Memoirs of Henry the Eighth of England, with the fortunes, fates, and characters of his six wives

Front matter

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Contents

oe. HENRY THE EIGHTH.

eee _ RETROSPECTIVE.

af : War of the Roses—General Effects—W ar to the Castle-—Gena - eral Wish for Kepose—The Rival Factions—Failure of Title Sage _ in HenryVII.—Sons of Edward IlI.—First Rupture of the Houses—Failure of the Claim of Lancaster—True Title of Edward IV.—Usuipation of Gioucester—Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck—Henry of Richmond not Heir of Lancaster—The House of Tudor—Teath of Richard III.—Hen- -—_—sory’s Alleged Titles—Henry King by Possession—Cruel Acts a. a, _ of Attainder—Great Opportunities of Henry VII.—His Con- _ ee duct and its Effects—His Parliaments—His Character, .

Chapter I

Death of Henry VII.—Accession of Henry VII.—His Quali- - ‘ties and Occasi-ns—Inconsistency of his Career—Gradual ie Deterioration—Liscovery of America—Reformation, and Ex- “ieee tinction of Chivalry—Growing Power of the Masses— Wars of the Plantagenets—Want of Policy—Redress of Grievances —Empson and Dudley—Marriage of Arthur and Kathazine —Transactions for Marriage—Henry VII. and Joanna of Castille—Henry’s Marriage with Katharine of Arragon—Katharine Intereedes—Henry’s Vanity and Love of Fame—State of Europe—The French in Italy—The English Fleet—Failure of the Campaign of 1512—Conflagration of the Regent —Rise of Wolsey—The Battle of Ravenna—Prosecution of the War, 1518—Death of the Lord Admiral—Execution of

Vill CONTENTS. ©

PAGK the Earl of Suffolk—Invasion of France—Siege of Terouenne —Henry Defies James of Scotland—Battle of the Spurs— Surrender of Terouenne—Investment of Tournay—Tidings of Flodden Field—The Battle of Flodden Field—The Crisis

_of the Day—The Carnage at Flodden—Capitulation of Tournay—Policy of Wolsey—Festivities at Tournay and Lisle— . Negotiations at Tournay—Disruption of the League—Wedding of Louis XII. and Mary—Foreign Nationality of Queens Consort—Distaste to Foreign Queens—Houses of Bourbon E and Brenswick—The Justs at Paris—The Duke of Suffolk— yi : The Death of King Louis—The Youthful Widow—Mistress io Anne Boleyn—Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop—Character of fier Wolsey—Foreign Policy of Wolsey—Battle of Marignano 2 i —Restitution of Tournay—General Pacification, . . . 37

: CHAPTER II.

Second Phase of Henry’s Character—Henry’s Mistresses— Death of Maximilian—Candidates for Empire—Conference of Kings—Idle Profusion—Mary the Beautiful—Henry’s House at Guisnes—The Field of Cloth of Gold—The Tour-

‘ naments—Intercourse of the Kings—The Emperor at Calais

a —Queen Claude’s Maids of Honor—Henry a Theologian—

enh De Septem Sacramentis—Defender of the Faith—An Angli-

ean Church—Wolsey and the Duke—The Duke of Buckingham—The Prophecies of Hopkins—Trial and Death of Buckingham—Henry’s Succession—State Reasons—Outbreaking ~ of War—-Conferences of Arbitration—Sentence rendered by

Wolsey—War in the Milanese—Invention of the Musket—

Election of the Pope—Pope Adrian—Ireland and Scotland

—The House of Commons—The Scottish War—Wark Castle

—The Servants of the House of Tudor—Polemics in His-

tory—Winter Campaign in Italy—Bourbon Invades France

Bs ad —Standing Armies—Foreed Marches upon Milan—Mutual

Distrust—The Battle of Pavia—Francis a Prisoner—A Cap-

tive King—Lukewarmness of Charles—Royal Suspicions—

CONTENTS. ae

FAGH

Dissolution of the Contr AaeLBid Faith of both Kings— Marriage of Charles and the Infanta—Liberation of Francis —Clement VII. a Prisoner—The Maskers at Greenwich—The King’s “Secret Matter””—First Love for Anne Boleyn—Wolsey’s Secret Policy—March of Lautrech—Escape of Pope Clement—Siege of Naples—Henry’s Latent Character—Delays in the Divoree—Grounds for the Divoree—Fall of Wolsey—Wolsey’s Arrest at Cawood—Wolsey’s Foreign Correspondence—Death of Wolsey—Breve by Pope Clement— Statute of Preemunire—Supreme Head of the Church—Pay ment of Annates Forbidden—Second Meeting of Kings— Anne Henry’s Mistress—His Marriage to Anne—Cranmer’s Elevation—Theologians and Canonists—Divorce Pronounced —Third Division of his Life. . . ° Seis

