hours. The Yorkists gained a complete victory, but the slaughter was immense, and the fearful number of thirty-eight thousand dead are said to have been left upon the battle-field. Margaret, with her son and husband, fled to Scotland. Thence she went to France, and employed the next nine years in untiring efforts for the recovery of her throne. The unfortunate and "gentle-hearted" King Henry wandered a fugitive in his own kingdom, until some years later, when he was betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and by them lodged in the Tower.

1465.

King Edward, at his coronation, which took place at Westminster, after the battle of Towton, conferred the titles and honors of Duke of Clarence and Duke of Gloucester on his two brothers, George and Richard. As Henry IV., the first monarch of the house of Lancaster, had been raised to the throne by the influence of a powerful family, so Edward IV., the first king of the house of York, owed his ascendancy to the great family of the Nevils. Guy, Earl of Warwick, the eldest brother of this house, was surnamed "king-maker," because of the great weight which his influence gave to the claimant whose cause he espoused, in these contests for the

crown.

Like his predecessor of the house of Lancaster, Edward IV. did that which was highly displeasing to those who had secured him the throne. On the 1st of May, 1464, without the consent or knowledge of his great lords, he married Lady Elizabeth Woodville, the widow of Sir John Grey. Surrounding himself by his wife's relations, the king at length presented her to the council as his queen, and, about a year after the marriage, her coronation took place, celebrated by tournaments and pageants of great magnificence.

Edward bestowed, with an unsparing hand, offices and honors on the new queen's family. Her father was made Earl Rivers, and the Greys and the Woodvilles usurped every place of honor and profit in the realm. This gave great offence to the whole nation, but particularly to the proud family of the Nevils.

The Duke of Clarence, the next brother to Edward, married Isabella, eldest daughter of the Earl of Warwick.

Disgusted by the conduct of Edward, Clarence joined his father-in-law, and both went over to France, to plot the dethronement of one whom they had made king. ·

The high spirit of Margaret of Anjou was yet unbroken, and to regain the crown, she was willing to make alliance with her greatest enemy. Warwick and the banished queen met at the castle of Amboise. The king-maker promised to restore the house of Lancaster. Margaret engaged to marry

1469. her young son Edward to Anne Nevil, Warwick's second daughter, thus securing to his family, should their cause triumph, the succession to the throne.

In September, 1470, Warwick landed in England. King Edward, taken by surprise, had no time to gather his forces for battle. To avoid being made prisoner, he embarked hastily in a Dutch vessel, and, after great peril, escaped to Holland.

Proceeding to the

Warwick entered London in triumph. Tower, he released the captive Henry, and saluted as king, him who, a few years previous, he had conducted to that gloomy prison, crying before him as he went: "Behold the traitor!" Queen Elizabeth Woodville fled to the sanctuary at Westminster, where, shortly after, she gave birth to her eldest son. The birth of this young prince in the sanctuary of Westminster, amid circumstances of terror and distress, was a fitting prelude to the sad story of his life, and his early death of horror and mystery in the Tower of London.

The Yorkists were filled with terror.

The triumph of the Lancastrians was of short duration. Edward raised an army of twelve hundred men, and, 1471. in less than six months, landed in England, for the recovery of his crown. He disembarked at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, the very port at which Henry Bolingbroke had landed, when he came to dethrone his cousin, Richard II. Marching southward, he met, near Coventry, the Earl of Warwick, prepared to give him battle.

Before the conflict began, the Duke of Clarence, making his men put the white rose of York on their helmets, deserted the Lancastrian cause, and went over to the army of his brother. Owing to this desertion, Warwick was obliged to avoid an engagement. Edward continued his march southward, and was received with great joy in London. The two armies met late on Easter even, at Barnet, about twelve miles from the capital, where a severe battle was fought on Easter Sunday.

The Duke of Clarence, who, it will be remembered, had married a daughter of Warwick, tried to make peace between his brother and father-in-law. To his herald, the haughty king-maker replied: "Go tell your master, that Warwick, true to his oath, is a better man than false, perjured Clarence, and will settle the question by the sword to which he has appealed."

