hand to the princess Elizabeth; and caused Henry to be expelled from Brittany, where he had long been in exile. But his two confidants, Ratcliffe and Catesby, were opposed to the marriage, and it consequently fell to the ground.

5. The conspiracy in favour of the Earl of Richmond continued to spread, and was secretly supported by most of the great English nobles. On the 7th of August, 1485, that prince landed at Milford Haven, with about 2000 men. He then advanced into England, his followers increasing as he proceeded. The two armies met at Bosworth (Leicestershire); and in the battle which ensued Richard was slain.

Many of the royalists refused to fight; and, of the lords who followed the king into the field, only the Duke of Norfolk and his son remained true to him. Richard fought with great bravery, but was cut down by superior numbers. His crown was picked up by Lord Stanley and put upon the head of Henry, amidst the shouts of his victorious partisans. The body of Richard was carried on a horse to Leicester, "the head and arms hanging on the one side of the horse, and the legs on the other side, and all besprinkled with mire and blood!" It is said that previous to the battle, in riding over Leicester Bridge, his foot struck against a post; and that a blind beggar, who was standing near, exclaimed "His head shall strike against that very place as he returns this night." This prophecy was supposed to be fulfilled when, in crossing the same bridge, the dangling corpse struck against the post again.

Richard had one shoulder higher than the other, but was in other respects well formed. "When his death was known few lamented him, and many rejoiced; the proud, bragging, white boar (which was

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