CHAPTER III. Third Phase of Character—The Wonder ofSubmission—Strange

Spirit of the Times—Silence in Death—Marriage with Anne Legalized—Resistance of the Queen—Double Dealings with Clement and Francis—England Emancipated from Rome— The two Acts of Parliament—Perfect Success of Henry’s Schemes—Absolutism in England—His Innate Cruelty— The Holy Maid of Kent—Fisher and More—The Persecutions —Death of Fisher and More—Interdict of Paul III.-—Suppression of Monasteries—Death of Queen Katharine—Attainder of Anne Boleyn—Decapitation of Anne—Marriage with Jane Seymour—lInsurrection of the North—Reginald Pole— ' Birth of Prince Edward—Death of Queen Jane—Lady “Shew at Calais—Amusements of Widowhood—Thomas a Becket in Court—The Family of Reginald Pole—Anne of Cleves—Cromwell Attainted—Religious Terrorism—Katharine Howard—The Countess of Salisbury—Charges against Katharine—Evidences against her—Katharine’s Attainder— Katharine’s Death—Ex post facto Enactment—The King’s Book—Peace with Charles V.—Katharine Parr of Kendal— A®* :

. 105 a ates CONTENTS.

PAGE,

A ee The Children of Henry—Protestant Ascendency—Balance oe

ee of Religions—Private Life of Royalty—French Campaign— . "eee

Henry’s Succession—Henry’s last Peace—Strife of Religious

-Parties—Henry’s last Crimes—The Ends of Providence, . 196 Sepa ne Ea ie ne

KATHARINE OF ARRAGON. ae

CHAPTER IV. | Og

- Birth of Katharine—England and Spain—Period of her Birth —Columbus in the Camp—Schemes of Columbus—Progress of Discovery—False Style of Memoir W riting—Impressions : of her Childhood—Unprecedented Growth of Spain—The oe a Netherlands added to Spain—Prince Arthur of Wales—Kath- 2 arine Lands in England—Spanish Etiquette—English Bluntae ness—Katharine’s First Marriage—Her Married Life at Lud- “e low—Silence of History in time of Peace—Katharine Dowaars. ger of Wales—The Bull and Breve of Dispensation—Gen- Baers. = eral Faith in the Virtue of Dispensations—Did she Love him? aoe —Her Marriage with Henry—Her Coronation—War with 0) ae France—Katharine Queen Regent—Anne Boleyn—Visit of — ee Charles V.—The Field of Cloth of Gold—Renewed Peace e iy with France—Conduct of Katharine—Conduct of Anne i: pe : Boleyn—The Cardinal Legate—The Legantine Court—Campeggio—Expulsion from Windsor—Supreme Head of the _ Church—Anne Boleyn’s Marriage—Anne’s Unchastity— z ; - Katharine in Seclusion—Cranmer’s Decree—Katharine’s eas Constancy—Katharine’s Testament—Katharine’s Death, . 259 eR Se

ANNE BOLEYN.

CHAPTER VY.

Historical Partisanship—Partial and Impartial Judgment— Family of Anne Boleyn—Anne’s Birth Place—Date of Anne’s

CONTENTS. Eps PAGE - Birth—Anne’s First Prospects Matrimonial--Anne’s First Love —Anne Dismissed the Court—First Advances of the King— _ Anne’s Person and Beauty—Her Grace and Accomplishmenis —Small Progress of the King—Anne not a Lutheran—Wyatt’s Suit—The Game of Bowls—The Sweating Sickness— Fall of Wolsey—Lady Rochefort—The Sibylline Book—Anne’s Marriage—Death of More and Fisher—The Cruelty of Cowardice—Retribution—Anne’s Forebodings—Committee of the Privy Council—Confession in Extremis—The First Charges— ~ In the Tower—Anne’s Admissions—Anne’s Trial—N ullity of

Anne’s Marriage—Death and Burial of Anne Boleyn, . . 321

(ie Sit Ret See es

JANE SEYMOUR.

