aper in her hand, before thousands of spectators. She lived above forty years after this sentence, and was reduced to the most extreme indigence. 8. The protector now began to throw off the mask, and to deny his pretended regard for the sons of the late king, thinking it high time to aspire to the crown more openly. He had previously gained over the duke of Buckingham, a man of talents and power, by bribes and promises of future, favour. This nobleman, therefore, used all his arts to cajole the populace and citizens at St. Paul's cross; and, construing their silence into consent, his followers cried "Long live king Richard!" Soon after, the mayor and aldermen waiting upon Richard with an offer of the crown, he accepted it with seeming reluctance Questions for Examination. 1. What was the conduct of the duke of Gloucester towards the young princes? 2. 3 By what vile arts did he get rid of lord Hastings? 5. Who next felt his indignation? 6. Who was Jane Shore? 7. What punishment did she suffer? 8. In what manner did Richard contrive to procure an offer of the crown? Richard, duke of Gloucester, protector. Edward, earl of Warwick ; Margaret, countess of Salisbury (children of George, duke of Clarence) Earl Grey; marquis of Dorset; William Lord Hastings. William Carton, mercer, of London, the first English printer; he established a printing press in Westminster-abbey, A. D. 1471. x 2 CHAPTER XXI. RICHARD III. Born 1450. Died Aug. 23, 1485. Began to reign June 27, 1483. Reigned 2 years. Tetchy and wayward was his infancy;, His school-days frightful, desperate, wild, and furious; His prime of manhood daring, bold and venturous; His age confirm'd, proud, subtle, sly, and bloody.- Shakspeare. 1.* (A. D. 1483.) ONE crime ever draws on another, justice will revolt against fraud, and usurpation requires security. As soon, therefore, as Richard was seated upon the throne, he sent the governor of the Tower orders to put the two young princes to death; but this brave man, whose name was Brackenbury, refused to be made the instrument of a tyrant's will; but submissively answered, that he knew not how to imbrue his hands in innocent blood. A fit instrument, however, was not long wanting; sir James Tyrrel readily undertook the office, and Brackenbury was ordered to resign to him the keys for one night. 2. Tyrrel, choosing three associates, Slater, Deighton, and Forest, came in the night-time to the door of the chamber where the princes were lodged, and, sending in the assassins, he bid them execute their commission, while he himself stayed without. They found the young princes in bed, and fallen into a sound sleep after suffocating them with a bolster and pillows, they showed their naked bodies to Tyrrel, who ordered them to be buried at the stairs' foot, deep in the ground, under a heap of stones. : 3. But while the usurper thus endeavoured to establish his power, he found it threatened in a quarter where he least expected an attack. The duke of Buckingham, who had been instrumental in placing him on the throne, now took disgust, being refused some confiscated lands for which he solicited. He therefore levied a body of men in Wales, and advanced with hasty marches towards Gloucester, where he designed to cross the Severn. 4. Just at that time the ver was swoln to such a degree, that the country on both sides was deluged, and even the tops of some hills were covered with water. The inundation continued for ter days; during which Buckingham's army, composed of * See the note at the end of the reign of Henry VIL Welshmen, could neither pass the river nor find subsistence on their own side; they were therefore obliged to disperse, and return home, notwithstanding all the duke's efforts to prolong their stay. 5. In this helpless situation, the duke, after a short deliberation, took refuge at the house of one Bannister, who had been his servant, and who had received repeated obligations from his family; but the wicked seldom rind, as they seldom exert, friendship. Bannister, unable to resist the temptation of a large reward that was set upon the duke's head, went and betrayed him to the sheriff of Shropshire who, surrounding the house with armed men, seized the duke, in the habit of a peasant, and conducted him to Salisbury; where he was instantly tried, condemned, and executed, according to the summary method practised in those days. 6. Amidst the perplexity caused by many disagreeable occurrences, the king received information that the earl of Richmond was making preparations to land in England, and assert his claims to the crown. Richard, who knew not in what quarter he might expect the invader, had taken post at Nottingham, in the centre of the kingdom; and had given commission to several of his creatures to oppose the enemy wherever he should land. 7. Some time after, however, the earl of Richmond, whe was a descendant from John of Gaunt, by the female line, resolved to strike for the crown. He had been obliged to quit the kingdom; but he now, knowing how odious the king was, set out from Harfleur, in Normandy, with a retinue of about two thousand persons, and after a voyage of six days, arrived at Milford-haven, in Wales, where he Janded without opposition. 8. Upon news of this descent, Richard, who was possessed of courage and military conduct, his only virtues, instantly resolved to meet his antagonist and decide their mutual pretensions by a battle. Richmond, on the other hand, being reinforced by sir Thomas Bouchier, sir Walter Hungerford, and others, to the number of about six thousand, boldly advanced with the same intention; and in a few days both armies drew near Bosworth-field,* where the contest that had now for more than forty years filled the kingdom with civil commotions, and deluged its plains with blood, was determined by the death of Richard, who was * In Leicestershire. The battle fought at this place was the last of thir teen between the houses of York and Lancaster. slain in battle while Richmond was salutea king by the title of Henry the Seventh.* Questions for Examination. 1 What was the first act of Richard? 2. In what manner were his orders executed? 3. From what quarter and on what occasion was Richard first threatened 4. What obliged Buckingham's army to disperse ? 5. What was the fate of the duke of Buckingham? 8 By whom was he joined? Where did the armies meet? What was the result of the battle? A.D 148 Popes. A.D. Sextus IV. 1471 Innocent VIII..... 1484 .... CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. King of France. King of Denmark and Sweden. A.D. * Richard's body, after being exposed, was buried in the church of the Grey Friars, at Leicester. Henry VII. bestowed a monument on it, which was demolished at the dissolution of abbeys under Henry VIII.; and the monarch's stone coffin actually served for a horse-trough, at the White Horse Inn; "Sic transit gloria mundi!" CHAPTER XXII. HENRY VII. Born 1456. Died April 22, 1509. Began to reign Aug. 23, 1485. Reigned 23 years SECTION I. But oh! how altered was the mournful tone, And with enliv'ning trumpet blew A call to arms that through the island rung! His claim announcing to the English throne.-Dibdin. 1. (A. D. 1485.) HENRY's first care, upon coming to the throne, was to marry the princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward the Fourth; and thus he blended the interest of the houses of York and Lancaster, so that ever after they were incapable of distinction. 2. A great part of the miseries of his predecessors proceeded from their poverty, which was mostly occasioned by riot and dissipation. Henry saw that money alone could turn the scale of power in his favour; and, therefore, hoarded up all the confiscations of his enemies with the utmost frugality. Immediately after his marriage with Elizabeth, he issued a general pardon to all such as chose to accept it; but people were become so turbulent and factious, by a long course of civil war, that no governor could rule them, nor any king please; so that one rebellion seemed extinguished only to give rise to another. 3. There lived in Oxford one Richard Simon, a priest, who possessing some subtlety, and more rashness, trained up Lambert Simnel, a baker's son, to counterfeit the person of the earl of Warwick, the son of the duke of Clarence, who was smothered in a butt of malmsey. But, as the impostor was not calculated to bear a close inspection, it was thought proper to show him first at a distance; and Ireland was judged the fittest theatre for him to support his assumed character. 4. In this manner Simnel, being joined by lord Lovel, and one or two lords more of the discontented party, resolved to pass over into England; and accordingly landed in Lancashire, from whence he marched to York, expecting the country would rise and join him as he marched along. But in this he was deceived; the people, averse to join a body of German and Irish troops, by whom he was sup. |