The battle of Barnet was won by the Yorkists. The great Earl of Warwick was slain upon the field, and Edward IV. recovered the throne. On the very day of the battle, Margaret of Anjou, with her son and a body of French troops, landed in England. Near Tewkesbury, on the banks of the Severn, she was met and defeated by King Edward's army. She and her son were taken prisoners When the young prince, a boy of eighteen, was carried into King Edward's presence, the monarch asked what brought him to England. "My father's crown and my own inheritance!" replied the undaunted youth. The ungenerous king struck him with his gauntlet, and, taking this as a signal for further cruelty, others fell upon the unhappy boy, and put him to death with their swords.

Margaret of Anjou lived eleven years longer. Part of the time she was a prisoner in England. Being ransomed by the French king, the last six years of her existence were passed in obscurity in France. The life of her unhappy husband ended soon after the restoration of Edward IV. to his throne. He was found dead in the Tower.

In 1475, Edward, as an ally of the Duke of Burgundy, and

also as a claimant of the French throne, entered France with a large army. No battles were fought, nor conquests gained, for the artful King Louis XI. contrived to bribe Edward into a disgraceful peace. The English army then recrossed the Channel, and during the remainder of this reign, with the exception of an unimportant campaign in Scotland, no wars occurred.

Edward's revengeful temper had never fully forgiven his brother Clarence the alliance with the Nevils. He now accused him of witchcraft, a grave charge in those days, and of conspiring to obtain the throne. Clarence was cast into the Tower, where, in little more than a month, he died. The popular belief and rumor was, that his brother, Richard of Gloucester, had caused him to be drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.

1478.

Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of King Edward, had long been affianced to Charles, the dauphin of France. In 1482, the crafty Louis XI., finding a more advantageous alliance for his son, in the wealthy heiress of Burgundy, broke his treaty with Edward on this point. The English king, greatly incensed, prepared for war, but before his arrangements were completed, he died, the victim of a life of vicious excesses.

QUESTIONS.-Describe the battle of Towton.-Relate the subsequent fate of Margaret.-What befell King Henry VI. ?-To whom had Edward been indebted for his elevation to the throne?—What surname did the Earl of Warwick receive?-Why did he receive it?-Whom did the king marry?-By what acts did he incur the enmity of the house of Warwick?-By whom was a conspiracy entered into against the king?-Mention the engagements made between Margaret of Anjou and Warwick.

When did Warwick invade England?-With what result?-Describe his conduct towards the imprisoned Henry VI.-What disturbed the triumph of the Lancastrians in 1471?-What act of treachery did the Duke of Clarence commit ?-What effect did it produce? What was the consequence of this desertion ?-When and where did the two armies meet in conflict?-What was the result of the battle of Barnet?-What was the result of Margaret's attempt

to regain the crown?-Describe the interview between the young prince, Margaret's son, and King Edward.-State what followed?— What was the subsequent history of Margaret of Anjou?

On what grounds did Edward declare war with France?—What was the conduct of this war?-Was Edward IV.'s a warlike reign?— Relate Edward's conduct towards his brother Clarence.-What insult had the king of France offered to the English monarch ?—What prevented Edward from making war on France?

CHAPTER XXVIII.

EDWARD V. AND RICHARD III.

RICHARD'S MACHINATIONS-THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER-RICHARD BBCOMES KING-A RIVAL CLAIMANT-BOSWORTH FIELD.

1483.

THE story of the next reign (if reign it can be called) is as sad as it is brief. The young Edward, eldest son of Edward IV., a gentle, timid boy of thirteen, was the heir to the throne. He was too young himself to resist the power of his ambitious and unscrupulous uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the prince's only friends were those of his mother, the Woodvilles and the Greys, who were unpopular with the nation.

Richard soon disposed of these. Earl Rivers and Lord Grey, the guardians of the young prince, were treacherously arrested, and, with others, beheaded at Pontefract Castle. The Earl Rivers was one of the most accomplished men of his age, and the patron of Caxton the first English printer.

Not content with destroying the queen's relations, Richard seized and put to death Lord Hastings, one of the most loyal servants of the young prince; and, in fact, did not scruple to remove all whom he supposed would bar his usurpation of the throne. When all these measures had been taken, he declared that, King Edward IV. having been married to another lady before his union with Elizabeth Woodville, the