Chapter VI

Blood of the Seymours—Birth and Youth of Jane—Jane’s Levity—The Causes of her Good Report—Jane’s Unchastity— Jané’s Wedding—The Wedding Day—Parliaméntary Flatteries—Her Bootless Reign—Birth of Prince Edward—Christening of Edward—Jane Seymour’s Death—The Monuments of

ANNE OF CLEVES,

CHAPTER VIL.

_ Henry a Widower—The French Ladies—Polemical Parties—

__ The Smalealdic League—Person of Anne of Cleves—She

_ Lands in England—First Interview with Henry—His Dislike

to her—Vengeance on Cromwell—Cromwell and Barnes—

Divorce of Anne—The Daughter of Cleves—Her Tranquif ‘Life—Her Death and Monument, 66 0% gs Fe ie we BOI me p a xu CONTENTS.

PAGE

KATHARINE HOWARD.

Chapter VIII

The Birth of Katharine—The Childhood of Katharine—Manox the Musician—Francis Dereham—Discovery and Flight— Her Changed Demeanor—She Pleases the King—Her Married _ .Life—Her First Peril—Cranmer Plots her Ruin—She Confesses -—Her Death—Public Opinion, +82, Vie: iste al eliak alk ens CAE ee

KATHARINE PARR.

Chapter IX

Her First Husbands—Her Connection with the Court—Her Marriage—Her Danger—Henry’s Death—Her Fourth Marriage and Death, e a ° e e e e ° 6 ° e e e 485

MEMOIR OF THE LIFE,

POLITICAL, PRIVATE, AND DOMESTIC,

KING HENRY VIII.

TWENTIETH NORMAN KING OF ENGLAND; SECOND OF THE HOUSE OF TUDOR, * BORN, JUNE 28, 1491. CAME TO THE CROWN, APRIL 22, 1509. DIED, JANUARY 28, 1547, acu, 55 YEARS, 7 MO. REIGN, 87 YEARS, 9 MO., 6 DAYS.

a ee

How oft the sight of means, to do ill deeds, Makes deeds ill done. SuaxspgarE, K, John, Act iv., Se. 2.

KS | RETROSPECTIVE.

Brrore entering directly into any consideration of the extraordinary career, and no less extraordinary character of this monarch, it will be necessary to take a brief retrospect of the’ affairs of England, at the period of his father’s usurpation of the crown, and the consequent establishment of the Cambrian house of Tudor, on the British throne; and to give some | passing attention to the administration of the country, during 5 - the long reign of that able, but_ unprincipled, avaricious, and ie cold-hearted monarch.

* Lord Herbert of Cherbury, p. 4.

=.

> £ “i eg

Ad GENERAL EFFECT OF THE WAR OF THE ROSES.

To almost every reader, it is, of course, fam*liarly known, that, for nearly a century, including the whole period from the first dissensions of Richard IIL., the imbecile son of the famous Black Prince, with the able and ambitious Henry of Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster, in 1898, to the accession of Henry, earl of Richmond, in 1485, with the exception of the brief but glorious reign of Henry V., England was held in a constant turmoil of intestine divisions, civil wars, and bloody and barbarous battles, between the rival houses of York and Lancaster, — under their respective cognizances of the White and Red Roses. , | |

These cruel and disastrous wars, during which such was the desperate animosity of the partisans of the two factions that quarter was rarely either asked or given, especially among the nobles, even to princes of the blood-royal, had drained England of its purest and most ancient blood. Nor did the savage slaughters cease with the heat and fury of the strife; the scaffold resounded with the almost incessant din of the headsman’s ax; and the assassin’s knife cut off, in the secrecy of the prison-house, many a victim whom policy forbade to lead to open execution. In the short space of thirty years, in the two reigns of Henry VI. and his successor, the fourth Edward, no less than twelve pitched* battles were fought on English soil; no less than eighty princes of the blood had perished; and, so nearly was the ancient aristocracy reduced to absolute annihilation, that an ingenious, though somewhat exaggerated, writer + of the present day avows that, after the second battle of Barnet, a Norman baron of the pure blood was a rarer animal than a wolf, on English soil; and there is no doubt, though this

