ry HENRY VII. AND HIS QUEEN. From an old picture by Mabuse. King Richard was the last man slain on the field of Bosworth, and his death was the signal of victory to Henof Richmond. The soldiers who had engaged in pursuit of the fugitives were.recalled by hearing the shouts of Long live King Henry!" and, returning to the field of battle, they saw sir William Stanley placing on Henry's head the battered crown that had been struck off from the helmet of Richard. 66 Henry was at this time thirty years old, and two ruling passions, swayed his conduct from the first hour of his reign, to the end of his life. These were his avarice, and his hatred to the house of York. The first command he issued, even before he had left the bloody field where he had been proclaimed king, was, that persons should be sent into Yorkshire, to seize young Edward Plantagenet, earl When was Henry of Richmond crowned king of England? of Warwick, the son of the duke of Clarence, and to convey him to the Tower. But, notwithstanding Henry's rooted dislike to the house of York, he soon found he could not maintain himself on the throne without allying himself to it. He therefore renewed an agreement he had formerly made to marry the princess Elizabeth; but his reluctance to the marriage was so great, that he put it off till the following year. He had so much jealousy of its being supposed that he derived through her his right to the crown, that he would not permit the queen's name to be mentioned in the act of parlia ment that was passed for settling the succession. Henry's conduct towards all those who A. D. 1487. had been connected with the late royal family naturally irritated them against him, and a scheme was contrived, which, though it failed in the end, had many abettors, and gave him for a time much trouble and vexation. Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker of Oxford, was instructed to personate the young earl of Warwick, who, it was pretended, had made his escape from the tower. Richard Simon, a priest, had the chief management of this plot. He took Simnel into Ireland, where the house of York had many friends; and there, the credulity of the people coinciding with their wishes, he was proclaimed at Dublin by the title of Edward VI. When Henry heard of this pretended earl of Warwick, he caused the real earl to be taken from his prison, and carried in procession through London. This measure, though it satisfied the people of England, did not convince those of Ireland, who asserted that Henry had exhibited an impostor, while they were in possession of the true Plantagenet. Whether the duchess of Burgundy was really of the same opinion, or whether she was glad of an opportunity to disturb Henry, does not appear; but she certainly assisted Simnel with a body of troops under the command of Martin Swartz, an experienced leader. Whom did Henry marry, and how did he regard the queen ? What measures did Henry take to expose this impostor. The earl of Lincoln, son of the countess de la Pole, eldest sister to the duchess, also joined Simnel in Ireland. Leaving Ireland with a force of eight thousand men, they landed in Lancashire, expecting to be joined by the inha bitants. But they were mistaken in this expectation, and penetrated as far as Stoke, near Newark, without receiving any addition to their numbers. Here they were met, June 16, 1487, by Henry, with a considerable force, and defeat ed after a fierce engagement. Lord Lincoln and Swartz were slained. Simnel, and his protector Simon, were taken prisoners, and received better treatment than they could have expected; for Henry contented himself with imprisoning the priest for life, and with degrading the new-made king to be one of the scullions of his kitchen. Another impostor started up, in a youth A. D. 1493. called Perkin Warbeck, who had been secretly instructed to personate Richard duke of York, the young brother of Edward V., who, it was pretended, had escaped from the Tower, by the connivance of the ruffians who had murdered his brother. This youth had a strong resemblance to the Plantagenets, and acted his part so well that many persons were actually convinced that he was the prince. Warbeck presented himself at the duchess of Burgundy's court at Brussels, and claimed her protection, as being her brother's son. The duchess appeared at first to doubt his story, and then, as if suddenly convinced by his answers to her questions, she embraced him with a transport of joy, exclaiming that he was indeed her long-lost nephew. She then appointed a guard of soldiers to attend him, and treated him as the head of the house of York. The news of this extraordinary circumstance brought numbers of people to Brussels; and the answers of War beck were so extraordinary, that all who saw and conversed with him were persuaded of the truth of his story. Where was Simnel defeated? What became of Simnel and his chief abettors? Who pretended to be the duke of York? What princess encouraged Warbeck? How did Henry prove the imposture of Warbeck? Henry now became anxious to publish to the world the certainty that the real duke of York had been murdered, and he obtained the confession of two persons who owned themselves to have been accessary to the death of the two young princes. Amongst those who flocked to see Perkin Warbeck were two men sent by Henry, who were commissioned to insinuate themselves into his confidence. In this they succeeded so well that they became acquainted with his secrets, and sent regular information of his plans to the king, who was thus enabled to know what persons in England were in correspondence with him. These persons were all seized in one day, and were immediately tried, condemned, and executed. Sir William Stanley was heheaded for having been heard to say, that if he was sure Perkin Warbeck was the real duke of York, he would never bear arms against him." These sanguinary measures deterred people from venturing to own themselves friends or favorers of Warbeck, who made two unsuccessful attempts to land in the realms which he claimed for his own. His first attempt was in Kent, and his second in Ireland. He then tried his fortune in Scotland, and having convinced the king, James IV., that he was a true Plantagenet, that young monarch received him with the utmost kindness. James entered into Warbeck's cause with all the warmth of a generous mind, regardless of the danger of making an enemy of so powerful a monarch as the king of England, with whom it was greatly his interest to remain at peace. He gave Warbeck in marriage to the lady Catharine Douglas, one of the most noble and accomplished ladies in Scotland, and published a manifesto, inviting the English to repair to the standard of their rightful sovereign, Richard IV. James also raised an army, and, in OctoA. D. 1496. ber, invaded England. The Scots immediately began to plunder, as was their custom; and War Did Henry punish the friends of Warbeck? Where did Warbeck successively try to advance his cause? How did James IV. of Scotland assist Warbeck? What regard for human life and the right of property was manifested by Warbeck ? beck expostulated with James on this barbarous manner of carrying on the war, declaring that he had rather lose a crown than obtain it by the ruin of his subjects. While Henry was preparing to repel the Scots, a still more pressing danger assailed him in an insurrection of the men of Cornwall, who came in a numerous body towards London. They got to Blackheath, but were there defeated by the king's troops. Their leaders were taken and executed. The rest, on paying two or three shillings each into the king's coffer, received a pardon, and returned home. Warbeck was soon deprived of the assistance which the king of Scotland had for a time afforded him. Henry, who was at all times a better negotiator than soldier, preferred entering into a treaty with James to the meeting him in the field; and a truce was made between the two monarchs. Upon this Warbeck, after thanking James for the protection and kindness he had shown him, went to Ireland with about 120 followers, and his amiable wife, who would not forsake him. Warbeck remained in Ireland some months, and on receiving an invitation from the Cornish men, who were still in an unsettled state, he landed at Whitsand Bay in that county. Warbeck was joined at Bodmin by 3000 men, with whom he marched forwards and laid siege to Exe ter. A large body of the king's forces marched against him, and Warbeck, left his companions to take care of themselves, and fled in the night to the abbey of Beauley. The Abbey was soon surrounded by the royal troops, and Henry would gladly have forced open the gates and seized on his victim, but was persuaded to try to entice him out of his sanctuary by the promise of his life. Warbeck, on receiving this promise, yielded himself up, and was carried prisoner to the Tower. He contrived to elude the vigilance of his keeper, and made his escape; but being soon taken, and brought back again, he was com What insurrection was quelled in 1496 ? How did James of Scotland, and Warbeck part? |