* Hume, Hist. Eng. ii. 433. +Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Last ef the Barons,

Be I we a A OP

WAR TO THE CASTLE. : 15 must be regarded as a forced form of speech, that destruction had dealt unsparingly with this class, and that the great depression of this order tended much to facilitate the aggressions of the next succeeding kings, on the liberties of the English na-_ tion. For, in all ages of English history, it is remarkable that all successful resistance to monarchical encroachments, and all considerable extensions of popular privileges, have been maintained by, or have originated with the nobles, and not with the people. |

It is true, that these pitiless and sanguinary wars had one redeeming feature, that they were essentially wars against the - castle, not against the cottage ; and that, so soon as the obstinate conflict was at an end, and the after-carnage done, no vengeance hunted the retainer to his grange, or the peasant to his cot; though it might pursue the baron to his last hiding-place and even tear him from sanctuary to the block, and that, saving the slaughter of the actual battle and of the immediate pursuit, little scathe befel the commonalty of the nation.

A shrewd and experienced contemporaneous statesman,” the minister of Charles the Bold, of Burgundy, a man intimately acquainted with the condition of the principal states of continental Europe, France, Switzerland, and the Flemish and Hollandish Netherlands, having visited England, about this period, and, - that, too, before sufficient time had elapsed to heal the wounds of civil war, has deliberately put it on record, that, of all the countries of which he had any knowledge, England was the best governed, with the greatest security to person and property; and - that it was inconceivable to him, how a war, which by its char. _ acter of atrocious desperation, had attracted the eyes of all Eu-

* Philip de Comines, ambassador from Charles the Bold of Burgundy to Edward LV

16 GENERAL WISH FOR REPOS®.

rope, should have rolled over the land, like a passing thunder storm, leaving so few traces of havoc and ruin. He saw, he says, no devastated fields, no villages given up to conflagration no towns destroyed by the ravages of a licentious soldiery ;

but a country flourishing with a rich and thrifty agriculture, hamlets full of an industrious and happy population, towns teeming with the wealth of manufactures, and marts of commerce, white with the sails, and crowded with the keels, of countless argosies. | And a late brilliant and picturesque historian* of England has well stated, that, during all the fiercest phases of the war of the Roses, within a week of the battles of Bramham-moor, or Towton, or Bosworth-field, the esquire was flying his hawks

~ over the ground, or the plowman furrowing the lea, as if nothing extraordinary had occurred in the neighborhood. Still, notwithstanding this merciful exemption from the chief

: : horrors of civil war, which the middle classes and peasantry _ of England appear to have enjoyed during this period, so disastrous to the nobles, the country was becoming aweary of the endless agitation of claims, in which they had little direct in. 2 terest; of the interminable conflicts of armed bands, in all quarters of the realm; of the lavish outpouring of blood — always a thing uncongenial to the spirit of the English people—and, above all, of the insecurity to property and life, which is inseparable, in greater or less degree, from the state of war; and the interruption to agricultural and commercial progress, which must follow civil dissensions, even in their most mitigated form. ; The wars of the Roses were especially wars of faction. No public principle, no popular interest was at stake. There was

* Macaulay, Hist. of England.

o THE RIVAL FACTIUNS. — - : 17 no issue between king and nobles, king and commcns, or nobility and people. No question of prerogative, privilege, or liberty. The matter was resolved, at once, into a contest for ~ precedence between the two branches, York and Laneaster, of , the great royal house of Plantagenet, and their kinsmen, ad. herents and fautors, which should inherit the crown of Edward Ill., since whose time the title had been, more or less, in dispute.

Each of these great branches, almost in itself a house, had such power, in land, in intimate connection with the great barons of the realm, many of them scarcely second, in wealth, _ influence, and the ability to raise armies, to the crown itself, and almost all of'them connected by blood with one or other of the claimants, that, in the first instance, they enlisted between them, in support of their hostile claims, nearly the whole of the feudal aristocracy, and, through them, nearly the whole . of the rural population, also, of the kingdom. For many years, the interested passions of the rival nobles; the deadly and vindictive feuds arising from the merciless slaughter, on the field or scaffold, of these aristocratical partisans; and their great influence over their vassals and tenantry, which. classes included almost the whole agricultural populace, kept the war ~ alive, and sustained it with unabated vigor; until, when, in 1485, the Lancastrian pretender, Henry, earl of Richmond, long an exile in Brittany, having defeated and slain Richard Ill., at Bosworth-field, in Leicestershire, the house of York was silenced, at least, if not utterly subdued, by the absence of any male heir, who should support its claims to the throne. By this time, the nobles, utterly enfeebled by their long and vast exertions, decimated by war and executions, and impoverished by confiscations—and the agricultural class, weary a8

18 | TAILURE OF TITLE IN HENRY VII.

of fruitless slaughter m a cause which had no possible interest - for them—were both unable and indisposed to protract this internecine strife to utterance ; and, at this crisis, the traders ~ of the towns, the “burgesses” and “ commonalty,”

recent] y erected into “corporations,’* who are always the class most averse to war, as desiring quiet and security, above all things, by means of which to acquire, enjoy, and transmit commercial wealth ; and who had never cared much for the questions at issue in this protracted and bootless struggle, now came for ward, and, by their weight, carried the decision in favor of rest, tranquillity, and peace, at all risk of consequences. And this is generally found to be the necessary conclusion of all questions, even where vital interests, great principles, and the true liberties of the people are involved ; if, being once fairly left to the arbitrament of the sword, they cannot be resolved by a speedy and decisive victory, final on one side or other, but degenerate into a long and exhausting struggle, in the course of which, probably, the first causes are forgotten. Much more, where nothing is at stake but a barren claim of succession, about which, in truth, the people have little reason to feel concern.

Thus, on the defeat and death of Richard, no opposition of any kind was made to the accession, to the throne of the Plantagenets, of Henry, earl of Richmond, though he had no real claim to be considered the heir to the house of Lancaster;

which, in its turn, had no real claim to the throne of England, | by the laws of primogeniture, or legitimate hereditary descent. To many persons, doubtless, this will appear strange; for so large a majority of English and American general readers derive their most firmly fixed and clearest ideas, in regard to

* By the 18th of Henry VI. De Lolme, fi. 149,

SONS OF EDWARD III. 19

English history from the historical plays of Shakspere—wha, writing in the reign and under the special patronage of Eliza. beth, herself a Tudor, and grand daughter of this very usurper, Henry VIL, distorted all facts, and carried all sympathies to the side of the house of Lancaster—that it is usually regarded as the true line; and that of York, as a family of intrusive, lawless, and bloodthirsty usurpers.

The case, however, is brief, easy, and conclusive; wherefore, without farther demur, I shall submit it at once, to my readers, as curious in itself; and as having important bearing on after issues of history.

On the murder, by Piers Exton, in Pontefract castle, of the weak and hapless Richard IL, sole heir of Edward, the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, the crown of course descended to the issue of the collateral branches, being the brothers of the Black Prince, and sons of Edward IIL, in regular line of descent.

The eldest of these princes, Lionel, duke of Clarence, third son of Edward, had left, by his wife Elizabeth de Burgh, . one daughter, Philippa ; who married Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, in 1381, and bore him Roger, earl of March. This Roger married Eleonora of Kent, and left one daughter, Anne, countess of March.

The second prince, John of Ghent, fourth son of Edward —William of Hatfield, the second son, having died an infant— married, as his first wife, Blanch, daughter of Henry, duke of Lancaster, and in her right succeeded to that title. By Blanch, he had Henry of Bolingbroke, earl of Derby and _ duke of Hereford. John of Ghent subsequently married Blanch, or, as she is sometimes called, Constance, of Castille ; and, thirdly, Katharine of Swineford, by whom he had ante

«ek

20 FIRST RUPTURE OF THE HOUSES.

connuLial issue, John, earl of Somerset, Henry, cardinal Beau.

ae fort, Thomas, duke of Exeter, and Joan, who married Ralph Nevil, and was grandmother to Richard, earl of Warwick, the king maker.

The third, surviving prince, Edmund of Langley, duke of York, fifth son of Edward, married Isabel of Castille, and had by her, Richard, earl of Cambridge, who married his cousin Anne, countess of March, heiress to Lionel of Clarence, third son of Edward. Richard, earl of Cambridge, had, by Anne March, Richard, duke of York, who, by Cicely, daughter of Rudolph, earl of Westmoreland, had Henry, who died young ; Edward, afterward King Edward IV.; George, duke of Clarence; Richard of Gloucester, afterward King Richard —

JIL; and Elizabeth.

At the murder of Richard IL, therefore, Richard, duke of York, as heir, through his mother, Anne of March, to Lionel, third son of Edward UL, was the right and legitimate successor to the throne, in preference to Henry of Bolingbroke, who was only heir to the fourth son.

This was the first division of the kindred houses, and the first usurpation of the crown by the younger line of Lancaster. For, Henry of Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster, having invaded England in arms, being in exile, overturned the government, im prisoned the reigning monarch, and procured himself to be declared king, by the lords and commons assembled in parliament, under the name of Richard IL, then a prisoner of state, and. shortly afterward assassinated at Pontefract.

The claim of Henry IV., for under this title he reigned ably, but illegally and tyrannically, during fourteen years, was constantly disputed, and his reign disturbed by frequent rebellions and armed risings, the most formidable of which was the uniomw oo STAN a Sart i BS Rea a. RS Mo he eas ee aK, ey eK, Var ee +

FAILURE OF THE CLAIM OF LANCASTER. , Qe

. ? of Henry Hotspur of Percy, the earl of Douglas, and Owen

Glendower, of Wales, terminated in favor of Henry, by the

- bloody battle of Shrewsbury ; but he maintained his title, and left it regularly to his son, Henry V., by his wife, Mary of - Bohun, daughter of the earl of Hereford.

He, after an able, brilliant, and moderate reign, according to the ideas of those times, during which he conquered and held two-thirds of France, left the crown undisputed to his infant son by Katharine, daughter of Charles VI. of France, Henry of Windsor, sixth king of England, of that name, since the conquest. .

His long minority, the reverses in France, which succeeded to the wise and energetic regency of Bedford, and resulted in the loss of all the French provinces of England, joined to his imbecility of character, irreparable even by the dauntless courage and strong intellect of his man-minded wife, Margaret of Anjou, gave an occasion, to the wrongfully dispossessed house of York, to throw once more for the crown; and they were not slow to profit by it.

The intrusive house of Lancaster had now been kings de facto, for a. space of fifty-six years, during the last forty of which their claim had been scarcely disputed; and had com-

-menced a dynasty which had already extended to the third _ prince regnant, and might have been firmly established, had the _ temper of Henry VI. and his rival been different, or had they changed positions.

By right of blood, the house of Lancaster had no claim, as we have above seen, whatever; although Henry of Bolingbroke, evidently aware of the illegality of his title, as by par liamentary election, attempted in his challenge to revive an ab- _ gurd and antiquated story, to the effect that Edmund, earl of

3 TRUE TITLE OF EDWARD IV.

Lancaster, son of Henry III., was really the elder brother ot Edward I., and that, through him, he was the rightful heir to the throne. This attempt, however, was so manifestly futile, and the story on which it was founded so obviously false, that no stress has been laid on it, and it is scarcely named in history.

The pretended deposition of Richard II. and proclamation of Henry IV., was the work of an assemblage, utterly unworthy to be styled a parliament, consisting either of open partisans of Bolingbroke, or of men under intimidation from actual foree—which was brought into play against the Bishop of Carlisle, who alone had dntrepidity to except to their lawless proceedings—and convoked by no legal authority ; since, although the name of the captive king was used for form’s sake, the meeting was really called by Henry, duke of Lancaster, who had no more power to call it than any other peer of the realm; and this parliament, if it should be so called, sat but one day, during which period it deposed one king, and placed another on the throne, having been convened solely for that purpose. |

The rival faction of York, however, now took up arms ; and, after much severe fighting, many atrocious cruelties, perpetrated on both sides, such as the mutilation of the corpse of Richard, duke of York, the murder of his son Rutland, by Clifford, and the wholesale executions of the leaders and nobles taken in arms on either side, sueceeded in establishing their chief, in

the person of Edward IV., son of Richard, duke of York, and

grandson of Anne March, whose superior claim to the throne, I have shown above, in possession of the government.

This bold and politic prince, who possessed in a high degree

~ the affections of the Londoners, and of the burgher class, in

general, through the kingdom, whose favor he had conciliated

USURPATION OF GLOUCESTER. ‘ 23

| by his concessions, wise domestic regulations, and foreign negotiations in favor of trade, finally defeated and crushed the Lancastrian party, at the second battle of Barnet, where fell Warwick, the king maker, his brother, the earl of Montacute, and the flower of the Norman aristocracy ; which was thenceforth so much reduced, that years elapsed before it could again make effectual head against the encroachments, whether of the kings or the commons.

At his death, which found him in undisputed possession of his crown, he left two sons, Edward V., unmarried, and Richard, duke of York, married to Anne of Norfolk; Elizabeth, subsequently wife of Henry VII.; and four other daughters, Cicely, Bridget, Anne, and Katharine, of whom no more is | heard in history, though they formed alliances with English noblemen of rank.

No sooner was Edward IV. in the grave, than his wily, inscrutable, and wholly unscrupulous brother, Gloucester, whom he had himself appointed regent, quarrelled with Dorset, Rivers, Gray, Hastings, and Stanley, the kinsmen, friends and advisers of the queen-dowager, brought three of them to the

block without form of law, made himself master of the persons - of the princes, his nephews, whom he committed to the tower, and procured himself to be nominated protector, by the council, without awaiting the sanction of parliament. After this, -impudently alleging that his own mother had been false to his father’s bed, that his elder brothers, Edward IV. and George, duke of Clarence, were illegitimate, with their issue, and that he was himself, therefore, the only true heir, he seized the crown, with no shadow of plea or excuse, no popular consent, no authority of parliament, no sanction of any kind what- - soever.

24 LAMBERT SIMNEL AND PERKIN WARBECK,

The absurd allegations, which he put forth to justify his seizure of the royal office, he never attempted to support by any proof, nor were they ever received by the people at large, or by any considerable party in the state. He called no parliament for five years; nor did he dare, until all his enemies were either dead, in exile, or prostrate at his feet, to ask the sanction of the houses, intimidated, helpless, and in his power, to his usurpation; though, when asked, they had no choice but to concede it. 2

What passed in the interim, is less evident, and is even open to some speculation, if not doubt. The opinion generally received, is that the young princes, Edward and Richard, were smothered in the tower, by three ruffians, Slater, Forrest, and Dighton, under the orders of Tyrrel, appointed to be constable of the tower, in lieu of Sir Robert Brackenbury, for that one night, and for that very purpose. It is added, that their bodies were buried very deep, at the foot of the stairs, under a heap of stones; and that, in the reign of Charles IL, the bones of two persons, corresponding to the size which might be expected from the reputed age of the princes, were found in that spot, and suitably interred by order of the then king. mae On the contrary, it is certain that Henry VII, after his usurpation and marriage with Elizabeth, in default of heirs male, the inheritrix of the honors of the house of York, having every possible inducement to establish the facts of the decease of these princes, since their existence would have set aside his claim to succeed, failed, though he caused urgent search to be made in that very place, to discover any relics; nor, arbitrary and cold-booded as he was, and sanctioned: in all his aggressions on liberty and law by a timorous and subservi-

HENRY OF RICHMOND NOT HEIR OF LANCASTER. a

‘ent parliament, did he ever dare to bring to trial, or punish, any one of the alleged murderers.

There is also some reason to suspect, that, although the first

_ pretender, Lambert Simnel, was clearly an impostor, the second,

Perkin Warbeck, as he was termed, might have been Richard, the duke of York, escaped, as he averred, from the tower. There are undoubtedly circumstances connected with his recognition by many persons, who had sufficient means to be acquainted with the appearance of Richard, his own mother among the rest, which seem to justify such a surmise ; but, on the other hand, there is as much to be adduced on the opposite side of the question; and it is more probable he was a bastard of

Edward IV.

The strongest reason for believing that they were actually dealt upon, at the time, if not in the place or manner stated, is this—that all Richard’s actions point to his own conviction of their death, or, at least, non-existence. He, at first, married

Anne, the widow of Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI.;

and, after her death, not without suspicion of foul play, was on

_ the point of marrying Elizabeth, his own niece, and daughter of , his brother, Edward IV., from which he was only prevented © by the occurrences, which led to another usurpation, less flagrant and impudent only than his own.